How it all started:
- on August 2-4, 1964 the North Vietnamese attacked two United states destroyers sitting in international waters.
- President Eisenhower didn't want communism to spread.
- Following France pulling out of Vietnam in the 50's, The US felt the need to fill the void in preventing Ho Chi Minh from unifying Vietnam under a communist regime.
Important battles/events during the war:
- First US troops arrive in Vietnam on March 8, 1965.
- Operation Rolling Thunder: a full out naval, air force bombardment conducted against North Vietnam from March 2, 1965-November 2, 1968.
- Tet Offensive: Starting on January 31, 1968 it was a heavy battle that dragged on for months as the Vietcong lost over 37,000 fighters and the US lost 2,500 men...this ultimately leads to a downfall in support of the war by the American Public.
- The American public had a growing sense that there was no way to win the war therefore losing most if not all support for their countrymen fighting overseas.
- Fall of Saigon: US ambassador Graham Martin ordered the evacuation of the US embassy in Saigon. Gen. Duong Van Minh would surrender to North Vietnam forces and the Republic of Vietnam(South Vietnam) now ceases to exist.
Vietnamization: President Nixon used the tactic of Vietnamization which was the slow process of withdrawing American troops from the war and handing over the responsibilty and direction of the war to South Vietnam. The last American troops withdrew from Vietnam in March 29, 1973.
