Against the background of numerous US wars of the last decade, the war in Vietnam lost to Washington is gradually fading into the shadows. However, it is a vivid example of how national identity and patriotism can defeat any enemy, even armed with modern weapons.

The Vietnam War was the longest military confrontation in modern military history. The conflict lasted about 20 years: from November 1, 1955 to the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975.

The most characteristic picture of the Vietnam War

In 1940, US President Franklin Roosevelt officially announced his country's assistance to Ho Chi Minh and his Viet Minh movement. In the documents they were called "patriots", "nationalists", "freedom fighters" and "allies".

Roosevelt and Ho Chi Minh
[Wikipedia]

58,200 Americans died in the clashes and another 304,000 were injured. In total, approximately 2.5 million military personnel passed through Vietnam. Thus, every tenth was killed or injured. About two-thirds of the US military during the war were volunteers. The most bloody for the Americans was May 1968 - then 2415 people died.

Moments of War

The average age of a dead American soldier was 23 years 11 months. 11,465 dead were under the age of 20, and 5 died before reaching the age of 16! The oldest person to die in the war was a 62-year-old American.

War is for the young...
[http://www.warhistoryonline.com/]

Civilian casualties are unknown to date - it is believed that about 5 million died, more in the North than in the South. In addition, the losses of the civilian population of Cambodia and Laos are not taken into account anywhere - apparently, here they also number in the thousands.

Footage of war crimes

From 1957 to 1973, about 37,000 South Vietnamese were shot by Viet Cong guerrillas for collaborating with the Americans, most of whom were petty civil servants.

A typical picture of Vietnamese cities...

On average, an American soldier in Vietnam fought 240 days a year! For comparison, an American soldier during the Second World War in the Pacific fought an average of 40 days in 4 years.

Military operation in the jungle

As of January 2004, 1,875 American soldiers were considered missing in Vietnam. As of August 1995, there were 1,713,823 Vietnam War veterans in the United States. Only 0.5 percent of Vietnam War veterans ended up in prison after it ended, and their suicide rate was 1.7 percent above the average.

Downed American pilot

The United States used Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, banned for military use in Geneva in 1925. As a result, at least 400,000 Vietnamese died. The traditional explanation for this fact is that it is used exclusively against vegetation.

Spraying defoliants over the jungle.
[Wikipedia]

On March 16, 1968, American soldiers completely destroyed a Vietnamese village, killing 504 innocent men, women, and children. For this war crime, only one person was convicted, who three days later was "pardoned" by the personal decree of Richard Nixon.

Destroyed Vietnamese village

AT The war in Vietnam began with the shelling of the USS Maddox. This happened on August 2, 1964.
The destroyer was in the Gulf of Tonkin (Vietnamese territorial waters where no one called the US) and was allegedly attacked by Vietnamese torpedo boats. All torpedoes missed, but one boat was sunk by the Americans. The Maddox fired first, explaining it as a warning fire. The event was called the "Tonkin Incident" and was the reason for the outbreak of the Vietnam War. Further, by order of US President Lyndon Johnson, the US Air Force attacked the naval facilities of North Vietnam. It is clear for whom the war was beneficial, he is a provocateur.

The confrontation between Vietnam and the United States began with the recognition of Vietnam as an independent state in 1954. Vietnam was divided into two parts. The South remained under the control of France (Vietnam had been its colony since the 19th century) and the United States, while the North was dominated by the Communists with the support of China and the USSR. The country was supposed to unite after democratic elections, but the elections did not take place, and a civil war broke out in South Vietnam.

The US feared that communism could spread throughout Asia in a domino fashion.

Representatives of the communist camp waged a guerrilla war on enemy territory, and its hottest focus was the so-called Iron Triangle, an area of ​​310 square kilometers northwest of Saigon. Despite such proximity to the strategic settlement of the South, it was actually controlled by communist partisans, and the underground complex near the village of Kuti, which had been significantly expanded by that time, became their base.

The United States supported the South Vietnamese government, fearing the further expansion of the Communists in Southeast Asia.

The Soviet leadership at the beginning of 1965 decided to provide the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) with large-scale military-technical assistance. According to Alexei Kosygin, chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers, aid to Vietnam during the war cost the Soviet Union 1.5 million rubles a day.

