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The Vietnam war begins!!
The war began in 1955 (though conflict in the region started back in the 1940s). Many say the Vietnam War was due to the consequences of the Cold War. Also with the threat of communisim in south-east Asia. -
Period: to
Vietnam Era
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Direct Aid to South Vietnam
President John F. Kennedy formally announces that the United States will increase aid to South Vietnam, which would include the expansion of the U.S. troop commitment. -
John f. Kennedy Wins Election
John F. Kennedy becomes the youngest man ever to be elected president of the United States narrowly beating Vice President Richard Nixon -
Vietcong Formed
Hanoi forms National Liberation Front for South Vietnam. Diem government dubs them "Vietcong." -
Kennedy assasinated!
President Kennedy is assasinated and President Nixon was the new running president. -
America uses new chemical attack Agent Orange
Agent Orange was a powerful mixture of chemical defoliants used by U.S. military forces during the Vietnam War to eliminate forest cover for North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops, as well as crops that might be used to feed them -
First U.S troops in Vietnam
The first American combat troops, the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade, arrive in Vietnam to defend the US airfield -
Student Involvement
The practice of protesting US policy in Vietnam by holding "teach-ins" is first started at University of Michigan. -
Beginning of Anti-war movement
The anti-war movement began mostly on college campuses, as members of the organization Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) -
Martin Luther King Jr. Involvement
Martin Luther King Speaks Out Against War saying the US "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world," Martin Luther King publicly speaks out against US policy in Vietnam -
Hippies Era
The growing anti-Vietnam war protests in the 1960s was a growing general disillusionment and emptiness of American life. As alienated kids protested, grew their hair and smoked their pot -
Pentagon Protest
Demonstrators including radicals, liberals, black nationalists, hippies, professors, women's groups, and war veterans march on the Pentagon to protest war -
Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive was the larges North Veitnam attacks in the war by surprise atacking South vietnam cities. -
President Nixon meets South Vietnam President
President Nixon meets with South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu and announces that 25,000 U.S. troops will be withdrawn. -
Nixon sends more troops
President Richard M. Nixon appeared on national television to announce the invasion of Cambodia by the United States and the need to draft 150,000 more soldiers for an expansion of the Vietnam War effort. -
Kent State Incident
National Guardsmen open fire on a crowd of student antiwar protesters at Kent State University. Resulting in the death of four people and the wounding of eight others. -
Kissinger Says "Peace Is At Hand"
Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho reach agreement in principle on several key measures leading to a cease-fire in Vietnam. -
U.S. military draft ends
The Selective Service announced that there would be no further draft calls. The decision came several months after President Richard M. Nixon had easily won reelection. -
Nixon resigns
On this day in 1974, President Richard M. Nixon resigns in the wake of the Watergate burglary scandal. He was the first president in American history to resign. -
America is Finished
The last American troops left South Vietnam today, leaving behind an unfinished war that has deeply scarred this country and the United States. -
War is announced Finished
Ford Calls Vietnam War "Finished" suspecting the fall of Saigon to Communist forces, US President Gerald Ford, speaking in New Orleans, announces that as far as the US is concerned, the Vietnam War is "finished."
