Vietnam War Timeline

From Bravo 3/44th

Another work in progress... Following is a chronology of events relating to America's involvement in Vietnam. Contributions are always welcome via forum, email, or direct changes to this page (login is required to edit these web pages. Click the "log in / create account" link in the upper right corner of this page. For basic formatting tips for typing in these pages, check out this guide).

Contents:	1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1990s

1945

• Mar. 1945: Japanese troops remove French officials in Indochina and recognize royal government of Emperor Bao Dai.

• Aug. 1945: Japan surrenders to Allied powers
  Making good on his threat to unleash "a rain of ruin the like of which has never been seen on earth," President Harry Truman authorizes the dropping of two atomic bombs on Japan -- one on Hiroshima on August 6, and a second on Nagasaki on August 9. The Japanese surrender within days.
  
  An OSS (Office of Strategic Services, forerunner of the CIA) team parachutes into Ho Chi Minh's jungle camp in northern Vietnam and saves Ho Chi Minh who is ill with malaria and other tropical diseases.
  
  Ho Chi Minh establishes the Vietminh, (later called the Viet Cong) a guerilla army. Japan transfers all power to Ho's Vietminh. Bao Dai abdicates after a general uprising led by the Vietminh.

• Sept. 1945: Seven OSS officers, led by Lieutenant Colonel A. Peter Dewey, land in Saigon to liberate Allied war prisoners, search for missing Americans, and gather intelligence.

• British Forces Land in Saigon, Return Authority to French

• First American Dies in Vietnam
  Lt. Col. A. Peter Dewey, head of the American O.S.S. mission, is killed by Vietminh troops while driving a Jeep to the airport. Reports will later indicate that his death was due to a case of mistaken identity—he had been mistaken for a Frenchman.

• Sept. 2, 1945: Ho Chi Minh declares the independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, attempting to end 80 years of French colonialism. The Democratic Republic of Vietnam is established in Hanoi.

1946

• May 30, 1946: French officials in Saigon declare Republic of Cochinchina a separate state from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

• Nov. 1946: The French army shells Haiphong harbor in November, killing over 6,000 Vietnamese civilians.

• Dec. 19, 1946: French-Vietminh War begins with Vietminh attack on French forces in Tonkin.

1947

• Mar. 12, 1947: President Harry Truman in his Truman Doctrine speech pledges U.S. assistance to free people seeking to work out their own destinies.

• Jul., 1947: George Kennan publishes an article in the journal Foreign Affairs providing the rationale for what becomes the U.S. policy of containment of the USSR and its allies.

1949

• Mar. 8, 1949: Elysée Agreement between French government and Bao Dai creates State of Vietnam with Bao Dai as head of state.

1954

• Mar. 13, 1954: Vietminh siege of French garrison at Dienbienphu begins.

• Apr. 7, 1954: Eisenhower employs the "domino theory" to explain the strategic importance of Vietnam.

• May 7, 1954: French forces at Dienbienphu surrender to Vietminh.

• Jun. 19, 1954: Bao Dai appoints Ngo Dinh Diem prime minister of the State of Vietnam.

• Jul. 20, 1954: Geneva Agreements provide for recognition of independence of Laos and Cambodia, an armistice in the French-Vietminh War, the temporary partitioning of Vietnam between North and South, and further talks to plan all-Vietnam elections for 1956.

1955

• Aug. 31, 1955: Dulles supports Diem's decision not to hold national election
  Secretary of State John Foster Dulles supports South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem's position regarding his refusal to hold "national and general elections" to reunify the two Vietnam states. 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. Accordingly, he refused to hold the elections and the separation of North and South soon became permanent.

1959

• Jul. 8, 1959: Guerrilla attack at Bien Hoa kills two U.S. soldiers, who are later declared the first casualties of the Vietnam War.

1961

• Jan. 19, 1961: President Eisenhower tells President-elect Kennedy that Laos is the most serious problem the United States faces in Southeast Asia.

• May 16, 1961: Geneva Conference begins that produces international agreement on July 23, 1962, on a coalition government in Laos.

1962

• Feb. 6, 1962: U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) is created with General Paul Harkins as its first commander.

