<Ul> <Li> 1953 -- By November , French commander in Indochina , General Navarre , asked U.S. General McArthur to loan twelve Fairchild C - 119 aircraft , to be flown by French crews , to facilitate Operation Castor at Dien Bien Phu . </Li> <Li> 1954 -- In January , Navarre 's Deputy asked for additional transport aircraft . Negotiations ended on March 3 with 24 CIA pilots ( CAT ) to operate 12 U.S. Air Force C - 119s , flying undercover using French insignia , but maintained by the USAF . </Li> <Li> 1954 -- General Paul Ely , the French Chief of Staff , proposed an American operation to rescue French forces . Operation Vulture was hastily planned but President Eisenhower , convinced that the political risks outweighed the possible benefits , decided against the intervention . </Li> <Li> 1954 -- The Viet Minh defeat the French at the battle of Dien Bien Phu . The defeat , along with the end of the Korean War the previous year , causes the French to seek a negotiated settlement to the war . </Li> <Li> 1954 -- The Geneva Conference ( 1954 ) , called to determine the post-French future of Indochina , proposes a temporary division of Vietnam , to be followed by nationwide elections to unify the country in 1956 . </Li> <Li> 1954 -- Two months after the Geneva conference , North Vietnam forms Group 100 with headquarters at Ban Namèo . Its purpose is to direct , organize , train and supply the Pathet Lao to gain control of Laos , which along with Cambodia and Vietnam formed French Indochina . </Li> <Li> 1955 -- North Vietnam launches an ' anti-landlord ' campaign , during which counter-revolutionaries are imprisoned or killed . The numbers killed or imprisoned are disputed , with historian Stanley Karnow estimating about 6,000 while others ( see the book `` Fire in the Lake '' ) estimate only 800 . Rudolph Rummel puts the figure as high as 200,000 . </Li> <Li> November 1 , 1955 -- President Eisenhower deploys the Military Assistance Advisory Group to train the Army of the Republic of Vietnam . This marks the official beginning of American involvement in the war as recognized by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial . </Li> <Li> April 1956 -- The last French troops leave Vietnam . </Li> <Li> 1954 -- 1956 -- 450,000 Vietnamese civilians flee the Viet Minh administration in North Vietnam and relocate in South Vietnam as part of the US government 's Operation Passage to Freedom . Approximately 52,000 move in the opposite direction . Dr. Thomas Dooley works with the CIA to produce his influential disinformation book about the refugees Deliver Us from Evil . </Li> <Li> 1956 -- National unification elections do not occur . </Li> <Li> December 1958 -- North Vietnam invades Laos and occupies parts of the country </Li> <Li> July 8 , 1959 -- Charles Ovnand and Dale R. Buis become the first two American Advisers to die in Vietnam . </Li> <Li> September 1959 -- North Vietnam forms Group 959 , which assumes command of the Pathet Lao forces in Laos . </Li> <Li> November 1960 -- Coup attempt by paratroopers is foiled after Diệm falsely promises reform , allowing loyalists to crush the rebels . </Li> <Li> December 20 , 1960 -- The National Liberation Front of South Vietnam ( NLF ) is founded . </Li> </Ul>
<Ul> <Li> 1953 -- By November , French commander in Indochina , General Navarre , asked U.S. General McArthur to loan twelve Fairchild C - 119 aircraft , to be flown by French crews , to facilitate Operation Castor at Dien Bien Phu . </Li> <Li> 1954 -- In January , Navarre 's Deputy asked for additional transport aircraft . Negotiations ended on March 3 with 24 CIA pilots ( CAT ) to operate 12 U.S. Air Force C - 119s , flying undercover using French insignia , but maintained by the USAF . </Li> <Li> 1954 -- General Paul Ely , the French Chief of Staff , proposed an American operation to rescue French forces . Operation Vulture was hastily planned but President Eisenhower , convinced that the political risks outweighed the possible benefits , decided against the intervention . </Li> <Li> 1954 -- The Viet Minh defeat the French at the battle of Dien Bien Phu . The defeat , along with the end of the Korean War the previous year , causes the French to seek a negotiated settlement to the war . </Li> <Li> 1954 -- The Geneva Conference ( 1954 ) , called to determine the post-French future of Indochina , proposes a temporary division of Vietnam , to be followed by nationwide elections to unify the country in 1956 . </Li> <Li> 1954 -- Two months after the Geneva conference , North Vietnam forms Group 100 with headquarters at Ban Namèo . Its purpose is to direct , organize , train and supply the Pathet Lao to gain control of Laos , which along with Cambodia and Vietnam formed French Indochina . </Li> <Li> 1955 -- North Vietnam launches an ' anti-landlord ' campaign , during which counter-revolutionaries are imprisoned or killed . The numbers killed or imprisoned are disputed , with historian Stanley Karnow estimating about 6,000 while others ( see the book `` Fire in the Lake '' ) estimate only 800 . Rudolph Rummel puts the figure as high as 200,000 . </Li> <Li> November 1 , 1955 -- President Eisenhower deploys the Military Assistance Advisory Group to train the Army of the Republic of Vietnam . This marks the official beginning of American involvement in the war as recognized by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial . </Li> <Li> April 1956 -- The last French troops leave Vietnam . </Li> <Li> 1954 -- 1956 -- 450,000 Vietnamese civilians flee the Viet Minh administration in North Vietnam and relocate in South Vietnam as part of the US government 's Operation Passage to Freedom . Approximately 52,000 move in the opposite direction . Dr. Thomas Dooley works with the CIA to produce his influential disinformation book about the refugees Deliver Us from Evil . </Li> <Li> 1956 -- National unification elections do not occur . </Li> <Li> December 1958 -- North Vietnam invades Laos and occupies parts of the country </Li> <Li> July 8 , 1959 -- Charles Ovnand and Dale R. Buis become the first two American Advisers to die in Vietnam . </Li> <Li> September 1959 -- North Vietnam forms Group 959 , which assumes command of the Pathet Lao forces in Laos . </Li> <Li> November 1960 -- Coup attempt by paratroopers is foiled after Diệm falsely promises reform , allowing loyalists to crush the rebels . </Li> <Li> December 20 , 1960 -- The National Liberation Front of South Vietnam ( NLF ) is founded . </Li> </Ul>
when did the us become involved in vietnam
when did the us become involved in vietnam
November 1 , 1955
November 1 , 1955