To eliminate the partisan zone in January 1966, the United States decided to conduct Operation Crimp, for which 8,000 US and Australian troops were allocated. Once in the jungle of the Iron Triangle, the allies faced an unexpected surprise: in fact, there was no one to fight with. Snipers, stretch marks on the trails, unexpected ambushes, attacks from behind, from territories that, it would seem, had already (just!) been cleared: something incomprehensible was happening around, and the number of victims was growing.

The Vietnamese sat underground and after the attacks again went underground. In the underground cities, the halls were without additional supports and they were designed for the miniature constitution of the Vietnamese. Below is a plan-scheme of a real underground city explored by the Americans.

Much larger Americans could hardly squeeze through the passages, the height of which was usually in the range of 0.8-1.6 meters, and the width was 0.6-1.2 meters. There was no obvious logic in the organization of the tunnels; they were deliberately built as a chaotic labyrinth equipped with large quantity false dead-end branches, complicating orientation.

Viet Cong guerrillas throughout the war were supplied through the so-called "Ho Chi Minh trail", which ran through neighboring Laos. The Americans and the army of South Vietnam tried several times to cut the "path", but it did not work out.

In addition to fire and traps of "tunnel rats", snakes and scorpions, which the partisans specially set on, could also wait. Such methods led to the fact that among the "tunnel rats" there was a very high mortality rate.

Only half of the personnel returned from the holes. They were even armed with special pistols with silencers, gas masks and other things.

The Iron Triangle, the area where the catacombs were discovered, was eventually simply destroyed by the Americans with B-52 bombing.

The fighting took place not only underground, but also in the air. The first battle between anti-aircraft gunners of the USSR and American aircraft took place on July 24, 1965. The Soviet MiGs, which the Vietnamese flew, have proven themselves well.

During the years of the war, the Americans lost 58,000 people in the jungle killed, 2,300 went missing and over 150,000 were wounded. At the same time, the list of official losses did not include Puerto Ricans who were recruited into the US army in order to obtain United States citizenship. North Vietnamese losses amounted to over a million killed military personnel and over three million civilians.

The Paris ceasefire agreements were signed only in January 1973. It took a few more years to withdraw the troops.

Carpet bombing of cities in North Vietnam, carried out by order of US President Nixon. On December 13, 1972, a North Vietnamese delegation left Paris, where peace talks were being held. In order to force them to return back, it was decided to launch massive bombing attacks on Hanoi and Haiphong.

A South Vietnamese Marine wearing a special bandage among the decomposing corpses of American and Vietnamese soldiers who died during the fighting on a rubber plantation 70 km northeast of Saigon, November 27, 1965.

According to the Soviet side, 34 B-52s were lost during Operation Linebacker II. In addition, 11 aircraft of other types were shot down. North Vietnamese losses were about 1,624 civilians, military casualties are unknown. Aviation losses - 6 MiG 21 aircraft.

"Christmas bombing" is the official title.

During Operation Linebacker II, 100,000 tons were dropped on Vietnam! bombs.

The most famous case of the use of the latter is Operation Popeye, when US transport workers sprayed silver iodite over the strategic territories of Vietnam. From this, the amount of precipitation increased three times, roads were washed away, fields and villages were flooded, communications were destroyed. With the jungle, the US military also acted radically. Bulldozers uprooted trees and topsoil, and herbicides and defoliants (Agent Orange) were sprayed on the rebel stronghold from above. This seriously disrupted the ecosystem, and in the long run led to mass diseases and infant mortality.

The Americans poisoned Vietnam with everything they could. They even used a mixture of defoliants and herbicides. From what freaks are still born there already at the genetic level. This is a crime against humanity.

The USSR sent to Vietnam about 2,000 tanks, 700 light and maneuverable aircraft, 7,000 mortars and guns, more than a hundred helicopters, and much more. Almost the entire air defense system of the country, impeccable and impenetrable for fighters, was built by Soviet specialists at Soviet funds. There were also "exit training". Military schools and academies of the USSR trained Vietnamese military personnel.

Vietnamese women and children hide from artillery fire in an overgrown canal 30 km west of Saigon on January 1, 1966.

On March 16, 1968, American soldiers completely destroyed a Vietnamese village, killing 504 innocent men, women, and children. For this war crime, only one person was convicted, who three days later was "pardoned" by the personal decree of Richard Nixon.

The Vietnam War also became a drug war. Drug addiction in the troops has become another factor that crippled the combat capability of the United States.

On average, an American soldier in Vietnam fought 240 days a year! For comparison, an American soldier during the Second World War in the Pacific fought an average of 40 days in 4 years. Helicopters performed well in this war. Which the Americans lost about 3500 pieces.

