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 [...]
11/01/1968: 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 [...]
11/01/1968: 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 [...]
10/14/1964: 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 [...]