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Period: to
Vietnam
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Battle of Dienbienphu Begins:
A force of 40,000 heavily armed Vietminh lay seige to the French garrison at Dienbienphu. Using Chinese artillery to shell the airstrip, the Vietminh make it impossible for French supplies to arrive by air. It soon becomes clear that the French have met their match. -
Terrorist Bombings Rock Saigon:
Thirteen Americans working for MAAG and US Information Service are wounded in terrorist bombings in Saigon. -
Diem Becomes President of Republic of Vietnam:
Diem defeats Bao Dai in rigged election and proclaims himself President of Republic of Vietnam. -
Kennedy Elected President:
John F. Kennedy narrowly defeats Richard Nixon for the presidency. -
Battle of Ap Bac:
Vietcong units defeat South Vietnamese Army (ARVN) in Battle of Ap Bac -
Martin Luther King Speaks Out Against War:
Calling the US "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world," Martin Luther King publicly speaks out against US policy in Vietnam. King later encourages draft evasion and suggests a merger between antiwar and civil rights groups. -
Gulf of Tonkin Incident:
On August 2, three North Vietnamese PT boats allegedly fire torpedoes at the USS Maddox, a destroyer located in the international waters of the Tonkin Gulf, some thirty miles off the coast of North Vietnam. The attack comes after six months of covert US and South Vietnamese naval operations. A second, even more highly disputed attack, is alleged to have taken place on August 4. -
US Military Employs Agent Orange:
US Air Force begins using Agent Orange -- a defoliant that came in metal orange containers-to expose roads and trails used by Vietcong forces. -
Operation "Rolling Thunder" Deployed:
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. -
Heavy Fighting at Ia Drang Valley:
The first conventional battle of the Vietnam war takes place as American forces clash with North Vietnamese units in the Ia Drang Valley. The US 1st Air Cavalry Division employs its newly enhanced technique of aerial reconnaissance to finally defeat the NVA, although heavy casualties are reported on both sides. -
Veterans Stage Anti-War Rally:
Veterans from World Wars I and II, along with veterans from the Korean war stage a protest rally in New York City. Discharge and separation papers are burned in protest of US involvement in Vietnam. -
Operation Cedar Falls Begins:
In a major ground war effort dubbed Operation Cedar Falls, about 16,000 US and 14,000 South Vietnamese troops set out to destroy Vietcong operations and supply sites near Saigon. A massive system of tunnels is discovered in an area called the Iron Triangle, an apparent headquarters for Vietcong personnel. -
Battle for Hue:
The Battle for Hue wages for 26 days as US and South Vietnamese forces try to recapture the site seized by the Communists during the Tet Offensive. Previously, a religious retreat in the middle of a war zone, Hue was nearly leveled in a battle that left nearly all of its population homeless. Following the US and ARVN victory, mass graves containing the bodies of thousands of people who had been executed during the Communist occupation are discovered. -
Nixon Begins Secret Bombing of Cambodia:
In an effort to destroy Communist supply routes and base camps in Cambodia, President Nixon gives the go-ahead to "Operation Breakfast." The covert bombing of Cambodia, conducted without the knowledge of Congress or the American public, will continue for fourteen months. -
Cease-fire Signed in Paris:
A cease-fire agreement that, in the words of Richard Nixon, "brings peace with honor in Vietnam and Southeast Asia," is signed in Paris by Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho. The agreement is to go into effect on January 28.End of Draft Announced
