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Eisenhower Cites "Domino Theory" Regarding Southeast Asia
After Vietminh at Dienbienphu defeated the French, President Eisenhower outlines the Domino Theory. -
Ho Chi Minh visits Moscow
He agrees to accept the Soviet's aid. -
U.S. Training South Vietnamese
The U.S. Military Assistance Advisor Group (M.A.A.G.) assumes responsibility from the French for training South Vietnamese forces. -
Communist Insurgency in South Vietnam
There were bombings and assasinations. By the end of the year almost 400 North Vietnamese officials were killed. -
Kennedy Elected President
John F. Kennedy narrowly defeats Richard Nixon for the presidency. In his inaugural address, Kennedy declares that Americans will be ready to "...bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty." -
Kennedy Authorizes Green Berets
President Kennedy sends 400 American Green Beret 'Special Advisors' to South Vietnam to train South Vietnamese soldiers in methods of 'counter-insurgency' in the fight against Viet Cong guerrillas. -
U.S. Military Employs Agent Orange
The U.S. Air Force begins using Agent Orange -- a gas that came in metal orange containers-to expose roads and trails used by Vietcong forces. -
President Kennedy Assassinated in Dallas
Kennedy's death puts the problem of how to proceed in Vietnam on the shoulders of his vice president, Lyndon Johnson. -
President Johnson orders Operation Rolling Thunder.
U.S. sends 3,500 marines to the air base at Danang. Expanding the U.S. role from an advisory one, this action is the first commitment of U.S. ground troops in combat in Vietnam -
U.S. Troop Levels Top 200,000
More and more troops are sent over. -
North Vietnamese Launch Tet Offensive
In a show of military might that catches the U.S. military off guard, North Vietnamese and Vietcong forces sweep down upon several key cities and provinces in South Vietnam, including its capital, Saigon. Within days, American forces turn back the onslaught and recapture most areas. From a military point of view, Tet is a huge defeat for the Communists, but turns out to be a political and psychological victory. The U.S. military's assessment of the war is questioned and the "end of the tunnel" s -
Policy of "Vietnamization" Announced
Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird describes a policy of "Vietnamization" when discussing a diminishing role for the U.S. military in Vietnam. The objective of the policy is to shift the burden of defeating the Communists onto the South Vietnamese Army and away from the United States. -
End of Military Draft Announced
No more men are sent to Vietnam. -
Last Americans Evacuate as Saigon Falls to Communists
South Vietnamese president Duong Van Minh delivers an unconditional surrender to the Communists in the early hours of April 30. North Vietnamese colonel Bui Tin accepts the surrender and assures Minh, "...only the Americans have been beaten. If you are patriots, consider this a moment of joy." As the few remaining Americans evacuate Saigon, the last two U.S. servicemen to die in Vietnam are killed when their helicopter crashes. -
Ford Calls Vietnam War "Finished"
U.S. president Gerald Ford, speaking in New Orleans, announces that as far as the U.S. is concerned, the Vietnam War is "finished."
