Vietnam War Part of the Cold War and the Indochina Wars A UH-1D helicopter piloted by Maj. Bruce P. Crandall climbs skyward after discharging a load of US infantrymen on a search and destroy mission. Date 1 November 1955 (1955-11-01)A 1 30 April 1975 (1975-04-30) (&000000000000001900000019 years &0000000000000180000000180 days) Location South Vietnam North Vietnam Cambodia Laos Result North Vietnamese victory Withdrawal of American forces from Indochina Dissolution of South Vietnam Communist governments take power in Vietnam Cambodia and Laos Territorial changes Unification of North and South Vietnam under North Vietnamese rule. Belligerents Anti-Communist forces:

 South Vietnam  United States  South Korea  Australia  Philippines  New Zealand  Thailand Khmer Republic Laos Republic of China Communist forces:

 North Vietnam Viet Cong Khmer Rouge Pathet Lao  People's Republic of China Supported by:  Soviet Union Commanders and leaders Ng nh Dim Nguyn Vn Thiu Nguyn Cao K Cao Vn Vin Lyndon B. Johnson Richard Nixon William Westmoreland Creighton Abrams Lon Nol ...and others H Ch Minh L Dun V Nguyn Gip Vn Tin Dng Trn Vn Tr Nguyn Vn Linh Nguyn Hu Th Pol Pot ...and others Strength 1830000 (1968) South Vietnam: 850000 United States: 536100 Free World Forces: 6500012 South Korea: 500003

Australia: 7672 Thailand Philippines: 10450 New Zealand: 552 461000 North Vietnam: 287465 (Jan 1968) 4 PRC: 170000 (1969) Soviet Union: 3000 North Korea: 300-600 Casualties and losses South Vietnam 220357 dead;5 1170000 wounded United States 58220 dead;A 2 1719 missing;10 303635 woundedA 2 South Korea 5099 dead; 10962 wounded; 4 missing

Australia 521 dead; 3000 wounded New Zealand 37 dead; 187 wounded Thailand 1351 dead5 Kingdom of Laos 30000 killed wounded unknown11

Total dead: 315384 Total wounded: 1490000+ North Vietnam & NLF 1176000 dead/missing;5 600000+ wounded12 P.R. China 1446 dead; 4200 wounded Soviet Union 16 dead13

Total dead: 1177462 (highest estimate)Total wounded: 604200+ Vietnamese civilian dead (both sides): 200000200000014 Cambodian civilian dead: 200000300000*151617 Laotian civilian dead: 20000200000* Total civilian dead: 4200002500000 Total dead: 1912846-3992846 * approximations see Casualties below

For more information on casualties see Vietnam War casualties v d e Indochina Wars Operation Masterdom First Indochina Vietnam CambodianVietnamese Sino-Vietnamese v d 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  Thanh Ha  An Lao  Bnh Gia  Pleiku airbase  Thanh Hoa Bridge  Song Be  Ba Gia  ng Xoi  Starlite  Chu Lai  Plei Me  Minh Thanh  Hump  Gang Toi  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  c C  Long Tn  Beaver Cage  Attleboro  Bong Son  Tn Sn Nht airbase  LZ Bird  Cedar Falls  Tuscaloosa  Tra Binh Dong  Bribie  Junction City  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  July Two  Hong Kil Dong  Suoi Chau Pha  Swift  Dong Son  Wheeler/Wallowa  3rd Con Thien  Medina  ng Thanh  1st Loc Ninh  Kentucky  Dak To  Mekong Delta  Tam Quan  Thom Tham Khe  Phoenix  New Year's Day Battle of 1968  Khe Sanh  Ban Houei Sane  Bien Hoa  1st Tet  1st Saigon  Hu  1st Qung Tr  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  Dewey Canyon  Taylor Common  2nd Tet  Apache Snow  Hamburger Hill  Twinkletoes  Binh Ba  Pat To LZ Kate  Bu Prang  Texas Star  Chicago Peak  Khe Gio Bridge  1st Cambodia  2nd Cambodia  Kompong Speu  Prey Veng  Snuol  FSB Ripcord  Tailwind  Chenla I  Jefferson Glenn  Son Tay Raid  Lam Son 719  Chenla II  Ban Dong  Hill 723  FSB Mary Ann  Long Khanh Nui Le  Easter '72  2nd Qung Tr  2nd Loc Ninh  An Lc  3rd Dong Ha  Kontum  Thunderhead  3rd Qung Tr  End Sweep  Hoang Sa  Iron Triangle  Svay Rieng  Phuoc Long  Ho Chi Minh  Ban Me Thuot  Hue-Da Nang  Xun Lc  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  Carolina Moon  Bolo  Popeye  Yen Vien Niagara  Igloo White  Giant Lance  Commando Hunt  Menu  Patio  Freedom Deal  Linebacker I  Enhance Plus  Linebacker II  Homecoming  Tan Son Nhat Airport  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  ng Hi  East Sea  Mayaguez The Vietnam WarA 3 was a Cold War era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam Laos and Cambodia from 1 November 1955A 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 its communist allies and the government of South Vietnam supported by the United States and other anti-communist nations.23 The Viet Cong a lightly armed South Vietnamese communist-controlled common front 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 involvement in the war as a way to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam and part of their wider strategy of containment. The North Vietnamese government viewed the war as a colonial war fought initially against France backed by the U.S. and later against South Vietnam which it regarded as a U.S. puppet state.24 U.S. military advisors arrived beginning in 1950. U.S. involvement escalated in the early 1960s with U.S. troop levels tripling in 1961 and tripling again in 1962.25 U.S. combat units were deployed beginning in 1965. Operations spanned borders with Laos and Cambodia heavily bombed. Involvement peaked in 1968 at the time of the Tet Offensive. After this U.S. ground forces were withdrawn as part of a policy called Vietnamization. Despite the Paris Peace Accords signed by all parties in January 1973 fighting continued. U.S. military involvement ended on 15 August 1973 as a result of the CaseChurch Amendment passed by the U.S. Congress.26 The capture of Saigon by the North Vietnamese army in April 1975 marked the end of the Vietnam War. 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 soldiers and civilians killed vary from less than one million27 to more than three million.28 Some 200000300000151617 Cambodians 20000200000293031323334 Laotians and 58220 U.S. service members also died in the conflict.A 2 Contents 1 Etymology 2 Background to 1949 3 Exit of the French 19501954 4 Transition period 5 Diem era 19551963 5.1 Rule 5.2 Insurgency in the South 19561960 6 During John F. Kennedy's administration 19611963 6.1 Coup and assassinations 7 Lyndon B. Johnson expands the war 19631969 7.1 Escalation and ground war 7.2 Tet Offensive 8 Vietnamization 19691972 8.1 Nixon Doctrine / Vietnamization 8.2 Operation Menu: the secret bombing of Cambodia and Laos 8.3 1972 election and Paris Peace Accords 9 Opposition to the Vietnam War: 19621975 10 Exit of the Americans: 19731975 10.1 Campaign 275 10.2 Final North Vietnamese offensive 10.3 Fall of Saigon 11 Other countries' involvement 11.1 People's Republic of China 11.2 South Korea 11.3 Australia and New Zealand 11.4 Philippines 11.5 Thailand 11.6 Soviet Union 11.7 North Korea 11.8 Cuba 11.9 Canada and the ICC 11.10 Republic of China (Taiwan) 12 Women in Vietnam 12.1 American nurses 12.2 Vietnamese women 13 Weapons 14 Aftermath 14.1 Events in Southeast Asia 14.2 Effect on the United States 14.3 Chemical defoliation 14.4 Casualties 15 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 Etymology Further information: Etymology 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.35 Thus in Vietnamese the war is known as Chin tranh Vit Nam (The Vietnam War) or as Khng chin chng M (Resistance War Against America) loosely translated as the American War.36 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) or North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and the Viet Cong or National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF) a South Vietnamese communist army. Background to 1949 See also: History of Vietnam Cochinchina Campaign Can Vuong Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang and Yen Bai mutiny France began its conquest of Indochina in the late 1850s and completed pacification by 1893.373839 The Treaty of Hu concluded in 1884 formed the basis for French colonial rule in Vietnam for the next seven decades. In spite of military resistance most notable 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).40 Various Vietnamese opposition movements to the 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 controlled by the Communist Party of Vietnam founded in 1941 and funded by U.S. and Chinese Nationalist Party in its fight against Japanese occupation.41A 4 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.41 On May 1941 the Viet Minh was founded as a league for the independence from France. The Viet Minh also opposed Japanese occupation in 1945 for the same reason. The U.S. and Chinese national party supported them in the fight against the Japanese.43 However they did not have enough power to fight actual battles at first. Ho Chi Minh was suspected of being a communist and jailed for a year by the Chinese national party.44 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 and assumed direct control themselves45 through their puppet state of the Empire of Vietnam under Bo i. During 19441945 a deep famine struck northern Vietnam due to a combination of poor weather and French/Japanese exploitation. 1 million people died of starvation (out of a population of 10 million in the affected area).46 Exploiting the administrative gap47 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. 48 Between 75 and 100 warehouses were consequently raided.49 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.47 In August 1945 the Japanese had been defeated and surrendered unconditionally. In French Indochina this created a power vacuum as the French were still interned and the Japanese forces stood down.49 Into this vacuum the Viet Minh entered and grasped power across Vietnam in the "August Revolution"49 (in large part supported by the Vietnamese population).50 After their defeat in the war the Japanese Army gave weapons to the Vietnamese. To further help the nationalists the Japanese kept Vichy French officials and military officers imprisoned for a month after the surrender. The Vit Minh had recruited more than 600 Japanese soldiers and given them roles to train or command Vietnamese soldiers.5152 On 2 September 1945 Ho Chi Minh the leader of the Viet Minh declared the independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam before a crowd of 500000 in Hanoi.49 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.49 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.49 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.49 Nationalist Chinese troops entered the country to disarm Japanese troops north of the 16th parallel on September 14 1945.53 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.49 Following the party line from Moscow Ho Chi Minh initially attempted to negotiate with the French who were slowly re-establishing their control across the country.54 In January 1946 the Viet Minh won elections across central and northern Vietnam.55 On March 6 1946 Ho Chi Minh 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.565758 The French landed in Hanoi by March 1946 and in November of that year they ousted the Viet Minh from the city.59 British forces departed on 26 March 1946 leaving Vietnam in the hands of the French.60 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 after the model of the Viet Minh.61 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.61 Exit of the French 19501954 Main articles: First Indochina War and Operation Passage to Freedom In January 1950 the communist nations led by the People's Republic of China (PRC) recognized the Viet Minh's Democratic Republic of Vietnam as the government of Vietnam. Non-Communist nations recognized the French-backed State of Vietnam in Saigon led by former Emperor Bo i the following month.62 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.63 PRC military