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Indipendence From France
Ho Chi Ming led an independence movement against the French, using rebellious tactics to gain victories. He also gained a lot of support from the people, becuase they were tired of French rule. Ho Chi Ming won a victory at Dien Ben Phu and, although the French were better armed and equipped, they still failed to hold onto their colony. They came to terms with Ho Chi Ming and left Vietnam. -
Tunnel Rats
The Vietcong used elaborate tunnel systems to store food and ammunition as well as housing medical and combat facilities. The largest tunnel systems in South Vietnam (some under US bases) could be as vast as 125 miles long and were built to withstand bombings, explosions, poison gas etc. Many of the systems were built using forced labor from surrounding villages. Special US soldiers called "Tunnel Rats" would crawl through the systems to find the enemy. -
Geneva Accords
The terms called for a cease-fire line along the 17th parallel (dividing Vietnam in two); 300 days for each side to withdraw its troops to its side of the line; and communist troops and guerrillas to evacuate Laos and Cambodia, where free elections would be held in 1955 and where French troops could be stationed if the Laotian or Cambodian governments should so request. -
Kennedy and Diem Meet
After a meeting between South Vietnam's President Diem and Kennedy, the United States agrees to increase the number of American advisors in Vietnam from 340 to 805. -
"Agent Organge"
The U.S. Air Force launches Operation Ranch Hand to deny the Vietcong the use of the road and trails. Using a defoliating herbicide named "Agent Orange", over 10% of the vegetation in Vietnam is destroyed during the course of the war. The defoliant also causes severe disabilities among Vietnam veterans. -
Governement Troops Fire on Buhdists
South Vietnamese troops, enforcing a ban on the Buddhist multi-colored flag, fire on 20,000 Buddhists. The attack begins a series of intensifying protests by Buddhists against the government. -
Monk Sets Himself on Fire
The man sits in the central market square, he has set himself on fire performing a ritual suicide in protest against governmental anti-Buddhist policies. Crowds gathered to protest, after the South Vietnamese government prohibited Buddhists from carrying flags on Buddha's birthday. Government troops opened fire to disperse the dissidents, killing nine people, Diems government blamed the incident on the Vietcong and never admitted responsibility. The Buddhist leadership quickly -
Military Engage
The 1st Air Cavalry fought some fierce battles in the Ia Drang Valley region of the Central Highlands. The battle marked the first military engagement between US and North Vietnamese ground forces. The US gave heavy casualties on the North Vietnamese (2500 dead) and lost 234 of its own soldiers with an additional 300 being wounded. -
Operation Thayer II
US wanted to eliminate the communist North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong influence in Binh Dinh province on the central coast of South Vietnam.The sustained operations were deemed a success by the United States which claimed that more than 2,500 communist soldiers were killed by American forces at a loss of about 300 American dead. -
Accidental Bomb Dropping
Vietnamese children flee from their homes in Trang Bang June 8th, 1972. A South Vietnamese air force plane has accidentally dropped a napalm bomb on the village 26 miles outside of Saigon. This is without a doubt one of the most remembered images of the war. 25 years later, the young girl running naked from her village, Phan Thi Kim Phuc, was named a UNESCO goodwill ambassador. This is a very famous picture, and in my oppinion encapsolated the fear that the vietnamese people lived in.
