1329. Vietnam War.

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ  , الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ , الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ ,  مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ , إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ , اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ المُسْتَقِيمَ  , صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ , غَيْرِ المَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ الضَّالِّينَ.

Assalamualaikum w.b.t/السَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُه

Who TERRORIST!. Vietnam War . 

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Vietnam War (Chiến tranh Việt Nam/Chiến tranh Mỹ)
Part of the Indochina Wars and the Cold War
A Bell UH-1D helicopter climbs skyward after discharging a load of U.S. infantrymen on a search and destroy mission
Date 1 November 1955[A 1] – 30 April 1975 (19 years, 5 months, 4 weeks and 1 day) Location South Vietnam, North Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand[1] Result North Vietnamese victory Withdrawal of American forces from Indochina Communist governments take power in South Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos South Vietnam is annexed by North Vietnam Territorial changes Unification of North and South Vietnam into the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Belligerents
Anti-communist forces: South Vietnam United States South Korea Australia New Zealand Thailand Khmer Republic Kingdom of Laos Supported by: Philippines Spain[2] Taiwan[3]	Communist forces: North Vietnam Viet Cong Khmer Rouge Pathet Lao Supported by:  Soviet Union  China  Cuba[4][5]  North Korea  Czechoslovakia[6][7] Bulgaria[8]  Burma[9]
Commanders and leaders
Ngô Đình Diệm Nguyễn Văn Thiệu Nguyễn Cao Kỳ Cao Văn Viên Ngô Quang Trưởng John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Johnson Richard Nixon William Westmoreland Creighton Abrams Robert McNamara Park Chung-hee Chae Myung Shin Robert Menzies Harold Holt Keith Holyoake ...and others	Hồ Chí Minh Lê Duẩn Võ Nguyên Giáp Văn Tiến Dũng Lê Trọng Tấn Phạm Văn Đồng Hoàng Văn Thái Trần Văn Trà Nguyễn Văn Linh Nguyễn Hữu Thọ ...and others
Strength
~1,830,000 (1968) South Vietnam: 850,000 United States: 536,100 Free World Military Forces: 65,000[10][11] South Korea: 50,000[12] Australia: 7,672 Thailand, Philippines: 10,450 New Zealand: 552	461,000+ North Vietnam: 287,465 (January 1968)[13] China: 170,000 (1969) Soviet Union: 3,000 North Korea: 300–600
Casualties and losses
South Vietnam 195,000–430,000 civilian dead[14][15] 220,357[16] – 313,000 military dead[17] 1,170,000 wounded[citation needed] United States 58,220 dead;[A 2] 303,644 wounded[A 2] South Korea 5,099 dead; 10,962 wounded; 4 missing Australia 500 dead; 3,129 wounded [18] New Zealand 37 dead; 187 wounded [19] Thailand 351 dead;1,358 wounded[20] Total dead: 480,538–807,564 Total wounded: ~1,490,000+[citation needed]	North Vietnam & Viet Cong 50,000[21]-65,000[14] civilian dead 400,000[14]–1,100,000 military dead or missing[22] 600,000+ wounded[23] China 1,446 dead; 4,200 wounded Soviet Union 16 dead[24] Total dead: 451,462–1,166,462 Total wounded: ~604,200
Vietnamese civilian dead: 245,000–2,000,000[25] Cambodian Civil War dead: 200,000–300,000*[26][27][28] Laotian Civil War dead: 20,000–200,000* Total civilian dead: 465,000–2,500,000** Total dead: 1,102,000–3,886,026 * indicates approximations, see Casualties below For more information see Vietnam War casualties ** This figure includes all of the dead from the Laotian and Cambodian civil wars.

[hide] v t e Indochina Wars Operation Masterdom First Second Laotian Civil War Cambodian Civil War Cambodian-Vietnamese Sino-Vietnamese

[hide] v t e Military engagements of the Vietnam War Laos Sunrise 1st Ap Bac Go Cong Hiep Hoa Chan La 34A Long Dinh Kien Long Quyet Thang 202 USNS Card Nam Dong An Lao Bình Gia Camp Holloway Song Be Ba Gia Đồng Xoài Ka Nak Deo Nhong American Intervention Nui Thanh Chu Lai Starlite Plei Me Minh Thanh Hump Gang Toi 1st Bau Bang Ia Drang Valley Crimp Masher/White Wing Suoi Bong Trang Cu Nghi Kim Son Valley A Shau Birmingham Xa Cam My 1st Dong Ha Wahiawa Hastings Minh Thanh Road Prairie Duc Co Long Tan Beaver Cage Attleboro Bong Son Tân Sơn Nhứt airbase Lam Son II LZ Bird Cedar Falls Tuscaloosa Tra Binh Dong Bribie Junction City Ap Gu Suoi Tre 2nd Bau Bang Francis Marion Union Hill 881 2nd Ap Bac 1st Con Thien Malheur I and Malheur II Baker Nine Days in May Union II Vinh Huy Buffalo 2nd Con Thien Hong Kil Dong Suoi Chau Pha Swift Dong Son Wheeler/Wallowa 3rd Con Thien Medina Ông Thanh 1st Loc Ninh Kingfisher Kentucky 1st Dak To Mekong Delta Tam Quan Thom Tham Khe Phoenix Coburg 1968 Offensives New Year's Day Battle of 1968 Khe Sanh 1st Tet 1st Saigon Huế 1st Quảng Trị Ban Houei Sane Lang Vei Lima Site 85 Toan Thang I Delaware 2nd Dong Ha May '68 Kham Duc Coral–Balmoral Hoa Da-Song Mao Duc Lap Speedy Express Drawdown 1968–73 Dewey Canyon Taylor Common 2nd Tet Apache Snow Hamburger Hill Twinkletoes Binh Ba Pat To LZ Kate Bu Prang Kent State Texas Star Chicago Peak Khe Gio Bridge FSB Ripcord 1st Cambodia Kompong Speu Prey Veng 2nd Cambodia Snuol Tailwind Jefferson Glenn Hat Dich Lam Son 719 Ban Dong Hill 723 Son Tay Raid Chenla I Chenla II FSB Mary Ann Long Khanh Nui Le Easter Offensive 2nd Quảng Trị 3rd Quảng Trị 2nd Loc Ninh An Lộc 3rd Dong Ha 2nd Dak To Kontum Thunderhead Post-Paris Peace Accord (1973–1974) End Sweep Iron Triangle Svay Rieng 'Spring '75' Phuoc Long Ban Me Thuot Hue-Da Nang Xuân Lộc 2nd Saigon Air operations Farm Gate Chopper Ranch Hand Pierce Arrow Barrel Roll Pony Express Flaming Dart Iron Hand Rolling Thunder Steel Tiger Arc Light Tiger Hound Shed Light Thanh Hóa Bolo Popeye Yen Vien Niagara Niagara II 1st Do Luong 2nd Do Luong Igloo White Giant Lance Commando Hunt Menu Patio Freedom Deal Linebacker I Enhance Plus Linebacker II Homecoming Tan Son Nhut Air Base Babylift New Life Eagle Pull Frequent Wind Naval operations Gulf of Tonkin Market Time Vung Ro Bay Game Warden Double Eagle Sea Dragon Deckhouse Five Bo De River, Nha Trang, Tha Cau River Sealords Hai Phong Harbor Đồng Hới Pocket Money Custom Tailor End Sweep Hoang Sa East Sea Mayaguez

The Vietnam War (Vietnamese: Chiến tranh Việt Nam, although in Vietnam this period of American involvement is known as the American War, Vietnamese: Chiến tranh Mỹ), also known as the Second Indochina War,^[29] was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955^{[A 1]} to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam—supported by China and other communist allies—and the government of South Vietnam—supported by the United States and other anti-communist countries.^[34] The Viet Cong (also known as the National Liberation Front, or NLF), a lightly armed South Vietnamese communist common front directed by the North, largely fought a guerrilla war against anti-communist forces in the region. The Vietnam People's Army (North Vietnamese Army) engaged in a more conventional war, at times committing large units into battle. U.S. and South Vietnamese forces relied on air superiority and overwhelming firepower to conduct search and destroy operations, involving ground forces, artillery, and airstrikes.
The U.S. government viewed American involvement in the war as a way to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam. This was part of their wider strategy of containment, which aimed to stop the spread of communism. The North Vietnamese government and the Viet Cong were fighting to reunify Vietnam under communist rule. They viewed the conflict as a colonial war, fought initially against France, then against America as France was backed by the U.S., and later against South Vietnam, which it regarded as a U.S. puppet state.^[35] Beginning in 1950, American military advisors arrived in what was then French Indochina. U.S. involvement escalated in the early 1960s, with troop levels tripling in 1961 and again in 1962.^[36] U.S. combat units were deployed beginning in 1965. Operations crossed international borders, with Laos and Cambodia heavily bombed as part of a bombing campaign to eradicate the Viet Cong. American involvement in the war peaked in 1968, at the time of the Tet Offensive. After this, U.S. ground forces were gradually withdrawn as part of a policy known as Vietnamization, which aimed to end American involvement in the war. Despite the Paris Peace Accords, which was signed by all parties in January 1973, the fighting continued.
U.S. military involvement ended on 15 August 1973 as a result of the Case–Church Amendment passed by the U.S. Congress.^[37] The capture of Saigon by the Vietnam People's Army in April 1975 marked the end of the war, and North and South Vietnam were reunified the following year. The war exacted a huge human cost in terms of fatalities (see Vietnam War casualties). Estimates of the number of Vietnamese service members and civilians killed vary from 800,000^[38] to 3.1 million.^[22][25] Some 200,000–300,000 Cambodians,^[26][27][28] 20,000–200,000 Laotians,^{[39][40][41][42][43][44]} and 58,220 U.S. service members also died in the conflict.^{[A 2]}

Contents

• 1 Names for the War
• 2 Background to 1949
• 3 Exit of the French, 1950–1954
• 4 Transition period
• 5 Diem era, 1955–1963
  • 5.1 Rule
  • 5.2 Insurgency in the South, 1954–1960
    • 5.2.1 North Vietnamese involvement
• 6 The Kennedy years, 1961–1963
  • 6.1 Ousting and Assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem
• 7 Lyndon B. Johnson's escalation, 1963–1969
  • 7.1 Escalation and ground war
  • 7.2 The Tet Offensive
• 8 Vietnamization, 1969–1972
  • 8.1 Nixon Doctrine / Vietnamization
  • 8.2 Involvement of Cambodia and Laos
  • 8.3 1972 election and Paris Peace Accords
• 9 Opposition to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War: 1962–1973
• 10 Exit of the Americans: 1973–1975
  • 10.1 Campaign 275
  • 10.2 Final North Vietnamese offensive
  • 10.3 Fall of Saigon
• 11 Other countries' involvement
  • 11.1 Pro-Hanoi
    • 11.1.1 China
    • 11.1.2 Soviet Union
    • 11.1.3 North Korea
    • 11.1.4 Cuba
  • 11.2 Pro-Saigon
    • 11.2.1 South Korea
    • 11.2.2 Australia and New Zealand
    • 11.2.3 Philippines
    • 11.2.4 Thailand
    • 11.2.5 Republic of China (Taiwan)
  • 11.3 Canada and the ICC
• 12 War crimes
  • 12.1 American war crimes
  • 12.2 North Vietnamese, Vietcong, and Khmer Rouge war crimes
• 13 Women in Vietnam
  • 13.1 American nurses
  • 13.2 Vietnamese women
• 14 Weapons
• 15 Aftermath
  • 15.1 Events in Southeast Asia
  • 15.2 Effect on the United States
  • 15.3 Chemical defoliation
  • 15.4 Casualties
  • 15.5 Popular culture
• 16 See also
• 17 Annotations
• 18 Notes
• 19 References
  • 19.1 Secondary sources
  • 19.2 Primary sources
  • 19.3 Historiography
• 20 External links

Names for the War

Further information: Terminology of the Vietnam War

Various names have been applied to the conflict. Vietnam War is the most commonly used name in English. It has also been called the Second Indochina War, and the Vietnam Conflict.
As there have been so many conflicts in Indochina, this conflict is known by the name of their chief opponent to distinguish it from the others.^[49] In Vietnamese, the war is generally known as Chiến tranh Việt Nam (The Vietnam War). It is also called Kháng chiến chống Mỹ (Resistance War Against America), loosely translated as the American War.^[50]
The main military organizations involved in the war were, on one side, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and the U.S. military, and, on the other side, the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) (also known as the North Vietnamese Army, or NVA), and the Viet Cong, or National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF), a South Vietnamese communist guerrilla force.

Background to 1949

See also: History of Vietnam, Cochinchina Campaign, Can Vuong, Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang, Yen Bai mutiny, Vietnam during World War II, and War in Vietnam (1945–1946)

France began its conquest of Indochina in the late 1850s, and completed pacification by 1893.^[51][52][53] The Treaty of Huế, concluded in 1884, formed the basis for French colonial rule in Vietnam for the next seven decades. In spite of military resistance, most notably by the Can Vuong of Phan Dinh Phung, by 1888 the area of the current-day nations of Cambodia and Vietnam was made into the colony of French Indochina (Laos was added later).^[54] Various Vietnamese opposition movements to French rule existed during this period, such as the Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang who staged the failed Yen Bai mutiny in 1930, but none were ultimately as successful as the Viet Minh common front, which was founded in 1941, controlled by the Indochinese Communist Party, and funded by the U.S. and the Chinese Nationalist Party in its fight against Japanese occupation.^{[55][A 3]}
During World War II, the French were defeated by the Germans in 1940. For French Indochina, this meant that the colonial authorities became Vichy French, allies of the German-Italian Axis powers. In turn this meant that the French collaborated with the Japanese forces after their invasion of French Indochina during 1940. The French continued to run affairs in the colony, but ultimate power resided in the hands of the Japanese.^[55]
The Viet Minh was founded as a league for independence from France, but also opposed Japanese occupation in 1945 for the same reason. The U.S. and Chinese Nationalist Party supported them in the fight against the Japanese.^[57] However, they did not have enough power to fight actual battles at first. Viet Minh leader Ho Chi Minh was suspected of being a communist and jailed for a year by the Chinese Nationalist Party.^[58]
Double occupation by France and Japan continued until the German forces were expelled from France and the French Indochina colonial authorities started holding secret talks with the Free French. Fearing that they could no longer trust the French authorities, the Japanese army interned them all on 9 March 1945^[59] and created a puppet state instead, the Empire of Vietnam, under Bảo Đại.
During 1944–1945, a deep famine struck northern Vietnam due to a combination of bad weather and French/Japanese exploitation (French Indochina had to supply grains to Japan).^[60] Between 400,000 and 2 million^[38] people died of starvation (out of a population of 10 million in the affected area).^[61] Exploiting the administrative gap^[62] that the internment of the French had created, the Viet Minh in March 1945 urged the population to ransack rice warehouses and refuse to pay their taxes.^[63] Between 75 and 100 warehouses were consequently raided.^[64] This rebellion against the effects of the famine and the authorities that were partially responsible for it bolstered the Viet Minh's popularity and they recruited many members during this period.^[62]
On 22 August 1945, following the Japanese surrender OSS agents Archimedes Patti and Carleton B. Swift Jr. arrived in Hanoi on a mercy mission to liberate allied POWs and were accompanied by Jean Sainteny a French government official.^[65] The Japanese forces informally surrendered (the official surrender took place on 2 Sep 1945 in Tokyo Bay) but being the only force capable of maintaining law and order the Japanese Imperial Army remained in power while keeping French colonial troops and Sainteny detained.^[66]
During August the Japanese forces allowed the Việt Minh and other nationalist groups to take over public buildings and weapons without resistance, which began the August Revolution. OSS officers met repeatedly with Ho Chi Minh and other Viet Minh officers during this period^[67] and on 2 September 1945 Ho Chi Minh declared the independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam before a crowd of 500,000 in Hanoi.^[64] In an overture to the Americans, he began his speech by paraphrasing the United States Declaration of Independence: "All men are created equal. The Creator has given us certain inviolable Rights: the right to Life, the right to be Free, and the right to achieve Happiness."^[64]
The Viet Minh took power across Vietnam in the August Revolution,^[64] with large popular support.^[68] After their defeat in the war, the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) gave weapons to the Vietnamese, and kept Vichy French officials and military officers imprisoned for a month after the surrender. The Việt Minh had recruited more than 600 Japanese soldiers and given them roles to train or command Vietnamese soldiers.^[69][70]

A Japanese naval officer surrenders his sword to a French Lieutenant in Saigon on 13th September 1945.

However, the major allied victors of World War II, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union, all agreed the area belonged to the French.^[64] As the French did not have the ships, weapons, or soldiers to immediately retake Vietnam, the major powers came to an agreement that British troops would occupy the south while Nationalist Chinese forces would move in from the north.^[64] Nationalist Chinese troops entered the country to disarm Japanese troops north of the 16th parallel on 14 September 1945.^[71] When the British landed in the south, they rearmed the interned French forces as well as parts of the surrendered Japanese forces to aid them in retaking southern Vietnam, as they did not have enough troops to do this themselves.^[64]
On the urging of the Soviet Union, Ho Chi Minh initially attempted to negotiate with the French, who were slowly re-establishing their control across the area.^[72] In January 1946, the Viet Minh won elections across central and northern Vietnam.^[73] On 6 March 1946, Ho signed an agreement allowing French forces to replace Nationalist Chinese forces, in exchange for French recognition of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam as a "free" republic within the French Union, with the specifics of such recognition to be determined by future negotiation.^[74][75][76] The French landed in Hanoi by March 1946 and in November of that year they ousted the Viet Minh from the city.^[77] British forces departed on 26 March 1946, leaving Vietnam in the hands of the French.^[78] Soon thereafter, the Viet Minh began a guerrilla war against the French Union forces, beginning the First Indochina War.
The war spread to Laos and Cambodia, where Communists organized the Pathet Lao and the Khmer Serei, both of which were modeled on the Viet Minh.^[79] Globally, the Cold War began in earnest, which meant that the rapprochement that existed between the Western powers and the Soviet Union during World War II disintegrated. The Viet Minh fight was hampered by a lack of weapons; this situation changed by 1949 when the Chinese Communists had largely won the Chinese Civil War and were free to provide arms to their Vietnamese allies.^[79]

Exit of the French, 1950–1954

Main articles: First Indochina War, Operation Vulture, and Operation Passage to Freedom

In January 1950, China and the Soviet Union recognized the Viet Minh's Democratic Republic of Vietnam, based in Hanoi, as the government of Vietnam. The following month the United States and Great Britain recognized the French-backed State of Vietnam in Saigon, led by former Emperor Bảo Đại, as the Vietnamese government.^[80][81] The outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950 convinced many Washington policymakers that the war in Indochina was an example of communist expansionism directed by the Kremlin.^[82]

French soldiers fight off a Viet Minh ambush in 1952.

