Ngô Đình Diệm and Ngô Đình Nhu killed after coup

Washington created MACV to direct the expanding U.S. advisory effort in South Vietnam. Its establishment formalized a larger command structure before the mass deployment of U.S. ground combat...

South Vietnamese forces fought National Liberation Front units near Ấp Bắc in the Mekong Delta. Despite superior numbers, helicopters, and armor, government forces failed to destroy the opposing...

During Vesak, security forces fired on a Buddhist crowd in Huế after a dispute over flying religious flags. Nine people were reported killed in later diplomatic records. The incident triggered...

Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức set himself on fire in Saigon to protest discrimination and repression under Diệm’s government. The image circulated internationally and made the Buddhist crisis a global...

Special forces attacked Buddhist pagodas across South Vietnam, including Xá Lợi in Saigon, and arrested monks and activists. The raids intensified public opposition and fractured the Diệm government’s...

President Lyndon Johnson appointed General William Westmoreland to command the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam. The appointment came amid escalating U.S. involvement and helped place the conflict...

North Vietnamese patrol boats attacked the U.S. destroyer USS Maddox during a covert-supported patrol. A second reported attack on August 4 was later shown by U.S. records to be unfounded, a...

U.S. officials reported a second attack on U.S. ships, but contemporaneous messages raised doubts about radar and sonar evidence. The episode shows how uncertain intelligence was presented publicly as...

Congress granted President Johnson broad authority to use force in Southeast Asia after disputed reports of a second attack. The resolution became a key legal and political basis for escalation,...

Johnson signed the resolution after Congress passed it on August 7. The document gave the president broad authority to use force in Southeast Asia without a formal declaration of war, narrowing public...