The legacy of the Vietnam War for Americans continues to generate interest and debate. One survey of the topic is James F. Veninga and Harry A. Wilmer, eds., Vietnam in Remission (1985). Several books deal with the impact of the war on American culture. See Philip D. Beidler, American Literature and the Experience of Vietnam (1982) and John Hellman, American Myth and the Legacy of Vietnam (1986) for the part played by Vietnam in recent literature. Also see W. D. Ehrhart, ed., Carrying the Darkness: American Poetry of the Vietnam War (1985) and Timothy J. Lomperis, Reading the Wind: The Literature of the Vietnam War (1986). James C. Wilson’s Vietnam in Prose and Film (1982) surveys the films of the 1970s. Also see Andrew V. Martin, “Critical Approaches to American Cultural Studies: The Vietnam War in History, Literature, and Film,” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Iowa, 1987. For the war’s impact on foreign policy, see Anthony Lake, ed., The Legacy of Vietnam: The War, American Society and the Future of American Foreign Policy (1976). Also see Earl C. Ravenal, Never Again: Learning from America’s Foreign Policy Failures (1978) and Ole R. Holsti and James N. Rosenau, American Leadership in World Affairs: Vietnam and the Breakdown of Consensus (1984). Several books deal with the question of American identity. See Walter H. Capps, The Unfinished War: Vietnam and the American Conscience (1982) and Myra MacPherson, Long Time Passing (1984).
Finally, there is an increasing volume of documentary source material becoming available to scholars. The starting place, of course, is the Pentagon Papers. Neil Sheehan and several other scholars and journalists wrote an early introduction to the papers which is still useful; see The Pentagon Papers as Published by the New York Times (1971). The best edition of the papers is U.S. Congress, Senate, Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds, The Pentagon Papers, The Senator Gravel Edition, 4 vols. (1971). Also see George H. Herring, ed., The Secret Diplomacy of the Vietnam War: The Negotiating Volumes of the Pentagon Papers (1983). Gareth Porter’s two-volume documents collection—Vietnam: The Definitive Documentation of Human Decisions (1979)—is very useful. Less useful, because of how it is organized, is the 12-volume Department of Defense, U.S.–Vietnam Relations, 1945–1967 (1971). During the last several years the State Department, National Security Council, and CIA have released a series of research reports and classified reports through the “Indochinese Research Collections” of University Publications of America. For the U.S. military side of the conflict, scholars should consult Records Group 338 (Vietnam War: MACV/USARV Records) at the Washington National Records Center in Suitland, Maryland. There is also a valuable oral history collection called the Senior Officer Oral History Program, at the U.S. Army Military History Institute, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, which contains the reminiscences of major American army officers.
For those individuals interested in the policy debates taking place in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, there are invaluable resources at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston, Massachusetts and the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library in Austin, Texas. At the JFK Library, scholars should look at the Presidential Office Files, particularly the sections on Counterinsurgency, on Vietnam, and on Vietnam Security. They should also see the National Security Files, especially the Vietnam section. At the LBJ Library, the most revealing materials on the policy debates can be found in the National Security File and the White House Central Files. There are also oral histories at the LBJ Library by William Bundy, George Christian, Clark Clifford, Chester Cooper, Alain Enthoven, W. Averell Harriman, Lyndon B. Johnson, Cyrus Vance, Paul Warnke, and William Westmoreland.
Documentary sources for the communists are far more limited. Cornell University maintains a microfilmed Catalog of Viet Cong Documents, while the Library of Congress has on microfilm a series of Communist Vietnamese Publications. At the Center for Research Libraries in Chicago, there is a very useful Documents of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam on microfilm. Finally, there is the State Department’s Working Paper of North Viet-Nam’s Role in the War in South Viet-Nam (1968).
A Vietnam War Chronology
1945
Sept. 2 Ho Chi Minh proclaims the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
26 A. Peter Dewey, head of the OSS mission in Saigon, is shot by Vietminh troops, becoming the first American to die in the Vietnam War.
1946
Mar. 6 Franco-Vietnamese Accords signed.
June 1 The Fontainebleau Conference convenes.
Dec. 19 The Vietminh attack French forces in Tonkin, formally beginning the first Indochina War.
