|
|
TimeLines of Liberty
American Wars - Vietnam |
|
|
|
Vietnam War -
1966 - 1970
It is estimated that 3 million
people were killed and over one million wounded over the whole
term of the war with the financial cost set at 200 billion
dollars.
The Hippie movement that destroyed lives with drugs and free sex
were quick to join the anti-war movement. "Make Love Not War"
was one of the naive mantra's of many anti-war rallies. "Peace
not War" ironically supports war not peace. Peace must be
enforced. Peace when left to its own device will die a slow
demise.
Veterans who fought for liberty came home to find themselves
despised, by those who exercised the freedom they had fought to
protect.
The Vietnam War is the first war that America failed to
hail our heroes.
Page Three - 1966 - 1967
- 1968 - 1969 -
1970
|
Pre-War
- 1930-1960
- The War
- 1961-1965
- The War
- 1970-1975 -
Post War
- 1976-2007
Page 1
Page 2
Page 4
Page
5 |
|
Last updated
February, 2007. Unless stating the date, events within the
year may not be in order. |
|
1966 - Vietnam War |
|
1966 |
Jan. |
Before Congress in his January 12th State of the
Union Address President Johnson
comments that the U.S. should remain in Vietnam until communist
aggression has ceased. Expressing the observation that the
Vietnam War is unlike any other America has fought,
President Johnson says,
"Yet, finally, war is always the same. It is young men dying in
the fullness of their promise. It is trying to kill a man that
you do not even know well enough to hate...therefore, to know
war is to know that there is still madness in this world." |
|
1966 |
Jan. |
Operation Masher; later by order of
President Johnson it was
changed to "White Wing," sounding less aggressive; begins on
January 28 and is fought until March 6th. Operation White Wing
was a "search and destroy" operation against Viet Cong and NVA
troop encampments. In Bon Son Plain near the coast, troops of
the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), again fly by
helicopters directly into battle zones to engage in heavy
fire-fights. 228 Americans die with 788 wounded. North
Vietnamese losses are estimated at 1342. |
|
1966 |
Info |
The use of the term 'search-and-destroy' was
meant to describe large scale Airmobile troop movements to small
patrols rooting out Viet Cong in hamlets, but with the media
slants it eventually evokes negative images of Americans burning
villages. |
|
1966 |
Jan. |
On January 31st, President
Johnson announces resumption of North Vietnam bombing,
citing Hanoi's failure to respond to the recent seize-fire. |
|
1966 |
Jan. |
After his announcement,
President Johnson's decision
to resume the bombing is criticized by Senator Robert F. Kennedy
infuriating the President, "on a road from which there is no
turning back, a road that leads to catastrophe for all mankind." |
|
1966 |
Feb. |
Chairing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
in February, Senator J. William Fulbright holds a televised
hearing to examine America's Vietnam policy. Appearing, Defense
Secretary McNamara says U.S. objectives are "not to destroy or
overthrow the Communist government of North Vietnam. They are
limited to the destruction of the insurrection and aggression
directed by North Vietnamese against the political institutions
of South Vietnam." |
|
1966 |
Feb. |
Influential newspaper columnist Walter Lippmann
lam-blasts President Johnson's Vietnam strategy on February 3rd
saying, "Gestures, propaganda, public relations and bombing and
more bombing will not work," along with a prediction that
Vietnam will divide America as mounting combat causalities
increase. |
|
1966 |
Feb. |
President Johnson
meets with South Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Cao Ky in
Honolulu, Hawaii over February 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th. |
|
1966 |
March |
Senator Wayne Morse lead a failed attempt to
repeal the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution on March 1st. The U.S.
Senate vote was 92 to 5. |
|
1966 |
March |
Australia announces on March 8th that it will
increase its number of troops in Vietnam. |
|
1966 |
March |
The U.S. reveals on March 9th that it is estimated that around
suspected Viet Cong villages 20,000 acres of food crops have
been destroyed. Harsh criticism is generated from the
American academic community. |
|
1966 |
March |
South Vietnamese Buddhists begin a violent
campaign on March 10th to oust Prime Minister Ky, beginning a
period of unrest in several cities. Political turmiol spills out
into the streets in Saigon, Da Nang and Hue interfering with
U.S. military operations. |
|
1966 |
March |
In New York,
Washington, Chicago, Philadelphia,
Boston and San Francisco as well as others, demonstrators march
in anti-war protests on March 26th. |
|
1966 |
April |
Used on April 12th for the first time against
North Vietnam B-52 bombers drop their ordnance on six main
target categories (White House supervised) of power plants, war
support facilities, transportation lines, fuel storage, military
complexes, and air defense installations. Able to target from an
altitude of nearly six miles each B-52 can carry up to 100
bombs. |
|
1966 |
April |
The Viet Cong attack Tan Son Nhut airport in Saigon on April
13th, destroying 12 U.S. helicopters and 9 aircraft causing 140
casualties. |
|
1966 |
May |
On May 2nd in private, Secretary of Defense
McNamara reports that 4500 North Vietnamese infiltrate into
South Vietnam each month. |
|
1966 |
May |
Renegade South Vietnamese Buddhist troops are
over-ran on May 14th in Da Nang by troops loyal to Prime
Minister Ky, generating intensified political unrest. Ky's
troops moved on to Hue ousting renegades there as well resulting
in more immolations by Buddhist monks and nuns, protesting
against Ky's regime and American backers. The Buddhist leader
Tri Quang personally blames
President Johnson for the situation, with the president responding labeling the
immolations as "tragic and unnecessary." |
|
1966 |
June |
6400 teachers and professors sign a petition that
appears in a 3 page anti-war advertisement appearing in the Jun
4th, New York Times. |
|
1966 |
June |
Prime Minister Ky cracks down on Buddhist rebels,
arresting the Buddhist leader Tri Quang abating the South
Vietnamese political unrest. Ky makes an appeal for calm. |
|
1966 |
June |
Captain Ronald E. Ray
on June 19th having already displayed great courage dove between
a grenade and two men, shielding them from the explosion. He was
wounded in his feet and legs and immediately sustained
additional wounds an enemy machine gun, then he tossed another
grenade to silence the Enemy emplacement. He was presented the
Congressional Medal of Honor on May 14,
1970 from
President Richard M. Nixon. |
|
1966 |
June |
Ending a self-imposed moratorium on June 29th,
the U.S. bombs oil depots around Hanoi and Haiphong. The
military cites increased infiltration of Communist guerrillas
into South Vietnam. |
|
1966 |
June |
The U.S. avoids targeting the city of Hanoi
itself, concerned for possible reactions of the U.S.S.R. and
China. The same concerns prevents a ground invasion of North
Vietnam. A few military planners in
Washington
have made such
recommendations. |
|
1966 |
July |
Hanoi Radio reports on July 6th That American
pilots (POWs) were paraded through the streets of Hanoi amidst
jeering crowds. The public display of war prisoners is a
possible violation of the Geneva Convention. |
|
1966 |
July |
The U.S. intensifies its bombing raids against
the Laos portions of the Ho Chi Minh trail on July 11th. |
|
1966 |
July |
U.S. Marines and South Vietnamese troops execute
Operation Hastings, on July 15th, against 10,000 NVA troops in
Quang Tri Province. This is the war's largest combined military
operation so far. |
|
1966 |
July |
July 30th marks the first time that America
bombard NVA troops in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ, a buffer area
separating North and South Vietnam). |
|
1966 |
Aug. |
63 civilians are killed and 100 wounded on August
9th when U.S. jets with mistaken targets attack two South
Vietnamese villages. |
|
1966 |
Aug. |
The
House Un-American Activities Committee begins investigations on
August 16th, concerning American who may have aided the Viet
Cong. The committee intended to introduce legislation making
such activities illegal. The meeting is disrupted by anti-war
demonstrators with 50 protestors arrested. |
|
1966 |
Aug. |
The North Vietnamese announce on August 30th that China will
provide economic and technical assistance. |
|
1966 |
Sept. |
French President Charles de Gaulle calls for the
U.S. to withdraw from Vietnam, during a visit to Cambodia on
September 1st. |
|
1966 |
Sept. |
500 U.S. jets attack supply lines of the NVA and
coastal targets in the heaviest air raid as of September 12th.
|
|
1966 |
Sept. |
50 miles north of Saigon near the Cambodian
border 20,000 U.S. and South Vietnamese soldiers conduct
search-and-destroy mission Operation Attleboro from September
14th to November 24th. Finding a jungle base camp an enormous
weapons cache is located. 155 Americans were killed with 494
others wounded. Losses for the North Vietnamese are 1106. |
|
1966 |
Sept. |
The U.S. revealed on September 23rd that
chemicals were used to defoliate jungles near the Demilitarized
Zone. |
|
1966 |
Sept. |
Operation Irving from October 2nd to the 24th was
to clear NVA from mountainous areas near Qui Nhon, by the U.S.
1st Air Cavalry Division. |
|
1966 |
Oct. |
The Soviet Union announced on October 3rd that it
will send military and economic assistance to North Vietnam. |
|
1966 |
Oct. |
A Conference of America's Vietnam Allies is held
on October 25th, called by
President Johnson. In attendance are: Australia,
Philippines, Thailand, New Zealand, South Korea and South
Vietnam. A Allies offer a six month withdrawal from Vietnam on
the condition that North Vietnam withdraw completely from South
Vietnam. |
|
1966 |
Oct. |
On October 26th in the first of two visits during
his presidency, President
Johnson visits U.S. troop at Cam Ranh Bay in South Vietnam. |
|
1966 |
Nov. |
Defense Secretary McNamara visits Harvard
University on November 7th and is confronted by student
protesters. |
|
1966 |
Nov. |
In a November 12, New York Times report: 40
percent of economic aid sent to Saigon is either stolen or ends
up on the black market. |
|
1966 |
Nov. |
On December 8th
President Johnson proposes discussions on the treatment of
POWs and a possible exchange of prisoners. |
|
1966 |
Dec. |
On December 9th North Vietnam rejects
President Johnson's proposal concerning
POWs. |
|
1966 |
Dec. |
Harsh criticism falls from the international
community following a U.S. bombing raid, on December 13th and
14th, that leveled Caudat a village near Hanoi. |
|
1966 |
Dec. |
Pressured by increasing scrutiny from journalists
concerning the mounting civilian causalities in North Vietnam
the U.S. Defense Department makes a statement, on December 26th,
admitting that civilians may have been bombed accidentally.
|
|
1966 |
Dec. |
A large-scale air assault on suspected Viet Cong
positions in the Mekong Delta is waged by the U.S, on December
27th, using Napalm and several hundred tons of ordnance. |
|
1966 |
Info |
By the year's end, U.S. troop levels reach 389,000.
