• 1940-1945 — Leading up to and during World War II, Japan occupies Indochina, allowing the Vichy French government to retain nominal control over much of its former colonial territory, including Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
  • 15 August 1945 — Japan unconditionally surrenders to Allied Powers, creating a massive power vacuum across the Asia-Pacific region.
  • 02 September 1945 — Japan signs the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, officially ending World War II. That same day, in the city of Hanoi, Ho Chí Minh declares Vietnamese independence, founding the communist Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV).
  • 19 December 1946 — The First Indochina War begins between the communist forces of the DRV and the French colonial interests seeking to retake their former colonies.
  • 01 May 1950 — U.S. President Harry Truman approves $10 million USD in military assistance to support anti-communist efforts in Indochina.
  • 26 April 1954 — The Geneva Conference is convened to resolve outstanding issues in Korea and ongoing hostilities in Indochina.
  • 7 May 1954 — The French are decisively defeated by the DRV at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu.
  • 20 July 1954 — Parties to the Geneva Conference agree to divide the country of Vietnam into two “zones” at the 17th Parallel: the northern Democratic Republic of Vietnam, and the southern State of Vietnam, led by Emperor Bao Dai. This division was intended to be temporary pending reunification elections that were to occur in 1956.
  • 1954 — Emperor Bao Dai asks Ngo Dinh Diem to serve as Prime Minister of the State of Vietnam.
  • 26 October 1955 — Prime Minister Diem deposes Emperor Bao Dai and declares himself President of the newly formed Republic of Vietnam (RVN).
  • 01 November 1955 — U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower deploys American servicemen as part of the Vietnam Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) to train the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, This action is considered the official beginning of American involvement in the Vietnam war. During this time, the DRV engages in violent “anti-landlord” campaigns in the north, deposing landholders of property in a forced redistribution of wealth.
  • April 1956 — Last French troops leave Vietnam. The national unification elections planned for at the 1954 Geneva Conference fail to occur.
  • 08 June 1956 — Air Force T-Sgt. Richard B. Fitzgibbon Jr. becomes the first American war casualty when he is murdered by a fellow U.S. serviceman following an argument.
  • December 1958 — The DRV invades Laos. Laos would become an important part of the DRV’s logistics system, known to some as the Ho Chi Minh Trail, supplying goods, arms, and troops between the DRV and sympathetic forces in the Republic of Vietnam.
  • 20 December 1960 — The National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (Viet Cong) is formed by the DRV as an insurgency movement inside the Republic of Vietnam.
  • May 1961 — U.S. President John F. Kennedy, Jr. authorizes 500 Special Forces troops and military advisers to assist the Republic of Vietnam.
  • November 1961 — The United States Joint Chiefs of Staff directs Commander-in-Chief, Pacific (CINCPAC) to look into the RVN Navy’s poor performance against DRV infiltration.
  • 11 June 1963 — Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc self-immolates in Saigon to protest RVN President Diem’s persecution of Buddhists.
  • 02 September 1963 — President Kennedy criticizes President Diệm in an interview with Walter Cronkite, citing his repression of Buddhists and claims that Diệm is out of touch with his countrymen.
  • 02 November 1963 — President Diem is assassinated in a military coup. Gen. Duong Van Minh, leading the Revolutionary Military Committee of the dissident generals who had conducted the coup, takes over leadership of RVN. A period of instability culminating in a series of military coups would continue until the U.S.-ordered elections of 1967.
  • 22 November 1963 — President Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, TX.
  • 27 July 1964 — American President Lyndon B. Johnson sends 5,000 additional military advisors to Vietnam.
  • 02 August 1964 — Gulf of Tonkin Incident leads Congress to grant President Johnson authority to assist any Southeast Asian country whose government was “jeopardized by communist aggression”. The resolution serves as Johnson’s legal justification to begin open warfare against the DRV.
