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Communist North vs. Anticommunist South
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United States aids French with war effort in Indochina
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United States supports South Vietnam against communism; SEATO is formed.
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World powers agree to a divided Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh leads the Communist North Vietnam, while the United States leads South Vietnam.
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Ho Chi Minh’s Viet Minh forces defeat the French at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, ending the Indochina War.
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John F. Kennedy wins the U.S. presidential election against Richard Nizon; Lyndon B. Johnson is vice president.
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Some South Vietnamese, backed by the North Vietnamese Communist Party, form the National Liberation Front aka the Vietcong.
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United States CIA fail the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba.
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US aircraft starts spraying Agent Orange and other herbicides over rural areas of South Vietnam to kill vegetation that would offer cover and food to Vietnamese.
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The government of Ngo Dinh Diem opens fire on a crowd of Buddhist protestors in the central Vietnam city of Hue, 8 people died.
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Kennedy is assassinated and Johnson becomes president.
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Two US destroyers stationed in the Gulf of Tonkin in Vietnam were fired upon by North Vietnamese forces, in response President Johnson requested permission from the U.S. Congress to increase the U.S. military presence in Indochina.
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In the Ia Drang Valley, American troops fight their first large scale battles against the North Vietnamese Army.
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U.S. Army and Marines face multiple onslaughts from North Vietnamese in border battles.
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In the United States, thousands of antiwar protesters gather for demonstrations in New York’s Central Park and in Washington.
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A series of communist major attacks, often surprise attacks.
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American soldiers kill more than 500 unarmed civilians in the city of My Lai.
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Nixon is elected president and promises to end the war in Vietnam.
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he United States government institutes a draft, prompting more young American men aka “draft dodgers", to flee to Canada.
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Four students at Kent State are shot by National Guardsmen during an antiwar protest.
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The South Vietnamese repelled North Vietnamese forces in the Easter Offense invasions by the North.
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Cease-fire agreement is made between the United States and North Vietnam, United States prisoners of war return home.
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The final Unites States combat troops leave South Vietnam.
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Nixon resigns due to likely impeachment after the Watergate Scandal is revealed; Ford becomes president.
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The Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Wall is opened in Washington, DC.
