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1919 – Ho Chi Minh Ignored
Following World War I, a young Vietnamese patriot named Nguyen That Thanh (later known as Ho
Chi Minh) arrives at the Paris Peace Conference
...
But Thanh, like many other advocates of colonial independence who descend upon the
Paris peace talks, is ignored
...


Sep 1940 – Japan

Seizes French Indochina

The Japanese take possession of French Indochina (Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam), but retain the proAxis French administration
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Mar 9, 1945 – Japanese

Occupation

Japan sweeps away French rule in Indochina
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Apr 12, 1945 – Roosevelt

Dies

President Franklin D
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With the
death of President Roosevelt, Vice President Harry S
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Aug 6, 1945 – Hiroshima
The United States drops an atomic bomb—the first to be used in warfare—on Hiroshima, killing
75,000 people instantly, and injuring more than 100,000
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Aug 15, 1945 – Japan Surrenders
Japan surrenders to the Allied Powers, officially ending World War II
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Aug 30, 1945 – Ho Chi Minh Leads

Viet Minh

Emperor Bao Dai surrenders leadership to Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh
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No other countries recognize this regime
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After some fighting, the Viet Minh withdraws
...
S
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Truman, asking him for the support of the United
States in gaining independence for Vietnam
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France refuses to grant
Vietnamese independence and declares the southern region of Vietnam a French colony
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Dec 19, 1946 – First Indochina

War

The Viet Minh attacks French forces occupying Hanoi in northern Vietnam
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1948 – Bao Dai Returns
As a reward for his cooperation, the French allow Bao Dai to reclaim leadership of a nominally
independent Vietnam, a position that France had denied to Ho Chi Minh two years prior
...
S
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Truman, the United States begins to contribute money and supplies to the
French war effort in Vietnam
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Truman is elected to a second term
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Still, the French retain control over all key governmental functions
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Jan 30, 1950 – Soviets Recognize Vietnam
The Soviet Union recognizes Ho Chi Minh's government, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
...
S
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Sep 1950 – U
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Military

Advisors in Saigon

The first group of U
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military advisors—the U
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Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG)—
arrives in Saigon
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Eisenhower is elected President of the United States
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Nixon is
elected as his vice president
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In a press
conference he states, "I cannot conceive of a greater tragedy for America than to get heavily involved
now in an all-out war in any of those regions
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The battle will rage for
over two months
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Apr 17, 1954 – Nixon Supports

Troop Commitment

In a speech before the press, Vice President Richard Nixon explains, “if to avoid further communist
expansion in Asia and Indochina, we must take the risk now of putting our boys in, I think the
executive has to take the politically unpopular decision and do it
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The Geneva Conference on the status of Indochina begins
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Jul 21, 1954 – Vietnam

Divided

France and Ho Chi Minh sign the Geneva Accords, in which Vietnam is to be divided at the 17th
parallel until elections can be held in 1956 to reunify the country
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Sep 1954 – Vietnam Emigration
Some 850,000 North Vietnamese, mostly Catholics, immigrate to South Vietnam; 80,000 residents of
the South, primarily Viet Minh sympathizers, move to the North
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"Ho Chi Minh, dedicated communist," the article reads, "is a matchless
interplay of ruthlessness and guile
...
S
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Fearing (correctly) that he will lose against Ho Chi Minh, Diem refuses to hold
countrywide elections
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Dec 1955 – Ho Chi

Minh Land Reforms

Ho Chi Minh, following the communist doctrine, orders sweeping "land reforms" in North Vietnam;
thousands of people classified as landowners and wealthy farmers are imprisoned, tortured, or
executed
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1956 – Diem

Repression

Ngo Dinh Diem begins a campaign to repress those who fought for or sympathized with the Viet Minh
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Eisenhower is reflected to a second term as President of the United States
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He is welcomed by President Dwight D
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1957 – Guerrilla

War

Ex-Viet Minh forces in the South organize and, with the support of Ho Chi Minh, begin a campaign of
guerrilla warfare against Diem's administration
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These are the first American deaths (non-combat) reported in Vietnam
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S
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Nov 8, 1960 – Kennedy

Elected President

Democrat John F
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Nixon to become the 35th
President of the United States
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Dec 20, 1960 – National

Liberation Front and Viet Cong Formed

The National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam, also known as the National Liberation Front
(NLF) is formed to crush Diem's regime
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(Northern-born troops will join the VC in 1964
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Johnson visits South Vietnam and offers military and economic aid to Diem
...
S
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Dec 22, 1961 – First U
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Combat Death
An American serviceman dies in Vietnam, the first combat death reported
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1961 – South

Government Officials Killed

Viet Cong guerrilla fighters kill some 4,000 South Vietnamese officials
...
S
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United States
military advisors are authorized to fire if fired upon
...
S
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Feb 27, 1962 – Diem Survives

