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Vietnam War Timeline

1959 Jan North Vietnamese Army unit creates supply route from North Vietnam to Vietcong forces in South Vietnam
In January 1959, the North's Central Committee issued a secret resolution authorizing an "armed struggle". This authorized the southern communists to begin large-scale operations against ...
1959 Jul 8 US Servicemen Killed in Guerilla Attack
U.S. Army Major Dale Richard Buis (August 29, 1921 - July 8, 1959) is the first name listed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Buis originally hailed from Pender, Nebraska. He was part of ...
1960 Nov 8 John F. Kennedy Elected 35th U.S President
On Tuesday, November 8, Kennedy defeated Nixon in one of the closest presidential elections of the twentieth century. In the national popular vote Kennedy led Nixon by just two-tenths of ...
1960 Dec 12 Hanoi forms National Liberation Front for South Vietnam
Observing the increasing unpopularity of the Diem regime, on 12 December 1960, Hanoi authorized the creation of the National Liberation Front as a common front controlled by the communist...
1961 Strategic Hamlet Program
In 1961, U.S. advisors in South Vietnam, along with the Diem regime, began the implementation of a plan attempted to isolate rural peasants from contact with and influence by the National...
1961 May Vice President Johnson Tours Saigon
In May 1961, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson visited Saigon and enthusiastically declared Diem the "Winston Churchill of Asia." Asked why he had made the comment, Johnson replied, "Diem'...
1962 US Military Employs Agent Orange
Agent Orange is the code name for a herbicide and defoliant used by the U.S. military in its Herbicidal Warfare program during the Vietnam War, when an estimated 21,136,000 gal. (80 000 m...
1962 Jan 12 Operation Chopper
Operation Chopper occurred on January 12, 1962 and was the first time US forces participated in major combat in the Vietnam War. In December of 1961, the USNS docked in Saigon with 82 ...
1963 Jan 2 Battle of Ap Bac
The Battle of Ap Bac was a small-scale battle early in the Vietnam War which resulted in the first major combat victory by the Viet Cong against regular South Vietnamese and American forc...
1963 May 8 Hue Vesak Shootings
The Hue Vesak shootings refer to the deaths of nine unarmed Buddhist civilians on May 8, 1963 in the city of Huế in South Vietnam, at the hands of the army and security forces of the gove...
1963 Aug 21 Xa Loi Pagoda Raids
The Xa Loi Pagoda raids were a series of synchronized attacks on various Buddhist pagodas in the major cities of South Vietnam shortly after midnight on August 21, 1963. The raids were ex...
1963 Aug 24 Cable 243 is Sent to Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., the US Ambassador to South Vietnam
DEPTEL 243, also known as Telegram 243, the August 24 cable or most commonly Cable 243, was a high profile message sent on August 24, 1963 by the United States Department of State to Henr...
1963 Oct 11 President Kennedy Issues NSAM 263, Ordering the Withdrawl of 1,000 Military Personnel from Vietnam by the End of 1963
Kennedy increased the number of U.S. military in Vietnam from 800 to 16,300. It remains a point of some controversy among historians whether or not Vietnam would have escalated to the poi...
1963 Nov 2 Arrest and Assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem and His Brother, Nhu
The arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem, then president of South Vietnam, marked the culmination of a successful CIA-backed coup d'état led by General Duong Van Minh in November 196...
1963 Nov 2 Diem Overthrown and Executed
The inept performance of the South Vietnamese army was exemplified by failed actions such as the Battle of Ap Bac on 2 January 1963, in which a small band of Viet Cong beat off a much lar...
1963 Nov 22
12:30PM
 President John F. Kennedy Assassinated
Report of the Select Committee on Assassinations of the U.S. House of Representatives Findings of the Select Committee on Assassinations in the Assassination of President John F. Kenne...
1964 Jan General Nguyen Khanh Seizes Power in Saigon
On November 1, 1963, he joined General Dương Văn Minh and the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) generals in a coup d'etat against President Ngô Đình Diệm which led to the President's...
