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The Geneva Accords divide Vietnam in half at the 17th parallel
The 17th parallel division between North and South Vietnam was the result of the Geneva Confernce of 1954 which ended the French war in Vietnam -
MyLai Massacre
A unit of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion 20th Infantry, slaughter between 200 and 500 unarmed villagers in the hamlet of My Lai. Led by Lieutenant William Calley, the platoon is ordered to enter the village firing. -
JFK and Ngo Dinh Diem meet
Following 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. -
President Johnson declares he will not "lose Vietnam" during a meeting with Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge in Washington.
While in a meeting with Henry Cabot Lodge, ambassador of America in Vietnam, in Washington Presidant Johnson declares he will not "lose Vietnem" to communism while he was in office. -
Diem overthrown
South Vietnam's President Diem is overthrown in a military coup. The coup takes place with the tacit approval of the United States. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Congress passed this Gulf of Tonkin Resolution on August 7 by a vote of 416 to 0 in the House of Representatives and 88 to 2 in the Senate. Johnson had been waiting for some time for an opportunity to propose the resolution, which, he noted, “covered everything.” The President now had nearly complete control over what the United States did in Vietnam, even without an official declaration of war from Congress. -
Operation Rolling Thunder begins
The title of a gradual and sustained U.S. 2nd Air Division (later Seventh Air Force), U.S. Navy, and Republic of Vietnam Air Force (VNAF) aerial bombardment campaign conducted against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) during the Vietnam War. -
Massive anti-war demonstrations held in the U.S.
Massive demonstrations are held throughout the US against the war. Protestors in New York City's Central Park, burn 200 draft cards. -
President Nixon stuns Americans by announcing U.S. and South Vietnamese incursion into Cambodia
President Nixon stuns Americans by announcing a U.S. and South Vietnamese incursion into Cambodia in response to continuing Communist gains against Lon Nol's forces. The incursion is and is also intended to weaken overall NVA military strength as a prelude to U.S. departure from Vietnam.