Assassination Attempt

Two South Vietnamese VC pilots bomb Ngo Dinh Diem's presidential palace
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1962 – Strategic

Hamlet Program

The United States and the South Vietnamese government attempt to initiate the Strategic Hamlet
Program in an effort to group the peasant population into fortified villages
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However, many of the peasants resent being uprooted
from their homes and opposition to Diem grows; for this reason, the VC will easily infiltrate the
hamlets
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The event will inspire others to protest
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Quang Duc's suicide,
captured in an iconic Life magazine photograph, shocks—and confuses—many Americans
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Jul 1963 – Vietnam

Linked to Southeast Asia

In a press conference, President John F
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So
we are going to stay there
...
S
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The gap widens between
information released by the U
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government and the actual situation in Vietnam
...
S
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General Duong's military rule
is recognized by the United States
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Kennedy is shot and killed
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Johnson assumes the
presidency
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12 burn their selective
service registration cards—draft cards—in a symbolic gesture of opposition to the war
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Aug 2, 1964 – USS

Maddox

Responding to raids on northern ports, North Vietnamese gunboats attack the USS Maddox in the
Gulf of Tonkin; the Maddox suffers little damage and no casualties are reported
...
S
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Four years later, Secretary of Defense
Robert McNamara will admit that the U
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had in fact cooperated with the South
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President Lyndon B
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The U
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bombs
North Vietnam for the first time
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S
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Oct 1964 – North

Vietnamese Troops In South

The first unit of North Vietnamese troops is sent to the South; by May 1965, they will number 6,500
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Johnson wins the presidential election in a tremendous landslide
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S
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Mar 2, 1965 – Operation

Rolling Thunder

Responding to a VC assault on the U
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Air Force base at Pleiku, South Vietnam, President Johnson
authorizes Operation Rolling Thunder
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Mar 8, 1965 – First U
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Combat Units

The first U
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combat units arrive in Vietnam
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Students, faculty, and local citizens participate in debates, lectures, and film
presentations meant to challenge assumptions about the Vietnam War
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C
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May 21, 1965 - May 23, 1965 – Berkeley

Teach-in

Over 30,000 people attend a three-day anti-war teach-in at U
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Berkeley
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The event, organized by the Vietnam Day Committee (VDC), will be the largest of its kind held during
the Vietnam War
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Platoons are sent to
"search and destroy," that is, to ambush enemy forces and then withdraw immediately (rather than
fortify and hold hostile territory)
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Westmorland's tenure
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In its cover article entitled
"The Jungle Marxist," Time magazine asks, "What makes kindly old 'Uncle Ho' so hard-nosed?"9

Aug 31, 1965 – Penalties

for Draft-Dodging

The U
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Congress passes an amendment to the Selective Service Act that will criminalize the
destruction of draft cards—notices to individual (male) citizens of required service in the U
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military;
President Johnson signs it into law
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Oct 1965 – First

Mass Demonstration Against Vietnam

In the U
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, the first mass public demonstrations against American involvement in the war in Vietnam
take place
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Miller, 24, becomes the first person convicted for burning a draft card under a new
law signed by President Johnson in August 1965
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The pause will last just over a month
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S
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Mar 31, 1966 – Students

Burn Cards

Student David O'Brien and three friends burn their draft cards on the steps of the South Boston
Courthouse in protest of the war in Vietnam
...
S
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Dec 31, 1966 – Troop Levels

in 1966

By the end of 1966, American troops stationed in Vietnam number 389,000
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Apr 15, 1967 – King Demonstrates

Against War

Martin Luther King, Jr
...
S
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Over 100,000 people attend the
rally
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In private, Westmoreland
reports that he sees no end in sight to the combat
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"The picture of the world's greatest superpower killing or seriously
injuring 1,000 non-combatants a week," he writes, "while trying to pound a tiny backward nation into
submission on an issue whose merits are hotly disputed, is not a pretty one
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Oct 21, 1967 – March on

the Pentagon

Thousands march to the Pentagon to demonstrate against the war in Vietnam
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Johnson
offers McNamara, who has grown increasingly pessimistic about U
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progress against the North
Vietnamese, a position as head of the World Bank
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S
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Jan 30, 1968 – Tet

Offensive

Beginning on the Vietnamese Tet holiday, Viet Cong forces shock U
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troops with a wave of attacks
supported by North Vietnamese troops
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Ultimately, the Tet
Offensive will be a catastrophe for the NLF and the Viet Cong, which lose 37,000 fighters
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Public support for the war in the
U
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plummets
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Mar 16, 1968 – My Lai Massacre
American soldiers, including the "Charlie" Company, a platoon led by Second Lieutenant William
Calley, massacre hundreds of civilians—mostly women, children, and elderly men—in the hamlet of
My Lai (pronounced "mee-lye") in South Vietnam
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Mar 31, 1968 – Johnson

