We first got involved with Vietnam during the French Indochina war. We supported France in fighting Vietnam and paid for 80% of their war by 1954

A Northern Vietnamese patrol boat fired a torpedo at an American destroyer the U.S.S. Maddox. The torpedo missed, but the alleged attacks on the U.S. ships helped Johnson get broad broad military powers in Vietnam. This was know as the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.

More than 50,000 US soldiers were battling the Vietcong. The Vietnam war had become Americanized

The Vietcong launched an attack on over 100 towns and cities in South Vietnam, As well as 12 air bases. The fighting was especially fierce in Saigon and the former Capitol of Hue. The Vietcong attacked the U.S. Embassy in Saigon killing 5 Americans. This continued for about a month before the U.S. and south Vietnamese forces regained control of the cities. Vietcong lost about 32,000 soldiers while the American and ARVN lost little more than 3,000.

Almost 40,000 students on more than 100 collage campuses took part In more than 200 major demonstrations. Many of the demonstrations continued to target US involvement in the Vietnam war, also campus and social issues

Richard Nixon, a republican candidate from California, enters the New Hampshire primary and declares his presidency. During the race, Nixon campaigned in a promise to restore law and order and in gauge but opening terms, to end the war in Vietnam.

The U.S. state department announces the highest U.S. causality toll of the Vietnam war. The previous week saw 543 Americans killed in action and 2,547 wounded.

The U.S. platoon under the command of William Calley Jr. Killed more than 500 innocent Vietnamese civilians. Didn't become of public knowledge until a year later.

Johnson announced a dramatic change in the Vietnam policy- the U.S. would seek negotiations to end the war. The policy of U.S. escalation would end, the bombing would eventually cease, and steps would be taken to ensure that the South Vietnamese played a larger role in the war. He then said he wouldn't be running for president next year.

The U.S. And North Vietnamese delegations adverse to begin peace talks in Paris later this month. The formal talks will begin May 10.

The chaos and violence of war climaxed when thousands of anti war demonstrators converged on the city of Chicago to protest at the Democratic National Convention. Many demonstrators sought to pressure the democrats into adopting an anti war platform

President Johnson announces a total halt to U.S. bombing in North Vietnam.

After stalling for months, the South Vietnamese government agrees to join In the Paris peace talks

The first 25,000 U.S. troops finally returned home from Vietnam. Over the next three years, the number of American troops in Vietnam dropped from more than 500,000 to less than 25,000.

President Nixon announced that U.S. troops had invaded Gambodia to clear out North Vietnamese and Vietcong supply centers