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Milestones of the escalation under President John F. Kennedy.
November 1960 — Coup attempt by paratroopers is foiled after Diem falsely promises reform, allowing loyalists to crush the rebels.
December 20, 1960 — The National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (NLF) is founded.
January 1961 — Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev pledges support for "wars of national liberation" throughout the world. The idea of creating a neutral Laos is suggested to Kennedy.
[b]May 1961 — Kennedy sends 400 United States Army Special Forces personnel to South Vietnam to train South Vietnamese soldiers following a visit to the country by Vice-President Johnson.
June 1961 — Kennedy meets with Khrushchev in Vienna. He protests North Vietnam's attacks on Laos and points out that the U.S. was supporting the neutrality of Laos. The two leaders agree to pursue a policy of creating a neutral Laos.
June 1961 — Kennedy said, "Now we have a problem making our power credible and Vietnam looks like the place" to James Reston of The New York Times (immediately after meeting Khrushchev in Vienna).
October 1961 — Following successful NLF attacks, Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara recommends sending six divisions (200,000 men) to Vietnam.
February 8, 1962 - The Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV) is created by President Kennedy
February 1962 — Attempted assassination of Diem by two air force officers who bombed his palace, fails.
July 23, 1962 - International Agreement on the Neutrality of Laos is signed at Geneva, promising Laotian neutrality.
August 1, 1962 — Kennedy signs the Foreign Assistance Act of 1962, which provides "…military assistance to countries which are on the rim of the Communist world and under direct attack."
January 3, 1963 — NLF victory in the Battle of Ap Bac.
May 8, 1963 — Buddhists demonstrate in Huế, South Vietnam after the display of religious flags were prohibited, during the celebration of Vesak, Gautama Buddha's birthday; but, Catholic flags celebrating the consecration of Archbishop Ngo Dinh Thuc, brother of Ngo Dinh Diem were not prohibited. The police of Ngô Đình Cẩn, Diem's younger brother, open fire, killing nine.
May 1963 — Republican Barry Goldwater declares that the U.S. should fight to win or withdraw from Vietnam. Later on, during his presidential campaign against Lyndon B. Johnson, his Democratic opponents accuse him of wanting to use nuclear weapons in the conflict.
June 11, 1963 — Photographs of protesting Buddhist monk, Thích Quảng Đức, burning himself to death in protest, in Saigon, appear in U.S. newspapers.
Summer 1963 — Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu, defacto First Lady to the bachelor Diem makes a series of vitriolic attacks on Buddhists, calling the immolations "barbecues". Diem ignores US calls to silence her.
August 21, 1963 — ARVN special forces loyal to Ngo Dinh Nhu, younger brother of Diem, stage raids across the country, attacking Buddhist temples and firing on monks. The cremated remains of Thích Quảng Đức are confiscated from Xa Loi Pagoda in Saigon. New US ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge rebukes Diem by visiting Xa Loi and giving refuge to Buddhist leader Thich Tri Quang. The US calls for Nhu to be dropped by Diem, and threatens to cut aid to Colonel Le Quang Tung's Special Forces if they are not sent into battle, rather than used to repress dissidents.
September 2, 1963 — Kennedy criticises the Diem regime in an interview with Walter Cronkite, citing the Buddhist repression and claiming that Diem is out of touch.
Late October 1963 — Nhu, unaware that Saigon region commander General Ton That Dinh is double-crossing him, draws up plans for a phony coup and counter coup to reaffirm the Diem regime. Dinh sends Nhu's loyal special forces out of Saigon on the pretext of fighting communists and in readiness for the counter coup, and rings Saigon with rebel troops.
November 1, 1963 — Military officers launch a coup d'état against Diem, with the tacit approval of the Kennedy administration. Diem and Nhu escape the presidential residence via a secret exit after loyalist forces were locked out of Saigon, unable to rescue them.
November 2, 1963 — Diem and Nhu are discovered in nearby Cholon. Although they had been promised exile by the junta, they are executed by Nguyen Van Nhung, bodyguard of General Duong Van Minh. Minh leads the military junta.
November 1963 — By this time, Kennedy had increased the number of military personnel from the 900 that were there when he became President to 16,000 just before his death.[5]
November 22, 1963 — Kennedy is assassinated.
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RE: WMD in the Mideast. - 
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