The Trung sisters are honored in Vietnam as national heroines. What did they do in AD 40?Wikipedia, "Trưng sisters". DSST outline area I (5%), c. A tradition of resistance to invaders
Under French rule Vietnam was split into three parts. Which southern part was governed directly as a colony?Wikipedia, "French Indochina". DSST outline area I (5%), d. French conquest and colonialism
While living in France under the name Nguyen Ai Quoc, the future Ho Chi Minh helped found which organization in 1920?Wikipedia, "Ho Chi Minh". DSST outline area I (5%), f. Ho Chi Minh
World War II, the Cold War and the First Indochina War, 1940-1955 5
Ho Chi Minh declared the independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on September 2, 1945. Where?Wikipedia, "Proclamation of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam". DSST outline area II (9%), b. Vietnamese declaration of independence
How did the 1954 Geneva Accords deal with Vietnam?Wikipedia, "1954 Geneva Conference". DSST outline area II (9%), h. The Geneva Conference and American response
President Eisenhower explained the stakes in Indochina in April 1954 with an image that gave a Cold War theory its name. Which theory?Wikipedia, "Domino theory". DSST outline area II (9%), f. Eisenhower's Vietnam policy
The Viet Minh was founded in 1941. What was it?Wikipedia, "Viet Minh". DSST outline area II (9%), a. Vietnam during World War II
What happened at Dien Bien Phu on May 7, 1954?Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, "Dien Bien Phu & the Fall of French Indochina, 1954". DSST outline area II (9%), g. Dienbienphu
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Diem and nation-state building, 1955-1963 6
The Buddhist crisis of 1963 drew world attention in June when the monk Thich Quang Duc did what in Saigon?Wikipedia, "Thích Quảng Đức". DSST outline area III (10%), f. Internal opposition including the Buddhist crisis
How did Ngo Dinh Diem become head of state of South Vietnam in October 1955?Wikipedia, "1955 State of Vietnam referendum". DSST outline area III (10%), a. U.S. support for Diem
Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos could not join a military alliance under the Geneva Agreements. Which alliance, formed in September 1954, placed them in the area it protected all the same?Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, "Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO), 1954". DSST outline area III (10%), c. U.S. military and economic assistance
What happened to Ngo Dinh Diem in the coup of November 1963?Wikipedia, "1963 South Vietnamese coup". DSST outline area III (10%), g. The coup against Diem
What was the purpose of the Strategic Hamlet Program begun in 1962?Wikipedia, "Strategic Hamlet Program". DSST outline area III (10%), e. JFK's commitment to counter-insurgency
Which organization, founded on December 20, 1960, led the insurgency against the Saigon government in the South?Wikipedia, "Viet Cong". DSST outline area III (10%), d. The growing Southern insurgency
L.B. Johnson Americanizes the war, 1964-1965 6
After the Gulf of Tonkin reports, Congress passed a joint resolution on August 7, 1964. What did it hand the president?National Archives, Milestone Documents, "Tonkin Gulf Resolution (1964)". DSST outline area IV (10%), c. The Tonkin Gulf Incident and Resolution
Operation Flaming Dart, in February 1965, was the American answer to what?Wikipedia, "Operation Flaming Dart". DSST outline area IV (10%), e. U.S. air campaign over Vietnam: Flaming Dart to Rolling Thunder
What was Operation Rolling Thunder?Wikipedia, "Operation Rolling Thunder". DSST outline area IV (10%), e. U.S. air campaign over Vietnam: Flaming Dart to Rolling Thunder
Where did the first U.S. ground combat units, two Marine battalions, come ashore in March 1965?Wikipedia, "Operation Rolling Thunder". DSST outline area IV (10%), f. Introduction of U.S. combat troops (March through April 1965)
Which U.S. destroyer exchanged fire with North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin on August 2, 1964?Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, "U.S. Involvement in the Vietnam War: the Gulf of Tonkin and Escalation, 1964". DSST outline area IV (10%), c. The Tonkin Gulf Incident and Resolution
Whom did Lyndon Johnson defeat in the 1964 presidential election?Wikipedia, "1964 United States presidential election". DSST outline area IV (10%), d. The role of Vietnam in the 1964 Presidential Campaign
America takes charge, 1965-1967 6
After years of coups, who was elected president of South Vietnam in 1967 and held the office until 1975?Wikipedia, "Nguyễn Văn Thiệu". DSST outline area V (10%), e. Stabilization of the Saigon regime
In a war without front lines, which figure did the U.S. command use most to measure progress?Wikipedia, "Body count". DSST outline area V (10%), b. Measures of success
What does "search and destroy" describe?Wikipedia, "Search and destroy". DSST outline area V (10%), g. War without fronts: the combat experience
What was the idea behind General William Westmoreland's strategy of attrition?Wikipedia, "William Westmoreland". DSST outline area V (10%), a. Westmoreland's strategy of attrition
