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French Defeated at Dien Bien Phu
On may 7th 1954 after a large battle that lasted almost 2 months between the French and the Vietnamese, the french were defeated and then led to the French agreeing to have all of their forces leave vietnam and surrounding areas. Peace and treaties did not follow and later led to U.S involvement beginning in Vietnam -
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The Beginning and End Of the Vietnam War
The Vietnam War deciding event happend April 30th, 1975 when saigon fell to the NVA -
Ngo Dinh Diem is Overthrown
On November 2nd 1963, South Vietnam's president, Ngo Dinh Diem, is overthrown assassinated, along with his brother who was also killed. Diem was intially backed by the U.S but they gave the Okay that it was alright for Diem to be overthrown -
The Gulf Of Tonkin Incident
On August 2nd, 1964 the Destroyer USS Maddox had an engagement with North Vietnamese torpedo boats that resulted in one u.s aircraft being damaged but there were no American casualties. The outcome of this event another similar sea battle made the president want to take action against the vietnamese. To this day the events that happend about these small conflicts are controversial and debated whether the truth was told. -
The Resolution
On August 7th 1964 due to the gulf on tonkin incidents between the U.S and North Vietnamese, congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which granted President Lyndon B. Johnson a "blank check" to do anything he believed to be necessary to protect the United States. This led to The Vietnam War starting and increases in the amount of american troops in vietnam drastically. -
The Battle Of La Drang
On November 14th 1965, the battle of La Drang started that lasted 4 days and was the first major battle of the Vietnam War. It is seen as a U.S victory due to that the strategy had been "body count" as it has been claimed the kill ratio from NVA to U.S soldier was 10 to 1. -
Operation Masher
On Januray 24th 1966, the largest search and destroy mission up to that point in the war, Operation Masher, 2,389 Viet Cong casualties are reported. The name of the operation is changed from Operation Masher to White Wing at the insistence of the President. The operation combined US and Vietnamese troops in sweeps and amphibious assaults. Operation Masher continued until March 6 and soon the strategy of the U.S was starting to be questioned. -
The Tet Offensive
On January 31st 1968 was the day of a vietnamese holiday and americans thought that the day was going to be peaceful, they were wrong as one thousand Viet Cong troops infiltrate the city of Saigon as a surprise. The Communist troops capture the Citadel at Hue and seize part of the US embassy in Saigon. But the U.S prevailed and the attack is a military disaster for the Viet Cong as they lost over 10,000 men and do not manage to hold any of their objectives. -
Massacre at Mai Lai
On March 16th, 1968 a unit of Charlie Company 1st Battalion 20th Infantry slaughtered between 200 and 500 unarmed villagers in the vietnamese village of My Lai. Led by Lieutenant William Calley, the platoon is ordered to enter the village and "clear it out." William Calley and other American officers are convicted of war crimes. -
Battle At Hamburger Hill
On may 10th 1969, a 10 day battle starts with the U.S and South Vietnamese troops fighting for Ap Bia Mountain. By the end of the battle 56 Americans are killed and 420 are wounded, the troops capture the hill and kill 597 Vietnamese.The hill is recorded in history as Hamburger Hill, The battle is one of the last major actions of its type in the war as soon withdrawl from the war started to occur by president nixon. -
U.S Withdrawl from Vietnam and The Fall of Saigon
On April 30th 1975, the vietnam war looked to be at a final end with the surrender of the south vietnamese soldiers and as Saigon had been took over by the NVA. For the past 6 years U.S soldiers had been drastically being withdrawn from vietnam and the United States slowly ended involvement. The War is seen an a failure as Communist government was able to takeover Vietnam.
