1. Vietnam War Timeline

2. Vietnam

3. 1950
U.S fights in Korea
Grants military aid to France to fight Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam

4. 1954 Eisenhower coins “domino theory” French defeated at Dienbienphu
Geneva Accords – Vietnam partitioned
U.S. begins aid to South Vietnam

5. 1962
12,000 American advisors in South Vietnam

6. 1963 Anti-government demonstrations by Buddhists
Diem government overthrown in coup – Diem killed
Kennedy assassinated

7. 1964
Tonkin Gulf incident – U.S. retaliates (USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy)

8. 1964 (continued) Tonkin Gulf Resolution
“take all necessary measures to repel any attack against forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression.”
23,300 American advisors in South Vietnam

9. 1965 Marine combat troops land to protect airbase at DaNang
200,000 troops by year’s end

10. 1966 U.S. uses chemical defoliants (Agent Orange)
Troop strength grows to 400,000

11. 1967
Anti-war protests intensify
Troop strength at 500,000

12. 1968 Battle of Khe Sanh Tet Offensive Major offensive by Vietcong/NVA
“light at the end of the tunnel” totally discredited

13. 1968 (continued)
Eugene McCarthy nearly defeats President Johnson in New Hampshire primary election
Robert Kennedy announces candidacy
President Johnson announces he will not seek reelection

14. 1968 (continued) Martin Luther King assassinated
Robert Kennedy assassinated

15. 1968 (continued) Peace talks begin in Paris
Richard Nixon elected in close election
Troop strength at 540,000

16. 1969 Paris peace talks expand Nixon orders secret bombing of Cambodia
Nixon announces withdrawal of 25,000 troops
Policy of “Vietnamization” begins
Ho Chi Minh dies

17. 1969 (continued) Congress begins opposition to war
Nationwide “moratorium”
My Lai massacre revealed
Draft Lottery instituted

18. 1970
National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger begins secret negotiations with Le Duc Tho
Another 150,000 troops withdrawn by years end
Troop strength falls to 280,000

19. 1970 (continued) U.S. troops attack sanctuaries in Cambodia
Kent State demonstration – 4 students killed

20. 1971 “Pentagon Papers” published in the New York Times
Nixon forms the “plumbers” unit
Troop strength falls to 139,000

21. 1972
Nixon announces peace proposal negotiated by Kissinger and Le Duc Tho
North Vietnam launches massive offensive across the DMZ
Nixon resumes bombing of the North
U.S. mines Haiphong harbor

22. 1972 (continued)
Five men arrested breaking into the Democratic National Committee offices at the Watergate complex
Kissinger announces “breakthrough” in peace talks
Nixon reelected in a landslide

23. 1972 (continued) Kissinger talks breakdown – Le Duc Tho walks out
U.S. resumes bombing – “Christmas Bombing”
Communists agree to resume talks

24. 1973 January 27 – Cease-fire agreement signed
March 29 – last American ground troops leave Vietnam
April 1 – All U.S. POWs released

25. 1974
Nixon resigns

26. 1975 North Vietnam resumes war against South South Vietnam collapses
Saigon renamed Ho Chi Minh City

27. 1976
President Carter pardons 10,000 men who evaded the draft

28. 1982 Vietnam Veterans Memorial is dedicated in Washington, DC
Contains names of over 58,000 American dead