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President Eisenhower refused to commit American troops to be a part of the Franco-Vietnamese War. During a press conference he stated that, "I cannot conceive of a greater tragedy for America than to get heavily involved now in an all-out war in any of those regions."
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The French surrendered to the Viet Minh at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. French prisoners taken.
Also, the Geneva Conference on the status of Indochina began. -
The Viet Minh launched first assault on French forces at Dien Bien Phu. The battle raged for more than two months.
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France and Ho Chi Minh sign the Geneva Accords, which divided Vietnam at the seventeenth parallel until elections were held in 1956 to reunify the country.
The South Vietnamese government and the United States refused to sign, but both promise to abide by this agreement. -
After the temporary boundary between North and South Vietnam was created, about 850,000 North Vietnamese emigrated to South Vietnam; 80,000 of the South residents, mostly Viet Minh sympathizers, moved to the North.
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South Vietnam declared itself the Republic of Vietnam with Ngo Dinh Diem elected as the new president.
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Two military advisors are killed by Viet Minh guerilla soldiers in South Vietnam; the first American deaths (non-combat) reported in Vietnam.
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President Ngo Dinh Diem defeated an attempted coup by his own South Vietnamese government forces, also known as the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN).
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The National Liberation Front (NLF), also known as the Viet Cong, is established to crush Diem's regime in South Vietnam.
It is funded by the North Vietnamese government and staffed by Southern Ex-Viet Minh guerilla soldiers. -
American serviceman, James T. Davis, died in Vietnam; this was the first combat death reported. For many Americans, this death was the mark of the beginning of the Vietnam War.
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Thich Quang Duc, a 66-year-old Buddhist monk, set himself on fire in protest of the South Vietnamese government for its religious intolerance and discriminatory policies.
In the months following, other Buddhists also self-immolate to demonstrate against the regime.
Quang Duc's suicide, captured in an iconic Life magazine photograph, shocked and confused many Americans. The event underscored the problems with America's support for the South. -
South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem is executed during a coup.
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The North Vietnamese attack a U.S. destroyer, the USS Maddox, sitting in international waters, the Gulf of Tonkin.
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The USS Maddox reported another assault by North Vietnamese gunboats, though now evidence of such an attack is inconclusive. President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered retaliatory strikes and the U.S. bombed North Vietnam for the first time.
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The North Vietnamese joined forces with the Viet Cong to launch Tet Offensive and attacked about 100 South Vietnamese towns and cities. The Tet Offensive was catastrophe for the NLF and the Viet Cong, with a loss of 37,000 fighters. It was also a serious blow for the United States, who lost 2,500 men causing public support for the war in the U.S. to plummet,
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American soldiers massacred hundreds of civilians, mostly women, children, and elderly men, in My Lai in South Vietnam. Later, a military court sentenced First Lieutenant William Calley to life in prison for the murders of 22 Vietnamese civilians.
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The war in Vietnam, its beginning marked by the first death of an American serviceman reported on 22 December 1961, became the longest war in American history.
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The Ohio National Guard attemptedto disperse a growing crowd during anti-war protests at Kent State University.
When the demonstrators refused to follow orders, members of the Guard shoot into the crowd, killing 4 and wounding 9.
Of the 4 killed, 2 had been protestors and other 2 had just been walking to class.
Photographs were printed worldwide, only intensifying the already growing sentiment against the American aggression in Cambodia and the Vietnam War. -
South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and United States representatives signed a peace agreement that declared a ceasefire.
The U.S. agreed to withdraw troops and the government of South Vietnam promised to hold free elections to allow their people to decide their future. On March 29, 1973 the last of the U.S. troops were withdrawn from Vietnam marking the end of the Vietnam war for the U.S.
All U.S. troops are withdrawn by March 29, 1973. -
The North Vietnamese crossed the demilitarized zone at the 17th parallel and attacked South Vietnam in what has become known as the Easter Offensive. President Nixon ordered a massive bombing of North Vietnam in response to the Easter Offensive launched by the NLF in South Vietnam.
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In March, 1975 North Vietnam launched a massive assault on South Vietnam. On April 30, 1975, the North Vietnamese took Saigon (South Vietnam surrendered to the communists) and the war in Vietnam ended.