1966 brings 5008 combat deaths with the wounded numbering 30,093.
Sniper fire; small-arms fire
from ambushes; handmade booby traps; and
mines planted across the countryside by the Viet Cong and local
sympathizers, cause over half of the American causalities.
Allies fighting in Vietnam include 45,000 soldiers from South
Korea and 7000 from Australia.
It is estimated that 89,000 soldiers from North Vietnam have
infiltrated into South Vietnam by way of the Ho Chi Minh. |
|
1967 - Vietnam War |
|
1967 |
Jan. |
Operation Bolo occurs on January 2nd with 28 U.S.
Air Force F-4 Phantom jets luring North Vietnamese MiG-21
interceptors into a dogfight over Hanoi. Several are shot down
leaving North Vietnam with only 9 operational MiG-21s.
Washington
has prohibited American polots from attacking North
Vietnamese MiG air bases. |
|
1967 |
Jan. |
Operation Deckhouse Five was executed by U.S. Marines and ARVN
(South Vietnamese troops) on January 6th in a clearing offensive
on the Mekong River Delta. One platoon from Company A of 720th
MP Battalion was assigned to construct POW cages and
transporting POWs between Vung Tau and Bien Hoa. |
|
1967 |
Jan. |
The largest combined offensive so far, Operation Cedar Falls, is
conducted on January 8th ending on the 26th. Involving 16,000
American and 14,000 South Vietnamese soldiers, the mission was
to clear Viet Cong from the 'Iron Triangle,' an area 25 miles
north and west of Saigon. Choosing not to fight the Viet Cong
disappear into the jungle. An extensive network of tunnels is
discovered with specially trained volunteers known as "tunnel
rats," exploring the tunnel maze. The Viet Cong return to
rebuild the tunnels after the area had cleared. This is a
recurring pattern as American "in and out" tactics fly troops
into an area by helicopters, secure the area, and then leave by
helicopters. |
|
1967 |
Jan. |
U.N. Secretary-General U Thant. on January 10th.
expresses doubts as to how essential Vietnam is to the security
of the West. |
|
1967 |
Jan. |
Before Congress, on January 10th,
President Johnson declares
again, "We will stand firm in Vietnam," in his State of the
Union address. |
|
1967 |
Jan. |
The Arrogance of Power, by Senator J.
William Fulbright is published on January 23rd. The book is
critical of the war policy and advocates direct peace talks.
President Johnson uses the
media to deride Fullbright, Robert Kennedy and other critics in
Congress calling them, "nervous Nellies" and "sunshine
patriots." |
|
1967 |
Feb. |
President Johnson
states on, February 2nd, in reference to the North Vietnamese
that there are no "serious indications that the other side is
ready to stop the war." |
|
1967 |
Feb. |
A truce is held from February 8th to the 12th
over the traditional Vietnamese holiday, Tet, the lunar New
Year. |
|
1967 |
Feb. |
A "Fast for Peace" is held nationwide in America,
from February 8th to the 10th, by various religious
organizations. |
|
1967 |
Feb. |
The resumption of full-scale bombing in North
Vietnam is announced, on February 13th, by
President Johnson, after
diplomatic peace talks with the North Vietnamese fail. |
|
1967 |
Feb. |
Destruction of NVA's Central Office headquarters
in South Vietnam occurs over February 22nd to May 14th in the
largest U.S. offensive of the war in Operation Junction City at
Ap Gu. 22 U.S. and four South Vietnamese battalions conduct the
only parachute assault by U.S. troops during the war. 2728 Viet
Cong are killed with 34 taken prisoner. The NVA command,
avoiding capture, relocate command operations to Cambodia.
Lieutenant General Alexander M. Haig who commanded the U.S. 1st
Battalion, 26th infantry later becomes influential as a White
House aide. |
|
1967 |
Feb. |
Congress apropriates $4.5 billion for the war on
March 8th. |
|
1967 |
March |
Revealed later in the "Pentagon Papers,"
Operation Pop Eye occurred in March as a "rain-making" project
to reduce traffic along the Ho Chi Minh trail in Laos. |
|
1967 |
March |
President Johnson
meets with Prime Minister Ky, in Guam from March 19th to the
21st, pressuring for South Vietnamese national elections. |
|
1967 |
April |
2500 Viet Cong and NVA attack Quang Tri City on
April 6th. |
|
1967 |
April |
On April 14th in a visit to Saigon, Richard M.
Nixon says that protests
back in the U.S. are "prolonging the war." |
|
1967 |
April |
Nearly 200,000 protestors participate on April 15th in anti-war
demonstrations in New York and San Francisco. |
|
1967 |
April |
Rev. Martin Luther King, on April 15th, states
"...the pursuit of this widened war has narrowed the promised
dimensions of the domestic welfare programs, making the poor
white and Negro bear the heaviest burdens both at the front and
at home," declaring the president's Great Society social reform
programs are being undermined by the war. |
|
1967 |
April |
Haiphong harbor in North Vietnam is attacked by
U.S. bombers for the first time on April 20th. |
|
1967 |
April |
Hill fights rage at the isolated air base at Khe Sanh,
in mountainous terrain near the Laos and North Vietnam borders
from Aril 24th to May 11th. The U.S. 3rd Marines killed 940
North Vietnamese Army troops. 155 Americans are killed with 425
wounded. |
|
1967 |
April |
On April 24th General Westmoreland says, anti-war
demonstrators give the North Vietnamese, "hope that he can
win politically that which he cannot accomplish militarily." He
privately tells President Johnson
"the war could go on indefinitely." |
|
1967 |
April |
About April 28th, boxer Cassias Clay declaring
himself a conscientious objector, refuses to serve in the military.
After serving in prison for draft evasion he will later change
his name to Muhammad Ali. |
|
1967 |
April |
Henry Cabot Lodge is replaced by Ellsworth Bunker
on May 1st as the U.S Ambassador to South Vietnam. |
|
1967 |
May |
On May 2nd British philosopher Bertrand Russell
organized a mock war crimes tribunal held in Stockholm. Without
surprise the United States is condemned. |
|
1967 |
May |
President Johnson
appoints former CIA analyst, Robert W. Komer as deputy commander
of MACV on May 9th. |
|
1967 |
May |
Attempting to pacify the South Vietnamese in
hopes to regain their loyalty, a new U.S. agency is formed
called Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development Support
(CORDS). CORDS distributes $850 million worth of food, medical
supplies, machinery, and numerous other household items. CORDS
also trains local militias to protect their villages from the
Viet Cong. The U.S. hoped to regain the "hearts and minds" of
common villagers. |
|
1967 |
May |
In May it is estimated that 60 percent of rural
villages in South Vietnam are under Viet Cong control.
|
|
1967 |
May |
A Demonstration in support of the war, on May
13th is led by a New York City fire captain. 70,000 march in
support of the troops and the war in New York. |
|
1967 |
May |
Heavy losses are suffered on both sides in the
first engagements within the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) from May
18th to the 26th between NVA and the joint force of U.S. and
South Vietnamese troops. |
|
1967 |
May |
On May 22nd North Vietnam is publicly urged to
accept a peace compromise, by President Johnson. |
|
1967 |
June |
utilizing U.S. Navy 'Swift' boats combined with
Army troop support the Mobile Riverine Force becomes
operational in June. The mission is to halt Viet Cong usage of
inland waterways in the Mekong Delta. |
|
1967 |
July |
475,000 soldiers were already scheduled to be
deployed in July, when General Westmoreland requests an
additional 200,000 reinforcements.
President Johnson authorizes
only 45.000 more. |
|
1967 |
July |
On July 7th, North Vietnam's Politburo decide to
launch a three-phase offensive against South Vietnam. The first
phase is an effort to lure American troops away from the Cities
by attacking remote border areas. The second phase is the "Tet
Offensive" attacking the Cities with Viet Cong and NVA forces,
hoping to ignite an uprising that may overthrow the government
of South Vietnam. The third phase is to be an actual invasion of
South Vietnam. |
|
1967 |
July |
A punctured fuel tank explodes beginning a fire
on the
U.S. Navy
carrier
Forrestal, in
the
Gulf of Tonkin. The July 29th fire kills 134 in the worst naval
accident since World War II. |
|
1967 |
Aug. |
The
People's Republic of China agrees, on August 7th, to give an
undisclosed amount of aid to
North Vietnam. |
|
1967 |
Aug. |
United States Marines initiate Operation Cochise on August 9th
in the Que Son Valley. |
|
1967 |
Aug. |
Closed-door hearings by the Senate Armed Services Committee
begin, on August 9, to consider the influence that civilian
advisors have on military planning.
