Chronology of U.S. -Vietnam Relations

1930     Indochinese Communist Party, opposed to French rule, organized by Ho Chi Minh and his followers.
1932     Bao Dai returns from France to reign as emperor of Vietnam under the French.
September, 1940     Japanese troops occupy Indochina, but allow the French to continue their colonial administration of the area. Japan's move into southern part of Vietnam in July 1941 sparks an oil boycott by the U.S. and Great Britain. The resulting oil shortage strengthens Japan's desire to risk war against the U.S. and Britain. 1945An OSS Office of Strategic Services, forerunner of the CIA) team parachutes into Ho Chi Minh's jungle camp in northern Vietnam and saves Ho Chi Minh who is ill with malaria and other tropical diseases.
August, 1945     Japan surrenders. Ho Chi Minh establishes the Viet Minh, a guerilla army. Bao Dai abdicates after a general uprising led by the Viet Minh.
September, 1945     Seven OSS officers, led by Lieutenant Colonel A. Peter Dewey, land in Saigon to liberate Allied war prisoners, search for missing Americans, and gather intelligence.
September 2, 1945     Ho Chi Minh reads Vietnam's Declaration of Independence to end 80 years of colonialism under French rule and establish the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in Hanoi. Vietnam is divided north and south.
September 26, 1945     OSS Lieutenant Dewey killed in Saigon, the first American to be killed in Vietnam. French and Vietminh spokesmen blame each other for his death.
November, 1946     Ho Chi Minh attempts to negotiate the end of colonial rule with the French without success. The French army shells Haiphong harbor in November, killing over 6,000 Vietnamese civilians, and, by December, open war between France and the Viet Minh begins. 
1950     The U.S., recognizing Boa Dai's regime as legitimate, begins to subsidize the French in Vietnam; the Chinese Communists, having won their civil war in 1949, begin to supply weapons to the Viet Minh.
August 3, 1950     A U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) of 35 men arrives in Saigon. By the end of the year, the U.S. is bearing half of the cost of France's war effort in Vietnam.
May 7, 1954     The French are defeated at Dien Bien Phu. General Vo Nguyen Giap commands the Viet Minh forces. France is forced to withdraw. The French-Indochina War ends.
June, 1954     The CIA establishes a military mission in Saigon. Bao Dai selects Ngo Dinh Diem as prime minister of his government.
July 20, 1954     The Geneva Conference on Indochina declares a demilitarized zone at the 17th parallel with the North under Communist rule and the South under the leadership of Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem.
October 24, 1954     President Dwight D. Eisenhower pledges support to Diem's government and military forces.
1955     The U.S.-backed Ngo Dinh Diem organizes the Republic of Vietnam as an independent nation; declares himself president.
1956     Fighting begins between the North and the South.
July 8, 1959     The first American combat deaths in Vietnam occur when Viet Cong attack Bien Hoa billets; two servicemen are killed.
1960     The National Liberation Front (NLF)--called the Viet Cong--is founded in South Vietnam.
February, 1961     The U.S. military buildup in Vietnam begins with combat advisors. President John F. Kennedy declares that they will respond if fired upon.
June 16, 1963     Buddhist monk immolates himself in Saigon. Buddhist demonstrations occurred from May through August.
June 20, 1964     General William Westmoreland succeeds General Paul Harkins as head of the U.S. forces (MACV) in Vietnam.
November 1, 1963     South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem is assassinated.
May 4, 1964     Trade embargo imposed on North Vietnam in response to attacks from the North on South Vietnam.
August 2 and 4, 1964     The Gulf of Tonkin Incident. North Vietnamese torpedo boats attacked the U.S. destroyer Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin. A second attack allegedly occurs on August 4.
    In  November, 2005, the National Security Agency (NSA) released "previously classified information regarding the Vietnam era, specifically the Gulf of Tonkin incident. This release includes a variety of articles, chronologies of events, oral history interviews, signals intelligence (SIGINT) reports and translations, and other related memoranda."
August 5, 1964     President Lyndon Johnson asks Congress for a resolution against North Vietnam following the Gulf of Tonkin incident. Congress debates.
August 7, 1964     Congress approves the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which allows the president to take any necessary measures to repel further attacks and to provide military assistance to any South Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) member. Senators Wayne L. Morse of Oregon and Ernest Gruening of Alaska cast the only dissenting votes. President Johnson orders the bombing of North Vietnam. For additional information, see New Light on Gulf of Tonkin, McNamara Asks Giap, "What Happened at Tonkin Gulf?", and 30-Year Anniversary: Tonkin Gulf Lie Launched the Vietnam War.
