HOW TV DISILLUSIONED AMERICA:
VIETNAM WAR IN THE 1960S
An Idaho State University Student Project
"The Vietnam War is one of the most traumatic events in American history since 1945. It cost the lives of more than 58 thousand Americans and millions of Vietnamese and other Southeast Asians..."
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Major Problems in American History Since 1945,
Chapter 8.
"The chief purpose of the United States in Vietnam was to demonstrate America's credibility as a military power and a reliable ally to its enemies and its allies around the world."
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A Necessary War, Michael Lind, in Zaretsky, et. al.
Vietnam War Timeline:
American Involvement
Drawn from HISTORY.com
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March 1947: The Truman Doctrine is established by President Truman's new stance on American foreign policy:
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"I believe it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures."
Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Harry S Truman, 1945-53, in Zaretsky, et. al.
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June 1950: 5 months after the Soviet Union formally recognizes the communist Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the United States aides military assistance to France for their operations against the "Communist threat."​
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April 1954: President Dwight D. Eisenhower explains the Domino Theory: if Vietnam falls, communism will spill across Southeast Asia.​
"You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly. So you could have a beginning of a disintegration that would have the most profound influences."
Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1954 , in Zaresky, et. al.
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July 1954: The Geneva Accords. These establish North and South Vietnam with the 17th parallel as the dividing line.
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August 1964: USS Maddox is allegedly attacked by Northern Vietnamese, leading President Johnson to call for air strikes on North Vietnamese patrol boat bases.
AMERICA ENTERS THE WAR: 1965
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February: Operation Flaming Dart: President Johnson orders the bombing of targets in North Vietnam.
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March: Operation Rolling Thunder: President Johnson launches a three-year campaign of sustained bombing of targets in North Vietnam and the Ho Chi Minh Trail. ​
March: U.S. Marines land on beaches near Da Nang, South Vietnam as the first American combat troops to enter Vietnam.
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July: President Johnson calls for 50,000 more ground troops to be sent to Vietnam, increasing the draft to 35,000 each month.
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August: Operation Starlite is the first major ground offensive by U.S. forces, involving some 5,500 U.S. Marines.
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November: The Battle of la Drang Valley, the first large-scale battle. Nearly 300 Americans are killed and hundreds more injured. Both sides declare victory.
1966: U.S. troop numbers in Vietnam rise to 400,000.
1967: U.S. troop numbers in Vietnam rise to 500,000.
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April: Huge Vietnam War protests occur in Washington, D.C., New York City and San Francisco.
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November: The Battle of Dak To. The United States forces suffer some 1,800 casualties while, with the South Vietnamese forces, resisting offensive attacks from "communist forces."
1968: The Tet Offensive Begins
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January: Attacks are carried out in more than 100 cities and outposts across South Vietnam, including Hue and Saigon, and the U.S. Embassy is invaded.
"The effective, bloody attacks shock U.S. officials and mark a turning point in the war and the beginning of a gradual U.S. withdrawal from the region."
HISTORY.com
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February 11-17: This week records the highest number of U.S. soldier deaths during the war, with 543 American deaths.
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March 16: The U.S. massacre at Mai Lai: more than 500 civilians are murdered by U.S. forces.
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March: President Johnson halts bombing in Vietnam north of the 20th parallel.
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November: Republican Richard M. Nixon wins the U.S. presidential elections on the campaign promises to restore “law and order” and to end the draft.
1969
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December: The U.S. government institutes the first draft lottery since World War II, prompting ever more young American men—later disparaged as “draft dodgers”—to flee to Canada.
1969-1972: The Nixon administration gradually reduces the number of U.S. forces in South Vietnam
U.S. troops in Vietnam are reduced from a peak of 549,000 in 1969 to 69,000 in 1972.
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June 1971: The Pentagon Papers are released by the New York Times, revealing how the U.S. government had been secretly increasing U.S. involvement throughout the war.
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December 1972: Operation Linebacker: the most intense air offense of the war, where President Nixon orders roughly 20,000 tons of bombs between Hanoi and Haiphong, concentrated on densely populated areas.
1973
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January 27: The Selective Service announces the end to the draft and institutes an all-volunteer military.
The same day, President Nixon signs the Paris Peace Accords, ending direct U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.
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February-April: Operation Homecoming: the North Vietnamese return 591 POWs.
America's Final Days in the War
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January 1975: President Ford rules out any further U.S. military involvement in Vietnam.
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April 1975: The Fall of Saigon. The capital of South Vietnam is seized by communist forces and the government of South Vietnam surrenders.
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July 1975: North and South Vietnam are formally unified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, under a communist government.
Picture by Hugh Van. US mass evacuation of US civilians and South Vietnamese refugees during the Fall of Saigon. Procured by The Guardian.