1964 Aug 2 Gulf of Tonkin Incident
Amid steadily rising tensions over North Vietnam's activities in Laos and South Vietnam, at the end of July 1964 USS Maddox entered the Gulf of Tonkin for a cruise along the North Vietnam...
1964 Aug 7 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
The Tonkin Gulf Resolution (officially, the Southeast Asia Resolution, Public Law 88-408) was a joint resolution of the United States Congress passed on August 7, 1964 in response to two ...
1964 Dec 14
to 1973 Mar 29
 Operation Barrel Roll Begins
On 12 December 1964, Barrel Roll was approved by Souvanna Phouma. The program originally consisted of only two U.S bombing sorties per week that were to be conducted by no more than four ...
1965 Feb Operation Flaming Dart
Operation Flaming Dart was a U.S. military operation, conducted in two parts, during the Vietnam War. United States President Lyndon B. Johnson in February 1965 ordered a series of rep...
1965 Feb 16 Vung Ro Bay Incident
The Vung Ro Bay Incident refers to the discovery of a 100-ton North Vietnamese naval trawler unloading munitions on a beach in South Vietnam's Vung Ro Bay on 16 February 1965. The inciden...
1965 Mar 2 Operation Rolling Thunder
Operation Rolling Thunder was the title of a gradual and sustained U.S. 2nd Air Division (later Seventh Air Force), U.S. Navy, and Republic of Vietnam Air Force (VNAF) aerial bombardment ...
1965 Apr 3 U.S. Military Launches Operation Steel Tiger
Operation Steel Tiger was a covert U.S. 2nd Air Division, later Seventh Air Force and U.S. Navy Task Force 77 aerial interdiction effort targeted against the infiltration of People's Army...
1965 May 28
to 1965 Jun 1
 Battle of Ba Gia
The Battle of Ba Gia or Bãi Xoan was a battle of the Vietnam War, that began after an ARVN battalion was ambushed by Viet Cong (VC) forces on May 28, 1965. The battle highlighted the vuln...
1965 Jun 18 Operation Arc Light Begins
Operation Arc Light was the 1965 deployment of B-52F Stratofortress as conventional bombers from bases in the US to Guam. By extension, Arc light, and sometimes Arclight, is the code name...
1965 Aug U.S. Marine Corps Initiates Combined Action Program
Drawing from previous experience in "small wars", the United States Marine Corps operated the Combined Action Program during the Vietnam War, from 1965 to 1971. "The Combined Action Plato...
1965 Aug 17
to 1965 Aug 24
 Operation Starlight, First U.S.-Only Offensive Military Action of the Vietnam War
Operation Starlite was the first offensive military action conducted by a purely U.S. military unit during the Vietnam War. The operation was launched based on intelligence provided by Ma...
1965 Oct 19
to 1965 Oct 25
 Siege of Plei Me
The Siege of Plei Me was a battle during the Vietnam War, which led up to the Battle of Ia Drang. Brigadier General Chu Huy Man of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) was tasked with d...
1965 Nov 14
to 1965 Nov 18
 Battle of Ia Drang
The Battle of Ia Drang was one of the first major battles between the United States Army and the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) during the Vietnam War. The two-part battle took place bet...
1965 Dec 5 U.S. Military Launches Covert Aerial Interdiction Campaign, Operation Tiger Hound
Operation Tiger Hound was a covert U.S. 2nd Air Division, later Seventh Air Force and U.S. Navy Task Force 77 aerial interdiction campaign conducted in southeastern Laos from 5 December 1...
1965 Dec 18 Operation Game Warden
Operation Game Warden, Task force 116, was an operation to deny Viet Cong access to the resources in the Mekong Delta which was conceived of in December 1965. River Patrol Force Dispos...
1966 Jan 8
to 1966 Jan 14
 Operation Crimp
Operation Crimp—also known as the Battle of the Ho Bo Woods—was a joint US-Australian military operation during the Vietnam War in the Ho Bo Woods, 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of Cu Chi i...
