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Fall of Dien Bien Phu
Dien Bien Phu was an unpopular Catholic and corrupt leader in South Vietnam. It was the end of French military influence in Asia. -
Geneva Conference = Peace Conference
Conference provided a truce and divided Indonesia into North and South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. -
Johnson sends 100,000 ground troops to Vietnam.
This caused U.S. involvement to move from advisory to actual. Troop commitment will increase to about 565,000. -
Period: to
Search and Destroy policy used to win the war
Soldiers ordered to get rid of anything that could be linked to communism whether they know if its legitimate or not. They burned villages, shot civilians, and destroyed everything. -
TET Offensive
TET is the Vietnamese New Year. On this day in 1968 the Vietcong launched a surprise attack on American soldiers. Although America won, it was a turning point in the war that changed the publics opinion in the U.S. -
Johnson announces that he won't be running for a second term
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MLK Assassination
Civil Rights activist and leader who also spoke out against the war is shot and killed. This created an uproar among activists and citizens in the U.S. that just wanted peace and for the war to end. -
My Lai massacre becomes public
U.S. troops went to the village of My Lai and killed innocent civilians- mainly mothers, children, and elderly. -
Withdrawal of troops/Vietnamization
Newly elected president Richard Nixon announced withdrawal of 25,000 troops from Vietnam. He calls this "Vietnamization" which is the act of slowly removing U.S. troops from Vietnam so Vietnamese soldiers can take charge and start fighting. -
Kent State Killings
National Gaurd was called to Kent State University after protestors got violent and burned down the ROTC building. The National Gaurd opened fire and shot and killed 4 students-- two were not participating in the protest.
