1965

January 20, 1965 – Lyndon B. Johnson takes the oath as president and declares, “We can never again stand aside, prideful in isolation. Terrific dangers and troubles that we once called “foreign” now constantly live among us…”

January 27, 1965 – General Khanh seizes full control of South Vietnam’s government.

January 27, 1965 – Johnson aides, National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy and Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, send a memo to the President stating that America’s limited military involvement in Vietnam is not succeeding, and that the U.S. has reached a ‘fork in the road’ in Vietnam and must either soon escalate or withdraw.

January 1965 – Operation Game Warden begins U.S. Navy river patrols on South Vietnam’s 3000 nautical miles of inland waterways.

February 4, 1965 – National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy visits South Vietnam for the first time. In North Vietnam, Soviet Prime Minister Aleksei Kosygin coincidentally arrives in Hanoi.

February 6, 1965 – Viet Cong guerrillas attack the U.S. military compound at Pleiku in the Central Highlands, killing eight Americans, wounding 126 and destroying ten aircraft.

February 7-8 – “I’ve had enough of this,” President Johnson tells his National Security advisors. He then approves Operation Flaming Dart, the bombing of a North Vietnamese army camp near Dong Hoi by U.S. Navy jets from the carrier Ranger.

Johnson makes no speeches or public statements concerning his decision. Opinion polls taken in the U.S. shortly after the bombing indicate a 70 percent approval rating for the President and an 80 percent approval of U.S. military involvement in Vietnam. Johnson now agrees to a long-standing recommendation from his advisors for a sustained bombing campaign against North Vietnam.

In Hanoi, Soviet Prime Minister Kosygin is pressured by the North Vietnamese to provide unlimited military aid to counter the American “aggression.” Kosygin gives in to their demands. As a result, sophisticated Soviet surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) begin arriving in Hanoi within weeks.

February 18, 1965 – Another military coup in Saigon results in General Khanh finally ousted from power and a new military/civilian government installed, led by Dr. Phan Huy Quat.

February 22, 1965 – General Westmoreland requests two battalions of U.S. Marines to protect the American air base at Da Nang from 6000 Viet Cong massed in the vicinity. The President approves his request, despite the “grave reservations” of Ambassador Taylor in Vietnam who warns that America may be about to repeat the same mistakes made by the French in sending ever-increasing numbers of soldiers into the Asian forests and jungles of a “hostile foreign country” where friend and foe are indistinguishable.

March 2, 1965 – Operation Rolling Thunder begins as over 100 American fighter-bombers attack targets in North Vietnam. Scheduled to last eight weeks, Rolling Thunder will instead go on for three years.

The first U.S. air strikes also occur against the Ho Chi Minh trail. Throughout the war, the trail is heavily bombed by American jets with little actual success in halting the tremendous flow of soldiers and supplies from the North. 500 American jets will be lost attacking the trail. After each attack, bomb damage along the trail is repaired by female construction crews.

During the entire war, the U.S. will fly 3 million sorties and drop nearly 8 million tons of bombs, four times the tonnage dropped during all of World War II, in the largest display of firepower in the history of warfare.

The majority of bombs are dropped in South Vietnam against Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army positions, resulting in 3 million civilian refugees due to the destruction of numerous villages. In North Vietnam, military targets include fuel depots and factories. The North Vietnamese react to the air strikes by decentralizing their factories and supply bases, thus minimizing their vulnerability to bomb damage.

March 8, 1965 – The first U.S. combat troops arrive in Vietnam as 3500 Marines land at China Beach to defend the American air base at Da Nang. They join 23,000 American military advisors already in Vietnam.

March 9, 1965 – President Johnson authorizes the use of Napalm, a petroleum based anti-personnel bomb that showers hundreds of explosive pellets upon impact.

March 11, 1965 – Operation Market Time, a joint effort between the U.S. Navy and South Vietnamese Navy, commences to disrupt North Vietnamese sea routes used to funnel supplies into the South. The operation is highly successful in cutting off coastal supply lines and results in the North Vietnamese shifting to the more difficult land route along the Ho Chi Minh trail.

March 29, 1965 – Viet Cong terrorists bomb the U.S. embassy in Saigon.

April 1, 1965 – At the White House, President Johnson authorizes sending two more Marine battalions and up to 20,000 logistical personnel to Vietnam. The President also authorizes American combat troops to conduct patrols to root out Viet Cong in the countryside. His decision to allow offensive operations is kept secret from the American press and public for two months.

April 7, 1965 – President Johnson delivers his “Peace Without Conquest” Speech at Johns Hopkins University offering Hanoi “unconditional discussions” to stop the war in return for massive economic assistance in modernizing Vietnam. “Old Ho can’t turn that down,” Johnson privately tells his aides. But Johnson’s peace overture is quickly rejected.

