Vietnam War History (vs. America) from 1966-1975
The U.S. deployed large numbers of troops to South Vietnam between 1954 and 1973. The last American troops left the country on April 30, 1975.
"When we marched into the rice paddies on that damp march afternoon, we carried, along with our packs and rifles, the implicit convictions that the Vietcong could be quickly beaten. We kept the packs and rifles; the convictions, we lost"(Philip Caputo)
In 1965, the US began to bomb North Vietnam. Within 1968 there were 550,000 American troops in Vietnam. They could only hold the Vietcong. On January 30, 1968, the start of the Vietnamese New Year celebration, North Vietnam and the VC launched the Tet offensive attacking the major cities of South Vietnam. The attacks were especially savage in Saigon and Hue. This massive attack scared the U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson cutback American bombing and failed to approve the request for more troops.
Within 1967, one million tons of supplies each month were being transported to Vietnam in order to support the Americans in the war. If an American was injured, he was transported to the battle scene by helicopter and, if wounded, flown out aboard medical evacuation choppers known as dust-offs because the dust kicked up by their rotors when they landed.(Karnow,436) "All this power intoxicated the Americans who initially went to Vietnam with a proud and overweening sense of confidence. What ever objective of the war-and many could not define its purpose with any precision-they were certain that U.S. omnipotence would triumph."(Karnow,438)
In 1969, after building up South Vietnamese forces, US President Richard Nixon began to pull US troops out of Vietnam, a policy he dubbed Vietnamization. It was in the spring of 1972 that the Communists launched an offensive. The offensive was pushed back and some observers later claimed that at this point the main military thrust of the North Vietnemese had been broken, and if it had been with more perserverence, the United States could have very well won the war. "A congressional staff report written in May 1972 by two experts on Vietnam concluded that-as always- the situation was more complicated and ominous that it seemed."(Williams,304)
The official ceasefire was signed in Paris on January 27, 1973. After the departure of American troops, North Vietnam conquered South Vietnam. It was in 1973, "by the time Nixon administration signed a cease-fire agreement in January 1973, the United States had dropped on North Vietnam, an area the size of Texas, triple the bomb tonnage dropped on Europe, Asia, and Africa during World War II."(Karnow,415) The Vietnam War ended with the Fall of Saigon in May, 1975.
The Paris Peace Accords were signed in 1973 by the governments of North Vietnam (DRV), South Vietnam, and the United States, as well as the Provisional Revolutionary Government that represented South Vietnamese revolutionaries. The plan was to establish peace in Vietnam and put an end to the Vietnam War. The accords ended direct U.S. military involvement and temporarily ended the war. The negotiations that led to the accord began in 1968 and were applied to various lengthy delays. The two men responsible as the main negotiators of the agreement were United States National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger and Vietnamese representative Le Duc Tho; the two men were awarded the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts, although Le Duc refused to accept it.
Karnow, Stanley. Vietnam A History. The Complete First Account of Vietnam at War. Penguin Books: England, 1983
Williams A. William, McCormick Thomas, Gardner Lloyd, and Lafeber Walter. America in Vietnam. W.W. Norton and Company: New York, 1985
"When we marched into the rice paddies on that damp march afternoon, we carried, along with our packs and rifles, the implicit convictions that the Vietcong could be quickly beaten. We kept the packs and rifles; the convictions, we lost"(Philip Caputo)
In 1965, the US began to bomb North Vietnam. Within 1968 there were 550,000 American troops in Vietnam. They could only hold the Vietcong. On January 30, 1968, the start of the Vietnamese New Year celebration, North Vietnam and the VC launched the Tet offensive attacking the major cities of South Vietnam. The attacks were especially savage in Saigon and Hue. This massive attack scared the U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson cutback American bombing and failed to approve the request for more troops.
Within 1967, one million tons of supplies each month were being transported to Vietnam in order to support the Americans in the war. If an American was injured, he was transported to the battle scene by helicopter and, if wounded, flown out aboard medical evacuation choppers known as dust-offs because the dust kicked up by their rotors when they landed.(Karnow,436) "All this power intoxicated the Americans who initially went to Vietnam with a proud and overweening sense of confidence. What ever objective of the war-and many could not define its purpose with any precision-they were certain that U.S. omnipotence would triumph."(Karnow,438)
In 1969, after building up South Vietnamese forces, US President Richard Nixon began to pull US troops out of Vietnam, a policy he dubbed Vietnamization. It was in the spring of 1972 that the Communists launched an offensive. The offensive was pushed back and some observers later claimed that at this point the main military thrust of the North Vietnemese had been broken, and if it had been with more perserverence, the United States could have very well won the war. "A congressional staff report written in May 1972 by two experts on Vietnam concluded that-as always- the situation was more complicated and ominous that it seemed."(Williams,304)
The official ceasefire was signed in Paris on January 27, 1973. After the departure of American troops, North Vietnam conquered South Vietnam. It was in 1973, "by the time Nixon administration signed a cease-fire agreement in January 1973, the United States had dropped on North Vietnam, an area the size of Texas, triple the bomb tonnage dropped on Europe, Asia, and Africa during World War II."(Karnow,415) The Vietnam War ended with the Fall of Saigon in May, 1975.
The Paris Peace Accords were signed in 1973 by the governments of North Vietnam (DRV), South Vietnam, and the United States, as well as the Provisional Revolutionary Government that represented South Vietnamese revolutionaries. The plan was to establish peace in Vietnam and put an end to the Vietnam War. The accords ended direct U.S. military involvement and temporarily ended the war. The negotiations that led to the accord began in 1968 and were applied to various lengthy delays. The two men responsible as the main negotiators of the agreement were United States National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger and Vietnamese representative Le Duc Tho; the two men were awarded the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts, although Le Duc refused to accept it.
Karnow, Stanley. Vietnam A History. The Complete First Account of Vietnam at War. Penguin Books: England, 1983
Williams A. William, McCormick Thomas, Gardner Lloyd, and Lafeber Walter. America in Vietnam. W.W. Norton and Company: New York, 1985
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