vietnam

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Vietnam War
Part of the Cold War
A South Vietnamese Air Force UH-1 helicopter over the Mekong Delta in 1970
Date
1959[1] – April 30, 1975
Location
Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos
Result
North Vietnamese Victory
Communist takeover of South Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.
Territorialchanges
Unification of North and South Vietnam
Belligerents
Anti-Communist forces:
South Vietnam United States South Korea Australia Philippines New Zealand Khmer Republic Thailand Kingdom of Laos
Communist forces:
North Vietnam Viet Cong Khmer Rouge Pathet Lao People's Republic of China Soviet Union North Korea
Commanders
Nguyễn Văn Thiệu Lam Quang Thi Nguyen Cao Ky Ngô Đình Diệm Ngo Quang Truong Dwight D. Eisenhower John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Johnson Robert McNamara William Westmoreland Earle Wheeler Richard Nixon Gerald Ford Creighton Abrams Frederick Weyand Elmo Zumwalt John Paul Vann Robin Olds Lon Nol Park Chung Hee Thanom Kittikachorn Harold HoltKeith Holyoake Ferdinand Marcos
Hồ Chí Minh Lê Duẩn Trường Chinh Nguyễn Chí Thanh Võ Nguyên Giáp Phạm Hùng Văn Tiến Dũng Trần Văn Trà Lê Ðức Thọ Đồng Sỹ Nguyên Nguyễn Hữu An Lê Đức Anh Tran Do Nguyen Van Toan Hoang Minh Thao Nguyen Minh Chau Tran The Mon Chu Phong Doi Truong Muc Vo Minh Triet Pol Pot Mao Zedong Nikita Khruschev Leonid Brezhnev
Strength
~1,200,000 (1968)South Vietnam: ~650,000United States: 553,000 (1968)[2]South Korea: 312,853,[3] New Zealand, Thailand, Philippines: 10,450[4]Australia: 49,968 (1962-1973)[5]
~520,000 (1968)North Vietnam: ~340,000PRC: 170,000 (1969)Soviet Union: 3,000North Korea: 300
Casualties and losses
South Vietnam 220,357 dead;[6] 1,170,000 wounded US 58,159 dead;[6] 2,000 missing; 303,635 wounded[7] South Korea 4,960 dead; 10,962 wounded Thailand 1,351 dead[6] Australia 520 dead;[6] 2,400* wounded New Zealand 37 dead; 187 wounded
Total dead: 285,831Total wounded: ~1,490,000
North Vietnam & NLF 1,176,000 dead/missing;[6]600,000+ wounded[8] P.R. China 1,446 dead; 4,200 wounded Soviet Union 16 dead[9]
Total dead: ~1,177,446Total wounded: ~604,000+
South Vietnamese civilian dead: 1,581,000*[6]Cambodian civilian dead: ~700,000*North Vietnamese civilian dead: ~3,000,000*Laotian civilian dead: ~50,000*
* = approximations, see Casualties belowFor more information on casualties see Vietnam War casualties
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Indochina Wars
1st – 2nd – Cambodian-Vietnamese - Sino-Vietnamese
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Battles and operationsof the Vietnam War
Sunrise – 1st Ap Bac – Go Cong – Hiep Hoa – Chan La – 34A – Long Dinh – Kien Long – Quyet Thang 202 – Nam Dong – Thanh Hóa – Gulf of Tonkin – An Lao – Bình Gia – Pleiku – Market Time – Vung Ro Bay – Thanh Hoa Bridge – Song Be – Ba Gia – Đồng Xoài – Starlite – Chu Lai – Plei Me – Minh Thanh – Hump – Gang Toi – Ia Drang Valley – Game Warden – Sea Dragon – Crimp – Masher/White Wing – Cu Nghi – Kim Son Valley – A Shau – Birmingham – Xa Cam My – 1st Dong Ha – Hastings – Minh Thanh Road – Prairie – Đức Cơ – Long Tần – Beaver Cage – Attleboro – Tân Sơn Nhứt – LZ Bird – Deckhouse Five – Cedar Falls – Tuscaloosa – Tra Binh Dong – Bribie – Junction City – Francis Marion – Union – Hill 881 – 2nd Ap Bac – Malheur I and Malheur II – Baker – Nine Days in May – Union II – Vinh Huy – Buffalo – Con Thien – July Two – Hong Kil Dong – Swift – Dong Son – Wheeler/Wallowa – Medina – Ông Thanh – 1st Loc Ninh – Dak To – Mekong Delta – Tam Quan – Thom Tham Khe – Phoenix – Khe Sanh – Ban Houei Sane – 1st Tet – 1st Saigon – Huế – Bien Hoa – Lang Vei – Lima Site 85 – Delaware – 2nd Dong Ha – May '68 – Kham Duc – Duc Lap – Sealords – Speedy Express – Dewey Canyon – 2nd Tet – Apache Snow – Hamburger Hill – Twinkletoes – Binh Ba – LZ Kate – Bu Prang – Texas Star – Chicago Peak – Khe Gio Bridge – 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 – Easter '72 – 1st Quảng Trị – 2nd Loc Ninh – An Lộc – Đồng Hới – 3rd Dong Ha – Kontum – 2nd Quảng Trị – End Sweep – Hoang Sa – Iron Triangle – Svay Rieng – Phuoc Long – Ho Chi Minh – Buôn Ma Thuột – New Life – Xuân Lộc – Truong Sa – 2nd Saigon – SS Mayagüez
Air operationsFarm Gate – Chopper – Ranch Hand – Pierce Arrow – Barrel Roll – Pony Express – Flaming Dart – Rolling Thunder – Steel Tiger – Arc Light – Tiger Hound – Shed Light – Carolina Moon – Wahiawa – Bolo – Popeye – Niagara – Igloo White – Giant Lance – Commando Hunt – Menu – Patio – Freedom Deal – Linebacker I – Enhance Plus – Linebacker II – Homecoming – Baby Lift – Eagle Pull – Frequent Wind
The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, the Vietnam Conflict, or often in Vietnam the American War occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia from 1959[1] to April 30, 1975. The war was fought between the communist North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of South Vietnam, supported by the United States and other member nations of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO).[10][11]
The Vietcong, the lightly armed South Vietnamese communist insurgency, largely fought a guerrilla war against anti-communist forces in the region. The North Vietnamese Army engaged in a more conventional war, at times committing large-sized 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 air strikes.
The United States entered the war to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam as part of their wider strategy of containment. Military advisors arrived beginning in 1950. U.S. involvement escalated in the early 1960s and combat units were deployed beginning in 1965. Involvement peaked in 1968 at the time of the Tet Offensive. Under a policy called Vietnamization, U.S. forces withdrew as South Vietnamese troops were trained and armed. Despite a peace treaty signed by all parties in January 1973, fighting continued. In response to the anti-war movement, the U.S. Congress passed the Case-Church Amendment in June 1973 prohibiting further U.S. military intervention. In April 1975, North Vietnam captured Saigon. North and South Vietnam were reunified the following