April 15, 1965 – A thousand tons of bombs are dropped on Viet Cong positions by U.S. and South Vietnamese fighter-bombers.

April 17, 1965 – In Washington, 15,000 students gather to protest the U.S. bombing campaign.

Student demonstrators will often refer to President Johnson, his advisors, the Pentagon, Washington bureaucrats, and weapons manufacturers, simply as “the Establishment.”

April 20, 1965 – In Honolulu, Johnson’s top aides, including McNamara, Gen. Westmoreland, Gen. Wheeler, William Bundy, and Ambassador Taylor, meet and agree to recommend to the President sending another 40,000 combat soldiers to Vietnam.

April 24, 1965 – President Johnson announces Americans in Vietnam are eligible for combat pay.

May 3, 1965 – The first U.S. Army combat troops, 3500 men of the 173rd Airborne Brigade, arrive in Vietnam.

May 11, 1965 – Viet Cong over-run South Vietnamese troops in Phuoc Long Province north of Saigon and also attack in central South Vietnam.

May 13, 1965 – The first bombing pause is announced by the U.S. in the hope that Hanoi will now negotiate. There will be six more pauses during the Rolling Thunder bombing campaign, all with same intention. However, each time, the North Vietnamese ignore the peace overtures and instead use the pause to repair air defenses and send more troops and supplies into the South via the Ho Chi Minh trail.

May 13, 1965 – Viet Cong attack the U.S. special forces camp in Phuoc Long. During the fighting, 2nd Lt. Charles Williams, earns the Congressional Medal of Honor by knocking out a Viet Cong machine-gun then guiding rescue helicopters, while wounded four times.

May 19, 1965 – U.S. bombing of North Vietnam resumes.

June 18, 1965 – Nguyen Cao Ky takes power in South Vietnam as the new prime minister with Nguyen Van Thieu functioning as official chief of state. They lead the 10th government in 20 months.

July 1, 1965 – Viet Cong stage a mortar attack against Da Nang air base and destroy three aircraft.

July 8, 1965 – Henry Cabot Lodge is reappointed as U.S. ambassador to South Vietnam.

July 21-28 – President Johnson meets with top aides to decide the future course of action in Vietnam.

July 28, 1965 – During a noontime press conference, President Johnson announces he will send 44 combat battalions to Vietnam increasing the U.S. military presence to 125,000 men. Monthly draft calls are doubled to 35,000. “I have asked the commanding general, General Westmoreland, what more he needs to meet this mounting aggression. He has told me. And we will meet his needs. We cannot be defeated by force of arms. We will stand in Vietnam.”

“…I do not find it easy to send the flower of our youth, our finest young men, into battle. I have spoken to you today of the divisions and the forces and the battalions and the units, but I know them all, every one. I have seen them in a thousand streets, of a hundred towns, in every state in this union�working and laughing and building, and filled with hope and life. I think I know, too, how their mothers weep and how their families sorrow.”

August 1965 – Combined Action Platoons are formed by U.S. Marines utilizing South Vietnamese militia units to protect villages and conduct patrols to root out Viet Cong guerrillas.

August 3, 1965 – The destruction of suspected Viet Cong villages near Da Nang by a U.S. Marine rifle company is shown on CBS TV and generates controversy in America. Earlier, seven Marines had been killed nearby while searching for Viet Cong following a mortar attack against the air base at Da Nang.

August 4, 1965 – President Johnson asks Congress for an additional $1.7 billion for the war.

August 5, 1965 – Viet Cong destroy two million gallons of fuel in storage tanks near Da Nang.

August 8, 1965 – The U.S. conducts major air strikes against the Viet Cong.

August 18-24, 1965 – Operation Starlite begins the first major U.S. ground operation in Vietnam as U.S. Marines wage a preemptive strike against 1500 Viet Cong planning to assault the American airfield at Chu Lai. The Marines arrive by helicopter and by sea following heavy artillery and air bombardment of Viet Cong positions. 45 Marines are killed and 120 wounded. Viet Cong suffer 614 dead and 9 taken prisoner. This decisive first victory gives a big boost to U.S. troop morale.

August 31, 1965 – President Johnson signs a law criminalizing draft card burning. Although it may result in a five year prison sentence and $1000 fine, the burnings become common during anti-war rallies and often attract the attention of news media.

October 16, 1965 – Anti-war rallies occur in 40 American cities and in international cities including London and Rome.

October 19, 1965 – North Vietnamese Army troops attack the U.S. Special Forces camp at Plei Me in a prelude to the Battle of Ia Drang Valley in South Vietnam’s Central Highlands.

October 30, 1965 – 25,000 march in Washington in support of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. The marchers are led by five Medal of Honor recipients.

