Vietnam War

Domino Theory Speech

Apr 7, 1954

This speech was given by President Eisenhower about communism. He stated that if one of the nations in Europe and Asia fall to communism, then all of the other ones, every single one of them, will fall to communism like dominoes falling.

Gulf of Tonkin resolution

Aug 7, 1964

This gave the President full permission by the congress to reteliate any attacks and counterstrike to prevent US destruction and maintain peace in Asia.

Operation Rolling Thunder

Mar 2, 1965

Operation Rolling Thunder was when the American army, approved by Lyndon Johnson, bombed strategic locations of suspected Vietcongs, and also dropped troops to support South Vietnam.

Tet Offensive

Jan 30, 1968

In this secret attack, about 80000 people who supported Ho Chi Minh in the South (Vietcong) came out of their tunnels on the day of the religious festival of Tet and attacked US troops, camps, supporters and buildings. The tunnels are shown in the picture.

My Lai Massacre

Mar 16, 1968

This was one of the most horrific events in the Vietnam war. As many as 500 women, children, and elderly are believed to be killed, but the exact numbers are still unknown. This ws done in fear of a suspected village of the Vietcong.

Richard Nixon elected president

Nov 5, 1968

Richard Nixon's election was really important to the war. He started Vietnamization, or decided to slowly stop the trrops going to Vietnam, by the time which South Vietnam could defend itself. People did not like vietnamization, as they wanted quick and immediate action.

Pentagon Papers leaked

Jun 13, 1971

These papers showed how the government was hiding information from the public since the startin of the war. Many events were hidden, and also the main event that started the war, the Gulf of Tonkin incident, was evidently faked by the government, as shown on the leaked papers.