March 8-9, 1965     The first American combat troops arrive in Vietnam.
April 6-8, 1965     President Johnson authorizes the use of U.S. ground combat troops for offensive operations. The next day he offers North Vietnam aid in exchange for peace. North Vietnam rejects the offer.
April 17, 1965     Students for a Democratic Society sponsor the first major anti-war rally in Washington, D.C.
June, 1965     Generals Nguyen Cao Ky andNguyen Van Thieu seize the South Vietnamese government.
October 15-16, 1965      Protests are held in about 40 American cities.
November 14-16, 1965     The first major military engagement occurs between U.S. and North Vietnamese forces.
September, 1967     Thieu is elected president of South Vietnam.
Oct. 21-23, 1967     50,000 people demonstrate against the war in Washington, D.C.
January 21, 1968     The battle of Khe Sanh begins, ending six months later.
January 31, 1968     The Tet Offensive. Communist forces launch attacks on Hue´ and 31 other South Vietnamese provincial capitals and military bases. One assault team gets inside the walls of the U.S. embassy in Saigon but is driven back. 
March 16, 1968     Unarmed Vietnamese civilians are killed by members of U.S. Army Lt. William L. Calley Jr.'s platoon at  My Lai.
March 22, 1968     President Lyndon Johnson names General William Westmoreland as Army Chief of Staff. He was replaced in Vietnam by General Creighton W. Abrams .
May 10, 1968     The Paris peace talks begin between U. S. and Vietnamese officials.
May 10-20, 1969     The battle for Hamburger Hill
June 8, 1969     President Richard Nixon announces the first troop withdrawals from South Vietnam
September 3, 1969     Ho Chi Minh dies.
November 15, 1969     250,000 people demonstrate against the war in Washington, D.C.
December 1, 1969     The first draft lottery since 1942 begins.
March 10, 1970     Captain Ernest Medina charged with murder for the murders at My Lai. Events leading up the the My Lai Courts-Martial begin, ending with the conviction of Lieutenant William Calley on March 29, 1970.
April 30, 1970     The armies of the U.S. and South Vietnam invade Cambodia to roust North Vietnamese troops. The invasion sparks campus protests.
May 4, 1970     Four students are killed by National Guardsmen at Kent State University in Ohio. The killings sparked hundreds of protest activities across college campuses in the United States. Some protesters, like those at the University of New Mexico, were met with violence.
January 6, 1970     More than 100 colleges are closed due to student riots over he invasion of Cambodia.
February, 1971     South Vietnam and the U.S. invade Laos in an attempt to sever the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
December 18, 1972    Christmas bombing of Hanoi and North Vietnam begins.
December 24, 1972     Bob Hope gives his last show to U.S. servicemen in Saigon. It was his 9th consecutive Christmas show in Vietnam. President Nixon suspends Operation Linebacker II for 36 hours to mark the Christmas holiday.
December 28, 1972     The North Vietnamese announced that they will return to Paris if Nixon ends the bombing. The bombing campaign was halted and the negotiators met during the first week of January, 1973.
January 23, 1973     United States, South Vietnam, and North Vietnam sign Paris Peace Accords, ending American combat role in war. U.S. military draft ends. A cease-fire goes into effect 5 days later.
March 29, 1973     Last U.S. combat troops leave Vietnam.
February 12-27, 1973     POWs begin to come home as part of Operation Homecoming
April 1, 1973     Hanoi releases last 591 acknowledged American POWs.
September 16, 1974     President Gerald Ford offers clemency to draft evaders and military deserters.
April 21, 1975     South Vietnamese President Thieu resigns.
April 29-30, 1975     Saigon falls. U. S. Navy evacuates U.S. personnel and South Vietnamese refugees. The last American combat death in Vietnam occurs. South Vietnamese President Duong Van Minh surrenders. April 30, 1975 North Vietnamese forces take over Saigon; South Vietnam surrenders to North Vietnam, ending the war and reunifying the country under communist control, forming the Independent Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Washington extends embargo to all of Vietnam.
May 12, 1975     The U.S. merchant ship Mayaguez is seized by the Khmer Rouge in international waters in the Gulf of Siam. The ship, owned by Sea-Land Corporation, was en route to Sattahip, Thailand, from Hong-Kong, carrying a non-arms cargo for military bases in Thailand.
