Vietnam War Fast Facts (2024)

');$vidEndSlate.removeClass('video__end-slate--inactive').addClass('video__end-slate--active');}};CNN.autoPlayVideoExist = (CNN.autoPlayVideoExist === true) ? true : false;var configObj = {thumb: 'none',video: 'us/2015/04/29/vietnam-fall-of-saigon-evacuation-anniversary-orig-mg.cnn',width: '100%',height: '100%',section: 'domestic',profile: 'expansion',network: 'cnn',markupId: 'large-media_0',adsection: 'const-article-pagetop',frameWidth: '100%',frameHeight: '100%',posterImageOverride: {"mini":{"width":220,"type":"jpg","uri":"//cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/150429003438-vietnam-fall-of-saigon-evacuation-anniversary-orig-mg-00015805-small-169.jpg","height":124},"xsmall":{"width":307,"type":"jpg","uri":"//cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/150429003438-vietnam-fall-of-saigon-evacuation-anniversary-orig-mg-00015805-medium-plus-169.jpg","height":173},"small":{"width":460,"type":"jpg","uri":"//cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/150429003438-vietnam-fall-of-saigon-evacuation-anniversary-orig-mg-00015805-large-169.jpg","height":259},"medium":{"width":780,"type":"jpg","uri":"//cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/150429003438-vietnam-fall-of-saigon-evacuation-anniversary-orig-mg-00015805-exlarge-169.jpg","height":438},"large":{"width":1100,"type":"jpg","uri":"//cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/150429003438-vietnam-fall-of-saigon-evacuation-anniversary-orig-mg-00015805-super-169.jpg","height":619},"full16x9":{"width":1600,"type":"jpg","uri":"//cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/150429003438-vietnam-fall-of-saigon-evacuation-anniversary-orig-mg-00015805-full-169.jpg","height":900},"mini1x1":{"width":120,"type":"jpg","uri":"//cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/150429003438-vietnam-fall-of-saigon-evacuation-anniversary-orig-mg-00015805-small-11.jpg","height":120}}},autoStartVideo = false,isVideoReplayClicked = false,callbackObj,containerEl,currentVideoCollection = [],currentVideoCollectionId = '',isLivePlayer = false,mediaMetadataCallbacks,mobilePinnedView = null,moveToNextTimeout,mutePlayerEnabled = false,nextVideoId = '',nextVideoUrl = '',turnOnFlashMessaging = false,videoPinner,videoEndSlateImpl;if (CNN.autoPlayVideoExist === false) {autoStartVideo = false;autoStartVideo = typeof CNN.isLoggedInVideoCheck === 'function' ? CNN.isLoggedInVideoCheck(autoStartVideo) : autoStartVideo;if (autoStartVideo === true) {if (turnOnFlashMessaging === true) {autoStartVideo = false;containerEl = jQuery(document.getElementById(configObj.markupId));CNN.VideoPlayer.showFlashSlate(containerEl);} else {CNN.autoPlayVideoExist = true;}}}configObj.autostart = CNN.Features.enableAutoplayBlock ? false : autoStartVideo;CNN.VideoPlayer.setPlayerProperties(configObj.markupId, autoStartVideo, isLivePlayer, isVideoReplayClicked, mutePlayerEnabled);CNN.VideoPlayer.setFirstVideoInCollection(currentVideoCollection, configObj.markupId);videoEndSlateImpl = new CNN.VideoEndSlate('large-media_0');function findNextVideo(currentVideoId) {var i,vidObj;if (currentVideoId && jQuery.isArray(currentVideoCollection) && currentVideoCollection.length > 0) {for (i = 0; i < currentVideoCollection.length; i++) {vidObj = currentVideoCollection[i];if (typeof vidObj !