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Ho Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh first emerged as an outspoken voice for Vietnamese independence.He joined the Communist Party and traveled to the Soviet Union. He helped found the Indochinese Communist Party. He would serve in that position for the next 25 years, becoming a symbol of Vietnam’s struggle for unification during a long and costly conflict with the strongly anti-Communist regime in South Vietnam and its powerful ally, the United States. -
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Increase of US advisors
By 1953 the amount of U.S. military aid had jumped to over $350 million and was used to replace the badly worn World War II vintage equipment that France, still suffering economically from the devastation of that war, was still using. -
French Surrender
In northwest Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh’s Viet Minh forces decisively defeat the French at Dien Bien Phu, a French stronghold besieged by the Vietnamese communists for 57 days. This cleared the way for the division of Vietnam along the 17th parallel at the conference of Geneva. The impact of this was thtat it signaled the beginning of the end of the french empire -
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America's Longest War
Who? U.S., French Colonial Government, Vietnam
What? They were in the war due to the Vietnamese Independence movement.
Where? South Vietnam
When? 1955-1975
Why? The North Vietnamese communist government and the South Vietnamese rebels AKA the Viet Cong were trying to overthrow the non-communist South Vietnamese government and make them a communist state. -
First US combat Death
The first American soldier killed in the Vietnam War was Air Force T-Sgt. Richard B. Fitzgibbon Jr. He is listed by the U.S. Department of Defense as having a casualty date of June 8, 1956. His name was added to the Wall on Memorial Day 1999. -
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Diem Repression
a period of political and religious tension in South Vietnam between May and November 1963, characterized by a series of repressive acts by the South Vietnamese government and a campaign of civil resistance, led mainly by Buddhist monks. The crisis was precipitated by the shootings of nine unarmed civilians on May 8 in the central city of Huế who were protesting a ban of the Buddhist flag. The crisis ended with a coup in November 1963 by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. -
Buddhist Monk Implodes
South Vietnamese Special Forces loyal to President Diem’s brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu, attack Buddhists pagodas, damaging many and arresting 1,400 Buddhists. In May 1963, the Buddhists began a series of demonstrations against the Diem government, in which seven Buddhist monks set themselves on fire in protest. The U.S. government tried to convince Diem to be more lenient with the Buddhists, but he only became more repressive. This led to a withdrawal of U.S. support for the South Vietnamese leader. -
1st American Death
Lt. Col. Peter Dewey, a U.S. Army officer with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in Vietnam, is shot and killed in Saigon.On the way to the airport, accompanied by another OSS officer, Capt. Henry Bluechel, Dewey refused to stop at a roadblock manned by three Viet Minh soldiers. He yelled back at them in French and they opened fire, killing Dewey instantly.He would prove to be the first of nearly 59,000 Americans killed in Vietnam. -
Find a Mass Vietnam Protest
Who? Students Marched
What? 700 Hundred people march through time square to protest.
Where? Time Square, Manhattan NY.
When? May 2nd 1964
Why? It was used to be an anti war protest. -
Gulf of Tonkin
Who? President Lyndon B. Johnson, Senator Barry Goldwater, Congress, Vietnam army.
What? It gave broad congressional approval for expansion of the Vietnam War
Where? North Vietnam
When? August 2nd 1964
Why? The US destroyer maddox was fired upon by North Vietnamese torpedo boats -
Operation Rolling Thunder Approved
Who? President Lyndon B. Johnson and his advisers
What? President Lyndon B. Johnson decides to undertake the sustained bombing of North Vietnam that he and his advisers have been contemplating for a year
Where? South Vietnam
When? February 13th 1965
Why? The bombing campaign was designed to interdict North Vietnamese transportation routes in the southern part of North Vietnam and slow infiltration of personnel and supplies into South Vietnam -
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Operation Rolling Thunder
Who? US Military, Vietnam Military
What? U.S. military aircraft attacked targets throughout North Vietnam
Where? North Vietnamese Territory
When? March 1965 to October 1968
Why? was intended to put military pressure on North Vietnam’s Communist leaders and reduce their capacity to wage war against the US supported government of South Vietnam -
My Lai
Who? United States troops led by Lieutenant William Calley, people of a South Vietnam Village.
What? The US military killed people in a Southern Vietnam Village.
Where? South Vietnam
When? March 16, 1968
Why? The military was ordered to by higher authority without a reason -
POW's experience in Hanoi
Who? American prisoners of the Vietnam War
What? A group of American Prisoners that all got released after the war at the same time.
Where? Hanoi Hilton
When? February 12, 1976
Why? They were released as part of the Paris Peace Accords that ended America’s decades long war with Vietnam.