11/21/1970: Operation Ivory Coast – Son Tay POW Prison Raid
By 1970, the U.S. knew there were at least 350 American prisoners of war in North Vietnamese prison camps, in addition to POWs shuffled between makeshift camps in South Vietnam and Laos. One such camp was in Son Tay, some 23 miles west of Hanoi, North Vietnam’s capital. Despite being only a few miles away [...]
11/15/1969: Second Vietnam Moratorium Protest
During the Fall of 1969 a coordinated campaign of anti Vietnam War protests was held across the U.S. The largest were the nation-wide Moratorium Against the Vietnam War on October 15th, and a second Moratorium on November 15th, preceded by the March Against Death on November 13th. The second Moratorium crowded over half-a-million demonstrators around [...]
11/14/1965: Battle of Ia Drang Valley
The Battle of Ia Drang Valley was the conclusion of a series of engagements that had begun with the North Vietnamese Army laying siege to the Special Forces camp at Plei Me four weeks earlier. At this early stage of direct involvement of U.S. ground troops in the war, no major battle had occurred between [...]
11/13/1969: March Against Death
The March Against Death was conducted over thirty-six hours in Washington D.C. on November 13th-15th 1969, as part of a nationwide campaign of protests conducted in the Fall of 1969. Starting at midnight on Thursday November 13th, a solemn procession of some 45,000 marched single-file from the Arlington National Cemetery, past the White House to [...]
11/12/1969: Story Breaks of My Lai Massacre
The My Lai massacre took place on March 16th 1968, when a unit of U.S. infantry massacred an entire village of over 300 civilians including men, women and children in a collection of hamlets in South Vietnam. Although this atrocity had occurred in March 1968, it took 20 months for the story to reach the [...]
11/11/1972: Direct U.S. Troop Engagement in Vietnam Ends
Direct U.S. troop engagement in the Vietnam War ended on Veterans’ Day 1972. Over the previous three years, the U.S. had been gradually withdrawing troops and transferring responsibilities, bases and equipment to South Vietnamese forces according to the Vietnamization policy of President Nixon’s administration. The final base to be turned over to South Vietnam was [...]
11/11/1967: Viet Cong Releases Prisoners For Racial Propaganda
On Veteran’s Day, 1967, the Viet Cong released three U.S. prisoners of war in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. This was one of several occasions when the communist forces (Viet Cong and North Vietnam) released a handful of prisoners either for propaganda purposes or as part of an exchange. In this case, the Viet Cong was aware [...]
11/09/1967: Lance Sijan’s Heroic Ordeal
Lance Sijan’s story is one of immense bravery, perseverance, and tragedy. On November 9th, 1967, Lt. Col. John Armstrong and 2nd Lt. Lance Sijan flew a bombing mission over North Vietnam in an F-4C Phantom. The F-4C was a fighter-bomber flown by two pilots who sat in tandem, usually with the less experienced pilot in [...]
11/07/1966: “Ugly Demonstration” at Harvard Targets McNamara
The Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was the major student protest organization in the 60s. With chapters in many colleges and universities across the U.S. its primary focus became the draft and the Vietnam War. In its initial years, it emphasized non-violent forms of protest, but became increasingly radical as the War progressed. Robert [...]
11/07/1973: Congress Passes War Powers Resolution
Towards the end of 1973, the United States’ lengthy and harrowing involvement in the Vietnam War was drawing to a close. As a result of January’s Paris Peace Accords, the U.S. had withdrawn its troops, leaving fewer than 250 in South Vietnam by the end of July. Congress passed the Case-Church Amendment in June, which [...]
11/05/1968: Nixon Elected President
Richard Nixon won the November 5th 1968 Presidential election, and would succeed President Johnson in the Whitehouse. He had outlined his platform at the GOP convention earlier in the year: “Tonight I do not promise the millennium in the morning. I don’t promise that we can eradicate poverty and end discrimination in the space of [...]
11/03/1969: Nixon’s “Silent Majority” Speech
President Richard Nixon had won the 1968 Presidential election on a campaign that included promises to end the Vietnam War. For example, his campaign aired a TV commercial stating: “Never has so much power been used so ineffectively as in Vietnam. If after all of this time and all of this sacrifice and all of [...]
11/03/1967: Battle of Dak To
On November 3rd 1967, a series of engagements collectively known as the Battle of Dak To began in Vietnam’s Central Highlands. In the preceding months, the U.S. 4th Infantry Division and 173rd Airborne Brigade, together with South Vietnamese infantry & airborne units, had pursued heavily engaged North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and Viet Cong forces in [...]
11/02/1963: Oppressive South Vietnamese President Killed
On November 2nd 1963, South Vietnamese Army officers deposed and assassinated President Ngo Dinh Diem. Diem’s government was corrupt and oppressive, but had been supported and tolerated by the U.S. because of its firm anti-communist stance. Diem was a wealthy former member of the French Catholic ruling class. His government was biased towards members of [...]
