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The Geneva Accords
arranged a settlement which brought about an end to the First Indochina war. The agreement was reached at the end of the Geneva Conference. A ceasefire was signed and France agreed to withdraw its troops from the region. French Indochina was split into three countries: Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Vietnam was to be temporarily divided along the 17th Parallel until elections could be held to unite the country -
Ngo Diem Meets with JFK
Ambassador Lodge meets President Diem for the first time. Under instructions from President Kennedy, Lodge tells Diem to fire his brother, the much-hated Nhu, and to reform his government. But Diem arrogantly refuses even to discuss such matters with Lodge -
Diem Overthrown
On orders from U.S. President John F. Kennedy, Henry Cabot Lodge, the American ambassador to South Vietnam, refused to meet with Diệm. Upon hearing that a coup d'état was being designed by ARVN generals led by General Dương Văn Minh, the United States gave secret assurances to the generals that the U.S. would not interfere. Dương Văn Minh and his co-conspirators overthrew the government on November 1, 1963 -
President Johnson declares he will not "lose Vietnam" during a meeting with Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge in Washington
President Johnson declares he will not "lose Vietnam" during a meeting with Ambassador Lodge in Washington.By year's end, there are 16,300 American military advisors in South Vietnam which received $500 million in U.S. aid during 1963 -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
A joint resolution which the United States Congress passed on August 7, 1964 in response to a sea battle between the North Vietnamese Navy's Torpedo Squadron 135 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 Tonkin Incident. -
Operation Rolling Thunder begins
Sustained American bombing raids of North Vietnam, dubbed Operation Rolling Thunder, begin in February. The nearly continuous air raids would go on for three years. -
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. -
Mylai 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 -
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.