Vietnam War Time Table |
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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) | ||
Quotes regarding Vietnam War Time Table.
By Henry Kissinger
We fought a military war; our opponents fought a political one. We sought physical attrition; our opponents aimed for our psychological exhaustion. In the process we lost sight of one of the cardinal maxims of guerrilla war: the guerrilla wins if he does not lose. The conventional army loses if it does not win. The North Vietnamese used their armed forces the way a bull-fighter uses his cape — to keep us lunging in areas of marginal political importance.
Foreign Affairs, 1969
By Jimmy Carter
The destruction was mutual. We went to Vietnam without any desire to capture territory or impose American will on other people. I don't feel that we ought to apologize or castigate ourselves or to assume the status of culpability.
Quoted in the LA Times, 1977
By Muhammad Ali
Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on Brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights? No I’m not going 10,000 miles from home to help murder and burn another poor nation simply to continue the domination of white slave masters of the darker people the world over. This is the day when such evils must come to an end. I have been warned that to take such a stand would cost me millions of dollars. But I have said it once and I will say it again. The real enemy of my people is here. I will not disgrace my religion, my people or myself by becoming a tool to enslave those who are fighting for their own justice, freedom and equality.
By Robert S. McNamara
I don’t object to its being called McNamara’s war. I think it is a very important war, and I am pleased to be identified with it and do whatever I can to win it.
Obituar, 2009
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