the vietnam war: major events
TRANSCRIPT
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
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