Defense Secretary McNamara testified the extensive and expensive
U.S. bombing campaign in Vietnam fails to have an impact on
North Vietnam's ability to make war within South Vietnam. He
says "the virtual annihilation of North Vietnam and its people"
through bombing would be needed if success was to be expected. |
|
1967 |
Aug. |
California Governor Ronald
Reagan says, on August 18th, considering the unlikely
victory when "too many qualified targets have been put off
limits to bombing," The U.S. should withdraw from Vietnam. |
|
1967 |
Aug. |
Two U.S. fighter-bombers that accidentally cross
the border of China during raids in North Vietnam near the
Chinese border, are shot down on August 21st. |
|
1967 |
Aug. |
North Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Van Dong
publicly states, on September 1st, that Hanoi will "continue to
fight." |
|
1967 |
Sept. |
Under the new constitution, with 80 percent of
South Vietnam's eligible voters participating in the September
3rd National elections, Nguyen Van Thieu is elected president with Nguyen
Cao Ky as his vice-president with 35 percent of the vote. One of Thieu's
first acts after being seated as President was to arrest the
leader of his opposition. |
|
1967 |
Sept. |
A search and destroy mission in Quang Nam
and Quang Tin Provinces called Operation Swift is launched by
U.S. Marines on September 4th, lasting four days. The battle in Que Son
Valley takes the lives of 114 Americans and 376
North Vietnamese. |
|
1967 |
Sept. |
U.S. Marines are besieged at Con Thien, just
south of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) from September 11th to
October 31st. The Marines were cut off by the NVA. An artillery
duel ensues with the NVA firing 42,000 rounds and the U.S.
firing off 281,000 rounds supported by air strikes to break the
siege. The North Vietnamese lose over 2000 troops. |
|
1967 |
Oct. |
A public opinion poll in October has 46 percent of Americans
believing Vietnam military involvement is a "mistake." Most
Americans believe the U.S. should either "win" or "get out". The
previous support of President Johnson's war policies is
renounced by Life magazine. |
|
1967 |
Oct. |
The North Vietnamese, on October 5th, claim the
U.S. dropped anti-personnel bombs on a school. |
|
1967 |
Oct. |
At an
October 12th news conference, US Secretary of State
Dean Rusk states that proposals for peace initiatives by
Congress were futile, because of the opposition by North
Vietnam. |
|
1967 |
Oct. |
Congressman (Thomas P.) Tip O'Neill breaks with
President Johnson to
publicly oppose continuation of the war. Tip O'Neill supported
Senator Eugene McCarthy (D- MI)
for the presidency in 1968. |
|
1967 |
Oct. |
Over 50,000 demonstrators 'March on the Pentagon' in
Washington D.C. from
October 21st to the 23rd.
Protesters make an attempt to storm the U.S. Embassy, in London,
England, October 21st. |
|
1967 |
Oct. |
President Johnson proclaims
reaffirmation of his commitment maintaining U.S. involvent in
South Vietnam, on October 31st. |
|
1967 |
Nov. |
On November 2nd
President Johnson conducts a
meeting of the nation's most prestigious leaders, dubbed "the
Wise Men." Brainstorming for ways to unite the American people
for the war effort it is concluded that more optimistic reports
on the progress of the war need to be conveyed. |
|
1967 |
Nov. |
The Battle of Dak (located nearly 280 miles north
of Saigon) begins on November 3rd continuing to December 1st.
The U.S. 4th Infantry Division preempts a planned North Vietnamese Army
attack against the Special Forces camp located in the mountain
area along the border of Cambodia and Laos. A Presidential Unit
Citation is earned by the 4th Battalion, 503rd Airborne Infantry
for exhibiting bravery during the battle. U.S. and South
Vietnamese ground attacks supported by massive air strikes force
a retreat of the North Vietnamese Army into Laos and Cambodia.
General Westmoreland states "Along with the gallantry and
tenacity of our soldiers, our tremendously successful air
logistic operation was the key to the victory." 289 American
troops are killed in the battle with the NVS looses estimated at
1644. |
|
1967 |
Nov. |
Hanoi, North Vietnam, rejects another peace overture presented
by
President Johnson on
November 11th. |
|
1967 |
Nov. |
The Viet Cong release three American POWs in a
propaganda ceremony at Phnom Penh, Cambodia on November 11th.
The POWs were handed over to 'new left' antiwar activist Tom
Hayden. |
|
1967 |
Nov. |
An optimistic briefing on November 13th in the
White House by General Westmoreland, Ambassador Bunker, and
Robert Komer presents
President Johnson with an
optimistic report on the war. |
|
1967 |
Nov. |
President Johnson reports to
the nation, on November 17th, that though much remains to be
done, "We are inflicting greater losses than we're taking...We
are making progress." (Two months later the Tet Offensive by the
Viet Cong will make the statement premature.) |
|
1967 |
Nov. |
General William Westmoreland appearing to taunt the Viet Cong, says "I hope they try something because
we are looking for a fight," in Time magazine. |
|
1967 |
Nov. |
On November 21st, General
Westmoreland says to reporters, "I am absolutely certain that
whereas in 1965 the enemy was winning, today he is certainly
losing." |
|
1967 |
Nov. |
On November 22nd with heavy casualties suffered by both sides
the Americans squeak in a victory in the Battle of Dak. Small
skirmishes continue until December 1st. |
|
1967 |
Nov. |
US Secretary of Defense
Robert McNamara announced on
November 29th, at a press briefing, that his resignation is
pending and he will accept a position as president of the
World Bank. "Mr. President...I cannot find words to express what
lies in my heart today..." says McNamara.
His resignation follows
President Johnson's
rejection of his recommendation to freeze troop levels, stop the
North Vietnam bombing and transfer all ground fighting to
South Vietnam. McNamara joins Bill Moyers, McGeorge Bundy and George Ball
as top aides who resigned over differences concerning war policy. |
|
1967 |
Nov. |
Eugene McCarthy, an anti-war Democrat, announced his candidacy
to oppose Johnson for
President on November 30th. McCarthy says, "...we are involved
in a very deep crisis of leadership, a crisis of direction and a
crisis of national purpose...the entire history of this war in
Vietnam, no matter what we call it, has been one of continued
error and misjudgment." |
|
1967 |
Dec. |
The Russel Tribunal that organized in 1966 , on December 1st,
1967, again condemns America for mass murder in Vietnam. |
|
1967 |
Dec. |
A 300 troop Viet Cong battalion is engaged on
December 4th in the Mekong Delta, by
US and
South Vietnamese forces, leaving only 65 of the Viet Cong alive. |
|
1967 |
Dec. |
Dr. Benjamin Spock, the renowned 'baby doctor' is
among 585 protestors that were arrested during four days of New
York anti-war protests that began on December 4th. |
|
1967 |
Dec. |
252 civilians in the hamlet of Dak Son are murdered by Viet Cong
forces as reported by the U.S. on December 6th. |
|
1967 |
Dec. |
Specialist Four Allen J. Lynch in Binh
Dinh Province on December 15th, ran through enemy fire to
administer aid to three wounded soldiers, carrying each he made
three trips through heavy fire then stayed behind with the
wounded defending the position for two hours then carried them
each individually to a more secure location then went for help.
During his rescue and defense he killed many enemy at point
blank range. He was presented the
Congressional Medal of Honor on May 14,
1970 from
President Richard M. Nixon. |
|
1967 |
Dec. |
President Johnson arrives at
Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam on December 23rd. He declares, "...all
the challenges have been met. The enemy is not beaten, but he
knows that he has met his master in the field." |
|
1967 |
Info |
1967
ends with 463,000 American
troops in Vietnam. War deaths to date number 16,000. Over one
million American soldiers have rotated through service in
Vietnam. Length of service for draftees was one year with most
Americans serving in support units.
An estimated 90,000 soldiers from North Vietnam infiltrated into
South Vietnam by way of the Ho Chi Minh trail, with the overall
troop strength of the Viet Cong and NVA troops in South Vietnam
estimated at nearly 300,000 men. |
|
1968 - Vietnam War |
|
1968 |
Jan. |
General Giap commanding 20,000 North Vietnamese
Army troops attack the Khe Sanh American air base on January
21st beginning a 77 day siege. The NVA encircle 5000 U.S.
Marines in the isolated outpost. Enormous attention is given to
the siege, by the media in America. Comparisons are made to the
Battle of Dien Vien Phu that had the French defeated after being
surrounded in 1954. |
|
1968 |
Jan. |
After the Siege of Khe Sanh began,
President Johnson tells
Joint Chiefs Chairman General Earle Wheeler, "I don't want any damn Dinbinfoo."
Johnson personally orders
Marine reinforcements. "...the eyes of the nation and the eyes
of the entire world, the eyes of all of history itself, are on
that little brave band of defenders who hold the pass at Khe Sanh..."
said Johnson. He then issues
presidential orders for the Marines to hold the base and then
demands from the Joint Chiefs of Staff a guarantee of success,
"signed in blood." |
|
1968 |
Jan. |
Operation Niagara begins on January 5th. The
mission was to map North Vietnamese Army positions around Khe
Sanh. |
|
1968 |
Jan. |
'Operation Scotland' is the name given to the
ground defense of the air base at Khe Sanh.
Operation Niagara is the aerial bombardment of NVA troop
positions by B-52 bombers. In the height of the battle groups of
three B-52s would hit the NVA troops every hour and a half,
round-the-clock. Over 110,000 tons of ordnance was dropped
during the siege. |
|
1968 |
Jan. |
North Vietnam had announced in October a
seven-day truce from January 27th to February 3rd, 1968, to
honor the Tet holiday. The South Vietnamese army had
planned recreational leaves for a large part of its force. The
'truce' was used as a military tactic. |
|
1968 |
Jan. |
North Vietnam's Tet Offensive begins on January
30th with 84,000 Viet Cong guerrilla forces and North Vietnamese
Army troops launching a series of surprise attacks throughout
South Vietnam. A hundred attacks are executed on cities and
towns in South Vietnam including all but 8 of the 44 South
Vietnam provincial capitals. |
|
1968 |
Jan. |
One city of focus in the Tet Offensive was Saigon
with six primary targets using 35 battalions, among which were
Viet Cong who, undercover, lived and worked in the city. The six
main targets were the ARVN headquarters, President Thieu's
office, the American Embassy, air base at Tan Son Nhut, Naval
Headquarters at Long Binh , and South Vietnam's National Radio
Station. |
|
1968 |
Jan. |
American media film Saigon battle scenes, in
"living color," of soldiers under fire, wounded and dead. This
brings the war to the living rooms of America, where some
families are able to see their fathers, sons and brothers fight
and die. |
|
1968 |
Jan. |
The United States embassy in Saigon is attacked
by Viet Cong at 2:45 AM on January 31st. The guards at the
embassy were unaware of the attacks in Saigon that had began an
hour earlier. |
|
1968 |
Feb. |
On a hunch, sensing a coming attack Lieutenant
General Fred C. Wevand had ordered additional troops to protect
Saigon with up to 50 battalions of U.S. and Allied troops. 35
battalions of NVA and Viet Cong were defeated in the Battle for
Saigon during the Tet Offensive From January 31st to March 7th.
