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Battle of Dien Bien Phu
Viet Minh commander Vo Nguyen Giap launched a massive assault on strong point Beatrice, which fell in a matter of hours. Strong points Gabrielle and Anne-Marie were overrun during the next two days, which denied the French use of the airfield, the key to the French defense. -
Eisenhower explains "Domino Theory"
In Eisenhower’s view, the loss of Vietnam to communist control would lead to similar communist victories in neighboring countries in Southeast Asia and elsewhere.
Domino Theory -
Geneva Accords are signed
The Geneva Accords establish North and South Vietnam with the 17th parallel as the dividing line. -
Ngo Dinh Diem refuses to hold national election
Diem and his supporters in the United States realized that if the elections were held, Ho Chi Minh and the more populous north would probably win, thereby reuniting Vietnam under the Communist banner. -
The Gulf of Tunkin Resolution
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution authorized President Lyndon Johnson to “take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression” by the communist government of North Vietnam. -
U.S Sends first combat troops in South Vietnam
President Johnson had ordered this deployment to provide protection for the key U.S. airbase there. This was the first commitment of American combat troops in South Vietnam and there was considerable reaction around the world to the new stage of U.S. involvement in the war. -
American Launches Operation Rolling Thunder
Lyndon B. Johnson initiated a series of bombings on the Ho Chi Minh Trail to disrupt the flow of manpower and supplies from North Vietnam to its Viet Cong allies. -
March on the Pentagon
Demonstrators, many waving the red, blue, and gold flag of the Viet Cong, began marching toward the Pentagon. Violence erupted when the more radical element of the demonstrators clashed with the soldiers and U.S. Marshals protecting the Pentagon. -
Tet Offensive
North Vietnamese military commander General Vo Nguyen Giap launched a coordinated offensive of surprise attacks aimed at breaking the stalemate in Vietnam. -
The My Lai massacre
A company of American soldiers brutally killed most of the people—women, children and old men—in the village of My Lai -
Richard Nixon elected president
He promised to “bring us together again,” and many Americans, weary after years of antiwar and civil rights protests, were happy to hear of peace returning to their streets. Foreign policy was also a major factor in the election. -
Nixon announces Vietnamization strategy
The Vietnamization plan provided for a gradual, phased withdrawal of American combat forces, combined with an expanded effort to train and equip South Vietnam to take over military responsibility for its own defense. -
Invasion of Cambodia
President Richard Nixon declared to a television audience that the American military troops, accompanied by the South Vietnamese People's Army, were to invade Cambodia. -
Kent State shootings
Members of the Ohio National Guard fired into a crowd of Kent State University demonstrators, killing four and wounding nine Kent State students. At the conclusion of the anti-war rally on Friday, May 1, student protest leaders had called for another rally to be held on the Commons at noon on Monday, May 4. -
Fall of Saigon
The North Vietnamese Army took over Saigon with little resistance, and it was quickly renamed Ho Chi Minh City in honor of their revolutionary leader.
