Vietnam War

Vietnam War. The Vietnam War is a complex and multifaceted episode. It is usually divided into two parts: The first, the French attempt to maintain their colonial hold on Indochina from 1945 to 1954; the second, the subsequent conflict between the politically divided sections, commonly known as North and South Vietnam. During this latter period, the United States: Intervened against the communist North, first with economic and military material aid to the noncommunist South and later, with more than half a million troops and massive firepower. The U.S. military buildup came after the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, the forays into Cambodia and the bombing of Laotian supply routes; the distinct military roles played by the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese regular army; the US Air Force’s use of B-52s in strategic bombing, the lack of the Communists' 1968 Tet offensive; the seventy seven day siege of Khe Sanh, atrocities such as the My Lai massacre; the turn toward the policies of Vietnamization and disengagement; and the quest for a negotiated peace settlement. More than any other characteristic, it was the visibility of the war that made it unique. No conflict before had been so filmed or photographed or the world's press given such a free hand and such unfettered access to the combat zone and the armed forces. For almost a decade, the war was fought out night after night on the television screens across the United States and the world. The legacy we have been left is a unique photographic record of a pivotal episode in the history of the United States and of the world., Casualties: 211,471 , Missing In Action: 3,752, Freedom Is Not Free