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Ho Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh was the outspoken voice for vietnamese independence while living in france during World War II. At the end of World War II, Viet Minh forces invaded and seized Northern Vietnam and declared it a Democratic State of Vietnam with Ho Chi Minh as president. He was president for 25 years. -
1st American Death
Lt. Col.Peter Dewey was a U.S Army Officer of the OSS. He was shot and killed in Saigon. He refused to stop at a roadblock, making three Viet Minh soldiers angry. This started gunfire and he was killed instantly . This was September 26th, 1945 -
Increase of U.S. Advisors
It began in September 1950, when MAAG ( Military Assistance Advisory Group), their mission was to ensure the employment of $10 million of military equipment to support French legionnaires against Viet Minh Forces. -
French Surrender
Ho Chi Minh’s Viet Minh forces defeated the French at Dien Bien Phu, May 7th 1954, french positions fell. September 2nd 1945, Ho Chi Minh proclaimed the independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam, hoping to prevent french from reclaiming colonial possession. -
America's Longest War
The official dates used for our involvement in the war are August 1964 (Gulf of Tonkin Resolution) to January 1973 (Paris Peace Accords)... Our actual involvement in Vietnam began as early as 1955 -
1st American Combat Death
U.S Army Master Sgt. Chester Ovnand and Maj. Dale Buis died on July 8th 1959. Their compound was attacked by North Vietnamese communists . -
Buddhist Monk Implodes
Buddhist monk Quang Duc Publicly kills himself (he burns himself) as a plea for president Ngo Diem because he wanted to protest equality (charity and compassion) for all religions. This happened in 1963 during ensuing weeks, because he wanted religious compassion and charity. -
Diem Repression
AKA Buddhist crisis, was a period of time in South Vietnam of political and religious tension between May and November of 1963. It is characterized by a series of repressive acts by the government and a campaign of civil resistance led mainly by monks. -
First Mass Demonstration Project
1964 on March 16th. More than 600 people in San Francisco. The protests started to pick up after Operation rolling thunder. They were mostly protesting against the violence in Vietnam. Even students participated in teach ins and marches. -
Gulf of Tonkin
Happened August 7th in 1964. US military planners had developed a detailed design for major attacks in fear that the public would not support an expansion of the war. By summer, the rebel forces had taken over south Vietnam. It happened in the gulf of Tonkin. -
Operation Rolling Thunder approved
Officially started on February 24th 1965. -
Operation Rolling Thunder
Happened March 2nd, 1965 to November 1st, 1968.It was a strategic bombing campaign. It was intended to put pressure on North Vietnam’s Communist leaders. We wanted to do this because it would reduce their capacity to wage war against the U.S. supported government of South Vietnam. -
My Lai
March 16th, 1968, Vietnam War mass killing of between 347 and 504 unarmed civilians by US soldiers in the village of Son My in south Vietnam. It caused an outrage across the globe after all the information of the incident was uncovered. High ranked military officers had tried to cover it up. -
Vietnamization
Vietnamization was President Nixon’s strategy to get the U.S. out of involvement in the war by transferring all military responsibilities to South Vietnam. It involved building up their military strength, but overall, we were leaving it up them to fend off the communists. -
Congress Votes to Withdraw Troops
Mansfield attached an amendment to three pieces of legislation that required withdrawal of the US forces nine months after congress passed the legislation. This helped stop the war because there was no money to pay for supplies. -
Peace Talks in Paris
-The Paris Peace Accords, officially titled the agreement on ending the war and restoring peace in Vietnam, was a peace treaty signed on January 27th, 1973, to establish peace in Vietnam and end the war. It ended the U.S. military involvement and temporarily stopped fighting between north and south. -
POW's Released
Following the Paris Peace Accords of January 1973, U.S. prisoners of war were returned during Operation Homecoming during February through April 1973. During this, 591 POWs were released to U.S. authorities; this included a few captured in Laos and released in North Vietnam. -
POW's Mobbed in Hanoi
February 12 1973. Prisoners were released because of the Paris Peace Accords that ended America’s decades long war with Vietnam. They boarded a waiting plane and landed free men at Clark Air Base in the Philippines. -
End of War
President Richard Nixon says that the Vietnam war is coming to a “conclusion as a result of the plan that we have instituted” He already ordered the withdrawal of 60,000 U.S. troops. Unfortunately the press conference did not end the war. The fighting still continued through April 1975. -
Saigon Falls
April 30th 1975 north vietnamese army took over Saigon with very little resistance and renamed it Ho Chi Minh City.
