WAR infographic

TIMELINE

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1954

• North Vietnamese began helping South Vietnamese rebels fight South Vietnamese troops

• At the start of the war, allied forces were fighting the Viet Cong in the jungle. 

 

1957

• The US started with sending aid and military advisors to help the South Vietnamese government.

• U.S. troops fought a jungle war. The Viet Cong was attacking in ambushes and escaping through a network of underground tunnels.

• For U.S. forces, even locating their enemy proved difficult.

 

1960

• Diem’s opponents within South Vietnam (Communist and non-Communist) formed the National Liberation Front (NLF) to organize resistance to the regime.

 

1962

• U.S. president John F. Kennedy sent American “military advisors” to Vietnam to help train the South Vietnamese army

• The number of US military advisors in Vietnam grew from 900 in 1960 to 11,000 in 1962.

• But, quickly is realized that the Diem regime was unsalvageable.

 

1963

• A coup succeeded in toppling and killing Diem and his brother

• Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.

• The United States backed a coup that overthrew Diem and installed a new leader.

• The new U.S.-backed leaders proved just as corrupt and ineffective

 

1964

• The Communist guerrilla force had 35,000 troops in South Vietnam.

• Anti-war sentiment in the US grew stronger.

• President Lyndon Johnson wanted the fighting to be limited to South Vietnam.

 

August 2, 1964

• The North Vietnamese fire on a US destroyer anchored in the Gulf of Tonkin.

• President Johnson falsely claimed that there had been a second attack on the destroyer

• Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution: full-scale US intervention in the Vietnam War was authorized.

• Johnson ordered the bombing of North Vietnam.

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1965

• U.S. combat forces were sent into battle in Vietnam.

• By June, 82,000 combat troops were stationed in Vietnam

• Military leaders were calling for 175,000 more by the end of 1965

• Johnson authorized the dispatch of 100,000 troops at the end of July

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1965

• South Korea, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand committed troops to fight in South Vietnam

 

By 1966

• The dispatch of another 100,000 U.S. troops was authorized

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1967

• The number of American troops in Vietnam approached 500,000

• U.S. casualties had reached 15,058 killed and 109,527 wounded.

• The South Vietnamese Army was winning 37 of their last 45 major engagements.

• American troops had won every major battle they fought

• General Nguyen Van Thieu had come to power in South Vietnam in September

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1968

• January 30, Tet Offensive – THE TURNING POINT

• The North Vietnamese launched a surprise attack during the festival of the Vietnamese New Year

• 70,000 DRV forces under General Vo Nguyen Giap launched the offensive.

• It was a coordinated series of attacks at least 30 provincial capitals and the major cities of Hue and Saigon.

• The timing and scale of the offensive caught the U.S. by surprise

• The U.S. and allies responded quickly and recaptured lost ground

• Both sides suffered heavy casualties, but communist losses were extremely heavy.

• The VC was finished. The NVA had to take over.

• The Tet Offensive shocked Americans at home. They thought the war was nearing victory.

• American public opinion against the war increased

• The US began to reduce the number of troops in Vietnam.

       March 16

• My Lai Massacre - About 400 women, children and elderly men were massacred by US forces in the village of My Lai.

       May

• Peace talks between the U.S. and North Vietnam were opened in Paris.