== 'undefined' && vidObj.videoId === currentVideoId) {if (i < currentVideoCollection.length - 1) {nextVideoId = currentVideoCollection[i + 1].videoId;nextVideoUrl = currentVideoCollection[i + 1].videoUrl;} else {nextVideoId = currentVideoCollection[0].videoId;nextVideoUrl = currentVideoCollection[0].videoUrl;}break;}}if (!nextVideoUrl) {nextVideoId = currentVideoCollection[0].videoId;nextVideoUrl = currentVideoCollection[0].videoUrl;}currentVideoCollectionId = (window.jsmd && window.jsmd.v && window.jsmd.v.eVar60) || nextVideoUrl.replace(/^.+\/video\/playlists\/(.+)\//, '$1');} else {nextVideoId = '';nextVideoUrl = '';}}findNextVideo('us/2015/04/29/vietnam-fall-of-saigon-evacuation-anniversary-orig-mg.cnn');function navigateToNextVideo(currentVideoId, containerId) {var $endSlate,nextVideoPlayTimeout = 1500;findNextVideo(currentVideoId);if (nextVideoUrl) {moveToNextTimeout = setTimeout(function () {location.href = nextVideoUrl;}, nextVideoPlayTimeout);} else {$endSlate = jQuery(document.getElementById(containerId)).parent().find('.js-video__end-slate').eq(0);if ($endSlate.length > 0) {videoEndSlateImpl.showEndSlateForContainer();if (mobilePinnedView) {mobilePinnedView.disable();}}}}callbackObj = {onPlayerReady: function (containerId) {var playerInstance,containerClassId = '#' + containerId;CNN.VideoPlayer.handleInitialExpandableVideoState(containerId);if (CNN.Features.enableVideoObserver && Modernizr && Modernizr.phone) {CNN.VideoPlayer.observeVideoPlayer(containerId);}CNN.VideoPlayer.handleAdOnCVPVisibilityChange(containerId, CNN.pageVis.isDocumentVisible());if (CNN.Features.enableMobileWebFloatingPlayer &&Modernizr &&(Modernizr.phone || Modernizr.mobile || Modernizr.tablet) &&CNN.VideoPlayer.getLibraryName(containerId) === 'fave' &&jQuery(containerClassId).parents('.js-pg-rail-tall__head').length > 0 &&CNN.contentModel.pageType === 'article') {playerInstance = FAVE.player.getInstance(containerId);mobilePinnedView = new CNN.MobilePinnedView({element: jQuery(containerClassId),enabled: false,transition: CNN.MobileWebFloatingPlayer.transition,onPin: function () {playerInstance.hideUI();},onUnpin: function () {playerInstance.showUI();},onPlayerClick: function () {if (mobilePinnedView) {playerInstance.enterFullscreen();playerInstance.showUI();}},onDismiss: function() {CNN.Videx.mobile.pinnedPlayer.disable();playerInstance.pause();}});/* Storing pinned view on CNN.Videx.mobile.pinnedPlayer So that all players can see the single pinned player */CNN.Videx = CNN.Videx || {};CNN.Videx.mobile = CNN.Videx.mobile || {};CNN.Videx.mobile.pinnedPlayer = mobilePinnedView;}if (Modernizr && !Modernizr.phone && !Modernizr.mobile && !Modernizr.tablet) {if (jQuery(containerClassId).parents('.js-pg-rail-tall__head').length) {videoPinner = new CNN.VideoPinner(containerClassId);videoPinner.init();} else {CNN.VideoPlayer.hideThumbnail(containerId);}}},onContentEntryLoad: function(containerId, playerId, contentid, isQueue) {CNN.VideoPlayer.showSpinner(containerId);},onContentPause: function (containerId, playerId, videoId, paused) {if (mobilePinnedView) {CNN.VideoPlayer.handleMobilePinnedPlayerStates(containerId, paused);}},onContentMetadata: function (containerId, playerId, metadata, contentId, duration, width, height) {var endSlateLen = jQuery(document.getElementById(containerId)).parent().find('.js-video__end-slate').eq(0).length;CNN.VideoSourceUtils.updateSource(containerId, metadata);if (endSlateLen > 0) {videoEndSlateImpl.fetchAndShowRecommendedVideos(metadata);}},onAdPlay: function (containerId, cvpId, token, mode, id, duration, blockId, adType) {/* Dismissing the pinnedPlayer if another video players plays an Ad */CNN.VideoPlayer.dismissMobilePinnedPlayer(containerId);clearTimeout(moveToNextTimeout);CNN.VideoPlayer.hideSpinner(containerId);if (Modernizr && !Modernizr.phone && !Modernizr.mobile && !Modernizr.tablet) {if (typeof videoPinner !