April 12

This Day in History

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Lead Story
The Civil War begins, 1861
American Revolution
British repeal hated Townshend Act, 1770
Automotive
Founder of classic British sports car company is born, 1888
Civil War
Fort Sumter fired upon, 1861
Cold War
President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies, 1945
Crime
Galileo is convicted of heresy, 1633
Disaster
Fire threatens Massachusetts oil refineries, 1908
General Interest
The Fort Pillow Massacre, 1864
President Roosevelt dies, 1945
First man in space, 1961
First launching of the space shuttle, 1981
Hollywood
First movie “palace” opens, 1914
Literary
Legal thriller writer Scott Turow is born, 1949
Music
Bill Haley and the Comets record "Rock Around The Clock", 1954
Old West
First gentile governor arrives in Utah, 1858
Presidential
FDR dies, 1945
Sports
Lawrence Taylor drafted by NY Giants, 1981
Vietnam War
Rostow recommends escalation of effort, 1961
U.S. Embassy in Cambodia evacuated, 1975
World War I
Canadians capture Vimy Ridge, 1917
World War II
Roosevelt dies, 1945

Vietnam War

Apr 12, 1961:

Rostow recommends escalation of effort

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Walt W. Rostow, senior White House specialist on Southeast Asia and a principal architect of U.S. counterinsurgency doctrine, delivers a memorandum to President John F. Kennedy asserting that the time has come for "gearing up the whole Vietnam operation." Rostow's proposals, almost all of which eventually became policy, included: a visit to Vietnam by the vice president; increasing the number of American Special Forces; increasing funds for South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem; and "persuading Diem to move more rapidly to broaden the base of his government, as well as to decrease its centralization and improve its efficiency."

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This Week in History, Apr 12 - Apr 18

Apr 12, 1961
Rostow recommends escalation of effort
Apr 12, 1975
U.S. Embassy in Cambodia evacuated
Apr 13, 1966
SCLC passes resolution about South Vietnam
Apr 13, 1972
North Vietnamese launch major attack on An Loc
Apr 14, 1965
173rd Airborne Brigade ordered to South Vietnam
Apr 14, 1975
Operation "Baby Lift" concludes
Apr 15, 1967
Antiwar protests held in New York and San Francisco
Apr 15, 1970
U.S. 1st Infantry Division withdraws from Vietnam
Apr 16, 1968
Johnson arrives in Honolulu
Apr 16, 1972
United States resumes bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong
Apr 17, 1972
First antiwar protest of the year is conducted
Apr 17, 1975
Cambodia falls to the Khmer Rouge
Apr 18, 1969
Nixon says prospects for peace in Vietnam are better

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