11/02/1965: Norman Morrison Sets Himself On Fire At Pentagon
On the afternoon of November 2nd 1965, 31-year-old Norman Morrison went to a garden area outside the Pentagon, drenched himself in kerosene and set himself on fire in a suicide protest against the Vietnam War. The ghastly scene was witnessed by Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, as it took place below his third-floor office window. In [...]
11/01/1968: Rolling Thunder Bombing Against North Vietnam Ceases
Operation Rolling Thunder, the aerial bombardment campaign against North Vietnam, came to an end on November 1st 1968, after three years and eight months of bombing. The purpose of Rolling Thunder was to prevent the flow of personnel and supplies into South Vietnam, to destroy the transportation systems of North Vietnam, to intimidate North Vietnam [...]
11/01/1964: Viet Cong Escalates with Mortar & Rocket Attack on Bien Hoa Air Base
In the early hours of November 1st 1964, the Bien Hoa Air Base, situated 12 miles North of Saigon, came under fierce rocket and mortar fire from the Viet Cong. A squadron of B-57 bombers was immobilized, with 5 destroyed, and a further 15 damaged. Four U.S. servicemen and two Vietnamese were killed, and a [...]
11/01/1968: Accelerated Pacification Campaign and Phoenix Program Begin to Combat Viet Cong
The Accelerated Pacification Campaign was launched on November 1st 1968. In the wake of the Tet offensive at the beginning of 1968, the goal of the Accelerated Pacification Campaign was to strengthen the security of at least 1,000 hamlets, and to significantly weaken the Viet Cong presence and influence in South Vietnam over a period [...]
10/30/1970: Monsoon Halts Fighting
Vietnam experiences a monsoon severe enough to practically halt fighting. This was the worst monsoon in six years, resulting in 293 deaths, and 200,000 homeless. (Article for “Vietnam War Timeline” / “Vietnam Timeline” for October 30th 1970)
10/28/1965: Viet Cong Commando Attacks on U.S. Air Bases
During the night between October 27th and 28th 1965, the Viet Cong launched simultaneous attacks on the U.S. air bases at Chu Lai and the Marble Mountains (near Da Nang), using explosive charges to attempt to destroy aircraft. The Chu Lai attack resulted in two fixed wing aircraft being destroyed. The Marble Mountain attack resulted [...]
10/26/1955: Diem Declares Republic of Vietnam and Self as President in Rigged Election
On October 26th 1955, South Vietnamese Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem declared the creation of the Republic of Vietnam with himself as president. This declaration came three days after a referendum held on 23rd October to choose the form of South Vietnam’s government. The voters were asked to choose between a republic ruled by Diem [...]
10/25/1966: Manila Summit Results in Ignored Declaration of Peace
As part of his 1966 tour of Asian & Pacific countries, President Johnson met with other leaders from Australia, South Korea, New Zealand, Philippines, Thailand and South Vietnam for a two-day summit in Manila. The product of the summit was a 3,000 word document declaring “our unity, our resolve, and our purpose in seeking together the [...]
10/23/1965: Operation Silver Bayonet Begins
Following the lifting of the Siege of Plei Me, the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division and a division of the South Vietnamese Army (ARVN) commences Operation Silver Bayonet, with the mission to find and destroy the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) forces that had attacked Plei Me. This would ultimately lead to the Battle of the Ia [...]
10/21/1957 – First U.S. Fatality in Vietnam
Green Beret Captain Harry G. Cramer, of the newly formed 1st Special Forces Group, becomes the first US soldier killed in Vietnam, by an explosion during a training mission. Capt. Cramer’s son is the well known folk singer Hank Cramer, who was quite persistent in uncovering the details of his father’s death, and earning him [...]
10/21/1967: 30,000 Protest At Pentagon
After a week of protests across the country (see timeline entries for 10/16 and 10/20), 100,000 people gather for a peaceful demonstration at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. After the rally, 30,000 demonstrators made their way to the Pentagon (U.S. Department of Defense headquarters), some waving the Viet Cong flag, for another rally and [...]
10/20-23/1966: Thousands Protest President Johnson in Australia
While in Australia on 20th-23rd October 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson was met by thousands of anti-Vietnam war protesters in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. In Sydney, Johnson’s cavalcade was blocked by hundreds of protestors lying in the road. In Melbourne, after attempting to dodge the protestors by changing route, the cavalcade was met with chants [...]
10/20/1967: Further Protests in Oakland California
In a continuation of “Stop The Draft Week” (see also timeline entry for 10/16/1967), protestors demonstrate again in Oakland, California. Earlier in the week, police had used night sticks and chemical sprays to disperse protestors. Many protestors were surprised at how violent the police response had been. On the 20th, protestors barricaded roads, briefly preventing buses [...]