Declines Re-election

President Johnson states in a nationwide television broadcast, "We are prepared to move
immediately toward peace through negotiations
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" He also announces that
he will not seek re-election in 1968
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Preliminary talks will begin in
May, yet the U
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troop level in Vietnam will continue to rise
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is assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee
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Apr 1968 – American Casualties

in 1968

The total of American combat deaths in Vietnam reaches 22,951
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David Paul O'Brien, the U
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Supreme Court rules that the criminal prohibition of
draft card burning does not violate the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech
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S
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Jun 23, 1968 – America’s

Longest War

The war in Vietnam—its beginning marked by the first death of an American serviceman reported on
December 22nd, 1961—becomes the longest war in American history
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Humphrey wins the presidential
nomination; meanwhile anti-war protestors clash with police in the streets outside the convention
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Hundreds of people are arrested, and dozens of demonstrators, reporters, police, and
bystanders are injured in the chaos
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Dec 31, 1968 – Troop Levels

in 1968

By the end of 1968, U
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troops in Vietnam number 535,100; the ARVN claims some 820,000 fighters;
VC and northern soldiers’ top 600,000
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Jan 25, 1969 – Peace

Talks Begin in Paris

Peace talks are held in Paris
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S
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Apr 1969 – American Casualties

in 1969

American combat deaths in Vietnam exceed 33,629, the number lost in the Korean War
...
S
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President Richard Nixon announces his plan
for "Vietnamisation" of the war—that is, training and transitioning South Vietnamese troops to assume
the roles that have been fulfilled by American troops—and promises to withdraw 25,000 American
soldiers
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" 12 pages feature the faces of young people, mostly working-class black and white men, some in
uniform, some posing for high school graduation in cap and gown
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Rather than cremate his
body, as Minh had specified in his will, Minh's family has the leader embalmed and put on display in a
mausoleum
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Nov 15, 1969 – Washington,

D
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Anti-War Protest

Some 600,000 Americans attend an anti-war protest rally in Washington, D
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Dec 15, 1969 – Nixon Promises

More Troops Home

President Nixon promises to bring home 50,000 troops from Vietnam by April 1970
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President Nixon promises to withdraw another
150,000 within the next year
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May 1, 1970 – Kent

State Demonstration

Students at Kent State University in Ohio organize a massive public demonstration against the
American invasion of Cambodia
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O
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C
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In response, the mayor of Kent, Ohio asks the governor to call in the National
Guard
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When demonstrators refuse to follow orders, chaos ensues
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Of the four killed, two had been protesting while the other two had been walking to class
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Photographs of the dead and wounded are printed
worldwide, intensifying growing sentiment against American aggression in Cambodia and the war in
Vietnam
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Though the incident is similar to the shootings at Kent State, it receives far less
attention from the press
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It is performed by Crosby, Stills,
Nash, and Young, and becomes the protest anthem of a generation
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Apr 1971 – William Calley Sentenced for My Lai
A military court sentences First Lieutenant William Calley to life in prison for the murders of 22
Vietnamese civilians in the My Lai village in 1968
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C
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Jun 13, 1971 – The

Pentagon Papers

The New York Times begins publishing portions of the "Pentagon Papers
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They contain top-secret
information collected by the Department of Defense about U
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political and military involvement in
Vietnam from 1945 to 1967
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S
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Jul 1, 1971 – 26th

Amendment Ratified

The 26th Amendment is ratified, lowering the national voting age from 21 to 18
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Jun 17, 1972 – Watergate
Five men are caught burglarizing the headquarters for the Democratic National Committee, located at
the Watergate hotel in Washington, D
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Their arrests will set into motion the events that will
eventually result in President Nixon's resignation
...
S
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Thousands of airmen, advisors, and support personnel
remain
...

McGovern has run on an anti-war platform that would grant amnesty to draft evaders who have left
the country, and would exchange American withdrawal from Vietnam for the return of American
prisoners of war (POWs)
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S
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Mar 1973 – American POWs Released
North Vietnam releases nearly 600 American POWs
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The last U
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combat soldier leaves Vietnam,
but military advisors and some Marines remain
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Aug 1973 – Congress Prohibits

U
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Intervention

Despite renewed fighting between the NLF and the South Vietnamese, the U
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Congress votes to
prohibit any further U
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combat role in Vietnam
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The U
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Congress rejects President Nixon's request for
increased military aid to South Vietnam
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Apr 29, 1975 – Thousands

Flee Saigon

The New York Times features an image of hundreds of South Vietnamese civilians scrambling to
board a single U
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helicopter
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Apr 30, 1975 – Saigon Falls
The North Vietnamese take Saigon; the war in Vietnam ends
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”



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