1948
June 5 The French name Bao Dai head of state of Vietnam.
1949
Mar. 8 Elysée Agreement signed.
Oct. 1 Mao Zedong proclaims the People’s Republic of China.
1950
Jan. 14 Ho Chi Minh again proclaims establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
June 27 President Harry S. Truman announces increased U.S. military assistance to Vietnam.
Aug. 3 United States Military Assistance and Advisory Group arrives in Saigon.
Dec. 30 United States signs a Mutual Defense Assistance Agreement with France, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos.
1952
Nov. 4 Dwight D. Eisenhower is elected president.
1953
July 27 Korean War armistice is signed.
1954
Mar. 13 Vietminh attack the French fortress at Dienbienphu.
20 Admiral Arthur Radford proposes Operation Vulture to assist the French in defending Dienbienphu.
Apr. 7 President Dwight D. Eisenhower uses the domino analogy to explain the political significance of Indochina.
25 Winston Churchill and the British refuse to participate in Operation Vulture.
29 President Eisenhower announces that the United States will not provide air support to the French garrison at Dienbienphu.
May 7 The Vietminh conquer Dienbienphu.
8 The Geneva Conference opens.
July 20 France signs a cease-fire ending hostilities in Indochina.
Aug. 1 The first of nearly 1 million refugees from North Vietnam cross into South Vietnam.
Sept. 8 United States signs the Manila Treaty forming the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization.
1955
Mar. 28 Ngo Dinh Diem attacks the Binh Xuyen.
June 5 Ngo Dinh Diem attacks the Hoa Hao.
July 6 Ngo Dinh Diem repudiates the Geneva Agreements and refuses to plan for open elections throughout the country.
Oct. 26 Ngo Dinh Diem proclaims the Republic of Vietnam with himself as president.
1957
May 5–19 Ngo Dinh Diem visits the United States.
1959
Apr. 4 President Eisenhower makes his first commitment to maintain South Vietnam as a separate nation.
22 Christian A. Herter replaces John Foster Dulles as secretary of state.
July 1 General Lyman Lemnitzer replaces General Maxwell Taylor as chief of staff, U.S. Army.
8 First American servicemen (Major Dale Bius and Master Sergeant Chester Ovnard) killed by Vietcong attack at Bien Hoa.
Dec. 1 Thomas S. Gates, Jr., replaces Neil H. McElroy as secretary of defense.
31 Approximately 760 U.S. military personnel in Vietnam.
1960
Oct. 1 General George Decker replaces General Lyman Lemnitzer as chief of staff, U.S. Army.
Dec. 20 National Liberation Front established.
31 Approximately 900 U.S. military personnel in Vietnam.
1961
Jan. 21 John F. Kennedy succeeds Dwight D. Eisenhower as president. Dean Rusk succeeds Christian A. Herter as secretary of state. Robert S. McNamara succeeds Thomas S. Gates, Jr., as secretary of defense. McGeorge Bundy succeeds Gordon Gray as national security adviser.
28 Kennedy approves a Vietnam counterinsurgency plan. Mar. 23 Kennedy insists that a Laotian ceasefire must precede negotiations to establish a neutral Laos.
May 9–15 Vice President Lyndon Johnson visits South Vietnam a
nd recommends a strong American commitment there. Geneva Conference on Laos opens.
June 9 President Ngo Dinh Diem asks for U.S. military advisers to train the South Vietnamese Army.
July 1 General Maxwell Taylor is appointed military adviser to President John F. Kennedy.
Nov. 3 General Maxwell Taylor concludes that U.S. military, financial, and political aid will bring victory without a U.S. takeover of the war. He advises Kennedy to send 8,000 U.S. combat troops to Vietnam.
Dec. 15 Kennedy restates U.S. commitment to an independent South Vietnam.
31 U.S. military personnel in Vietnam now number 3,205.
1962
Feb. 6 MACV (U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam) established in Saigon under the command of General Paul Harkins. The major buildup of American forces begins.
14 Kennedy authorizes U.S. military advisers in Vietnam to return fire if fired upon.
Mar. 22 United States launches the Strategic Hamlet (rural pacification) Program.
July 23 Geneva Accords on Laos signed.
