By Kasie Strickland

kstrickland@civitasmedia.com

According to military records, 58,119 U.S. soldiers were killed in the Vietnam War with another 153,303 wounded. Nearly 2,000 men (1,948) were declared missing in action.
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_Vietnam1.jpgAccording to military records, 58,119 U.S. soldiers were killed in the Vietnam War with another 153,303 wounded. Nearly 2,000 men (1,948) were declared missing in action. Courtesy photos

On Jan. 27, 1974, a peace accord was signed in Paris to end the war and by that March, American troops were headed home. The peace was not to last. By year’s end, North Vietnam recommenced hostilities and pushed through the ARVN forces. The Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, forced South Vietnam’s surrender.
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_Vietnam2.jpgOn Jan. 27, 1974, a peace accord was signed in Paris to end the war and by that March, American troops were headed home. The peace was not to last. By year’s end, North Vietnam recommenced hostilities and pushed through the ARVN forces. The Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, forced South Vietnam’s surrender. Courtesy photos

Beginning with an assault on U.S. Marines at Khe Sanh, the Tet Offensive included attacks by the Viet Cong on cities throughout South Vietnam. Though the North Vietnamese were beaten back with heavy casualties, Tet shook the confidence of the American people and media who had previously thought the war was “going well.” The American perception of the war began to shift as more and more people viewed the conflict as unnecessary.
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_Vietnam3.jpgBeginning with an assault on U.S. Marines at Khe Sanh, the Tet Offensive included attacks by the Viet Cong on cities throughout South Vietnam. Though the North Vietnamese were beaten back with heavy casualties, Tet shook the confidence of the American people and media who had previously thought the war was “going well.” The American perception of the war began to shift as more and more people viewed the conflict as unnecessary. Courtesy photos

President Richard Nixon once stated that no event in American history was more misunderstood than the Vietnam War: “It was misreported then, and it is misremembered now,” Nixon was famously quoted.

This Veteran’s Day recognizes the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War.

Although the most commonly used dates for the conflict are 1959 to 1975, American ground forces weren’t directly involved in the war until 1965.

From North Vietnam’s first guerrilla attacks against the South until the fall of Saigon, the Vietnam War not only redrew the lines of Southeast Asia, but it shaped and helped to define an entire generation of Americans half a world away.

So what happened?

In short: the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV, North Vietnam) and the National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam (aka Viet Cong) united to impose a Communist system over the entire nation.

The DRV relied upon the support of their communist allies such as People’s Republic of China, the Soviet Union, North Korea, Pathet Lao (Laotian Communist insurgents) and the Khmer Rouge (Cambodian Communist insurgents).

Opposing the DRV was the Republic of Vietnam (RVN, South Vietnam,) which was backed by members of the South East Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) and anti-communist countries including the United States, South Korea, Australia, the Philippines, New Zealand, Thailand, Khmer Republic, Kingdom of Laos and Republic of China (Taiwan).

History tells us that Vietnam was a French colony until 1954 where the country was split into two after the signing of the Geneva Accords, with the North ruled under Ho Chi Minh and the South under Ngo Dinh Diem.

Five years later, a guerrilla campaign led by Viet Cong units was launched by Ho Chi Minh in the South. America, fearing the continuing spread of communism, involved itself by training the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and providing military advisors to help fight the guerrillas.

In August 1964, the destroyer USS Maddox was attacked by North Vietnamese torpedo boats in what would come to be known as the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. After the attack, the U.S. Congress passed the Southeast Asia Resolution.

The resolution was significant in that it allowed President Johnson the ability to conduct military operations in the region without an official declaration of war. In fact, to date, the United States has not “officially” declared war on any country since World War II.

In March 1965, U.S. planes began bombing strategic targets in Vietnam and the first U.S. troops arrived commanded by Gen. William Westmoreland.

Throughout that summer, U.S. troops won victories over the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces in the Ia Drang Valley and around Chu Lai, prompting the North Vietnamese to switch tactics. By 1968, the Viet Cong focused on engaging U.S. troops in small unit actions and took to the sweltering jungles of the South in what became known as the Tet Offensive.

“Beginning with an assault on US Marines at Khe Sanh, the (Tet) Offensive included attacks by the Viet Cong on cities throughout South Vietnam,” stated military historian Kennedy Hickman. “Though the North Vietnamese were beaten back with heavy casualties, Tet shook the confidence of the American people and media who had previously thought the war was going well.”

The American perception of the war began to shift as more and more people viewed the conflict as unnecessary.

A PBS documentary suggested that LBJ opted not to run for reelection largely because of the negative public opinion of the war, specifically the Tet Offensive. He was succeeded by Richard Nixon.

“Nixon’s plan for ending U.S. involvement was to build up the ARVN so that they could fight the war themselves,” said Hickman. “As this process of ‘Vietnamization’ began, U.S. troops started to return home.”

The American people’s mistrust of the government that had begun after the Tet Offensive was made worse by the release of news stories about U.S. troops massacring civilians at My Lai in 1969 and the invasion of Cambodia in 1970.

As more and more responsibility was passed to the ARVN, withdrawal of U.S. troops continued. On Jan. 27, 1974, a peace accord was signed in Paris to end the war and by that March, American troops were headed home.

The peace was not to last. By year’s end, North Vietnam recommenced hostilities and pushed through the ARVN forces. The Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, forced South Vietnam’s surrender.

According to military records, 58,119 U.S. soldiers were killed in the Vietnam War with another 153,303 wounded. Nearly 2,000 men (1,948) were declared missing in action.

Casualty figures for the Republic of Vietnam are estimated by historians to be 230,000 killed and 1,169,763 wounded. Combined, the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong suffered approximately 1,100,000 killed in action with an unknown number of wounded.

Between 2 million and 4 million Vietnamese civilians are believed to have been killed during the conflict.

Reach Kasie Strickland at 864-855-0355.