== 'undefined' && videoPinner !== null) {videoPinner.setIsPlaying(true);videoPinner.animateDown();}}},onAdPause: function (containerId, playerId, token, mode, id, duration, blockId, adType, instance, isAdPause) {if (mobilePinnedView) {CNN.VideoPlayer.handleMobilePinnedPlayerStates(containerId, isAdPause);}},onTrackingFullscreen: function (containerId, PlayerId, dataObj) {CNN.VideoPlayer.handleFullscreenChange(containerId, dataObj);if (mobilePinnedView &&typeof dataObj === 'object' &&FAVE.Utils.os === 'iOS' && !dataObj.fullscreen) {jQuery(document).scrollTop(mobilePinnedView.getScrollPosition());playerInstance.hideUI();}},onContentPlay: function (containerId, cvpId, event) {var playerInstance,prevVideoId;if (CNN.companion && typeof CNN.companion.updateCompanionLayout === 'function') {CNN.companion.updateCompanionLayout('restoreEpicAds');}clearTimeout(moveToNextTimeout);CNN.VideoPlayer.hideSpinner(containerId);if (Modernizr && !Modernizr.phone && !Modernizr.mobile && !Modernizr.tablet) {if (typeof videoPinner !== 'undefined' && videoPinner !== null) {videoPinner.setIsPlaying(true);videoPinner.animateDown();}}},onContentReplayRequest: function (containerId, cvpId, contentId) {if (Modernizr && !Modernizr.phone && !Modernizr.mobile && !Modernizr.tablet) {if (typeof videoPinner !== 'undefined' && videoPinner !== null) {videoPinner.setIsPlaying(true);var $endSlate = jQuery(document.getElementById(containerId)).parent().find('.js-video__end-slate').eq(0);if ($endSlate.length > 0) {$endSlate.removeClass('video__end-slate--active').addClass('video__end-slate--inactive');}}}},onContentBegin: function (containerId, cvpId, contentId) {if (mobilePinnedView) {mobilePinnedView.enable();}/* Dismissing the pinnedPlayer if another video players plays a video. */CNN.VideoPlayer.dismissMobilePinnedPlayer(containerId);CNN.VideoPlayer.mutePlayer(containerId);if (CNN.companion && typeof CNN.companion.updateCompanionLayout === 'function') {CNN.companion.updateCompanionLayout('removeEpicAds');}CNN.VideoPlayer.hideSpinner(containerId);clearTimeout(moveToNextTimeout);CNN.VideoSourceUtils.clearSource(containerId);jQuery(document).triggerVideoContentStarted();},onContentComplete: function (containerId, cvpId, contentId) {if (CNN.companion && typeof CNN.companion.updateCompanionLayout === 'function') {CNN.companion.updateCompanionLayout('restoreFreewheel');}navigateToNextVideo(contentId, containerId);},onContentEnd: function (containerId, cvpId, contentId) {if (Modernizr && !Modernizr.phone && !Modernizr.mobile && !Modernizr.tablet) {if (typeof videoPinner !== 'undefined' && videoPinner !== null) {videoPinner.setIsPlaying(false);}}},onCVPVisibilityChange: function (containerId, cvpId, visible) {CNN.VideoPlayer.handleAdOnCVPVisibilityChange(containerId, visible);}};if (typeof configObj.context !== 'string' || configObj.context.length <= 0) {configObj.context = 'world'.replace(/[\(\)\-]/g, '');}if (typeof configObj.adsection === 'undefined' && typeof window.ssid === 'string' && window.ssid.length > 0) {configObj.adsection = window.ssid;}CNN.autoPlayVideoExist = (CNN.autoPlayVideoExist === true) ? true : false;CNN.VideoPlayer.getLibrary(configObj, callbackObj, isLivePlayer);});CNN.INJECTOR.scriptComplete('videodemanddust');

