South Vietnam surrenders to communist forces, officially ending the Vietnam War.
North Vietnam launches a massive assault on South Vietnam. The Paris Peace Accords are signed that provide a temporary cease-fire between North and South Vietnam. Deng Xiaoping, China’s diminutive leader, had good reason by late 1978 to view Vietnam’s victory in the American War (1959-75) as a threat to China’s security. China determined that Vietnam, heady with its victory in the American War, must be taught a lesson. The North Vietnamese cross the demilitarized zone (DMZ) at the 17th parallel to attack South Vietnam in what became known as the Easter Offensive. War of the Dragons: The Sino-Vietnamese War, 1979.
Portions of the Pentagon Papers, which detail how the Johnson Administration expanded the scale of the Vietnam War to the borders of Cambodia and Laos in bombing campaigns without public knowledge, are published in The New York Times. President Nixon announces that American troops will attack enemy locations in Cambodia, which sparks nationwide protests in the US, particularly on college campuses. troop withdrawals from Vietnam in an exit strategy known as Vietnamization.Ĭommunist revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh dies at the age of 79. President Nixon orders the first of many U.S. This event became known as the My Lai massacre and resulted in massive public outrage and fueled the already strong anti-war movement in the US when the news became public. soldiers kill between 347 and 504 unarmed civilians in My Lai, a Vietnamese village. The North Vietnamese and Viet Cong to launch the Tet Offensive, attacking approximately one hundred South Vietnamese cities and towns. Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution that calls for American military escalation in Vietnam. In response to the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, the U.S. President Gerald Ford announces that for the U.S., the Vietnam War is 'finished.' On April 30, South Vietnam surrenders to Communist forces, and the last Americans evacuate Saigon. destroyers sitting in international waters (the Gulf of Tonkin Incident). North Vietnam announces a renewal of the war. The North Vietnamese Army allegedly attack two U.S. Kennedy is assassinated in the United States. South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem is executed during a coup twenty days before President John F. The Viet Cong were essentially communist rebels in the Democratic State of South Vietnam and became known for their guerrilla war tactics against the Americans. The National Liberation Front (NLF), referred to as the Viet Cong or Charlie by the American Army, is established in South Vietnam. South Vietnam declares itself the Republic of Vietnam, with newly elected Ngo Dinh Diem as president. Peak North Vietnamese troop strength: 287,465 North Vietnamese civilian deaths: 50,000–65,000 The Saigon Military Mission, a covert operation to conduct psychological warfare and paramilitary. South Vietnamese civilian deaths: 195,000–430,000 Vo Nguyen Giap overrun the French base at Dien Bien Phu. American soldiers killed at less than 20 years old: 11,465