Category Archives: Vietnam War

1963 South Vietnamese coup d’état begins 60 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Nov 1 1963)


Video: 'Nov. 2, 1963 | CBS Special Report on Vietnam: "Death of a Regime"' (aired Sunday, Nov. 3, 1963 at 10:30 EST)

(Friday, November 1, 1963, 1:30 p.m. Saigon Standard Time; during the 1963 South Vietnamese coup d’état, part of the Buddhist crisis of the Vietnam War) — The 1963 South Vietnamese coup d’état in which President Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother and advisor Ngo Dinh Nhu were deposed by a group of CIA-backed Army of the Republic of Vietnam officers who disagreed with Diem’s handling of the Buddhist crisis and the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong threat to South Vietnam, began today when three marine battalions of South Vietnam initiated their seizure of communications throughout the capital city, taking control of the city’s radio stations, national and municipal police stations, and the public and Defense Ministry telecommunications centers. Continue reading 1963 South Vietnamese coup d’état begins 60 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Nov 1 1963)

Anti-war radical Katherine Ann Power surrenders to Boston-area authorities 30 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Sep 15 1993)


Video: 'Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 2 Episode 13 - Full Episode' (Power profiled May 3, 1989, at 21:10)

(Wednesday, September 15, 1993, just before sunrise at 6:24 a.m. EDT)Katherine Ann Power, an anti-Vietnam War radical who spent 23 years as a fugitive from a fatal bank robbery, surrendered today after throwing a going-away party at which she revealed her identity to her friends. Continue reading Anti-war radical Katherine Ann Power surrenders to Boston-area authorities 30 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Sep 15 1993)

U.S. President Kennedy warns Buddhist crisis imperils Vietnam as ‘CBS Evening News’ becomes network TV’s first half-hour nightly newscast 60 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Sep 2 1963)


Video: 'CBS Evening News [9-2-1963] First broadcast under new title/format'

(Labor Day, Monday, September 2, 1963, 6:30 p.m. EDT; during the Vietnam War, part of the Indochina Wars and the Cold War) — The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite was expanded from 15 to 30 minutes tonight, becoming network television’s first half-hour nightly newscast in the United States. Continue reading U.S. President Kennedy warns Buddhist crisis imperils Vietnam as ‘CBS Evening News’ becomes network TV’s first half-hour nightly newscast 60 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Sep 2 1963)

U.S. halts bombing of Cambodia, concluding 12 years of American combat in Southeast Asia 50 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Aug 15 1973)


Video: 'Vietnam: A Television History - Cambodia and Laos [8/11]' (Aug. 15, 1973, at 41:29)

(Wednesday, August 15, 1973, 10:45 a.m. local time; during Operation Freedom Deal, part of the Cambodian Civil War, the Vietnam War, the Indochina Wars and the Cold War in Asia) — The American bombing of Cambodia halted this morning after a final round of U.S. Air Force bombardment of suspected Khmer Rouge guerrilla enclaves. Continue reading U.S. halts bombing of Cambodia, concluding 12 years of American combat in Southeast Asia 50 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Aug 15 1973)

Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc burns himself to death at major intersection in Saigon to protest persecution of Buddhists by South Vietnamese government 60 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jun 11 1963)


Video: 'Vietnam: A Television History (Ep-3) America's Mandarin (1954-1963)' (Buddhist Crisis at 33:53)

(Tuesday, June 11, 1963, 9:22 a.m. Saigon Standard Time; during the Buddhist crisis, part of the Vietnam War, the Indochina Wars and the Cold War) — South Vietnamese Buddhist monk  Thich Quang Duc, 65, committed suicide by self-immolation, burning himself to death today at a major intersection in Saigon to protest the oppression of Buddhists by the government of President Ngo Dinh Diem, who belonged to the Catholic minority and was supported by the United States. Continue reading Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc burns himself to death at major intersection in Saigon to protest persecution of Buddhists by South Vietnamese government 60 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jun 11 1963)

Nixon and Thieu threaten ‘vigorous reactions’ against North Vietnamese cease-fire violations 50 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Apr 3 1973)


Video: 'Vietnam: A Television History (Ep-12) The End of the Tunnel' (Apr. 2-3, 1973, at 7:41-8:52)

(Tuesday, April 3, 1973, 12:53 p.m. PST; during the Vietnam War, part of the Indochina Wars and the Cold War) — U.S. President Richard Nixon and South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu threatened “vigorous reactions” against communist cease-fire violations today as Nixon promised substantial postwar economic aid for South Vietnam. Continue reading Nixon and Thieu threaten ‘vigorous reactions’ against North Vietnamese cease-fire violations 50 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Apr 3 1973)

President Richard Nixon announces all U.S. combat troops out of South Vietnam 50 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Mar 29 1973)


Video: 'President Richard Nixon Address to the Nation On Vietnam and Domestic Problems, March 29, 1973'

(Thursday, March 29, 1973, 9:01 p.m. EST; during the Vietnam War, part of the Indochina Wars and the Cold War) — “For the first time in 12 years, no American military forces are in Vietnam,” President Richard Nixon declared tonight during a national address on television and radio, ending the United States’ direct military involvement in a war that didn’t officially end until 1975. Continue reading President Richard Nixon announces all U.S. combat troops out of South Vietnam 50 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Mar 29 1973)

116 prisoners of war are flown from Hanoi to the Philippines in first release of U.S. POWs in North Vietnam 50 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Feb 12 1973)


Video: 'Vietnam: A Television History - Peace is at Hand [9/11]' (Feb. 12, 1973, at 51:53)

(Monday, February 12, 1973, 12:36 p.m. Indochina Time; during the Vietnam War, part of the Indochina Wars and the Cold War)Operation Homecoming, the release of prisoners of war (POWs) in the Vietnam War, began today as three U.S. Air Force C-141 medical transports landed at the Gia Lam Airport in Hanoi in North Vietnam to pick up American POWs. Continue reading 116 prisoners of war are flown from Hanoi to the Philippines in first release of U.S. POWs in North Vietnam 50 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Feb 12 1973)

U.S. resumes secret bombing of Cambodia as Khmer Rouge closes in on Phnom Penh 50 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Feb 9 1973)


Video: 'Vietnam: A Television History - Cambodia and Laos [8/11]' (Operation Freedom Deal in 1973 at 37:07)

(Friday, February 9, 1973; during Operation Freedom Deal, part of the Vietnam War, part of the Indochina Wars and the Cold War) — The U.S. resumed the secret bombing of Cambodia today after the communist Khmer Rouge refused to respond to pro-U.S. President Lon Nol’s unilateral cease-fire after the Paris Peace Accord was signed on Jan. 28, 1973. Continue reading U.S. resumes secret bombing of Cambodia as Khmer Rouge closes in on Phnom Penh 50 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Feb 9 1973)