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Japan invades Vietnam
Japan became one of the countries in the series of countries to rule Asian countries. The Chinese have had control over this region for over a hundred of years. From the late 1800's till WW2 the French ruled Vietnam. -
Vietnam declares independance
Vietnam declared indépendance in 1945. France did not like this at all. They had no interest in losing their former colony. However French troops returned to Vietnam in 1946 and drove the Vietnamese into hiding. -
Truman makes decisions
Chinas fall to Communism, and Korean war helped convince Truman to aid France. China was not a communist country for the longest time. However they did fall to communism witch cause Truman to make decisions about what we should do. The Korean War also Brough up the idea that we should help aid France in the near future. -
Battle of Dien Bien Phu
French lost to the Vietnamese who used, hit and run tactics and ambush attacks. Rising casualties and lack of victories made the war unpopular with the public of the French. The turning point of this war came in the mountain town of Dien Bien Phu. The French planned to cut the Vietnam supply lines. -
Kennedy takes office
Kennedy is the newly elected President in 1961. He continued to support South Vietnam. he strongly believed that this country of South Vietnam was a curtail country in the battle against communism. From 1961 to late 1963, while the number of U.S. military jumped from about 2,000 to about 15,000. -
First U.S. deaths in combat
Marks the beginning of fighting in war for the U.S. The U.S. military entered Vietnam with great confidence in how they would perform. 2 American officials were killed, witch is the spark plug to us getting involved in this war. -
Execution of Ngo Dinh Diem
Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam was killed. In result of this the economy of South Vietnam went down hill. He was not a very popular leader in his country, many people didn't not like his ways of doing things. However he was a respected Nationalist. -
Assassination of JFK
President of the U.S. John F. Kennedy was assassinated. This happened just 3 weeks after Ngo Dien Diem of South Vietnam. Shortly, and almost immediately after this happened Lyndon B. Johnson steps into office. Lyndon respected a lot of the same things as JFK. -
Johnson starts war
North Vietnam launched 2 torpedoes at U.S. destroyer ships. This happened in the Gulf of Tonkin. Johnson ordered a U.S. aircraft to attack North Vietnamese ships and naval facilities. This was only one of the things Johnson did in retaliation. He also had the support of congress. They said the presedint can take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States, and to prevent further aggression. -
Invasions
180,000 U.S. troops were in Vietnam fighting. By the following year that number double to 360,000 troops fighting. This just goes to show how aggressive we were in attacking this head on. It also shows how important it was for us to win this war.
