Sep – The Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) helps the French in the effort of defeating Viet Minh communist forces. President Truman indicated that their deployment was not as combatants, but to protect the equipment the US lent to the French.

Apr 26-Jul 20 – In an attempt to maintain peace in Indochina and to unify Korea, the US, UK, China, and the Soviet Union meet in what is known as the Geneva Conference. One of the consequences of the conference was the separation of North and South Vietnam from each other.

Sep – From 1954 through 1956, civilians from North Vietnam fled south. They numbered nearly 450,000. They hoped to escape the Viet Minh administration who was ruling the North.

Nov 11 – A failed coup attempt by the ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) keeps President Ngo Dinh Diem in power.

Dec 20 – In an attempt to better fight the South Vietnam government and the US, the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, aka the Viet Cong, was formed. This was an organization used by the Communist in later years to fight the US forces.

June – President Kennedy meets with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in Vienna to discuss the attacks made by North Vietnam in Laos.

Oct – Because of the growing successful attacks by the NLF, Robert McNamara, the US Defense Secretary, deploys 200,000 US soldiers to Vietnam.

Dec 22 – The first casualty in the American forces dies in Vietnam, for many this marked the start of the Vietnam War.

Feb 8 – President Kennedy forms the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam. Their purpose was to improve US assistance to the South Vietnamese regime.

Feb 27 – Ngo Dinh Diem survives an assassination attempt by South Vietnamese Viet Cong pilots.

Jul 23 – An agreement is signed designating Laos as a neutral country. Fourteen nations including the United States, North & South Vietnam, Communist China, and the Soviets sign the agreement.

May 8 – Buddhist monks march in protest against President Diem’s government and are fired upon by South Vietnamese police.

Jun 11 – One of the Buddhist monks sets himself ablaze as part of the protest against the government.

Oct 2 – Defense Secretary McNamara informs the press the Kennedy administration intention of withdrawing US forces out of South Vietnam before 1965 ends.

Nov 1 – The Diem regime is overthrown by General Duong Van Minh, who was being backed by the United States. The next day, Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother, Ngô Ðình Nhu were assassinated.

Nov 22 – US President John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Texas.

Apr – In New York City, more than 1000 students express their disapproval of the Vietnam War by burning their draft cards.

Apr 25 – Attack at Bien Hoa Air base by the Vietcong.

Jun – General William Westmoreland is named deputy commander of the MACV.

Aug 2 – Incident in the Gulf of Tonkin on the North Vietnam coast with USS Maddox involved.

Nov – Lyndon Johnson defeats Barry Goldwater in a landslide during the presidential elections of 1964.

Mar 2 – Operation Rolling Thunder is underway. This operation involved the sustained bombardment through the air by the Republic of Vietnam Air Force, US 2nd Air Division, and US Navy against North Vietnam. This took place through November 1968.

Mar 8 – Arrival of US Marines, the 3rd Marine Regiment and 3rd Marine Division arrive to protect Da Nang.

Mar 24 – Back in the US, the anti-war protest gains momentum with Teach-In programs broadcasted throughout the Nation’s Universities.

Nov 14 – Fighting at the Ia Drang Valley. First major encounter between the North Vietnamese and the US Army regulars. This battle lasts for five days.

Dec 31 – More than 200,000 US soldiers arrive, compare this to the initial 3500 deployed earlier of the same year.

Apr 15 – Martin Luther King Jr. speaks out against the Vietnam war before 100,000 people at the UN Building in New York.

Apr – Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense, speaks on the futility of continued bombing of North Vietnam, saying that the consequences did not bode well for all concerned.

Oct 21 – Demonstrators numbering in the thousands march to the Pentagon in Washington DC to express their objection against the Vietnam War.

Dec 31 – US troops in Vietnam reach 485,000.

Feb 28 – More American troops are requested by General William Westmoreland, he asks for 206,000.

Mar – 22,951 American soldiers die during combat.

Mar 16 – Hundreds of civilians, composed mainly of elderly men, women and children are massacred by an American platoon led by Lt. William Calley. The incident is famously known as the My Lai incident.