Wevand launched a decisive counter-attack on February 1st
against the Viet Cong at Tan Son Hhut airport and defending the
MACV and South Vietnamese Army HQ from a potential capture.
Lieutenant General Wevand was dubbed the "savior of Saigon." |
|
1968 |
Feb. |
The South Vietnamese national police capture Nguyen Van Lem,
identified as a captain of a Viet Cong assassination platoon. He
was accused of killing the families of police officers. On
November 1st, after brief questioning, Saigon Police Chief
General Nguyen Ngoc Loan lifts his weapon and executes Nguyen
Van Lem, on the spot. News photographer Eddie Adams captures the
execution on film. Appearing on television and front pages
around the world the photograph further erodes war support in
the west. The photograph wins Adams the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for
Spot News Photography and a World Press Photo award. Adams once
said about the photo that "... People believe them; but
photographs do lie, even without manipulation. They are only
half-truths." He later apologized to Nguyen Ngoc Loan for the
damaged caused by the photo. |
|
1968 |
Feb. |
President Johnson on
February 2nd calls the Tet Offensive "a complete failure." |
|
1968 |
Feb. |
In the Tet offensive a small city near Saigon is leveled by
American bombs. In reference to the event comes one of the most
controversial statements of the war, 'We had to destroy it, in
order to save it.' An American officer made the probably
accurate but unfortunate statment. |
|
1968 |
Feb. |
The Siege of Khe Sanh That began on January 21st
was part of diversionary phase one of North Vietnam's Tet
Offensive. In the continuing battle after the Siege of Khe Sanh
the NVA kill 21 Marines on February 8th. |
|
1968 |
Feb. |
John Kerry, who later becomes a Vietnam anti-war
activist and then the democratic presidential candidate for
2004, requested duty in Vietnam on February 10th in 1968.
He asked for the position as a commander of a Swift boat (PCFs;
Patrol Crafts Fast) expecting little combat action as they had
been operated offshore. |
|
1968 |
Feb. |
In the Battle for Hue from January 31st to March
2nd 12,000 NVA and Viet Cong troops converge on the historical
city and begin killing "enemies of the people" that include
Catholic priests, and captured South Vietnamese officials and
officers. The executions exceed 3000. A counter-attack has South
Vietnamese troops and three U.S. Marine battalions engaging in
the heaviest fighting of the offensive. Aided by air and
artillery strikes, the imperial city is retaken one street and
building at a time. On February 24th the U.S. Marines take and
occupy the Imperial Palace at the heart of the citadel to defeat
the North Vietnamese. 142 Marines killed with 857 wounded and in
the Army 74 troops are killed with 507 wounded. The South
Vietnamese lose 384 with 1830 wounded. Estimates of the NVA
losses are set at over 5000. |
|
1968 |
Feb.
27 |
After a visit to Saigon CBS TV news anchorman
Walter Cronkite, in his February 27th Evening News, reports his
certainty that "the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in a
stalemate." One might call it irony, but it was the media that
kept public opinion against the war. Without the media slant the
politicians might have allowed the military to do the job of
winning the war'. |
|
1968 |
Feb.
28 |
At General Westmoreland's behest Joint Chiefs Chairman General
Wheeler on February 28th requests, of
President Johnson, an extra
206,000 troops mobilizing U.S. reserve units. |
|
1968 |
March |
The Communist's Tet Offensive is a military and
political failure. The North Vietnamese gained little if any
ground and the uprising against South Vietnam's government, they
had hoped to ignite, was a fizzle. The undercover Viet
Cong exposed itself to devastating losses never to regain their
former strength, leaving the fighting to North Vietnamese
regulars to fight a conventional war. The only communist success
of the offensive was unplanned, where in America support by
grassroots and in Congress for the war was substantially eroded. |
|
1968 |
March |
Clark Clifford, friend of
President Johnson and a
renowned D.C. lawyer is
named the new U.S. Secretary of Defense on March 1st. Conducting
an intensive study of the Vietnam situation, Clifford finds no
concept or plan in
Washington
for achieving victory. Her Reports
to
President Johnson that the
war should not be escalated. "The time has come to decide where
we go from here," Clifford tells the President. |
|
1968 |
March |
A Viet Cong ambush on March 2nd at Saigon's Tan Son Hhut airport
kills 48 U.S. Army soldiers. |
|
1968 |
March |
The news of Westmoreland's 206,000 troop request
is broken on March 10th by the New York Times. The Whitehouse
denies the New York Times story. |
|
1968 |
March |
Secretary of State Dean Rusk is questioned on
live TV over two days by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
about the request and the overall effectiveness of the
administration's war policy. |
|
1968 |
March |
An offensive called Operation Quyet Thang by 33 U.S. and South
Vietnamese battalions begins on March 11th, lasting 28 days.
|
|
1968 |
March |
The March 12th New Hampshire Democratic primary
election has
President Johnson narrowly
beating Eugene McCarthy by just 300 votes. The slim victory is
another indication of the President's eroding support for the
war.
Johnson's approval rating
had dropped to 36 percent while the rating for his war policy
bottomed out at 26 percent. |
|
1968 |
March |
On March 14th, Senator Robert F. Kennedy offers a confidential
political proposition to
President Johnson. The President rejects the offer that he
renounce his earlier Vietnam strategy to establish a committee,
including Kennedy, to chart a new course in Vietnam. |
|
1968 |
March |
Robert F. Kennedy announces his candidacy for the
presidency on March 16th, with polls showing a higher rating
than the President. During his campaign, addressing his part in
forming President John F.
Kennedy's war policy, he says, "past error is no excuse for
its own perpetuation." |
|
1968 |
March |
Over the days from March 16th to the 19th
Captain Paul W. Bucha risked his life
repeatedly to bravely lead his men, near Phuoc Vinh, in Binh
Duong Province, in combat to repel a superior force. Paul W.
Bucha is presented the
Congressional Medal of Honor on May 14,
1970 from
President Richard M. Nixon. |
|
1968 |
March |
On March 16th at My Lai hamlet 300 Vietnamese civilians, are
killed by members of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 20th
Infantry U.S. Army, under command of
Army Lieutenant William L. Calley Jr., during assaults
against suspected Viet Cong encampments in Quang Ngai Province.
The previous night Charlie company was advised that genuine
civilians at My Lai would have gone to market by 7 a.m. and
assume that all who remained were either Viet Cong or active
sympathizers of the VC. No obvious Viet Cong were found at
My Lai prior to the shooting frenzy. Realizing the actuality of
the fighting, helicopter pilot Hugh Thompson lands to begin
evacuating civilians.
Lieutenant Calley was convicted receiving a "life" sentence that
was later commuted to 20 years of "hard labor." |
|
1968 |
March |
General William Westmoreland is named Army Chief of Staff, on
March 22nd by President
Johnson.
General Creighton W. Abrams replaces Westmoreland in Vietnam. |
|
1968 |
March |
In a March 23rd secret meeting in the Philippines, General
Westmoreland is by General Wheeler that
President Johnson will only
approve 13,500 additional troops. Westmoreland had requested
206,000. Wheeler also instructs Westmoreland to urge the South
Vietnamese to expand their own participation in the war. |
|
1968 |
March |
Former Secretary of State Dean Acheson and World
War II General Omar Bradley are among the, "Wise Men," of a
dozen prominent statesmen and soldiers, who are invited to a
dinner at the State Department, held on March 25th. A bluntly
accurate assessment of the war is conveyed, including an
unlikely victory "under the present circumstances," and the
corruption of the Saigon government being a hindrance. |
|
1968 |
March |
Gathering for lunch at the White House on March
26th, the "Wise Men," with only four dissenting, advocate a U.S.
withdrawal from Vietnam. |
|
1968 |
March |
The initial report from My Lai on March 28th says
69 Viet Cong were killed. Civilian causalities were not
mentioned. |
|
1968 |
March |
President Johnson says, "We
are prepared to move immediately toward peace through
negotiations," announcing a seize fire of bombing limited to
north of the 20th parallel including Hanoi. |
|
1968 |
March |
On March 31st, President Johnson
makes an unexpected announcement, "I will not seek or accept my
party's nomination for President of the United States."
|
|
1968 |
April |
Operation Pegasus begins April 1st, with the U.S.