Vietnam War Fast Facts (1)

Vietnam War Fast Facts (2)

    JUST WATCHED

    The Fall of Saigon: 40 years later

More Videos ...

MUST WATCH

The Fall of Saigon: 40 years later 03:53

(CNN)Here's a look at the Vietnam War.

Causes of Vietnam War

1883-1945 - Cochin-China, southern Vietnam, and Annam and Tonkin, central and northern Vietnam, along with Cambodia and Laos make up colonial empire French Indochina.

    1946 - Communists in the north begin fighting France for control of the country.

      1949 - France establishes the State of Vietnam in the southern half of the country.

        Read More

        1951 - Ho Chi Minh becomes leader of Dang Lao Dong Vietnam, the Vietnam Worker's Party, in the north.

        North Vietnam was communist. South Vietnam was not. North Vietnamese Communists and South Vietnamese Communist rebels, known as the Viet Cong, wanted to overthrow the South Vietnamese government and reunite the country.

          Vietnam War Fast Facts (3)

          Photos: The Vietnam War

          Vietnam War Fast Facts (4)

          Photos: The Vietnam War

          South Vietnamese troops wade through water to flush out communist rebels, known as the Viet Cong, in 1962. Several years earlier, North Vietnamese communists began helping the Viet Cong fight South Vietnamese troops. They wanted to overthrow the South Vietnamese government and reunite the country, which split in 1954.

          Hide Caption

          1 of 30

          Vietnam War Fast Facts (5)

          Photos: The Vietnam War

          On July 21, 1954, Vietnam signs the Geneva Accords and divides into two countries at the 17th parallel: the communist-led north and U.S.-supported south. Vietnam had been a part of the colonial empire French Indochina until communists in the north began fighting France for control of the country.

          Hide Caption

          2 of 30

          Vietnam War Fast Facts (6)

          Photos: The Vietnam War

          A man appears fearful as he is questioned by South Vietnamese soldiers in August 1962.

          Hide Caption

          3 of 30

          Vietnam War Fast Facts (7)

          Photos: The Vietnam War

          American planes drop napalm on Viet Cong positions in 1962. Hoping to stop the spread of communism in Southeast Asia, the U.S. also sent aid and military advisers to help the South Vietnamese government. The number of U.S. military advisers in Vietnam grew from 900 in 1960 to 11,000 in 1962.

          Hide Caption

          4 of 30

          Vietnam War Fast Facts (8)

          Photos: The Vietnam War

          U.S. troops in Vietnam salute the coffins of seven American soldiers who were killed in a helicopter crash circa 1963.

          Hide Caption

          5 of 30

          Vietnam War Fast Facts (9)

          Photos: The Vietnam War

          Hide Caption

          6 of 30

          Vietnam War Fast Facts (10)

          Photos: The Vietnam War

          Thich Quang Duc, a Buddhist monk, burns himself to death on a street in Saigon -- the capital of South Vietnam -- on June 11, 1963. He lit himself on fire to protest alleged persecution of Buddhists by the South Vietnamese government.

          Hide Caption

          7 of 30

          Vietnam War Fast Facts (11)

          Photos: The Vietnam War

          A father holds the body of his child as South Vietnamese Army Rangers look down from their armored vehicle in March 1964. The child was killed as government forces pursued guerrillas into a village near the Cambodian border.

          Hide Caption

          8 of 30

          Vietnam War Fast Facts (12)

          Photos: The Vietnam War

          The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Maddox, seen here, was anchored in the Gulf of Tonkin when it was attacked by the North Vietnamese in August 1964. After U.S. President Lyndon Johnson falsely claimed that there had been a second attack on the destroyer, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, which authorized full-scale U.S. intervention in the Vietnam War. Johnson ordered the bombing of North Vietnam in retaliation for the Tonkin attack.

          Hide Caption

          9 of 30

          Vietnam War Fast Facts (13)

          Photos: The Vietnam War

          A South Vietnamese reconnaissance unit walks hip-deep in water as a U.S. helicopter skims over reeds in the Mekong Delta in October 1964. They were on the lookout for Viet Cong guerrillas.

          Hide Caption

          10 of 30

          Vietnam War Fast Facts (14)

          Photos: The Vietnam War

          Injured people receive medical aid after an explosion at the U.S. Embassy in Saigon on March 30, 1965.

          Hide Caption

          11 of 30

          Vietnam War Fast Facts (15)

          Photos: The Vietnam War

          A suspected Viet Cong is kicked by a South Vietnamese soldier in October 1965. The prisoner was one of 15 captured in a raid near Xom Chua.