Oct. 1 General Earle Wheeler replaces General George Decker as chief of staff, U.S. Army. General Maxwell Taylor replaces General Lyman Lemnitzer as chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Dec. 31 U.S. military personnel in Vietnam now number 11,300.
1963
Aug. 21 South Vietnamese troops attack Buddhist pagodas.
22 Henry Cabot Lodge replaces Frederick Nolting as U.S. ambassador to Vietnam.
Nov. 1 Military coup overthrows the government of President Ngo Dinh Diem.
2 Diem and his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu assassinated.
22 President John F. Kennedy assassinated.
Dec. 31 U.S. military personnel in Vietnam now number 16,300.
1964
Feb. 7 Johnson removes American dependents from South Vietnam.
June 20 General William Westmoreland replaces General Paul Harkins as head of MACV.
23 General Maxwell Taylor replaces Henry Cabot Lodge as U.S. ambassador to South Vietnam.
30 Admiral Ulysses S. Grant Sharp replaces Admiral Harry D. Felt as CINCPAC.
July 3 General Harold Johnson replaces General Earle Wheeler as chief of staff, U.S. Army.
Aug. 2 U.S. destroyer Maddox allegedly attacked by North Vietnamese patrol boats in the Gulf of Tonkin.
4 U.S. destroyer Turner Joy claims attack by North Vietnamese patrol boats.
7 U.S. Congress passes Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.
Oct. 1 U.S. Army Fifth Special Forces Group arrives in Vietnam. Nov. 1 Vietcong attack Bien Hoa Air Base. Six U.S. B-57 bombers destroyed; five American service personnel killed.
2 Johnson defeats Senator Barry Goldwater in presidential election.
Dec. 24 Vietcong kill two U.S. soldiers in an attack on the Brinks Hotel in Saigon.
31 U.S. military personnel in Vietnam now number 23,300.
1965
Feb. 7 Vietcong launch a widespread attack on American military installations in South Vietnam.
Mar. 2 Operation Rolling Thunder begins.
8 First American combat troops (U.S. Third Marine regiment) arrive in Vietnam to defend Danang.
24 First teach-in held at the University of Michigan.
Apr. 6 Johnson permits U.S. ground combat troops to conduct offensive operations in South Vietnam.
17 Students for a Democratic Society hold antiwar rally in Washington, D.C.
May 15 National Teach-In held throughout the country.
June 8 State Department reports that Johnson has authorized the use of U.S. troops in direct combat if the South Vietnamese Army requests assistance.
July 8 Henry Cabot Lodge succeeds Maxwell Taylor as U.S. ambassador to South Vietnam.
Oct. 15–16 Antiwar protests in forty American cities.
Nov. 14–16 Battle of the Ia Drang Valley.
Dec. 25 Johnson suspends bombing of North Vietnam (Operation Rolling Thunder) and invites North Vietnam to negotiate.
31 U.S. military personnel in Vietnam now number 184,300; 636 U.S. military personnel killed in action to date; 22,420 Allied troops in Vietnam.
1966
Jan. 31 Bombing of North Vietnam (Operation Rolling Thunder) resumes.
Feb. 4 Senate Foreign Relations Committee opens televised hearings on the Vietnam War.
6 President Lyndon Johnson convenes the Honolulu Conference.
Mar. 1 Senate refuses to repeal the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.
20 President Lyndon Johnson convenes the Guam Conference.
Apr. 1 Walt Rostow replaces McGeorge Bundy as national security adviser.
7 President Lyndon Johnson offers the Johns Hopkins Speech. May 1 U.S.forces bombard Vietcong targets in Cambodia.
June 29 United States bombs oil facilities in Haiphong and Hanoi.
Oct. 26 Johnson visits U.S. troops in Vietnam.
Dec. 31 U.S. military personnel in Vietnam now number 385,300; 6,644 U.S. military personnel killed in action to date; 52,500 Allied military personnel in Vietnam.
1967
Jan. 8 Operation Cedar Falls begins.
26 Operation Cedar Falls ends.
Feb. 22 Operation Junction City begins.
Apr. 15 One hundred thousand antiwar protesters rally in New York.
May 1 Ellsworth Bunker replaces Henry Cabot Lodge as U.S. ambassador to South Vietnam.