November 14-16 – The Battle of Ia Drang Valley marks the first major battle between U.S. troops and North Vietnamese Army regulars (NVA) inside South Vietnam. American Army troops of the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) respond to the NVA threat by using helicopters to fly directly into the battle zone. Upon landing, the troops quickly disembark then engage in fierce fire fights, supported by heavy artillery and B-52 air strikes, marking the first use of B-52s to assist combat troops. The two-day battle ends with NVA retreating into the jungle. 79 Americans are killed and 121 wounded. NVA losses are estimated at 2000.

November 17, 1965 – The American success at Ia Drang is marred by a deadly ambush against 400 soldiers of the U.S. 7th Cavalry sent on foot to occupy nearby Landing Zone ‘Albany.’ NVA troops that had been held in reserve during Ia Drang, along with troops that had retreated, kill 155 Americans and wound 124.

November 27, 1965 – In Washington, 35,000 anti-war protesters circle the White House then march on to the Washington Monument for a rally.

November 30, 1965 – After visiting Vietnam, Defense Secretary McNamara privately warns that American casualty rates of up to 1000 dead per month could be expected.

December 4, 1965 – In Saigon, Viet Cong terrorists bomb a hotel used by U.S. military personnel, killing eight and wounding 137.

December 7, 1965 – Defense Secretary McNamara tells President Johnson that the North Vietnamese apparently “believe that the war will be a long one, that time is their ally, and that their staying power is superior to ours.”

December 9, 1965 – The New York Times reveals the U.S. is unable to stop the flow of North Vietnamese soldiers and supplies into the South despite extensive bombing.

December 18-20 – President Johnson and top aides meet to decide the future course of action.

December 25, 1965 – The second pause in the bombing of North Vietnam occurs. This will last for 37 days while the U.S. attempts to pressure North Vietnam into a negotiated peace. However, the North Vietnamese denounce the bombing halt as a “trick” and continue Viet Cong terrorist activities in the South.

By year’s end U.S. troop levels in Vietnam reached 184,300. An estimated 90,000 South Vietnamese soldiers deserted in 1965, while an estimated 35,000 soldiers from North Vietnam infiltrated the South via the Ho Chi Minh trail. Up to 50 percent of the countryside in South Vietnam is now under some degree of Viet Cong control.

Time Magazine chooses General William Westmoreland as 1965’s ‘Man of the Year.’

1966

January 12, 1966 – During his State of the Union address before Congress, President Johnson comments that the war in Vietnam is unlike America’s previous wars, “Yet, finally, war is always the same. It is young men dying in the fullness of their promise. It is trying to kill a man that you do not even know well enough to hate…therefore, to know war is to know that there is still madness in this world.”

January 28-March 6 – Operation Masher marks the beginning of large-scale U.S. search-and-destroy operations against Viet Cong and NVA troop encampments. However, President Johnson orders the name changed to the less aggressive sounding ‘White Wing’ over concern for U.S. public opinion. During the 42 day operation in South Vietnam’s Bon Son Plain near the coast, troopers of the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) once again fly by helicopters directly into battle zones and engage in heavy fighting. 228 Americans are killed and 788 wounded. NVA losses are put at 1342.

The term ’search-and-destroy’ is used by the media to describe everything from large scale Airmobile troop movements to small patrols rooting out Viet Cong in tiny hamlets. The term eventually becomes associated with negative images of Americans burning villages.

January 31, 1966 – Citing Hanoi’s failure to respond to his peace overtures during the 37 day bombing pause, President Johnson announces bombing of North Vietnam will resume.

January 31, 1966 – Senator Robert F. Kennedy criticizes President Johnson’s decision to resume the bombing, stating that the U.S. may be headed “on a road from which there is no turning back, a road that leads to catastrophe for all mankind.” His comments infuriate the President.

February 1966 – The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, chaired by Sen. J. William Fulbright, holds televised hearings examining America’s policy in Vietnam. Appearing before the committee, Defense Secretary McNamara states that U.S. objectives in Vietnam are “not to destroy or overthrow the Communist government of North Vietnam. They are limited to the destruction of the insurrection and aggression directed by North Vietnamese against the political institutions of South Vietnam.”

February 3, 1966 – Influential newspaper columnist Walter Lippmann lambastes President Johnson’s strategy in Vietnam, stating, “Gestures, propaganda, public relations and bombing and more bombing will not work.” Lippmann predicts Vietnam will divide America as combat causalities mount.

February 6-9 – President Johnson and South Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Cao Ky meet in Honolulu.

March 1, 1966 – An attempt to repeal the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution fails in the U.S. Senate by a vote of 92 to 5. The attempt was led by Sen. Wayne Morse.

March 9, 1966 – The U.S. reveals that 20,000 acres of food crops have been destroyed in suspected Viet Cong villages. The admission generates harsh criticism from the American academic community.