Mar 25 – Military advisors of President Lyndon Johnson insist on him finding a way to get America out of the war.

Apr 3 – Leader of North Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh, presents a proposal to begin discussions of peace with the US and the South Vietnamese government. Despite this gesture, US troops continue to arrive in Vietnam.

Jun 23 – Vietnam is recognized as the longest war the United States of America has been in, ever.

Nov 6 – Richard Millhouse Nixon is elected as the 37th president of the United States. He defeated Hubert Humphrey (Democrat) and George Wallace (Independent).

Mar – Combat deaths of American soldiers number more than 33,629, this equaled those lost in the Korean War.

Mar 18 – Because Cambodia and Laos had been used by the North Vietnamese as a base of operations and sanctuaries, President Nixon secretly signs-off on the target bombing of those installations in those two countries. This is known as Operation Menu.

May – Nixon announces his intent on the “Vietnamization”, train and transition South Vietnamese soldiers to do what the Americans had been doing, of the war. At this point, US troops numbered at 543,000. He later makes the promise to withdraw 25,000 US soldiers.

Sep 3 – Ho Chi Minh dies at the age of 79. According to his will, he wanted to have his body embalmed and to be placed on display at a mausoleum.

Nov 15 – Another anti-war protest in Washington DC takes place where more than 600,000 Americans rally at the Washington Monument.

Nov 16 – Nixon again makes the pledge to withdraw another 35,000 US soldiers out of the war in Vietnam.

Dec 15 – Another 50,000 of the US soldiers in Vietnam are scheduled to return home by April 1970, as promised by President Nixon.

* In 2000, de-classified records show that during the Johnson administration, the US Air Force had bombed rural areas near the South Vietnam-Cambodia border since 1964.

Apr 30 – On a nationally televised announcement, President Nixon tells the American people that South Vietnamese and American forces had invaded Cambodia with the intent to cut off the aid being provided by Cambodia regime to the North Vietnamese government.

May 1 – In reaction to the announcement of the Cambodia invasion, a public demonstration ensues. The protest against the invasion is led by the students of Kent University.

May 4 – The National Guard was called in to help keep the peace at Kent University, as violence erupted, four students were shot, two were heading to class, and the other two were part of the protest group.

May 14 – Two more students fall victims to the anti-war protest, this time at Jackson State College in Mississippi. They were shot by the police.

Apr 24 – Another protest march in Washington DC where more than 200,000 make their feelings known about their opposition to the war in Vietnam.

May – Both sides of Congress, House and Senate, vote to bring home all the troops currently in Vietnam by the end of the year.

Jul 1 – The voting age for all US citizens is lowered from 21 to 18 years of age, this was done through the ratification of the 26th Amendment.

Mar 30 – As a response to the Easter Offensive by North Vietnam, Operation Linebacker is implemented by the United States. This involved the continuous and massive bombing of North Vietnam.

Jan 27 – The involvement of the US Military in the Vietnam War officially ended with the signing of the Paris Peace Accords. This event established a cease fire between the two Vietnams.

Feb – More than 600 American prisoners of war are released by the North Vietnamese.

Mar 29 – The United States last troop leave Vietnam, some military advisers and marines stay. More than three million Americans served in one way or another during the Vietnam War; of that number, one thousand were declared missing in action, 150,000 wounded, and up to 60,000 died.

Jun 4 – As the North Vietnamese government continued its attempt to unify the country under communist rule, U.S. Congress passes the Case-Church Amendment to prohibit the U.S. from intervention.

Apr 29 – South Vietnam civilians tried to make a dash for it, impending doom in the form of North Vietnam was upon them. These civilians had been well aware of the invasion from the North and did not want to be a part of it, some succeeded to leave, others were not as fortunate. In 18-hours, over 1,000 Americans and 7,000 Vietnamese were flown out of Saigon.

Apr 30 – The end result was the eventual Fall of Saigon. Saigon was the capital of South Vietnam, it was captured by the Vietnam People’s Army. This date, is the official end of the Vietnam War. It is today known as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.