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Timeline
Characteristics of the Vietnam War
Vietnam Related News & Opinion
Ho
Chi Minh
General Vo Nguyen
Giap
President Lyndon
Johnson
General
William Westmoreland
President Richard
Nixon
Robert McNamara
Henry Kissinger
President Clinton
Visits Vietnam
Prime Minister Phan
Van Khai visits the United States
Chronology of U.S -Vietnam Relations
1930
Indochinese Communist Party, opposed to French rule, organized by Ho Chi Minh
and his followers.
1932
Bao Dai
returns from France to reign as emperor of Vietnam under the French.
September, 1940
Japanese troops occupy
Indochina, but allow the French to continue their colonial adminstration of
the area. Japan's move into southern part of Vietnam in July 1941 sparks an
oil boycott by the U.S. and Great Britain. The resulting oil shortage strengthens
Japan's desire to risk war against the U.S. and Britain.
1945
An OSS (Office of Strategic
Services, forerunner of the CIA) team parachutes into Ho Chi Minh's
jungle camp in northern Vietnam and saves Ho Chi Minh who is ill with
malaria and other tropical diseases.
August, 1945
Japan surrenders. Ho
Chi Minh establishes the Viet
Minh, a guerilla army. Bao Dai abdicates after a general uprising
led by the Viet Minh.
September, 1945
Seven OSS officers, led by Lieutenant
Colonel A. Peter Dewey, land in Saigon to liberate Allied war prisoners,
search for missing Americans, and gather intelligence.
September 2, 1945
Ho Chi Minh reads Vietnam's Declaration
of Independence to end 80 years of colonialism under French rule and establish
the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in Hanoi. Vietnam is divided north and
south.
September 26, 1945
OSS Lieutenant Dewey killed in Saigon, the first American to be killed in
Vietnam. French and Vietminh spokesmen blame each other for his death.
November, 1946
Ho Chi Minh attempts to negotiate the end of colonial rule with the French
without success. The French army shells Haiphong harbor in November, killing
over 6,000 Vietnamese civilians, and, by December, open war between France
and the Viet Minh begins.
Return
to Top
1950
The U.S., recognizing Boa Dai's regime as legitimate, begins to subsidize
the French in Vietnam; the Chinese Communists, having won their civil war
in 1949, begin to supply weapons to the Viet Minh.
August 3, 1950
A U.S.
Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) of 35 men arrives in Saigon.
By the end of the year, the U.S. is bearing half of the cost of France's
war effort in Vietnam.
May 7, 1954
The French are defeated at Dien
Bien Phu. General
Vo Nguyen Giap commands the Viet Minh forces. France is forced to withdraw.
The French-indochina War ends. See also:
Dien Bien Phu: A Vietnamese Perspective
Dien Bien Phu: A Website of the Battle
June, 1954
The CIA establishes a military mission in Saigon. Bao Dai selects Ngo
Dinh Diem as prime minster of his government.
July 20, 1954
The
Geneva Conference on Indochina declares a demilitarized zone at the 17th
parallel with the North under Communist rule and the South under the leadership
of Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem.
October 24, 1954
President
Dwight D. Eisenhower pledges support to Diem's government and military
forces.
1955
The U.S.-backed Ngo Dinh Diem organizes the Republic of Vietnam as an independent
nation; declares himself president.
1956
Fighting
begins between the North and the South.
July 8, 1959
The first American combat deaths in Vietnam occur when Viet Cong attack Bien
Hoa billets; two servicemen are killed.
1960
The National Liberation Front (NLF)--called the Viet
Cong--is founded in South Vietnam.
February, 1961
The U.S. military buildup in Vietnam begins with combat advisors. President
John F. Kennedy declares that they will respond if fired upon.
June 16, 1963
A Buddhist monk
immolates himself in Saigon. Buddhist demonstrations occurred from May through
August.
June
20, 1964
General William Westmoreland
succeeds General Paul Harkins as head of the U.S. forces (MACV) in Vietnam.
November 1, 1963
South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem is assassinated.
May 4, 1964
Trade embargo imposed on North Vietnam in response to attacks from the North
on South Vietnam.
August 2 and 4, 1964
The
Gulf of Tonkin Incident. North Vietnamese torpedo boats attacked the U.S.
destroyer Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin. A second attack allegedly occurs
on August 4.
