The Vietnam War

The Vietnam War. A Salute to Freedom. , Controversy in Battle , The strength of the Soviet Union was revealed by the influence of Communism in the late 1950s. The United States provided military aid and other financial support to the South Vietnamese government to resist occupation by North Vietnamese forces. American became involved in the Vietnam War primarily out of fear that a “chain reaction” might spark throughout all of Southeast Asia if governments began to fall to Communist power., Approximately 2.5 million South Vietnamese, American military advisors, and troops coordinated massive bombing campaigns and ground offenses in the jungles of Vietnam The North Vietnamese communists, whose guerilla fighting tactics proved remarkably resilient, were unable to be crushed. The conflict was long and bloody, ending with the United States’ first major failure to meet its military objectives during combat. About 58,000 American military personnel died in battle and another 300,000 were wounded from 1961 to 1975. The combined loss of life for both North and South Vietnamese eclipsed 1.2 million troops, with almost 1.6 million more being injured., America watches from Home , The Vietnam War is sometimes referred to as the “television war” because of its intense media coverage. The strong division of public opinion about the war was fueled with controversy from the attention. May veterans returning from Vietnam felt betrayed, as though their nation neither recognized nor appreciated their sacrifices. The Vietnam War generated more dissention and painful lessons than heroes and victory celebrations., The Trials of War , The absence of victory in Vietnam, the extended duration of battle, and significant loss of life created skepticism in the public eye about foreign wars. Along with financial cost of nearly $200 billion, troops suffered from the damaging effects of herbicides, including Dioxin or “Agent Orange”, sprayed along roadsides to destroy vegetation. Such chemicals continue to cause many health maladies and birth defects to this day. The land of South Vietnam was devastated, leaving croplands, plant, and animal life permanently damaged., [Timeline:] ,

Early 1962: Operation Ranchland begins. Vast tracts of land are cleared of vegetation with herbicide Agent Orange to prevent Viet Cong ambushes. , January 30-31, 1968: Americans loose 2,500 men on the Tet holiday when the Vietcong invade 100 cities and towns in southern Vietnam. , November 1, 1968: Operation Rolling Thunder ends after three years and a cost of 900 American aircraft, 800 pilots, and hundreds in captivity. , June 8, 1969: President Nixon withdraws 25,000 U.S. troops. , January 1, 1972: Two-thirds of American troops have been withdrawn in the last two years. The ground war belongs almost exclusively to South Vietnam. , December 13, 1972: Peace talks between North Vietnamese and Americans break down. , December 18, 1972: Three-day bombing campaign with 120 B-52’s drop 20,000 tons of bombs over North Vietnam. , January 8, 1973: North Vietnam and United States resume peace talks. , January 2, 1973: All parties of Vietnam War sign a cease fire. , March 1973: For the U.S. the war is officially over. , March 25, 1975: South Vietnam’s third largest city falls. , April 29, 1975: U.S. Marines airlift 1,000 America ad 7,000 South Vietnam refugees from Saigon. , April 30, 1975: Last two Americans are killed by a rocket attack. Hours later North Vietnamese tanks invade Saigon ending the war.