          Hide Caption

          12 of 30

          Vietnam War Fast Facts (16)

          Photos: The Vietnam War

          Women and children crouch in a muddy canal as they take cover from intense Viet Cong fire at Bao Trai, about 20 miles west of Saigon, in January 1966.

          Hide Caption

          13 of 30

          Vietnam War Fast Facts (17)

          Photos: The Vietnam War

          Staff Sgt. Harrison Pell, a wounded American soldier, drinks from a comrade's canteen during a January 1966 firefight between U.S. troops and a combined North Vietnamese and Viet Cong force.

          Hide Caption

          14 of 30

          Vietnam War Fast Facts (18)

          Photos: The Vietnam War

          A Viet Cong soldier holds an anti-tank gun during the Tet Offensive, a massive surprise attack launched in 1968 by the North Vietnamese. The attack hit 36 major cities and towns in South Vietnam. Both sides suffered heavy casualties.

          Hide Caption

          15 of 30

          Vietnam War Fast Facts (19)

          Photos: The Vietnam War

          South Vietnamese Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan, chief of the National Police, fires his pistol into the head of suspected Viet Cong officer Nguyen Van Lem on a Saigon street on February 1, 1968, early in the Tet Offensive.

          Hide Caption

          16 of 30

          Vietnam War Fast Facts (20)

          Photos: The Vietnam War

          A young refugee carries an elderly woman on his back while crossing a bridge in Hue, Vietnam, in 1968.

          Hide Caption

          17 of 30

          Vietnam War Fast Facts (21)

          Photos: The Vietnam War

          Troops look at the aftermath of an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Saigon in 1968.

          Hide Caption

          18 of 30

          Vietnam War Fast Facts (22)

          Photos: The Vietnam War

          A U.S. Army first sergeant guides a medevac helicopter through the jungle to pick up casualties suffered near Hue in April 1968.

          Hide Caption

          19 of 30

          Vietnam War Fast Facts (23)

          Photos: The Vietnam War

          A South Vietnamese woman mourns over the body of her husband, which was found with 47 others in a mass grave near Hue in April 1969.

          Hide Caption

          20 of 30

          Vietnam War Fast Facts (24)

          Photos: The Vietnam War

          U.S. President Richard Nixon points to a map in the White House after telling the nation that American troops have attacked, at his order, a communist complex in Cambodia in April 1970. Nixon ordered troops to invade border areas in Cambodia and destroy supply centers set up by the North Vietnamese.

          Hide Caption

          21 of 30

          Vietnam War Fast Facts (25)

          Photos: The Vietnam War

          On May 4, 1970, National Guard units fired into a group of anti-war demonstrators at Kent State University in Ohio. The shots killed four students and wounded nine others. Anti-war demonstrations and riots occurred on hundreds of other campuses throughout May.

          Hide Caption

          22 of 30

          Vietnam War Fast Facts (26)

          Photos: The Vietnam War

          U.S. artillerymen relax under a crudely made peace flag at the Laotian border in 1971. In February 1971, U.S. and South Vietnamese troops invaded southern Laos in an effort to stop North Vietnamese supply routes. This action, ordered by President Nixon, was done without consent of Congress, and it led to more anti-war protests.

          Hide Caption

          23 of 30

          Vietnam War Fast Facts (27)

          Photos: The Vietnam War

          South Vietnamese forces follow after terrified children after a napalm attack on suspected Viet Cong hiding places in June 1972. A South Vietnamese plane accidentally dropped napalm on South Vietnamese troops and civilians. The terrified girl in the center had ripped off her burning clothes while fleeing.

          Hide Caption

          24 of 30

          Vietnam War Fast Facts (28)

          Photos: The Vietnam War

          North Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nouyen Duy Trinm signs a ceasefire agreement in Paris on January 27, 1973. The last American ground troops left in March of that year. Fighting would resume between North and South Vietnam, but the United States did not return.

          Hide Caption

          25 of 30

          Vietnam War Fast Facts (29)

          Photos: The Vietnam War

          Air Force Lt. Col. Robert L. Stirm, a released prisoner of war, is greeted by his family in Fairfield, California, as he returns home on March 17, 1973.