PRC military advisors began assisting the Viet Minh in July 1950.^[83] PRC weapons, expertise, and laborers transformed the Viet Minh from a guerrilla force into a regular army.^[84] In September 1950, the United States created a Military Assistance and Advisory Group (MAAG) to screen French requests for aid, advise on strategy, and train Vietnamese soldiers.^[85] By 1954, the United States had supplied 300,000 small arms and spent US$1 billion in support of the French military effort, shouldering 80 percent of the cost of the war.^[86]
There were also talks between the French and Americans in which the possible use of three tactical nuclear weapons was considered, though reports of how seriously this was considered and by whom are even now vague and contradictory.^[87][88] One version of the plan for the proposed Operation Vulture envisioned sending 60 B-29s from U.S. bases in the region, supported by as many as 150 fighters launched from U.S. Seventh Fleet carriers, to bomb Viet Minh commander Vo Nguyen Giap's positions. The plan included an option to use up to three atomic weapons on the Viet Minh positions. Admiral Arthur W. Radford, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, gave this nuclear option his backing. U.S. B-29s, B-36s, and B-47s could have executed a nuclear strike, as could carrier aircraft from the Seventh Fleet.^[89]
U.S. carriers sailed to the Gulf of Tonkin, and reconnaissance flights over Dien Bien Phu were conducted during the negotiations. According to U.S. Vice-President Richard Nixon, the plan involved the Joint Chiefs of Staff drawing up plans to use three small tactical nuclear weapons in support of the French.^[87] Nixon, a so-called "hawk" on Vietnam, suggested that the United States might have to "put American boys in".^[90] U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower made American participation contingent on British support, but London was opposed to such a venture.^[90] In the end, convinced that the political risks outweighed the possible benefits, Eisenhower decided against the intervention. Eisenhower was a five-star general. He was wary of getting the United States involved in a land war in Asia.^[91]
The Viet Minh received crucial support from the Soviet Union and PRC. PRC support in the Border Campaign of 1950 allowed supplies to come from the PRC into Vietnam. Throughout the conflict, U.S. intelligence estimates remained skeptical of French chances of success.^[92]
The Battle of Dien Bien Phu marked the end of French involvement in Indochina. Giap's Viet Minh forces handed the French a stunning military defeat, and on 7 May 1954, the French Union garrison surrendered. Of the 12,000 French prisoners taken by the Viet Minh, only 3,000 survived.^[93] At the Geneva Conference, the French negotiated a ceasefire agreement with the Viet Minh, and independence was granted to Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.

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Transition period

Main articles: Geneva Conference (1954), Operation Passage to Freedom, Battle of Saigon (1955), Ba Cut, State of Vietnam referendum, 1955, and Land reform in Vietnam

The Geneva Conference, 1954

Vietnam was temporarily partitioned at the 17th parallel, and under the terms of the Geneva Accords, civilians were to be given the opportunity to move freely between the two provisional states for a 300-day period. Elections throughout the country were to be held in 1956 to establish a unified government.^[94] Around one million northerners, mainly minority Catholics, fled south, fearing persecution by the communists^[95] following an American propaganda campaign using slogans such as "The Virgin Mary is heading south",^[96] and aided by a U.S. funded $93 million relocation program, which included ferrying refugees with the Seventh Fleet.^[97] It is estimated that as many as two million more would have left had they not been stopped by the Viet Minh.^[98] The northern, mainly Catholic refugees were meant to give the later Ngô Đình Diệm regime a strong anti-communist constituency.^[99] Diem later went on to staff his administration's key posts mostly with northern and central Catholics.
In addition to the Catholics flowing south, up to 130,000 "Revolutionary Regroupees" went to the north for "regroupment," expecting to return to the south within two years.^[100] The Viet Minh left roughly 5,000 to 10,000 cadres in the south as a "politico-military substructure within the object of its irredentism."^[101] The last French soldiers were to leave Vietnam in April 1956.^[84] The PRC completed its withdrawal from North Vietnam at around the same time.^[83] Around 52,000 Vietnamese civilians moved from south to north.^[102]
Between 1953 and 1956, the North Vietnamese government instituted various agrarian reforms, including "rent reduction" and "land reform". This was a campaign against land owners. Declassified Politburo documents confirm that 1 in 1,000 North Vietnamese (i.e., about 14,000 people) were the minimum quota targeted for execution during the earlier "rent reduction" campaign; the number killed during the multiple stages of the considerably more radical "land reform" was probably many times greater.^[103] Landlords were arbitrarily classified as 5.68% of the population, but the majority were subject to less severe punishment than execution. Official records from the time suggest that 172,008 "landlords" were executed during the "land reform", of whom 123,266 (71.66%) were later found to be wrongly classified.^[104] A wide range of estimates were previously suggested by independent sources. In 1956, leaders in Hanoi admitted to "excesses" in implementing this program and restored a large amount of the land to the original owners.^[105]
The south, meanwhile, constituted the State of Vietnam, with Bảo Đại as Emperor and Ngô Đình Diệm (appointed in July 1954) as his prime minister. Neither the United States government nor Ngo Dinh Diem's State of Vietnam signed anything at the 1954 Geneva Conference. With respect to the question of reunification, the non-communist Vietnamese delegation objected strenuously to any division of Vietnam, but lost out when the French accepted the proposal of Viet Minh delegate Pham Van Dong,^[106] who proposed that Vietnam eventually be united by elections under the supervision of "local commissions".^[107] The United States countered with what became known as the "American Plan," with the support of South Vietnam and the United Kingdom.^[108] It provided for unification elections under the supervision of the United Nations, but was rejected by the Soviet delegation.^[108] The United States was willing to accept a reunifed, communist-led Vietnam if it resulted from free and fair elections:^[109] "With respect to the statement made by the representative of the State of Vietnam, the United States reiterates its traditional position that peoples are entitled to determine their own future and that it will not join in any arrangement which would hinder this".^[110]
President Eisenhower wrote in 1954 that "I have never talked or corresponded with a person knowledgeable in Indochinese affairs who did not agree that had elections been held as of the time of the fighting, possibly eighty percent of the population would have voted for the Communist Ho Chi Minh as their leader rather than Chief of State Bao Dai. Indeed, the lack of leadership and drive on the part of Bao Dai was a factor in the feeling prevalent among Vietnamese that they had nothing to fight for."^[111] According to the Pentagon Papers, however, from 1954 to 1956 "Ngo Dinh Diem really did accomplish miracles" in South Vietnam:^[112] "It is almost certain that by 1956 the proportion which might have voted for Ho—in a free election against Diem—would have been much smaller than eighty percent."^[113] In 1957, independent observers from India, Poland, and Canada representing the International Control Commission (ICC) stated that fair, unbiased elections were not possible in the northern part of Vietnam due to Communist influence.^[114]
From April to June 1955, Diem eliminated any political opposition in the south by launching military operations against two religious groups; Cao Dai and Hoa Hao of Ba Cut^{[citation needed]}. The campaign also focused on the Binh Xuyen organized crime group which was allied with members of the communist party secret police and had some military elements^{[citation needed]}. As broad-based opposition to his harsh tactics mounted, Diem increasingly sought to blame the communists.^{[115][not in citation given]}
In a referendum on the future of the State of Vietnam on 23 October 1955, Diem rigged the poll supervised by his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu and was credited with 98.2 percent of the vote, including 133% in Saigon. His American advisers had recommended a more modest winning margin of "60 to 70 percent." Diem, however, viewed the election as a test of authority.^[116] Three days later, he declared South Vietnam to be an independent state known as the Republic of Vietnam (ROV), with himself as president.^[117] Likewise, Ho Chi Minh and other communist officials always won at least 99% of the vote in North Vietnamese "elections".^[118]
The domino theory, which argued that if one country fell to communism, then all of the surrounding countries would follow, was first proposed as policy by the Eisenhower administration.^[119] It was, and is still, commonly hypothesized that it applied to Vietnam. John F. Kennedy, then a U.S. Senator, said in a speech to the American Friends of Vietnam: "Burma, Thailand, India, Japan, the Philippines and obviously Laos and Cambodia are among those whose security would be threatened if the Red Tide of Communism overflowed into Vietnam."^[120]

Diem era, 1955–1963

Main articles: Ngo Dinh Diem and War in Vietnam (1954–1959)

U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles greet president Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam in Washington, 8 May 1957.

Rule

See also: Ngo Dinh Diem presidential visit to Australia

A devout Roman Catholic, Diem was fervently anti-communist, nationalist, and socially conservative. Historian Luu Doan Huynh notes that "Diem represented narrow and extremist nationalism coupled with autocracy and nepotism."^[121] The majority of Vietnamese people were Buddhist, and were alarmed by actions such as Diem's dedication of the country to the Virgin Mary.
Beginning in the summer of 1955, Diem launched the "Denounce the Communists" campaign, during which communists and other anti-government elements were arrested, imprisoned, tortured, or executed. He instituted the death penalty against any activity deemed communist in August 1956.^[122] As a measure of the level of political repression, according to Gabriel Kolko about 12,000 suspected opponents of Diem were killed between 1955 and 1957 and by the end of 1958 an estimated 40,000 political prisoners had been jailed.^[123] However, Guenter Lewy argues that such figures were exaggerated and that there were never more than 35,000 prisoners of all kinds in the whole country.^[124]
In May 1957, Diem undertook a ten-day state visit to the United States. President Eisenhower pledged his continued support, and a parade was held in Diem's honor in New York City. Although Diem was publicly praised, in private Secretary of State John Foster Dulles conceded that Diem had been selected because there were no better alternatives.^[125]
Former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara wrote in Argument Without End (1999) that the new American patrons of the ROV were almost completely ignorant of Vietnamese culture. They knew little of the language or long history of the country.^[80] There was a tendency to assign American motives to Vietnamese actions, and Diem warned that it was an illusion to believe that blindly copying Western methods would solve Vietnamese problems.^[80]

Insurgency in the South, 1954–1960

Main articles: Viet Cong and War in Vietnam (1959–1963)

The Ho Chi Minh Trail was used to supply the Vietcong.

Between 1954 and 1957 there was large scale random dissidence in the countryside which the Diem government managed to successfully quell. In early 1957 South Vietnam had its first peace in over a decade. However, by mid-1957 through 1959 incidents of violence increased but the government "did not construe it as a campaign, considering the disorders too diffuse to warrant committing major GVN resources." By Early 1959 however, Diem had considered it a campaign and implemented Law 10/59, which made political violence punishable by death and property confiscation.^[126] There had been some division among former Viet Minh whose main goal was to hold the elections promised in the Geneva Accords, leading to "wildcat" activities separate from the other communists and anti-GVN activists.^[33]
In December 1960, the National Liberation Front (NLF) was formally created consisting of all anti-GVN activists and included non-communists. According to the Pentagon Papers, the NLF "placed heavy emphasis on the withdrawal of American advisors and influence, on land reform and liberalization of the GVN, on coalition government and the neutralization of Vietnam." Often the leaders of the organization were kept secret.^[33]

North Vietnamese involvement

Sources dispute whether North Vietnam played a direct role in aiding and organizing South Vietnamese rebels prior to 1960. Kahin and Lewis assert:

Contrary to United States policy assumptions, all available evidence shows that the revival of the civil war in the South in 1958 was undertaken by Southerners at their own—not Hanoi's—initiative...Insurgency activity against the Saigon government began in the South under Southern leadership not as a consequence of any dictate from Hanoi, but contrary to Hanoi's injunctions.^[33]

Similarly, historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. states that "it was not until September, 1960 that the Communist Party of North Vietnam bestowed its formal blessing and called for the liberation of the south from American imperialism".^[33]
By contrast, Jeffery Race interviewed communist defectors who found such denials "very amusing," and who "commented humorously that the Party had apparently been more successful than was expected in concealing its role."^[127] James Olson and Randy Roberts assert that North Vietnam authorized a low-level insurgency in December 1956.^[32] To counter the accusation that North Vietnam was violating the Geneva Accord, the independence of the Viet Cong was stressed in communist propaganda.^[128]
In March 1956, southern communist leader Lê Duẩn presented a plan to revive the insurgency entitled "The Road to the South" to the other members of the Politburo in Hanoi, but as China and the Soviets both opposed confrontation at this time, Lê Duẩn's plan was rejected.^[128] However the North Vietnamese leadership approved tentative measures to revive the southern insurgency in December 1956.^[129] Communist forces were under a single command structure set up in 1958.^[130] The North Vietnamese Communist Party approved a "people's war" on the South at a session in January 1959^[131] and in May, Group 559 was established to maintain and upgrade the Ho Chi Minh Trail, at this time a six-month mountain trek through Laos. About 500 of the "regroupees" of 1954 were sent south on the trail during its first year of operation.^[132] The first arms delivery via the trail was completed in August 1959.^[133]
North Vietnam invaded Laos in 1959, and used 30,000 men to build invasion routes through Laos and Cambodia by 1961.^[134] About 40,000 communist soldiers infiltrated into the south from 1961–63.^[128] North Vietnam sent 10,000 troops of the NVA to attack the south in 1964, and this figure increased to 100,000 in 1965.^[135]

The Kennedy years, 1961–1963

Main articles: Strategic Hamlet Program and Pham Ngoc Thao

In the 1960 U.S. presidential election, Senator John F. Kennedy defeated vice-president Richard Nixon. Although Eisenhower warned Kennedy about Laos and Vietnam, Europe and Latin America "loomed larger than Asia on his sights."^[136] In his inaugural address, Kennedy made the ambitious pledge to "pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and success of liberty."^[137] In June 1961, he bitterly disagreed with Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev when they met in Vienna to discuss key U.S.-Soviet issues.
The Kennedy administration remained essentially committed to the Cold War foreign policy inherited from the Truman and Eisenhower administrations. In 1961, the U.S. had 50,000 troops based in Korea, and Kennedy faced a three-part crisis – the failure of the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the construction of the Berlin Wall, and a negotiated settlement between the pro-Western government of Laos and the Pathet Lao communist movement.^[138] These made Kennedy believe that another failure on the part of the United States to gain control and stop communist expansion would fatally damage U.S. credibility with its allies and his own reputation. Kennedy was thus determined to "draw a line in the sand" and prevent a communist victory in Vietnam. He told James Reston of The New York Times immediately after his Vienna meeting with Khrushchev, "Now we have a problem making our power credible and Vietnam looks like the place."^[139][140]
In May 1961, Vice president Lyndon B. Johnson visited Saigon and enthusiastically declared Diem the "Winston Churchill of Asia."^[141] Asked why he had made the comment, Johnson replied, "Diem's the only boy we got out there."^[125] Johnson assured Diem of more aid in molding a fighting force that could resist the communists.
Kennedy's policy toward South Vietnam rested on the assumption that Diem and his forces must ultimately defeat the guerrillas on their own. He was against the deployment of American combat troops and observed that "to introduce U.S. forces in large numbers there today, while it might have an initially favorable military impact, would almost certainly lead to adverse political and, in the long run, adverse military consequences."^[142] The quality of the South Vietnamese military, however, remained poor. Bad leadership, corruption, and political promotions all played a part in weakening the ARVN. The frequency of guerrilla attacks rose as the insurgency gathered steam. While Hanoi's support for the NLF played a role, South Vietnamese governmental incompetence was at the core of the crisis.^[143]

South Vietnam, Military Regions, 1967

One major issue Kennedy raised was whether the Soviet space and missile programs had surpassed those of the United States. Although Kennedy stressed long-range missile parity with the Soviets, he was also interested in using special forces for counterinsurgency warfare in Third World countries threatened by communist insurgencies. Although they were originally intended for use behind front lines after a conventional invasion of Europe, Kennedy believed that the guerrilla tactics employed by special forces such as the Green Berets would be effective in a "brush fire" war in Vietnam.
Kennedy advisers Maxwell Taylor and Walt Rostow recommended that U.S. troops be sent to South Vietnam disguised as flood relief workers. Kennedy rejected the idea but increased military assistance yet again. In April 1962, John Kenneth Galbraith warned Kennedy of the "danger we shall replace the French as a colonial force in the area and bleed as the French did."^[144] By 1963, there were 16,000 American military personnel in South Vietnam, up from Eisenhower's 900 advisors.^[145]
The Strategic Hamlet Program had been initiated in 1961. This joint U.S.-South Vietnamese program attempted to resettle the rural population into fortified camps. The aim was to isolate the population from the insurgents, provide education and health care, and strengthen the government's hold over the countryside.^{[citation needed]} The Strategic Hamlets, however, were quickly infiltrated by the guerrillas.^{[citation needed]} The peasants resented being uprooted from their ancestral villages.^{[citation needed]} In part, this was because Colonel Pham Ngoc Thao, a Diem favourite who was instrumental in running the program, was in fact a communist agent who used his Catholicism to gain influential posts and damage the ROV from the inside.^{[citation needed]}
On 23 July 1962, fourteen nations, including China, South Vietnam, the Soviet Union, North Vietnam and the United States, signed an agreement promising the neutrality of Laos.^[146]

Ousting and Assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem

See also: Kennedy's role, 1960 South Vietnamese coup attempt, 1962 South Vietnamese Independence Palace bombing, Huế Phật Đản shootings and Xa Loi Pagoda raids

Main articles: Cable 243, Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem, Buddhist crisis, Krulak Mendenhall mission, McNamara Taylor mission, 1963 South Vietnamese coup, and Reaction to the 1963 South Vietnamese coup

A US tank convoy during the Vietnam war.

The inept performance of the South Vietnamese army was exemplified by failed actions such as the Battle of Ap Bac on 2 January 1963, in which a small band of Viet Cong beat off a much larger and better equipped South Vietnamese force, many of whose officers seemed reluctant even to engage in combat.^[147] The ARVN were led in that battle by Diem's most trusted general, Huynh Van Cao, commander of the IV Corps. Cao was a Catholic who had been promoted due to religion and fidelity rather than skill, and his main job was to preserve his forces to stave off coups; he had earlier vomited during a communist attack. Some policymakers in Washington began to conclude that Diem was incapable of defeating the communists and might even make a deal with Ho Chi Minh. He seemed concerned only with fending off coups, and had become more paranoid after attempts in 1960 and 1962, which he partly attributed to U.S. encouragement. As Robert F. Kennedy noted, "Diem wouldn't make even the slightest concessions. He was difficult to reason with..."^[148]
Discontent with Diem's policies exploded following the Huế Phật Đản shootings of majority Buddhists who were protesting against the ban on the Buddhist flag on Vesak, the Buddha's birthday. This resulted in mass protests against discriminatory policies that gave privileges to the Catholic Church and its adherents. Diem's elder brother Ngo Dinh Thuc was the Archbishop of Huế and aggressively blurred the separation between church and state. Thuc's anniversary celebrations shortly before Vesak had been bankrolled by the government and Vatican flags were displayed prominently. There had also been reports of Buddhist pagodas being demolished by Catholic paramilitaries throughout Diem's rule. Diem refused to make concessions to the Buddhist majority or take responsibility for the deaths. On 21 August 1963, the ARVN Special Forces of Colonel Le Quang Tung, loyal to Diem's younger brother Ngo Dinh Nhu, raided pagodas across Vietnam, causing widespread damage and destruction and leaving a death toll estimated to range into the hundreds.