In November,
2005, the National Security Agency (NSA) released "previously classified
information regarding the Vietnam era, specifically the Gulf of Tonkin incident.
This release includes a variety of articles, chronologies of events, oral
history interviews, signals intelligence (SIGINT) reports and translations,
and other related memoranda."
URL: http://www.nsa.gov/vietnam/
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/19925
August 5, 1964
President
Lyndon Johnson asks Congress for a resolution against North Vietnam following
the Gulf of Tonkin incident. Congress debates.
August 7, 1964
Congress approves the Gulf
of Tonkin Resolution which allows the president to take any necessary
measures to repel further attacks and to provide military assistance to any
South Asia Treaty Organization
(SEATO) member. Senators Wayne L. Morse of Oregon and Ernest Gruening of Alaska
cast the only dissenting votes. President Johnson orders the bombing of North
Vietnam. For additional information, see New
Light on Gulf of Tonkin, McNamara
Asks Giap, "What Happened at Tonkin Gulf?", and 30-Year
Anniversary: Tonkin Gulf Lie Launched the Vietnam War.
March 8-9, 1965
The first American combat troops arrive in Vietnam.
April 6-8, 1965
President Johnson authorizes the use of U.S. ground combat troops for offensive
operations. The next day he offers North Vietnam aid in exchange for peace.
North Vietnam rejects the offer.
April 17, 1965
Students for a Democratic
Society sponsor the first major anti-war rally in Washington, D.C.
June, 1965
Generals Nguyen
Cao Ky and Nguyen
Van Thieu seize the South Vietnamese government.
October 15-16, 1965
Anti-war protests
are held in about 40 American cities.
November 14-16, 1965
The first major military engagement occurs between U.S. and North Vietnamese
forces.
September, 1967
Thieu is elected president of South Vietnam.
Oct. 21-23, 1967
50,000 people demonstrate
against the war in Washington, D.C.
January 21, 1968
The battle of Khe Sanh
begins, ending six months later.
January 31, 1968
The Tet Offensive. Communist forces launch attacks on Hue´
and 31 other South Vietnamese provincial capitals and military bases. One
assault team gets inside the walls of the U.S. embassy in Saigon but is driven
back.
March 16,
1968
Unarmed Vietnamese civilians are killed by members of U.S. Army Lt. William
L. Calley Jr.'s platoon at
My Lai.
March 22, 1968
President Lyndon
Johnson names General William Westmoreland as Army Chief of Staff. He was
replaced in Vietnam by
General Creighton W. Abrams .
May 10, 1968
The Paris peace talks begin between U. S. and Vietnamese officials.
May 10-20, 1969
The battle for
Hamburger Hill
June 8, 1969
President
Richard Nixon announces the first troop withdrawals from South Vietnam
September 3, 1969
Ho Chi Minh dies.
November 15, 1969
250,000 people demonstrate against the war in Washington, D.C.
December
1, 1969
The first draft lottery since
1942 begins.
March 10, 1970
Captain Ernest Medina charged with murder for the murders at My Lai. Events
leading up the the My
Lai Courts-Martial begin, ending with the conviction
of Lieutenant William Calley on March 29, 1970.
April
30, 1970
The armies of the U.S. and South Vietnam invade
Cambodia to roust North Vietnamese troops. The invasion sparks campus
protests.
May 4, 1970
Four students are killed by National Guardsmen at Kent
State University in Ohio. The killings sparked hundreds of protest
activities across college campuses in the United States. Some protesters,
like those at the University of New Mexico, were met with violence. See:
The United Sates
Anti-War Movement and the Vietnam War and New
Mexico State Police Association.
May 6,
1970
More than 100 colleges are closed due to student riots over he invasion of
Cambodia.
February, 1971
South Vietnam and the U.S. invade Laos
in an attempt to sever the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
December 18, 1972
Christmas bombing of Hanoi and North Vietnam begins.
December
24, 1972
1972 Bob Hope gives his last show to U.S. servicemen in Saigon. It was
his 9th consecutive Christmas show in Vietnam. President Nixon suspends
Operation Linebacker II for 36 hours to mark the Christmas holiday.
December
28, 1972
Tthe
North Vietnamese announced that they will return to Paris if Nixon ends
the bombing. The bombing campaign was halted and the negotiators met during
the first week of January, 1973.