From 1957 to 1973, about 37,000 South Vietnamese were shot by Viet Cong guerrillas for collaborating with the Americans, most of whom were petty civil servants.

Civilian casualties are unknown to date - about 5 million are believed to have died, with more in the North than in the South. In addition, the losses of the civilian population of Cambodia and Laos are not taken into account anywhere - apparently, here they also number in the thousands.

The average age of a dead American soldier was 23 years 11 months. 11,465 dead were under the age of 20, and 5 died before reaching the age of 16! The oldest person to die in the war was a 62-year-old American.

The Vietnam War was the longest military confrontation in modern military history. The conflict lasted about 20 years: from November 1, 1955 to the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975.

But Vietnam won...

Our crimson flag proudly flies,
And on it - the stars of the victory sign.
Like the surf
Thunderstorm -
The power of friendship is fighting,
To new dawns we go step by step.

This is Lao Dong, our party
Us forward from year to year
Leads!
— Do Ming, "Lao Dong Party Song"

Soviet tanks in Saigon ... this is the end ... The Yankees do not want to remember this war, they no longer openly fight with the radicals and generally revised their methods of fighting the "red plague".

The basis of information and photos (C) is the Internet. Main sources:

On August 5, 1964, American warplanes raided a torpedo boat base off the coast of North Vietnam. This day is considered the first air war in the history of Vietnam. Ten years before this event, in 1954, Vietnam was liberated from the French colonists. In accordance with the Geneva Agreement, the country was divided into two parts - North and South. In 1960, an armed conflict began between them. Within a few years, it escalated into a large-scale war.

Causes of the Vietnam War

In the North, the country was ruled by the Communist Party, led by Ho Chi Minh. The puppet government of South Vietnam held out its hands for American military assistance. So the interests of the USSR and the USA clashed in Southeast Asia. The United States planned to surround the USSR along the perimeter with countries that would be pro-American. These already included Pakistan and South Korea. North Vietnam interfered. Without it, the Americans lost their advantage in this region.

President Kennedy ordered troops to enter South Vietnam. By 1964, their number was more than 20,000 people. In February 1965, Chairman of the Council of Ministers A.N. Kosygin, who visited Hanoi, promised Soviet military assistance to North Vietnam. However, the Soviet Union did not openly get involved in the conflict. Therefore, the Soviet specialists, who arrived there in the spring of 1965, passed through all the papers as civilians. They remained silent for many years.

Stages of the Vietnam War

Under a veil of secrecy, ten Soviet military centers of anti-aircraft missile forces were deployed in North Vietnam. The main task was the training of Vietnamese missilemen. So they covered the sky, ensuring victory on earth. The Americans knew about the presence of Soviet specialists, but for the time being treated this fact condescendingly. The feeling of complete impunity passed after American planes began to shoot down Vietnamese (and in fact - Soviet) air defenses. Fights went on daily.

Soviet specialists developed their own tactics - shooting from an ambush. A strike on an enemy aircraft - and immediately retreat to another, pre-prepared position in the jungle. American aviation losses reached 25%. The Shrike homing missile came to the aid of the Americans, detecting the work of anti-aircraft installations in a matter of seconds. The Vietnam War became a kind of testing ground for various types of weapons, including counter-weapons.

During the 9 years of the war, about 500 air battles were carried out and 350 American aircraft were shot down. Losses of the Vietnamese side - 131 aircraft. During all this time, almost 800 American pilots were captured. Contrary to the well-established legend, no one tortured them and kept them in terrible conditions, and Soviet intelligence officers were not allowed to come close to them. Over the entire period of the military campaign, US aviation lost more than 4,500 fighters and bombers. This equaled almost half of America's entire air fleet.

The army of North Vietnam was almost 70% provided with Soviet-made weapons. Deliveries passed through China, where at that time there was a "cultural revolution". By the early 1970s, America began to resemble a hunted animal. Public opinion demanded the withdrawal of troops. Soldiers died by the thousands. Numerous protest demonstrations often ended in clashes with the police. The reservists even burned their agendas. President Nixon hesitated, alternately giving orders to stop the bombing, then resume it. The Americans wanted to save face.

Results of the Vietnam War

On January 27, 1973, a ceasefire agreement was signed between Hanoi and Washington. The withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam began. The most modern army in the world at that time was defeated. 60,000 dead soldiers and hundreds of thousands maimed - such is the terrible result of this war. Almost $300 billion went into the war.