          Hide Caption

          26 of 30

          Vietnam War Fast Facts (30)

          Photos: The Vietnam War

          A cargo net lifts refugees from a barge so they can be evacuated from the city of Da Nang, Vietnam, on April 1, 1975.

          Hide Caption

          27 of 30

          Vietnam War Fast Facts (31)

          Photos: The Vietnam War

          Mobs of Vietnamese people scale the wall of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon on April 29, 1975, trying to get to a helicopter pickup zone. A day later, South Vietnam surrendered to North Vietnam when North Vietnamese troops entered Saigon. Saigon is now called Ho Chi Minh City in honor of the late North Vietnamese leader.

          Hide Caption

          28 of 30

          Vietnam War Fast Facts (32)

          Photos: The Vietnam War

          A CIA employee helps Vietnamese evacuees onto a helicopter near the U.S. Embassy in Saigon on April 29, 1975. Near the war's end, about 100 Marine, Air Force and Air America choppers evacuated an estimated 7,000 Americans and South Vietnamese out of the South Vietnamese capital in under 24 hours. It was the largest helicopter airlift in history.

          Hide Caption

          29 of 30

          Vietnam War Fast Facts (33)

          Photos: The Vietnam War

          U.S. President Barack Obama stands at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington in May 2012. The black granite memorial bears the names of more than 58,000 Americans killed in the Vietnam War.

          Hide Caption

          30 of 30

          Vietnam War Fast Facts (34)Vietnam War Fast Facts (35)Vietnam War Fast Facts (36)Vietnam War Fast Facts (37)Vietnam War Fast Facts (38)Vietnam War Fast Facts (39)Vietnam War Fast Facts (40)Vietnam War Fast Facts (41)Vietnam War Fast Facts (42)Vietnam War Fast Facts (43)Vietnam War Fast Facts (44)Vietnam War Fast Facts (45)Vietnam War Fast Facts (46)Vietnam War Fast Facts (47)Vietnam War Fast Facts (48)Vietnam War Fast Facts (49)Vietnam War Fast Facts (50)Vietnam War Fast Facts (51)Vietnam War Fast Facts (52)Vietnam War Fast Facts (53)Vietnam War Fast Facts (54)Vietnam War Fast Facts (55)Vietnam War Fast Facts (56)Vietnam War Fast Facts (57)Vietnam War Fast Facts (58)Vietnam War Fast Facts (59)Vietnam War Fast Facts (60)Vietnam War Fast Facts (61)Vietnam War Fast Facts (62)Vietnam War Fast Facts (63)

          Other Facts

          1954 - North Vietnamese begin helping South Vietnamese rebels fight South Vietnamese troops, thus BEGINS the Vietnam conflict.

          April 30, 1975 - South Vietnam surrenders to North Vietnam as North Vietnamese troops enter Saigon, ENDING the Vietnam conflict.

          The war was estimated to cost about $200 billion.

          Anti-war opinion increased in the United States from the mid-1960s on, with rallies, teach-ins, and other forms of demonstration.

          North Vietnamese guerrilla forces used the Ho Chi Minh Trail, a network of jungle paths and mountain trails, to send supplies and troops into South Vietnam.

          The bombing of North Vietnam surpassed the total tonnage of bombs dropped on Germany, Italy and Japan in World War II.

          Today, Vietnam is a communist state.

          US Troop Statistics

          Source: Dept. of Defense

          8,744,000 - Total number of US Troops that served worldwide during Vietnam
          3,403,000 served in Southeast Asia
          2,594,000 served in South Vietnam

          The total of American servicemen listed as POW/MIA at the end of the war was 2,646. As of April 12, 2024, 1,577 soldiers remain unaccounted for.

          US Deaths

          Battle: 47,434
          Non-Battle: 10,786
          Total In-Theatre: 58,220

          1.3 million - Total military deaths for all countries involved

          1 million - Total civilian deaths

          Timeline

          September 2, 1945 - Vietnam declares independence from France. Neither France nor the United States recognizes this claim. US President Harry S. Truman aids France with military equipment to fight the rebels known as Viet Minh.

          May 1954 - The Battle of Dien Bien Phu results in serious defeat for the French and peace talks in Geneva. The Geneva Accords end the French Indochina War.