advisors began assisting the Viet Minh in July 1950.64 PRC weapons expertise and laborers transformed the Viet Minh from a guerrilla force into a regular army.65 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.66 By 1954 the United States had supplied 300000 small arms and spent US$1 billion in support of the French military effort and was shouldering 80 percent of the cost of the war.67 There were also talks between the French and Americans in which the possible use of three tactical nuclear weapons was considered though how seriously this was considered and by whom are even now vague and contradictory.6869 One version of 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.70 U.S. carriers sailed to the Gulf of Tonkin and reconnaissance flights over Dien Bien Phu were conducted during the negotiations. According to Richard Nixon the plan involved the Joint Chiefs of Staff drawing up plans to use 3 small tactical nuclear weapons in support of the French.68 Vice president Richard Nixon a so-called "hawk" on Vietnam suggested that the United States might have to "put American boys in".71 President Eisenhower made American participation contingent on British support but London was opposed.71 In the end convinced that the political risks outweighed the possible benefits Eisenhower decided against the intervention.72 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 PRC into Vietnam. Throughout the conflict U.S. intelligence estimates remained skeptical of French chances of success.73 The Battle of Dien Bien Phu marked the end of French involvement in Indochina. The Viet Minh and their mercurial commander Vo Nguyen Giap handed the French a stunning military defeat and on 7 May 1954 the French Union garrison surrendered. Of the 12000 French prisoners taken by the Viet Minh only 3000 survived.74 At the Geneva Conference the French negotiated a ceasefire agreement with the Viet Minh. Independence was granted to Cambodia Laos and Vietnam. Transition period Main articles: Geneva Conference (1954) Operation Passage to Freedom Battle of Saigon (1955) Ba Cut and State of Vietnam referendum 1955 Vietnam was temporarily partitioned at the 17th parallel and under the terms of the Geneva Convention 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.75 Around one million northerners mainly minority Catholics fled south fearing persecution by the communists76 following an American propaganda campaign using slogans such as "The Virgin Mary is heading south"77 and aided by a U.S. funded $93 million relocation program which included ferrying refugees with the Seventh Fleet.78 It is estimated that as many as two million more would have left had they not been stopped by the Viet Minh.79 The northern mainly Catholic refugees were meant to give Diem a strong anti-communist constituency.80 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 130000 Revolutionary Regroupees went north for "regroupment" expecting to return to the South within 2 years.81 The Viet Minh left roughly 5000 to 10000 cadres in South Vietnam as a "politico-military substructure within the object of its irredentism."82 The last French soldiers were to leave Vietnam in April 1956.65 The PRC completed their withdrawal from North Vietnam at around the same time.64 Around 52000 Vietnamese civilians moved from south to north.83 In the north the Viet Minh ruled as the DRV and engaged in a drastic land reform program in which an estimated eight thousand perceived "class enemies" were executed.84 In 1956 the Communist Party leaders of Hanoi admitted to "excesses" in implementing this program and restored a large amount of the land to the original owners.85 In the south former Emperor Bo i's State of Vietnam operated with Ng nh Dim (appointed in July 1954) as his prime minister. In June 1955 Diem announced that elections would not be held. South Vietnam had rejected the agreement from the beginning and was therefore not bound by it he said. "How can we expect 'free elections' to be held in the Communist North" Diem asked. President Dwight D. Eisenhower echoed senior U.S. experts86 when he wrote that in 1954 "80 per cent of the population would have voted for the Communist Ho Chi Minh" over Emperor Bo i.8788 In AprilJune 1955 Diem (against U.S. advice) cleared the decks of any political opposition in the south by launching military operations against the Cao Dai religious sect the Hoa Hao sect of Ba Cut and the Binh Xuyen organized crime group (which was allied with members of the secret police and some military elements). As broad-based opposition to his harsh tactics mounted Diem increasingly sought to blame the communists.89 In a referendum on the future of the State of Vietnam on 23 October 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.90 On 26 October 1955 Diem declared the new Republic of Vietnam (ROV) with himself as president.91 The ROV was created largely because of the Eisenhower administration's desire for an anti-communist state in the region.89 Diem era 19551963 Main articles: Ngo Dinh Diem and War in Vietnam (19541959) President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles greet President Ngo Dinh Diem in Washington. The Geneva Conference 1954 The Domino theory which argued that if one country fell to communist forces then all of the surrounding countries would follow was first proposed as policy by the Eisenhower administration.92 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."93 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 however that "Diem represented narrow and extremist nationalism coupled with autocracy and nepotism."94 As a wealthy Catholic Diem was viewed by many ordinary Vietnamese as part of the elite who had helped the French rule Vietnam; Diem had been interior minister in the colonial government. The majority of Vietnamese people were Buddhist and were alarmed by actions such as his dedication of the country to the Virgin Mary. Beginning in the summer of 1955 he launched the "Denounce the Communists" campaign during which communists and other anti-government elements were arrested imprisoned tortured or executed. Diem instituted a policy of death penalty against any activity deemed communist in August 1956.95 Opponents were labeled Viet Cong ("Vietnamese communist") by the regime to degrade their nationalist credentials. As a measure of the level of political repression about 12000 suspected opponents of Diem were killed in the years 19551957 and by the end of 1958 an estimated 40000 political prisoners had been jailed.96 In May 1957 Diem undertook a ten-day state visit to the United States. President Eisenhower pledged his continued support. A parade in New York City was held in his honor. Although Diem was openly praised in private Secretary of State John Foster Dulles conceded that he had been selected because there were no better alternatives.97 Robert McNamara wrote that the new American patrons were almost completely ignorant of Vietnamese culture. They knew little of the language or long history of the country.62 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.62 Insurgency in the South 19561960 Main articles: Viet Cong and War in Vietnam (19591963) The Sino-Soviet split led to a reduction in the influence of the PRC which had insisted in 1954 that the Viet Minh accept a division of the country. Trng Chinh North Vietnam's pro-PRC party first secretary was demoted and Hanoi authorized communists in South Vietnam to begin a low level insurgency in December 1956.21 This insurgency in the south had begun in response to Diem's Denunciation of Communists campaign in which thousands of local Viet Minh cadres and supporters had been executed or sent to concentration camps and was in violation of the Northern Communist party line which had enjoined them not to start an insurrection but rather engage in a political campaign agitating for a free all-Vietnam election in accordance with the Geneva accords.98 H Ch Minh stated "Do not engage in military operations; that will lead to defeat. Do not take land from a peasant. Emphasize nationalism rather than communism. Do not antagonize anyone if you can avoid it. Be selective in your violence. If an assassination is necessary use a knife not a rifle or grenade. It is too easy to kill innocent bystanders with guns and bombs and accidental killing of the innocent bystanders will alienate peasants from the revolution. Once an assassination has taken place make sure peasants know why the killing occurred." This strategy was referred to as "armed propaganda."99 Soon afterward L Dun a communist leader who had been working in the South returned to Hanoi to accept the position of acting first secretary effectively replacing Trng. Dun urged a military line and advocated increased assistance to the insurgency. Four hundred government officials were assassinated in 1957 alone and the violence gradually increased. While the terror was originally aimed at local government officials it soon broadened to include other symbols of the status quo such as schoolteachers100101 health workers102 and agricultural officials.103 Village chiefs were Diem appointees from outside the villages and were hated by the peasantry for their corruption and abuse.)104 According to one estimate 20 percent of South Vietnam's village chiefs had been assassinated by the insurgents by 1958.105 The insurgency sought to completely destroy government control in South Vietnam's rural villages and replace it with a shadow government.106 In January 1959 the North's Central Committee issued a secret resolution authorizing an "armed struggle". This authorized the southern communists to begin large-scale operations against the South Vietnamese military. North Vietnam supplied troops and supplies in earnest and the infiltration of men and weapons from the north began along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. In May South Vietnam enacted Law 10/59 which made political violence punishable by death and property confiscation.107 Observing the increasing unpopularity of the Diem regime on 12 December 1960 Hanoi authorized the creation of the National Liberation Front as a common front controlled by the communist party in the South. Successive American administrations as Robert McNamara and others have noted overestimated the control that Hanoi had over the NLF.62 Diem's paranoia repression and incompetence progressively angered large segments of the population of South Vietnam.108 According to a November 1960 report by the head of the U.S. military advisory team Lieutenant General Lionel C. McGarr a "significant part" of the population in the south supported the communists.109 The communists thus had a degree of popular support for their campaign to bring down Diem and reunify the country. During John F. Kennedy's administration 19611963 Main articles: Strategic Hamlet Program and Pham Ngoc Thao When John F. Kennedy won the 1960 U.S. presidential election one major issue Kennedy raised was whether the Soviet space and missile programs had surpassed those of the United States. As Kennedy took over despite warnings from Eisenhower about Laos and Vietnam Europe and Latin America "loomed larger than Asia on his sights."110 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."111 In June 1961 John F. Kennedy bitterly disagreed with Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev when they met in Vienna over key U.S.-Soviet issues. The aftermath of the Korean War created the idea of a limited war. 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. 