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Domino Theory
President Dwight D. Eisenhower coins one of the most famous Cold War phrases when he suggests the fall of French Indochina to the communists could create a “domino” effect in Southeast Asia. The so-called “domino theory” dominated U.S. thinking about Vietnam for the next decade. -
Assassination of Diem
On 1 November 1963, Ngô Đình Diệm, the president of South Vietnam, was arrested and assassinated in a successful coup d'état led by General Dương Văn Minh. The coup was the culmination of nine years of autocratic and nepotistic family rule in the country. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution authorized President Lyndon Johnson to “take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression” by the communist government of North Vietnam. -
LBJ Orders Troops to Vietnam
On March 8, 1965, 3,500 United States Marines came ashore at Da Nang as the first wave of U.S. combat troops into South Vietnam, adding to the 25,000 U.S. military advisers already in place. -
My Lai Massacre
In March 1968, soldiers from 'Charlie' Company were sent into areas believed to house Viet Cong soldiers and sympathisers. Operating under stress and with questionable intelligence and unclear orders, the soldiers entered the small hamlet of My Lai and began firing indiscriminately on people and buildings. -
Nixon Vietnamization Policy
President Nixon believed his Vietnamization strategy, which involved building up South Vietnam's armed forces and withdrawing U.S. troops, would prepare the South Vietnamese to act in their own defense against a North Vietnamese takeover and allow the United States to leave Vietnam with its honor intact. -
Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive consisted of simultaneous attacks by some 85,000 troops under the direction of the North Vietnamese government. The attacks were carried out against five major South Vietnamese cities, dozens of military installations, and scores of towns and villages throughout South Vietnam. -
Nixon Sends Troops to Cambodia
Nixon approved the use of American ground forces in Cambodia to fight alongside South Vietnamese troops attacking communist bases there on April 28, 1970. Nixon wanted to secure peace by training the South Vietnamese to fight the communists after U.S. troops left completely and to negotiate a peace settlement. -
Kent State Shooting
The killings took place during a peace rally opposing the expanding involvement of the Vietnam War into Cambodia by United States military forces as well as protesting the National Guard presence on campus. Victims were shot by the Ohio National Guard on May 4, 1970, one of the seminal events of the anti-Vietnam War movement in the United States. -
Hard Hat Riot
They did it because they were fed up with violence by antiwar demonstrators, by those who spat at the American flag and desecrated it.” The Nixon administration likewise framed the counter-protest as a genuine, and organic, expression of support for the war. -
Nixon's Christmas Bombing
Beginning on December 18, American B-52s and fighter-bombers dropped over 20,000 tons of bombs on the cities of Hanoi and Haiphong. The United States lost 15 of its giant B-52s and 11 other aircraft during the attacks. North Vietnam claimed that over 1,600 civilians were killed. The bombings continued until December 29, at which time the North Vietnamese agreed to resume the talks. -
Paris Peace Accords
In two short weeks, 25 percent of North Vietnam's oil reserves and 80 percent of its electrical capacity were destroyed. The U.S. lost 26 aircraft and 93 air force men. When peace talks resumed in Paris on January 8, 1973, an accord was reached swiftly. The peace agreement was formally signed on January 27, 1973. -
War Powers Act
The War Powers Resolution is a federal law intended to check the U.S. president's power to commit the United States to an armed conflict without the consent of the U.S. Congress. The resolution was adopted in the form of a United States congressional joint resolution. -
Saigon Falls
The phrase 'the fall of Saigon' refers to the takeover of the city by the Viet Cong two years later on 30 April 1975. It became a symbol of the war's futility. The US was forced to abandon its embassy in the city and evacuate more than 7,000 US citizens and South Vietnamese by helicopter. -
Geneva Accords
In July 1954, the Geneva Agreements were signed. As part of the agreement, the French agreed to withdraw their troops from northern Vietnam. Vietnam would be temporarily divided at the 17th parallel, pending elections within two years to choose a president and reunite the country.