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The Beginning of the Conflict
WW2 in the Pacific ended, and Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam independence. Japanese signed a treaty to end the war in the Pacific, and Ho Chi Mihn declared himself president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Ho searched for American recognition but Harry S Truman ignored him. -
Eisenhower cites the Domino Theory
President Eisenhower gave a speech and cited the Domino Theory, a theory where people believed that, if one country fell to Communism, the surrounding countries would follow. This was because North Vietnam was taken over by Communists and it was spreading to South Vietnam. It scared America and made us get involved in the war to put a stop to the spread of Communism. -
Indochina War
The Geneva Conference on Indochina began, attended by the U.S., Britain, China, the Soviet Union, France, Vietnam (Viet Minh and representatives of Bao Dai), Cambodia and Laos. They all met to negotiate a solution for Southeast Asia.In an effort to resolve several problems in Asia, including the war between the French and Vietnamese nationalists in Indochina, representatives from the world's powers meet in Geneva. The conference marked a turning point in the United States' involvement in Vietnam -
Campaign of terror against villages controlled by Diem
There was growing opposition to Diem's role as leader in some places. There was a campaign of terror, including bombings and assassinations by Viet Minh and guerillas. By year's end, over 400 South Vietnamese officials are killed. -
Vietcong Formed
Ho Chi Minh will later send many back to infiltrate South Vietnam as part of his People's Liberation Armed Forces. Called Viet Cong by Diem, meaning Communist Vietnamese, Ho's guerrillas blend into the countryside, indistinguishable from South Vietnamese, while working to undermine Diem's government. They fought American soldiers and caused many deaths. -
U.S. Military begins using agent orange.
Agent orange was an herbicide used in the Vietnam war. Because of the thick jungles, American soldiers had a hard time navigating and fighting. Agent orange not only killed plants, but had long-term health problem effects on people, such as cancer. -
Gulf of Tonkin
In the Gulf of Tonkin incident, North Vietnamese torpedo boats supposedly attacked the USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin, off Vietnam, in a pair of assaults on August 2 and 4 of 1964. It was the basis for the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, which committed major American forces to the war in Vietnam. The resolution passed the House of Representatives unanimously, and passed in the Senate with only two dissenting votes. -
U.S. Arial Bombing-Operation Rolling Thunder
U.S. military aircraft attacked targets throughout North Vietnam from March 1965 to October 1968. This massive bombardment was intended to put military pressure on North Vietnam’s Communist leaders and reduce their capacity to wage war against the U.S.-supported government of South Vietnam. Some claim that the bombing campaign came close to crippling North Vietnam’s capacity to wage war, while others contend the campaign’s effectiveness was limited. -
First U.S. ground troops sent to Vietnam
In response to the Gulf of Tonkin Incident of August 2 and 4, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson, per the authority given to him by Congress in the subsequent Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, decided to escalate the Vietnam Conflict by sending U.S. ground troops to Vietnam. On March 8, 1965, 3,500 U.S. Marines landed near Da Nang in South Vietnam; they are the first U.S. troops arrive in Vietnam. -
Tet Offensive
tet videoOn January 31, 1968, some 70,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces launched the Tet Offensive (named for the lunar new year holiday called Tet), a coordinated series of fierce attacks on more than 100 cities and towns in South Vietnam. General Vo Nguyen Giap, leader of the Communist People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN), planned the offensive in an attempt both to foment rebellion among the South Vietnamese population and encourage the United States to scale back its support of the Saigon regime. -
Policy of “Vietnamization” Announced
U.S. President Richard Nixon introduced a new strategy called Vietnamization that was aimed at ending American involvement in the Vietnam War by transferring all military responsibilities to South Vietnam. The increasingly unpopular war had created deep divisions in American society. Nixon believed his Vietnamization strategy would prepare the South Vietnamese to take responsibility for their own defense against a Communist takeover and allow the U.S. to leave the conflict with its honor intact. -
Kent State Incident
Members of the Ohio National Guard fired into a crowd of Kent State University demonstrators, killing four and wounding nine Kent State students. They were killed because they were antiwar protestors. The event triggered a nationwide student strike that forced hundreds of colleges and universities to close. -
Watergate Scandal
Nixon sent people to break into the Watergate complex to spy on his his democrat competitors. They were caught, and traced back to Nixon. To avoid impeachment, Nixon resigned. -
U.S. Troops withdrawn from Vietnam
The last remaining American troops withdraw from Vietnam as President Nixon declares "the day we have all worked and prayed for has finally come." America's longest war, and its first defeat, thus concludes. During 15 years of military involvement, over 2 million Americans served in Vietnam with 500,000 seeing actual combat. 47,244 were killed in action, including 8000 airmen. There were 10,446 non-combat deaths. 153,329 were seriously wounded, including 10,000 amputees. -
Vietnam War ends
Sources used:
http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/vietnam/index-1945.html
http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq120-1.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/geneva-conference-begins
http://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/operation-rolling-thunder
http://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/tet-offensive
http://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnamization
http://dept.kent.edu/sociology/lewis/lewihen.htm
http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/vietnam/index-1969.html