Kennedy and MacNamara

Ngo Dinh Diem after being shot and killed in the 1963 coup.

U.S. officials began discussing the possibility of a regime change during the middle of 1963. The United States Department of State was generally in favor of encouraging a coup, while the Defense Department favored Diem. Chief among the proposed changes was the removal of Diem's younger brother Nhu, who controlled the secret police and special forces was seen as the man behind the Buddhist repression and more generally the architect of the Ngo family's rule. This proposal was conveyed to the U.S. embassy in Saigon in Cable 243.
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was in contact with generals planning to remove Diem. They were told that the United States would not oppose such a move nor punish the generals by cutting off aid. President Diem was overthrown and executed, along with his brother, on 2 November 1963. When he was informed, Maxwell Taylor remembered that Kennedy "rushed from the room with a look of shock and dismay on his face."^[149] He had not approved Diem's murder. The U.S. ambassador to South Vietnam, Henry Cabot Lodge, invited the coup leaders to the embassy and congratulated them. Ambassador Lodge informed Kennedy that "the prospects now are for a shorter war".^[150]
Following the coup, chaos ensued. Hanoi took advantage of the situation and increased its support for the guerrillas. South Vietnam entered a period of extreme political instability, as one military government toppled another in quick succession. Increasingly, each new regime was viewed as a puppet of the Americans; whatever the failings of Diem, his credentials as a nationalist (as Robert McNamara later reflected) had been impeccable.^[151]
U.S military advisers were embedded at every level of the South Vietnamese armed forces. They were, however, almost completely ignorant of the political nature of the insurgency. The insurgency was a political power struggle, in which military engagements were not the main goal.^[152] The Kennedy administration sought to refocus U.S. efforts on pacification and "winning over the hearts and minds" of the population. The military leadership in Washington, however, was hostile to any role for U.S. advisers other than conventional troop training.^[153] General Paul Harkins, the commander of U.S. forces in South Vietnam, confidently predicted victory by Christmas 1963.^[154] The CIA was less optimistic, however, warning that "the Viet Cong by and large retain de facto control of much of the countryside and have steadily increased the overall intensity of the effort".^[155]
Paramilitary officers from the CIA's Special Activities Division trained and led Hmong tribesmen in Laos and into Vietnam. The indigenous forces numbered in the tens of thousands and they conducted direct action missions, led by paramilitary officers, against the Communist Pathet Lao forces and their North Vietnamese supporters.^[156] The CIA also ran the Phoenix Program and participation Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group (MAC-V SOG), which was originally named the Special Operations Group, but was changed for cover purposes.^[157]

Lyndon B. Johnson's escalation, 1963–1969

A U.S. B-66 Destroyer and four F-105 Thunderchiefs dropping bombs on North Vietnam during Operation Rolling Thunder

Main article: Joint warfare in South Vietnam 1963–1969

Further information: Role of United States in the Vietnam War: Americanization

See also: Opposition to the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, Gulf of Tonkin incident, 1964 South Vietnamese coup, September 1964 South Vietnamese coup attempt, December 1964 South Vietnamese coup, and 1965 South Vietnamese coup

Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ), as he took over the presidency after the death of Kennedy, initially did not consider Vietnam a priority and was more concerned with his "Great Society" and progressive social programs. Presidential aide Jack Valenti recalls, "Vietnam at the time was no bigger than a man's fist on the horizon. We hardly discussed it because it was not worth discussing."^[158][159]
On 24 November 1963, Johnson said, "the battle against communism... must be joined... with strength and determination."^[160] The pledge came at a time when Vietnam was deteriorating, especially in places like the Mekong Delta, because of the recent coup against Diem.^[161] Johnson had reversed Kennedy's disengagement policy from Vietnam in withdrawing 1,000 troops by the end of 1963 (NSAM 263 on 11 October),^[162] with his own NSAM 273 (26 November)^[163][164] to expand the war.
The military revolutionary council, meeting in lieu of a strong South Vietnamese leader, was made up of 12 members headed by General Duong Van Minh—whom Stanley Karnow, a journalist on the ground, later recalled as "a model of lethargy."^[165] Lodge, frustrated by the end of the year, cabled home about Minh: "Will he be strong enough to get on top of things?" His regime was overthrown in January 1964 by General Nguyen Khanh.^[166] However, there was persistent instability in the military as several coups—not all successful—occurred in a short space of time.

An alleged NLF activist, captured during an attack on an American outpost near the Cambodian border, is interrogated.

On 2 August 1964, the USS Maddox, on an intelligence mission along North Vietnam's coast, allegedly fired upon and damaged several torpedo boats that had been stalking it in the Gulf of Tonkin.^[167] A second attack was reported two days later on the USS Turner Joy and Maddox in the same area. The circumstances of the attack were murky. Lyndon Johnson commented to Undersecretary of State George Ball that "those sailors out there may have been shooting at flying fish."^[168]
The second attack led to retaliatory air strikes, prompted Congress to approve the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution on 7 August 1964,^[169] signed by Johnson, and gave the president power to conduct military operations in Southeast Asia without declaring war.^[170] Although Congressmen at the time denied that this was a full-scale war declaration, the Tonkin Resolution allowed the president unilateral power to launch a full-scale war if the president deemed necessary.^[170] In the same month, Johnson pledged that he was not "... committing American boys to fighting a war that I think ought to be fought by the boys of Asia to help protect their own land."^[171]
An undated NSA publication declassified in 2005, however, revealed that there was no attack on 4 August.^[172] It had already been called into question long before this. "Gulf of Tonkin incident", writes Louise Gerdes, "is an oft-cited example of the way in which Johnson misled the American people to gain support for his foreign policy in Vietnam."^[173] George C. Herring argues, however, that McNamara and the Pentagon "did not knowingly lie about the alleged attacks, but they were obviously in a mood to retaliate and they seem to have selected from the evidence available to them those parts that confirmed what they wanted to believe."^[174]
"From a strength of approximately 5,000 at the start of 1959 the Viet Cong's ranks grew to about 100,000 at the end of 1964...Between 1961 and 1964 the Army's strength rose from about 850,000 to nearly a million men."^[152] The numbers for U.S. troops deployed to Vietnam during the same period were quite different; 2,000 in 1961, rising rapidly to 16,500 in 1964.^[175] By early 1965, 7,559 South Vietnamese hamlets had been destroyed by the Viet Cong.^[176]

A Marine from 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, moves an alleged NLF activist to the rear during a search and clear operation held by the battalion 15 miles (24 km) west of Da Nang Air Base.

The National Security Council recommended a three-stage escalation of the bombing of North Vietnam. On 2 March 1965, following an attack on a U.S. Marine barracks at Pleiku,^[177] Operation Flaming Dart (initiated when Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin was at a state visit to North Vietnam), Operation Rolling Thunder and Operation Arc Light commenced.^[178] The bombing campaign, which ultimately lasted three years, was intended to force North Vietnam to cease its support for the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF) by threatening to destroy North Vietnam's air defenses and industrial infrastructure. As well, it was aimed at bolstering the morale of the South Vietnamese.^[179] Between March 1965 and November 1968, "Rolling Thunder" deluged the north with a million tons of missiles, rockets and bombs.^[180]
Bombing was not restricted to North Vietnam. Other aerial campaigns, such as Operation Commando Hunt, targeted different parts of the NLF and VPA infrastructure. These included the Ho Chi Minh trail, which ran through Laos and Cambodia. The objective of stopping North Vietnam and the NLF was never reached. As one officer noted "this is a political war and it calls for discriminate killing. The best weapon... would be a knife... The worst is an airplane."^[181] The Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force Curtis LeMay, however, had long advocated saturation bombing in Vietnam and wrote of the communists that "we're going to bomb them back into the Stone Age".^[182]

Escalation and ground war

 

Universal Newsreel film about an attack on U.S. air bases and the U.S. response. 1965

Peasants suspected of being Vietcong under detention of U.S. army, 1966

After several attacks upon them, it was decided that U.S. Air Force bases needed more protection. The South Vietnamese military seemed incapable of providing security. On 8 March 1965, 3,500 U.S. Marines were dispatched to South Vietnam. This marked the beginning of the American ground war. U.S. public opinion overwhelmingly supported the deployment.^[183]
In a statement similar to that made to the French almost two decades earlier, Ho Chi Minh warned that if the Americans "want to make war for twenty years then we shall make war for twenty years. If they want to make peace, we shall make peace and invite them to afternoon tea."^[184] As former First Deputy Foreign Minister Tran Quang Co has noted, the primary goal of the war was to reunify Vietnam and secure its independence.^{[citation needed]} Some have argued that the policy of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) was not to topple other non-communist governments in South East Asia.^[185] However, the Pentagon Papers warned of "a dangerous period of Vietnamese expansionism....Laos and Cambodia would have been easy pickings for such a Vietnam....Thailand, Malaya, Singapore, and even Indonesia, could have been next."^[186]
The Marines' assignment was defensive. The initial deployment of 3,500 in March was increased to nearly 200,000 by December.^[187] The U.S. military had long been schooled in offensive warfare. Regardless of political policies, U.S. commanders were institutionally and psychologically unsuited to a defensive mission.^[187] In December, ARVN forces suffered heavy losses at the Battle of Bình Giã,^[188] in a battle that both sides viewed as a watershed. Previously communist forces had utilized hit-and-run guerrilla tactics, however at Binh Gia they had defeated a strong ARVN force in conventional warfare.^[189] Tellingly, South Vietnamese forces were again defeated in June, at the Battle of Đồng Xoài.^[190]

U.S. soldiers searching a village for NLF

Desertion rates were increasing, and morale plummeted. General William Westmoreland informed Admiral U.S. Grant Sharp, Jr., commander of U.S. Pacific forces, that the situation was critical.^[187] He said, "I am convinced that U.S. troops with their energy, mobility, and firepower can successfully take the fight to the NLF [National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam]."^[191] With this recommendation, Westmoreland was advocating an aggressive departure from America's defensive posture and the sidelining of the South Vietnamese. By ignoring ARVN units, the U.S. commitment became open-ended.^[192] Westmoreland outlined a three-point plan to win the war:

• Phase 1. Commitment of U.S. (and other free world) forces necessary to halt the losing trend by the end of 1965.
• Phase 2. U.S. and allied forces mount major offensive actions to seize the initiative to destroy guerrilla and organized enemy forces. This phase would end when the enemy had been worn down, thrown on the defensive, and driven back from major populated areas.
• Phase 3. If the enemy persisted, a period of twelve to eighteen months following Phase 2 would be required for the final destruction of enemy forces remaining in remote base areas.^[193]

The plan was approved by Johnson and marked a profound departure from the previous administration's insistence that the government of South Vietnam was responsible for defeating the guerrillas. Westmoreland predicted victory by the end of 1967.^[194] Johnson did not, however, communicate this change in strategy to the media. Instead he emphasized continuity.^[195] The change in U.S. policy depended on matching the North Vietnamese and the NLF in a contest of attrition and morale. The opponents were locked in a cycle of escalation.^[196] The idea that the government of South Vietnam could manage its own affairs was shelved.^[196]

Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin with U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson at the Glassboro Summit Conference where the two representatives discussed the possibilities of a peace settlement.

The one-year tour of duty deprived units of experienced leadership. As one observer noted "we were not in Vietnam for 10 years, but for one year 10 times."^[181] As a result, training programs were shortened.
South Vietnam was inundated with manufactured goods. As Stanley Karnow writes, "the main PX [Post Exchange], located in the Saigon suburb of Cholon, was only slightly smaller than the New York Bloomingdale's..."^[197] The American buildup transformed the economy and had a profound effect on South Vietnamese society. A huge surge in corruption was witnessed.

The Ho Chi Minh Trail running through Laos, 1967

Washington encouraged its SEATO allies to contribute troops. Australia, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Thailand, and the Philippines^[198] all agreed to send troops. Major allies, however, notably NATO nations Canada and the United Kingdom, declined Washington's troop requests.^[199] The U.S. and its allies mounted complex operations, such as operations Masher, Attleboro, Cedar Falls, and Junction City. However, the communist insurgents remained elusive and demonstrated great tactical flexibility.
Meanwhile, the political situation in South Vietnam began to stabilize with the coming to power of prime minister Air Marshal Nguyễn Cao Kỳ and figurehead Chief of State, General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, in mid-1965 at the head of a military junta. This ended a series of coups that had happened more than once a year. In 1967, Thieu became president with Ky as his deputy, after rigged elections. Although they were nominally a civilian government, Ky was supposed to maintain real power through a behind-the-scenes military body. However, Thieu outmanoevred and sidelined Ky by filling the ranks with generals from his faction. Thieu was also accused of murdering Ky loyalists through contrived military accidents. Thieu, mistrustful and indecisive, remained president until 1975, having won a one-man election in 1971.^[200]
The Johnson administration employed a "policy of minimum candor"^[201] in its dealings with the media. Military information officers sought to manage media coverage by emphasizing stories that portrayed progress in the war. Over time, this policy damaged the public trust in official pronouncements. As the media's coverage of the war and that of the Pentagon diverged, a so-called credibility gap developed.^[201]

The Tet Offensive

Main article: Tet Offensive

A US soldier prepares to enter a Vietcong tunnel.

In late 1967 the Communists lured American forces into the hinterlands at Dak To and at the Marine Khe Sanh combat base in Quảng Trị Province where the United States was more than willing to fight because it could unleash its massive firepower unimpeded by civilians. However, on January 31, 1968, the NVA and NLF broke the truce that traditionally accompanied the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday by launching the largest battle of the war, the Tet Offensive, in the hope of sparking a national uprising.^[202] Over 100 cities were attacked by over 85,000 enemy troops including assaults on General Westmoreland's headquarters and the U.S. Embassy, Saigon.^[203]

U.S. Marines in Operation Allen Brook in 1968.

Although the U.S. and South Vietnamese forces were initially shocked by the scale of the urban offensive, they responded quickly and effectively, decimating the ranks of the NLF. In the former capital city of Huế, the combined NVA and NLF troops captured the Imperial Citadel and much of the city and massacred over 3,000 unarmed Huế civilians.^[204] This led to the Battle of Huế where American forces employed massive firepower that left 80 percent of the city in ruins.^[205] Further north, at Quang Tri City, members of the 1st Air Cavalry Division and 1st ARVN Infantry Division killed more than 900 NVA and Vietcong troops in and around the city (for photographic history see). However, across South Vietnam, 1,000 Americans, 2,100 ARVNs, 14,000 civilians, and 32,000 NVA and Vietcong lay dead.^[202]
But the Tet Offensive had another, unintended consequence. General Westmoreland had become the public face of the war. He was featured on the cover of Time magazine three times and was named 1965's Man of the Year.^[206] Time described him as "the sinewy personification of the American fighting man... (who) directed the historic buildup, drew up the battle plans, and infused the... men under him with his own idealistic view of U.S. aims and responsibilities."^[207]

U.S. Marines fighting in Huế

In November 1967 Westmoreland spearheaded a public relations drive for the Johnson administration to bolster flagging public support.^[208] In a speech before the National Press Club he said a point in the war had been reached "where the end comes into view."^[209] Thus, the public was shocked and confused when Westmoreland's predictions were trumped by Tet.^[208] The American media, which had been largely supportive of U.S. efforts, turned on the Johnson administration for what had become an increasing credibility gap.
Although the Tet Offensive was a significant victory for allied forces, in terms of casualties and control of territory, it was a sound defeat when evaluated from the point of view of strategic consequences: it became a turning point in America's involvement in the Vietnam War because it had a profound impact on domestic support for the conflict.^[202] Despite the military failure for North Vietnamese forces, the Tet Offensive became a political victory for them and ended the career of president Lyndon B. Johnson, who declined to run for re-election knowing his approval rating slumped from 48 to 36 percent.^[208] As James Witz noted, Tet "contradicted the claims of progress... made by the Johnson administration and the military."^[208] The offensive constituted an intelligence failure on the scale of Pearl Harbor.^[198][210] Journalist Peter Arnett, in a disputed article, quoted an officer he refused to identificate,^[211] saying of Bến Tre (laid to rubble by U.S. attacks)^[212] that "it became necessary to destroy the village in order to save it".^[213]

NLF/NVA killed by U.S. Air Force personnel during a perimeter attack of Tan Son Nhut Air Base during the Tet Offensive

Walter Cronkite said in an editorial, "To say that we are closer to victory today is to believe, in the face of the evidence, the optimists who have been wrong in the past. To suggest we are on the edge of defeat is to yield to unreasonable pessimism. To say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only realistic, yet unsatisfactory, conclusion."^[214][215] Following Cronkite's editorial report, President Lyndon Johnson is reported to have said, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America."^[216][217]
Westmoreland became Chief of Staff of the Army in March 1968, just as all resistance was finally subdued. The move was technically a promotion. However, his position had become untenable because of the offensive and because his request for 200,000 additional troops had been leaked to the media. Westmoreland was succeeded by his deputy Creighton Abrams, a commander less inclined to public media pronouncements.^[218]
On 10 May 1968, despite low expectations, peace talks began between the United States and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Negotiations stagnated for five months, until Johnson gave orders to halt the bombing of North Vietnam. The Democratic candidate, Vice president Hubert Humphrey, was running against Republican former vice president Richard Nixon.^{[further explanation needed]}
As historian Robert Dallek writes, "Lyndon Johnson's escalation of the war in Vietnam divided Americans into warring camps... cost 30,000 American lives by the time he left office, (and) destroyed Johnson's presidency..."^[219] His refusal to send more U.S. troops to Vietnam was seen as Johnson's admission that the war was lost.^[220] It can be seen that the refusal was a tacit admission that the war could not be won by escalation, at least not at a cost acceptable to the American people.^[220] As Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara noted, "the dangerous illusion of victory by the United States was therefore dead."^[221]

Vietnamization, 1969–1972

Nixon Doctrine / Vietnamization

Propaganda leaflet urging the defection of NLF and North Vietnamese to the side of the Republic of Vietnam