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 50000 troops based in Korea and Kennedy faced a three-part crisisthe 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.112 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 determined to "draw a line in the sand" and prevent a communist victory in Vietnam saying "Now we have a problem making our power credible and Vietnam looks like the place" to James Reston of The New York Times immediately after meeting Khrushchev in Vienna.113114 In May 1961 Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson visited Saigon and enthusiastically declared Diem the "Winston Churchill of Asia."115 Asked why he had made the comment Johnson replied "Diem's the only boy we got out there."97 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."116 South Vietnam Military Regions 1967 The quality of the South Vietnamese military however remained poor. Bad leadership corruption and political promotions all played a part in emasculating 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.117 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."118 By 1963 there were 16000 American military personnel in South Vietnam up from Eisenhower's 900 advisors.119 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. The Strategic Hamlets however were quickly infiltrated by the guerrillas. The peasants resented being uprooted from their ancestral villages. 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. The government refused to undertake land reform which left farmers paying high rents to a few wealthy landlords. Corruption dogged the program and intensified opposition. On 23 July 1962 fourteen nations including the People's Republic of China South Vietnam the Soviet Union North Vietnam and the United States signed an agreement promising the neutrality of Laos.120 Coup and assassinations See also: Kennedy's role 1960 South Vietnamese coup attempt 1962 South Vietnamese Independence Palace bombing Hu Pht n 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 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.121 The ARVN were led in that battle by Diem's most trusted General Huynh Van Cao commander of the IV Corps and a Catholic who had been promoted due to religion and fidelity rather than skill and whose main job was to preserve his forces to stave off coups; Cao 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 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..."122 Discontent with Diem's policies exploded following the Hu Pht n 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 Hu 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. 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. Ngo Dinh Diem after being shot and killed in the 1963 coup. The 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."123 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".124 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.125 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.126 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.127 General Paul Harkins the commander of U.S. forces in South Vietnam confidently predicted victory by Christmas 1963.128 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".129 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.130 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.131 Lyndon B. Johnson expands the war 19631969 A U.S. B-66 Destroyer and four F-105 Thunderchiefs dropping bombs on North Vietnam Main article: Joint warfare in South Vietnam 19631969 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."132133 On 24 November 1963 Johnson said "the battle against communism... must be joined... with strength and determination."134 The pledge came at a time when Vietnam was deteriorating especially in places like the Mekong Delta because of the recent coup against Diem.135 Johnson had reversed Kennedy's disengagement policy from Vietnam in withdrawing 1000 troops by the end of 1963 (NSAM 263 on 11 Oct.)136 with his own NSAM 273 (26 Nov.)137 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 Minhwhom Stanley Karnow a journalist on the ground later recalled as "a model of lethargy."138 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.139 However there was persistent instability in the military as several coupsnot all successfuloccurred 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.140 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."141 The second attack led to retaliatory air strikes prompted Congress to approve the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and gave the president power to conduct military operations in Southeast Asia without declaring war. 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."142 An undated NSA publication declassified in 2005 however revealed that there was no attack on 4 August.143 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."144 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."145 "From a strength of approximately 5000 at the start of 1959 the Viet Cong's ranks grew to about 100000 at the end of 1964...Between 1961 and 1964 the Army's strength rose from about 850000 to nearly a million men."126 The numbers for U.S. troops deployed to Vietnam during the same period were quite different; 2000 in 1961 rising rapidly to 16500 in 1964.146 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 Pleiku147 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.148 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.149 Between March 1965 and November 1968 "Rolling Thunder" deluged the north with a million tons of missiles rockets and bombs.150 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 forcing North Vietnam to stop its support for the NLF however 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."151 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".152 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 3500 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.153 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."154 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. The policy of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) was not to topple other non-communist governments in South East Asia.155 The Marines' assignment was defensive. The initial deployment of 3500 in March was increased to nearly 200000 by December.156 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.156 In December ARVN forces suffered heavy losses at the Battle of Bnh Gi157 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 successfully defeated a strong ARVN force in conventional warfare.158 Tellingly South Vietnamese forces were again defeated in June at the Battle of ng Xoi.159 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.156 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."160 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.161 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.162 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 1967.163 Johnson did not however communicate this change in strategy to the media. Instead he emphasized continuity.164 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.165 The idea that the government of South Vietnam could manage its own affairs was shelved.165 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."151 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..."166 The American buildup transformed the economy and had a profound impact 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 Philippines167 all agreed to send troops. Major allies however notably NATO nations Canada and the United Kingdom declined Washington's troop requests.168 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 Nguyn Cao K and figurehead Chief of State General Nguyn Vn Thiu 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 1971.169 The Johnson administration employed a "policy of minimum candor"170 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.170 Tet Offensive Main article: Tet Offensive Having lured General Westmoreland's forces into the hinterland at Khe Sanh in Qung Tr Province171 in January 1968 the NVA and NLF broke the truce that had traditionally accompanied the Tt (Lunar New Year) holiday. They launched the surprise Tet Offensive in the hope of sparking a national uprising. Over 100 cities were attacked with assaults on General Westmoreland's headquarters and the U.S. Embassy Saigon. Although the U.S. and South Vietnamese forces were initially taken aback by the scale of the urban offensive they responded quickly and effectively decimating the ranks of the NLF. In the former capital city of Hu the combined NLF and VPA troops captured the Imperial Citadel and much of the city which led to the Battle of Hu. Throughout the offensive the American forces employed massive firepower; in Hu where the battle was the fiercest that firepower left 80% of the city in ruins.172 During the interim between the capture of the Citadel and end of the "Battle of Hu" the communist insurgent occupying forces massacred several thousand unarmed Hu civilians (estimates vary up to a high of 6000). After the war North Vietnamese officials acknowledged that the Tet Offensive had indeed caused grave damage to NLF forces. But the 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.173 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."173 U.S. Marines fighting in Hu In November 1967 Westmoreland spearheaded a public relations drive for the Johnson administration to bolster flagging public support.174 In a speech before the National Press Club he said that a point in the war had been reached "where the end comes into view."175 Thus the public was shocked and confused when Westmoreland's predictions were trumped by Tet.174 The American media which had been largely supportive of U.S. efforts rounded on the Johnson administration for what had become an increasing credibility gap. Despite its military failure the Tet Offensive became a political victory and ended the career of President Lyndon B. Johnson who declined to run for re-election. Johnson's approval rating slumped from 48 to 36 percent.174 As James Witz noted Tet "contradicted the claims of progress... made by the Johnson administration and the military."174 The Tet Offensive was the turning point in America's involvement in the Vietnam War. It had a profound impact on domestic support for the conflict. The offensive constituted an intelligence failure on the scale of Pearl Harbor.167176 Journalist Peter Arnett quoted an unnamed officer saying of Bn Tre (laid to rubble by U.S. firepower)177 that "it became necessary to destroy the village in order to save it" (though the authenticity of this quote is disputed).178 According to one source this quote was attributed to Major Booris of 9th Infantry Division.179 NLF/NVA killed by U.S. air force personnel during an attack on the perimeter of Tan Son Nhut Air Base during the Tet Offensive Westmoreland became Chief of Staff of the Army in March 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 200000 additional troops had been leaked to the media. Westmoreland was succeeded by his deputy Creighton Abrams a commander less inclined to public media pronouncements.180 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. As historian Robert Dallek writes "Lyndon Johnson's escalation of the war in Vietnam divided Americans into warring camps... cost 30000 American lives by the time he left office (and) destroyed Johnson's presidency..."181 His refusal to send more U.S. troops to Vietnam was seen as Johnson's admission that the war was lost.182 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.182 As Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara noted "the dangerous illusion of victory by the United States was therefore dead."183 Vietnamization 19691972 Nixon Doctrine / Vietnamization Propaganda leaflet urging the defection of NLF and North Vietnamese to the side of the Republic of Vietnam For more details on this topic see Role of the United States in the Vietnam War#Vietnamization19691975 and #Vietnamization 19691974. 