1. The Vietnam War http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Vietnam http://www.schoolhistory.co.uk/lessons/usa194180/vietnam.shtml

2. Stage 1: 1945 - 1952 In this period President Truman sent $3 billion worth of aid to the French Army who were fighting to keep control of "Indo- China". The French were forced to retreat against communist rebels led by Ho Chi Minh. historywarsweapons.com

3. Stage 2: 1952 - 1954 www.flickr.com Under Eisenhower the USA funded 80% of the French war effort. The money was largely wasted because the French were on the verge of being defeated by the well organized communists

4. Stage 3: 1963 - 1964 1954 the French withdrew from Indo-China, creating Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam Initially Vietnam was split into North and South Ho Chi Minh, a communist led the North Ngo Dinh Diem, a corrupt dictator, ruled the South with US backing (the Lesser of Two Evils) http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=vietnam+north+south+map&view=detail&= &id=5902B39437789D6FD842B59B0AEE2515C6373FC9&first=0&prevver=searc h&&&&&&adlt=strict

5. Stage Four 1963-1964 Between 1958 and 1962 the National Liberation Front (NLF) attacked the South Vietnamese Army. NLF was called Viet Cong by the United States Kennedy sent 16,000 advisors in 1963 to train the South Vietnamese Army in GUERILLA WARFARE. These were the first U.S. troops to land in Vietnam.

6. Stage 5: 1964 - 1968 Following attacks on US Navy (Gulf of Tonkin) Johnson increased US involvement in Vietnam 1965 - Operation Rolling Thunder Operation Rolling Thunder was the title of a gradual and sustained US 2nd Air Division (later Seventh Air Force), US Navy, and Republic of Vietnam Air Force (VNAF) aerial bombardment campaign conducted against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) from 2 March 1965 until 1 November 1968, during the Vietnam War. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Rolling_Thunder2nd Air DivisionSeventh Air ForceRepublic of Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam By 1968 over half a million US troops were in Vietnam 30,000 had died War was costing US $30 billion a year

7. Stage 6: 1968 - 1975 Following the Tet Offensive in 1968 US began to talk peace The Tet Offensive was a military campaign during the Vietnam War that was launched on January 30, 1968. Regular and irregular forces of the People's Army of Vietnam fought against the forces of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), the United States, and their allies. The purpose of the Tet offensive was to utilize the element of surprise and strike military and civilian command and control centers throughout South Vietnam, during a period when no attacks were supposed take place. The operations are referred to as the Tet Offensive because there was a prior agreement to "cease fire" during the Tet festivities (Lunar New Year Celebrations), but the Viet Cong broke the agreement, and launched an attack campaign that began during the early morning hours of 30 January 1968. The initial attacks stunned the US and South Vietnamese armies and took them by surprise, but most were quickly contained and beaten back, inflicting massive casualties on communist forces. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tet_offensive Vietnam WarPeople's Army of VietnamRepublic of VietnamUnited States

8. Nixon introduced "Vietnamization“ Nixon increased air attacks, including attacks on Laos and Cambodia - Ho Chi Minh trail By mid-1973 US accepted the communist takeover of South April 1975 Saigon fell http://www.cartoonistgroup.com/store/add.php?iid=54066f Vietnamization was a policy of the Richard M. Nixon administration during the Vietnam War, as a result of the Viet Cong's Tet Offensive, to "expand, equip, and train South Vietnam's forces and assign to them an ever- increasing combat role, at the same time steadily reducing the number of U.S. combat troops." [Richard M. NixonVietnam War Viet CongTet Offensive [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamization

9. http://www.cartoonistgroup.com/store/add.php?iid=64834