Severe communist losses during the Tet Offensive allowed U.S. President Richard Nixon to begin troop withdrawals. His plan, called the Nixon Doctrine, was to build up the ARVN, so that they could take over the defense of South Vietnam. The policy became known as "Vietnamization". Vietnamization had much in common with the policies of the Kennedy administration. One important difference, however, remained. While Kennedy insisted that the South Vietnamese fight the war themselves, he attempted to limit the scope of the conflict.
Nixon said in an announcement, "I am tonight announcing plans for the withdrawal of an additional 150,000 American troops to be completed during the spring of next year. This will bring a total reduction of 265,500 men in our armed forces in Vietnam below the level that existed when we took office 15 months ago."^[222]
On 10 October 1969, Nixon ordered a squadron of 18 B-52s loaded with nuclear weapons to race to the border of Soviet airspace to convince the Soviet Union that he was capable of anything to end the Vietnam War.
Nixon also pursued negotiations. Theater commander Creighton Abrams shifted to smaller operations, aimed at communist logistics, with better use of firepower and more cooperation with the ARVN. Nixon also began to pursue détente with the Soviet Union and rapprochement with China. This policy helped to decrease global tensions. Détente led to nuclear arms reduction on the part of both superpowers. But Nixon was disappointed that the PRC and the Soviet Union continued to supply the North Vietnamese with aid. In September 1969, Ho Chi Minh died at age seventy-nine.^[223]
The anti-war movement was gaining strength in the United States. Nixon appealed to the "silent majority" of Americans to support the war. But revelations of the My Lai Massacre, in which a U.S. Army platoon raped and killed civilians, and the 1969 "Green Beret Affair" where eight Special Forces soldiers, including the 5th Special Forces Group Commander were arrested for the murder^[224] of a suspected double agent^[225] provoked national and international outrage.
Beginning in 1970, American troops were being taken away from border areas where much more killing took place, and instead put along the coast and interior, which is one reason why casualties in 1970 were less than half of 1969's totals.^[222]

Involvement of Cambodia and Laos

Main articles: Operation Menu, Operation Commando Hunt, Laotian Civil War, and Cambodian Civil War

Prince Norodom Sihanouk had proclaimed Cambodia neutral since 1955,^[226] but the communists used Cambodian soil as a base and Sihanouk tolerated their presence, because he wished to avoid being drawn into a wider regional conflict. Under pressure from Washington, however, he changed this policy in 1969. The Vietnamese communists were no longer welcome. President Nixon took the opportunity to launch a massive bombing campaign, called Operation Menu, against their sanctuaries along the Cambodia/Vietnam border. Only five high-ranking Congressional officials were informed of the operation.
In 1970, Prince Sihanouk was deposed by his pro-American prime minister Lon Nol. North Vietnam invaded Cambodia in 1970 at the request of Khmer Rouge leader Nuon Chea.^[227] U.S. and ARVN forces launched an incursion into Cambodia to attack VPA/NLF bases and end the communist encirclement of Phnom Penh.
This incursion sparked nationwide U.S. protests. Four students were killed by National Guardsmen at Kent State University during a protest in Ohio, which provoked public outrage in the United States. The reaction to the incident by the Nixon administration was seen as callous and indifferent, providing additional impetus for the anti-war movement.^[228]
In 1971 the Pentagon Papers were leaked to The New York Times. The top-secret history of U.S. involvement in Vietnam, commissioned by the Department of Defense, detailed a long series of public deceptions. The Supreme Court ruled that its publication was legal.^[229]
The ARVN launched Operation Lam Son 719 in February 1971, aimed at cutting the Ho Chi Minh trail in Laos.^[146] The ostensibly neutral Laos had long been the scene of a civil war, pitting the Laotian government backed by the US against the Pathet Lao and its North Vietnamese allies. After meeting resistance, ARVN forces retreated in a confused rout. They fled along roads littered with their own dead. When they exhausted fuel supplies, soldiers abandoned their vehicles and attempted to barge their way on to American helicopters sent to evacuate the wounded. Many ARVN soldiers clung to helicopter skids in a desperate attempt to save themselves. U.S. aircraft had to destroy abandoned equipment, including tanks, to prevent them from falling into enemy hands. Half of the ARVN troops involved in the operation were either captured or killed. The operation was a fiasco and represented a clear failure of Vietnamization. As Karnow noted "the blunders were monumental... The (South Vietnamese) government's top officers had been tutored by the Americans for ten or fifteen years, many at training schools in the United States, yet they had learned little."^[230]
In 1971 Australia and New Zealand withdrew their soldiers. The U.S. troop count was further reduced to 196,700, with a deadline to remove another 45,000 troops by February 1972. As peace protests spread across the United States, disillusionment and ill-discipline grew in the ranks.^[231]
Vietnamization was again tested by the Easter Offensive of 1972, a massive conventional invasion of South Vietnam. The VPA and NLF quickly overran the northern provinces and in coordination with other forces attacked from Cambodia, threatening to cut the country in half. U.S. troop withdrawals continued. But American airpower came to the rescue with Operation Linebacker, and the offensive was halted. However, it became clear that without American airpower South Vietnam could not survive. The last remaining American ground troops were withdrawn in August.

1972 election and Paris Peace Accords

The war was the central issue of the 1972 presidential election. Nixon's opponent, George McGovern, campaigned on a platform of withdrawal from Vietnam. Nixon's National Security Adviser, Henry Kissinger, continued secret negotiations with North Vietnam's Lê Ðức Thọ. In October 1972, they reached an agreement.

Operation Linebacker II, December 1972

However, South Vietnamese president Thieu demanded massive changes to the peace accord. When North Vietnam went public with the agreement's details, the Nixon administration claimed that the North was attempting to embarrass the president. The negotiations became deadlocked. Hanoi demanded new changes.
To show his support for South Vietnam and force Hanoi back to the negotiating table, Nixon ordered Operation Linebacker II, a massive bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong 18–29 December 1972. The offensive destroyed much of the remaining economic and industrial capacity of North Vietnam. Simultaneously Nixon pressured Thieu to accept the terms of the agreement, threatening to conclude a bilateral peace deal and cut off American aid.
On 15 January 1973, Nixon announced the suspension of offensive action against North Vietnam. The Paris Peace Accords on "Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam" were signed on 27 January 1973, officially ending direct U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. A cease-fire was declared across North and South Vietnam. U.S. POWs were released. The agreement guaranteed the territorial integrity of Vietnam and, like the Geneva Conference of 1954, called for national elections in the North and South. The Paris Peace Accords stipulated a sixty-day period for the total withdrawal of U.S. forces. "This article", noted Peter Church, "proved... to be the only one of the Paris Agreements which was fully carried out."^[232]

Opposition to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War: 1962–1973

Protests against the war in Washington DC on 24 April 1971

External audio

You may watch the speech, "Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam," by Martin Luther King Jr. here.

Anti-Vietnam War demonstration, 1967.

The 14-year-old Mary Ann Vecchio kneels over the dead body of Jeffrey Miller who was shot by the Ohio National Guard during the Kent State shootings

Main article: Opposition to the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War

During the course of the Vietnam War a large segment of the American population opposed U.S. involvement in South Vietnam. Public opinion steadily turned against the war following 1967 and by 1970 only a third of Americans believed that the U.S. had not made a mistake by sending troops to fight in Vietnam.^[233]
Since nearly a third of the American population were strongly against the war it is possible to specify certain groups who led the antiwar movement and the reasons why. Many young people often protested because they were the ones being drafted while many others were against the war because the antiwar movement grew increasingly popular among the counterculture and drug culture in American society and its music.^[234]
Some advocates within the peace movement advocated a unilateral withdrawal of U.S. forces from Vietnam. One reason given for the withdrawal is that it would contribute to a lessening of tensions in the region and thus less human bloodshed. Early opposition to U.S. involvement in Vietnam drew its inspiration from the Geneva Conference of 1954. American support of Diem in refusing elections was thought to be thwarting the very democracy that America claimed to be supporting. John Kennedy, while Senator, opposed involvement in Vietnam.^[175]
Opposition to the Vietnam War tended to unite groups opposed to U.S. anti-communism^{[citation needed]} and imperialism^{[citation needed]} and, for those involved with the New Left such as the Catholic Worker Movement. Others, such as Stephen Spiro opposed the war based on the theory of Just War. Some wanted to show solidarity with the people of Vietnam, such as Norman Morrison emulating the actions of Thich Quang Duc.
High-profile opposition to the Vietnam War turned to street protests in an effort to turn U.S. political opinion. On 15 October 1969, the Vietnam Moratorium attracted millions of Americans.^[235] Riots broke out at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.^[236] After explosive news reports of American military abuses, such as the 1968 My Lai Massacre, brought new attention and support to the anti-war movement, some veterans joined Vietnam Veterans Against the War. The fatal shooting of four students at Kent State University in 1970 led to nation-wide university protests.^[237] Anti-war protests ended with the final withdrawal of troops after the Paris Peace Accords were signed in 1973. South Vietnam was left to defend itself alone when the fighting resumed. Many South Vietnamese subsequently fled to the United States.^[238]

Exit of the Americans: 1973–1975

The United States began drastically reducing their troop support in South Vietnam during the final years of "Vietnamization". Many U.S. troops were removed from the region, and on 5 March 1971, the United States returned the 5th Special Forces Group, which was the first American unit deployed to South Vietnam, to its former base in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.^{[239] [A 4]}
Under the Paris Peace Accords, between North Vietnamese Foreign Minister Lê Ðức Thọ and U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and reluctantly signed by South Vietnamese president Thiệu, U.S. military forces withdrew from South Vietnam and prisoners were exchanged. North Vietnam was allowed to continue supplying communist troops in the South, but only to the extent of replacing materials that were consumed. Later that year the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Kissinger and Thọ, but the Vietnamese negotiator declined it saying that a true peace did not yet exist.
The communist leaders had expected that the ceasefire terms would favor their side. But Saigon, bolstered by a surge of U.S. aid received just before the ceasefire went into effect, began to roll back the Vietcong. The communists responded with a new strategy hammered out in a series of meetings in Hanoi in March 1973, according to the memoirs of Trần Văn Trà.^[242]
As the Vietcong's top commander, Trà participated in several of these meetings. With U.S. bombings suspended, work on the Ho Chi Minh Trail and other logistical structures could proceed unimpeded. Logistics would be upgraded until the North was in a position to launch a massive invasion of the South, projected for the 1975–76 dry season. Trà calculated that this date would be Hanoi's last opportunity to strike before Saigon's army could be fully trained.^[242]

Calling for immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces from Vietnam, George McGovern's 1972 Presidential Campaign lost 49 of 50 states to Richard Nixon.

In the November 1972 Election, Democrat nominee George McGovern lost 49 of 50 states to the incumbent president Richard Nixon. On 15 March 1973, President Nixon implied that the United States would intervene militarily if the communist side violated the ceasefire. Public and congressional reaction to Nixon's trial balloon was unfavorable and in April Nixon appointed Graham Martin as U.S. ambassador to Vietnam. Martin was a second stringer compared to previous U.S. ambassadors and his appointment was an early signal that Washington had given up on Vietnam.^{[citation needed]} During his confirmation hearings in June 1973, Secretary of Defense James R. Schlesinger stated that he would recommend resumption of U.S. bombing in North Vietnam if North Vietnam launched a major offensive against South Vietnam. On 4 June 1973, the U.S. Senate passed the Case-Church Amendment to prohibit such intervention.^[243]
The oil price shock of October 1973 caused significant damage to the South Vietnamese economy. The Vietcong resumed offensive operations when dry season began and by January 1974 it had recaptured the territory it lost during the previous dry season. After two clashes that left 55 South Vietnamese soldiers dead, President Thiệu announced on 4 January that the war had restarted and that the Paris Peace Accord was no longer in effect. There had been over 25,000 South Vietnamese casualties during the ceasefire period.^[244]
Gerald Ford took over as U.S. president on 9 August 1974 after president Nixon resigned due to the Watergate scandal. At this time, Congress cut financial aid to South Vietnam from $1 billion a year to $700 million. The U.S. midterm elections in 1974 brought in a new Congress dominated by Democrats who were even more determined to confront the president on the war. Congress immediately voted in restrictions on funding and military activities to be phased in through 1975 and to culminate in a total cutoff of funding in 1976.
The success of the 1973–74 dry season offensive inspired Trà to return to Hanoi in October 1974 and plead for a larger offensive in the next dry season. This time, Trà could travel on a drivable highway with regular fueling stops, a vast change from the days when the Ho Chi Minh Trail was a dangerous mountain trek.^[245] Giáp, the North Vietnamese defense minister, was reluctant to approve Trà's plan. A larger offensive might provoke a U.S. reaction and interfere with the big push planned for 1976. Trà appealed over Giáp's head to first secretary Lê Duẩn, who approved of the operation.
Trà's plan called for a limited offensive from Cambodia into Phuoc Long Province. The strike was designed to solve local logistical problems, gauge the reaction of South Vietnamese forces, and determine whether U.S. would return to the fray.

Recently released American POWs from North Vietnamese prison camps, 1973

On 13 December 1974, North Vietnamese forces attacked Route 14 in Phuoc Long Province. Phuoc Binh, the provincial capital, fell on 6 January 1975. Ford desperately asked Congress for funds to assist and re-supply the South before it was overrun. Congress refused. The fall of Phuoc Binh and the lack of an American response left the South Vietnamese elite demoralized.
The speed of this success led the Politburo to reassess its strategy. It was decided that operations in the Central Highlands would be turned over to General Văn Tiến Dũng and that Pleiku should be seized, if possible. Before he left for the South, Dũng was addressed by Lê Duẩn: "Never have we had military and political conditions so perfect or a strategic advantage as great as we have now."^[246]
At the start of 1975, the South Vietnamese had three times as much artillery and twice the number of tanks and armoured cars as the opposition. They also had 1,400 aircraft and a two-to-one numerical superiority in combat troops over their Communist enemies.^[247] However, the rising oil prices meant that much of this could not be used. They faced a well-organized, highly determined and well-funded North Vietnam. Much of the North's material and financial support came from the communist bloc. Within South Vietnam, there was increasing chaos. Their abandonment by the American military had compromised an economy dependent on U.S. financial support and the presence of a large number of U.S. troops. South Vietnam suffered from the global recession that followed the Arab oil embargo.

Campaign 275

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On 10 March 1975, General Dung launched Campaign 275, a limited offensive into the Central Highlands, supported by tanks and heavy artillery. The target was Buôn Ma Thuột, in Đắk Lắk Province. If the town could be taken, the provincial capital of Pleiku and the road to the coast would be exposed for a planned campaign in 1976. The ARVN proved incapable of resisting the onslaught, and its forces collapsed on 11 March. Once again, Hanoi was surprised by the speed of their success. Dung now urged the Politburo to allow him to seize Pleiku immediately and then turn his attention to Kon Tum. He argued that with two months of good weather remaining until the onset of the monsoon, it would be irresponsible to not take advantage of the situation.
President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, a former general, was fearful that his forces would be cut off in the north by the attacking communists; Thieu ordered a retreat. The president declared this to be a "lighten the top and keep the bottom" strategy. But in what appeared to be a repeat of Operation Lam Son 719, the withdrawal soon turned into a bloody rout. While the bulk of ARVN forces attempted to flee, isolated units fought desperately. ARVN General Phu abandoned Pleiku and Kon Tum and retreated toward the coast, in what became known as the "column of tears".
As the ARVN tried to disengage from the enemy, refugees mixed in with the line of retreat. The poor condition of roads and bridges, damaged by years of conflict and neglect, slowed Phu's column. As the North Vietnamese forces approached, panic set in. Often abandoned by the officers, the soldiers and civilians were shelled incessantly. The retreat degenerated into a desperate scramble for the coast. By 1 April the "column of tears" was all but annihilated.
On 20 March, Thieu reversed himself and ordered Huế, Vietnam's third-largest city, be held at all costs, and then changed his policy several times. Thieu's contradictory orders confused and demoralized his officer corps. As the North Vietnamese launched their attack, panic set in, and ARVN resistance withered. On 22 March, the VPA opened the siege of Huế. Civilians flooded the airport and the docks hoping for any mode of escape. Some even swam out to sea to reach boats and barges anchored offshore. In the confusion, routed ARVN soldiers fired on civilians to make way for their retreat.
On 25 March, after a three-day battle, Huế fell. As resistance in Huế collapsed, North Vietnamese rockets rained down on Da Nang and its airport. By 28 March 35,000 VPA troops were poised to attack the suburbs. By 30 March 100,000 leaderless ARVN troops surrendered as the VPA marched victoriously through Da Nang. With the fall of the city, the defense of the Central Highlands and Northern provinces came to an end.

Final North Vietnamese offensive

For more details on the final North Vietnamese offensive, see Ho Chi Minh Campaign.

With the northern half of the country under their control, the Politburo ordered General Dung to launch the final offensive against Saigon. The operational plan for the Ho Chi Minh Campaign called for the capture of Saigon before 1 May. Hanoi wished to avoid the coming monsoon and prevent any redeployment of ARVN forces defending the capital. Northern forces, their morale boosted by their recent victories, rolled on, taking Nha Trang, Cam Ranh, and Da Lat.
On 7 April, three North Vietnamese divisions attacked Xuan Loc, 40 miles (64 km) east of Saigon. The North Vietnamese met fierce resistance at Xuan Loc from the ARVN 18th Division, who were outnumbered six to one. For two bloody weeks, severe fighting raged as the ARVN defenders made a last stand to try to block the North Vietnamese advance. By 21 April, however, the exhausted garrison were ordered to withdraw towards Saigon.
An embittered and tearful president Thieu resigned on the same day, declaring that the United States had betrayed South Vietnam. In a scathing attack, he suggested U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger had tricked him into signing the Paris peace agreement two years ago, promising military aid that failed to materialise. Having transferred power to Tran Van Huong, he left for Taiwan on 25 April. At the same time, North Vietnamese tanks had reached Bien Hoa and turned toward Saigon, brushing aside isolated ARVN units along the way.
By the end of April, the ARVN had collapsed on all fronts except in the Mekong Delta. Thousand of refugees streamed southward, ahead of the main communist onslaught. On 27 April 100,000 North Vietnamese troops encircled Saigon. The city was defended by about 30,000 ARVN troops. To hasten a collapse and foment panic, the VPA shelled the airport and forced its closure. With the air exit closed, large numbers of civilians found that they had no way out.

Fall of Saigon

Evacuation of CIA station personnel by Air America on 29 April 1975.