1966 Jan 28 Launch of Operation Masher (Later Called Operation White Wing)
Operation Masher was a combined U.S., ARVN, and ROKA operation that began on January 28, 1966. The name "Operation Masher" was changed to "Operation White Wing", because the name was deem...
1966 Mar 9
to 1966 Mar 10
 Battle of A Shau
The Battle of A Shau was waged in 1966 during the Vietnam War between the Viet Cong and the forces of the United States and South Vietnam. The battle began on March 9 and lasted until Mar...
1966 Apr 11
to 1966 Apr 12
 Battle of Xa Cam My
The Battle of Xa Cam My was a battle of the Vietnam War fought over two days from April 11 to April 12, 1966. Originally planned as a U.S. search and destroy mission intended to lure o...
1966 Jul United States Navy Formalizes the 'Positive Identification Radar Advisory Zone' Known as PIRAZ
PIRAZ is a United States Navy acronym for Positive Identification RADAR Advisory Zone. The zone is defined by the air search RADAR coverage of a ship patrolling a designated PIRAZ station...
1966 Jul 7
to 1966 Jul 25
 Operation Hastings
Operation Hastings was an American military operation in the Vietnam War. Having been threatened by numerous encounters with enemy troops in the Cam Lo area, on July 7, 1966, United St...
1966 Aug 18 Battle of Long Tan
The Battle of Long Tần was fought between the Australian Army and Viet Cong forces in a rubber plantation near the village of Long Tần, about twenty seven kilometres north east of Vung Ta...
1966 Aug 23
to 1966 Sep 5
 Operation Beaver Cage
Operation Beaver Cage was a U.S. Army and U.S. Navy Joint Operation in North Vietnam along the coastline of the Bon Hai river. The Operation took place 23 August, 1966, through 5 Septembe...
1966 Sep 14 Operation Attleboro Begins
Operation Attleboro was a search and destroy operation by the 196th Light Infantry Brigade. The operation was named after Attleboro, Massachusetts, where the brigade had been formed. Init...
1966 Oct 25 U.S. Navy Commences Operation Sea Dragon
Operation Sea Dragon occurred during the Vietnam War and was a series of naval operations beginning in 1966 to interdict sea lines of communications and supply going south from North Viet...
1966 Nov 10 Kit Carson Scout Program Goes into Operation
The Kit Carson Scouts (Hoi Chanh Vien in Vietnamese), loosely translated as "members who have returned") belonged to a special program created by the U.S. Marine Corps during the Viet Nam...
1967 CIA Initiates Controversial Phoenix Program
The Phoenix Program (Vietnamese: Chiến dịch Phượng Hoàng, a word related to fenghuang, the Chinese phoenix) was a military, intelligence, and internal security program designed by the Uni...
1967 Jan 2 Operation Bolo
Operation Bolo was a famous air battle fought in the skies of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on January 2, 1967, during the Vietnam War, and in the context of the United States Air Fo...
1967 Jan 8
to 1967 Jan 26
 Operation Cedar Falls
Operation Cedar Falls was a military operation of the Vietnam War conducted primarily by US forces. The aim of this massive search and destroy operation was to eradicate the so-called "Ir...
1967 Mar 20 US Military Begins Operation Popeye, a Cloud Seeding Program
Project Popeye was an experiment in increased rainfall through cloud seeding jointly approved by the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Defense. The technical aspects of the ...
1967 Apr 21
to 1967 May 16
 United States Marine Corps Conducts Operation Union
Operation Union was a military operation conducted by the United States Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. It was a search and destroy mission in the Que Son Valley carried out by the 1...
1967 Apr 24 The Hill Fights
Things remained quiet in the Khe Sanh area through 1966. Even so, General Westmoreland insisted that it not only be occupied by the Marines, but that it be reinforced. He was vociferously...
1967 May 26
to 1967 Jun 5
 Operation Union II
Operation Union II was a military operation that took place in the Vietnam War. It was a search and destroy mission in the Que Son Valley carried out by the 5th Marine Regiment. Launched ...