THE BETRAYED N FORGOTTEN

PARIS PEACE ACCORDS
13 Jun 73
A new accord aimed at strengthening the January 27 cease-fire agreement in South Vietnam is signed in Paris by the United States, North Vietnam, South Vietnam and the National Liberation Front.

U.S. CONGRESS UNDERCUTS PEACE

1 Jul 73
U.S. Congress votes to end all bombing in Cambodia after August 15.

31 Dec 73
Size of U.S. military contingent in Vietnam is limited to 50. No Free World military personel remain in South Vietnam.

9 Aug 74
Richard Nixon resigns as President of the United States. Vice President Gerald Ford becomes President.

20 Aug 74
U.S. Congress cuts aid to South Vietnam from $1 billion to $700 million.

NVA TESTS THE WATER
13 Dec 74- 6 Jan 75
North Vietnamese attack South Vietnamese positions in Phuoc Long Province, II Corps. Phuoc Long Province falls to North Vietnamese attack.

NORTH VIETNAM INVADES THE SOUTH

8 Jan 75
North Vietnamese Politburo orders major People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) offensive to "liberate" South Vietnam by NVA cross-border invasion. NVA general staff plan for the invasion of South Vietnam by 20 divisions. The Soviet-supplied North Vietnamese Army is the fifth largest in the world. It anticipates a two year struggle for victory, but Saigon falls in 55 days.

14 Jan 75
Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger testifies to Congress that the U.S. is not living up to its earlier promise to South Vietnam's President Thieu of "severe retaliatory action" in the event North Vietnam violated the Paris peace treaty.

21 Jan 75
President Ford tells a press conference that the U.S. is unwilling to re-enter the war.

5 Feb 75
NVA General Van Tien Dung crosses into South Vietnam to take command of the final offensive
........
20 Apr 75
U.S. Ambassador Graham Martin meets with President Thieu and pressures him to resign given the gravity of the situation and the unlikelihood that Thieu could ever negotiate with the Communists.

21 Apr 75
A bitter, tearful President Thieu resigns during a 90 minute rambling TV speech to the people of South Vietnam. Thieu reads from the letter sent by Nixon in 1972 pledging "severe retaliatory action" if South Vietnam was threatened. Thieu condemns the Paris Peace Accords, Henry Kissinger and the U.S. "The United States has not respected its promises. It is inhumane. It is untrustworthy. It is irresponsible." He is then ushered into exile in Taiwan, aided by the CIA.

22 Apr 75
Xuan Loc falls to the NVA after a two week battle with South Vietnam's 18th Army Division which inflicted over 5000 NVA casualties and delayed the 'Ho Chi Minh Campaign' for two weeks.

23 Apr 75
100,000 NVA soldiers advance on Saigon which is now overflowing with refugees. In a speech at Tulane, President Ford attempts to wash his hands of the conflict.

27 Apr 75
NVA troops encircle Saigon, which is defended by some 30,000 ARVN troops, many of whose leaders have fled. NVA starts rocketing the city.

28 Apr 75
'Neutralist' General. Duong Van "Big" Minh becomes the new president of South Vietnam and appeals for a cease-fire. The NVA ignore this request.

29 Apr 75
NVA begins attack on Saigon, shelling Tan Son Nhut Airbase killing two Marines. President Ford activates Operation Frequent Wind to evacuate 7,000 Americans and South Vietnamese from Saigon. The signal is a radio broadcast of Bing Crosby's "White Christmas".

29-30 Apr 75
U.S. Navy conducts Operation Frequent Wind to evacuate all U.S. personnel and selected South Vietnamese from Vietnam. Three U.S. aircraft carriers off the coast of Vietnam process the incoming refugees.

SAIGON FALLS
30 Apr 75
The final ten Marines from U.S. Embassy depart by chopper at 8:35 a.m.

30 Apr 75
NVA captures the Presidential Palace by 11 a.m..

30 Apr 75
President Minh broadcasts a message of unconditional surrender. The war is over.

1May 75
It's Over. Most Yanks Got out.

http://www.ichiban1.org/html/history/1975_present_postwar/nvn_invasion_1975.htm

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• THE BETRAYED FORGOTTEN
• BETRAYED AND ABANDONED
• BLACK APRIL
• APRIL 30th 1975
• THE FALL OF SAIGON
• THE LONGEST WAR
• THE VIETNAM WAR
• NO HONOR
• WHITE CHRISTMAS