Battle of Bình Giã begins in the South Vietnamese countryside

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...

Units led by Lâm Văn Phát and Dương Văn Đức occupied strategic points in Saigon before the attempt collapsed. The episode followed repeated military interventions and political instability in the...

An attack on the U.S. advisory compound at Pleiku killed U.S. personnel and wounded others. The Johnson administration used it to justify Operation Flaming Dart air strikes against North Vietnam....

The Johnson administration approved a sustained bombing campaign against North Vietnam. Air strikes also expanded across the wider region. Officials sought to coerce Hanoi, but the campaign brought...

Colonel Thảo and allied officers attempted to overthrow the military government. The plot failed, but political instability continued and Thảo remained active in later conspiracies. FRUS reports are...

U.S. aircraft launched a sustained bombing campaign against North Vietnam, intended to pressure Hanoi and support the South Vietnamese government. The gradual escalation devastated infrastructure...

U.S. Marines landed at Da Nang, beginning the large-scale deployment of U.S. ground combat forces. The mission moved beyond advising and aid into direct combat, while South Vietnamese forces and...