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 150000 American troops to be completed during the spring of next year. This will bring a total reduction of 265500 men in our armed forces in Vietnam below the level that existed when we took office 15 months ago."184 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 dtente with the Soviet Union and rapprochement with the People's Republic of China. This policy helped to decrease global tensions. Dtente 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.185 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 murder186 of a suspected double agent187 provoked national and international outrage. The civilian cost of the war was again questioned when U.S. forces concluded Operation Speedy Express with a claimed bodycount of 10889 Communist guerillas with only 40 U.S. losses; Kevin Buckley writing in Newsweek estimated that perhaps 5000 of the Vietnamese dead were civilians.188 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.184 Operation Menu: the secret bombing of Cambodia and Laos Main article: Operation Menu Prince Norodom Sihanouk had proclaimed Cambodia neutral since 1955189 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 secret bombing campaign called Operation Menu against their sanctuaries along the Cambodia/Vietnam border. This violated a long succession of pronouncements from Washington supporting Cambodian neutrality. Richard Nixon wrote to Prince Sihanouk in April 1969 assuring him that the United States respected "the sovereignty neutrality and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Cambodia..."190 In 1970 Prince Sihanouk was deposed by his pro-American prime minister Lon Nol. The country's borders were closed while U.S. forces and ARVN launched incursions into Cambodia to attack VPA/NLF bases and buy time for South Vietnam. The invasion of Cambodia 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.191 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.192 The ARVN launched Operation Lam Son 719 in February 1971 aimed at cutting the Ho Chi Minh trail in Laos.120 The ostensibly neutral Laos had long been the scene of a secret war. After meeting resistance ARVN forces retreated in a confused rout. They fled along roads littered with their own dead. When they ran out of fuel 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 invading ARVN troops 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."193 In 1971 Australia and New Zealand withdrew their soldiers. The U.S. troop count was further reduced to 196700 with a deadline to remove another 45000 troops by February 1972. As peace protests spread across the United States disillusionment and ill-discipline grew in the ranks.194 The Nguyen Hue Offensive 1972 part of the Easter Offensive 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 Phan Th Kim Phc center running down a road near Trng Bng Vietnam on 8 June 1972 after a napalm bomb was dropped on the village of Trng Bng by a plane of the Vietnam Air Force Photo: Nick Ut / The Associated Press . 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 L c Th. In October 1972 they reached an agreement. 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. Operation Linebacker II December 1972 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 1829 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."195 Opposition to the Vietnam War: 19621975 The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (April 2010) U.S. Navy riverboat deploying napalm during the Vietnam War Main article: Opposition to the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War 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 was centered around 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.146 Opposition to the Vietnam War tended to unite groups opposed to U.S. anti-communism imperialism and colonialism and for those involved with the New Left such as the Catholic Worker Movement capitalism itself. 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 Thch Qung c. Some critics of U.S. withdrawal predicted that it would not contribute to peace but rather vastly increase bloodshed. These critics advocated U.S. forces remain until all threats from the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army had been eliminated. Advocates of U.S. withdrawal were generally known as "doves" and they called their opponents "hawks" following nomenclature dating back to the War of 1812. 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.196 The fatal shooting of four anti-war protesters at Kent State University led to nation-wide university protests.197 Riots broke out at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.198 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. 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.199 Victims of the My Lai Massacre Exit of the Americans: 19731975 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.200 A 5 Under the Paris Peace Accords between North Vietnamese Foreign Minister L c Th and U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and reluctantly signed by South Vietnamese President Thiu 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 Th 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 Trn Vn Tr.203 As the Vietcong's top commander Tr 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 197576 dry season. Tr calculated that this date would be Hanoi's last opportunity to strike before Saigon's army could be fully trained.203 Although McGovern himself was not elected U.S. president the November 1972 election did return a Democratic majority to both houses of Congress under McGovern's "Come home America" campaign theme. On 15 March 1973 U.S. President Richard 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. 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.204 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 Thiu announced on 4 January that the war had restarted and that the Paris Peace Accord was no longer in effect. There had been over 25000 South Vietnamese casualties during the ceasefire period.205 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 197374 dry season offensive inspired Tr to return to Hanoi in October 1974 and plead for a larger offensive in the next dry season. This time Tr 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.206 Gip the North Vietnamese defense minister was reluctant to approve Tr's plan. A larger offensive might provoke a U.S. reaction and interfere with the big push planned for 1976. Tr appealed over Gip's head to first secretary L Dun who approved of the operation. Tr'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. 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 Vn Tin Dng and that Pleiku should be seized if possible. Before he left for the South Dng was addressed by L Dun: "Never have we had military and political conditions so perfect or a strategic advantage as great as we have now."207 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 1400 aircraft and a two-to-one numerical superiority in combat troops over their Communist enemies.208 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 This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2008) 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 Bun Ma Thut in k Lk 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 Nguyn Vn Thiu 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 Hu 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 Hu. 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 Hu fell. As resistance in Hu collapsed North Vietnamese rockets rained down on Da Nang and its airport. By 28 March 35000 VPA troops were poised to attack the suburbs. By 30 March 100000 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 100000 North Vietnamese troops encircled Saigon. The city was defended by about 30000 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 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 VPA troops overcame all resistance quickly capturing key buildings and installations. A tank crashed through the gates of the Independence Palace and at 11:30 a.m. local time the NLF flag was raised above it. President Duong Van Minh who had succeeded Huong two days earlier surrendered. The Communists had attained their goal but the cost of victory was high. By war's end the Vietnamese had been fighting foreign involvement or occupation (primarily by the French Chinese Japanese British and American governments) for 116 years.209 Other countries' involvement People's Republic of China In 1950 the People's Republic of 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 Mends France and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai who fearing U.S. intervention urged the Viet Minh to accept a partition at the 17th parallel.210 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 imposed a universal draft beginning in 1960. In the summer of 1962 Mao Zedong agreed to supply Hanoi with 90000 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.211 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 1970.212 The Khmer Rouge launched ferocious raids into Vietnam in 19751978. Vietnam responded with an invasion that toppled the Khmer Rouge. In response China launched a brief punitive invasion of Vietnam in 1979. South Korea Further information: Republic of Korea Marine Corps#Vietnam War On the anti-communist side South Korea had the second-largest contingent of foreign troops in South Vietnam after the United States. The first South Korean troops began arriving in 1964 and large combat battalions began arriving a year later with the South Koreans soon developing a reputation for effectiveness. Indeed arguably they conducted counterinsurgency operations so well that American commanders felt that Korean area of responsibility was the safest.213 Approximately 320000 South Korean soldiers were sent to Vietnam each serving a one year tour of duty. Maximum troop levels peaked at 50000 in 1968 however all were withdrawn by 1973.214 About 5000 South Koreans were killed and 11000 were injured during the war. 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 1965.215 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.216 Australia's peak commitment was 7672 combat troops and New Zealand's 552. More than 60000 Australian personnel were involved during the course of the war of which 521 were killed and more than 3000 wounded.217 Approximately 3000 New Zealanders served in Vietnam losing 37 killed and 187 wounded.218 Most Australians and New Zealanders served in the 1st Australian Task Force in Phc Tuy province.215 Philippines Some 10450 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. 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 19681970 they did not kill a single military or civilian leader in the headquarter complexes.219 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 B-52 bombers which were the first raiders shot down over Hanoi. Fewer than 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 3000 troops in Vietnam during the war.220 Some Russian sources give more specific numbers: the hardware donated by the USSR included 2000 tanks 7000 artillery guns over 5000 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 2 million dollars a day. From July 1965 to the end of 1974 fighting in Vietnam was attended by some 6500 officers and generals as well as more than 4500 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.221 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.222 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.223 Kim Il-sung is reported to have told his pilots to "fight in the war as if the Vietnamese sky were their own".224 Cuba The extent of manpower contributions to North Vietnam by the communist Republic of Cuba under Fidel Castro is still a matter of debate. Then and since the communist Vietnamese and Cuban governments have not divulged any information on this matter. 