For a narrative version, see U.S. Involvement in Indochina.
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Date
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Vietnam | Cambodia | Laos |
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August 2
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Gulf of Tonkin Incident | ||
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August 14
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Gulf of Tonkin Resolution passes in U.S. Congress | ||
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February 7
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Vietcong attack U.S. camps at Pleiku | ||
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February 13
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Operation Rolling Thunder is authorized by President Lyndon B. Johnson | ||
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March 24
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First antiwar demonstration, held at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor | ||
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April 3
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A month-long offensive of North Vietnam's transport system begins | ||
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April 7
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U.S. offers North Vietnam economic aid in exchange for settlement but is rejected; within two weeks, President Johnson increases U.S. forces to 60,000 troops | ||
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May 15
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National antiwar teach-in is held in Washington, D.C. | ||
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May 24
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First U.S. Army division to leave for Vietnam | ||
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July 28
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General William Westmoreland requests and receives additional troops | ||
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August 17
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Operation Starlite begins after North Vietnamese deserter tells of imminent attack on forces at the Chu Lai U.S. Marine base | ||
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October 15
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First draft card burned by a college student from the National Coordinating Committee to End the War in Vietnam | ||
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November 14
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First major battle between U.S. Army soldiers and North Vietnamese Army, led to U.S. victory in Ia Drang Valley | ||
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November 17
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American troops ambushed at Plei Mei resulting in 60 percent U.S. casualties | ||
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December 25
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President Johnson temporarily suspends bombing of North Vietnam in an unsuccessful attempt to bring North Vietnam to peace talks | ||
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January-February
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U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee hold hearings to question Johnson's advisors regarding U.S. involvement in the war | ||
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January 6
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Largest U.S. operation launched with 8,000 U.S. troops in Operation Crimp | ||
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January 31
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President Johnson orders bombing of North Vietnamese locations to resume | ||
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April-May
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Operation Birmingham begins with 5,000 troops, backed by a huge number of armored vehicles and helicopters | ||
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Late May and June
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Three weeks of fighting along the Demilitarized Zone, near Dong Hain, in the largest battle of the war to date in Operation Hastings | ||
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July
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Near Con Thien (nicknamed "the Meatgrinder" or "Hill of Angels"), 1,300 North Vietnamese troops killed during heavy fighting | ||
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August 16
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Fulbright Hearings begin with J. William Fulbright leading the charge | ||
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September 14
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Aggressive search and destroy sweeps through Tay Ninh province begin with Operation Attleboro for more than six weeks | ||
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End of 1966
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North Vietnamese meet and decide to fight war with troops and diplomacy; more than 6,000 U.S. soldiers killed this year, whereas 61,000 VC killed; American troops in Vietnam total 385,000 and 60,000 sailors are offshore | ||
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January
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North Vietnam insists on U.S. ceasing air raids before engaging in peace talks | ||
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January 8
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Operation Cedar Falls begins with huge military action to rid Iron Triangle of NVA and VC | ||
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February 21
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Operation Junction City, one of the largest air-mobile assaults (240 helicopters), produces very few VC captured | ||
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April 24
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First U.S. strikes on North Vietnam's airfields cause heavy damage | ||
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April 28
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Westmoreland, while addressing the war in Vietnam before Congress, requests greater support | ||
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May
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Air battles above Hanoi succeed in U.S. shooting down 26 NVA planes, decreasing NVA air strength by half; hundreds of NVA soldiers killed in Central Highlands | Air battles above Haiphong succeed in U.S. shooting down 26 NVA planes; hundreds of NVA soldiers killed in Central Highlands when discovered entering South Vietnam from Cambodia | |
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July
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NVA and Vietcong begin to plan for "Great Uprising," which became known as Tet Offensive | ||
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August
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Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, meeting with Congress, tells how ineffective North Vietnam saturation bombing is | ||
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Fall
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Crackdown in Hanoi leads to the arrest of 200 North Vietnamese senior officials for opposing upcoming Tet Offensive | ||
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November
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U.S. Marines are surrounded by 35,000 NVA soldiers in Battle of Khe Sanh | ||
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December 31
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U.S. forces in Vietnam reach nearly 500,000 troops | ||
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Early
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Cambodian Leader Prince Sihanouk allows for pursuit of Vietcong | ||
