Vietnam+War+Timeline

The Tonkin Gulf Incident || Protests Against The Vietnam War || Tet Offensive || The Draft || Returning Vietnam Soldiers || Summary This timeline is a brief overview of the Vietnam War. Considered a military failure by the U.S. Though it was never officially declared a war it turned out to be the longest conflict in U.S. history. The Vietnam war effected the lives of many people. Of the 2.59 million Americans who served over 58,000 were killed and over 300,000 were wounded. That doesn't even begin to compare to the vast numbers of Vietnamese people killed. This war was a battle for political power that hurt everyone involved and left the country of Vietnam in shambles and the grip of Communism. The nation made it through Vietnam but it did not end without change. The United States began to see that every problem was not fixable by fighting a war. We should let this serve as a reminder and not repeat the mistakes of the past.
 * ~ Vietnam Timeline ||~  ||
 * Date of event || Event ||
 * 1945 || Nationalist declare independence from France in Vietnam ||
 * 1947 || Fighting goes on in Vietnam, U.S. support French ||
 * 1954 || After many battles French lose, 17th parallel was set up ||
 * 1955 || First of many U.S. "advisers" sent to South Vietnam ||
 * 1963, Nov. 1 || President Diem overthrown in South Vietnam ||
 * 1964, Aug. 2 || USS Maddox reports attack in Gulf of Tonkin
 * Aug. 7 || Gulf of Tonkin Resolution passed ||
 * Fall || U.S. turns down peace talks with North Vietnam ||
 * 1965, mid-Feb. || Operation Rolling Thunder began ||
 * April 17 || Anti-war rally held in Washington
 * Whole year || Congress provided Johnson with $2.4 billion ||
 * 1966 || Johnson asks for more money for war ||
 * Jan. || Khe Snah besiege began ||
 * Mar. 1 || Senate defeats attempted repeal of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution ||
 * 1967 Oct. 22 || "March on the pentagon" demonstration ||
 * 1968, Mar. 31 || President Johnson announces he won't run for re-election ||
 * Jan. 21 || Battle of Khe Sanh ||
 * Jan. 30 || Tet Offensive begins
 * 1969, Jan. 20 || Nixon becomes President ||
 * Nov. 16 || My Lai massacre revealed ||
 * Nov. 19 || Lottery draft began
 * 1970, April 30 || Attack into Cambodia began ||
 * 1971, Jan. 13 || Nixon repeals Gulf of Tonkin Resolution ||
 * June || Pentagon papers published ||
 * 1972 || Only 133,000 troops left in Vietnam ||
 * Dec. 13 || Peacetalks break down in Paris ||
 * 1973, Nov. 7 || Congress passes War Time Powers Act to override Nixon ||
 * Jan. || Draft ended by Nixon ||
 * Jan. 8 || Nixon halts offensive and peacetalks resume ||
 * Jan. 27 || Ceasefire signed ||
 * Mar. || Last U.S. soldiers leave
 * 1974, Jan. || V.C. rebuilds and begin to capture key areas in south ||
 * Aug. 9 || Nixon resigns leaves South Vietnam without advocate ||
 * 1975, early || Lauches many attacks capturing many big cities in the south ||
 * Jan. 6 || NVA take Phuoc Long city, violates Paris peace agreement ||
 * April 30 || Saigon falls renamed Ho Chi Minh City ||

I did not understand all the troubles and length of the Vietnam War until I read __The Things We Carried__. It was eye opening to read about the soldiers lives not just during the war but also when they returned. A simple timeline will never do justice in conveying what really happened during the Vietnam War. It is easy to read over a timeline and look at the many events that encompassed the war, but until you read the accounts of soldiers who went through those events you really know quite little. Even though the Vietnam War was sometimes not fully supported we should still give the veterans the respect they deserve. I hope by looking at my timeline you now get a better understanding of the war and will take the initiative to find out more about the events in the timeline.  Number of soldiers lost in Vietnam Sadly there are still around 2,500 soldiers who are MIA(missing in action) or were POW's(prisoners of war) who to this day have gone unaccounted for. Work still goes on to find these individuals but finding them has turned out to be quite difficult.
 * **Branch of Military ** || **Number of deaths ** ||
 * **Air Force ** || **2,584** ||
 * **Army ** || **38,209** ||
 * **Coast Guard** || **7** ||
 * **Marine Corps** || **14,838** ||
 * **Navy** || **2,555** ||
 * **Total** || **58,193** ||