Main articles: Fall of Saigon and Operation Frequent Wind

Chaos, unrest, and panic broke out as hysterical South Vietnamese officials and civilians scrambled to leave Saigon. Martial law was declared. American helicopters began evacuating South Vietnamese, U.S., and foreign nationals from various parts of the city and from the U.S. embassy compound. Operation Frequent Wind had been delayed until the last possible moment, because of U.S. Ambassador Graham Martin's belief that Saigon could be held and that a political settlement could be reached.
Schlesinger announced early in the morning of 29 April 1975 the evacuation from Saigon by helicopter of the last U.S. diplomatic, military, and civilian personnel. Frequent Wind was arguably the largest helicopter evacuation in history. It began on 29 April, in an atmosphere of desperation, as hysterical crowds of Vietnamese vied for limited space. Martin pleaded with Washington to dispatch $700 million in emergency aid to bolster the regime and help it mobilize fresh military reserves. But American public opinion had soured on this conflict.
In the United States, South Vietnam was perceived as doomed. President Gerald Ford had given a televised speech on 23 April, declaring an end to the Vietnam War and all U.S. aid. Frequent Wind continued around the clock, as North Vietnamese tanks breached defenses on the outskirts of Saigon. In the early morning hours of 30 April, the last U.S. Marines evacuated the embassy by helicopter, as civilians swamped the perimeter and poured into the grounds. Many of them had been employed by the Americans and were left to their fate.

Victorious NVA troops at the Presidential Palace, Saigon.

On 30 April 1975, Vietnamese People's Army troops entered the city of Saigon and quickly overcame all resistance, capturing key buildings and installations. A tank from the 324th Division crashed through the gates of the Independence Palace at 11:30 am local time and the Vietcong flag was raised above it. President Duong Van Minh, who had succeeded Huong two days earlier, surrendered.^[248]

Other countries' involvement

Pro-Hanoi

China

In 1950, China extended diplomatic recognition to the Viet Minh's Democratic Republic of Vietnam and sent weapons, as well as military advisors led by Luo Guibo to assist the Viet Minh in its war with the French. The first draft of the 1954 Geneva Accords was negotiated by French prime minister Pierre Mendès France and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai who, fearing U.S. intervention, urged the Viet Minh to accept a partition at the 17th parallel.^[249]
China's ability to aid the Viet Minh declined when Soviet aid to China was reduced following the end of the Korean War in 1953. Moreover, a divided Vietnam posed less of a threat to China. China provided material and technical support to the Vietnamese communists worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Chinese-supplied rice allowed North Vietnam to pull military-age men from the paddies and to impose a universal draft beginning in 1960.
In the summer of 1962, Mao Zedong agreed to supply Hanoi with 90,000 rifles and guns free of charge. Starting in 1965, China sent anti-aircraft units and engineering battalions to North Vietnam to repair the damage caused by American bombing, rebuild roads and railroads, and to perform other engineering works. This freed North Vietnamese army units for combat in the South.
Sino-Soviet relations soured after the Soviets invaded Czechoslovakia in August 1968. In October, the Chinese demanded North Vietnam cut relations with Moscow, but Hanoi refused.^[250] The Chinese began to withdraw in November 1968 in preparation for a clash with the Soviets, which occurred at Zhenbao Island in March 1969. The Chinese also began financing the Khmer Rouge as a counterweight to the Vietnamese communists at this time. China's withdrawal from Vietnam was completed in July 1970.^[251]
The Khmer Rouge launched ferocious raids into Vietnam in 1975–1978. Vietnam responded with an invasion that toppled the Khmer Rouge. In response, China launched a brief, punitive invasion of Vietnam in 1979.

Soviet Union

Leonid Brezhnev was the leader of the Soviet Union during the second half of the Vietnam War

Soviet ships in the South China Sea gave vital early warnings to NLF forces in South Vietnam. The Soviet intelligence ships would pick up American B-52 bombers flying from Okinawa and Guam. Their airspeed and direction would be noted and then relayed to COSVN headquarters. COSVN using airspeed and direction would calculate the bombing target and tell any assets to move "perpendicularly to the attack trajectory." These advance warning gave them time to move out of the way of the bombers and while the bombing runs caused extensive damage, because of the early warnings from 1968–1970 they did not kill a single military or civilian leader in the headquarter complexes.^[252]
The Soviet Union supplied North Vietnam with medical supplies, arms, tanks, planes, helicopters, artillery, anti-aircraft missiles and other military equipment. Soviet crews fired USSR-made surface-to-air missiles at the F-4 Phantom, which were shot down over Thanh Hoa in 1965. Over a dozen Soviet citizens lost their lives in this conflict. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russian officials acknowledged that the Soviet Union had stationed up to 3,000 troops in Vietnam during the war.^[253]
Some Russian sources give more specific numbers: the hardware donated by the USSR included 2,000 tanks, 7,000 artillery guns, over 5,000 anti-aircraft guns, 158 surface-to-air rocket launchers. Over the course of the war the Soviet money donated to the Vietnamese cause was equal to 1.5–2 million dollars a day^{[citation needed]}. From July 1965 to the end of 1974, fighting in Vietnam was attended by some 6,500 officers and generals, as well as more than 4,500 soldiers and sergeants of the Soviet Armed Forces. In addition, military schools and academies of the USSR began training Vietnamese soldiers – more than 10 thousand people.^[254]

North Korea

As a result of a decision of the Korean Workers' Party in October 1966, in early 1967 North Korea sent a fighter squadron to North Vietnam to back up the North Vietnamese 921st and 923rd fighter squadrons defending Hanoi. They stayed through 1968, and 200 pilots were reported to have served.^[255]
In addition, at least two anti-aircraft artillery regiments were sent as well. North Korea also sent weapons, ammunition and two million sets of uniforms to their comrades in North Vietnam.^[256] Kim Il-sung is reported to have told his pilots to "fight in the war as if the Vietnamese sky were their own".^[257]

Cuba

The contributions to North Vietnam by the communist Republic of Cuba, under Fidel Castro, is still a matter of debate. There are numerous reports by former U.S. prisoners of war that Cuban military personnel were present at North Vietnamese prison facilities during the war, and that they participated in torture activities, in what is known as the "Cuba Program".^{[258][259][260][261][262]} Witnesses to this include Senator John McCain, 2008 U.S. Presidential candidate and former Vietnam prisoner of war, according to his 1999 book Faith of My Fathers.^[263] That there was at least a small contingent of Cuban military advisors present in North Vietnam during the war is without question. Some, notably Vietnam War POW/MIA issue advocates, claim evidence that Cuba's military and non-military involvement may have run into the "thousands" of personnel.^[264] Then and since, the communist Vietnamese and Cuban governments have not divulged any information on this matter. The most well-known involvement, however, is Fidel Castro's visit to Quang Tri province, held by North Vietnam after the Easter Offensive.^[265]

Pro-Saigon

South Korea

Vietnamese civilians of Phong Nhi village massacred by South Korean Marines in 1968.

On the anti-communist side, South Korea had the second-largest contingent of foreign troops in South Vietnam after the United States. In November 1961, Park Chung Hee proposed South Korean participation in the war to John F. Kennedy, but Kennedy disagreed.^[266] On 1 May 1964 Lyndon Johnson requested South Korean participation.^[266] The first South Korean troops began arriving in 1964 and large combat formations began arriving a year later. The Republic of Korea Marine Corps despatched their 2nd Marine Brigade while the ROK Army sent the Capital Division and later the 9th Infantry Division. In August 1966 after the arrival of the 9th Division the Koreans established a corps command, the Republic of Korea Forces Vietnam Field Command, near I Field Force, Vietnam at Nha Trang.^[267] The South Koreans soon developed a reputation for effectiveness, reportedly conducting counterinsurgency operations so well that American commanders felt that the South Korean area of responsibility was the safest.^[268]
Approximately 320,000 South Korean soldiers were sent to Vietnam,^[269] each serving a one year tour of duty. Maximum troop levels peaked at 50,000 in 1968, however all were withdrawn by 1973.^[270] About 5,099 South Koreans were killed and 10,962 wounded during the war. South Korea claimed they killed 41,000 Vietcong fighters.^[269] The United States paid South Korean soldiers 236 million dollars for their efforts in Vietnam,^[269] and South Korean GNP increased five-fold during the war.^[269]

Australia and New Zealand

An Australian soldier in Vietnam

Main articles: Military history of Australia during the Vietnam War and New Zealand in the Vietnam War

Australia and New Zealand, close allies of the United States and members of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) and the ANZUS military co-operation treaty, sent ground troops to Vietnam. Both nations had gained experience in counterinsurgency and jungle warfare during the Malayan Emergency and World War II. Their governments subscribed to the Domino theory. Australia began by sending advisors to Vietnam in 1962, and combat troops were committed in 1965.^[271] New Zealand began by sending a detachment of engineers and an artillery battery, and then started sending special forces and regular infantry which were attached to Australian formations.^[272] Australia's peak commitment was 7,672 combat troops and New Zealand's 552. More than 60,000 Australian personnel were involved during the course of the war, of which 521 were killed and more than 3,000 wounded.^[273] Approximately 3,000 New Zealanders served in Vietnam, losing 37 killed and 187 wounded.^[274] Most Australians and New Zealanders served in the 1st Australian Task Force in Phước Tuy province.^[271]

Philippines

Some 10,450 Filipino troops were dispatched to South Vietnam. They were primarily engaged in medical and other civilian pacification projects. These forces operated under the designation PHLCAG-V or Philippine Civic Action Group-Vietnam.

Thailand

Thai Army formations, including the "Queen's Cobra" battalion, saw action in South Vietnam between 1965 and 1971. Thai forces saw much more action in the covert war in Laos between 1964 and 1972, though Thai regular formations there were heavily outnumbered by the irregular "volunteers" of the CIA-sponsored Police Aerial Reconnaissance Units or PARU, who carried out reconnaissance activities on the western side of the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

Republic of China (Taiwan)

Main article: Republic of China in the Vietnam War

Since November 1967, the Taiwanese government secretly operated a cargo transport detachment to assist the United States and South Vietnam. Taiwan also provided military training units for the South Vietnamese diving units, later known as the Lien Doi Nguoi Nhai (LDMN) or Frogman unit in English.^[275] In addition to the diving trainers there were several hundred military personnel.^[275] Military commandos from Taiwan were captured by communist forces three times trying to infiltrate North Vietnam.^[275]

Canada and the ICC

Main article: Canada and the Vietnam War

Canada, India and Poland constituted the International Control Commission, which was supposed to monitor the 1954 ceasefire agreement.^[276] Officially, Canada did not have partisan involvement in the Vietnam War and diplomatically it was "non-belligerent". Victor Levant suggested otherwise in his book "Quiet Complicity: Canadian Involvement in the Vietnam War" (1986).^[277][278] The Vietnam War entry in The Canadian Encyclopedia asserts plainly that Canada's record on the truce commissions was a pro-Saigon partisan one.^[279]

War crimes

Main articles: List of war crimes#1954–1975: Vietnam War and Vietnam War casualties

A large number of war crimes took place during the Vietnam War. War crimes were committed by both sides during the conflict and included rape, massacres of civilians, bombings of civilian targets, terrorism, the widespread use of torture and the murder of prisoners of war. Additional common crimes included theft, arson, and the destruction of property.

American war crimes

Main articles: Tiger Force and Vietnam War Crimes Working Group

In 1968, The Vietnam War Crimes Working Group (VWCWG) was established by the Pentagon task force set up in the wake of the My Lai Massacre, to attempt to ascertain the veracity of emerging claims of war crimes by U.S. armed forces in Vietnam, during the Vietnam War period.
The investigation compiled over 9,000 pages of investigative files, sworn statements by witnesses and status reports for top military officers, indicating that 320 alleged incidents had factual basis.^[280] The substantiated cases included 7 massacres between 1967 and 1971 in which at least 137 civilians were killed; seventy eight further attacks targeting non-combatants resulting in at least 57 deaths, 56 wounded and 15 sexually assaulted; one hundred and forty-one cases of US soldiers torturing civilian detainees or prisoners of war with fists, sticks, bats, water or electric shock.^[281] Over 800 alleged atrocities were investigated but only 23 soldiers were ever convicted on charges and most served sentences of less than a year.^{[282][unreliable source?]} A Los Angeles Times report on the archived files concluded that the war crimes were not confined to a few rogue units, having been uncovered in every army division that was active in Vietnam.^[281]

Victims of the My Lai massacre

In 2003 a series of investigative reports by the Toledo Blade uncovered a large number of unreported American war crimes particularly from the Tiger Force unit.^[283] Some of the most violent war criminals included men such as Sam Ybarra^[284] and Sergeant Roy E. "the Bummer" Bumgarner, a soldier who served with the 1st Cavalry Division and later the 173d Airborne Brigade.^[285]
In 1971 the later U.S. presidential candidate, John Kerry, testified before the U.S. Senate and stated that over 150 U.S. veterans testified during the Winter Soldier Investigation and described war crimes committed in Southeast Asia.

"They told the stories of times that they had personally raped, cut off the ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in a fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravage of war and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country."

—John Kerry testifying before the U.S. Senate in 1971^[286]

According to political scientist R.J. Rummel, U.S. troops murdered about 6,000 Vietnamese civilians during the war.^[287] Nick Turse, in his 2013 book, “Kill Anything that Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam,” argues that a relentless drive toward higher body counts, a widespread use of free-fire zones, rules of engagement where civilians who ran from soldiers or helicopters could be viewed as VietCong, and a widespread disdain for Vietnamese civilians led to massive civilian casualties and endemic war crimes inflicted by U.S. troops.^[288] One example cited by Turse is Operation Speedy Express, an operation by the 9th Infantry Division, which was described by John Paul Vann as, in effect, “many My Lais”.^[288]:251In more detail,

Air force captain, Brian Wilson, who carried out bomb-damage assessments in free-fire zones throughout the delta, saw the results firsthand. “It was the epitome of immorality…One of the times I counted bodies after an air strike — which always ended with two napalm bombs which would just fry everything that was left —I counted sixty-two bodies. In my report I described them as so many women between fifteen and twenty-five and so many children —usually in their mothers’ arms or very close to them —and so many old people.” When he later read the official tally of dead, he found that it listed them as 130 VC killed.^[288]:212

North Vietnamese, Vietcong, and Khmer Rouge war crimes

Main article: Viet Cong and PAVN strategy, organization and structure#VC/NVA use of terror

Victims of the Hue Massacre

Viet Cong insurgents reportedly sliced off the genitals of village chiefs and sewed them inside their bloody mouths, cut off the tongues of helpless victims, rammed bamboo lances through one ear and out the other, slashed open the wombs of pregnant women, machine gunned children, hacked men and women to pieces with machetes, and cut off the fingers of small children who dared to get an education.^{[176][unreliable source?][289][unreliable source?]} According to a U.S. Senate report, squads were assigned monthly assassination quotas.^{[290][unreliable source?]} Peer De Silva, former head of the Saigon department of the CIA, wrote that from as early as 1963, Viet Cong units were using disembowelment and other methods of mutilation for psychological warfare.^[291]
According to Guenter Lewy, Viet Cong insurgents assassinated at least 37,000 civilians in South Vietnam and routinely employed terror on a daily basis.^[292] Ami Pedahzur has written that "the overall volume and lethality of Vietcong terrorism rivals or exceeds all but a handful of terrorist campaigns waged over the last third of the twentieth century".^[293] Notable Viet Cong atrocities include the massacre of over 3,000 unarmed civilians at Huế during the Tet Offensive and the incineration of hundreds of civilians at the Dak Son Massacre with flamethrowers.^[294] Up to 155,000 refugees fleeing the final North Vietnamese Spring Offensive were killed or abducted on the road to Tuy Hòa in 1975.^[295] According to Rummel, North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops murdered between 106,000 and 227,000 civilians in South Vietnam.^[287] North Vietnam was also known for its inhumane and abusive treatment of American POWs, most notably in Hoa Lo Prison (aka the Hanoi Hilton), where severe torture was employed to extract "confessions".^[296]
Khmer Rouge insurgents also reportedly committed atrocities during the war. These include the murder of civilians and POWs by slowly sawing off their heads a little more each day,^[297] the destruction of Buddhist wats and the killing of monks,^{[298][unreliable source?]} attacks on refugee camps involving the deliberate murder of babies and bomb threats against foreign aid workers,^{[299][unreliable source?]} the abduction and assassination of journalists,^[300] and the shelling of Phnom Penh for more than a year.^{[301][unreliable source?]} Journalist accounts stated that the Khmer Rouge shelling "tortured the capital almost continuously," inflicting "random death and mutilation" on 2 million trapped civilians.^[302]
The Khmer Rouge forcibly evacuated the entire city after taking it, in what has been described as a death march: Francois Ponchaud wrote that "I shall never forget one cripple who had neither hands nor feet, writhing along the ground like a severed worm, or a weeping father carrying his ten-year old daughter wrapped in a sheet tied around his neck like a sling, or the man with his foot dangling at the end of a leg to which it was attached by nothing but skin";^[303] John Swain recalled that the Khmer Rouge were "tipping out patients from the hospitals like garbage into the streets....In five years of war, this is the greatest caravan of human misery I have seen."^[304] During the war, the Khmer Rouge caused several times more civilian casualties than the entire U.S. bombing of Cambodia.^[27]

Women in Vietnam

American nurses

Da Nang, South Vietnam, 1968

During the Vietnam War, women served on active duty doing a variety of jobs. Early in 1963, the Army Nurse Corps (ANC) launched Operation Nightingale, an intensive effort to recruit nurses to serve in Vietnam. Most nurses who volunteered to serve in Vietnam came from predominantly working or middle-class families with histories of military service. The majority of these women were white Catholics and Protestants.^[305] Because the need for medical aid was great, many nurses underwent a concentrated four-month training program before being deployed to Vietnam in the ANC^[306] Due to the shortage of staff, nurses usually worked twelve-hour shifts, six days per week and often suffered from exhaustion. First Lieutenant Sharon Lane was the only female military nurse to be killed by enemy gunfire during the war, on 8 June 1969.^[307]

A nurse treats a Vietnamese child, 1967

At the start of the Vietnam War, it was commonly thought that American women had no place in the military. Their traditional place had been in the domestic sphere, but with the war came opportunity for the expansion of gender roles. In Vietnam, women held a variety of jobs which included operating complex data processing equipment and serving as stenographers.^[308] Although a small number of women were assigned to combat zones, they were never allowed directly in the field of battle. The women who served in the military were solely volunteers. They faced a plethora of challenges, one of which was the relatively small number of female soldiers. Living in a male-dominated environment created tensions between the sexes. While this high male to female ratio was often uncomfortable for women, many men reported that having women in the field with them boosted their morale.^[309] Although this was not the women's purpose, it was one positive result of the their service. By 1973, approximately 7,500 women had served in Vietnam in the Southeast Asian theater.^[310] In that same year, the military lifted the prohibition on women entering the armed forces.
American women serving in Vietnam were subject to societal stereotypes. Many Americans either considered females serving in Vietnam masculine for living under the army discipline, or judged them to be women of questionable moral character who enlisted for the sole purpose of seducing men.^[311] To address this problem, the ANC released advertisements portraying women in the ANC as "proper, professional and well protected." (26) This effort to highlight the positive aspects of a nursing career reflected the ideas of second-wave feminism that occurred during the 1960s–1970s in the United States. Although female military nurses lived in a heavily male environment, very few cases of sexual harassment were ever reported.^[312] In 2008, by contrast, approximately one-third of women in the military felt that they had been sexually harassed compared with one-third of men.