March 10, 1966 – South Vietnamese Buddhists begin a violent campaign to oust Prime Minister Ky following his dismissal of a top Buddhist general. This marks the beginning of a period of extreme unrest in several cities in South Vietnam including Saigon, Da Nang and Hue as political squabbling spills out into the streets and interferes with U.S. military operations.

March 26, 1966 – Anti-war protests are held in New York, Washington, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston and San Francisco.

April 12, 1966 – B-52 bombers are used for the first time against North Vietnam. Each B-52 carries up to 100 bombs, dropped from an altitude of about six miles. Target selections are closely supervised by the White House. There are six main target categories; power facilities, war support facilities, transportation lines, military complexes, fuel storage, and air defense installations.

April 13, 1966 – Viet Cong attack Tan Son Nhut airport in Saigon causing 140 casualties while destroying 12 U.S. helicopters and nine aircraft.

May 2, 1966 – Secretary of Defense McNamara privately reports the North Vietnamese are infiltrating 4500 men per month into the South.

May 14, 1966 – Political unrest intensifies as South Vietnamese troops loyal to Prime Minister Ky over-run renegade South Vietnamese Buddhist troops in Da Nang. Ky’s troops then move on to Hue to oust renegades there. Ky’s actions result in a new series of immolations by Buddhist monks and nuns as an act of protest against his Saigon regime and its American backers. Buddhist leader Tri Quang blames President Johnson personally for the situation. Johnson responds by labeling the immolations as “tragic and unnecessary.”

June 4, 1966 – A three-page anti-war advertisement appears in the New York Times signed by 6400 teachers and professors.

June 25, 1966 – Political unrest in South Vietnam abates following the crackdown on Buddhist rebels by Prime Minister Ky, including the arrest of Buddhist leader Tri Quang. Ky now appeals for calm.

June 29, 1966 – Citing increased infiltration of Communist guerrillas from North Vietnam into the South, the U.S. bombs oil depots around Hanoi and Haiphong, ending a self-imposed moratorium.

The U.S. is very cautious about targeting the city of Hanoi itself over concerns for the reactions of North Vietnam’s military allies, China and the Soviet Union. This concern also prevents any U.S. ground invasion of North Vietnam, despite such recommendations by a few military planners in Washington.

July 6, 1966 – Hanoi Radio reports that captured American pilots have been paraded though the streets of Hanoi through jeering crowds.

July 11, 1966 – The U.S. intensifies bombing raids against portions of the Ho Chi Minh trail winding through Laos.

July 15, 1966 – Operation Hastings is launched by U.S. Marines and South Vietnamese troops against 10,000 NVA in Quang Tri Province. This is the largest combined military operation to date in the war.

July 30, 1966 – For the first time, the U.S. bombs NVA troops in the Demilitarized Zone, the buffer area separating North and South Vietnam.

August 9, 1966 – U.S. jets attack two South Vietnamese villages by mistake, killing 63 civilians and wounding over 100.

August 30, 1966 – Hanoi announces China will provide economic and technical assistance.

September 1, 1966 – During a visit to neighboring Cambodia, French President Charles de Gaulle calls for U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam.

September 12, 1966 – The heaviest air raid of the war to date occurs as 500 U.S. jets attack NVA supply lines and coastal targets.

September 14-November 24 – Operation Attleboro occurs involving 20,000 U.S. and South Vietnamese soldiers in a successful search-and-destroy mission 50 miles north of Saigon near the Cambodian border. During the fighting, an enormous weapons cache is uncovered in a hidden base camp in the jungle. 155 Americans are killed and 494 wounded. North Vietnamese losses are 1106.

September 23, 1966 – The U.S. reveals jungles near the Demilitarized Zone are being defoliated by sprayed chemicals.

October 2-24, 1966 – The U.S. 1st Air Cavalry Division conducts Operation Irving to clear NVA from mountainous areas near Qui Nhon.

October 3, 1966 – The Soviet Union announces it will provide military and economic assistance to North Vietnam.

October 25, 1966 – President Johnson conducts a conference in Manila with America’s Vietnam Allies; Australia, Philippines, Thailand, New Zealand, South Korea and South Vietnam. The Allies pledge to withdraw from Vietnam within six months if North Vietnam will withdraw completely from the South.

October 26, 1966 – President Johnson visits U.S. troops at Cam Ranh Bay. This is the first of two visits to Vietnam made during his presidency.

November 7, 1966 – Defense Secretary McNamara is confronted by student protesters during a visit to Harvard University.

November 12, 1966 – The New York Times reports that 40 percent of U.S. economic aid sent to Saigon is stolen or winds up on the black market.

December 8-9 – North Vietnam rejects a proposal by President Johnson for discussions concerning treatment of POWs and a possible exchange.

December 13-14 – The village of Caudat near Hanoi is leveled by U.S. bombers resulting in harsh criticism from the international community.

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