1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) given the mission to reopen
Route 9, the supply route to the air base at Khe Sanh. |
|
1968 |
April |
Civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is
assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee,
on April 4th. |
|
1968 |
April |
Extensive bombing and the opening of Route 9 ends
the Siege of Khe Sanh on April 8th. North Vietnamese Army
withdraw having suffered losses estimated at up to 15,000. The
U.S. Marines 199 killed and 830 wounded. 1st Cavalry saw 92
killed and 629 wounded. The base at Khe Sanh is secretly closed
by the U.S. Command. President commends the heroism of U.S.
troops that defended Khe Sanh, saying, "...they vividly
demonstrated to the enemy the utter futility of his attempts to
win a military victory in the South." The North Vietnamese call
the closing of Khe Sanh air base, America's "gravest defeat"
yet. |
|
1968 |
April |
Defense Secretary Clifford announces on April 11th that the
206,000 additional soldiers, requested by General Westmoreland,
will not be granted |
|
1968 |
April |
Five buildings at Columbia University on April 23rd, are siezed
by anti-war activist. (domestic terrorists?) |
|
1968 |
April |
Protesting the war, 200,000 students in New York,
skip class on April 27th. |
|
1968 |
April |
NVA troops seeking to open an invasion corridor
into South Vietnam are deterred by "the Magnificent Bastards," a
battalion of U.S. Marines commanded by Lieutenant Colonel
William Weise. The Battle of Dai Do occurred from April 30th to
May 3rd. along the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone). 1568 North
Vietnamese Army are killed. 81 Marines and 29 supporting Army
are killed. 297 Marines and 130 Army are wounded. |
|
1968 |
April |
Their defeat at Dai Do suppresses North Vietnam's
hope of a successful invasion of the south. The NVA will wait
for success in 1972 after most American troops had been recalled
from Vietnam. |
|
1968 |
May |
Major M. Sando Vargas,
Jr. on May 1st, already wounded from the previous day, commands
his men strategically while receiving two more wounds. He
continues to lead and carries his wounded commander through fire
to a secure location then continues to inspire his men with his
brave leadership. He was presented the
Congressional Medal of Honor on May 14,
1970 from
President Richard M. Nixon. |
|
1968 |
May |
Captain James N.
Livingston led his men, without concern for his own safety
having been wounded twice, to join forces with a heavily engaged
company of marines to halt a counterattack. Wounded a third
time, unable to walk he supervised the deployment of his men and
evacuation of the wounded, staying through until his men were
safe before allowing himself to be evacuated. He was presented
the
Congressional Medal of Honor on May 14,
1970 from
President Richard M. Nixon. |
|
1968 |
May |
The Viet Cong begin "Mini Tet," on May 5th, with
rocket and mortar attacks against 120 cities and military
installations throughout South Vietnam. Responding, the U.S.
launches air strikes which include the use of Napalm. |
|
1968 |
May |
Established in 1963 to monitor North Vietnamese
infiltration, the isolated Special Forces camp at Kham Duc near
the border of Laos is attacked on May 10th, by a North
Vietnamese Army battalion. U.S. Command makes the decision to
evacuate using C-130 transport planes. |
|
1968 |
May |
During the chaos of the successful airlift from Kham Duc, it is
discovered that three U.S. Air Force traffic controllers had
been left behind. The camp is then over-ran by the North
Vietnamese Army. Two C-130s had already been downed by enemy
fire. Lieutenant Colonel Joe M. Jackson lands his C-123 Provider
on the air strip amid intense gun-fire to gather all three of
the traffic controllers. For this act of bravery,
Lieutenant Colonel Joe M. Jackson was awarded the Congressional
Medal of Honor. |
|
1968 |
May |
Peace Talks in Paris actually occur, between the
United States and North Vietnam, beginning May 10th. A Stalemate
is soon achieve with the U.S. standing firm on a withdraw of NVA
and Viet Cong from South Vietnam and North Vietnam insisting on
Viet Cong participation in a South Vietnam coalition government.
The stalemate begins five years of off and on official peace
talks in Paris. |
|
1968 |
May |
Corpsman Petty Officer
Donald E. Ballard on May 16th in Quang Tri Province during an
ambush, made his way through enemy fire to administer first aid
to a wounded soldier. Directing four other soldiers to carry out
the wounded man Ballard dives onto a grenade that lands near the
five men. The grenade failed to detonate and Donald Ballard rose
to continue treating other marine casualties. He was presented
the
Congressional Medal of Honor on May 14th,
1970 from
President Richard M. Nixon. |
|
1968 |
June |
Robert F. Kennedy had recently won the California
Democratic presidential primary when on June 5th he is mortally
wounded by an assassin's bullet in Los Angeles. |
|
1968 |
June |
Private First Class
Frank A. Herda on June 29th, as a grenade lands in his foxhole
he shoots an enemy not 10 feet away then dives onto the grenade
to save two other soldiers who kill the other two enemy troops
approaching on them. He was presented the
Congressional Medal of Honor on May 14th,
1970 from
President Richard M. Nixon. |
|
1968 |
July |
The increasing costs of the war is defrayed by
the U.S. Congress passing a ten percent income tax surcharge in
July. |
|
1968 |
July |
General Creighton W. Abrams becomes U.S.
commander in Vietnam on July 1st. |
|
1968 |
July |
It was estimated that the Viet Cong
"infrastructure" was up to 70,000 Communist guerrillas waging
the long-standing campaign of terror against Americans, village
leaders, civilians, and South Vietnamese government officials.
On July 1st the CORDS' Phoenix program under the direction of
Robert Komer, is established to destroy that infrastructure.
Alleged assassinations of suspected Viet Cong by "U.S. trained"
South Vietnamese is used by North Vietnam in s propaganda
campaign generating a "Phoenix controversy" resulting in
Congressional hearings. Before Congress in 1971, Komer's
successor William E. Colby testifies, "The Phoenix program was
not a program of assassination. The Phoenix program was a part
of the overall pacification program." admitting that Viet Cong
killed were 20,587 but "mostly in combat situations...by regular
or paramilitary forces." |
|
1968 |
July |
Hanoi's North Vietnamese leadership release three
American POWs on July 3rd. |
|
1968 |
July |
South Vietnam's President Thieu and
President Johnson meet in
Hawaii on July 19th. |
|
1968 |
July |
South Vietnamese opposition leader Truong Dinh Dzu
is sentenced to five years hard labor on July 26th. He had
advocated formation of a coalition government as a means to
ending the war. |
|
1968 |
Aug. |
Richard M. Nixon Promises
"an honorable end to the war in Vietnam." after being chosen as
the Republican presidential candidate on August 8th. |
|
1968 |
Aug. |
In the first eight months of 1968 101 colleges
have seen 221 student protests. The U.S. has seen such a level
of social unrest in the 100 years since the Civil War. During
the August 28th, Democratic National Convention in Chicago
10,000 anti-war protesters assemble downtown and are confronted
by the police and national guardsmen. The confrontation is
covered on national TV. Around 800 demonstrators are injured in
the clash. |
|
1968 |
Sept. |
Another U.S. airplane is shot down over North
Vietnam on September 30th, bringing the total lost in the war to
900. |
|
1968 |
Oct. |
More than 1200 U.S. Navy and South Vietnamese Navy gunboats and
warships target North Vietnamese Army supply lines from Cambodia
reaching into the Mekong Delta in Operation Sealord. Beginning
October 8th, the two-year operation also disrupts other NVA
supply camps in the Delta and along other waterways. Operation
Sealord was the largest combined naval operation of the war,
over NVA supply camps. |
|
1968 |
Oct. |
Involuntary second tours of duty are announced on
October 14th by the U.S. Department of Defense, sending nearly
24,000
U.S. Army and
U.S. Marines troops back to Vietnam. |
|
1968 |
Oct. |
The United States released 14 North Vietnamese POWs on October
21st. |
|
1968 |
Oct. |
50,000 demonstrators gather on October 27th in London, England
to protest the war. |
|
1968 |
Oct. |
Citing progress in the
Paris peace talks on October 31st,
President Johnson announces
the halting of "all air, naval, and artillery bombardment of
North Vietnam", On November 1st the cessation of bombing
north of the 17th parallel in Vietnam, ends Operation Rolling
Thunder. The President hopes the action will encourage continued
peace talks with North Vietnam. |
|
1968 |
Info |
During Rolling Thunder, a three and a half year
bombing campaign on North Vietnam, had little overall effect in
halting the supply lines and transport of soldiers into South
Vietnam. The operation seemed to have backfired with North
Vietnamese civilians rallying around the Communist leaders.
Civilian death toll is estimated at 52,000.
Rolling Thunder dropped an average of 800 tons of bombs each day
for a total of one million tons of ordnance. B-52 bombers flew
2380 sorties with over 300,000 by U.S. Navy and Air Force
fighter-bombers. The sophisticated air defense system provided
to North Vietnam, by the communist U.S.S.R., downed 922 U.S.
aircraft. |
|
1968 |
Nov. |
Rolling Thunder ends on November 1st when the B-52 bombing of
North Vietnam is shifted to the supply camps in Laos. Bombing in
Laos continues through 1972 with over 25,000 sorties flown, most
occurring in 1972. |
|
1970 |
May |
Lieutenant Colonel
Charles C. Rogers at a forward fire support base, runs through
enemy ground and artillery fire to rally dazed artillery crewmen
to action on November 1st. Rogers continued fighting and
rallying others even though he had been wounded. He is presented
the
Congressional Medal of Honor on May 14th,
1970 by
President Richard M. Nixon. |
|
1968 |
Nov. |
Robert Komer takes the helm of CORDS replacing William E. Colby
in November, |
|
1968 |
Nov. |
In the November 5th U.S. presidential election Republican
Richard M. Nixon defeats
Democrat Hubert Humphrey in a narrow victory. |
|
1968 |
Nov. |
Operation Commando Hunt begins on November 11th to interdict
troops and supplies on the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos. The
operation dropped 3 million tons of bombs slowing but failing to
seriously disrupt the flow along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. |
|
1968 |
Nov. |
An urgent message, from A Special Forces unit
pinned down by Viet Cong, is received on November 26th by
First Lieutenant
James P. Fleming, pilot of a Bell UH-1F helicopter. In a second
rescue attempt he lands the helicopter amidst heavy enemy fire to
retrieve the besieged unit.