          July 21, 1954 - Vietnam signs the Geneva Accords and divides into two countries at the 17th parallel, the Communist-led north and US-supported south.

          1957-1963 - North Vietnam and the Viet Cong fight South Vietnamese troops. Hoping to stop the spread of communism in Southeast Asia, the United States sends more aid and military advisers to help the South Vietnamese government. The number of US military advisers in Vietnam grows from 900 in 1960 to 11,000 in 1962.

          1964-1969 - By 1964, the Viet Cong, the Communist guerrilla force, has 35,000 troops in South Vietnam. The United States sends more and more troops to fight the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese, with the number of US troops in Vietnam peaking at 543,000 in April 1969. Anti-war sentiment in the United States grows stronger as the troop numbers increase.

          August 2, 1964 - Gulf of Tonkin - The North Vietnamese fire on a US destroyer anchored in the Gulf of Tonkin. After US President Lyndon Johnson falsely claims that there had been a second attack on the destroyer, Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, which authorizes full-scale US intervention in the Vietnam War. Johnson orders the bombing of North Vietnam in retaliation for the Tonkin attack.

          August 5, 1964 - Johnson asks Congress for the power to go to war against the North Vietnamese and the Communists for violating the Geneva Accords against South Vietnam and Laos. The request is granted August 7, 1964, in a Congressional joint resolution.

          January 30, 1968 - Tet Offensive - The North Vietnamese launch a massive surprise attack during the festival of the Vietnamese New Year, called Tet. The attack hits 36 major cities and towns in South Vietnam. Both sides suffer heavy casualties, but the offensive demonstrates that the war will not end soon or easily. American public opinion against the war increases, and the US begins to reduce the number of troops in Vietnam.

          March 16, 1968 - My Lai Massacre - About 400 women, children and elderly men are massacred by US forces in the village of My Lai in South Vietnam. Lieutenant William L. Calley Jr. is later court-martialed for leading the raid and sentenced to life in prison for his role but is released in 1974 when a federal court overturns the conviction. Calley is the only soldier ever convicted in connection with the event.

          April 1970 - Invasion of Cambodia - US President Richard Nixon orders US and South Vietnamese troops to invade border areas in Cambodia and destroy supply centers set up by the North Vietnamese. The invasion sparks more anti-war protests, and on June 3, 1970, Nixon announces the completion of troop withdrawal.

          May 4, 1970 - National Guard units fire into a group of demonstrators at Kent State University in Ohio. The shots kill four students and wound nine others. Anti-war demonstrations and riots occur on hundreds of other campuses throughout May.

          February 8, 1971 - Invasion of Laos - Under orders from Nixon, US and South Vietnamese ground troops, with the support of B-52 bombers, invade southern Laos in an effort to stop the North Vietnamese supply routes through Laos into South Vietnam. This action is done without consent of Congress and causes more anti-war protests in the United States.

          January 27, 1973 - A cease-fire is arranged after peace talks.

          March 29, 1973 - The last American ground troops leave. Fighting begins again between North and South Vietnam, but the United States does not return.

            April 30, 1975 - South Vietnam surrenders to North Vietnam as North Vietnamese troops enter Saigon, now called Ho Chi Minh City.

            May 25, 2012 - US President Barack Obama signs a proclamation that puts into effect the "Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War" that will continue until November 11, 2025. Over the next 13 years, the program will "honor and give thanks to a generation of proud Americans who saw our country through one of the most challenging missions we have ever faced."

            Vietnam War Fast Facts (2024)
            Top Articles
            Latest Posts
            Recommended Articles
            Article information

            Author: Patricia Veum II

            Last Updated:

            Views: 6388

            Rating: 4.3 / 5 (44 voted)

            Reviews: 91% of readers found this page helpful

            Author information

            Name: Patricia Veum II

            Birthday: 1994-12-16

            Address: 2064 Little Summit, Goldieton, MS 97651-0862

            Phone: +6873952696715

            Job: Principal Officer

            Hobby: Rafting, Cabaret, Candle making, Jigsaw puzzles, Inline skating, Magic, Graffiti

            Introduction: My name is Patricia Veum II, I am a vast, combative, smiling, famous, inexpensive, zealous, sparkling person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.