Vietnam War

Battle of Dien Bien Phu

May 7, 1954

Ho Chi Minh’s Viet Minh forces defeat the French, ending the 7 1⁄2-year Indochina War.

The Geneva Accords

Jul 21, 1954

The Geneva Conference, intended to settle outstanding issues resulting from the Korean War and the First Indochina War, was a conference involving several nations that took place in Geneva, Switzerland,

Vietcong Formed

Dec 20, 1960

Southern revolutionaries, backed by the North Vietnamese Communist Party, form the National Liberation Front, known in Saigon and Washington as the Viet Cong.

PRESIDENT DIEM ASSASSINATED

Dec 2, 1963

President of South Vietnam and his brother are are murdered during a coup by dissident generals of the South Vietnamese army. President Kennedy would assassinated later that month.

Gulf of Tonkin Incident

Aug 2, 1964

Two supposed incidents in the Gulf of Tonkin led Johnson to seek congressional approval for direct U.S. involvement in Vietnam

The Tet Offensive

Jan 31, 1968

During the Tet Offensive, North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops launch surprise attacks against targets throughout South Vietnam - American support for the war weakens

Johnson

Mar 31, 1968

He announces he will not run for re-election

Nixon is elected President

Nov 5, 1968

Promising to end the war in Vietnam

Cease-Fire Agreement

Jan 27, 1973

Is reached between U.S. and North Vietnam, U.S. POWs begin to return home

Saigon Falls

Apr 3, 1975

marking the end of the Vietnam War & the beginning of formal reunification of Vietnam under Communist Rule.