January 23, 1973
United States, South Vietnam, and North Vietnam sign Paris
Peace Accords, ending American combat role in war. U.S. military draft
ends. A cease-fire goes into effect 5 days later.
March 29, 1973
Last U.S. combat troops leave Vietnam.
February 12-27, 1973
POWs begin to come home as part of Operation
Homecoming
April 1, 1973
Hanoi releases last 591 acknowledged American POWs.
September 16, 1974
President
Gerald Ford offers clemency
to draft evaders and military deserters.
April 21, 1975
South Vietnamese President Thieu resigns.
April 29-30, 1975
Saigon falls. U. S. Navy evacuates U.S. personnel and South Vietnamese
refugees. The last American combat death in Vietnam occurs. South Vietnamese
President Duong
Van Minh surrenders.
April 30,
1975
North Vietnamese forces take over Saigon; South Vietnam surrenders to North
Vietnam, ending the war and reunifying the country under communist control,
forming the Independent Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Washington extends
embargo
to all of Vietnam.
May 12, 1975
The U.S. merchant ship
Mayaguez is seized by the Khmer
Rouge in international waters in the Gulf of Siam. The ship, owned
by Sea-Land Corporation, was en route to Sattahip, Thailand, from Hong-Kong,
carrying a non-arms cargo for military bases in Thailand.
December, 1978
Vietnam invades Cambodia and topples Pol
Pot's Khmer Rouge government, ending its reign
of terror.
1979
Western European countries and non-communist Asian nations support U.S.-led
embargo against Vietnam, in protest against invasion of Cambodia.
February,
1982
Vietnam agrees to talks on American MIAs.
November 11, 1982
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial,
"The Wall," is dedicated in Washington, D.C.
1988
Vietnam begins cooperation with United States to resolve fate of American
servicemen missing in action (MIA).
September/October, 1988
United States and Vietnam conduct first joint
field investigations on MIAs.
September 1989
Vietnam completes Cambodia withdrawal.
Return
to Top
April 21, 1991
United States and Vietnam agree to establish U.S. office in Hanoi to help
determine MIAs' fate. Washington presentes Hanoi with a roadmap for phased
normalization of relations and the lifting of the embargo.
October, 1991
Vietnam supports U.N. peace plan for Cambodia. Secretary of State James
Baker says Washington is ready to take steps towards normalizing relations
with Hanoi. Washington presents Hanoi with ''roadmap''
plan for phased normalization of relations and lifting of U.S. embargo.
December, 1991
Washington lifts ban on organized U.S. travel to Vietnam.
1992
Vietnam's Constitution
adopted.
April 29, 1992
Washington eases trade embargo by allowing commercial sales to Vietnam
that meet basic human needs, lifts restrictions on projects by American
non-governmental and non-profit groups, and allows establishment of telecommunications
links with Vietnam.
October, 1992
Retired General John
Vessey, U.S. presidential envoy on MIA issue, makes sixth trip to
Hanoi, obtains Vietnamese agreement on wider MIA cooperation, which Washington
describes as a breakthrough.
December 14, 1992
President
George Bush grants permission for U.S. companies open offices, sign
contracts and do feasibility studies in Vietnam.
July 2, 1993
President
Bill Clinton ends U.S. opposition to settlement of Vietnam's $140
million arrears to the International Monetary
Fund, clearing the way for the resumption of international lending
to Vietnam.
September 13, 1993
President Clinton eases economic sanctions against Vietnam to allow American
firms to bid on development projects financed by international banks,
another step toward normalization.
January 16, 1994
Admiral Charles
Larson, head of U.S. Pacific Command visits Vietnam, the highest-ranking
active-duty U.S. military officer to do so since the war's end. He concludes
that lifting the trade embargo would help efforts to account for Americans
missing from the war.
January 27, 1994
Backed by broad bipartisan support, the Senate approves non-binding resolution
urging President Clinton to lift embargo, a move they felt would help
get a full account of Americans still listed as missing in the Vietnam
War.
February 3, 1994
President Clinton announces the
lifting of the trade embargo.
October 5, 1994
House passes bill saying MIA accounting should remain central to U.S.
policy in Vietnam and the main function of a U.S. liaison office in Vietnam.
January 27, 1995
U.S. and Vietnam sign agreements settling old property claims and establishing
liaison offices in each other's capitals.
April 30, 1995
Vietnam celebrates the 20th anniversary of the end of the war.