10/19/1965: Siege of Plei Me Begins
On October 19th 1965, North Vietnamese Army (PAVN) and Viet Cong (VC), under the leadership of Brigadier General Chu Huy Man, attacked the Special Forces camp at Plei Me in the central highlands of Vietnam. General Man’s mission was to draw the US 1st Cavalry Division into combat, and learn about its weapons and air mobility capabilities. His [...]
10/17/1966: President Johnson Tours Asia & Pacific
President Lyndon B. Johnson leaves for a 17-day tour of Pacific and South-East Asian countries including New Zealand, Australia , Philippines, South Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Korea. The tour included attendance at a conference in Manila (Philippines), where a “Declaration of Peace” was drafted, together with pledge to withdraw troops within 6 months if North [...]
10/16/1973: Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho
Henry Kissinger and North Vietnam’s Le Duc Tho were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating the cease-fire and American withdrawal from Vietnam. There was some controversy around this, in that Le Duc Tho declined the prize, on the grounds that peace had not been achieved yet in South Vietnam. Indeed, it was true [...]
10/16/1967: Joan Baez Arrested in “Stop the Draft Week”
Joan Baez was among 40 protesters arrested at a military induction center, where a gathering of 250 people was trying to prevent conscripts from entering. Baez and others sat and sang, giving draftees no option but to clamber over them until police formed a barricade allowing draftees to enter the building. This was one of [...]
10/16/1964: China Tests Atomic Bomb
China, an ally of North Vietnam, triggered a 22 kiloton atomic bomb on October 16th 1964. In doing so, it became the world’s 5th nuclear power. The project was started in June 1959 (hence codenamed “596″) after the Soviets ceased assisting the Chinese in nuclear weapons development. Two years later, China would develop a nuclear [...]
10/15/1969: National Moratorium Anti Vietnam War Demonstrations
An estimated one million demonstrators participated in “Vietnam Moratorium” anti-war protest rallies, meetings, seminars and church services across the US. The Moratorium was the first time the middle-aged and many others protested in large numbers, signifying that anti-war sentiment wasn’t just a youth culture quirk. 50 members of congress participated. The largest protest was at Boston [...]
10/15/1965: First Draft Card Burned
David Miller became the first protestor to burn his draft card. This was a federal crime, for which he served 22 months in prison between 1968 and 1970, after losing the case in the Supreme Court. Miller was a speaker at a rally in New York, which was one of many rallies held in 40 cities [...]
10/14/1964: US to Accompany Laotian Air Force
1964: The Pentagon authorizes U.S. fighters from Navy aircraft carriers at “Yankee Station” off the coast in the Gulf of Tonkin to fly escort for Laotian Air Force T-28 fighter-bombers on bombing missions against Viet Cong and North Vietnamese targets in Laos, protecting the T-28s from North Vietnamese MiGs. (Article for “Vietnam War Timeline” / [...]
10/14/1968: 24,000 Sent Back to Vietnam for 2nd Tours
The U.S. Department of Defense announces that 24,000 troops from the Army and the Marines will be sent back to Vietnam for involuntary second tours. This was due to the high troop turnover and the scarce supply of soldiers for what was proving to be a long war with very high personnel requirements: by January [...]
10/14/1968: Australia’s First Draft Dodger Conviction
John Zarb becomes the first Australian conscientious objector convicted of failing to comply with his draft notice. He’s sentenced to two years’ prison time. He was 21 years old, and had previously been refused official conscientious objector status. Publicity of his conviction increased public opposition to conscription, and he became a poster child for the anti-war [...]
10/13/1966: McNamara: War “progressed very satisfactorily”
1966: Defense Secretary Robert McNamara states military operations have “progressed very satisfactorily since 1965” during a news conference in Saigon. Secretary McNamara was visiting South Vietnam on a fact-finding mission, his eighth so far. While he publicly portrayed that he was pleased with the progress of the war, he later confided with President Johnson that [...]
10/12/1970: Nixon: 40,000 Troops Withdrawn by XMAS
1970: President Nixon announces that 40,000 more U.S troops would be withdrawn from Vietnam before Christmas. This was part of the Vietnamization program, and the second phase of troop withdrawals totaling 150,000 that were announced earlier in the year on April 20. (Article for “Vietnam War Timeline” / “Vietnam Timeline” for October 12th 1970)
10/12/1972: Racial Brawl, U.S.S. Kitty Hawk
A racial brawl on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Kitty Hawk involves more than 100 sailors, resulting in 46 injured. The brawl started when a black sailor refused to make a statement when summoned for questioning about an incident. Racial tensions were also present in other services, although the Navy lagged behind in adopting policies that [...]