• Aug. 22, 1962: Kennedy reports stalemate in Vietnam
  Kennedy administration officials quoted in The New York Times estimate that there are 20,000 guerrilla troops in South Vietnam. Despite hundreds of engagements during the preceding two months and encouraging victories for South Vietnamese forces, the Viet Cong had grown in numbers, and U.S. officials felt that the war had reached a point of stalemate.

1963

• Jan. 2, 1963: Battle of Ap Bac is defeat for U.S.-aided Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) forces.

• May 8, 1963: South Vietnamese fire on and kill Buddhist demonstrators in Hue.

• Jun. 11, 1963: Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc burns himself to death on Saigon street corner to protest Republic of Vietnam suppression of Buddhists.

1964

• Jan. 30, 1964: General Nguyen Khanh seizes control of Saigon government.

• Jun. 20, 1964: General William C. Westmoreland becomes commander of Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV).

• Jul. 30, 1964: South Vietnamese Navy conducts commando raids along North Vietnamese coast.

• Aug. 2, 1964: U.S. destroyer Maddox is allegedly attacked by North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin.

• Aug. 4, 1964: U.S. destroyers Maddox and C. Turner Joy report being attacked, (although doubts about the attack soon arise); President Johnson orders retaliatory air raids against military facilities in North Vietnam.

• Aug. 7, 1964: Congress passes Gulf of Tonkin resolution, giving President Johnson the authority to wage war in Vietnam.

• Aug. 26, 1964: Johnson receives Democratic nomination for president
  Lyndon B. Johnson is nominated to run for the presidency. After the Gulf of Tonkin incident, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution empowering Johnson to "take all necessary measures to repel an armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression."

1965

• Feb. 7, 1965: Vietcong attacks U.S. base at Pleiku, and United States responds with air attacks on North Vietnam.

• Feb. 20, 1965: Armed Forces Council makes civilian Phan Huy Quat prime minister of the Republic of Vietnam.

• Mar. 2, 1965: Operation Rolling Thunder begins regular bombing of North Vietnam.

• Mar. 8, 1965: U.S. Marine brigade lands at Danang.

• Apr. 7, 1965: President Johnson makes Johns Hopkins University speech offering "unconditional discussions" with Hanoi and massive economic development aid for Southeast Asia.

• Apr. 17, 1965: Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) organizes an antiwar protest of about 20,000 in Washington, D.C.

• Jul. 28, 1965: President Johnson approves Westmoreland's request for 100,000 additional troops, fundamentally Americanizing the war.

• Aug. 21, 1965: U.S. pilots given green light to go after anti-aircraft missiles in the North
  It is revealed by MACV headquarters (Headquarters Military Assistance Command Vietnam) in Saigon that U.S. pilots have received approval to destroy any Soviet-made missiles they see while raiding North Vietnam. This was a major change from previous orders that restricted them to bombing only previously approved targets.

1966

• Jan. 31, 1966: President Johnson resumes bombing of North Vietnam.

• Feb. 4, 1966: Senate Foreign Relations Committee begins televised hearings on U.S. military intervention in Vietnam.

• Feb. 7, 1966: President Johnson meets with Nguyen Cao Ky and Nguyen Van Thieu in Honolulu.

• Apr. 11, 1966: First use of U.S. B-52 bombers against targets in North Vietnam.

• Aug. 23, 1966: U.S. cargo ship strikes a mine near Saigon
  The American cargo ship Baton Rouge Victory strikes a mine laid by the Viet Cong in the Long Tao River, 22 miles south of Saigon. The half-submerged ship blocked the route from the South Vietnamese capital to the sea. Seven crewmen were killed.

• Aug. 30, 1966: China agrees to provide aid to North Vietnam
  When the U.S. became decisively involved after the Gulf of Tonkin incident, China increased the support to both North Vietnam and the insurgents in South Vietnam. It was this support along with the Soviet Union's that permitted the North Vietnamese to prosecute the war against South Vietnam and the U.S. forces there.

1967

• Jan. 8, 1967: Large U.S. and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) offensive sweep, Operation Cedar Falls, targets People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and Vietcong bases in area near Saigon known as the Iron Triangle.

• Feb. 21, 1967: Operation Junction City, a major U.S. and ARVN attack on enemy base areas near the South Vietnam-Cambodia border, begins. The operation lasted 72 days and was a U.S. tactical victory.