First Lieutenant Fleming was later
presented the
Congressional Medal of Honor on May 14th,
1970 from
President Richard M. Nixon. |
|
1968 |
Nov. |
Harvard professor Henry Kissinger is asked to fill and accepts
the position of National Security Advisor by President-elect
Nixon on November 27th. |
|
1968 |
Dec. |
John Kerry, who later becomes an anti-war
activist and then the democratic presidential candidate for
2004, on December 2nd reports his first intense combat.
Attending physician Louis Letson says other crewmen had a
different story; with no fire from shore Kerry fires a mortar
round to some nearby rocks on shore and the wound he received
was likely a fragment of the mortar that ricocheted off a rock.
Kerry's wound was in his arm and was treated with a band-aid.
Kerry applied and was denied a Purple Heart by his superior
Grant Hibbard as the incident did not meet the eligibility
requirements. Kerry is later is granted the Purple Heart upon a
second request. Kerry's own journal says there he had seen no
enemy fire as of nine days later. |
|
1968 |
Dec. |
John Kerry claimed involvement in combat off
Cambodia on Christmas eve. His story had changed to early 1969
and has seen numerous changes since, without any substantiation. |
|
1968 |
Info |
Even with the 200 U.S. air strikes each day in
the last few months of the year, at any given time, nearly
10,000 North Vietnamese Army supply trucks are in route along
the Ho Chi Minh Trail. It is estimated that the infiltration of
North Vietnamese soldiers to the south along the trail numbers
150,000.
By the end of 1968 American troop levels reach 495,000. 38
percent of the forces were "draftees" with 12 percent of those
being college graduates. 30,000 Americans have died in the war,
to date. In 1968 over 1,000 troops were killed each month. |
|
1969 - Vietnam War |
|
1969 |
Jan. |
Senator Richard M.
Nixon, President-elect,
nominates Henry Cabot Lodge on January 1st to be the senior
negotiator at the Paris peace talks between the U.S. and North
Vietnam. Lodge was formerly the American Ambassador to South
Vietnam. |
|
1969 |
Jan. |
Representatives from the U.S., South Vietnam,
North Vietnam and the National Liberation Front (NLF) are
present on January 25th for the opening of the expanded peace
talks in Paris, France. |
|
1969 |
Jan. |
President Richard
M. Nixon becomes the 5th president to cope with the War in
Vietnam having campaigned on a pledge of "peace with honor." On
January 20th Richard M. Nixon
is inaugurated the 37th President declaring, "...the greatest
honor history can bestow is the title of peacemaker. This honor
now beckons America..." in his Inaugural Address. |
|
1969 |
Jan. |
The U.S. Marines begin Operation Dewey Canyon in
the Da Krong Valley on January 22nd. Operation Dewey Canyon will
be the last major operation by U.S. Marines of the war. |
|
1969 |
Feb. |
John Kerry, who later becomes an anti-war
activist, comes under automatic weapon and rocket fire on
February 20th and is hit by shrapnel in his left thigh. He is
awarded a second Purple Heart. The account is disputed years
later by Swift Boat Veterans, some saying there was no enemy
fire. |
|
1969 |
Feb. |
Airman First Class John
L. Levitow on February 24th was aboard an AC-47 aircraft flying
a night mission supporting the Long Binh Army Post when a hole
is blown into the side by an enemy mortar. All aboard are
wounded and slammed to the floor. Levitow with concussion and
leg wounds pulls a heavily bleeding comrade away from an open
cargo door when he spots a smoking illumination flare. Unable to
grab the rolling flare he drops onto the burning flair then
hugging it to his body drags himself to the open door and tosses
the flare where in just a couple seconds it detonates safely
away from the plane. He is presented the
Congressional Medal of Honor on May 14th,
1970 by
President Richard M. Nixon. |
|
1969 |
Feb. |
Kerry is awarded the Silver Star in which the
incidences on February 28th as well as the awarding is wrought
with peculiarities.
On August 27th, 2004, former Navy Secretary
John Lehman states that he did not know where a Silver Star
citation, displayed on Democratic presidential nominee John
Kerry's campaign Web site, came from. |
|
1969 |
Feb. |
Saigon is included in 110 Targets throughout
South Vietnam that are attacked by the Viet Cong
on February 23rd. |
|
1969 |
Feb. |
The North Vietnamese Army raid Marine base camp
near the Demilitarized Zone on February 25th. |
|
1969 |
Mar. |
President Richard
M. Nixon announced in March that the U.S. has been in secret
talks with North Vietnam. |
|
1969 |
Mar. |
Responding to
Viet Cong
offenses in the South the resumption of bombing as retaliation
is threatened by President Nixon
on March 4th. |
|
1969 |
Mar. |
John Kerry receives a third Purple Heart for an
injury to his buttocks on March 13. Kerry claimed
"I got a piece of small grenade in my ass from one of the rice
bin explosions." in an ambush where among enemy fire he
pulls Jim Rassmann from the water earning the Bronze Star as
well. Rassmann recalled the rice explosion occurred prior to
Kerry pulling him from the water. Various stories and reports do
not support Kerry's version. Rassmann later asserts that Kerry
saved his life. |
|
1969 |
Mar. |
Lieutenant (junior
grade) Kerrey led his SEAL team up a 350 foot cliff then split
the team with his climbing down the face toward an enemy camp.
Nearing the bottom they are spotted and take fire. A grenade
explodes near his feet tossing him backwards onto jagged rocks.
In great pain he directs the second team to another position
catching the Viet Cong
in a crossfire. The enemy confused by the crossfire were subdued
and those captured provided
valuable intelligence to the
allies. He was presented the
Congressional Medal of Honor on May 14th,
1970 by
President Richard M. Nixon. |
|
1969 |
Mar. |
The U.S. Army investigates the alleged massacre
at My Lai in March, after letters by veteran Ronald Ridenhour
are sent to
President Nixon,
some Congressmen, and the Army;
one year after the incident. The investigation resulted
in charges being brought against Charlie Company Commander,
Capt. Ernest L. Medina, First Platoon Leader, Lt. William Calley,
and 14 others. Photos were produced that showed the aftermath of
the massacre, bodies of children, women, and old men. |
|
1969 |
Mar. |
The first U.S. troop offensive since 1968 occurs
inside the Demilitarized Zone on March 15th. |
|
1969 |
Mar. |
Operation Menu is authorized on March 17th by President Nixon.
Operation Menu was a secret B-52 bombing targeting enemy supply
sanctuaries along the Cambodia and Vietnam border. |
|
1969 |
Mar. |
Military policy was that after three Purple
Hearts the recipient was eligible to be sent home, although
traditionally only the severely wounded availed themselves. John
Kerry uses his three Purple Hearts, received for minor injuries,
to apply for home relief on March 17th and is granted the
request. |
|
1969 |
April |
Anti-war demonstrations over the 5th and 6th of
April are the only major ones conducted during the first few
months of the Nixon
presidency. |
|
1969 |
April |
300 anti-war students seize the administration
building at Harvard University on April 9th. Eight deans are
among the staff that are thrown out of the building. The
demonstrators are later forcibly removed. |
|
1969 |
April |
The tally of American dead reaches 33,641 as of
April 30th, 1969. U.S. troop levels, in Vietnam, now top that of
the Korean War peaking at 543,400. |
|
1969 |
May |
President Nixon
orders FBI wiretaps on four journalists and 13 government
officials in attempts to determine the source of the leak when
in May the New York Times break news of the Cambodia secret
bombings. |
|
1969 |
May |
In May at the Paris Peace Talks Hanoi endorses
the "10-point peace plan" that was presented. |
|
1969 |
May |
Heavy fighting over ten days was waged near Hue
in the A Shau Valley in the battle at ''Hamburger Hill'' from
May 10th to the 20th. 46 men of the 101st Airborne are killed
with 400 others wounded. After the victory of taking the hill
the commander orders the troops to abandon the position. A
political outcry ensues in America as the public perceives the
action a waste of American lives. "... senseless and
irresponsible." is what one Senator had said about the withdraw. |
|
1969 |
May |
MACV Commander Gen. Creighton Abrams is ordered
to avoid encounters as that of "Hamburger Hill." The battle
becomes the last major search and destroy mission by U.S. troops
during the war. This was one example where public opinion tied
the military preventing a victory in Vietnam. |
|
1969 |
May |
About May, 1969 the long period of declining
morale and discipline begins among the involuntary draftees in
Vietnam. Drug usage becomes a major problem among the ranks.
Nearly half will dabble with marijuana, opium, or heroin; easily
obtained on the streets of Saigon. Casualties of drug abuse will
outnumber the casualties of war. One soldier had said "I would
hesitate when I knew I was to support a 'pot-head' and that
hesitation could have gotten him killed." |
|
1969 |
May |
In the first televised speech on Vietnam
President Nixon presents in
a May 14th war policy address an "8-point peace plan". The plan
was for both sides to withdrawal all non-South Vietnamese forces
to specified bases over 12 months followed by a total
withdrawal. With little surprise Hanoi rejects the offer. |
|
1969 |
June |
in a June 8th meeting at Midway Island with South
Vietnam's President Nguyen Van Thieu,
President Nixon
announced the first troop
withdrawal. During a press briefing with South Vietnam President
Thieu, Nixon announces
withdrawal of 25,000 men and the "Vietnamization" of the war. |
|
1969 |
June |
Abandoned
the idea of a "purely military victory"
Nixon begins in June to
expound on his "Vietnamization
program" preparing the South Vietnamese to defend themselves
without American troops. American troop withdraws are announced
for 25,000 in June and 35,000 in September. |
|
1969 |
June |
Lieutenant Thomas O.
