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1954 - French attacked at DIen Bien Phu Outpost
1954 – (March) French attacked at Dien Bien Phu Outpost, N. Vietnamese attack it over the span of about two months causing thousands of casualties on both sides. -
1954 N. Vietnam captures Dien Bien Phu
1954 – (May) N. Vietnam captures Dien Bien Phu Outpost leading to French retreat from Vietnam. -
Geneva Convention Meeting
1954 (May-July) – Geneva Convention is attended by U.S., Britain, China, Soviet Union, France, and Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos to negotiate a solution. Vietnam is then divided into N. Vietnam and S. Vietnam across the 17th parallel. -
JFK Sends S. Vietnam Help
1961 (late 1961) – JFK orders more help for South Vietnam including new equipment and over 3,000 U.S. military advisers and support personnel. -
America's first combat mission
1962 (January) – America’s first combat mission begins, Operation Chopper. Helicopters flown by U.S. pilots ferry 1,000 Vietnamese soldiers on a sweep stronghold near Saigon. -
Operation Ranchhand begins
1962 (Early 1962) – Operation Ranchhand: Agent Orange is starting to be used to eliminate vegetation that hides as well as crops that feed Vietcong members. -
Gulf Of Tonkin/Resolution
1964 – Gulf of Tonkin – (August) US. Warship shot a small amount which was nothing serious as the U.S. were helping South Vietnam on an attack, but LBJ uses this to get the U.S. citizens riled up, a reason to escalate the U.S. participation in the war. -
Operation Rolling Thunder
1965 – Operation Rolling Thunder (February) LBJ authorizes this long term bombing offensive with the goal of stopping N. Vietnam from helping Vietcong guerillas in the South. -
Tet Offensive
1968 – Tet Offensive – (Early 1968) N. Vietnam uses truce of Tet to launch a full offensive. Almost all of S. Vietnam’s urban areas were captured. -
Operation Menu
1969 – February – President Nixon authorizes Operation Menu, the bombing of N. Vietnamese and Vietcong bases in Cambodia. Over the next four years, over half a million bombs are dropped on Cambodia. -
Nixon withdraws 25,000 U.S. troops
1969 – June – President Nixon meets with S. Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu and announces 25,000 U.S. troops will be withdrawn immediately. -
Vietnam Cease Fire
1973 – January – All warring parties in the Vietnam War sign a cease fire. -
America Leaving S. Vietnam
1973 – March – The last American combat soldiers are flown out of South Vietnam, over the course of the war, over 58,000 American soldiers died, 1,000 were MIA, and 150,000 were seriously wounded. -
Fall of Saigon
1975 – Fall of Saigon, Saigon is encircled, 30,000 S. Vietnamese troops are inside the city but leaderless. The city erupts in chaos and looting. -
U.S. Conclusion in Vietnam
1975 – April, the last U.S. marines depart Saigon, concluding the U.S.’ presence in the war. N. Vietnamese soldiers pour into Saigon and over take it.
