-
First troops sent to Vietnam
John F. Kennedy send 400 combat troops to South Vietnam to watch over what happens. Eisenhower gave Kennedy a warning that the evetns going on in Asia will soon grow into a huge problem. In response, Kennady creates a secret military action plan in order to be ready for any out of control situations (he created special forces called the Green Berets). By the end of the year, Kennedy had sent 2,600 more troops to Vietnam. -
Period: to
Vietnam War
-
Operation Chopper
The first time the US were involved in major combat in the Vietnam War. A thousand South Vietnamese paratroopers dropped in on a Viet Cong base ten miles from Saigon. The Viet Cong were defeated but they learned some combat experience that would help them in some of the battles to come. -
Operation Ranchhand
This operation was used to destroy all the vegetation on the sides of roads to lessen the likelihood of the American troops and allies being ambushed by the Viet Cong. Agent Orange is used (which contains Dioxin). This also shows the troops the trails and bases the Viet Cong had been using. -
Students for a Democratic Society (S.D.S)
Students for a democratic society was holds its first convention in Port Huron, Michigan and is the start of anti-Vietnam War movement in the United States. -
Ap Bac
The first battle where the Viet Cong stand their ground against American machinery and South Vietnamese soldiers. The Viet Cong (514th Battalion of local guerrilla forces) ambushed the South Vietnamese. 400 Vietnamese soldiers are killed and three American advisors are slain. -
Buddhist Monks
In protest to the military government run by Prime Minister Air Marshall Ky and Head of State Nguyen van Thieu, Buddhist monks were involved in peaceful protests were they would douse themselves in gasoline, themselves on fire, and sit on a sidewalk for people to see. In three days, there were five suicides due to these peaceful protests. Quang Duc was made famous by being photographed setting himself on fire. -
John F. Kennady Assassination
Prior to Kennady's assassination, JFK signed the NSAM 263, which would call for the withdrawl of 1,000 of the 16,000 troops stationed in Vietnam. This was supposedly Kennady's first step in completely withdrawing the American troops from Vietnam. After the assassination, Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in. The turmoil in Vietnam had increased by his swearing in from the death of Ngo Dinh Diem so Johnson sent hundreds of thousands of troops to Vietnam. -
Gulf of Tonkin incident
The USS Maddox was on a reconnaissance mission off the coast of North Vietnam when it came under machine gun fire. A second report was also reported two days later. After this attack, President Johnson was given permission to do whatever necessary to repel the attack on the United States from Congress. -
Operation Rolling Thunder
This was a demonstration on the United States control of the skies and was meant to intimidate the North Vietnamese and to show that the North Vietnamese government wasn't fit enough. The bombings were only to last eight weeks but ended up going until October 1968. -
Battle of Song Be
The Viet Cong attack and attempt to gain control over Song Be, a provincial capital in South Vietnam. The VIet Cong attacked from every angle and even though the American positions weren't set up yet, they were able to stop the Viet Cong from taking over. The battle lasted five days but the American forces were able to regain complete control by the second day, using the other three to chase the Viet Cong troops away. -
Bien Hoa Air Base
During the Vietnam War, Bien Hoa Air Base was used as a strategical aircraft base for the United States. On May 16th, a string of bombs were dropped on the air base. Twenty-seven men are killed, four of them American, over 100 were wounded and five aircrafts were destroyed. -
Operation Starlite
The first offensive military action from only US forces. 5,500 marines were gathered and were ordered to Van Tuong to attack the Viet Cong stationed there. The Viet Cong suffered heavy losses including over 600 deaths but the Americans also suffered over 900 deaths. -
Battle of Ia Drang
This battle lasted four days and had two parts to it. This was one of the first times in the war where the North Vietnamese troops kept fighting rather than running away despite their heavy casualties. The casualties for the US were 240 men compared to the North Vietnamese casualties being 2,262. -
Operation Crimp
Operation Crimp, also known as the Battle of Ho Bo Woods, was the attack targeting a Viet Cong hideout. Although the attack proved mostly successful, the allied forces weren't able to clear the whole area and the base was able to stay as a communist stronghold. The tunnels that led out of the base were used in staging the attack on Saigon. -
Operatin Attleboro
This operation was a search and destroy mission. This turned out to be the largest series of air mobile operations to date. The heaviest fighting that happened, the army regiment encountered the 9th Viet Cong division and the battle lasted three days. -
Tet Offensive
This was known as one of the turning points in the Vietnam War. The Viet Cong surprisingly attacked the Americans and the allies and took control of six major cities in South Vietnam. Thousands of South Vietnamese citizens lost their lives and over 100,000 lost their homes. It took the Americans and allies over three weeks to regain control over the cities. -
My Lai Massacre
This was the mass murder about 400 unarmed Vietnamese citizens. Many of these citizens were found beat, raped, tortured and mutilated. The troops claimed that they thought the small town was an enemy base so they ran in shooting but they kept shooting women, children, and the elderly. -
Operation Breakfast
Operation Breakfast was the codename given to the idea of bombing Cambodia. The aircrews were told that the plan was to only bomb South Vietnam but over half of the aircrafts flew across the Cambodian border where they dropped 2,400 tons of bombs. Operation Breakfast proved successful in the eyes of the Oval Office so they decided to make an Operation Menu, which included Operation Lunch, Operation Snack, Operation Dinner, Operation Supper, and Operation Dessert. -
Nixon and Cambodia
Nixon knew that there was a large number of Viet Cong members in Cambodia so on April 30th, he decided that Cambodia was also part of the Vietnam War. The objective of the invasion was to defeat the 40,000 Viet Cong troops. If sucessful, Nixon believed this would have stopped the spread of communism. -
Kent State massacre
The college students were protesting against America's invasion of Cambodia, which was announced five days earlier by President Nixon. On May 4th, 2,000 protestors showed up so the Ohio National Guardsmen came to disperse the students. As they were trying to herd the protestors with their guns for inforcement, Sgt. Myor Prior is said to have started shooting. In 13 seconds, 67 rounds were shot killing four, and injuring nine.
