The State Department acknowledges that the United States had supplied the South Vietnamese armed forces with a "non-lethal gas which disables temporarily" for use "in tactical situations in which the Viet Cong intermingle with or take refuge among non-combatants, rather than use artillery or aerial bombardment." This announcement triggered a storm of criticism worldwide. The North Vietnamese and the Soviets loudly protested the introduction of "poison gas" into the war. Secretary of State Dean Rusk insisted at a news conference on March 24 that the United States was "not embarking upon gas warfare," but was merely employing "a gas which has been commonly adopted by the police forces of the world as riot-control agents."
Also on This Day
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- Stamp Act imposed on American colonies, 1765
- American Revolution
- British pass Stamp Act, 1765
- Automotive
- The origins of the Hummer, 1983
- Civil War
- Confederate General Braxton Bragg is born, 1817
- Cold War
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- Crime
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- Disaster
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- General Interest
- Naval hero killed in duel, 1820
- Arab League formed, 1945
- Equal Rights Amendment passed by Congress, 1972
- Hollywood
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- Literary
- Prolific, best-selling author James Patterson is born, 1947
- Music
- Stephen Sondheim is born, 1930
- Old West
- Louis L'Amour born, 1908
- Presidential
- FDR legalizes sale of beer and wine, 1933
- Sports
- First Stanley Cup championship played, 1894
- Vietnam War
- Officials confirm "non-lethal gas" was provided, 1965
- Westmoreland to depart South Vietnam, 1968
- World War I
- Russians take Austrian garrison at Przemysl, 1915
- World War II
- Cripps and Gandhi meet, 1942
Mar 22, 1965:
Officials confirm "non-lethal gas" was provided
Fact Check We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, contact us!
This Week in History, Mar 22 - Mar 28
- Mar 22, 1965
- Officials confirm "non-lethal gas" was provided
- Mar 22, 1968
- Westmoreland to depart South Vietnam
- Mar 23, 1961
- U.S. plane shot down over Laos
- Mar 23, 1970
- Prince Sihanouk issues a call for arms
- Mar 24, 1965
- First teach-in conducted
- Mar 24, 1975
- North Vietnamese launch "Ho Chi Minh Campaign"
- Mar 25, 1967
- Martin Luther King leads march against the war
- Mar 25, 1968
- Johnson meets with the "Wise Men"
- Mar 26, 1969
- Antiwar demonstration in Washington
- Mar 26, 1975
- Hue falls to the communists
- Mar 27, 1965
- South Vietnamese forces conduct combat operations in Cambodia
- Mar 27, 1973
- Bombing of Cambodia to continue
- Mar 28, 1961
- Diem's popular support questioned
- Mar 28, 1967
- American pacifists arrive in Haiphong
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