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".225226227228229 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.230 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.231 Canada and the ICC Main article: Canada and the Vietnam War Canada India and Poland comprised the International Control Commission which was supposed to monitor the 1954 ceasefire agreement.232 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).233234 Republic of China (Taiwan) Main article: Republic of China in the Vietnam War Since November 1967 the Republic of China (Taiwan) secretly operated a cargo transport detachment to assist the United States and the ROV. 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.235 In addition to the diving trainers there were several hundred military personnel.235 Military commandos from Taiwan were captured by communist forces three times trying to infiltrate North Vietnam.235 Women in Vietnam American nurses 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.236 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 237 Due to the shortage of staff nurses usually worked twelve-hour shifts six days per week and often suffered from exhaustion. 1st Lieutenant Sharon Lane was the only female military nurse to be killed by enemy gunfire during the war. She died on June 8 1969.238 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.239 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.240 Although this was not the womens purpose it was one positive result of the their service. By 1973 approximately 7500 women had served in Vietnam in the Southeast Asian theater.241 In that same year the military lifted the prohibition on women entering the armed forces. However women were gradually granted greater mobility within the military and by the end of 1978 the Coast Guard removed all limitations on assignments based on sex. (334) However it was not until 1993 that Congress allowed women to serve in combat units in the air force. Women in the army today are still prohibited from serving in combat positions. American women serving in Vietnam were subject to societal stereotypes. Many Americans either considered female in Vietnam mannish 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.242 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.243 This does not mean that harassment never occurred; rather there are few cases that have been officially documented by the military. 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 Unlike the American women who went to Vietnam Vietnamese women fought in the combat zone as well as provided manual labor to keep the Ho Chi Minh Trail open; they also worked in the rice fields to provide food for their families and the war effort. Women were enlisted in both the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and the VietCong guerrilla force in South Vietnam. Nguyen Thi Dinh was an example of a woman who had fought most of her adult life against foreign forces in her country. She was a member of the Vietminh fighting against the French and was imprisoned in the 1940s but on her release continued to fight and led a revolt in 1945 in Ben Tre and also in 1960 against Diems government. In the mid 1960s she became a deputy commander of the Viet Cong the highest ranking combat position held by a woman during the war.244 Nguyen Thi Duc Hoan who would later go on to be an actress-director also joined the fight at a young age and would later become a guerrilla fighter against the Americans at the time her own daughter was training in the militia.245 Weapons Communist forces were principally armed with Chinese246 and Soviet weaponry247 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.248 The ubiquitous Soviet AK-47 was widely regarded as the best assault rifle of the war and it was not uncommon to see U.S. special forces with captured AK-47s. The American M-16 which replaced the M-14 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.249 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.250 The heavily armored 90mm M48A3 Patton tank tank saw extensive action during the Vietnam War and over 600 were deployed with US Forces. They played an important role in infantry support though there were few actual tank versus tank battles. The M67A1 flamethrower tank (nicknamed the Zippo) was an M48 variant used in Vietnam. Artillery was used extensively by both sides but the Americans were able to ferry the lightweight 105mm M102 howitzer by helicopter to remote locations on quick notice.251252 With its 17 mile range the Soviet 130mm M-46 towed field gun was a highly regarded weapon and used to good effect by the NVA. It was countered by the long-range American 175mm M107 Self-Propelled Gun.253 The United States had air superiority though many aircraft were lost to surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft artillery. U.S. air power was credited with breaking the siege of Khe Sanh and blunting the 1972 Communist offensive against South Vietnam. At sea the U.S. Navy had the run of the coastline using aircraft carriers as platforms for offshore strikes and other naval vessels for offshore artillery support. Offshore naval fire played a pivotal role in the Battle for the city of Hue providing accurate fire in support of the U.S. counter-offensive to retake the city.254 The Vietnam War was the first conflict that saw wide scale tactical deployment of helicopters.255 The Bell UH-1 Iroquois was used extensively in counter-guerilla operations both as a troop carrier and a gunship.252 In the latter role the Huey as it became affectionately known was outfitted with a variety of armaments including M60 machineguns multi-barreled 7.62mm Gatling guns and unguided air-to-surface rockets.252 The Hueys were also successfully used in MEDEVAC and search and rescue roles.252 Type North Vietnam Viet Cong U.S. South Vietnam ADF AFVs T-34/85 T-54 T-55 and PT-76 tanks. M48A3 Patton tank M728 Combat Engineer Vehicle M551 Sheridan M50 Ontos Centurion (ADF) M41 Walker Bulldog (ARVN) APCs/IFVs BTR-40 BTR-152 BTR-50 BTR-60 APC's & BMP 1 IFV's M113 Artillery M1937 Howitzer BM-21 D-30 (2A18) Howitzer M1954 field gun M109 self-propelled howitzer M107 Self-Propelled Gun M110 self-propelled howitzer M102 105mm howitzer M114 155 mm howitzer Aircraft MiG-21 MiG-19 MiG-17 A-4 Skyhawk A-6 Intruder F-4 Phantom II F-100 Super Sabre F-105 Thunderchief A-7 Corsair Boeing B-52 Stratofortress Lockheed AC-130 Douglas AC-47 Spooky B-57 Canberra (RAAF) A-37 Dragonfly (U.S. & ARVN) Douglas A-1 Skyraider (U.S. & ARVN) Helicopters Mi-6 Mi-8 CH-47 Chinook CH-53 Bell UH-1 Iroquois Bell AH-1 Cobra CH-54 Skycrane AAW SA-3 Goa SA-2 Guideline Strela 2 M1939 (61-K) 37mm ZSU-57-2 twin 57mm ZPU 14.5mm models 12 and 4 (numbers corresponding to single double and quad barreled variants) MIM-23 Hawk M55 Quad 50 (dual use weapon for AA as well as for engaging ground targets)256 Infantry weapons MAT-49 SKS AK-47 RPK RPD DShK HMG RPG-7 RPG-2 B-10 recoilless rifle and B-11 recoilless rifle M14 M16 M79 grenade launcher M60 machine gun M2 Browning LAW TOW and M40 recoilless rifle FN-FAL (ADF) FN MAG (ADF) Owen Gun (ADF) Air-to-Air Missiles Vympel K-13 AIM-9 Sidewinder AIM-7 Sparrow Air-to-Surface Missiles AGM-45 Shrike anti radiation missile AGM-12 Bullpup AGM-78 Standard ARM AGM-62 Walleye Zuni rocket Specialized weapons IEDs257 BLU-82 Daisy Cutter Laser-guided bombs Napalm M18 Claymore anti-personnel mines Aftermath Events in Southeast Asia Main articles: Mayaguez incident Vietnam Democratic Kampuchea Sino-Vietnamese War Reeducation camp and boat people 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. Over the next four years the Khmer Rouge enacted a genocidal policy that killed over one-fifth of all Cambodians or more than a million people.258 After repeated border clashes in 1978 Vietnam invaded Democratic Kampuchea (Cambodia) and ousted the Khmer Rouge in the CambodianVietnamese War. In response China invaded Vietnam in 1979. The two countries fought a brief border war known as the Third Indochina War or the Sino-Vietnamese War. From 1978 to 1979 some 450000 ethnic Chinese left Vietnam by boat as refugees or were expelled across the land border with China.259 The Pathet Lao overthrew the royalist government of Laos in December 1975. They established the Lao People's Democratic Republic.260 From 1975 to 1996 the United States resettled some 250000 Lao refugees from Thailand including 130000 Hmong.261 More than 3 million people fled from Vietnam Laos and Cambodia many as "boat people". Most Asian countries were unwilling to accept refugees.262 Since 1975 an estimated 1.4 million refugees from Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries have been resettled to the United States263 while Canada Australia and France resettled over 500000.264 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.265 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."266267 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..."268 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."269 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."270 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."271 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."272 Even General William Westmoreland admitted that the bombing had been ineffective. As he remarked "I still doubt that the North Vietnamese would have relented."272 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."273 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."272 As well 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).274 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.275 Conscription in the United States had been controlled by the President since World War II but ended in 1973. By war's end 58220 soldiers were killedA 2 more than 150000 were wounded and at least 21000 were permanently disabled.276 According to Dale Kueter "Sixty-one percent of those killed were age 21 or younger. Of those killed in combat 86.3 percent were white 12.5 percent were black and the remainder from other races."9 Approximately 830000 Vietnam veterans suffered symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder. An estimated 125000 Americans fled to Canada to avoid the Vietnam draft277 and approximately 50000 American servicemen deserted.278 In 1977 United States President Jimmy Carter granted a full complete and unconditional pardon to all Vietnam-era Draft dodgers.279 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. Chemical defoliation 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. These chemicals continue to change the landscape cause diseases and birth defects and poison the food chain.280 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 (45000000 L) of Agent Orange were sprayed over Southeast Asia during the American involvement. 