War in Asia: When was the Vietnam War?

The Vietnam War is one of the longest wars of the 20^th century and caused the humiliating defeat of the United States Army. Much of the fighting took place in Vietnam but neighboring countries like Laos and Cambodia got caught in the wave of the onslaught. So when was the Vietnam War?

photo credit

The Vietnam War began on November 1, 1955 and ended on April 30, 1979. It lasted for nineteen and a half years. To understand when the Vietnam War started, it is important to understand who the players were. Ho Chi Minh of the Communist North Vietnamese forces fought against the anti-communist coalition of the Republic of Vietnam from South Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh allied with the Viet Cong, the People’s Republic of China and the Soviet Union. These are countries that supported and implemented communism in their own countries. On the other side, the anti-communist Republic of South Vietnam joined forces with the United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Thailand and Laos.

At that time, communism was very a very attractive idea to developing countries in Asia. The aftermath of World War II caused severe damage to infrastructure and economy, moral among people were also at an all-time low. So the idea of sharing equal opportunities and resources seemed very appealing. However, those in power and the upper classes get the lion’s share of everything, leaving those in the lower classes with scraps. The United States entered the war because they want to contain communism. They sent American troops to aid the cause of the anti-communism faction, but it resulted to their humiliating defeat.

The Broadway musical Miss Saigon was set in the time of the Vietnam War when American troops were being pulled out. That happened after a disastrous and bloody encounter happened between the American troops and the Viet Cong. When was the Vietnam War’s tragic episode? It happened on December 6, 1967 when American soldier followed two members of the Viet Cong to a heavily dense forest. Apparently, it was a trap. The American troops were open fired upon by the enemy hidden in among the trees. Claymores exploded, killing many and mortally wounding others. The American soldiers help their ground and fought back with bravery and courage. Some medics who were trying to drag the wounded out of range got killed. By March 1973, the United States and other foreign troops were pulled out from Vietnam. 

credit

The Vietnam War caused a lot of deaths, with 300,000 soldiers and 3,000,000 civilians from South Vietnam killed. In Cambodia, 200,000 were recorded dead and 30,000 in Laos. From among the American troops 58, 220 were declared dead, 5,099 from South Korea, 1,351 from Thailand, 521 soldiers from Australia, 37 from New Zealand. On the North Vietnamese side and their allies, 1,100,000 soldiers and 2,000,000 civilians were recorded as dead. From the People’s Republic of China an estimated 1,446 died and 16 from the Soviet Union.

When was the Vietnam War officially over? Record dates the end of the war on April 30, 1975 when the capital of South Vietnam, Saigon, fell. Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh city, after the leader of the North Vietnamese faction. In the business of war, no one ends up being a winner. We could consider ourselves lucky that we weren’t there when these tragic events happened.