What was the purpose of Operation Ranch Hand?Wikipedia, "Operation Ranch Hand". DSST outline area V (10%), d. The impact of the war on Vietnamese society
Why is the Battle of Ia Drang, in November 1965, a landmark of the war?Wikipedia, "Battle of Ia Drang". DSST outline area V (10%), h. Search and destroy: Ia Drang Valley
Home front USA, 1963-1967 5
A New York newspaper first tied the phrase "credibility gap" to the Vietnam War in March 1965. Whose handling of the war was it describing?Wikipedia, "Credibility gap". DSST outline area VI (8%), b. The credibility gap
The Fulbright Hearings on Vietnam, held between 1966 and 1971, were hearings of which body?Wikipedia, "Fulbright Hearings". DSST outline area VI (8%), c. Congressional dissent
"Guns versus butter" in the Johnson years meant a contest for money between the war and what?Wikipedia, "Great Society". DSST outline area VI (8%), a. The Great Society: guns vs. butter
In which speech, given at Riverside Church in New York on April 4, 1967, did Martin Luther King Jr. come out against the war?Wikipedia, "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence". DSST outline area VI (8%), e. The civil rights movement
The Port Huron Statement of 1962 was the manifesto of which group?Wikipedia, "Port Huron Statement". DSST outline area VI (8%), f. The genesis of the New Left
Tet, 1968 5
After traveling to Vietnam in February 1968 to cover the aftermath of Tet, which CBS anchor told viewers the war was "mired in stalemate"?Wikipedia, "Walter Cronkite". DSST outline area VII (9%), d. Reactions in U.S. and Saigon
What did Hanoi's leaders hope the Tet attacks on the cities would set off?Wikipedia, "Tet Offensive". DSST outline area VII (9%), b. Communist objectives
What did President Johnson announce in his televised address of March 31, 1968?Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, "U.S. Involvement in the Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive, 1968". DSST outline area VII (9%), e. LBJ decides not to run
What made the timing of the Tet Offensive, launched at the end of January 1968, a surprise?Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, "U.S. Involvement in the Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive, 1968". DSST outline area VII (9%), c. The Tet offensive
Who won the presidency in November 1968, defeating Hubert Humphrey and George Wallace?Wikipedia, "1968 United States presidential election". DSST outline area VII (9%), g. The 1968 election
Vietnamizing the war, 1969-1973 6
How did the North Vietnamese offensive of spring 1972, the Easter Offensive, differ from earlier communist attacks?Wikipedia, "Easter Offensive". DSST outline area VIII (10%), f. The 1972 Spring offensive
President Thieu rejected the peace settlement that Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho reached in October 1972. What was his main objection?Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, "Ending the Vietnam War, 1969-1973". DSST outline area VIII (10%), g. The October agreement
What was the "Christmas bombing" of December 1972?Wikipedia, "Operation Linebacker II". DSST outline area VIII (10%), h. The Christmas bombing
What was the aim of the Phoenix Program?Wikipedia, "Phoenix Program". DSST outline area VIII (10%), c. Pacification and the Phoenix program
What was Vietnamization?Wikipedia, "Vietnamization". DSST outline area VIII (10%), a. Nixon, Kissinger, and Vietnamization
Who was the only American soldier convicted for the killing of unarmed villagers at My Lai in March 1968?Wikipedia, "My Lai massacre". DSST outline area VIII (10%), d. My Lai and the deterioration of the U.S. military
The war at home, 1968-1972 5
The 1968 Democratic National Convention is remembered for televised clashes between antiwar protesters and police in which city?Wikipedia, "1968 Democratic National Convention protests". DSST outline area IX (8%), c. The Miami and Chicago conventions
What did the Supreme Court decide in New York Times Co. v. United States (1971)?Wikipedia, "New York Times Co. v. United States". DSST outline area IX (8%), e. The Pentagon Papers
What happened at Kent State University on May 4, 1970?Wikipedia, "Kent State shootings". DSST outline area IX (8%), a. Campus unrest
What was the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam, first held on October 15, 1969?Wikipedia, "Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam". DSST outline area IX (8%), b. Peace activists and moratoria
Whom did President Nixon mean by the "silent majority" in his speech of November 3, 1969?Wikipedia, "Silent majority". DSST outline area IX (8%), d. The counterculture, antiwar movement, and silent majority
Cambodia and Laos 5
What did the Geneva agreement of July 1962 provide for Laos?Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, "The Laos Crisis, 1960-1963". DSST outline area X (8%), b. JFK and Laotian neutrality (1962)
What was Operation Menu?Wikipedia, "Operation Menu". DSST outline area X (8%), g. The secret bombing of Laos and Cambodia
What was the Ho Chi Minh Trail?Wikipedia, "Ho Chi Minh trail". DSST outline area X (8%), c. Ho Chi Minh Trail