Vietnamese women

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Unlike the American women who went to Vietnam, North Vietnamese women were enlisted and fought in the combat zone as well as provided manual labor to keep the Ho Chi Minh Trail open, cook for the troops, and some served as "comfort women" for male communist fighters. They also worked in the rice fields in North Vietnam and Viet Cong-held farming areas in South Vietnam's Mekong Delta region to provide food for their families and the war effort. Women were enlisted in both the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and the Viet Cong guerrilla insurgent force in South Vietnam. Some women also served for the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong intelligence services.
In South Vietnam, many women voluntarily serve in the ARVN's Women's Armed Force Corps (WAFC) and various other Women's corps in the military. Some, like in the WAFC, fought in combat with other soldiers. Others have served as nurses and doctors in the battlefield and in military hospitals, or served in South Vietnam or America's intelligence agencies. During Diem's presidency, Madame Nhu was the commander of the WAFC.

Weapons

Main article: Weapons of the Vietnam War

Marines complete construction of M101 howitzer positions at a mountain-top fire support base, 1968

Communist forces were principally armed with Chinese^[313] and Soviet weaponry^[314] though some Viet Cong guerrilla units were equipped with Western infantry weapons either captured from French stocks during the first Indochina war or from ARVN units or requisitioned through illicit purchase.^[315] The ubiquitous Soviet AK-47 was widely regarded as the best assault rifle of the war, due to its ability to continue to function even in adverse, muddy conditions. It was not uncommon to see U.S. special forces fighting with captured AK-47s. Other weapons used by the Viet Cong included the PPSh-41 submachine gun (both Soviet and Chinese versions), the Škorpion vz. 61 submachine gun, the DShK heavy machine gun and the Stechkin APS machine pistol.

Bicycles carried up to 400 pounds of weight and were thus effective transport vehicles.

While the Viet Cong had both amphibious tanks (such as the PT-76) and light tanks (such as the Type 62), they also used human-powered vehicles—bicycles—to transport munitions.
The American M16, which replaced the M14, was considered more accurate and was lighter than the AK-47 but was prone to jamming. Oftentimes the gun suffered from a jamming flaw known as "failure to extract," which meant that a spent cartridge case remained lodged in the chamber after a bullet flew out the muzzle.^[316] According to a congressional report, the jamming was caused primarily by a change in gunpowder which was done without adequate testing and reflected a decision for which the safety of soldiers was a secondary consideration.^[317]
The M60 machine gun GPMG (General Purpose Machine Gun) was the main machine gun of the US army at the time and many of them were put on helicopters, to provide suppressive fire when landing in hostile regions. The MAC-10 machine pistol was supplied to many special forces troops in the midpoint of the war. It also armed many CIA agents in the field.
Two of the aircraft which were prominent in the war are the AC-130 "Spectre" Gunship and the UH-1 "Huey" gunship. The AC-130 is a heavily-armed ground-attack aircraft variant of the C-130 Hercules transport plane; it was used to provide close air support, air interdiction and force protection. The AC-130H "Spectre" was armed with two 20 mm M61 Vulcan cannons, one Bofors 40mm autocannon, and one 105 mm M102 cannon. The Huey is a military helicopter powered by a single, turboshaft engine, with a two-bladed main rotor and tail rotor. Approximately 7,000 UH-1 aircraft saw service in Vietnam.
The Claymore M18A1, an anti-personnel mine, was widely used during the war. Unlike a conventional land mine, the Claymore is command-detonated and directional, meaning it is fired by remote-control and shoots a pattern of metal balls into the kill zone like a shotgun.
The aircraft ordnance used during the war included precision-guided munition, cluster bombs, and napalm, a thickening/gelling agent generally mixed with petroleum or a similar fuel for use in an incendiary device, initially against buildings and later primarily as an anti-personnel weapon that sticks to skin and can burn down to the bone.

Aftermath

Events in Southeast Asia

Further information: Mayaguez incident

Vietnamese refugees fleeing Vietnam, 1984

On 2 July 1976, North and South Vietnam were merged to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.^[318] Following the communist takeover, 1–2.5^[319] million South Vietnamese were sent to reeducation camps, with an estimated 165,000 prisoners dying.^[320] Between 100,000^{[319][321][322]} and 200,000^[323] South Vietnamese were executed.^[324] R.J. Rummel, an analyst of political killings, estimated that about 50,000 South Vietnamese deported to "New Economic Zones" died performing hard labor,^[287] out of the 1 million that were sent.^[319] 200,000 to 400,000 Vietnamese boat people died at sea, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.^[325]
Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, fell to followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, commonly known as the Khmer Rouge, on 17 April 1975. Under the leadership of Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge would eventually kill 1–3 million Cambodians in the killing fields, out of a population of around 8 million.^{[26][27][28][326]} At least 1,386,734 victims of execution have been counted in mass graves, while demographic analysis suggests that the policies of the regime caused between 1.7 and 2.5 million excess deaths altogether (including disease and starvation).^[326] After repeated border clashes in 1978, Vietnam invaded Democratic Kampuchea (Cambodia) and ousted the Khmer Rouge in the Cambodian–Vietnamese War. The Vietnamese installed a new government led by Khmer Rouge defectors, which killed tens of thousands and enslaved hundreds of thousands.^[327]
In response, China invaded Vietnam in 1979. The two countries fought a brief border war, known as the Sino-Vietnamese War. From 1978 to 1979, some 450,000 ethnic Chinese left Vietnam by boat as refugees or were expelled across the land border with China.^[328]
The communist Pathet Lao overthrew the royalist government of Laos in December 1975, establishing the Lao People's Democratic Republic.^[329] The conflict between Hmong rebels and the Pathet Lao continued in isolated pockets. The government of Laos has been accused of committing genocide against the Hmong in collaboration with the Vietnamese army,^[330][331] with up to 100,000 killed out of a population of 400,000.^[332][333] From 1975 to 1996, the United States resettled some 250,000 Lao refugees from Thailand, including 130,000 Hmong.^[334]
More than 3 million people fled from Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, many as "boat people" in the Indochina refugee crisis. Most Asian countries were unwilling to accept refugees.^[335] Since 1975, an estimated 1.4 million refugees from Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries have been resettled to the United States,^[336] while Canada, Australia, and France resettled over 500,000.^[337] In 1988, Vietnam suffered a famine that afflicted millions.^[338] Vietnam played a role in Asia similar to Cuba's in Latin America: it supported local revolutionary groups and was a headquarters for Soviet-style communism.^[339]

Effect on the United States

Vietnam War protests at the Pentagon, October 1967

In the post-war era, Americans struggled to absorb the lessons of the military intervention.^[340] As General Maxwell Taylor, one of the principal architects of the war, noted, "First, we didn't know ourselves. We thought that we were going into another Korean War, but this was a different country. Secondly, we didn't know our South Vietnamese allies... And we knew less about North Vietnam. Who was Ho Chi Minh? Nobody really knew. So, until we know the enemy and know our allies and know ourselves, we'd better keep out of this kind of dirty business. It's very dangerous."^[341][342]
Some have suggested that "the responsibility for the ultimate failure of this policy [America's withdrawal from Vietnam] lies not with the men who fought, but with those in Congress..."^[343] Alternatively, the official history of the United States Army noted that "tactics have often seemed to exist apart from larger issues, strategies, and objectives. Yet in Vietnam the Army experienced tactical success and strategic failure... The...Vietnam War...legacy may be the lesson that unique historical, political, cultural, and social factors always impinge on the military...Success rests not only on military progress but on correctly analyzing the nature of the particular conflict, understanding the enemy's strategy, and assessing the strengths and weaknesses of allies. A new humility and a new sophistication may form the best parts of a complex heritage left to the Army by the long, bitter war in Vietnam."^[344]

A young Marine private waits on the beach during the Marine landing, Da Nang, 3 August 1965

U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger wrote in a secret memo to president Gerald Ford that "in terms of military tactics, we cannot help draw the conclusion that our armed forces are not suited to this kind of war. Even the Special Forces who had been designed for it could not prevail."^[345] Even Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara concluded that "the achievement of a military victory by U.S. forces in Vietnam was indeed a dangerous illusion."^[346]
Doubts surfaced as to the effectiveness of large-scale, sustained bombing. As Army Chief of Staff Harold Keith Johnson noted, "if anything came out of Vietnam, it was that air power couldn't do the job."^[347] Even General William Westmoreland admitted that the bombing had been ineffective. As he remarked, "I still doubt that the North Vietnamese would have relented."^[347]
The inability to bomb Hanoi to the bargaining table also illustrated another U.S. miscalculation. The North's leadership was composed of hardened communists who had been fighting for independence for thirty years. They had defeated the French, and their tenacity as both nationalists and communists was formidable. Ho Chi Minh is quoted as saying, "You can kill ten of my men for every one I kill of yours...But even at these odds you will lose and I will win."^[348]

2/5 Marine gets his wounds treated during operations in Hue City, 1968

The Vietnam War called into question the U.S. Army doctrine. Marine Corps General Victor H. Krulak heavily criticised Westmoreland's attrition strategy, calling it "wasteful of American lives... with small likelihood of a successful outcome."^[347] In addition, doubts surfaced about the ability of the military to train foreign forces.
Between 1965 and 1975, the United States spent $111 billion on the war ($686 billion in FY2008 dollars).^[349] This resulted in a large federal budget deficit.
More than 3 million Americans served in the Vietnam War, some 1.5 million of whom actually saw combat in Vietnam.^[350] James E. Westheider wrote that "At the height of American involvement in 1968, for example, there were 543,000 American military personnel in Vietnam, but only 80,000 were considered combat troops."^[351] Conscription in the United States had been controlled by the president since World War II, but ended in 1973."
By war's end, 58,220 American soldiers had been killed,^{[A 2]} more than 150,000 had been wounded, and at least 21,000 had been permanently disabled.^[352] The average age of the U.S. troops killed in Vietnam was 23.11 years.^[353] According to Dale Kueter, "Of those killed in combat, 86.3 percent were white, 12.5 percent were black and the remainder from other races."^[354] Approximately 830,000 Vietnam veterans suffered symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder. An estimated 125,000 Americans left for Canada to avoid the Vietnam draft,^[355] and approximately 50,000 American servicemen deserted.^[356] In 1977, United States president Jimmy Carter granted a full, complete and unconditional pardon to all Vietnam-era draft dodgers.^[357] The Vietnam War POW/MIA issue, concerning the fate of U.S. service personnel listed as missing in action, persisted for many years after the war's conclusion.
As of 2013, the U.S. government is paying Vietnam veterans and their families or survivors more than 22 billion dollars a year in war-related claims.^[358][359]

Chemical defoliation

U.S. helicopter spraying chemical defoliants in the Mekong Delta, South Vietnam

One of the most controversial aspects of the U.S. military effort in Southeast Asia was the widespread use of chemical defoliants between 1961 and 1971. They were used to defoliate large parts of the countryside to prevent the Viet Cong from being able to hide their weapons and encampments under the foliage. These chemicals continue to change the landscape, cause diseases and birth defects, and poison the food chain.^{[360][dead link]}
Early in the American military effort, it was decided that since the enemy were hiding their activities under triple-canopy jungle, a useful first step might be to defoliate certain areas. This was especially true of growth surrounding bases (both large and small) in what became known as Operation Ranch Hand. Corporations like Dow Chemical Company and Monsanto were given the task of developing herbicides for this purpose.
The defoliants, which were distributed in drums marked with color-coded bands, included the "Rainbow Herbicides"—Agent Pink, Agent Green, Agent Purple, Agent Blue, Agent White, and, most famously, Agent Orange, which included dioxin as a by-product of its manufacture. About 12 million gallons (45,000,000 L) of Agent Orange were sprayed over Southeast Asia during the American involvement^{[citation needed]}. A prime area of Ranch Hand operations was in the Mekong Delta, where the U.S. Navy patrol boats were vulnerable to attack from the undergrowth at the water's edge.
In 1961 and 1962, the Kennedy administration authorized the use of chemicals to destroy rice crops. Between 1961 and 1967, the U.S. Air Force sprayed 20 million U.S. gallons (75,700,000 L) of concentrated herbicides over 6 million acres (24,000 km²) of crops and trees, affecting an estimated 13% of South Vietnam's land. In 1965, 42% of all herbicide was sprayed over food crops. Another purpose of herbicide use was to drive civilian populations into RVN-controlled areas.^[361]
As of 2006, the Vietnamese government estimates that there are over 4,000,000 victims of dioxin poisoning in Vietnam, although the United States government denies any conclusive scientific links between Agent Orange and the Vietnamese victims of dioxin poisoning. In some areas of southern Vietnam, dioxin levels remain at over 100 times the accepted international standard.^[362]
The U.S. Veterans Administration has listed prostate cancer, respiratory cancers, multiple myeloma, Diabetes mellitus type 2, B-cell lymphomas, soft-tissue sarcoma, chloracne, porphyria cutanea tarda, peripheral neuropathy, and spina bifida in children of veterans exposed to Agent Orange. Although there has been much discussion over whether the use of these defoliants constituted a violation of the laws of war, the defoliants were not considered weapons, since exposure to them did not lead to immediate death or incapacitation.

Casualties

Main article: Vietnam War casualties

Phan Thị Kim Phúc, center, running down a road near Trảng Bàng, Vietnam, on 8 June 1972, after a napalm bomb was dropped on the village of Trảng Bàng by a plane of the Vietnam Air Force _{Photo: Nick Ut / The Associated Press}

Main article: Outline of the Vietnam War

195,000–430,000 South Vietnamese civilians died in the war.^[14][15] 50,000–65,000 North Vietnamese civilians died in the war.^[14][21] The Army of the Republic of Vietnam lost between 171,331 and 220,357 men during the war.^[14][363] The official US Department of Defense figure was 950,765 communist forces killed in Vietnam from 1965 to 1974. Defense Department officials believed that these body count figures need to be deflated by 30 percent. In addition, Guenter Lewy assumes that one-third of the reported "enemy" killed may have been civilians, concluding that the actual number of deaths of communist military forces was probably closer to 444,000.^[14] The most detailed demographic study calculated 791,000–1,141,000 war-related deaths for all of Vietnam.^[38] Between 200,000 and 300,000 Cambodians died in the war,^[26][27][28] along with about 60,000 Laotians^[364] and 58,220 U.S. service members.

Popular culture

See also: Vietnam War in film, Vietnam War in games, and War in popular culture

The Vietnam War has been featured heavily in television, film, video games, and literature in the participant countries. One of the first major films based on the Vietnam War was John Wayne's pro-war film, The Green Berets (1968). Further cinematic representations were released during the 1970s and 1980s, including Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter (1978), Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now (1979), Oliver Stone's Platoon (1986) — based on his service in the U.S. Military during the Vietnam War, Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket (1987), Hamburger Hill (1987) and Casualties of War (1989). Later films would include We Were Soldiers (2002) and Rescue Dawn (2007). The war also influenced a generation of musicians and songwriters in Vietnam and the United States, both anti-war and pro/anti-communist. The band Country Joe and the Fish recorded "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag" / The "Fish" Cheer in 1965, and it became one of the most influential anti-Vietnam protest anthems.
Trinh Cong Son was a South Vietnamese songwriter famous for his anti-war songs.

See also

	Vietnam portal
	United States portal
	War portal

• Aircraft losses of the Vietnam War
• Awards and decorations of the Vietnam War
• Counterculture of the 1960s
• Củ Chi tunnels
• Dak Son Massacre
• Draft lottery (1969)
• Kit Carson Scouts
• List of Medal of Honor recipients for the Vietnam War
• List of United States servicemembers and civilians missing in action during the Vietnam War (1968–69)
• Major General Michael D. Healy
• Operation Wheeler/Wallowa
• Patrol Craft Fast
• Protests of 1968
• The Sixties Unplugged
• Tiger Force
• United States Air Force in South Vietnam
• United States Air Force in Thailand
• United States Army Special Forces in popular culture
• U.S. news media and the Vietnam War
• Vietnam War Crimes Working Group Files
• Weapons of the Cambodian Civil War
• Weapons of the Vietnam War
• Winter Soldier Investigation

Regional:

• Cambodian Civil War
• Indochina Wars
• Laotian Civil War
• North Vietnamese invasion of Laos

General:

• History of Cambodia
• History of Laos
• List of conflicts in Asia

Annotations

1. ^ ^{a b} Due to the early presence of American troops in Vietnam the start date of the Vietnam War is a matter of debate. In 1998 after a high level review by the Department of Defense (DoD) and through the efforts of Richard B. Fitzgibbon's family the start date of the Vietnam War according to the US government was officially changed to 1 November 1955.^[30] U.S. government reports currently cite 1 November 1955 as the commencement date of the "Vietnam Conflict," because this was the day when the U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) in Indochina (deployed to Southeast Asia under president Truman) was reorganized into country-specific units and MAAG Vietnam was established.^[31] Other start dates include when Hanoi authorized Viet Cong forces in South Vietnam to begin a low-level insurgency in December 1956,^[32] whereas some view 26 September 1959 when the first battle occurred between the Communist and South Vietnamese army, as the start date.^[33]
2. ^ ^{a b c d} The figures of 58,220 and 303,644 for U.S. deaths and wounded come from the Department of Defense Statistical Information Analysis Division (SIAD), Defense Manpower Data Center, as well as from a Department of Veterans fact sheet dated May 2010^[45] the CRS (Congressional Research Service) Report for Congress, American War and Military Operations Casualties: Lists and Statistics, dated 26 February 2010,^[46] and the book Crucible Vietnam: Memoir of an Infantry Lieutenant.^[47] Some other sources give different figures (e.g. the 2005/2006 documentary Heart of Darkness: The Vietnam War Chronicles 1945–1975 cited elsewhere in this article gives a figure of 58,159 U.S. deaths,^[16] and the 2007 book Vietnam Sons gives a figure of 58,226)^[48]
3. ^ The Việt Nam Ðộc Lập Ðồng Minh Hội had previously formed in Nanjing, China, at some point between August 1935 and early 1936 when the non-communist Vietnamese Nationalist Party (Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng, or Việt Quốc), led by Nguyễn Thái Học, and some members of the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP) and a number of other Vietnamese nationalist parties formed an anti-imperialist united front. This organisation soon lapsed into inactivity, only to be revived by the ICP and Ho Chi Minh in 1941.^[56]
4. ^ On 8 March 1965 the first American combat troops the, Third Marine Regiment, Third Marine Division, began landing in Vietnam to protect the Da Nang airport.^[240][241]