Kelley, on June 15th, with a serious head wound continued
directing troop carriers to protect a disabled carrier with a
stuck ramp. Relaying orders through another the enemy attack was
subdued and the boats moved to safety. He is presented the
Congressional Medal of Honor on May 14th,
1970 by
President Richard M. Nixon. |
|
1969 |
June |
Among the pages in the June 27th issue of Life
magazine were portrait photos of the 242 Americans that were
killed the previous week. Included were the 46 marines killed at
Hamburger Hill. The placing of faces to the death statistics had
a sobering effect on Americans across the nation. |
|
1969 |
July |
The first troop withdrawal occurs in stages with
800 men from the 9th Infantry Division being sent home on July
8th. The withdrawal of troops occur in 14 states beginning in
July with the last in November. |
|
1969 |
July |
Secretary of State William Rogers on July 17th
lays the charges of "lacking humanity," in treating American
POWs, on North Vietnamese leaders in Hanoi. |
|
1969 |
July |
The "Vietnamization" policy becomes the
"Nixon Doctrine" which
advocates assistance to nations struggling against Communism, in
the form of military and economic aid with an emphasis on that
nation's military self-sufficiency backed by U.S. air power and
technical assistance. The "Nixon
Doctrine" becomes public on July 25th. |
|
1969 |
July |
Nixon's only trip of his
presidency, ,to Vietnam was on July 30th when in an unscheduled
stop he visits the U.S. troops and South Vietnam's President
Nguyen Van Thieu. |
|
1969 |
Aug. |
Representing the U.S., Henry Kissinger meets with North
Vietnamese representative Xuan Thuy for secret peace
negotiations at the Paris apartment of Jean Sainteny, French
intermediary, on August 4th. |
|
1969 |
Aug. |
Another Viet Cong
offensive begins on August 12th when 150 targets throughout
South Vietnam are attacked. |
|
1969 |
Sept. |
A heart attack takes the life of 79 year old Ho
Chi Minh on September 2nd. |
|
1969 |
Sept. |
Le Duan succeeds Ho Chi Minh becoming leader of
North Vietnam on September 2nd. Reading the last wishes of Ho
Chi Minh he urges North Vietnamese to fight "until the last
Yankee has gone." |
|
1969 |
Sept. |
Lt.
William Calley is charged, on September 5th, with six counts of murder for the deaths of 109
Vietnamese civilians at My Lai, South Vietnam in March of 1968. |
|
1969 |
Sept. |
President Nixon as promised
orders the withdrawal of 35,000 soldiers from Vietnam on
September 16th and calls for a reduction of draft inductions. |
|
1969 |
Oct. |
President Nixon's Vietnam
policy receives an approval rating, in an opinion poll in
October, of 71 percent. |
|
1969 |
Oct. |
Anti-war demonstrations are organized across
America as the "Vietnam Moratorium." It has be estimated that 1
million people participate in the "Moratorium" in
Washington,
D.C. and other Major American cities. |
|
1969 |
Oct. |
North Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Van Dong sent
a letter to the organizers of the "Vietnam Moratorium" praising
them, "... may your fall offensive succeed splendidly..." This
was the first public acknowledgement of the anti-war movement by
Hanoi. American conservatives are infuriated by Dong's comments.
Vice President Spiro Agnew
blasts the protesters calling them "Communist dupes" made up of
"an effete corps of impudent snobs who characterize themselves
as intellectuals." |
|
1969 |
Nov. |
Appearing on radio and television
President Nixon addresses
the nation on November 3rd, requesting support for his Vietnam
strategy, from "the great silent majority of my fellow
Americans." Nixon also says,
"...the more divided we are at home, the less likely the enemy
is to negotiate at Paris...North Vietnam cannot defeat or
humiliate the United States. Only Americans can do that."
President Nixon also
announces plans for a withdraw of all American troops on a
secret timetable. |
|
1969 |
Nov. |
The My Lai massacre story is broken to the public on November
12th by independent investigative journalist
Seymour Hersh. |
|
1969 |
Nov. |
Anti-war protesters participate in a symbolic
"March Against Death" in
Washington,
D.C.
on
November 13th. |
|
1969 |
Nov. |
The largest Anti-war protest in U.S.
history is waged on November 15th as a response to the recent
release of the My Lai massacre story. The "Mobilization" peace
demonstration in
Washington,
D.C. drew over 250,000 protesters. |
|
1969 |
Nov. |
The U.S. Army provides the first
public disclosure, on November 16th, of the events surrounding
the My Lai massacre. |
|
1969 |
Nov. |
On November 19th
Congress gives President Nixon
authority to institute the "draft lottery" system that would
induct 19-year-old men before those older. The prime eligibility
of 7 years is reduced to only one beginning on a man's 19th
birthday, ending on his 20th birthday. The president signed the
bill into law on November 26th. |
|
1969 |
Nov. |
The November 20th
issue of the Cleveland Plain Dealer published photographs of the
dead villagers of the My Lai massacre. |
|
1969 |
Dec. |
The first draft
lottery in the United States since World War II (1942) is
held on December 1st at the Selective Service Headquarters in
Washington,
D.C. Each day of the year is assigned a random number, men whose
birthdays fall on a low number are likely to be drafted. |
|
1969 |
Dec. |
The first major Vietnam policy
declaration since the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin resolution follows two
days of debate with the U.S. House passes a resolution (334-55)
that endorsed President Nixon's
"peace with justice" policy. |
|
1969 |
Dec. |
Chief U.S. negotiator Henry Cabot
Lodge on December 8th expresse pessimism about the success of
the peace negotiations. |
|
1969 |
Dec. |
President Nixon announced on
December 15 that another reduction of troops is scheduled.
50,000 troops will be pulled from Vietnam by mid-April, 1970. |
|
1969 |
Dec. |
Senator John Cooper
(R-KY), having failed several attempts, succeeds, on December
18th, by tacking a prohibition on introducing U.S. troops into
Laos and Thailand to a Vietnam war funding bill of $23.2
Billion. |
|
1969 |
Dec. |
Frustrated by the
lack of sincerity on the part of the North Vietnamese, Henry
Cabot Lodge resigns as chief U.S. negotiator at the Paris peace
talks on December 20th. |
|
1969 |
Info |
1969 sees the gap
increase between the "silent majority" of middle American and
the anti-war protestors.
The death toll of Americans killed in Vietnam is reaches 40,024.
America's troop strength in Vietnam had been reduced by 115,000
men during 1969.
In the "Vietnamization" of the war the South Vietnamese Army
will be expected to boost its troop count by 500,000 men. |
|
1970 - Vietnam War |
|
1970 |
Jan. |
The
January 4th issue of the
New York Times carried a long article, "Statisticians
Charge Draft Lottery Was Not Random." |
|
1970 |
Jan. |
Washington Monthly
Magazine, in its January issue, reported on 1000 investigators
in 200 offices across America. An intelligence network that
compiled reports on "political Protests of all kinds," as well
as groops and individuals that "might cause trouble of the
US Army." Later Senator Ervin will say, "apparently anyone who
in the Army's definition was 'left of center' was a prospective
candidate for political surveillance." |
|
1970 |
Feb. |
The increase in Viet Cong
raids throughout South Vietnam prompt a retaliatory strike on
February 2nd, of American B-52's bombing the Ho Chi Minh trail. |
|
1970 |
Feb. |
As of February 21st peace talks in Paris, France
remain in a deadlock. Paralleling the peace efforts Henry
Kissinger begins a two year series of secret talks with
North Vietnam's Le Duc Tho. |
|
1970 |
Feb. |
The elimination of
the draft instituting an all-volunteer army was the
recommendation of a presidential commission, released on
February 21st. |
|
1970 |
March |
The courts-martial of Captain Ernest Medina and
others for participation in the My Lai massacre begin on March
10th. |
|
1970 |
March |
Prince
Norodom Sihanouk of
Cambodia is ousted on March 18th by General
Lon Nol. At the time of the coup, Sihanouk was out of the
country and allied himself with the Khmer Rouge (Cambodian
communists) hoping to oust Lon Nol's regime. |
|
1970 |
Info |
Pol Pot, then unknown, led the Khmer Rouge and used the
popularity of Prince Sihanouk to gain increased support for the
Khmer Rouge movement in Cambodia. Later Pol Pot ousts Lon Nol in
a violent coup. Attempting to establish an agrarian utopia Pol
Pot was responsible for the death of 25 percent of the country's
population. 2,000,000 people die from starvation, forced labor
and systematic executions. |
|
1970 |
March |
Gen. Lon Nol's Cambodian troops
attack the Khmer Rouge and North Vietnamese forces inside
Cambodia on March 20th. In
Washington,
Nixon and top aides discuss
plans to assist the pro-American regime of Lon Nol. |
|
1970 |
March |
The courts-martials that began on March 10th over
participation in the My Lai massacre, end with the conviction of
Lieutenant William Calley on March 29th |
|
1970 |
March |
Murder
charges are brought against Captain Ernest L. Medina on March
31st by the U.S. Army for his participation in the massacre at
My Lai. |
|
1970 |
April |
Senate transcripts were made public
during March and April that reveal to the public the increased U.S. involvement in Laos and Cambodia
in 1968. |
|
1970 |
April |
Responding
to continued Communist gains against South Vietnamese forces, U.S.
and South Vietnamese forces, on April 29th, (without Lon Nol's
knowledge) invaded Cambodia to search out and engage the Viet Cong that
have been using Cambodia as a staging ground for their attacks.
It was hoped overall NVA military strength would be weakened and
act as a prelude to a U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam. |
|
1970 |
April |
President Nixon announced on
April 30th, the U.S. and South Vietnamese incursion into
Cambodia "...not for the purpose of expanding the war into
Cambodia but for the purpose of ending the war in Vietnam and
winning the just peace we desire." |
|
1970 |
April |
Prompted by the announcement
of the Cambodian invasion, protests are voiced by adversarial
politicians, the ever
anti-war leaning press, , various clergy members, and prominent
business leaders against Nixon and the Vietnam War. |
|
1970 |
May |
On the tradition Communist
holiday of May Day on May 1st supply bases inside Cambodia are
attacked by 15,000 U.S. and
South Vietnamese troops. During the offensive the NVA and Viet Cong
avoid large-scale battle withdrawing west further into Cambodia.
