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US begins training the army of the Republic of Vietnam
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Kennedy sends Green Berets to aid the South Vietnamese
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Operation Ranch Hand
The US starts dropping agent orange and other toxic substances that kill the vegetation that the Viet Cong are using for cover -
US backs a military coup against Ngo Dinh Diem
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Gulf of Tonkin resolution
U.S.S Maddox and the U.S.S.C. Turner Joy are attacked by the North Vietnamese in the Gulf of Tonkin. President Johnson is given permission to take all steps necessary to protect American troops. -
President Johnson sends more troops
50,000 more troops are sent to Vietnam for a total of 180,000. -
500,000 troops in Vietnam
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1968
Communists attack Americans and the South Vietnamese in the Tet Offensive. in february 60% of americans disagree with how the war is being handled. US massacre at My Lai where US forces kill more than 500 innocent civilians -
1968 cont.
there were 221 college protests against the war. LBJ announces he will not run again. 10,000 anti war protesters clash with the police and national guardsmen at the Democratic National Conference. Richard Nixon is elected. -
1969
Public finds out about My Lai and is outraged. Public also finds out about secret bombing in cambodia. The US starts gradual withdrawal. -
1970
Congress repeals the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution -
1971
Pentagon papers are published by the New York Times. Revealed that the Department of Defense secretly escalated US involvement in Vietnam. -
1972
69,000 US forces still in Vietnam -
1973
Nixon signs Paris Peace Accords. We end DIRECT involvement in Vietnam. North Vietnam agrees to a cease fire but then launches attacks. -
Period: to
1974-1975
Nixon resigns and Gerald Ford becomes president. Ford rules out any more military involvement in Vietnam.