Notes

1. ^ Vietnamese special force attack USA B.52 den. nam hoai vu. 8 May 1970. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
2. ^ Larsen, Stanley R. and Collins, James L. Jr. Vietnam Studies: Allied Participation in Vietnam. Washington, DC: Department of the Army, 1985. p. 167. Spain sent a medical team to Co Gong Province in 1965.
3. ^ "ALLIES OF THE REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM". Retrieved 24 September 2011.
4. ^ The Cuban Military Under Castro, 1989. Page 76
5. ^ Cuba in the World, 1979. Page 66
6. ^ czech
7. ^ czech
8. ^ "Foreign Affairs in the 1960s and 1970s". Bulgaria Country Study. Library of Congress. 1992. "Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Bulgaria gave official military support to many national liberation causes, most notably in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, (North Vietnam)..."
9. ^ Vietnamese Communists' Relations with China and the Second Indochina Conflict: 1956 - 1962, 1997. Page 76
10. ^ "Vietnam War : US Troop Strength". Historycentral.com. Retrieved 17 October 2009.^{[dead link]}
11. ^ "Facts about the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Collection". nps.gov. (citing The first American ground combat troops landed in South Vietnam during March 1965, specifically the U.S. Third Marine Regiment, Third Marine Division, deployed to Vietnam from Okinawa to defend the Da Nang, Vietnam, airfield. During the height of U.S. military involvement, 31 December 1968, the breakdown of allied forces were as follows: 536,100 U.S. military personnel, with 30,610 U.S. military having been killed to date; 65,000 Free World Forces personnel; 820,000 South Vietnam Armed Forces (SVNAF) with 88,343 having been killed to date. At the war's end, there were approximately 2,200 U.S. missing in action (MIA) and prisoner of war (POW). Source: Harry G. Summers, Jr. Vietnam War Almanac, Facts on File Publishing, 1985.)
12. ^ Vietnam Marines 1965–73. Osprey Publishing. 8 March 1965. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
13. ^ Vietnam War After Action Reports, BACM Research, 2009, page 430
14. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Lewy, Guenter (1978). America in Vietnam. New York: Oxford University Press. Appendix 1, pp.450–453.
15. ^ ^{a b} Thayer, Thomas C (1985). War Without Fronts: The American Experience in Vietnam. Boulder: Westview Press. Ch. 12.
16. ^ ^{a b} Aaron Ulrich (editor); Edward FeuerHerd (producer and director) (2005 & 2006). Heart of Darkness: The Vietnam War Chronicles 1945–1975 (Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC, Dolby, Vision Software) (Documentary). Koch Vision. Event occurs at 321 minutes. ISBN 1-4172-2920-9.
17. ^ Rummel, R.J (1997), "Table 6.1A. Vietnam Democide : Estimates, Sources, and Calculations," (GIF), Freedom, Democracy, Peace; Power, Democide, and War, University of Hawaii System
18. ^ "Australian casualties in the Vietnam War, 1962–72 | Australian War Memorial". Awm.gov.au. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
19. ^ "Overview of the war in Vietnam | VietnamWar.govt.nz, New Zealand and the Vietnam War". Vietnamwar.govt.nz. 1965-07-16. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
20. ^ The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History By Spencer C. Tucker "http://books.google.com/?id=qh5lffww-KsC"
21. ^ ^{a b} Wiesner, Louis A. (1988). Victims and Survivors Displaced Persons and Other War Victims in Viet-Nam. New York: Greenwood Press. p.310
22. ^ ^{a b} Associated Press, 3 April 1995, "Vietnam Says 1.1 Million Died Fighting For North."
23. ^ Soames, John. A History of the World, Routledge, 2005.
24. ^ Dunnigan, James & Nofi, Albert: Dirty Little Secrets of the Vietnam War: Military Information You're Not Supposed to Know. St. Martin's Press, 2000, p. 284. ISBN 0-312-25282-X.
25. ^ ^{a b} Shenon, Philip (23 April 1995). "20 Years After Victory, Vietnamese Communists Ponder How to Celebrate". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 February 2011. The Vietnamese government officially claimed a rough estimate of 2 million civilian deaths, but it did not divide these deaths between North and South Vietnam.
26. ^ ^{a b c d} Heuveline, Patrick (2001). "The Demographic Analysis of Mortality in Cambodia." In Forced Migration and Mortality, eds. Holly E. Reed and Charles B. Keely. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.
27. ^ ^{a b c d e} Marek Sliwinski, Le Génocide Khmer Rouge: Une Analyse Démographique (L'Harmattan, 1995).
28. ^ ^{a b c d} Banister, Judith, and Paige Johnson (1993). "After the Nightmare: The Population of Cambodia." In Genocide and Democracy in Cambodia: The Khmer Rouge, the United Nations and the International Community, ed. Ben Kiernan. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Southeast Asia Studies.
29. ^ Factasy. "The Vietnam War or Second Indochina War". PRLog. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
30. ^ DoD 1998
31. ^ Lawrence 2009, p. 20
32. ^ ^{a b} James Olson and Randy Roberts, Where the Domino Fell: America and Vietnam, 1945–1990, p. 67 (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1991).
33. ^ ^{a b c d e} Origins of the Insurgency in South Vietnam, 1954–1960, The Pentagon Papers (Gravel Edition), Volume 1, Chapter 5, (Boston: Beacon Press, 1971), Section 3, pp. 314–346; International Relations Department, Mount Holyoke College.
34. ^ "Vietnam War". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 5 March 2008. "Meanwhile, the United States, its military demoralized and its civilian electorate deeply divided, began a process of coming to terms with defeat in its longest and most controversial war"
35. ^ Digital History, Steven Mintz. "The Vietnam War". Digitalhistory.uh.edu. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
36. ^ Vietnam War Statistics and Facts 1, 25th Aviation Battalion website.
37. ^ Kolko, Gabriel Anatomy of War, pp. 457, 461 ff., ISBN 1-898876-67-3.
38. ^ ^{a b c} Charles Hirschman et al., "Vietnamese Casualties During the American War: A New Estimate," Population and Development Review, December 1995.
39. ^ Warner, Roger, Shooting at the Moon, (1996), pp366, estimates 30,000 Hmong.
40. ^ Obermeyer, "Fifty years of violent war deaths from Vietnam to Bosnia", British Medical Journal, 2008, estimates 60,000 total.
41. ^ T. Lomperis, From People's War to People's Rule, (1996), estimates 35,000 total.
42. ^ Small, Melvin & Joel David Singer, Resort to Arms: International and Civil Wars 1816–1980, (1982), estimates 20,000 total.
43. ^ Taylor, Charles Lewis, The World Handbook of Political and Social Indicators, estimates 20,000 total.
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63. ^ Neale, Jonathan The American War, p. 19, ISBN 1-898876-67-3.
64. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Neale, Jonathan The American War, p. 20, ISBN 1-898876-67-3.
65. ^ Interview with Carleton Swift, 1981, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/vietnam-9dc948-interview-with-carleton-swift
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68. ^ Kolko, Gabriel Anatomy of War, p. 37, ISBN 1-898876-67-3.
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80. ^ ^{a b c} McNamara, Argument Without End pp. 377–79.
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95. ^ Jacobs, pp. 45–55.
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108. ^ ^{a b} The Pentagon Papers (1971), Beacon Press, vol. 3, p. 140.
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116. ^ Karnow 1991, p. 224
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118. ^ Robert F. Turner (1975), Vietnamese Communism: Its Origins and Development, Hoover Institution Press, p. 193-94, 202–03, 215–17.
119. ^ McNamara Argument Without End p. 19.
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124. ^ Lewy, Guetner, (1978), America in Vietnam, New York: Oxford University Press, 1978, pp294-5.
125. ^ ^{a b} Karnow 1991, p. 230
126. ^ Excerpts from Law 10/59, 6 May 1959.
127. ^ Jeffrey Race, War Comes to Long An (University of California Press, 1972), pp107, 122.
128. ^ ^{a b c} Ang, Cheng Guan (2002). The Vietnam War from the Other Side. RoutledgeCurzon. pp. 16, 58, 76. ISBN 0-7007-1615-7.
129. ^ Olson, James; Randy Roberts (1991). Where the Domino Fell: America and Vietnam, 1945–1990. New York: St. Martin’s Press. p. 67. This decision was made at the 11th Plenary Session of the Lao Động Central Committee.
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135. ^ Washington Post, 23 April 1985.
136. ^ Karnow 1991, p. 264
137. ^ The Avalon Project at Yale Law School. Inaugural Address of John F. Kennedy.
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141. ^ Karnow 1991, p. 267
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148. ^ Live interview by John Bartlow Martin. Was Kennedy Planning to Pull out of Vietnam? New York City. John F. Kennedy Library, 1964, Tape V, Reel 1.
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157. ^ Shooting at the Moon by Roger Warner – The history of CIA/IAD'S 15-year involvement in conducting the secret war in Laos, 1960–1975, and the career of CIA PMCO (paramilitary case officer) Bill Lair.
158. ^ Karnow 1991, pp. 336–339 – Johnson viewed many members whom he inherited from Kennedy's cabinet with distrust because he had never penetrated their circle early in Kennedy's presidency; to Johnson's mind, such as W. Averell Harriman and Dean Acheson spoke a different language.
159. ^ Shortly after the assassination of Kennedy, when McGeorge Bundy called LBJ on the phone, LBJ responded: "Goddammit, Bundy. I've told you that when I want you I'll call you." Brian VanDeMark, Into the Quagmire (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995), 13.
160. ^ Vietnam: A History (New York: Penguin books, 1983), p. 339. Before a small group, including Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., the new president also said, "We should stop playing cops and robbers [a reference to Diem's failed leadership] and get back to... winning the war... tell the generals in Saigon that Lyndon Johnson intends to stand by our word...[to] win the contest against the externally directed and supported Communist conspiracy."
161. ^ Karnow 1991, p. 339 – talking about the Mekong Delta, that, "At a place called Hoa Phu, for example, the strategic hamlet built during the previous summer now looked like it had been hit by a hurricane.... Speaking through an interpreter, a local guard explained to me that a handful of Vietcong agents had entered the hamlet one night and told the peasants to tear it down and return to their native villages. The peasants complied without question."
162. ^ National Security Action Memorandum NSAM 263   (11 October 1963).
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165. ^ Karnow 1991, p. 340 – who quote Minh as enjoying playing tennis more than bureaucratic work.
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169. ^ Moise, Edwin E. (1996). Tonkin Gulf and the Escalation of the Vietnam War. The University of North Carolina Press. p. 78. ISBN 0-8078-2300-7.
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181. ^ ^{a b} Courtwright 2005, p. 210
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185. ^ McNamara, Argument Without End p. 48.
186. ^ The Pentagon Papers (Beacon Press, 1971), vol. 1, p52.
187. ^ ^{a b c} McNamara, Argument Without End pp. 349–51.
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196. ^ ^{a b} McNamara Argument Without End pp. 353–354.
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198. ^ ^{a b} Karnow 1991, p. 556
199. ^ Peter Church. ed. A Short History of South-East Asia. Singapore, John Wiley & Sons, 2006, p. 193.
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201. ^ ^{a b} Karnow 1991, p. 18
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283. ^ 16 November 2003, The Vietnam War Crimes You Never Heard Of, Nick Turse, History News Network, http://hnn.us/articles/1802.html
284. ^ "Similarly, the Toledo Bladepays particular attention to Sam Ybarra, a "notorious suspect," who was named in seven of the thirty "Tiger Force" war crimes allegations investigated by the Army – including the rape and fatal stabbing of a 13-year-old girl and the brutal killing of a 15-year-old boy." 16 November 2003, The Vietnam War Crimes You Never Heard Of, Nick Turse, History News Network, http://hnn.us/articles/1802.html
285. ^ "I've heard of Bumgarner doing it before – planting weapons on bodies when there is doubt as to their military status. I've heard quite a few rumors about Bumgarner killing unarmed people. Only a couple weeks ago I heard that Bumgarner had killed a Vietnamese girl and two younger kids (boys), who didn't have any weapons." 16 November 2003, The Vietnam War Crimes You Never Heard Of, Nick Turse, History News Network, http://hnn.us/articles/1802.html
286. ^ Nelson, Deborah (2005). The War Behind Me: Vietnam Veterans Confront the Truth About U.S. War Crimes. Basic Books. p. 3. ISBN 0465005276.
287. ^ ^{a b c} Rummel, Rudolph, Statistics of Vietnamese Democide, in his Statistics of Democide, 1997.
288. ^ ^{a b c} Turse, Nick (2013). Kill Anything that Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam. New York: Metropolitan Books. p. 251. ISBN 978-0-8050-8691-1.
289. ^ "Off With Their Hands". Newsweek. 15 May 1967.
290. ^ U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, The Human Cost of Communism in Vietnam (1972), p.49.
291. ^ De Silva, Peer (1978). Sub Rosa: The CIA and the Uses of Intelligence. New York: Time Books. p. 249. ISBN 0-8129-0745-0.
292. ^ Lewy, Guenter (1978), America in Vietnam, Oxford University Press, pp. 270–9.
293. ^ Pedahzur, Ami (2006), Root Causes of Suicide Terrorism: The Globalization of Martyrdom, Taylor & Francis, p.116.
294. ^ Pike, Douglas (1996). PAVN: Peoples Army of Vietnam. Presidio.
295. ^ Wiesner, Louis (1988), Victims and Survivors: Displaced Persons and Other War Victims in Viet-Nam, 1954–1975 Greenwood Press, pp. 318–9.
296. ^ Karnow, Stanley (1983). Vietnam: A History. The Viking Press. ISBN 0-670-74604-5. p. 655.
297. ^ Kirk, Donald, "I watched them saw him 3 days", Chicago Tribune, 14 July 1974.
298. ^ Kirk, Donald, "Khmer Rouge’s Bloody War on Trapped Villagers", Chicago Tribune, 14 July 1974.
299. ^ Yates, Ronald, "Priest Won't Leave Refugees Despite Khmer Rouge Threat", Chicago Tribune 17 March 1975.
300. ^ Power, Samantha (2002), A Problem From Hell, Perennial Books, pp. 98–99.
301. ^ Becker, Elizabeth, "The Agony of Phnom Penh," 'Washington Post, 28 January 1974.
302. ^ Barron, John and Anthony Paul (1977), Murder of a Gentle Land, Reader’s Digest Press, pp. 1–2.
303. ^ Ponchaud, Francois (1978), Cambodia Year Zero, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, pp. 6–7.
304. ^ Swain, John (1999), River of Time: A Memoir of Vietnam and Cambodia, Berkley Trade.
305. ^ Norman, Elizabeth M. Women at War: the Story of Fifty Military Nurses Who Served in Vietnam. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1990. ISBN 978-0-8122-1317-1 p. 7.
306. ^ Vuic, Kara Dixon. Officer, Nurse, Woman: the Army Nurse Corps in the Vietnam War. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 2010. ISBN 978-0-8018-9391-9 p. 5.
307. ^ Norman, p. 57.
308. ^ Holm, Jeanne. Women in the Military: an Unfinished Revolution. Novato, CA: Presidio, 1992. ISBN 978-0-89141-513-8 p. 214.
309. ^ Holm, p. 213.
310. ^ Holm, p. 206.
311. ^ Vuic, p. 8.
312. ^ Norman, p. 71.
313. ^ Chinese Support for North Vietnam during the Vietnam War: The Decisive Edge, Bob Seals, Military History Online, 23 September 2008
314. ^ Albert Parray, Military Review, Soviet aid to Vietnam, June 1967
315. ^ Gordon L. Rottman, Viet Cong Fighter, Osprey Publishing (2007) p. 20-30 ISBN 978-1-84603-126-7
316. ^ C.H. Chivers (2 November 2009). "How Reliable is the M16 Rifle?". New York Times.
317. ^ David Maraniss (2003). They Marched into Sunlight: War and Peace Vietnam and America October 1967. Simon and Schuster. p. 410. ISBN 978-0-7432-6255-2.
318. ^ Robbers, Gerhard (30 January 2007). Encyclopedia of world constitutions. Infobase Publishing. p. 1021. ISBN 978-0-8160-6078-8. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
319. ^ ^{a b c} Desbarats, Jacqueline. "Repression in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Executions and Population Relocation", from The Vietnam Debate (1990) by John Morton Moore. "We know now from a 1985 statement by Nguyen Co Tach that two and a half million, rather than one million, people went through reeducation....in fact, possibly more than 100,000 Vietnamese people were victims of extrajudicial executions in the last ten years....it is likely that, overall, at least one million Vietnamese were the victims of forced population transfers."
320. ^ Anh Do and Hieu Tran Phan, Camp Z30-D: The Survivors, Orange County Register, 29 April 2001.
321. ^ Morris, Stephen J. Glastnost and the Gulag: The Numbers Game, Vietnam Commentary, May–June 1988.
322. ^ Human Events, 27 August 1977.
323. ^ Al Santoli, ed., To Bear Any Burden (Indiana University Press, 1999), pp272, 292–3.
324. ^ See also Nghia M. Vo, The Bamboo Gulag: Political Imprisonment in Communist Vietnam (McFarland, 2004)
325. ^ Associated Press, 23 June 1979, San Diego Union, 20 July 1986. See generally Nghia M. Vo, The Vietnamese Boat People (2006), 1954 and 1975–1992, McFarland.
326. ^ ^{a b} Sharp, Bruce (1 April 2005). "Counting Hell: The Death Toll of the Khmer Rouge Regime in Cambodia". Retrieved 16 February 2013.
327. ^ Etcheson, Craig (2005), After the Killing Fields, Praeger, pp. 24, 27.
328. ^ Vietnam (03/09). U.S. Department of State.
329. ^ "CIA – The World Factbook – Laos". Retrieved 11 June 2008.
330. ^ Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization. "WGIP: Side event on the Hmong Lao, at the United Nations". Retrieved 20 April 2011.
331. ^ Jane Hamilton-Merritt, Tragic Mountains: The Hmong, the Americans, and the Secret Wars for Laos, 1942–1992 (Indiana University Press, 1999), pp337-460
332. ^ Forced Back and Forgotten (Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights, 1989), p8.
333. ^ Statistics of Democide Rudolph Rummel
334. ^ Laos (04/09). U.S. Department of State.
335. ^ "Migration in the Asia-Pacific Region". Stephen Castles, University of Oxford. Mark J. Miller, University of Delaware. July 2009.
336. ^ Refugee Resettlement in Metropolitan America. Migration Information Source.
337. ^ Robinson, William Courtland (1998). Terms of refuge: the Indochinese exodus & the international response. Zed Books. p. 127. ISBN 1-85649-610-4.
338. ^ Crossette, Barbara, Hanoi, Citing Famine Fears, Seeks Emergency Aid, The New York Times, 15 May 1988.
339. ^ Van, Canh Nguyen; Cooper, Earle (1983). Vietnam under Communism, 1975–1982, p. 229. Hoover Press. ISBN 9780817978518.
340. ^ Gerdes (ed). Examining Issues Through Political Cartoons: The Vietnam War pp. 14–15.
341. ^ Karnow 1991, p. 23
342. ^ Taylor paraphrases Sun Tzu, The Art of War, trans. Samuel B. Griffith. Oxford, UK. Oxford University Press, 1963.
343. ^ "President Richard Nixon's Role in the Vietnam War". Vietnam War. Archived from the original on 31 March 2009. Retrieved 17 October 2009.
344. ^ Demma, "28", The U.S. Army in Vietnam, iBiblio
345. ^ "Lessons of Vietnam – Secret Memoranda to The President of the United States by Secretary of State Henry Kissinger". ca. 12 May 1975. p. 3. Retrieved 11 June 2008.
346. ^ McNamara Argument Without End p. 368.
347. ^ ^{a b c} Quoted in Bob Buzzano. "25 Years After End of Vietnam War, Myths Keep Us from Coming to Terms with Vietnam". The Baltimore Sun Times. 17 April 2000. Retrieved 11 June 2008.
348. ^ Karnow 1991, p. 17
349. ^ Stephen Daggett (24 July 2008). CRS Report to Congress : Costs of Major U.S. Wars. Foreign press center, US Department of State. (Order Code RS22926, see table on page 2/5).
350. ^ "Echoes of Combat: The Vietnam War in American Memory". Stanford University.
351. ^ James E. Westheider (2007). "The Vietnam War". Greenwood Publishing Group. p.78. ISBN 0-313-33755-1
352. ^ The War's Costs. Digital History.
353. ^ Combat Area Casualty File, November 1993. (The CACF is the basis for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, i.e. The Wall), Center for Electronic Records, National Archives, Washington, DC
354. ^ Kueter, Dale (2007). Vietnam Sons: For Some, the War Never Ended. AuthorHouse. ISBN 1-4259-6931-3.
355. ^ "War Resisters Remain in Canada with No Regrets". ABC News. 19 November 2005. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
356. ^ Vietnam War Resisters in Canada Open Arms to U.S. Military Deserters. Pacific News Service. 28 June 2005.
357. ^ "Proclamation 4483: Granting Pardon for Violations of the Selective Service Act". Retrieved 11 June 2008. By The President of the United States of America, A Proclamation Granting Pardon For Violations of the Selective Services Act, 4 August 1964 To 28 March 1973. 21 January 1977.
358. ^ "US still making payments to relatives of Civil War veterans, analysis finds". Fox News. Associated Press. March 20, 2013.
359. ^ Jim Lobe (March 30, 2013). "Iraq, Afghanistan Wars Will Cost U.S. 4-6 Trillion Dollars: Report". Inter Press Service.
360. ^ "Agent Orange Home". Retrieved 11 June 2008.
361. ^ Anatomy of a War by Gabriel Kolko, ISBN 1-56584-218-9 pp. 144–145.
362. ^ Failoa, Anthony (13 November 2006). "''In Vietnam, Old Foes Take Aim at War's Toxic Legacy''". The Washington Post. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
363. ^ Thayer, Thomas C (1985). War Without Fronts: The American Experience in Vietnam. Boulder: Westview Press. p.106.
364. ^ Obermeyer (2008), "Fifty years of violent war deaths from Vietnam to Bosnia", British Medical Journal.