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January 30-31
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Tet Offensive launched by North Vietnamese and Vietcong troops | ||
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February 1
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General Nguyen Ngoc Loan, South Vietnamese National Police Chief, executes suspected NLF officer in front of photographers; opposition to war increases in U.S. when photo is published | ||
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February 24
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Tet Offensive ends after weeks of fighting when U.S. and ARVN troops retake Hue | ||
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March 10
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The New York Times reports of General Westmoreland's request for an additional 206,000 troops by year's end | ||
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March 11
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U.S. begins massive search and destroy sweep around Saigon for Vietcong remnants | ||
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March 16
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On a seek and destroy mission, My Lai Massacre occurs with hundreds of civilians killed by U.S. soldiers, and adds further doubt to the viability of war for the U.S. | ||
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March 31
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President Johnson announces his withdrawal from the race for re-election and halt to North Vietnam bombing | ||
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April 8
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Largest single battle to date is fought in Khe Sanh when U.S. forces, in Operation Pegasus, retake Route 9 after 77 days of fighting | ||
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May 11
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Formal peace talks begin in Paris between North Vietnam and the U.S. | ||
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June
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With highly mobile forces now in place, General Westmoreland orders demolition and removal of Khe Sanh | ||
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June 10
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General Creighton Abrams takes over as commander of the forces in Vietnam | ||
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July 1
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Bombing north of the DMZ is reinstituted | ||
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November 1
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Operation Rolling Thunder, after three and a half years, ends | ||
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November 6
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Richard M. Nixon is elected president | ||
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December 31
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U.S. troops in Vietnam number 540,000 | ||
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January
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President Nixon announces Vietnamization plan for South Vietnam | ||
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February
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Secret bombing of Cambodia begins and lasts for more than four years | ||
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March 28
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Mass graves of civilians, who had been killed by communists during the Tet Offensive, found at Hue when U.S. and ARVN troops arrive after the city is regained | ||
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April
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Number of U.S. troops dead outstrips the 33,629 killed in the Korean War | ||
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June 8
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Nixon announces the replacement of 25,000 U.S. troops with ARVN soldiers | ||
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September 3
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Henry Kissinger and North Vietnamese representative Xuan Thuy secretly meet in Paris to negotiate peace | ||
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October 29
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Hundreds of thousands of Americans take part in National Moratorium antiwar demonstrations across the country | ||
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November 16
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Americans learn of My Lai Massacre, resulting in major antiwar demonstrations | ||
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December 31
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U.S. troops number 480,000 in South Vietnam | ||
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February 20
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Kissinger meets secretly, in Paris, with Le Duc Tho of North Vietnam | ||
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March 18
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Prince Sihanouk government is overthrown by Lon Nol | ||
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April 29
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When U.S. and ARVN troops invade Cambodia to fight NVA-backed Khmer Rouge guerillas, college antiwar demonstrations intensify | ||
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May 4
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Four student demonstrators are killed and nine others wounded at Kent State University | ||
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December 31
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U.S. troops in Vietnam drop to 280,000 | ||
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January 6
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Gulf of Tonkin Resolution is repealed by Congress | ||
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February 8
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South Vietnamese enter Laos, attempting to sever Ho Chi Minh Trail supply lines, suffering 9,000 in casualties | ||
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March 29
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Lieutenant William Calley is convicted of murder for My Lai Massacre misconduct | ||
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Summer
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Spraying of Agent Orange in Vietnam ceases | Spraying of Agent Orange in Cambodia ceases | Spraying of Agent Orange in Laos ceases |
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June 1
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Vietnam Veterans for a Just Peace speak out against antiwar protests | ||
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June 18
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The New York Times begins printing Pentagon Papers | ||
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October
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Lowest number of U.S. troops (196,700) in Vietnam since January 1966 | ||
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November 10
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Khmer Rouge troops attack Phnom Penh and its airport | ||
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November 12
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Nixon announces that another 45,000 American troops will be removed by February 1, 1972 | ||
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December 31
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U.S. troops number 140,000 in Vietnam; all heavy bombing of North Vietnam had ceased | ||
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January 1
