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Geneva Conference
The Geneva Conference was an international meeting involving the Soviet Union, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, China and the Viet Minh, and was initaially created to secure peace for Vietnam. Vietnam was split into two portions (North and South). http://www.ppu.org.uk/learn/texts/doc_geneva_con.html -
International Control Commission
International Control Commission declares that both North and South Vietnam failed to meet the Geneva agreements. The South, governed by Diem refused to hold the elections that were required by the Geneva accord to choose who would govern the entire nation and re-unify the country. The North, governed by the Communists under the watch of Ho Chi Minh,
refused to consider itself bound to the agreements of the Geneva meeting. http://circle.ubc.ca/handle/2429/19444 -
North Vs South
Viet Minh leads men and wepons in to infiltrate South Vietnam. 400 South Vietnamese officials were killed. http://www.landscaper.net/namstory.htm -
Foreign Advisors
J.F.K. sends 400 American combat troops, as advisors, into South Vietnam. Foreign military aid to both sides (U.S. aid to the South, and Soviet and Chinese aid to the North) increases. By 1962 the amount of American advisors in South Vietnam increased to 12,000. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/kennedy_vietnam.htm -
Memorandum 263
Kennedy signs National Security Memorandum No. 263 that is a plan to “Vietnamize” the war - and withdraw U.S. troops from Vietnam. After JFK’s assassination on November 22, this executive order is rescinded by the new president, Lyndon Johnson in NSM No. 273. This is the first step toward full-scale war. http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/w6LJoSnW4UehkaH9Ip5IAA.aspx -
Operation Rolling Thunder
After the US learn that the NLF terrorists attacked the barracks at Qui Nhon with a bomb killing 23 American soldiers, the decided to retaliate. Two months later B-52 bombers were employed for the first time. Operation Rolling Thunder began. http://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/operation-rolling-thunder -
My Lai Massacre
US Army unit massacres hundreds, more than 500, of unarmed villagers, including women and children, in My Lai, South Vietnam. The Army will conceal this fact for more than a year, claiming it as a significant “victory” over the NLF. http://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/my-lai-massacre -
Ho Chi Minh's Death
After the Ho Chi Minh, President Nixon begins to reduce US ground troops in Vietnam. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/ho-chi-minh-dies -
Rumors of My Lai
Rumors begin to circulate about a massacre of the Vietnamese committed by US troops. Army Lieutenant William Calley is arrested secretly and charged with 109 murders of Vietnamese civilians. The first reports of a massacre at the village of My Lai are published in over thirty newspapers. This causes turmoil and strengthens Anti-War sentiment. http://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/my-lai-massacre -
Ceasefire Agreement
Secret ceasefire meetings were revealed to have happened in Paris for the past three years. By March all US troop were pulled out of South Vietnam. This caused the amount of aid from the US to South Vietnam to decrease. South Vietnam began to experience political and economic instability. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/cease-fire-goes-into-effect -
North Invades South
North Vietnamese troops invade South Vietnam and take control of the whole country after South Vietnamese President Duong Van Minh surrenders. http://www.vietnamwar.net/DuongVanMinh.htm