References

Secondary sources

• Anderson, David L. Columbia Guide to the Vietnam War (2004). |isbn=0231114923 |oclc=48893066
• Baker, Kevin. "Stabbed in the Back! The past and future of a right-wing myth", Harper's Magazine (June 2006) "Stabbed in the back! The past and future of a right-wing myth (Harper's Magazine)". Retrieved 11 June 2008.
• Angio, Joe. Nixon a Presidency Revealed (2007) The History Channel television documentary
• Berman, Larry. Lyndon Johnson's War: The Road to Stalemate (1991).
• Blaufarb, Douglas. The Counterinsurgency Era (1977) a history of the Kennedy Administration's involvement in South Vietnam.
• Brigham, Robert K. Battlefield Vietnam: A Brief History a PBS interactive website
• Brocheux, Pierre (2007). Ho Chi Minh: a biography. Cambridge University Press. p. 198. ISBN 978-0-521-85062-9.
• Buckley, Kevin. "Pacification's Deadly Price", Newsweek, 19 June 1972.
• Buzzanco, Bob. "25 Years After End of Vietnam War: Myths Keep Us From Coming To Terms With Vietnam", The Baltimore Sun (17 April 2000) "25 Years After End of Vietnam War Myths Keep Us From Coming To Terms With Vietnam". Retrieved 11 June 2008.
• Church, Peter ed. A Short History of South-East Asia (2006).
• Cooper, Chester L. The Lost Crusade: America in Vietnam (1970) a Washington insider's memoir of events.
• Courtwright, David T. (2005). Sky as frontier: adventure, aviation, and empire (2005 ed.). Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 1-58544-419-7.
• Demma, Vincent H. "The U.S. Army in Vietnam." American Military History (1989) the official history of the United States Army. Available online
• Dennis, Peter; et al (2008). The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History (Second ed.). Melbourne: Oxford University Press Australia & New Zealand. ISBN 978-0-19-551784-2.
• DoD (6 November 1998). "Name of Technical Sergeant Richard B. Fitzgibbon to be added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial". Department of Defense (DoD). Retrieved 31 March 2010.
• Duiker, William J. The Communist Road to Power in Vietnam (1996).
• Duncanson, Dennis J. Government and Revolution in Vietnam (1968).
• Fincher, Ernest Barksdale, The Vietnam War (1980).
• Ford, Harold P. CIA and the Vietnam Policymakers: Three Episodes, 1962–1968. (1998).
• Gerdes, Louise I. ed. Examining Issues Through Political Cartoons: The Vietnam War (2005).
• Gettleman, Marvin E.; Franklin, Jane; Young, Marilyn Vietnam and America: A Documented History. (1995).
• Hammond, William. Public Affairs: The Military and the Media, 1962–1968 (1987); Public Affairs: The Military and the Media, 1068–1973 (1995). full-scale history of the war by U.S. Army; much broader than title suggests.
• Healy, Gene (2009). The Cult of the Presidency: America's Dangerous Devotion to Executive Power. Cato Institute. ISBN 978-1-933995-19-9.
• Herring, George C. America's Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950–1975 (4th ed 2001), most widely used short history.
• Hitchens, Christopher. The Vietnam Syndrome.
• Karnow, Stanley (1991). Vietnam: A History (1991 ed.). Viking Press. ISBN 0-670-84218-4.; popular history by a former foreign correspondent; strong on Saigon's plans.
• Kutler, Stanley ed. Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War (1996).
• Lawrence, A. T. (2009). Crucible Vietnam: Memoir of an Infantry Lieutenant (2009 ed.). McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-4517-3..
• Lawrence, Mark Atwood. "The Vietnam War: A Concise International History", 2008, Oxford University Press.
• Leepson, Marc ed. Dictionary of the Vietnam War (1999) New York: Webster's New World.
• Lewy, Guenter. America in Vietnam (1978), defends U.S. actions.
• Logevall, Fredrik. The Origins of the Vietnam War (Longman [Seminar Studies in History] 2001).
• McMahon, Robert J. Major Problems in the History of the Vietnam War: Documents and Essays (1995) textbook.
• McNamara, Robert, James Blight, Robert Brigham, Thomas Biersteker, Herbert Schandler, Argument Without End: In Search of Answers to the Vietnam Tragedy, (Public Affairs, 1999).
• McGibbon, Ian; ed (2000). The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Military History. Auckland: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-558376-0.
• McNeill, Ian (1993). To Long Tan: The Australian Army and the Vietnam War 1950–1966. St Leonards: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86373-282-9.
• Milne, David. America's Rasputin: Walt Rostow and the Vietnam War (Hill & Wang, 2008).
• Moise, Edwin E. Historical Dictionary of the Vietnam War (2002).
• Moïse, Edwin E. (1996). Tonkin Gulf and the escalation of the Vietnam War (1996 ed.). UNC Press. ISBN 0-8078-2300-7.
• Moss, George D. Vietnam (4th ed 2002) textbook.
• Moyar, Mark. Triumph Forsaken: The Vietnam War, 1954–1965, (Cambridge University Press; 412 pages; 2006). A revisionist history that challenges the notion that U.S. involvement in Vietnam was misguided; defends the validity of the domino theory and disputes the notion that Ho Chi Minh was, at heart, a nationalist who would eventually turn against his Communist Chinese allies.
• Major General Spurgeon Neel. Medical Support of the U.S. Army in Vietnam 1965–1970 (Department of the Army 1991) official medical history
• Nulty, Bernard.The Vietnam War (1998) New York: Barnes and Noble.
• Osborn, Terry A. (2002). The future of foreign language education in the United States (2002 ed.). Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-89789-719-8.
• Palmer, Bruce, Jr. The Twenty-Five Year War (1984), narrative military history by a senior U.S. general.
• Schell, Jonathan. The Time of Illusion (1976).
• Schulzinger, Robert D. A Time for War: The United States and Vietnam, 1941–1975 (1997).
• Sorley, Lewis, A Better War: The Unexamined Victories and Final Tragedy of America's Last Years in Vietnam (1999), based upon still classified tape-recorded meetings of top level US commanders in Vietnam, ISBN 0-15-601309-6
• Spector, Ronald. After Tet: The Bloodiest Year in Vietnam (1992), very broad coverage of 1968.
• Stanton, Shelby L. (2003). Vietnam order of battle (2003 ed.). Stackpole Books. ISBN 0-8117-0071-2.
• Summers, Harry G. On Strategy: A Critical Analysis of the Vietnam War, Presidio press (1982), ISBN 0-89141-563-7 (225 pages)
• Tucker, Spencer. ed. Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War (1998) 3 vol. reference set; also one-volume abridgement (2001).
• Willbanks, James H. (2009). Vietnam War almanac. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8160-7102-9.
• Witz, James J. The Tet Offensive: Intelligence Failure in War (1991).
• Young, Marilyn, B. The Vietnam Wars: 1945–1990. (1991).
• Xiaoming, Zhang. "China's 1979 War With Vietnam: A Reassessment", China Quarterly. Issue no. 184, (December 2005) "CJO – Abstract – China's 1979 War with Vietnam: A Reassessment". Retrieved 11 June 2008.

Primary sources

• Carter, Jimmy. By The President Of The United States Of America, A Proclamation Granting Pardon For Violations Of The Selective Service Act, 4 August 1964 To 28 March 1973 (21 January 1977)
• Central Intelligence Agency. "Laos", CIA World Factbook'
• Cora Weiss Collection (materials related to war resistance and peace activism movements during the Vietnam War), Lloyd Sealy Library Special Collections, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
• Kolko, Gabriel The End of the Vietnam War, 30 Years Later
• Eisenhower, Dwight D. Mandate for Change. (1963) a presidential political memoir
• Ho, Chi Minh. "Vietnam Declaration of Independence", Selected Works. (1960–1962) selected writings
• LeMay, General Curtis E. and Kantor, MacKinlay. Mission with LeMay (1965) autobiography of controversial former Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force
• Kissinger, United States Secretary of State Henry A. "Lessons on Vietnam", (1975) secret memoranda to U.S. President Ford
• Kim A. O'Connell, ed. Primary Source Accounts of the Vietnam War (2006)
• McCain, John. Faith of My Fathers: A Family Memoir (1999) *Marshall, Kathryn. In the Combat Zone: An Oral History of American Women in Vietnam, 1966–1975 (1987)
• Martin, John Bartlow. Was Kennedy Planning to Pull out of Vietnam? (1964) oral history for the John F. Kennedy Library, tape V, reel 1.
• Myers, Thomas. Walking Point: American Narratives of Vietnam (1988)
• Public Papers of the Presidents, 1965 (1966) official documents of U.S. presidents.
• Schlesinger, Arthur M. Jr. Robert Kennedy and His Times. (1978) a first-hand account of the Kennedy administration by one of his principal advisors
• Sinhanouk, Prince Norodom. "Cambodia Neutral: The Dictates of Necessity." Foreign Affairs. (1958) describes the geopolitical situation of Cambodia
• Tang, Truong Nhu. A Vietcong Memoir (1985), revealing account by senior NLF official
• Terry, Wallace, ed. Bloods: An Oral History of the Vietnam War by Black Veterans (1984)
• Truong, Như Tảng; David Chanoff, Van Toai Doan (1985). A Vietcong memoir (1985 ed.). Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. ISBN 978-0-15-193636-6.- Total pages: 350
• The landmark series Vietnam: A Television History, first broadcast in 1983, is a special presentation of the award-winning PBS history series, American Experience.
• The Pentagon Papers (Gravel ed. 5 vol 1971); combination of narrative and secret documents compiled by Pentagon. excerpts
• U.S. Department of State. Foreign Relations of the United States (multivolume collection of official secret documents) vol 1: 1964; vol 2: 1965; vol 3: 1965; vol 4: 1966;
• U.S. Department of Defense and the House Committee on Armed Services. U.S.-Vietnam Relations, 1945–1967. Washington, D.C. Department of Defense and the House Committee on Armed Services, 1971, 12 volumes.
• Vann, John Paul Quotes from Answers.com Lt. Colonel, U.S. Army, DFC, DSC, advisor to the ARVN 7th Division, early critic of the conduct of the war.

Historiography

• Hall, Simon, "Scholarly Battles over the Vietnam War," Historical Journal 52 (Sept. 2009), 813–29.

External links

Find more about Vietnam War at Wikipedia's sister projects
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	Database entry Q8740 on Wikidata

• American Ethnography – On collecting engraved Zippos from the Vietnam War
• Battlefield Vietnam PBS interactive site
• Complete text of the Gravel Edition of the Pentagon Papers with supporting documents, maps, and photos
• Documents Relating to American Foreign Policy-Vietnam primary sources on U.S. involvement
• Fallout of the War from the Dean Peter Krogh Foreign Affairs Digital Archives
• Glossary of Military Terms & Slang from the Vietnam War
• Impressions of Vietnam and descriptions of the daily life of a soldier from the oral history of Elliott Gardner, U.S. Army
• "No Peace in the Valley," Vietnam magazine, cover story, Oct. 2008, 26--31.
• Oliver Stone's service with Company E, 52nd Infantry (LRP), 1st Air Cavalry Division, in Vietnam and his movie Platoon
• "Perspectives," Vietnam magazine, Aug. 2002, 58--61.
• Photographic history of 1st Air Cavalry Division LRRP / Rangers 1968.
• Sober thoughts on 30 April : The South Vietnam Liberation Front and Hanoi, Myth and Reality Speech by the former Minister of Information of the Republic of Vietnam.
• Stephen H. Warner Southeast Asia Photograph Collection at Gettysburg College
• The Effects of Vietnamization on the Republic of Vietnam's Armed Forces, 1969–1972
• Timeline US – Vietnam (1947–2001) in Open-Content project
• The U.S. Army in Vietnam the official history of the United States Army
• The Vietnam War at The History Channel
• UC Berkeley Library Social Activism Sound Recording Project: Anti-Vietnam War Protests
• Vietnam Casualties database searchable by first name, last name and location
• Vietnam War Bibliography covers online and published resources
• Vietnam war timeline comprehensive timeline of the Vietnam War
• Virtual Vietnam Archive – Texas Tech University

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"..KEHIDUPAN DUNIA HANYALAH Kesenangan YANG MEMPERDAYA" [QS. AL 'IMRAN (3):185] 

Firman Allah S.W.T., yang bermaksud: Wahai orang yang beriman! Janganlah kamu mengambil orang yang bukan daripada kalangan kamu (seperti Yahudi, Nasrani, dan Munafiq) menjadi teman karib (yang dipercayai). Mereka tidak akan berhenti berusaha mendatangkan kesusahan kepada kamu. Mereka sukakan apa yang menyusahkan kamu. Telah pun nyata (tanda) kebencian mereka pada pertuturan mulut mereka, dan apa yang tersembunyi oleh hati mereka lebih besar lagi. Sesungguhnya Kami telah jelaskan kepada kamu ayat ayat (Kami), jika kamu memahaminya (memikirkannya).” - [Al Quran Surah Al Imran ayat 118-120]

KLIK UNTUK KE MENU UTAMA. eaho™. >>> ... ENTRY SETERUSNYA <<< . 

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Baca Juga: 

1214. Kemanakah Perginya Air Mandian Jenazah Rasulullah SAW?.

Firman Allah S.W.T., yang bermaksud: “Perkataan yang baik dan pemberian maaf, lebih baik dari sedekah yang diiringi dengan sesuatu yang menyakitkan (perasaan penerima). Allah Maha Kaya lagi Maha Penyantun.” (Al Baqarah: 263).

 Tiada ada daya dan kekuatan kecuali dengan pertolongan Allah.  

Firman Allah S.W.T., yang bermaksud: “Mereka yang berjuang di jalan Kami nescaya Kami tunjukkan jalan-jalan Kami. Sesungguhnya Allah berserta orang yang berbuat baik.” (Al Ankabut: 69).

"Sesungguhnya hanyalah kepada Allah aku mengadukan kesusahan dan kesedihanku." (QS. Yusuf: 86). 

Semasa hidup sederhanakanlah kegembiraan. Supaya wujud keseimbangan jiwa dan roh, bila menerima kesedihan yang pasti ditemui juga. (Peceq Admin). 

Mengingatkan diri sendiri menjadi keutamaaan sebelum mengingatkan orang lain . In Syaa Allah ''palis'' sekali dari sifat-sifat sombong dan keji. Semuanya kerana Allah S.W.T.. Amin Ya Rob. 

Perhatian: Pemaparan tajuk-tajuk, gambar-gambar dan segala bagai, adalah pandangan dan pendapat peribadi yang lebih menjurus kepada sikap dan sifat untuk menjadi lebih baik dengan mengamalkan gaya hidup menurut perentah dan larangan Allah S.W.T., antaranya bersikap dengan tiada prasangka, tidak bertujuan untuk kebencian, tidak berkeperluan untuk bersubahat dengan perkara bohong dan tiada kaitan dan berkepentingan dengan mana-mana individu. Jujur., aku hanyalah hamba Allah S.W.T., yang hina dina. BERSANGKA BAIK KERANA ALLAH S.W.T.. 

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