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Viet Minh overrun French fortress at Dien Bien Phu.
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Eight nations sign United States sponsored SEATO treaty.
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President Eisenhower's administration sends the first U.S. advisers to South Vietnam to train the South Vietnamese Army.
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President Kennedy orders 100 "special forces" troops to South Vietnam.
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President Kennedy orders an immediate build-up of US troops in Thailand to a total of 5,000 due to Communist attacks in Laos and movement toward the Thailand border.
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South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother are assassinated outside of Saigon. This weakens the war effort.
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United States Navy destroyers "Maddox" and "C. Turner Joy" are reported attacked by North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin.
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United States begins bombing around Haiphong and Hanoi, North Vietnam.
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Communists start Tet Offensive which escalates into one of the major battles of the war.
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My Lai Massacre occurs. Over 100 civilians were massacred.
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President Johnson commits the United States to a non-military solution of the war when he announced he would not seek re-election, and ordered a bombing halt over 75% of North Vietnam.
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Ho Chi Minh dies.
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Four Kent State college students were shot to death by Ohio National Guardsmen during an anti-war protest on the campus.
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President Nixon announces the 7th withdrawal: 70,000 troops by May 1, 1972 reducing the troop level in Vietnam to 69,000.
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The North Vietnamese launch a major offensive across the DMZ. In retaliation, Nixon orders the bombing of the Hanoi and Haiphong area.
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Renewed United States bombing of North Vietnam above the 20th parallel.
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President Nixon announced the withdrawal of 20,000 more troops.
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Final stage of peace talks began that would lead to the signing of a Vietnam cease fire on January 27, 1973.
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President Nixon announced an agreement "to end the war and bring peace with honor in Vietnam and S.E. Asia."
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Official end of the Vietnam War. Between January 27 and March 29, 587 military and civilian prisoners were released by the North Vietnamese, and 23,500 US troops were withdrawn from South Vietnam.
