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Vietnamese troops gain a victory over the French at Dien Bien Phu
Vietnamese troops take the French command post after a battle lasting nearly two months. There are many more Vietnamese casualties than French during this period of time, but it is a victory nonetheless. -
Kennedy authorizes more support for South Vietnam
President Kennedy sends new equipment to the South Vietnamese government, as well as a few thousand military personnel, to help in their conflict with the Viet Cong. -
Operation Chopper
US Army helicopters transport 1,000 South Vietnamese soldiers to Saigon. This event is significant in that it marks America's first real involvement against the Viet Cong on Vietnamese soil. -
Conflict between Viet Cong and American Army
The Viet Cong guerrillas make a stand against the South Vietnamese 7th Division (aided significantly by the American Army), marking the first real battle between the Americans and the Viet Cong. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
President Johnson signs Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which gives the United States freedom to do whatever necessary to defend the South Vietnamese in the conflict. -
Attack on US helicopter base
The Viet Cong attack an American helicopter base in South Vietnam, prompting President Johnson to order US Navy fire-bombers to take North Vietnamese military targets in retaliation. -
Operation Rolling Thunder
Sanctioned by President Johnson as an offensive bombing campaign against the North Vietnamese in order to stop their support of the Viet Cong guerrillas. -
Operation Crimp
Involved the deployment of 8,000 US troops into Saigon to capture the Viet Cong's headquarters; although it is the largest American operation in the Vietnam conflict, it is a fail mission--no headquarters were found -
Operation Birmingham
5,000 US troops search the areas surrounding Saigon in order to locate the presence of the Viet Cong, with no success. -
Operation Cedar Falls
American soldiers move to extract Viet Cong forces from a region named the Iron Triangle, an area bordered by the Saigon River and Route 13. At the end of the mission, large quantities of enemy supplies are taken and several hundred Viet Cong have been killed. -
Operation Junction City
One of the largest air-mobile assaults in history, Operation Junction City was tasked with the mission of destroying Viet Cong military bases in South Vietnam. -
Operation Menu
President Richard M. Nixon orders that North Vietnamese and Viet Cong bases in Cambodia are to be bombed. In the space of four years, over 500,000 tons of bombs are dropped in Cambodia by US forces. -
President Nixon meets with President Thieu
US President Richard Nixon met with South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu, ending with an agreement that the US would withdraw 25,000 US troops from the region. -
Peace Talks
Peace talks convene in Paris between US and North Vietnamese officials. They break down, however, and do not reconvene until January 8th, 1973. -
Cease-fire signed
The opposing forces fighting in the Vietnam War sign a cease-fire, marking the beginning of the end of the war.
