• 25 May 2007: There are 1,786 US service personnel & civilians missing from the Vietnam War.
• 19 December 1946, the Viet Minh initiated the 8-year Indochina war with the French.
• On 8 May 1954, two Americans were killed on a supply drop mission to Dien Bien Phu. It is suspected that their C-119 was hit by Viet Minh anti-aircraft fire.
• On 21 July 1954, the French and the Communists signed the truce that turned over North Vietnam and 12 million people to the Communists.
• On 10 July 1959, 20 miles north of Saigon, two American military advisors and three South Vietnamese were killed by a communist terrorist. The terrorist was also killed in the attack.
• In early March, 1962, the Associated Press reported that the US Navy was to begin rating officer's wives for social graces and diplomacy when their fitness reports were due.
• In May 1962, US Marine Corps helicopters aided in the mop-up operation in the Mekong Delta region that resulted in the deaths of 57 Viet Cong guerillas.
• 5 October 1954, the last French troops leave Hanoi, and 6 days later, the Viet Minh assume control over North Vietnam.
• 20 June 1964, General William Westmoreland takes over command of MACV forces from General Harkins. He will be relieved on 10 April 1968 by General Abrams.
• The first US Military advisors arrived in Vietnam in May of 1959 upon request of the South Vietnamese government.
• The first Australian Aid Forces (MAF) arrived in South Vietnam in August of 1962.
  8 March, 1965, the first Marine infantry battalion arrives in Da Nang, South Vietnam, and by December of that year, the US Forces number 181,000.
• The Associated Press announced, in May of 1965, that two US senators were to be awarded the Antarctic Service Medal for their recent trip to US bases in Antarctica. The senators, Frank E. Moss (D-UT) & Ernest Gruening (D-AK).
• On 28 July 1965, President Johnson announced that he was adding 50,000 troops to US forces already in Vietnam. At a news conference, Johnson said that the draft number would more than double, from 17,000 to 35,000 per month. US military presence would be increased from 75,000 to 125,000 men, he added.
• July 1965 also saw Adlai Stevenson's White House Cabinet chair purchased from the government (at it's replacement price) by President Johnson and Vice President Hubert Humphrey along with members of the Cabinet. The going price was $134.50; the chair was given to the late ambassador's family.
• Two US warships, the destroyers USS Waddell & USS Brinkley Bass collided at sea in early 1966. Both ships were heavily damaged, but only one sailor was injured. However, three sailors were lost at sea when a helicopter from the carrier USS Ranger crashed at sea returning from working on the destroyers.
• The Naval Forces Commander, Vietnam, establishes the Mekong Delta Mobile Riverine Force on 28 February 1967. Two months later, US military strength is at 436,000. This number will increase by 50,000 before the end of 1967.
• The Tet Offensive comprised three separate combat actions that began on 31 January 1968...

• 22 January through 7 April 1968, the siege of Khe Sanh takes place (77 days). The base that must be held "at all costs" is abandoned in June of that year. In March, the My Lai massacre takes place.
• November 1968: President Nixon promises a gradual troop withdrawal from Vietnam. Within a month, US troop strength is at 536,100.
• On Thanksgiving Day 1968, US Paratroopers captured Hill 875 after a five-day battle. US officials claimed that between 2,500 and 3,000 enemy had been killed in the 21-day Dak To campaign.
• 25 January 1969: formal truce negotiations begin in Paris.
• 4 September 1969: Radio Hanoi announces the death of Ho Chi Minh.
• 2 May 1970: a number of anti-war demonstrations break out on college campuses across the country. A week later, 4 Kent State University students are killed by members of the Ohio National Guard in Kent, Ohio.
• Congress repealed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution on 31 December 1970.
• 24 April 1971: up to 500,000 anti-war demonstrators converge on Washington, DC and approximately 150,000 gather in San Francisco.
• Australia and New Zealand announce in August 1971, that they will pull all of their troops from Vietnam immediately.
• President Nixon announces plans that will reduce US troop strength to 69,000 by 1 May 1972.
• Aerial attack and naval bombardment resume in April 1972. President Nixon announces that US troop strength will fall to 49,000 by 1 July.
• General Frederick C. Weyland replaces General Abrams as Commander, MACV on 29 June 1970.
• The last American ground troops leave Vietnam on 12 August 1972. This leaves 43,500 Airmen and support personnel in South Vietnam.
• 29 August: President Nixon announces that US troop strength in South Vietnam will be cut to 27,000 by 1 December 1972.
• On 18 December, President Nixon orders bombing to resume north of the 20th parallel after a 2 month pause; the Paris peace talks are suspended until 8 January 1973.
• On 15 January,l 1973, President Nixon halts military operations against North Vietnam; 12 days later, the peace accord is signed and the Vietnam War is officially over.
• 29 March, 1973: the last US troops leave South Vietnam leaving only a defense attaché.
• On 1 May 1975, it was reported by Stars and Stripes that "Its' Over". The Saigon government surrendered unconditionally. As the five minute radio address was read by President Duong Van "Big" Minh, the city fell silent and the shellfire subsided.
• Dr. Kissinger announces, in March of 1976, that the US, 'in principle' is prepared to normalize relations with Vietnam.
• 15 November 1976: the US vetoes Vietnam's application for membership in the United Nations based upon that country's 'inhumane & brutal' attitude to US servicemen still listed as missing in Vietnam. Vietnam and Russia sign a mutual defense pact in November of 1978.
• Vietnam announces that on 29 March, 1979, Russian warships will be permitted access to the naval base at Cam Ranh Bay.
• 13 November 1982: more than 100,000 veterans of the Vietnam War gather at Washington, DC for the dedication of a memorial honoring the War's dead.
• President Reagan called America's goal for a full accounting of POW/MIA's a "highest national priority" at a meeting of the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia on 28 January 1982.
• The Vietnam War cost the United States 14 years, $150 billion and over 50,000 lives, the last of which were two US Marines killed in a Communist attack on Saigon's airport.
• Numbers, numbers, numbers...Between 1964 & 1972, 2.2 million American males, out of the 26.8 million that reached age 18 during that period, were drafted into the armed services for two years of military service. Of the remainder, 8.7 million volunteered, leaving 15.9 million who escaped the draft entirely. 209,517 men were officially listed as draft dodgers, making no effort at all to avoid the draft using college deferments, ill health, citing family commitments or listing themselves as conscientious objectors.

Vietnam Operations Page

Letters to Ngo Dinh Diem

Vietnam - The War at Sea