War · 1955–1975

Vietnam War

Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam

After the First Indochina War ended French rule, Vietnam was divided between the communist North, backed by the Soviet Union and China, and the South, backed by the United States. Direct US military involvement escalated from 1965 and peaked in 1969; US forces withdrew in 1973, North Vietnamese forces captured Saigon on 30 April 1975, and the country was reunified in 1976.

Estimates of Vietnamese soldiers and civilians killed range from about 970,000 to 3 million, and some 275,000–310,000 Cambodians, 20,000–62,000 Laotians and 58,220 US service members also died.

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