• Mar. 10, 1967: Republic of Vietnam Council of Ministers approves new constitution.

• Mar. 20, 1967: President Johnson meets with Nguyen Cao Ky and Nguyen Van Thieu in Guam.

• Apr. 4, 1967: Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his speech, "A Time to Break Silence," in New York City.

• Apr. 15, 1967: Large antiwar demonstrations occur across the United States, including an estimated 300,000 protestors at a peace rally in New York City.

• May 10, 1967: Johnson administration establishes Civilian Operations and Revolutionary Development Support (CORDS) organization to coordinate pacification programs in South Vietnam.

• Sept. 3, 1967: Nguyen Van Thieu elected president and Nguyen Cao Ky elected vice president of Republic of Vietnam.

1968

• Jan. 21, 1968: People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) siege of U.S. base at Khe Sanh begins and lasts until April 6.

• Jan. 30, 1968: First attacks of Vietcong and PAVN Tet Offensive begin in central South Vietnam.

• Jan. 31, 1968: Tet Offensive begins throughout South Vietnam.

• Feb. 25, 1968: U.S. and South Vietnamese troops retake control of Hue during the Tet Offensive.

• Feb. 26, 1968: More than 2,500 bodies found in mass graves in Hue are evidence of Vietcong massacre of Republic of Vietnam supporters in the city.

• Feb. 27, 1968: CBS News airs a television documentary in which reporter Walter Cronkite concludes that the time has come for the United States to seek a negotiated end to the war.

• Feb. 28, 1968: General Earle Wheeler supports General Westmoreland's requests for 206,000 additional troops.

• Mar. 12, 1968: Senator Eugene McCarthy makes strong showing as antiwar candidate against Lyndon Johnson in the New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary.

• Mar. 16, 1968: My Lai massacre occurs in which members of an American infantry company kill 504 unresisting Vietnamese civilians in the My Lai and My Khe subhamlets of Son My village in Quang Ngai Province.

• Mar. 22, 1968: President Johnson announces that General Westmoreland will become U.S. Army chief of staff and General Creighton Abrams will become commander of Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV).

• Mar. 26, 1968: Wise Men advise Johnson against further military escalation in Vietnam.

• Mar. 31, 1968: President Johnson makes televised speech revealing bombing restrictions, offer to negotiate with North Vietnam, increase of only 13,500 U.S. troops in South Vietnam, and his decision not to run for reelection.

• Apr. 4, 1968: Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.

• Apr. 23, 1968: Student protestors occupy several buildings at Columbia University until forcibly removed by police.

• May 13, 1968: Paris Peace Talks begin between U.S. and Democratic Republic of Vietnam representatives.

• Jun. 4, 1968: Robert F. Kennedy wins the Democratic presidential primary in California and is assassinated in Los Angeles the same evening.

• Aug. 28, 1968: Democratic National Convention is scene of violent clash between Chicago police and radical antiwar demonstrators.

1969

• Jan. 25, 1969: Paris Peace Talks expand to include representatives of the Republic of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front.

• Apr. 5, 1969: Antiwar demonstrations in several U.S. cities.

• Apr. 30, 1969: U.S. troop strength in Vietnam reaches its highest level of the war at 543,400.

• Mar. 18, 1969: United States begins Operation Menu, the secret bombing of Cambodia.

• Mar. 19, 1969: Nixon administration announces its Vietnamization policy.

• May 10, 1969: Battle of Hamburger Hill begins, lasting ten days, the objective to destroy Vietnam People's Army (VPA) base areas in the A Shau Valley.

• Jun. 8, 1969: Richard Nixon announces withdrawal of 25,000 U.S. troops as beginning of gradual reduction of American forces in South Vietnam.

• Jun. 10, 1969: National Liberation Front and other opponents of Saigon regime form the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam.

• Jul. 25, 1969: President Nixon declares in the Nixon Doctrine that the United States will aid allies, but that they must be responsible for their own defense.

• Aug. 4, 1969: Henry Kissinger begins secret talks in Paris with Democratic Republic of Vietnam representative Xuan Thuy.

• Sept. 2, 1969: Ho Chi Minh dies.

1970

• Feb. 21, 1970: Henry Kissinger begins secret talks with Le Duc Tho in Paris.