May 15, 1995
Vietnam gives U.S. presidential delegation batch of documents on missing
Americans, later hailed by Pentagon as most detailed and informative of
their kind.
May 23, 1995
Senators John
Kerry (D, Mass) and John
McCain (R,-Ariz.), both Vietnam veterans, urge Clinton to normalize
relations.
May 31, 1995
Vietnam turns over 100 pages of maps and reports about U.S. servicemen
killed or captured during the war. An American veteran's map helps locate
a mass grave of communist soldiers killed during the war.
June 1995
Senators Kerry and McCain say they plan to offer a Senate resolution approving
normalized relations with Vietnam.
Secretary of State Warren
Christopher recommends to President Clinton that the United States
establish formal diplomatic relations with Vietnam.
State Department praises Hanoi authorities for increasing counter-narcotics
cooperation with the United States.
Vietnamese President Le Duc Anh announces he will visit the United States
in October for a celebration marking the 50th anniversary of the founding
of the United Nations.
July 11, 1995
President Clinton announces normalization of relations with Vietnam, saying
the time has come to move forward and bind up the wounds from the war.
July 28, 1995
Vietnam becomes a member of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
August 5, 1995
Secretary of State Warren Christopher opens U.S. embassy in Hanoi.
September 4, 1995
Former President George Bush visits Vietnam.
November 7-10, 1995
Former Secretary of Defense Robert
S. McNamara visits Vietnam.
July 12, 1996
U.S. National Security Adviser Anthony
Lake visits Hanoi to mark the first anniversary of normalization of
relations.
April 10, 1997
Former POW Douglas "Pete" Peterson
is confirmed by the Senate as the first ambassador to Vietnam since the
end of the war and the first ever to be posted to Hanoi. Vietnam's Le
Van Bang is confirmed as Vietnam's ambassador to the United States.
April 16, 1997
U.S. and Vietnam reach copyright protection agreement, a step toward Most
Favored Nation status.
May 9, 1997
Ambassador Peterson arrives in Hanoi to take up his new post. Ambassador
Le Van Bang arrived in Washington on May 7.
June 24, 1997
Secretary of State Madeline
Albright arrives in Vietnam on an official visit.
March 10, 1998
President Clinton waives the The
Jackson-Vanik Amendment for Vietnam, allowing American investors in
Vietnam to compete more effectively in Vietnam and to receive financial
help from U.S. government agencies such as the Export-Import Bank.
April
15, 1998
Pol Pot
dies
Return
to Top
July 13, 2000
The United States Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky and Vietnam's
Trade Minister Vu Khoan sign a major trade
agreement intended to provide Vietnam with access to the U.S.market
on the same terms granted to most other nations. Vietnam agrees to lower
tariffs and other trade barriers on American products and services. The
trade agreement is the last step in normalizing relations between the
U.S. and Vietnam.
November 16-19, 2000
President Bill Clinton and his family, Hillary Clinton and their daughter
Chelsea, arrived in Hanoi for a historic
visit. Clinton was the first President to visit Vietnam since President
Nixon's visit in 1969. The purpose of Clinton's trip was to discuss relations
between the two countries. Clinton said, "I think it is time to write
a new chapter here." See President
Clinton's Visit to Vietnam.
July 24-26, 2001
Secretary of State Colin
Powell pays a three-day visit to Vietnam where he attended the ASEAN
Regional Forum in Hanoi. It was Powell's first visit to Vietnam since
he served in the war in 1969.
October 3, 2001
The United States Senate approves an agreement normalizing trade between
the United States and Vietnam.
November
28, 2001
Vietnam's National Assembly ratifies the trade agreement with the United
States but warned that any U.S. interference in Vietnam's internal affairs
could jeopardize implementation of the agreement. The Vietnamese government
voiced strong concerns over the U.S. House of Representatives' passage
of a Vietnam Human
Rights Act which ties future U.S. non-humanitarian aid to improvements
in Vietnam's human rights record.
November
10, 2003
U.S. S
ecretary
of Defense Donald Rumsfeld met with Vietnam's Defense Minister Pham Van
Tra. This was the first time a senior Vietnamese military official has
visited Washington.
November
19, 2003
Navy missile frigate USS Vandegrift docked in the port of Ho Chi
Minh City, a symbolic act aimed at boosting relations between Vietnam and
the United States. Many of the crew were sons and daughters of Vietnam War
veterans. It was the first U.S. ship to dock in Vietnam since the end of the
war.