December, 1978     Vietnam invades Cambodia and topples Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge government, ending its reign of terror.
1979 Western European countries and non-communist Asian nations support U.S.-led embargo against Vietnam, in protest against invasion of Cambodia.
February, 1982    Vietnam agrees to talks on American MIAs.
November 11, 1982     "The Wall," is dedicated in Washington, D.C.
1988 Vietnam begins cooperation with United States to resolve fate of American servicemen missing in action (MIA).
September/October, 1988     United States and Vietnam conduct first " joint field investigations" on MIAs.
September 1989     Vietnam completes Cambodia withdrawal. April 21, 1991 United States and Vietnam agree to establish U.S. office in Hanoi to help determine MIAs' fate. Washington presents Hanoi with a roadmap for phased normalization of relations and the lifting of the embargo.
October, 1991     Vietnam supports U.N. peace plan for Cambodia. Secretary of State James Baker says Washington is ready to take steps towards normalizing relations with Hanoi.
December, 1991     Washington lifts ban on organized U.S. travel to Vietnam.
1992     Vietnam's Constitution adopted.
April 29, 1992     Washington eases trade embargo by allowing commercial sales to Vietnam that meet basic human needs, lifts restrictions on projects by American non-governmental and non-profit groups, and allows establishment of telecommunications links with Vietnam.
October, 1992     Retired General John Vessey, U.S. presidential envoy on MIA issue, makes sixth trip to Hanoi, obtains Vietnamese agreement on wider MIA cooperation, which Washington describes as a breakthrough.
December 14, 1992     President George Bush grants permission for U.S. companies open offices, sign contracts and do feasibility studies in Vietnam.
July 2, 1993     President Bill Clinton ends U.S. opposition to settlement of Vietnam's $140 million arrears to the International Monetary Fund, clearing the way for the resumption of international lending to Vietnam.
September 13, 1993     President Clinton eases economic sanctions against Vietnam to allow American firms to bid on development projects financed by international banks, another step toward normalization.
January 16, 1994     Admiral Charles Larson, head of U.S. Pacific Command visits Vietnam, the highest-ranking active-duty U.S. military officer to do so since the war's end. He concludes that lifting the trade embargo would help efforts to account for Americans missing from the war.
January 27, 1994     Backed by broad bipartisan support, the Senate approves non-binding resolution urging President Clinton to lift embargo, a move they felt would help get a full account of Americans still listed as missing in the Vietnam War.
February 3, 1994     President Clinton announces the lifting of the trade embargo.
October 5, 1994     House passes bill saying MIA accounting should remain central to U.S. policy in Vietnam and the main function of a U.S. liaison office in Vietnam.
January 27, 1995     U.S. and Vietnam sign agreements settling old property claims and establishing liaison offices in each other's capitals.
April 30, 1995     Vietnam celebrates the 20th anniversary of the end of the war.
May 15, 1995     Vietnam gives U.S. presidential delegation batch of documents on missing Americans, later hailed by Pentagon as most detailed and informative of their kind.
May 23, 1995     Senators John Kerry (D, Mass) and John McCain (R,-Ariz.), both Vietnam veterans, urge Clinton to normalize relations.
May 31, 1995     Vietnam turns over 100 pages of maps and reports about U.S. servicemen killed or captured during the war. An American veteran's map helps locate a mass grave of communist soldiers killed during the war.
June 1995     Senators Kerry and McCain say they plan to offer a Senate resolution approving normalized relations with Vietnam.
    Secretary of State Warren Christopher recommends to President Clinton that the United States establish formal diplomatic relations with Vietnam.
    State Department praises Hanoi authorities for increasing counter-narcotics cooperation with the United States.
Vietnamese President Le Duc Anh announces he will visit the United States in October for a celebration marking the 50th anniversary of the founding of the
July 11, 1995     President Clinton announces normalization of relations with Vietnam, saying the time has come to move forward and bind up the wounds from the war.
July 28, 1995     Vietnam becomes a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
August 5, 1995 S    ecretary of State Warren Christopher opens U.S. embassy in Hanoi.
September 4, 1995     Former President George Bush visits Vietnam.
November 7-10, 1995     Former Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara visits Vietnam.
July 12, 1996     U.S. National Security Adviser Anthony Lake visits Hanoi to mark the first anniversary of normalization of relations.