• Mar. 18, 1970: Cambodia's National Assembly ousts Prince Norodom Sihanouk and makes Lon Nol head of state.

• Apr. 20, 1970: President Nixon reveals plan to reduce U.S. forces in Vietnam by 150,000 over the next year.

• Apr. 30, 1970: President Nixon announces that U.S. troops are attacking Communist sanctuaries in Cambodia; widespread campus protests follow in the United States.

• May 3, 1970: U.S. military spokesman acknowledges resumed bombing of North Vietnam.

• May 4, 1970: Ohio National Guardsmen shoot and kill four Kent State University students and wound at least nine others.

• May 14, 1970: Police kill two students and wound twelve others during student protests at Jackson State College in Mississippi.

• Jun. 24, 1970: U.S. Senate repeals Gulf of Tonkin resolution.

• Jun. 30, 1970: U.S. troops complete their withdrawal from Cambodia.

• Aug. 27, 1970: Agnew meets with President Thieu in Saigon
  Vice President Spiro Agnew meets with South Vietnamese president Nguyen Van Thieu in Saigon. In a speech at Ton Son Nhut air base, Agnew praised the South Vietnamese people for suffering "so much in freedom's cause" and promised that "there will be no lessening of U.S. support." MACV (Military Assistance Command Vietnam) reported that 52 Americans died and 358 were wounded during the week August 16-22, the lowest casualty toll since the week of December 3, 1966.

• Sept. 1, 1970: Senators George McGovern and Mark Hatfield make unsuccessful attempt to obtain a Senate resolution setting a deadline for all U.S. troops to be out of Vietnam.

1971

• Feb. 8, 1971: Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) offensive into Laos, code-named Lam Son 719, begins with U.S. air support and continues to March 24.

• Mar. 29, 1971: Military court convicts Lieutenant William L. Calley Jr. of murder for his role in 1968 My Lai Massacre; he is originally sentenced to life in prison but is paroled in 1974.

• Apr. 7, 1971: President Nixon declares Vietnamization a success and announces a reduction of 100,000 more U.S. troops from South Vietnam.

• Apr. 19, 1971: Vietnam Veterans Against the War stages dramatic protests in Washington, D.C., that it calls Operation Dewey Canyon III.

• Apr. 24, 1971: Antiwar demonstration in Washington, D.C., draws 200,000 participants; rally in San Francisco gathers 156,000 protestors.

• Apr. 30, 1971: The last U.S. Marine combat units depart Vietnam.

• Jun. 13, 1971: New York Times publishes the first article based on the Pentagon Papers, the secret history of government decision making leaked to the press by Daniel Ellsberg.

1972

• Feb. 21, 1972: President Nixon meets in Beijing with Mao Zedong, the leader of the People's Republic of China.

• Mar. 30, 1972: North Vietnam launches Easter Offensive intended to topple Thieu government.

• May 8, 1972: President Nixon orders Operation Linebacker, which includes heavy bombing of North Vietnam's military supply network and the mining of Haiphong harbor.

• May 20, 1972: President Nixon meets with Soviet president Leonid Brezhnev in Moscow.

• Jun. 30, 1972: General Frederick Weyand succeeds General Creighton Abrams as commander of Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV).

1973

• Jan. 5, 1973: Nixon provides Thieu private assurance that United States will respond with "full force" if Hanoi violates diplomatic settlement.

• Jan. 8, 1973: Kissinger and Tho resume negotiations in Paris.

• Jan. 23, 1973: Kissinger and Tho initial a peace agreement very similar in terms to their October 1972 agreement.

• Jan. 27, 1973: Paris Peace Accords are signed by the representatives of the United States, Democratic Republic of Vietnam, Republic of Vietnam, and Provisional Revolutionary Government, declaring a cease-fire in Vietnam. The U.S. government, South Vietnam and North Vietnam governments pledged to "respect the independence, sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of Vietnam as recognized by the 1954 Geneva Agreements on Vietnam." Nixon calls it "peace with honor," but fighting continues in Vietnam. Military draft in United States formally ends.

• Feb. 21, 1973: United States ends bombing of Laos.

• Mar. 29, 1973: Complete withdrawal of U.S. troops; last U.S. POWs leave Hanoi and last U.S. troops leave South Vietnam, with only U.S. Marine embassy guards and a Defense Attache's Office remaining in Saigon. At the end of the war, 58,226 American soldiers had died.

