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Dien Bien Phu
An assault by the Vietminh on the French stronghold at Dien Bien Phu shattered the French resolve, though the French had less casualties. -
Creation of the Ho Chi Minh trail
This route was used to get supplys from North vietnam to forces in South vietnam. It was along the Cambodia-Vietnam border. -
Operation Ranchhand
Used agent orange to kill vegetation along highways, to reveal the vietcong & their hiding places. -
US becomes actively involved
Operation Chopper flew one thousand South Vietnamese soldiers to sweep an NLF stronghold. -
Gulf of Tonkin Attack
South Vietnam attacked North vietnamese islands while the US destroyer Maddox simulated an airstrike to draw away N Vietnamese forces. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
This resolution gave Johnson the authority to do whatever he deemed necessary to protect American troops -
Rolling Thunder Begins
Rolling thunder lasted three and a half years, and was a series of bombimgs to force North Vietnam to stop supporting guerillas in the south -
President Johnson commits over 60,000 troops to Vietnam
This happens after vietnam rejected the US's peace offer -
US offers peace for economic aid proposal
This proposal was rejected, and two weeks later Johnson increased troops in Vietnam, with Korea and Australia also sending troops. -
First major battle of Vietnam War for American Units
General Westmoreland pushed to a point just north of Saigon -
Operation Junction City
240 Helicopters sweep Tay Ninh to try and destroy vietcong bases. There was capturing of a lot of materials, but no decisive battles -
Khe Sanh attacked by Vietcong
At 5:30 AM, the Vietcong attacked and instantly killed 18 men, with 40 wounded. This attack continued for 2 days. -
TET Offensive begins
These attacks were launched to force the US into a truce, but resulted in heavy communist casualties. -
My Lai massacre
The killing of 200 unarmed civilians by US troops of Charlie Company greatly belittles earlier US accomplishments. -
Nixon Takes office
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Operation Menu
This operation was the bombing of vietcong bases in Cambodia, and lasted four years. In that time, the US dropped over 1/2 a million tons of bombs. -
All but 133,000 US troops have come home
2/3 of the troops were recalled in 2 years, and now the ground war is mostly Vietnam -
Peace talks break down
The talks, held in Paris, were between North vietnam and the Americans -
Peace talks resume
Peace talks resume in Paris -
Cease fire signed
All warring parties of the vietnam war sign a cease fire -
Nixon resigns
Nixon resigns, and leaves vietnam without it's strongest advocate -
Last casualties for the US and final evacuation
The US airlifts out their last troops, and North Vietnamese tanks roll into saigon. This effectively ends the war. In the 15 years, the NVA suffered almost a million deaths and the South Vietnamese almost a quarter million. Around 100,000 civilians were killed