April 10, 1997     Former POW  is confirmed by the Senate as the first ambassador to Vietnam since the end of the war and the first ever to be posted to Hanoi. Vietnam's Le Van Bang is confirmed as Vietnam's ambassador to the United States.
April 16, 1997     U.S. and Vietnam reach copyright protection agreement, a step toward Most Favored Nation status.
May 9, 1997     Ambassador Peterson arrives in Hanoi to take up his new post. Ambassador Le Van Bang arrived in Washington on May 7.
June 24, 1997  Secretary of State Madeline Albright arrives in Vietnam on an official visit.
March 10, 1998     President Clinton waives the The Jackson-Vanik Amendment for Vietnam, allowing American investors in Vietnam to compete more effectively in Vietnam and to receive financial help from U.S. government agencies such as the Export-Import Bank.
July 13, 2000     The United States Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky and Vietnam's Trade Minister Vu Khoan sign a major trade agreement intended to provide Vietnam with access to the U.S. market on the same terms granted to most other nations. Vietnam agrees to lower tariffs and other trade barriers on American products and services. The trade agreement is the last step in normalizing relations between the U.S. and Vietnam.
November 16-19, 2000     President Bill Clinton and his family, Hillary Clinton and their daughter Chelsea, arrived in Hanoi for a historic visit. Clinton was the first President to visit Vietnam since President Nixon's visit in 1969. The purpose of Clinton's trip was to discuss relations between the two countries. Clinton said, "I think it is time to write a new chapter here." See President Clinton's Visit to Vietnam.
July 24-26, 2001      Secretary of State Colin Powell pays a three-day visit to Vietnam where he attended the ASEAN Regional Forum in Hanoi. It was Powell's first visit to Vietnam since he served in the war in 1969.
October 3, 2001     The United States Senate approves an agreement normalizing trade between the United States and Vietnam.
November 28, 2001 Vietnam's National Assembly ratifies the trade agreement with the United States but warned that any U.S. interference in Vietnam's internal affairs could jeopardize implementation of the agreement. The Vietnamese government voiced strong concerns over the U.S. House of Representatives' passage of a Vietnam Human Rights Act which ties future U.S. non-humanitarian aid to improvements in Vietnam's human rights record.
November 10, 2003     U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld met with Vietnam's Defense Minister Pham Van Tra. This was the first time a senior Vietnamese military official has visited Washington.
November 19, 2003 Navy missile frigate USS Vandegrift docked in the port of Ho Chi Minh City, a symbolic act aimed at boosting relations between Vietnam and the United States. Many of the crew were sons and daughters of Vietnam War veterans. It was the first U.S. ship to dock in Vietnam since the end of the war.
January 14, 2004     Nguyen Cao Ky, who served as premier of South Vietnam until 1967 and then as vice president from 1967 to 1971, paid a visit to relatives in Vietnam for the Tet holiday. Permission for the visit was given by the Vietnamese government. The visit caused controversy among overseas Vietnamese who felt it would legitimize the current government in Vietnam. Ky fled to the United States prior to the fall of Saigon in 1975.
March 25 , 2005      Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai welcomed Vietnamese monk, Thich Nhat Han, who was banned from returning to Vietnam in 1966. the Zen Master was invited by the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha's International Religious Board and will stay in Vietnam for 3 months.
March 29, 2005     The USS Gary arrived in the port of Saigon, marking the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between the United States and Vietnam. The first U.S. naval ship visited Vietnam in November, 2003 and the second in July, 2004. The visits are expected to become annual.
April 30, 2005     The 30th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.
June 19, 2005     Prime Minister Phan Van Khai and a delegation of the Vietnamese government arrived in Seattle, the first destination on his official four-city, week-long visit to the United States at the invitation of President George Bush. "The purpose of my visit to the United States is to elevate our relationship to a higher plane," Khai said.
    The Prime Minister Phan Van Khai met privately with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates at the software company's Redmond headquarters. Gates also gave him a tour of Microsoft's "home of the future" display of consumer technology and a company research center. The Prime Minister also met with the press and representatives of major U.S. businesses at his first stop. Contracts worth $35 million were signed.
    The Prime Minister met with President Bush on Tuesday, June 21 in the White House. The two leaders talked about Vietnam's desire to join the World Trade Organization, business issues, human rights and signed an agreement that Bush said would make it easier for people to worship freely in Vietnam.
November 7, 2006     The World Trade Organization formally invited Vietnam to become it's 150th member.