Large stores of weapons and ammunition are left behnind. |
|
1970 |
May |
On May 1st,
President Nixon refers to
anti-war students as "bums blowing up campuses." |
|
1970 |
May |
An "end
the war" amendment that would suspended funds for military
operations in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia is introduced in the
Senate, on May 2nd, by McGovern, Hughes, Cranston, Goodell, and
Hatfield. |
|
1970 |
May |
Students and
professors wage demonstrations on campuses across America on May
2nd, responding to the invasion of Cambodia. |
|
1970 |
May |
A protest, against the
Cambodian invasion, at Kent State University in Ohio on May 4th
leads to a confrontation that leaves 4 students dead when fired
upon by the Ohio National Guard. More protests across American
campuses result from the incident. |
|
1970 |
May |
On May 14th
President Richard M. Nixon
presents the Congressional Medal of Honor to 12 Armed Forces
members: (The following recipients are linked to the year where
a brief accounting of the action is found.)
Lieutenant
Colonel Charles C. Rogers, Captain Paul W.
Bucha, Captain Ronald E. Ray,
Sergeant Allen J. Lynch,
Specialist Four Frank A. Herda, Major M.
Sando Vargas, Jr., Captain James N.
Livingston, Commander Lieutenant Thomas O.
Kelley, Lieutenant (junior grade) Kerrey,
Petty Officer Donald E. Ballard,
Captain
James P. Fleming and
Sergeant John L. Levitow. |
|
1970 |
May |
Over 400 Colleges and
Universities across America are shut down by demonstrations over
the Cambodia invasions and the Kent State student deaths. In
Washington,
D.C. 100,000 protesters wage demonstrations surrounding the
White House, historical monumnets and other government buildings. |
|
1970 |
May |
President Nixon leaves the
White House to pay an unexpected and surprise evening visit to
the Lincoln Memorial to chat with young protesters. |
|
1970 |
May |
By May 6th more than 100 colleges are still
closed due to student rioting. |
|
1970 |
May |
Viet Cong
terrorist raids throughout Saigon over the week prior to May
6th, resulted in the highest weekly death toll as of this date.
450 civilians were killed. |
|
1970 |
May |
Ten
members of Congress join nearly 80,000 people on May 9th for a
peaceful anti-war rally at the Ellipse in
Washington,
DC. |
|
1970 |
May |
John Kerry travels to Paris, France to meet with
Madame Nguyen Thi Bnh, the Foreign Minister of the Provisional
Revolutionary Government of Vietnam and other Viet Cong and
Communist Vietnamese delegates to the Paris peace talks. Later
in is presidential campaign of 2004 Kerry calls it a
"fact-finding mission." |
|
1970 |
June |
The North Vietnamese
Army (NVA) begin a new offensive toward Phnom Penh in Cambodia
on June 3rd. The U.S. provide air strikes to aid Lon Nol's
inexperience troops. |
|
1970 |
June |
The use jungle defoliants
(agent orange) is discontinued on June 22nd by the U.S.
military. |
|
1970 |
June |
Congress learns the naval
incident that lead to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, in 1964,
had been misrepresented and moves to repeal the resolution; the
U.S. Senate passes the repeal on June 24th. |
|
1970 |
June |
John Kerry joins the Vietnam
Veterans Against the War in June, 1970. The VVAW was partly
funded by the Communist Party, USA. The Executive
Secretary was Al Hubbard, a former Black Panther. Kerry is
appointed to the Executive Committee by Hubbard, bypassing
the election process. |
|
1970 |
June |
Over 350 Americans
died during the ground invasion of Cambodia. U.S. troops
withdraw from Cambodia on June 30th. |
|
1970 |
June |
The Cooper-Church Amendment
passes the Senate on June 30th. The amendment barrs use of U.S.
troops in Cambodia. The same day
President Nixon
announces the end of combat operations in Cambodia and that
future U.S. involvement would provide only air support for South
Vietnamese operations. |
|
1970 |
Aug. |
South Vietnamese begin to defend the border
positions on August 11th as the "Vietnamization" of the war
progresses. |
|
1970 |
Aug. |
More B-52 bombing raids along
the Demilitarized Zone occur on August 24th. |
|
1970 |
Aug. |
During the August 31st
McGovern-Hatfield Amendment debates US Senate, Senator Eagleton (D-MO) and Javits
(R-NY) claim the Nixon policy of gradual de-escalation was
leading to an expanded war in Indochina. Senator Church said
that Congress must keep pressure on the Administration to hasten
withdrawal. Senators Scott (R-PA) and Thurmond (R-SC) expressed concern
about the fate of American P.O.W.'s, with decreased bargaining pressure,
should US troops
withdraw. |
|
1970 |
Sept. |
Calling for the withdrawal of all U.S. troops
by the end of 1971 the McGovern-Hatfield Amendment is defeated
in the Senate on September 1st. The same amendment is brought up
for a vote later and again fails. |
|
1970 |
Sept. |
the South Vietnamese 1st Infantry Division and the United States
101st Airborne Division initiates the last U.S. offensive in
Vietnam, Operation Jefferson Glenn on September 5th. The
operation is executed in Thua Thien Province and ends in October
1971. |
|
1970 |
Sept. |
An anti-war rally at Valley Forge,
Pennsylvania features speakers, John Kerry, Jane Fonda, and Mark
Lane. Fonda says, ". . . My Lai was not an isolated incident but
rather a way of life for many of our military." |
|
1970 |
Sept. |
The first substantial peace
initiative since Nixon's 1969 plan is the 8-point peace plan
presented by the VC on
September 17th. The Paris Peace talks remained stalemated
through 1970. |
|
1970 |
Sep. |
During the October 7th Television speech
President Nixon proposes a
"standstill cease-fire" where troops remain in place but stop
shooting until a formal peace agreement is reached. No response
came from Hanoi. |
|
1970 |
Oct. |
Pol Pot ousts Lon Nol in a violent coup and proclaims the Khmer
Republic in Cambodia on October 9th. As leader attempting to
establish an agrarian utopia Pol Pot was responsible for the
death of 25 percent of the country's population. 2,000,000
people will die from starvation, forced labor and systematic
executions. |
|
1970 |
Oct. |
On October 12th
President
Richard Nixon announced the withdrawal of 40,000 troops
before Christmas. |
|
1970 |
Oct. |
South Vietnamese troops begin a new
offense into Cambodia on October 24th. |
|
1970 |
Nov. |
In further "Vietnamization" of the war the U.S. transfers, to
South Vietnam on November 4th,
control of the air base in the Mekong Delta. |
|
1970 |
Nov. |
The lowest American death toll in five years
is reported on November 5th by the Military Assistance Command
in Vietnam. 24 soldiers died in that week the fifth consecutive
week with a death toll below 50, although 431 were reported
wounded the same week. |
|
1970 |
Nov. |
The U.S. Supreme Court refuses, on November
9th with a vote of 6 to 3, to hear a case brought by the state
of
Massachusetts
to allow the state the right to enforce its law allowing its
residents to refuse military service in an undeclared war. |
|
1970 |
Nov. |
The first such report in five years comes in,
on November 10th, with no American combat fatalities in Vietnam. |
|
1970 |
Nov. |
November 12, 1970 - The military
murder trial of Lieutenant
William Calley begins on November 12th, at Fort Benning,
Georgia, for his part in the My Lai
massacre. |
|
1970 |
Nov. |
President
Richard Nixon asks for $155,000,000 from the U.S. Congress
on November 18th. $85,000,000 was to help maintain the regime of
Premier Lon Nol, keeping the Khmer Rouge and North Vietnam at
bay. |
|
1970 |
Nov. |
As of November 20th American
troop levels are down to 334,600. |
|
1970 |
Nov. |
In an attempt to free American POWs thought
to be held at the Son Tay prison camp, joint Air Force and Army
forces conduct Operation Ivory Coast on November 21st. No
Americans were killed in the raid by it was found that the POWs
has previously been transferred to another camp. The North
Vietnamese later transferred all U.S. POWs to a few central
prison complexes. |
|
1970 |
Dec. |
President
Richard Nixon sends a warning to Hanoi on December 10th,
that the U.S. will conduct more bombing raid if the North
Vietnamese attacks against the South continue. |
|
1970 |
Dec. |
In December Senator Ervin reports that his
information of the surveillance by 1000 investigators in 200
offices across the nation included 800 Illinois citizens.
Included in the list were
Senator Adlai Stevenson, III (D-ILL), Rep. Abner Mikua (D-ILL)
and US Circuit Judge Otto Kerner. "... apparently anyone who in
the Army's definition was 'left of center' was a prospective
candidate for political surveillance," said Ervin. Defense
Secretary Laird, after lengthy Senate hearings on the Army's
surveillance, ordered that the investigations be discontinued. |
|
1970 |
Info. |
Troops Levels drop to 280,000 by end of 1970.
The U.S. command estimates that 60,000 soldiers have used drugs.
Over 200 incidents occur of unpopular officers being "fragged"
by men under their command.
Reflecting disharmony back in the states many units are plagued
by racial unrest. |
|
|
Reciprocal Links
American Flags - American, State,
World, Featherd flags and more.
National Anthems
-Lyrics and Audio for Anthems of all Countries of
the World.
Waving Flag Images
- Free Flag
Animations - Military, State, Historical, Worldwide
Flag Links @
PoetPatriot.com
|
|
Sources for the Vietnam War are found at
TimeLine Sources |
Vietnam War
- Page Three
1966 - 1967
- 1968 - 1969 -
1970 |
Pre-War
- 1930-1960
- The War - 1961-1965 -
The War - 1970-1975
-
Post War - 1976-2007
Page 1
Page 2
Page 4
Page
5 |
|
|