Stages of the Vietnam War.

• Guerrilla warfare in South Vietnam (1957-1965).
• US military intervention (1965-1973).
• The final stage of the war (1973-1975).

We will consider precisely the military intervention of the United States.

Causes of the Vietnam War.

It all started with the fact that the US plans were to surround the USSR with "their" countries, that is, countries that would be puppets in the hands of the United States and perform all necessary actions against the USSR. At that time, South Korea and Pakistan were already among such countries. It remained the case for northern Vietnam.

The southern part of Vietnam asked for help from the United States, due to its weakness in front of the northern part, since at that time there was an active struggle between the two halves of one country. And northern Vietnam enlisted the support of the USSR in the form of a visiting head of the Councils of Ministers, but the USSR did not openly get involved in the war.

Vietnam: War with America. How did she go?

In the north of Vietnam, Soviet centers of air defense missile forces were established, but under the guise of strict secrecy. Thus, air security was ensured, and at the same time, Vietnamese soldiers were trained as missilemen.

Vietnam has become a test site for weapons and military installations of the United States and the Soviet Union. Our specialists have tested the principles of "ambush" shooting. First, the enemy plane was shot down, and then in the blink of an eye the person moved to a pre-prepared place, carefully hidden from prying eyes. In order to catch the anti-aircraft installations of the USSR, the United States used the Shrike homing missile. The struggle was daily, the losses of American aircraft were huge.

In northern Vietnam, about 70% of the weapons were Soviet-made, it can be said that the Vietnamese army was Soviet. The weapons were unofficially shipped through China. The Americans, despite their impotence, did not want to give up, although during the years of the war they lost thousands of people and more than 4,500 units of fighters and other military equipment, which accounted for almost 50% of the entire air force. The public demanded the withdrawal of the troops, but President Nixon did not want to lose face and lose the dignity of America.

Let's sum up the Vietnam War.

After America lost a lot of money, suffered huge human losses, in the form of killed and maimed soldiers, the withdrawal of American troops began. This event was facilitated by the signing of a peace treaty between Hanoi and Washington in Paris. January 27, 1973.

The Vietnam War or the Vietnam War is the largest military conflict of the second half of the twentieth century, between North and South Vietnam, in which the USSR, the USA, the PRC and a number of other states also participated. The Vietnam War began in 1957 and ended only in 1975.

Causes and background of the Vietnam War

After World War II, in 1954, Vietnam was divided along the 17th parallel. North Vietnam was under the control of the Viet Minh, while South Vietnam was ruled by the French administration.
After the communists won in China, the US began to interfere in the affairs of Vietnam, helping the southern part. The United States regarded the PRC as a threat and, in their opinion, it will soon cast its eyes on Vietnam, and this cannot be allowed.
In 1956, Vietnam was supposed to unite into one state. But South Vietnam refused to fall under the control of the communists and abandoned the treaty, declaring itself a republic.

The beginning of the war

North Vietnam saw no other way to unify the state other than the conquest of South Vietnam. The Vietnam War began with systematic terror against South Vietnamese officials. In 1960, the Viet Cong or NLF organization was created, which included all the factions fighting against South Vietnam.
The success of the Viet Cong worried the United States, and they transferred the first regular units of their army in 1961. But while the US Army is not yet involved in combat clashes. The American military and officers only train the South Vietnamese army and help plan attacks.
The first major collision occurred in 1963. Then the partisans of North Vietnam defeated the South Vietnamese army at the Battle of Apbak. This defeat undermined the position of Diem - the ruler of South Vietnam, which soon led to a coup, and Diem was killed. And North Vietnam, meanwhile, strengthened its positions, and also transferred its partisan detachments to the territory of South Vietnam, by 1964 their number was at least 8 thousand fighters.
The number of American soldiers grew rapidly, if in 1959 their number was no more than 800 fighters, then in 1964 their number increased to 25 thousand.

