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The Vietnam War (1964)
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Stuents Burn Draft Cards
Some 1,000 students gather in New York City to protest the Vietnam War. Twelve burn their Selective Service registration Cads - Draft Cards in a symbolic gesture of opposition to the war. -
North Vietnam Complains
North VIetnamese officials in Hanoi file a formal with a commision set up by the Genva Accords, declaring that under protection of American destroyers, South Vietnamese vessels had bombarded northern ports -
USS Maddox
Responding to raids on northern ports, North Vietnamese gunboats attack the USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin; the Maddox suffers little damage and no casualties are reported. The U.S. declares that its destroyer was on routine patrol in international waters and that it did nothing to provoke the attack, nor did it play any part in the South Vietnamese raids. Four years later, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara will admit that the U.S. had in fact cooperated with the South. -
First North Vietnam Bombing
The USS Maddox reports a second assult by North Vietnamese gunboats, though evidence of such an attack is inconclusive. President Lyndon B. Johnson orders retaliatory strikes. The U.S. bombs North Viet nam for the first time. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
The U.S. ongress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which gives President Johnson the power to take whatever actions he sees necessary to defend South Vietnam against Viet Cong forces. -
North Vietnamese Troops In South
The first unit of North Vietnamese troops is sent to the South; by May 1965 they will number 6,5000 -
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev is ousted from power, replaced by Leonid Brezhnev as leader of the U.S.S.R. -
Atomic Bomb
China tests its first Atomic Bomb. China, by this time, has also massed troops along its border with Vietnam, responding to U.S. escalation. -
Johnson Landslide
Lyndon B. Johnson wins the presidential election in a tremendous landslide. -
Central Highlands of South Vietnam
10,000 NVA soldiers arrive in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam via the Ho Chi Minh trail, carrying sophisticated weapons provided by China and the Soviet Union. They shore up Viet Cong battalions with the weapons and also provide experienced soldiers as leaders. -
Viet Cong Terrorists set off a Car Bomb
Viet Cong terrorists set off a car bomb explosion at the Brinks Hotel, an American officers' residence in downtown Saigon. The bomb is timed to detonate at 5:45 p.m., during 'happy hour' in the bar. Two Americans are killed and 58 wounded. President Johnson dismisses all recommendations for a retaliatory air strike against North Vietnam.
