| January
|
| 19th
|
Secretary of State John Foster Dulles decides against raising the ceiling on the
number of MAAG personnel beyond the present limit of 342
|
| 23rd
|
Dulles notifies the Saigon embassy of his decision not to authorize the raising
of the MAAG ceiling, but suggests studying alternative methods including the possibility
of using civilian personnel or military in civilian status
|
| 26th
|
China requests a reconvening of the 1954 Geneva Conference on Indochina
|
| February
|
| 3rd
|
Secretary Dulles suggests discussions with U.K. and Canada to enable the U.S. to
send personnel to Vietnam to salvage and maintain US supplied Mutual Defense Assistance
Program (MDAP) equipment
|
| 9th
|
Dulles informs MAAG that the planned additional military logistical group would
be limited to a maximum of 350 persons, would remain in Vietnam for a temporary
period only and might be known as "Temporary Equipment Recovery Mission" (TERM)
|
| 25th
|
State Department informs the ambassadors of the U.K., Canada and France of U.S.
plan to dispatch TERM mission to Vietnam
|
| March
|
| 4th
|
Elections held for the National Constituent Assembly in South Vietnam
|
| 8th
|
Election results announced, with 90 of the 123 seats won by Diem favored candidates:
- National Revolutionary Movement: 47 seats
- Independents: 39 seats
- Citizens Community: 18 seats
- Movement for Freedom: 11 seats
- Others: 5 seats
|
| 22nd
|
France agrees with Diem to withdraw all French Expeditionary Corps (FEC) personnel
|
| April
|
| 12th
|
Following India’s positive response to the planned creation of TERM, Secretary Dulles
informs the Saigon Embassy that, pending ICC approval, TERM personnel will begin
arriving in Vietnam on May 9th. TERM is to have the double purpose of:
- Supervising the recovery (identification, inventory, and accounting
control) and out shipment of excess MDAP equipment
- Assisting in the improvement of Vietnamese logistical capabilities
|
| 28th
|
The French High Command in Indochina is officially dissolved
|
| 29th
|
TRIM personnel are reassigned to MAAG's Combat Arms Training and Organization Division
|
| May
|
| 26th
|
International Commission in Viet Nam informs the Vietnamese Government that entry
of TERM personnel into Viet-Nam should be delayed, so that the Commission may complete
consideration of the matter prior to the arrival of said personnel.
|
| June
|
| 1st
|
TERM personnel begin arriving in Saigon without final ICC approval
Retired former MAAG Chief General O'Daniel
opens the American Friends of Vietnam Conference
|
| 21st
|
Half of the 350 personnel authorized for TERM are in Viet Nam. The remaining two
contingents are to be sent in early July and August
|
| October
|
| 26th
|
President Diem announces the new constitution of the Republic of Vietnam
|
| November
|
|
A popular uprising occurs in Nghe An province of North Vietnam in defiance of the
Democratic Republic of Vietnam's policies of land reform and land redistribution
|
| February
|
| 22nd
|
An assailant fires a shot at President Diem as he arrives on foot for the inauguration
of the Ban Me Thuot Economic Fair. The shot misses Diem but seriously wounds the
Secretary of Agrarian Reform.
|
| April
|
|
Diem reaches an agreement with the French ambassador for the withdrawal of the French
Air Force and Navy training missions upon the completion of their present courses
|
| 15th
|
Discussion take place in Washington about the need to increase the number of MAAG
personnel as a result of the withdrawal of then French Air Force and Navy training
missions
|
| May
|
| 4th
|
Diem directs French to conduct a phased withdrawal of their advisors as soon as
possible
|
| 5th
|
President Diem arrives in Honolulu at the start of a 21-day visit to the United
States
|
| 9th
|
Presidents Diem and Eisenhower meet in Washington
|
| 24th
|
Government of Vietnam requests that MAAG advisors fill the vacuum left by the withdrawal
of French Air Force and Naval advisors on May 31st. To accommodate the request 44
military personnel engaged in housekeeping functions are shifted to the Embassy’s
roll. This makeshift enables the total military personnel to be increased from 692
in MAAG and TERM to a total of 736.
|
| July
|
| 26th
|
During TERM’s first nine months of operations it ships out more that $36,000,000
worth of MDAP equipment from Viet Nam. This is over and above the $137,000,000 worth
of MDAP equipment that had be shipped out prior to TERM's introduction.
|
| October
|
| 22nd
|
U.S. Army officers injured in a dynamite explosion and in a separate incident a
number of U.S. enlisted men are injured when their bus is dynamited
|