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. U.S. helicopter spraying chemical defoliants in the Mekong Delta South Vietnam 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 (75700000 L) of concentrated herbicides over 6 million acres (24000 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.281 As of 2006 the Vietnamese government estimates that there are over 4000000 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.282 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 Selection from a U.S. Army footage from 'Operation Baker' action by the 3rd BDE 25th Infantry Division selection shows U.S. soldiers putting 'ace of spades' playing cards into mouths of dead Viet Cong The number of military and civilian deaths from 1955 to 1975 is debated. Some reports fail to include the members of South Vietnamese forces killed in the final campaign or the Royal Lao Armed Forces thousands of Laotian and Thai irregulars or Laotian civilians who all perished in the conflict. They do not include the tens of thousands of Cambodians killed during the civil war or the estimated one and one-half to two million that perished in the genocide that followed Khmer Rouge victory or the fate of Laotian Royals and civilians after the Pathet Lao assumed complete power in Laos. In 1995 the Vietnamese government reported that its military forces including the NLF suffered 1.1 million dead and 600000 wounded during Hanoi's conflict with the United States. Civilian deaths were put at two million in the North and South and economic reparations were demanded.citation needed Hanoi concealed the figures during the war to avoid demoralizing the population.283 Estimates of civilian deaths caused by American bombing in Operation Rolling Thunder range from 52000284 to 182000.285 The U.S. military has estimated that between 200000 and 250000 South Vietnamese soldiers died in the war.286 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. 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 Main article: Outline of the Vietnam War Aircraft losses of the Vietnam War Awards and decorations of the Vietnam War C Chi tunnels Dak Son Massacre Draft lottery (1969) Kit Carson Scouts List of Medal of Honor recipients for the Vietnam War Major General Michael D. Healy Operation Wheeler/Wallowa Patrol Craft Fast POW/MIA issue 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 Mayaguez Incident North Vietnamese invasion of Laos General: History of Cambodia History of Laos List of conflicts in Asia Annotations a b Due to the early presence of American troops in Vietnam the start date of the Vietnam War is a grey zone. 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 was changed to 1 November 1955.19 U.S. government reports currently cite 1 November 1955 as the commencement date of the Vietnam Conflict for 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. So on 1 November 1955 a Vietnamese MAAG was created.20 Other start dates include when Hanoi authorized Viet Cong forces in South Vietnam to begin a low level insurgency in December 1956.21 Where as some view 26 September 1959 when the first battle occurred between the Communist and South Vietnamese army.22 a b c d The figures of 58220 and 303644 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 20106 the CRS (Congressional Research Service) Report for Congress American War and Military Operations Casualties: Lists and Statistics dated February 26 20107 and the book Crucible Vietnam: Memoir of an Infantry Lieutenant.8 Some other sources give different figures (e.g. the 2005/2006 documentary Heart of Darkness: The Vietnam War Chronicles 19451975 cited elsewhere in this article gives a figure of 58159 U.S. deaths5 The 2007 book Vietnam Sons: For Some the War Never Ended gives a figure of 58226.9) Also known as the Second Indochina War Vietnam Conflict American War in Vietnam and in Vietnam as War Against the Americans to Save the Nation.18 The Vit Nam c Lp ng Minh Hi had previously formed in Nanjing China at some point between August 1935 and early 1936 when the non-communist Vietnamese Nationalist Party (Vit Nam Quc Dn ng or Vit Quc) led by Nguyn Thi Hc 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 1941.42 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.201202 Notes "Vietnam War : US Troop Strength". Historycentral.com. http://www.historycentral.com/Vietnam/Troop.html. Retrieved 17 October 2009.  "Facts about the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Collection". nps.gov. http://www.nps.gov/mrc/reader/vvmcr.htm.  (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: 536100 U.S. military personnel with 30610 U.S. military having been killed to date; 65000 Free World Forces personnel; 820000 South Vietnam Armed Forces (SVNAF) with 88343 having been killed to date. At the war's end there were approximately 2200 U.S. missing in action (MIA) and prisoner of war (POW). Source: Harry G. Summers Jr. Vietnam War Almanac Facts on File Publishing 1985. ) Vietnam Marines 1965-73. Books.google.co.uk. 1965-03-08. http://books.google.co.uk/booksidTGJ9V06p0BQC&pgPA16&dqsouth+korean+strength+in+vietnam+1968&hlen&eiOQATdiUM5SahQflj4HtBw&saX&oibookresult&ctresult&resnum1&ved0CCwQ6AEwAA#vonepage&qsouth%20korean%20strength%20in%20vietnam%201968&ffalse. Retrieved 2011-04-29.  Vietnam War After Action Reports BACM Research 2009 page 430 a b c d Aaron Ulrich (Editor); Edward FeuerHerd (Producer & Director). (2005 & 2006) (Box set Color Dolby DVD-Video Full Screen NTSC Dolby Vision Software). Heart of Darkness: The Vietnam War Chronicles 19451975. Documentary. Koch Vision. Event occurs at 321 minutes. ISBN 1-4172-2920-9.  (February 26 2010) Americas Wars. Department of Veterans Affairs. (Report). (February 26 2010) American War and Military Operations: Casualties: Lists and Statistics. Congressional Research Service. (Report). Lawrence 2009 pp. 65 107 154 217 a b Kueter Dale (2007). Vietnam Sons: For Some the War Never Ended. AuthorHouse. ISBN 1425969313.  550 Army 369 Navy 213 Marine Corps 555 Air Force 32 civilians as of 11 May 2010 (2010 -05-11)update per The Personnel Missing Southeast Asia (PMSEA) Database from Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personal Office (DPMO). "Vietnam War Casualties". Vietnamgear.com. 3 April 1995. http://www.vietnamgear.com/casualties.aspx. Retrieved 17 October 2009.  Soames John. A History of the World Routledge 2005. 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. Shenon Philip (23 April 1995). "20 Years After Victory Vietnamese Communists Ponder How to Celebrate". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/23/world/20-years-after-victory-vietnamese-communists-ponder-how-to-celebrate.html. Retrieved 24 February 2011.  a b 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. a b Marek Sliwinski Le Gnocide Khmer Rouge: Une Analyse Dmographique (LHarmattan 1995). a b 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. "Official news source use of the name". Vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn. 29 October 2009. http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/Social-Isssues/193440/Two-250kg-wartime-bombs-defused.html. Retrieved 28 April 2010.  DoD 1998 Lawrence 2009 p. 20 a b James Olson and Randy Roberts Where the Domino Fell: America and Vietnam 19451990 p. 67 (New York: St. Martin's Press 1991). Origins of the Insurgency in South Vietnam 19541960 The Pentagon Papers (Gravel Edition) Volume 1 Chapter 5 (Boston: Beacon Press 1971) Section 3 pp. 314346; International Relations Department Mount Holyoke College. "Vietnam War". Encyclopdia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/628478/Vietnam-War. 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"  "Learn about the Vietnam War". http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/modules/vietnam/index.cfm.  Vietnam War Statistics and Facts 1 25th Aviation Batallion website. Kolko Gabriel Anatomy of War pp. 457 461 ff. ISBN 1-898876-67-3. Charles Hirschman et al. Vietnamese Casualties During the American War: A New Estimate Population and Development Review December 1995. Associated Press April 3 1995 "Vietnam Says 1.1 Million Died Fighting For North." Warner Roger Shooting At The Moon (1996) pp366 estimates 30000 Hmong. Obermeyer "Fifty years of violent war deaths from Vietnam to Bosnia" British Medical Journal 2008 estimates 60000 total. T. Lomperis From People's War to People's Rule (1996) estimates 35000 total. Small Melvin & Joel David Singer Resort to Arms: International and Civil Wars 1816-1980 (1982) estimates 20000 total. Taylor Charles Lewis The World Handbook of Political and Social Indicators estimates 20000 total. Stuart-Fox Martin A History of Laos estimates 200000 by 1973. Moore Harold. G and Joseph L. Galloway We Are Soldiers Still: A Journey Back to the Battlefields of Vietnam (p. 57). "Asian-Nation: Asian American History Demographics & Issues:: The American / Viet Nam War". http://www.asian-nation.org/vietnam-war.shtml. Retrieved 18 August 2008. "The Viet Nam War is also called 'The American War' by the Vietnamese"  Ooi Keat Gin. Southeast Asia: a historical encyclopedia from Angkor Wat to East Timor. ABC-CLIO; 2004. ISBN 9781576077702. p. 520. Rai Lajpat. Social Science. FK Publications; ISBN 9788189611125. p. 22. Dommen Arthur J.. The Indochinese experience of the French and the Americans: nationalism and communism in Cambodia Laos and Vietnam. Indiana University Press; 2001. ISBN 9780253338549. p. 419. Neale Jonathan The American War p. 3 ISBN 1-898876-67-3. a b Neale Jonathan The American War p. 17 ISBN 1-898876-67-3. Sophie Quinn-Judge (2003). Ho Chi Minh: the missing years 1919-1941. C. Hurst. pp. 212213. ISBN 9781850656586. http://books.google.com/booksidknErjpiKxQoC.  Vietnam Vietnam By Spencer Tucker P42ISBN-10: 0813109663 Retrieved 4 June 2011. Brocheux 2007 p. 198 Neale Jonathan The American War p. 18 ISBN 1-898876-67-3. Neale Jonathan The American War pp. 1819 ISBN 1-898876-67-3. a b Kolko Gabriel Anatomy of War p. 36 ISBN 1-898876-67-3. Neale Jonathan The American War p. 19 ISBN 1-898876-67-3. a b c d e f g h Neale Jonathan The American War p. 20 ISBN 1-898876-67-3. Kolko Gabriel Anatomy of War p. 37 ISBN 1-898876-67-3. "". . Tokyo foundation. October 2005. http://nippon.zaidan.info/seikabutsu/2005/01036/pdf/0001.pdf. Retrieved 10 June 2010.  " ". . Tokyo foundation. May 2006. http://nippon.zaidan.info/seikabutsu/2006/00197/pdf/0001.pdf. Retrieved 10 June 2010.  Willbanks 2009 p. 8 Neale Jonathan The American War p. 24 ISBN 1-898876-67-3. Neale Jonathan The American War pp. 2324 ISBN 1-898876-67-3. Willbanks 2009 p. 9 "Franco-Vietnam Agreement of March 6th 1946". Vietnamgear.com. 1946-03-06. http://www.vietnamgear.com/March6agreement.aspx. Retrieved 2011-04-29.  "Pentagon Papers Gravel Edition Chapter ! Section 2". Mtholyoke.edu. http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/pentagon/pent2.htm. Retrieved 2011-04-29.  Neale Jonathan The American War p. 24 ISBN 1-898876-67-3. Peter Dennis (1987). Troubled days of peace: Mountbatten and South East Asia command 1945-46. Manchester University Press ND. p. 179. ISBN 9780719022050. http://books.google.com/booksidInu7AAAAIAAJ.  a b Neale Jonathan The American War p. 25 ISBN 1-898876-67-3. a b c d McNamara Argument Without End pp. 37779. Pentagon Papers Gravel ed Chapter 2 'U.S. Involvement in the Franco-Viet Minh War' p. 54. a b Ang Cheng Guan The Vietnam War from the Other Side p. 14. Routledge (2002). a b "The History Place Vietnam War 19451960". http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/vietnam/index-1945.html. Retrieved 11 June 2008.  