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Ho Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh was a Vietnamese communist revolutionary leader who was the president, prime minister and leader of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. He lived from May 19th, 1890 until September 2nd, 1969. He was prime minister from 1945 to 1955, and president from 1945 to 1969. -
French Surrender
The french got defeated at Dien Bien Phu. The battle occurred from March 13th, 1954 until May 7th, 1954. The purpose of the battle was for the french to be inserted into the hills in northwestern Vietnam to cut off of all communication from Vietnam to the kingdom of Laos a french ally, and then drawing the Viet Minh into the open for an ambush. -
1st American Death
The first american soldier killed in Vietnam died on June 8th, 1956 it was Air Force T-SGT Richard B Fitzgibbon Jr. His name was added to the wall on Memorial day 1999 -
1st U.S combat death
The first battlefield fatality was Specialist 4 James T. Davis who was killed on December 22, 1961. -
Diem Repression
After the fall of the French administration, the country was divided into two sides by religion. Buddhists were on one side and catholics another. The catholic dictator was seen as a very bad person and eventually the buddhists overthrew him peacefully in 1963. -
Buddhist Monk Implodes
Thích Quảng Đức was a Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk who burned himself to death at a busy Saigon road intersection on 11 June 1963. Quang Duc was protesting the persecution of Buddhists by the South Vietnamese government. -
First Mass Demonstration Protest
October 9, 1963, WRL among other groups turn out 300 pickets against a speaking engagement by Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. -
Gulf of Tonkin
On August 2, 1964, the U.S. destroyer Maddox exchanged shots with North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin. Two days later, the Maddox and another destroyer reported once again coming under fire. it served as the pretext for an immediate ramp-up of the Vietnam War. -
America’s Longest War
The Vietnam war became the longest war of its time in November 1964 which makes the length 9 years at that date. The war ended up going on for 17 years and 5 months. -
Operation Rolling Thunder approved
February 13, 1965 president Johnson approved Operation Rolling Thunder. He decided to undertake the sustained bombing of north vietnam. -
Operation Rolling thunder
March 2, 1965. The first rolling thunder mission took place and dropped 100 bombs south of hanoi. The goal of this Operation was to soften up North Vietnam so when they are weak we can send in all of our troops and take over. -
My Lai Massacre
This was an event in which the U.S army entered the town of My Lai and killed between 347 and 504 men women and children. There were several cases as well of rape and mutilation. 26 U.S soldiers were charged with criminal offences with only one conviction. 3 U.S soldiers attempted to stop the act whilst it was happening. They were regarded as traitors only being decorated for their bravery 30 years later. This event prompted a large amount of public opposition that the Vietnam war was known for. -
Congress votes to Withdraw Troops
On June 8th 1969 congress voted to start withdrawing American troops from Vietnam and putting more of the responsibility -
Vietnamization
Vietnamization of the war was a policy of the Richard Nixon administration to end U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War through a program to "expand, equip, and train South Vietnam's forces and assign to them an ever-increasing combat role, at the same time steadily reducing the number of U.S. combat troops. -
Peace Talks in Paris
Officially called the Paris Peace Accords was a document titled the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam, it was a peace treaty signed on January 27th, 1973 to establish peace and end the war in Vietnam. It ended direct US military combat and managed to temporarily stop the fighting between the North and South Vietnamese. -
POW’s released
It was known as operation Homecoming. As a result of negotiations with Vietnam, on March 8th 1973 the US agreed to cease military involvement in Vietnam in return all POW’s will be sent home. There was some controversy due to the fact that there were still a listed 1,350 Americans unaccounted for that were either prisoners or MIA as well as the fact there were 1,200 Americans KIA without bodies. -
Saigon Falls
It most western regions it is referred to as the The Fall of Saigon but to many it is referred to as the Liberation of Saigon. The fall of Saigon was April 30th, 1975. North Vietnamese forces took Saigon, the capital of Vietnam, from the US. This concluded the war in Vietnam for the US. It lead to joining of the People's Army of Vietnam and The National Liberation front of Vietnam to make the Socialist Republic. -
End of War
Even though the U.S agreed to cease military efforts in 1973 the war didn’t actually end until April 30th 1975 with the Liberation/Fall of Saigon. It was the final battle for the US and upon it’s occurance the Socialist Republic of Vietnam was formed to rule. About the same time the Capital of Cambodia fell to the Khmer Rouge.
