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The Geneva Accords divide Vietnam in half at the 17th parallel
This international conference met in Geneva, Switzerland. After the French defeat in Vietnam, representatives of Ho Chi Minh, Bao Dai, Cambodia, Laos, France, the United States, the Soviet Union, China, and Britain arranged a peace settlement. As a result of the Geneva Accords, Vietnam was divided into two separate nations in July 1954. Although the border between the two nations was often referred to as the 17th parallel, the demarcation line set in Geneva was actually a few miles south. -
JFK and Ngo Dinh Diem meet
The United States decides to increase it's number of American Advisors in Vietnam from 340 to 805 after a meeting between John F. Kennedy and Ngo Dinh Diem. The Kennedy Administration has officially commited the United States to support the efforts in Vietnam. -
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. he didnt want to see Vietnam go the way China had. -
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. Diem was killed during the coup, despite assurances that he would not be. The United States had hoped that by overthrowing the unpopular Diem, it could strengthen the opposition to the communist Viet Cong. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
It was a joint resolution in response to a sea battle between the North Vietnamese Navy's Torpedo Squadron 135[1] and the destroyer USS Maddox on August 2 and an alleged second naval engagement between North Vietnamese boats and the US destroyers USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy on August 4 in the Tonkin Gulf; both naval actions are known collectively as the Gulf of Toncollectively as the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. -
Operation Rolling Thunder begins
Operation Rolling Thunder begins with more than 100 United States Air Force jet bombers striking an ammunition depot at Xom Bang, 10 miles inside North Vietnam. Simultaneously, 60 South Vietnamese Air Force propeller planes bombed the Quang Khe naval base, 65 miles north of the 17th parallel. Six U.S. planes were downed, but only one U.S. pilot was lost. Capt. Hayden J. Lockhart, flying an F-100, was shot down and became the first Air Force pilot to be taken prisoner by the North Vietnamese. -
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. -
My Lai Massacre
was the mass murder of 347–504 unarmed citizens in South Vietnam on March 16, 1968, conducted by a unit of the United States Army. All of the victims were civilians and most were women, children (including babies), and elderly people. Many of the victims were raped, beaten, tortured, and some of the bodies were found mutilated. The massacre took place in the hamlets of Mỹ Lai and My Khe of Sơn Mỹ village during the Vietnam War. While 26 US soldiers were initially charged with criminal offense. -
• 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