Full-scale intervention of the American army

In February 1965, Vietnamese guerrillas attacked military installations of the American army. US President Lyndon Johnson announced that the US would soon be ready to strike back at North Vietnam. American aviation begins the bombing of the territory of Vietnam - Operation "Flaming Spear".
In March 1965, the bombardment began again - Operation Thunder. This bombing was the largest since World War II. The number of American soldiers from 1964 to 1965 increased from 24,000 to 180,000. In the next three years, the number of American soldiers increases to about 500,000.
For the first time the American army entered the battle in August 1965. The operation was called "Starlight", where the American army won, destroying about 600 Viet Cong fighters.
The US military began to resort to a "search and destroy" strategy. Its goal is to detect North Vietnamese partisan detachments and their subsequent destruction.
The North Vietnamese army and guerrillas began to penetrate the territory of South Vietnam, and the American army tried to stop them in the mountainous regions. In 1967, the guerrillas became especially active in the mountainous regions, the US Marine Corps was forced to join the battle. At the Battle of Dakto, the United States managed to hold the enemy, but the Marines also suffered heavy losses.

North Vietnamese Tet offensive

Until 1967, the US military had significant success in the war against North Vietnam. And then the government of North Vietnam begins to develop a plan for a full-scale invasion of South Vietnam in order to turn the tide of the war. The United States knew that North Vietnam was preparing for an offensive, but they were not even aware of its scale.
The offensive begins with an unexpected date - with the Vietnamese new year, Tet day. These days there should be no hostilities, but in 1968 this treaty was violated.
January 30-31, the army of North Vietnam delivers massive strikes throughout South Vietnam, including major cities. In most directions, the offensive was successfully repulsed, but the city of Hue was still lost.
The offensive of the North Vietnamese army was stopped only in March. Then the American and South Vietnamese army launches a counterattack where they want to take back the city of Hue. The Battle of Hue is considered the bloodiest battle in the history of the Vietnam War. The US and South Vietnamese army lost a large number of fighters, but the losses of the Viet Cong were catastrophic, its military potential was seriously undermined.
After the Tet Offensive, a note of protest swept through the US population, as many began to believe that the Vietnam War could not be won, the forces of North Vietnam were still not depleted and there was no point in losing American soldiers anymore. Everyone was concerned about the fact that North Vietnam was able to pull off a military operation of this magnitude.

Final stages of the Vietnam War

After Richard Nixon became president of the United States in 1968, he announced that the number of American soldiers in Vietnam would decrease. But aid to South Vietnam will not stop. Instead of using its own army, the US will intensively train the army of South Vietnam, as well as supply it with supplies and equipment.
In 1971, the South Vietnamese army undertakes the military operation "Lam Son 719", the purpose of which was to stop the supply of weapons to North Vietnam. The operation ended in failure. The US military already in 1971 stopped military operations with the search for Viet Cong guerrillas in South Vietnam.
In 1972, the Vietnamese army makes another attempt at a full-scale offensive. It was called the "Easter Offensive". The North Vietnamese army was reinforced with several hundred tanks. The army of South Vietnam managed to stop the offensive only thanks to American aircraft. Despite the fact that the offensive was stopped, South Vietnam lost significant territories.
At the end of 1972, the United States begins large-scale bombing of North Vietnam - the most in the history of the Vietnam War. Huge losses forced the North Vietnamese government to start negotiations with the United States.
In January 1973, a peace agreement was signed between North Vietnam and the United States, and the American military began to rapidly leave Vietnam. In May of that year, the entire American army returned to the United States.
Despite the fact that the United States withdrew its army, the position of North Vietnam was disastrous. The forces of South Vietnam numbered about 1 million soldiers, while its opponents had no more than 200-300 thousand fighters. However, the combat effectiveness of the South Vietnamese army fell due to the absence of the American military, in addition, a deep economic crisis began, and South Vietnam began to lose its territories in favor of North Vietnam.
North Vietnamese forces launched several strikes into South Vietnamese territory to test the US response. Seeing that the Americans will no longer take part in the war, the government plots another full-scale offensive against
South Vietnam.
In May, an offensive began, which a few months later ended in a complete victory for North Vietnam. The South Vietnamese army was unable to adequately respond to the offensive, and was completely defeated.

Aftermath of the Vietnam War

Both sides suffered colossal casualties. The United States lost almost 60,000 soldiers killed and the number of wounded reached 300,000. South Vietnam lost about 300,000 killed and about 1 million wounded, and this is not counting the civilian population. The number of North Vietnamese killed reached 1 million, in addition, about 2 million civilians died.
The Vietnamese economy has suffered such catastrophic losses that it is impossible to give an exact figure. Many towns and villages were simply razed to the ground.
North Vietnam completely conquered the South and united the whole country under a single communist flag.
The US population negatively assessed the military intervention in the fighting in Vietnam. This sparked a movement of hippies who chanted that they didn't want this to happen again.