Vietnam War

« At the beginning, Vietnam had been a French colony before it was occupied by the Japanese during World War Two.

After World War Two, it was returned to French control, but many Vietnamese people wanted independence.

As a result, in the 1950s, the French found themselves fighting a war against the Viet Minh, an organization dedicated to getting rid of foreign imperialist powers from Vietnam.

Worried about the spread of communism in South East Asia, the USA began to financially support the French war effort in Vietnam.

Halting the spread of communism was an idea that President Truman had said he was committed to as part of his Truman Doctrine, which was announced in 1947 during the early days of the Cold War.

In 1954, the French were finally defeated by the Viet Minh at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu.

This defeat was formalized in the Geneva Agreement.

The agreement temporarily separated Vietnam into two zones - a northern zone to be governed by the Viet Minh and a southern zone to be governed by an anti-communist government. 1950 1955 1956 1959 1961 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 First shipment of American military aid to the French colonial administration in Vietnam arrives President Eisenhower sends first military advisors to South Vietnam to train the South Vietnamese Army At French exit the US Military Assistance Advisor Group (MAAG) assumes full responsibility for training South Vietnamese forces First two Americans are killed during a Viet Minh guerillas strike at Bien Hoa President Kennedy sends 100 Special Forces troops to South Vietnam A U.S.

aircraft carrier arrives in Saigon and Vice President Johnson visits Saigon U.S.

Air Force begins using Agent Orange to defoliate trails used by Viet Cong forces U.S.

military advisors and Special Forces increase to 21,000 U.S.

destroyers USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy are reported attacked by the North Vietnamese in the Gulf of Tonkin.

U.S.

Congress passes “Gulf of Tonkin”.... »