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Over two-thirds of U.S. soldiers removed from Vietnam and roughly 133,000 remain; ARVN forces now total one million almost exclusively to fight ground war | ||
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March 30
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Unexpected attack across DMZ, by North Vietnamese troops, in first attempt to invade South Vietnam since 1968; ARVN forced to retreat, while leaving southern defense in chaos | ||
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April 1
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NVA move toward Hue, guarded by South Vietnamese Army and U.S. Marines, until April 9 when they halt attacks and resupply | ||
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April 4
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Nixon orders mining of Haiphong Harbor and escalates bombing; demonstrations in U.S. intensify and 1,000 University of Minnesota students form blockade of Student Union building | ||
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April 13
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Vietcong manage to take Hue city's northern part but 4,000 ARVN troops, helped by U.S. elite forces and air bombings, hold position; Vietcong forced to withdraw after one month | ||
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April 27
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NVA forces battle again toward Quaong Tri and overtake Dong Ha two days later, finally taking Quang Tri on May 1; ARVN troops forced to retreat | ||
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June 17
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Watergate Scandal begins to be uncovered | ||
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July 19
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South Vietnamese Army begins drive to recapture Binh Dinh province, with U.S. air support; battles end September 15 and ARVN successful in recapturing all but northernmost part of province | ||
| Nixon wins re-election | |||
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November 11
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U.S. Army turns over massive Long Bihn base to South Vietnamese Army | ||
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November 30
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White House Press Secretary Ron Ziegler informs press of end to troop withdrawal announcements, since only 27,000 remain | ||
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December 13
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Peace talks in Paris break down again | ||
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December 18
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Heaviest bombings of the war to date begin over Hanoi in Operation Linebacker II | Heaviest bombings of the war to date begin over Haiphong in Operation Linebacker II | |
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December 31
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U.S. combat troops in Vietnam number fewer than 30,000 | ||
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January 15
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Nixon announces deferral of all offensive tactics in North Vietnam, due to progress in peace negotiations | ||
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January 27
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Paris Peace Accords signing, ending America's participation in the Vietnam War; former President Johnson dies five days earlier | ||
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February 11
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First American prisoners of war are released | ||
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March 29
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Last U.S. soldiers leave Vietnam; 8,500 American civilians, embassy guards, defense office soldiers remain | ||
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Early in Year
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Khmer Rouge troops, under Pol Pot, begin to take over the country, after U.S. soldiers withdraw | ||
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April 5
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U.S. Senate votes to discontinue aid to Vietnam, unless approved by Congress | ||
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August 15
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U.S. bombing of Cambodia ends; Nixon chastises Congress for ending air bombings | ||
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October 16
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Nobel Peace Prize goes to Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho for ending the Indochina War; Tho turns it down because the fighting continues | ||
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January
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NVA have rebuilt their divisions in South Vietnam; even while too weak to begin a major offensive, NVA have captured key areas | ||
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April 4
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House of Representatives refuses Nixon's request for more aid to South Vietnam | ||
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August 9
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Richard Nixon resigns, putting a halt to his impeachment | ||
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October
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Congress completes passage of Foreign Assistance Act, cutting off all aid to South Vietnam | ||
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December 26
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Dong Xoai is captured by the 7th North Vietnamese Army division | ||
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January 1
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In a blatant violation of Paris Peace Accords, NVA takes Phuoc Long and the surrounding province, without retaliation from the U. S. | ||
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January 6
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Sixty miles north of Saigon, Phuoc Long province falls to communists | ||
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March 1
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South Vietnam troops forced to retreat, suffering 60,000 casualties from a powerful NVA offensive into the Central Highlands region | ||
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March 14
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South Vietnam President Nguyen Van Thieu decides to withdraw troops from Central Highlands and northern provinces | ||
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March 25
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South Vietnamese resistance collapses after a three-day siege at the Battle of Hue | ||
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April 17
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Cambodia falls to Khmer Rouge forces and begin forcing people to leave the cities | ||
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April 21
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City of Xuan-loc, only 40 miles from Saigon, is overtaken by NVA; ARVN forced to retreat | ||
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April 29
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Largest helicopter evacuation in history occurs, as 7,000 Americans and South Vietnamese are rescued from the U.S. Embassy in Saigon | ||
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April 30
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Saigon falls to Vietnamese communist forces, officially ending 10 years of fighting | ||
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December 3
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Laos taken over by Laotian communists (Pathet Lao) | ||