the vietnam war: major events

The Vietnam WarHistory: 1945-1982

Ho Chi Minh Declaration of Vietnamese Independence - 1945

Widening political consciousness and the rise of militant nationalism among the subject people cannot be reversed. [To attempt to do so would be] an anti-historical act likely in the long run to create more problems than it solves and cause more damage than benefit.

-From a Joint Chiefs of Staff Memo, 1949

You can kill ten of our men for every one we kill of yours. But even at those odds, you will lose and we will win.

- Ho Chi Minh

The Domino Theory and US Aid to France

Battle of Dien Bien Phu - 1954

Geneva Peace Agreement - 1954

Ngo Dinh Diem Proclaims the Republic of South Vietnam - 1955

“I was to see that sight again, but once was enough. Flames were coming from a human being; his body was slowly withering and shriveling up, his head blackening and charring. In the air was the smell of burning human flesh; human beings burn surprisingly quickly.

Behind me I could hear the sobbing of the Vietnamese who were now gathering. I was too shocked to cry, too confused to take notes or ask questions, too bewildered to even think…. As he burned he never moved a muscle, never uttered a sound, his outward composure in sharp contrast to the wailing people around him.”

- David Halberstam, a New York Times reporter

“What have the Buddhist leaders done…the only thing they have done, they have barbecued one of their monks…and even that barbecuing was done not even with self-sufficient means because they used imported gasoline…Let them burn and we shall clap our hands.”

- “First Lady”, Madam Nhu, President Ngo Dinh

Diem’s sister in law

US Military Assistance Advisor Group Formed - 1956

Ngo Dinh Diem Assassinated - 1963

CIA

1964 Presidential Election

Johnson vs. Goldwater

Gulf of Tonkin Incident - 1964

Was the US planning to go to war before the Gulf of

Tonkin Resolution?

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution - 1964

Operation Rolling Thunder

We have kept our guns over the mantel and our shells in the cupboard for a long time now….I can’t ask our American soldiers out there to continue to fight with one hand behind their backs.

- President Lyndon Johnson

Napalm

Agent Orange

White Phosphorous

Bombing

Tet Offensive - 1968

Veterans Stage Anti-war Rally - 1966

TV and the Draft

1968 Presidential Election

My Lai Massacre - 1968

Kent State Shooting - 1970

Pentagon Papers Published - 1971

Operation Menu – Bombing Laos and Cambodia – 1969 - 1973

Paris Peace Agreement - 1973

Fall of Saigon - 1975

The Boat People – 1976 - 1980

Vietnam War Memorial - 1982