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US Military Involvement
July 26, 1950 - United States military involvement in Vietnam begins as President Harry Truman authorizes $15 million in military aid to the French.
Source:The History Place. (1999, January 1). . Retrieved , from http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/vietnam/bw-index-1945.html -
Nixon Supports Troop Committment
In a speech before the press, Vice President Richard Nixon explains that "if to avoid further Communist expansion in Asia and Indochina we must take the risk now of putting our boys in, I think the Executive has to take the politically unpopular decision and do it."5
Source:Vietnam under Nixon. . Retrieved , from http://tdl.org/txlor-dspace/bitstream/handle/2249.3/283/07_vietnam_und_nix.htm?sequence=15 -
Vietnam Divided
France and Ho Chi Minh sign the Geneva Accords, in which Vietnam is to be divided at the seventeenth parallel until elections can be held in 1956 to reunify the country. The South Vietnamese government and the United States refuse to sign, though both promise to abide by the agreement.
Source:How the US got Involved. (n.d.). . Retrieved , from http://intranet.friaryschool.com/new/includes/departments/history/Vietnam/Involve.htm -
Vietnam Emigration
Some 850,000 North Vietnamese, mostly Catholics, emigrate to South Vietnam; 80,000 residents of the South, primarily Viet Minh sympathizers, move to the North.
Source:Operations Passage to Freedom. (2004, March 19). . Retrieved , from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Passage_to_Freedom -
US Supports Diem
U.S. assists Ngo Dinh Diem to get power in Saigon fearing that he will lose against Ho Chi Mihn.
Source:Moise, E. (1998, November 4). The Fall of Ngo Dinh Diem. . Retrieved , from http://www.clemson.edu/caah/history/FacultyPages/EdMoise/viet6.html -
US Increases Advisors
The United States announces that it will increase the number of military advisors in South Vietnam from 327 men to 685 men.
Source:Vietnam War. (2014, January 1). . Retrieved , from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/628478/Vietnam-War/234631/The-US-role-grows -
First US Combat Death
First American soldier to die in Vietnam War with many more to come.
Source:The Vietnam War. (1999, January 1). . Retrieved , from http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/vietnam/index-1961.html -
South Vietnamese Protests
South Vietnamese police fire shots into a crowd of Buddhist monks demonstrating against President Diem's regime. The event will inspire others to protest. Buddhist monk sets himself of fire.
Source:Nakhoda, Z. (2010, April 19). South Vietnamese Buddhists initiate fall of dictator Diem, 1963. . Retrieved , from http://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/south-vietnamese-buddhists-initiate-fall-dictator-diem-1963 -
Anti-War Teach-in
The Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) hold the first anti-war teach-in at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Students, faculty, and local citizens participate in debates, lectures, and film presentations meant to challenge assumptions about the Vietnam War.
Source:Gordonskene. (2010, May 15). May 15, 1965 - The Vietnam War Teach-In. . Retrieved , from http://crooksandliars.com/gordonskene/may-15-1965-vietnam-war-teach -
King Demonstrates Against War
Martin Luther King, Jr. leads thousands of demonstrators to the United Nations building in New York, where he delivers a speech attacking U.S. foreign policy in Vietnam. Over 100,000 people attend the rally.
Source:Dr. King Marches Against the War in Viet Nam in Chicago, March 1967. (n.d.). . Retrieved , from http://www.jofreeman.com/photos/KingAtChicago.html#Top -
Life Portraits
Life magazine prints the portraits of the 242 Americans killed in action in Vietnam during a single week in May, a week identified by the magazine as "average for any seven-day period during the war." Twelve pages feature the faces of young people, mostly working-class black and white men.
Source:Faces of the American Dead in Vietnam: One Week’s Toll, June 1969 Read more: ‘Faces of the American Dead in Vietnam,’ LIFE Magazine, Jun -
The Pentagon Papers
The New York Times begins publishing portions of the "Pentagon Papers." Daniel Ellsberg, an American military analyst with an extremely high-level security clearance and a former employee of the RAND Corporation, has leaked the documents to reporter Neil Sheehan. They contain top-secret information collected by the Department of Defense about U.S. political and military involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967.
Waxman, O. (2013, June 10). TIME’s 1971 Cover Stories on Daniel Ellsberg and the Pent -
Vietnam Ceasefire Signed
Representatives from South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and the United States sign a peace agreement in which a ceasefire is declared, the U.S. agrees to withdraw combat troops, and the government of South Vietnam promises to hold free elections to allow its people to decide their future
Source:Gwertzman, B. (2011, January 1). Vietnam Accord is Reached; Cease-Fire Begins Saturday; P.O.W.'s to be Free in 60 Days. . Retrieved , from https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0123.html -
Thousands Flee Saigon
The New York Times features an image of hundreds of South Vietnamese civilians scrambling to board a single U.S. helicopter. During the final weeks of April, an invasion of Saigon by the North Vietnamese has become certain, and thousands attempt to flee the region.
Source:Learning Network. (2012, April 30). April 30, 1975 | Saigon Falls. . Retrieved , from http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/30/april-30-1975-saigon-falls/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0 -
Time Declares Ho Chi Minh "The Victor"
Just days after the government of South Vietnam surrendered to the VC and North Vietnamese armies, Ho Chi Minh appears on the cover of Time magazine, this time with the heading, "The Victor."
Source:A & E Television. (2014, January 1). Ho Chi Mihn. . Retrieved , from http://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/ho-chi-minh