9 Robert Komer appointed deputy to the MACV commander.
14 Operation Junction City ends.
19 U.S. planes bomb a power plant in Hanoi.
July 7 Congressional Joint Economic committee estimates the war will cost $4 billion to $6 billion more in 1967 than the $20.3 billion requested by Johnson.
Sept. 3 Nguyen Van Thieu elected president of South Vietnam.
29 Johnson offers to stop bombing of North Vietnam if they will immediately come to the negotiating table (San Antonio Formula).
Oct. 21 Fifty thousand antiwar activists protest at the Pentagon.
Dec. 31 U.S. military personnel in Vietnam now number 485,600; 16,021 U.S. military personnel killed in action to date.
1968
Jan. 3 Senator Eugene McCarthy announces his decision to seek the Democratic presidential nomination.
21 NVA siege of Khe Sanh begins.
30 Tet offensive begins.
31 Vietcong and NVA capture Hue. General Leonard F. Chapman replaces General Wallace M. Greene as Marine Corps commandant.
Feb. 1 Richard M. Nixon announces his candidacy for the presidency.
25 ARVN and U.S. troops reconquer Hue.
27 Westmoreland requests 206,000 more troops. CBS anchorman Walter Cronkite predicts over the evening news that the war cannot be won.
Mar. 12 Eugene McCarthy almost defeats Lyndon Johnson in the New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary.
16 Senator Robert Kennedy announces his decision to seek the Democratic presidential nomination. My Lai massacre takes place.
25–26 Senior Advisory Group on Vietnam recommends de-escalation of the American commitment in Vietnam.
31 Lyndon Johnson announces his decision not to run for reelection.
Apr. 23 Columbia University demonstrations begin.
26 Two hundred thousand people in New York City demonstrate against the war.
27 Vice President Hubert Humphrey announces his decision to seek the Democratic presidential nomination.
May 3 Johnson announces that formal peace talks will take place in Paris.
12 Vietnam peace talks open in Paris.
June 6 Robert Kennedy is assassinated.
July 1 General Creighton Abrams replaces General William Westmoreland as head of MACV.
3 General William Westmoreland replaces General Harold Johnson as chief of staff, U.S. Army.
31 Admiral John McCain replaces Admiral U.S. Grant Sharp as CINCPAC.
Aug. 28 Antiwar protests and riots in Chicago during the Democratic National Convention.
Oct. 31 Johnson announces end of bombing of North Vietnam. Opera
tion Rolling Thunder ends.
Nov. 5 Richard Nixon defeats Hubert Humphrey in the 1968 presidential election.
Dec. 31 U.S. military personnel in Vietnam now number 536,000; 30,610 U.S. military personnel killed in action to date; 65,600 Allied troops in Vietnam.
1969
Jan. 22 Operation Dewey Canyon begins. Richard Nixon inaugurated as president. William Rogers becomes secretary of state. Melvin Laird becomes secretary of defense. Henry Kissinger becomes national security adviser.
Mar. 18 Operation Dewey Canyon ends. Operation Menu begins.
26 Women Strike for Peace demonstration in Washington, D.C.
Apr. 30 The number of U.S. military personnel in Vietnam reaches 543,300.
May 10 Operation Apache Snow begins.
14 Nixon proposes peace plan for Vietnam involving mutual troop withdrawal.
June 7 Operation Apache Snow ends.
8 Nixon announces the removal of 25,000 troops from Vietnam.
July 25 Richard Nixon proclaims the Nixon Doctrine.
Aug. 27 U.S. Ninth Infantry Division withdraws from Vietnam.
Sept. 3 Ho Chi Minh dies.
Oct. 15 National Moratorium antiwar demonstrations staged throughout the United States.
Nov. 15 The New Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam sponsors a demonstration of 250,000 in Washington, D.C.
16 My Lai massacre described in the press.
30 U.S. Third Division withdraws from Vietnam.
Dec. 11 U.S. Third Brigade, Eighty-second Airborne Division, withdraws from Vietnam.
31 U.S. military personnel strength in Vietnam declines to 475,200; 40,024 U.S. military personnel killed in action to date. Allied military personnel in Vietnam totals 70,300.
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