• Aug. 14, 1973: U.S. bombing of Cambodia ends in accordance with deadline set by Congress.

1974

• Aug. 6, 1974: U.S. Congress makes deep cuts in military aid to the Republic of Vietnam.

• Aug. 9, 1974: Richard Nixon resigns as president because of revelations of criminal acts connected to the Watergate scandal; Vice President Gerald R. Ford becomes president.

1975

• Jan. 1, 1975: Khmer Rouge begins offensive against Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh.

• Jan. 8, 1975: North Vietnamese take control of South Vietnam's Phuoc Long Province on the Cambodian border; there is no U.S. military response.

• Mar. 10, 1975: People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) Spring Offensive begins with capture of Ban Me Thuot in Central Highlands.

• Mar. 15, 1975: Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) begins chaotic retreat from Central Highlands.

• Mar. 26, 1975: Hue falls to the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) advance, which Hanoi has named the Ho Chi Minh Campaign.

• Mar. 30, 1975: Danang falls to North Vietnamese offensive.

• Apr. 9, 1975: Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) makes strong but futile defensive stand at Xuan Loc.

• Apr. 10, 1975: Congress rejects President Ford's request for $722 million in military aid for Army of the Republic of Vietnam (AVRN).

• Apr. 12, 1975: U.S. personnel evacuate Phnom Penh.

• Apr. 17, 1975: Khmer Rouge captures Phnom Penh.

• Apr. 21, 1975: Nguyen Van Thieu resigns as president of the Republic of Vietnam.

• Apr. 29, 1975: Americans remaining in Saigon begin making desperate, last-minute escapes by helicopters from building rooftops as North Vietnamese and Vietcong troops enter the city; all U.S. personnel and some South Vietnamese are evacuated in Operation Frequent Wind, but many South Vietnamese closely associated with the United States are left behind.

• Apr. 30, 1975: North Vietnamese capture Saigon, rename it Ho Chi Minh City, and begin reunification of North and South Vietnam. The Vietnam War ends.

• May 12, 1975: President Ford orders military rescue attempt of crew of U.S. merchant ship Mayaguez after the vessel is seized by Khmer Rouge near the Cambodian coast.

1976

• Jul. 2, 1976: Newly created National Assembly names reunited Vietnam the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

1977

• Jan. 21, 1977: President Carter pardons most Vietnam-era draft law violators.

1978

• Jun. 29, 1978: Socialist Republic of Vietnam becomes member of the Soviet-sponsored economic group COMECON.

1979

• Jan. 1, 1979: United States and People's Republic of China establish normal diplomatic relations.

• Jan. 7, 1979: Vietnamese remove Khmer Rouge regime and replace it with communist government in Phnom Penh headed by Heng Samrin; Vietnamese troops remain as occupying force.

• Feb. 17, 1979: Chinese forces attack northern Vietnam but withdraw on March 15.

1994

• Feb. 3, 1994: President Bill Clinton ends embargo on trade with Vietnam.

1995

• Jul. 11, 1995: President Bill Clinton extends diplomatic recognition to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

---

Sources

• Anderson, David L. The Columbia Guide to the Vietnam War. New York: Columbia University Press, 2002.

• Farber, David and Beth Bailey. The Columbia Guide to America in the 1960s. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001.

• Summers, Harry G. Historical Atlas of the Vietnam War. Houghton Mifflin, 1995.

• Zaffiri, Samuel. Hamburger Hill. Presidio Press, 1999.

• Department of the Army Headquarters 25th Infantry Division; Combat Operation After Action Report, Operation Cedar Falls, 10 May 1967, Folder 04, Box 01, 1st Battalion, 8th Artillery, 25th Infantry Association Collection, The Vietnam Archive, Texas Tech University

• Association of the 1st Battalion 50th Infantry for Vietnam Veterans

Compiled by Erika, with contributions from Ernie and VetFriends.com. This is a work in progress. Please feel free to make corrections or add Vietnam War-related events directly to this page, by creating and using an account (see link at upper right corner of this page), then clicking the green "edit" links that appear for the appropriate section. Questions, comments, additions, and corrections are also welcome through the forum (forum-registration required) or by emailing me. Cheers, Erika