January
14, 2004
Nguyen Cao Ky,
who served as premier of South Vietnam until 1967 and then as vice president
from 1967 to 1971, paid a visit to relatives in Vietnam for the Tet holiday.
Permission for the visit was given by the Vietnamese government. The visit
caused controversy among overseas Vietnamese who felt it would legitimize
the current government in Vietnam. Ky
fled to the United States prior to the fall of Saigon in 1975.
March
25 , 2005
Vietnamese
Prime Minister Phan Van Khai welcomed Vietnamese monk, Thich
Nhat Han, who was banned from returning to Vietnam in 1966. the Zen Master
was invitated by the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha's International Religious Board
and will stay in Vietnam for 3 months.
March
29, 2005
The USS Gary arrived in the port of Saigon, marking the celebration
of the 10th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between
the United States and Vietnam. The first U.S. naval ship visited Vietnam in
November, 2003 and the second in July, 2004. The visits are expected to become
annual.
April
30, 2005
The 30th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.
-
Vietnam
Remembers Fall of Saigon
Open Letter to the People of Viet Nam
Vietnam: A Lingering Conflict
Vietnam Experts Comment on 30th Anniversary of War's End
Vietnam's Long Journey from War
June
19, 2005
Prime Minister Phan Van Khai and a delegation of the Vietnamese government
arrived in Seattle, the first destination on his official four-city, week-long
visit to the United States at the invitation of President George Bush. "The
purpose of my visit to the United States is to elevate our relationship to
a higher plane," Khai said.
The Prime Minister Phan Van Khai met privately with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates at the software company's Redmond headquarters. Gates also gave him a tour of Microsoft's "home of the future" display of consumer technology and a company research center.The Prime Minister also met with the press and representatives of major U.S. businesses at his first stop. Contracts worth $35 million were signed.
The Prime Minister met with President Bush on Tuesday, June 21 in the White House. The two leaders talked about Vietnam's desire to join the World Trade Organization, business issues, human rights and signed an agreement that Bush said would make it easier for people to worship freely in Vietnam.
The Prime Minister is highest-ranking leader to visit the United States since the Vietnam War ended 30 years ago. The last time a Vietnamese leader visited the United States, he was representing a country that no longer exists.
Vietnamese
Prime Minister to Visit United States
Vietnam
on the Path of Reform
PM
Phan Van Khai: "My Visit to the United States is Important"
Protests
Staged For Vietnam Prime Minister's Visit
Vietnam's
Prime Minister Meets with Bill Gates
President
Welcomes Vietnamese Prime Minister to the White House
July
26, 2006
Former POW and U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam, Pete Peterson, writes an opinion
essay urging Congress to grant permanent normal relations status to Vietnam.
November
7, 2006
The World Trade Organization formally invited Vietnam to become it's 150th
member.
November
17, 2006
U.S. President George H.W. Bush began a four-day visit to Vietnam in Hanoi
where he participated in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders'
meeting. He also met with President Triet and Prime Minister Dung. Bush's
trip included a stop in Ho Chi Minh City with a visit to the stock exchange
and a tour of the Joint POW-MIA Accounting Command responsible for locating
American soliders missing in Vietnam.
January
22, 2007
Adm. Gary Roughead, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, paid a two-day visit
to Vietnam, meeting with Vice Adm. Nguyen Van Hien, commander of the Vietnamese
Navy. Under discussion were efforts to cooperate in typhoon prediction, search
and rescue, and disaster relief.
January
25, 2007
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Vietnam's official in charge
of religious affairs, Ngo Yen Thi, met with Pope Benedict XVI I in Rome an
effort to normalize relations after decades of tension.
May
21, 2007
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer witnessed the signing of an agreement requiring
all of Vietnam's government offices to use licensed computer software in a
step to curb rampant piracy. Vietnam's Ministry of Finance was the first government
agency to sign the Microsoft Office licensing agreement during a visit by
company Chairman Bill Gates last year.
November
11, 2007
25th anniversary of the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C.
--Sandra M. Wittman
For additional information on U.S. Vietnam Relations, see:
Joint Task Force Full-Accounting
U.S. Embassy (Hanoi)
U.S.-Vietnam Relations (U.S. State Department)
Vietnamese Embassy (Washington, D.C.)