  • 16 February 1965 — A U.S. Army helicopter pilot flying over Vung Ro Bay near Qui Nhon notices an “island” moving slowly from one side of the bay to the other. Upon closer observation, he discovers the “island” was a carefully camouflaged ship. Air strikes were called in, destroying the ship. Intelligence sources determine the ship was DRV and engaged in supplying enemy forces.
  • 8 March 1965 — The first U.S. combat troops arrive in Vietnam as 3500 Marines land at My Khe Beach to defend the American air base at Da Nang. They join 23,000 American military advisers already in Vietnam. Over the course of this year, troop levels make a significant rise to approximately 185,000.
  • March 1965 — The Coastal Surveillance Force is established, creating a single command to coordinate sea, air and land units of the U.S. Navy and South Vietnamese naval units.
  • 29 April 1965 — President Lyndon B. Johnson commits to the formation of Coast Guard Squadron One (RON ONE) for service in Vietnam.
  • June 1965 — Gerry McGill graduates from the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT.
  • 16 July 1965 — Division 12 of RON ONE departs from Subic Bay, Philippines for Da Nang. It arrives on 20 July and begins security and surveillance patrols the following day. Forty-seven officers and 198 enlisted personnel were assigned to RON ONE.
  • 19 September 1965 — First Coast Guard engagements in Vietnam War occur, near the Cambodian Border in the Gulf of Thailand. In two separate incidents on the same day, the USCGC Point Marone (WPB 82321) and the USCGC Point Glover (WPB 82307) come under fire by Viet Cong forces and return fire, resulting in the destruction of the Viet Cong vessels. No Coast Guardsmen are injured in either encounter.
  • 1966 — President Johnson again expands the number of troops being sent into Vietnam to 385,000.
  • 1967 — American troop levels continue to rise, with 485,600 military personnel in-country.
  • 3 September 1967 — Military General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu is elected President of the Republic of Vietnam. He would remain in office until the fall of Saigon in 1975.
  • 17 October 1967 — Lt. (jg) McGill arrives in Saigon, RVN.
  • 22 October 1967 — Lt. (jg) McGill assumes command of 82′ Point-class cutter, the Point Welcome (WPB 82329) at Cat Lo, Coast Guard Division 13.
  • 26 October 1967 — Point Welcome is reassigned from Division 13 to Coast Guard Division 12, Da Nang, RVN.
  • 30 January 1968 — Tet Offensive Begins.
  • 01 March 1968 — Point Welcome is involved in an Operation Market Time event in which 3 enemy trawlers are captured, destroyed, or lead to self-destruct. A fourth enemy vessel aborts their mission.
  • 16 March 1968 — Senator Robert F. Kennedy announces his intent to primary sitting President Johnson. Polls indicate Kennedy would be the more popular candidate.
  • 31 March 1968 President Johnson addresses the nation reporting his decision not to seek reelection and announcing steps to limit the war in Vietnam.
  • 23 May 1968 — Lt. (jg) McGill is reassigned to CG Division 12 as the Readiness, Psychological, Operational and Intelligence Officer.
  • 1968 — American troops in Vietnam reach war time peak of approximately 536,000.
  • 10 October 1968 — Lt. (jg) McGill flies out of Danang, Vietnam, bound for a new assignment in the United States.
  • 29 April 1970 — Point Welcome is decommissioned and transferred to Republic of Vietnam Navy.
  • 27 January 27 1973 — President Nixon signs the Paris Peace Accords on behalf of the United States, officially ending direct U.S. involvement in Vietnam. In the Accords, also signed by representatives of the DRV, RVN, and Viet Cong, the parties agree to implement a cease-fire and work cooperatively to establish precise delineations of government zones of control. The ceasefire does not last beyond one month.
  • 29 April 1975 — American Radio Service announces that the temperature in Saigon is “105 degrees and rising” and starts playing the song “White Christmas,” in a signal to American Embassy personnel to go to their nearest assembly point for final evacuation from Saigon as the DRV take the city. The war is over.