Which force captured Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975?Wikipedia, "Fall of Phnom Penh". DSST outline area X (8%), h. The Khmer Rouge and the fall of Phnom Penh (1975)
Whom did General Lon Nol remove from power in Cambodia in March 1970, weeks before U.S. and South Vietnamese troops crossed the border?Wikipedia, "Cambodian campaign". DSST outline area X (8%), f. Lon Nol and the U.S. incursion
"A decent interval" 5
In March 1975 North Vietnamese forces attacked the Central Highlands from Cambodia and captured which city?Wikipedia, "1975 spring offensive". DSST outline area XI (8%), d. The Great Spring Offensive
The War Powers Resolution of 1973 became law over President Nixon's veto. What does it require?Wikipedia, "War Powers Resolution". DSST outline area XI (8%), c. Congressional passage of the War Powers Act
What did the Case-Church Amendment, passed by Congress in June 1973, do?Wikipedia, "Case–Church Amendment". DSST outline area XI (8%), a. The cease-fire violations
What was Operation Frequent Wind, carried out on April 29 and 30, 1975?Wikipedia, "Operation Frequent Wind". DSST outline area XI (8%), e. The fall of Saigon
Who became president when Richard Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974?Wikipedia, "Watergate scandal". DSST outline area XI (8%), b. Watergate and Nixon's resignation
U.S. legacies and lessons 3
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, established in 1982, lists the names of American service members who died or remain missing. Who designed it?Wikipedia, "Vietnam Veterans Memorial". DSST outline area XII (5%), c. The experience of returning vets
What does the term "Vietnam Syndrome" refer to?Wikipedia, "Vietnam syndrome". DSST outline area XII (5%), b. The impact of the Vietnam Syndrome on American foreign policy
Which lasting change to the U.S. military came in 1973, as American involvement in the war ended?Wikipedia, "Conscription in the United States". DSST outline area XII (5%), e. The impact on the U.S. military
How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the exam content outline in the DSST fact sheet for A History of the Vietnam War (Prometric, Rev 06/2018, https://getcollegecredit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/AHistoryOfTheVietnamWar.pdf, read 2026-10-13): Vietnam Before 1940 5%, World War II, the Cold War and the First Indochina War 9%, Diem and Nation-State Building 10%, L.B. Johnson Americanizes the War 10%, America Takes Charge 10%, Home Front USA 8%, Tet 9%, Vietnamizing the War 10%, The War at Home 8%, Cambodia and Laos 8%, "A Decent Interval" 8%, U.S. Legacies and Lessons 5%. This bank holds 60: 3, 5, 6, 6, 6, 5, 5, 6, 5, 5, 5 and 3, the same shares to the nearest question. Every fact was read on 2026-10-13 on the public page named under its question: the State Department's Office of the Historian, the National Archives and Wikipedia. Licence: Questions, choices and explanations are original work of this site.
How it works
This A History of the Vietnam War DSST practice test has 60 questions of our own across the fact sheet's twelve areas. It is unofficial and not affiliated with Prometric, the owner of the DSST exams, or endorsed by it.
Read the full guide
What the exam covers
The fact sheet (Rev 06/2018) lists twelve areas: Vietnam before 1940 5%; World War II and the First Indochina War 9%; Diem 10%; Johnson Americanizes the war 10%; America takes charge 10%; the home front 8%; Tet 9%; Vietnamizing the war 10%; the war at home 8%; Cambodia and Laos 8%; "a decent interval" 8%; legacies and lessons 5%. The bank holds 3, 5, 6, 6, 6, 5, 5, 6, 5, 5, 5 and 3.
More than the battlefield
Two areas of 8% each are the United States at home, and another 8% is Cambodia and Laos, so campaign history alone leaves gaps.
No area is above 10%, so the questions spread evenly from French rule to 1975. The early chapters count as much as Tet.
Learn the operation names in pairs: Flaming Dart and Rolling Thunder, Linebacker II and the Christmas bombing, Menu and the secret bombing of Cambodia.
Questions and answers
How many questions are on the A History of the Vietnam War DSST?
The fact sheet gives 100 questions and a 2-hour limit, and notes that some are unscored pretest items. Here, exam mode sets 50 questions against 60 minutes.
What score do you need to pass the Vietnam War DSST?
There is no published percent. ACE, the American Council on Education, recommends 3 semester hours of lower-level baccalaureate credit for a score of at least 400. Whether you get the credit is up to your college.
Is there a study guide for the Vietnam War DSST?
Prometric's fact sheet is free and lists the twelve areas, their weights and seven references, among them Herring's America's Longest War and Karnow's Vietnam: A History. On this page every explanation names the State Department, National Archives or Wikipedia page it rests on.
Are these real Vietnam War DSST questions?
No. The 60 questions are ours, written line by line from the outline. We did not copy or rework any exam item or any sample from the fact sheet, and a score here predicts nothing about test day.