Operation Lam Son 719 is launched. ARVN troops invade Laos.
U.S. military personnel levels declines to 156,800.
| February
|
| 21st
|
President Nixon visits Peking and meets with Mao Zedong. North Vietnam fears a deal
to their disadvantage.
|
|
Korean Marines leave Vietnam
|
| March
|
| 10th
|
101st Airborne leaves Vietnam
|
| 12th
|
Australian Task Force withdraws
|
| 30th
|
The Easter Offensive begins - Equipped
with Soviet Tanks, Vo Nguyen Giap’s North Vietnamese Army
launch a large-scale assault across the DMZ into
Quang Tri province
|
| April
|
| 4th
|
In response to the Communist's Easter Offensive, President Nixon authorizes U.S.
bombing of North Vietnam up to the 18th parallel
|
| 6th
|
2nd Squadron 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment departs Vietnam
|
| 7th
|
Launching a second prong to their Easter Offensive, North Vietnamese forces drive
into Binh Long Province and begin an assault on An Loc (65 miles northwest of Saigon)
|
| 12th
|
North Vietnamese launch a third phase of the Easter Offensive, striking from northern
Cambodia into the Central Highlands and aiming for Kontum City
|
| May
|
| 1st
|
North Vietnamese forces capture Quang Tri city
|
| 8th
|
Nixon orders the mining of North Vietnam’s ports and rivers in order to cut off
the Communist's supply line
|
| 10th
|
U.S. Air Force begins Operation Linebacker, the sustained bombing of North Vietnam's
military installations, storage facilities and transportation network. The campaign
aims to destroy the Communist's ability to sustain it's Easter Offensive by cutting
off supply routes into North Vietnam and by stopping any NVA reinforcements from
entering South Vietnam.
|
| June
|
| 9th
|
After weeks of fierce fighting, Kontum City is cleared of NVA and declared secure
|
| 17th
|
Five burglars are arrested for breaking into the Democratic National Committee offices
at the Watergate building in Washington D.C.
|
| 18th
|
After withstanding heavy artillery bombardment, an ARVN
counteroffensive, combined with US air strikes, forces the NVA to withdraw from
An Loc
|
| 26th
|
3rd Brigade 1st Cavalry leaves Vietnam
|
| 29th
|
196th Infantry Brigade (Light) leaves for home
New Zealand troops leave Vietnam
|
| 30th
|
General Frederick C. Weyand takes over as MACV
Commander from General Creighton Abrams
|
| July
|
| 18th
|
Jane Fonda delivers an anti-war message on Hanoi Radio
|
| 31st
|
9th Marine Amphibious Brigade leaves Vietnam
|
| August
|
| 23rd
|
3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry, the last U.S. ground combat Battalion withdraws from
Vietnam
|
| September
|
| 16th
|
After weeks of intense fighting, ARVN forces recapture Quang Tri city effectively
ending North Vietnam's Easter Offensive
|
| October
|
| 8th
|
North Vietnamese negotiator Le Duc Tho discusses a provisional peace agreement with
Henry Kissinger. For the first time North Vietnam is prepared to accept a cease
fire without insisting on the removal of South Vietnam President Nguyen Van Thieu
or the creation of a coalition government.
|
| 11thth
|
Kissinger and Le Duc Tho draft a 9-point cease fire agreement to be signed in Paris
on October 30th by the U.S., South Vietnam (GVN), North Vietnam (DRV) and the PRG.
The agreement:
- Covers the exchange of POWs
- Allows North Vietnamese troops to remain in the South Vietnam after the cease fire
- Creates a National Council of National Reconciliation and Concord (NCNRC) (comprised
of the GVN, PRG and a neutral third party) to oversee implementation of the agreement
in South Vietnam
- Reaffirms the 1954 agreement that the 17th parallel DMZ is a temporary demarcation
line and not a political or territorial boundary. Reunification is to be achieved
through peaceful means.
- Contains a U.S. pledge to supply aid for the reconstruction of Indochina including
North Vietnam
|
| 18th
|
Kissinger meets with President Nguyen Van Thieu in Saigon to discuss the peace agreement
|
| 23rd
|
President Nixon suspends Operation Linebacker
After discussions with Kissinger, Thieu rejects the peace deal
|
| 24th
|
Thieu publicly states that he will never sign an agreement that imposes a coalition
government on South Vietnam or allows North Vietnamese troops to remain in the country
|
| 26th
|
Hanoi reveals elements of the peace proposal and accuses the U.S. of reneging on
the schedule to sign the agreement. In response, Kissinger tells the press "We believe
peace is at hand"
|
| November
|
| 4th
|
Hanoi agrees to resume negotiations with the U.S
|
| 7th
|
President Nixon is re-elected
1st Signal Brigade departs Vietnam
|
| 11th
|
The logistical base at Long Bien is turned over to the South Vietnamese, marking
the end of direct U.S. Army participation in the war
|
| December
|
| 13th
|
The Paris peace negotiations collapse
|
| 14th
|
Nixon warns the North Vietnamese that they have 72-hours to return to negotiations.
The ultimatum is rejected.
|
| 18th
|
Operation Linbacker II (aka Christmas bombing) begins. The most intensive bombing
campaign of the Vietnam War, Linebacker II is designed to force the North Vietnamese
to come to a quick agreement on the cease fire and targets the Hanoi and Haiphong
areas
|
| 28th
|
Hanoi agrees to reopen negotiations in Paris
|
| 29th
|
Nixon suspends Linebacker II, though the bombing of military targets in southern
North Vietnam continues
|
| 31st
|
U.S. troop levels in Vietnam: 24,200
|