Herring George C.: America's Longest War p. 18. Zinn A People's History of the United States p. 471. a b Vietnam The Ten Thousand Day War Thames 1981 Michael Maclear p. 57. Vietnam at War: The History: 19461975 ISBN 978-0-19-506792-7 p. 263. Dien Bien Phu Air Force Magazine 87:8 August 2004. a b Vietnam Routledge 1999 Spencer Tucker ISBN 978-1-85728-922-0 p. 76. The U.S. Navy: a history Naval Institute Press 1997 Nathan Miller ISBN 978-1-55750-595-8 pp. 6768. The Pentagon Papers. Gravel ed. vol. 1 pp. 391404. "William C. Jeffries (2006). Trap Door to the Dark Side". p. 388. ISBN 1-4259-5120-1 Press release by the Embassy of the Republic of Vietnam quoted from the Washington D.C. press and Information Service vol l. no. 18 (22 July 1955) and no. 20 (18 August 1955) in Chapter 19 of Gettleman Franklin and Young Vietnam and America: A Documented History pp. 103105. Jacobs pp. 4555. Two Viet-nams by Bernard B. Fall. Praeger 1964. Vietnam Divided by B.S.N. Murti Asian Publishing House 1964. Robert Turner Vietnamese Communism: Its Origin and Development 102 (Stanford Ca: Hoover Institution Press 1975). Karnow 1991 p. 238 Anatomy of a war Gabiel Kolko Phoenix press 1994 p. 98. 1 Pentagon Papers (The Senator Gravel Edition) 247 328 (Boston Beacon Press 1971). John Prados "The Numbers Game: How Many Vietnamese Fled South In 1954" The VVA Veteran January/February 2005. Retrieved 21 January 2007. Christian G. Appy (2008) Vietnam: The Definitive Oral History Told From All Sides. London Ebury Press: 46. Christian G. Appy (2008) Vietnam: The Definitive Oral History Told From All Sides. London Ebury Press: 467. Kolko Gabriel Anatomy of a War p. 98 ISBN 1-56584-218-9. Dwight D. Eisenhower. Mandate for Change. Garden City New Jersey. Doubleday & Company 1963 p. 372. Pentagon Papers. a b Robert K. Brigham. Battlefield Vietnam: A Brief History. Karnow 1991 p. 224 Gerdes (ed.) Examining Issues Through Political Cartoons: The Vietnam War p. 19. McNamara Argument Without End p. 19. John F. Kennedy. "America's Stakes in Vietnam". Speech to the American Friends of Vietnam June 1956. McNamara Argument Without End pp. 200201. The Pentagon Papers Gravel Edition Volume 1 Chapter 5 "Origins of the Insurgency in South Vietnam 19541960". Anatomy of a War by Gabriel Kolko ISBN 1-56584-218-9 p. 89. a b Karnow 1991 p. 230 Neil Sheehan (1988) A Bright Shining Lie. New York Vintage: 18493. Vo Nguyen Giap "The Political and Military Line of Our Party" in The Military Art pp. 17980. Pike Douglas (1970). "The Viet-Cong Strategy of Terror". The Vietnam Center and Archive Texas Tech University. pp. 60 62 69 71.  Part 1 Part 2 (a monograph prepared for the United States Mission Vietnam). Thomas A. Bruscino (16 October 2006). Out of Bounds: Transnational Sanctuary in Irregular Warfare. Combat Studies Institute Press. p. 30. ISBN 9780160768460. http://books.google.com/iduhTiAAAACAAJ.  "... Vietcong units regularly threw grenades into crowds and vehicles fired small arms into villages at night assassinated and kidnapped village leaders and teachers and burned down sections of villages." (Online versions available here 1 (pdf) and here 2 (viewable pdf and plain text). Human Cost of Communism in Vietnam. p. II (1972) p. 65. Pike 1970 p. 70. Pentagon Papers Gravel 335. Anatomy of a War by Gabriel Kolko ISBN 1-56584-218-9 pp. 9495. Pentagon Papers Gravel 337. See Mark Moyar "The War Against the Viet Cong Shadow Government" in The Real Lesson of the Vietnam War (John Norton Moore and Robert Turner eds. 2002) pp. 15167. Excerpts from Law 10/59 6 May 1959. U.S. Department of Defense U.S.-Vietnam Relations vol. 2 p. 2. Anatomy of a War by Gabriel Kolko ISBN 1-56584-218-9 p. 105. Karnow 1991 p. 264 The Avalon Project at Yale Law School. Inaugural Address of John F. Kennedy. Karnow 1991 p. 265 suggested that "Kennedy sidestepped Laos whose rugged terrain was no battleground for American soldiers." The case of John F. Kennedy and Vietnam Presidential Studies Quarterly. Mann Robert. A Grand Delusion Basic Books 2002. Karnow 1991 p. 267 U.S. Department of Defense U.S.-Vietnam Relations vol. 3 pp. 12. McNamara Argument Without End p. 369. John Kenneth Galbraith. "Memorandum to President Kennedy from John Kenneth Galbraith on Vietnam 4 April 1962." The Pentagon Papers. Gravel. ed. Boston Massachusetts Beacon Press 1971 vol. 2. pp. 669671. "Vietnam War". Swarthmore College Peace Collection. http://www.swarthmore.edu/library/peace/conscientiousobjection/OverviewVietnamWar.htm.  a b International Agreement on the Neutrality of Laos. Neil Sheehan (1989) A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam. New York Vintage: 20166. Live interview by John Bartlow Martin. Was Kennedy Planning to Pull out of Vietnam New York New York. John F. Kennedy Library 1964 Tape V Reel 1. Karnow 1991 p. 326 Karnow 1991 p. 327 McNamara Argument Without End p. 328. a b Demma Vincent H. "The U.S. Army in Vietnam." American Military History (1989) the official history of the United States Army. Available online. Douglas Blaufarb. The Counterinsurgency Era. New York New York. Free Press 1977 p. 119. George C. Herring. America's Longest War: The United States and Vietnam 19501975. Boston Massachusetts McGraw Hill 1986 p. 103. Foreign Relation of the United States Vietnam 19611963. Washington D.C. Government Printing Office 1991 vol. 4. p. 707. U.S. Special Forces: A Guide to America's Special Operations Units : the World's Most Elite Fighting ForceBy Samuel A. Southworth Stephen Tanner Published by Da Capo Press 2002 ISBN 9780306811654. Shooting at the Moon by Roger Warner The history of CIA/IAD'S 15-year involvement in conducting the secret war in Laos 19601975 and the career of CIA PMCO (paramilitary case officer) Bill Lair. Karnow 1991 pp. 336339 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. 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. 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." 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." National Security Action Memorandum NSAM 263   (11 Oct. 1963). NSAM 273   (26 Nov. 1963). Karnow 1991 p. 340 who quote Minh as enjoying playing tennis more than bureaucratic work. Karnow 1991 p. 341 Osborn 2002 pp. 8485 Gerdes (ed.) Examining Issues Through Political Cartoons: The Vietnam War p. 26. Palmer Dave Richard (1978). Summons of the Trumpet: U.S.-Vietnam in Perspective. Presidio Press. p. 882. ISBN 0891415505.  Shane Scott (31 October 2005). "Vietnam Study Casting Doubts Remains Secret". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/31/politics/31war.html. Retrieved 27 April 2010.  Gerdes (ed.) Examining Issues Through Political Cartoons: The Vietnam War p. 25. George C. Herring America's longest war: the United States and Vietnam 19501975 (New York: Wiley 1979) 121. a b The United States in Vietnam: An analysis in depth of the history of America's involvement in Vietnam by George McTurnan Kahin and John W. Lewis Delta Books 1967. Simon Dennis M. (August 2002). "The War in Vietnam19651968". http://faculty.smu.edu/dsimon/Change-Viet2.html. Retrieved 7 May 2009.  Nalty 1998 pp. 97 261. Earl L. Tilford Setup: What the Air Force did in Vietnam and Why. Maxwell Air Force Base AL: Air University Press 1991 p. 89. Karnow 1991 p. 468 a b Courtwright 2005 p. 210 Gen. Curtis E LeMay. Generations Divide Over Military Action in Iraq. Pew Research Center. October 2002. http://web.archive.org/web/20080202203114rn1/people-press.org/commentary/display.php3AnalysisID57.  (archived from the original on 2 February 2008). Ho Chi Minh. Letter to Martin Niemoeller. December 1966. quoted in Marilyn B. Young. The Vietnam Wars: 19451990. New York New York. Harper 1991 p. 172. McNamara Argument Without End p. 48. a b c McNamara Argument Without End pp. 34951. Mark Moyar (2006). Triumph forsaken: the Vietnam War 19541965. Cambridge University Press. p. 339. ISBN 9780521869119. http://books.google.com/idphJrZ87RwuAC.  McNeill 1993 p. 58. McNeill 1993 p. 94. U.S. Department of Defense U.S.-Vietnam Relations vol. 4 p. 7. McNamara Argument Without End p. 353. U.S. Department of Defense U.S.-Vietnam Relations vol. 5 pp. 89. U.S. Department of Defense U.S.-Vietnam Relations vol. 4 pp 117119. and vol. 5 pp. 812. Public Papers of the Presidents 1965. Washington D.C. Government Printing Office 1966 vol. 2 pp. 794799. a b McNamara Argument Without End pp. 353354. Karnow 1991 p. 453 a b Karnow 1991 p. 556 Peter Church. ed. A Short History of South-East Asia. Singapore John Wiley & Sons 2006 p. 193. Karnow 1991 p. 706 a b Karnow 1991 p. 18 McNamara Argument Without End pp. 363365. Anatomy of a War by Gabriel Kolko ISBN 1-56584-218-9 pp. 308309. a b "The Guardians at the Gate" Time 7 January 1966 vol. 87 no.1. a b c d Witz The Tet Offensive: Intelligence Failure in War pp. 12. Larry Berman. Lyndon Johnson's War. New York W.W. Norton 1991 p. 116. Harold P. Ford. CIA and the Vietnam Policymakers pp. 104123. Survivors Hunt Dead of Bentre Turned to Rubble in Allied Raids nytimes.com. "Peter Arnett: Whose Man in Baghdad" Mona Charen Jewish World Review 1 April 2003. Saving Ben Tre. Sorely 1999 pp. 1116. Gerdes (ed.) Examining Issues Through Political Cartoons: The Vietnam War p. 27. a b Command Magazine Issue 18 p. 15. McNamara Argument Without End pp. 366367. a b Vietnamization: 1970 Year in Review UPI.com. "Ho Chi Minh Dies of Heart Attack in Hanoi". The Times: p. 1. 4 September 1969.  Jeff Stein Murder in Wartime: The Untold Spy Story that Changed the Course of the Vietnam War. (New York: St. Martin's Press 1992) 6062. Seals Bob (2007) The "Green Beret Affair": A Brief Introduction. Pacification's Deadly Price. self-published quoting Newsweek 19 June 1972 pp. 423. http://chss.montclair.edu/english/furr/Vietnam/buckley.html. Retrieved 5 October 2008.  Prince Norodom Sihanouk. "Cambodia Neutral: The Dictates of Necessity." Foreign Affairs 1958 pp. 582583. quoted in Ross Russell R. ed (1987). "Nonaligned Foreign Policy". Cambodia: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress. ISBN 0739723286. http://www.countrystudies.us/cambodia/18.htm.  Joe Angio. Nixon a Presidency Revealed. Television Documentary The History Channel 15 February 2007. USA.gov (February 1997). "The Pentagon Papers Case". EJournal USA 2 (1). Archived from the original on 12 January 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080112095748/http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itdhr/0297/ijde/goodsb1.htm. Retrieved 27 April 2010.  Karnow 1991 pp. 644645 "11. The U.S. Army in Vietnam from Tet to the Final Withdrawal 19681975". American Military History Volume II The United states Army in a Global Era 19172003. United States Army Center of Military History. pp. 349350. http://www.history.army.mil/books/AMH-V2/AMH%20V2/chapter11.htm.  Peter Church ed. A Short History of South-East Asia. Singapore. John Wiley & Sons 2006 pp. 193194. 1969: Millions march in US Vietnam Moratorium. BBC On This Day. Bob Fink. Vietnam A View from the Walls: a History of the Vietnam Anti-War Movement. Greenwich Publishing. http://www.greenwych.ca/vietnam.htm.  Jennings & Brewster 1998: 413. "History Lesson 8: Refugees From Vietnam and Cambodia" Immigration in US history Constitutional Rights Foundation http://crfimmigrationed.org/index.php/lessons-for-teachers/147-hl8  Stanton 2003 p. 240 Willbanks 2009 p. 110 "Facts about the Vietnam Veterans memorial collection". NPS.gov. 2010. http://www.nps.gov/mrc/reader/vvmcr.htm. Retrieved 26 April 2010.  a b Karnow 1991 pp. 67274 Karnow 1991 pp. 67072 "This Day in History 1974: Thieu announces war has resumed". History.com. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/thieu-announces-war-has-resumed. Retrieved 17 October 2009.  Karnow 1991 p. 676 Clark Dougan David Fulgham et al. The Fall of the South. Boston: Boston Publishing Company 1985 p. 22. The End of the Vietnam War 30 Years Ago by Gabriel Kolko CounterPunch 30 April / 1 May 2005. Tucker Spencer C. 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Retrieved 27 March 2010.  "Soviet rocketeer: After our arrival in Vietnam American pilots refused to fly" (in Russian). RU: rus.ruvr. 29 January 2010. http://rus.ruvr.ru/2010/01/29/3985810.html. Retrieved 26 May 2010.  Asia Times 18 August 2006 Richard M Bennett Missiles and madness. Merle Pribbenow 'The 'Ology War: technology and ideology in the defense of Hanoi 1967' Journal of Military History 67:1 (2003) p. 183. Gluck Caroline (7 July 2001). "N Korea admits Vietnam war role". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1427367.stm. Retrieved 19 October 2006. ; also see "North Korea fought in Vietnam War". BBC News. 31 March 2000. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/696970.stm. Retrieved 19 October 2006. ; also see "North Korea honours Vietnam war dead". BBC News. 12 July 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1435540.stm. Retrieved 19 October 2006.  AII POW-MIA Cuban Torture. Aiipowmia.com (8 November 1999). Retrieved on 6 August 2010. 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Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. http://web.archive.org/web/20070930170925/http://www.canadianencyclopedia.ca/index.cfmPgNmTCE&ParamsA1ARTA0008367. Retrieved 15 July 2010.  "Quiet Complicity: Canadian Involvement in the Vietnam War". Review by The Manitoba Historical Society. http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/mbhistory/16/canadainvietnamwar.shtml. Retrieved 15 July 2010.  a b c Mose 1996 pp. 34 Norman Elizabeth M. Women at War: the Story of Fifty Military Nurses Who Served in Vietnam. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania 1990. ISBN 978-0812213171 p. 7. Vuic Kara Dixon. Officer Nurse Woman: the Army Nurse Corps in the Vietnam War. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP 2010. ISBN 978-0801893919 p. 5. Norman p. 57. Holm Jeanne. Women in the Military: an Unfinished Revolution. Novato CA: Presidio 1992. ISBN 978-0891415138 p. 214. Holm p. 213. Holm p. 206. Vuic p. 8. Norman p. 71. https://facultystaff.richmond.edu/ebolt/history398/WhoWasNguyenThiDinh.html https://facultystaff.richmond.edu/ebolt/history398/VietnameseWomenInTheWar.html Chinese Support for North Vietnam during the Vietnam War: The Decisive Edge Bob Seals Military History Online Sept 23 2008 Albert Parray Military Review Soviet aid to Vietnam June 1967 Gordon L. Rottman Viet Cong Fighter Osprey Publishing (2007) p. 20-30 ISBN 9781846031267 C.H. Chivers (November 2 2009). "How Reliable is the M16 Rifle". New York Times. http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/02/how-reliable-is-the-m-16-rifle/.  David Maraniss (2003). They Marched Into Sunlight: War and Peace Vietnam and America October 1967. Simon and Schuster. p. 410. ISBN 9780743262552. http://books.google.com/booksidqftwHKSnmpkC.  Bart Hagerman USA Airborne: 50th Anniversary Turner Publishing Company p.237 a b c d Lieutenant General John J. Tolson (1989). Vietnam Studies: Airmobility 1961-71. US Government Printing Office. CMH Pub 90-4. http://www.history.army.mil/books/vietnam/airmobility/airmobility-fm.html.  "ITN news reel". Youtube.com. 2007-07-16. http://www.youtube.com/watchvOWCNfR50jsc#. Retrieved 2011-04-29.  George W. Smith The siege at Hue Lynne Reinner Publishers(1999) p. 142-143 Dwayne A. Day Helicopters at War U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission "Quad-50 M2 .50 cal. Machine Gun". Olive-drab.com. http://www.olive-drab.com/odotherfirearmsmgm2quad50.php. Retrieved 2011-04-29.  "Mine Warfare in South Vietnam". History.navy.mil. http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/vietnam/minesouthviet.htm. Retrieved 2009-10-18.  'Killing Fields' journalist dies . BBC News. 30 March 2008. Vietnam (03/09). U.S. Department of State. "CIA The World Factbook Laos". https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/la.html#history. Retrieved 11 June 2008.  Laos (04/09). U.S. Department of State. "Migration in the Asia-Pacific Region". Stephen Castles University of Oxford. Mark J. Miller University of Delaware. July 2009. Refugee Resettlement in Metropolitan America. Migration Information Source. Robinson William Courtland (1998). Terms of refuge: the Indochinese exodus & the international response. Zed Books. p. 127. ISBN 1856496104.  Gerdes (ed). Examining Issues Through Political Cartoons: The Vietnam War pp. 1415. Karnow 1991 p. 23 Taylor paraphrases Sun Tzu The Art of War Samuel B. Griffith trans. Oxford UK. Oxford University Press 1963. "President Richard Nixon's Role in the Vietnam War". Vietnam War. Archived from the original on 2009-03-31. http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20090331152606/http://www.vietnamwar.com/presidentnixonsrole.htm. Retrieved 17 October 2009.  Demma "28" The U.S. Army in Vietnam iBiblio http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/academic/history/marshall/military/vietnam/short.history/chap28.txt  "Lessons of Vietnam Secret Memoranda to The President of the United States by Secretary of State Henry Kissinger". ca. May 12 1975. p. 3. http://www.ford.utexas.edu/library/exhibits/vietnam/750512a.htm. Retrieved 11 June 2008.  McNamara Argument Without End p. 368. 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. http://www.commondreams.org/views/041700-106.htm. Retrieved 11 June 2008.  Karnow 1991 p. 17 Stephen Daggett (24 July 2008). CRS Report to Congress : Costs of Major U.S. Wars. Foreign press center US Department of State. http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/108054.pdf.  (Order Code RS22926 see table on page 2/5). "Echoes of Combat: The Vietnam War in American Memory". Stanford University. The War's Costs. Digital History. "War Resisters Remain in Canada with No Regrets". ABC News. 19 November 2005. http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/storyid1325339. Retrieved 26 February 2010.  Vietnam War Resisters in Canada Open Arms to U.S. Military Deserters. Pacific News Service. 28 June 2005. "Proclamation 4483: Granting Pardon for Violations of the Selective Service Act". http://www.usdoj.gov/pardon/carterproclamation.htm. 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. "Agent Orange Home". http://www1.va.gov/Agentorange/. Retrieved 11 June 2008.  Anatomy of a War by Gabriel Kolko ISBN 1-56584-218-9 pp. 144145. Anthony Failoa In Vietnam Old Foes Take Aim at War's Toxic Legacy Washington Post 13 November 2006. "Vietnam says 1.1 Million died Fighting for North". The Virginian-Pilot quoting the Ledger-Star. 4 April 1995. Archived from the original on 22 December 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071222122211/http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1995/vp950404/04040331.htm.  Vietnam Democide : Estimates Sources Calculations in Freedom Democracy Peace; Power Democide and War University of Hawaii. Battlefield:Vietnam Timeline. Vietnam War (195575). Encyclopdia Britannica. References Secondary sources Anderson David L. Columbia Guide to the Vietnam War (2004). 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)". http://www.harpers.org/archive/2006/06/0081080. 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. pp. 198. ISBN 9780521850629.  Buckley Kevin. "Pacifications 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". http://www.commondreams.org/views/041700-106.htm. 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 1585444197.  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 9780195517842.  DoD (6 November 1998). "Name of Technical Sergeant Richard B. Fitzgibbon to be added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial". Department of Defense (DoD). http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspxreleaseid1902. 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 19621968. (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 19621968 (1987); Public Affairs: The Military and the Media 10681973 (1995). full-scale history of the war by U.S. Army; much broader than title suggests. Herring George C. America's Longest War: The United States and Vietnam 19501975 (4th ed 2001) most widely used short history. Hitchens Christopher. The Vietnam Syndrome. Karnow Stanley (1991). Vietnam: A History (1991 ed.). Viking Press. ISBN 0670842184. ; 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 0786445173.  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 0195583760.  McNeill Ian (1993). To Long Tan: The Australian Army and the Vietnam War 19501966. St Leonards: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1863732829.  Milne David. America's Rasputin: Walt Rostow and the Vietnam War (Hill & Wang 2008). Moise Edwin E. Historical Dictionary of the Vietnam War (2002). Mose Edwin E. (1996). Tonkin Gulf and the escalation of the Vietnam War (1996 ed.). UNC Press. ISBN 0807823007.  Moss George D. Vietnam (4th ed 2002) textbook. Moyar Mark. Triumph Forsaken: The Vietnam War 19541965 (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 19651970 (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 9780897897198.  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 19411975 (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 0811700712.  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 9780816071029. http://books.google.com/booksidX5WWklFB5O4C.  Witz James J. The Tet Offensive: Intelligence Failure in War (1991). Young Marilyn B. The Vietnam Wars: 19451990. (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". http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstractfromPageonline&aid358806. 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 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. (19601962) 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 19661975 (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 Nh Tng; David Chanoff Van Toai Doan (1985). A Vietcong memoir (1985 ed.). Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. ISBN 9780151936366. - 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 19451967. 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) 81329. External links Find more about Vietnam War on Wikipedia's sister projects: Definitions from Wiktionary Images and media from Commons Learning resources from Wikiversity News stories from Wikinews Quotations from Wikiquote Source texts from Wikisource Textbooks from Wikibooks American Ethnography On collecting engraved Zippos from the Vietnam War Battlefield Vietnam PBS interactive site Casualties U.S. vs NVA/VC 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 The Effects of Vietnamization on the Republic of Vietnam's Armed Forces 19691972 Glossary of Military Terms & Slang from the Vietnam War History of US Interventions by Derek Mitchell Impressions of Vietnam and descriptions of the daily life of a soldier from the oral history of Elliott Gardner U.S. Army 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 Timeline US Vietnam (19472001) in Open-Content project The U.S. Army in Vietnam the official history of the United States Army 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 The Vietnam War at The History Channel Vietnam war timeline comprehensive timeline of the Vietnam War Virtual Vietnam Archive Texas Tech University War propaganda and the media: Vietnam v d eMajor armed conflicts involving the United States Armed Forces Internal Shays' Rebellion  Whiskey Rebellion  Dorr Rebellion  Mormon War  Bleeding Kansas  Utah War  Civil War  Indian Wars  BrooksBaxter War  Homestead  Battle of Blair Mountain  Bonus Army International Revolutionary War  Quasi-War  First Barbary War  War of 1812  Second Barbary War  Sumatran Expeditions  MexicanAmerican 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