[1972] USA withdraws, final bombings on Vietnam • [1973-1976] Vietnam war ending and aftermath • [1973] Cambodia, ending of bombings by USA | [1975] Cambodia falls to Khmer Rouge • [1975] Cambodia falls to Vietnam
[ 1964-1973 ] The Vietnam war
Vietnam war, formal beginning
On August 4, 1964 the American carriers USS Maddox and USS C. Turner Joy were attacked by North Vietnamese gunboats in the Gulf of Tonkin. During the battle two or three North Vietnamese gunboats are sunk by the carrier USS Ticonderoga. The event is known as the " Gulf of Tonkin incident" and marked the official start of the Vietnamese war. The next day the President of the USA, Lyndon B. Johnson, launched Operation Pierce Arrow and aircrafts from the USS Ticonderoga and USS Constellation bomb North Vietnam. Later on, it appeared that the " Gulf of Tonkin incident" could not be formally confirmed by the USA. Up to today it is still unclear what has truly happened on that particular day, or whether anything happened at all.
| The Vietnam War While the President of the USA, Lyndon B. Johnson, had been warned that the USA could never win the war in Vietnam, he decided to initiate action against the North Vietnamese. In his home country, he positioned the war "as one that would be fought with science and technology. No backward little country could stand up to the military superiority of the United States of America ". USA 's war strategy was centralised around air power, as produced by targeted cruise missiles, smart bombs and other aerial equipment. The ground troops would only be put in action after the enemy had been neutralised. In line with the strategy, the North of Vietnam was bombed to such an extent that within a period of 7 months more bombs were dropped on North Vietnam than were absorbed by any other country in history. The bombings, like any other bombings failed however in defeating the North Vietnamese. As the Americans GI's would find out, the heart of the Vietnam War would be fought on the ground by the foot soldiers, often consisting of day-by-day, in-city, house-to-house combats or battles inside the rank elephant grass, mostly in extreme heat. |
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[ 1964-1973 ] Bombing of Laos by USA
In March, 1964, U.S.-backed mercenaries flying WWII American fighter planes start bombing the Ho Chi Minh trail inside Laos. During the Vietnam war, Laos was caught in the middle. The CIA without any support of the American people created a secret war in Laos by recruiting the hill tribe people in the eastern part of Laos to fight the Communist North Vietnamese troops in Laos. When it was all over, the U.S had turned a tiny Laos into a second moon face of the earth. The U.S. bombing of Laos was unprecedented. The U.S. Air Force carried out 580,000 missions against the country, which is about one planeload of bombs dropped every eight minutes, 24 hours a day, for nine years. It resulted in the U.S. dropping over 2 million tons of bombs in Laos, more than all of the bombs dropped during the World War II.
[ 1966-1973 ] The Vietnam war, the tunnels
During the war in Vietnam, thousands of people in the Vietnamese province of Cu Chi lived in an elaborate system of underground tunnels, northwest of Saigon stretching to the Cambodian border. Originally built in the time of the French colonial occupation, the tunnels were enlarged during the American presence up to 200 kilometers by the end of the war, joining villages and becoming home to thousands of people. Some complexes had as many as four different levels with secret trapdoors separating them. More than just a means of transportation and shelter, the tunnels housed hospitals where children were born and surgery was performed on casualties of war; underground were schools and public places where lovers met. There were even theaters with song and dance and traditional stories. By 1966 and 1967, Cu Chi was one of the most important base areas for the Viet Cong. Furthermore, in 1968 the tunnels became the Viet Congs main staging area for the attacks on Saigon. In January 1966 Operation Crimp was launched to clear the area for the Cu Chi base camp. The operation successfully cleared the land, but failed to clear the Viet Cong tunnels in the area. The Americans were highly surprised when their base was attacked from inside their perimeter. As part of Operation Cedar Falls, which was executed between January 8 th and 29 th, 1967, the Americans started clearing the Cu Chi tunnels. The famous 'tunnel rats' were deployed. During the Vietnam War Cu Chi became the most bombed, shelled, gassed, and defoliated area in the history of war. In 1970 B-52s were deployed to destroy the tunnels, using ground penetrating delayed-fused bombs that created 30 foot deep craters in the laterite clay.
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| The tunnels exposed to view layout characteristics |
[ 1968 ] The Tet offensive
In the early hours of February 2, 1968 the North Vietnamese launched a large surprise all over South Vietnam, in more than 100 cities and towns, with as main location the US embassy. The event was named the Tet Offensive, Tet being the Vietnamese New Year. The offensive was executed to force to Johnson administration into negotiations. The Communist Party was aware that the American people were increasingly negative towards the war and that the power balance was shifting into their favour. Although the Tet Offensive turned into a military defeat for the Communists - the main fighting in Saigon was over on February 5 th, it cost 37,000 Viet Cong their lives and resulted in more than half a million civilian refugees of which many critical Viet Cong fighters - the psychological battle was won, both domestically, providing the Viet Cong with new élan, and internationally. One month later Lyndon Johnson announced that time had come to go to the bargaining table with the Communists to discuss the ending of the war. During the Tet Offensive Jan Montyn was imprisoned near Saigon.
| The Tet Offensive brought the war to the cities |
[ 1969 ] New USA president
On January 22 nd, Richard M. Nixon is inaugurated as the 37th President of the United States. With regard to the Vietnam War, he promises to achieve "Peace With Honor." His aim is to negotiate a settlement with the North Vietnamese that will allow the half million US troops in Vietnam to be withdrawn, while still allowing South Vietnam to survive. Bit by bit Americans troops are withdrawn.
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| Richard Nixon |
In February 1969, President Nixon authorizes Operation Menu, the bombing of North Vietnamese and Vietcong bases within Cambodia. Over the following four years, U.S. forces will drop more than a half million tons of bombs on Cambodia. On April 29th, 1970 South Vietnamese troops, supported by US soldiers, start an attack on Viet Cong bases in Cambodia. The battles in Cambodia will last for 60 days and will uncover a high number of supply depots. Around 28,500 weapons and 16 million rounds of small arms ammunition are taken in, as well as 14 million pounds of rice. Most Viet Cong escape across the Mekong river. Still there are 10,000 casualties.
[ 1971 ] Laos, attack by South Vietnam troops
In December 1946 the Communist Viet Minh, led by the Communist leader Ho Chi Minh, initiated the eight-year Indochina War against France. Although the war started as a guerrilla war, ever since in January 1950 the Chinese started providing intelligence and supplier to the Viet Minh, the war turned into a true conventional war. In that same year the USA would also get involved. On December 22nd, napalm was used for the first time in the Vietnam. Three years later, on December 20th, 1953, Dwight D. Eisenhower was inaugurated as the 34th President of the USA. In clarifying his stand towards Vietnam, Eisenhower cited the 'Domino Theory', in which a Communist victory in Vietnam would result in other countries also falling. He used the theory to get additional support for aid to the war. In April 1953, Vice President Nixon would arrive in Hanoi to tell the French that "It is impossible to lay down arms until victory is won". In the same month the Viet Minh would invade Laos, being assisted by the Pathet Lao. On May 8th, 1954 the Vietnamese, led by the Communist would conquer Dien Bien Phu by outnumbering the French by nearly five-to-one and due to a decision by the USA to not intervene. The end of French-Indochina was nearby.
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Two third of American soldiers withdrawn
After a period of two years on January 1 st approximately 130,000 American soldiers remain in Vietnam, which is one third of the original total. With the USA pulling out, South Vietnam is increasingly on its own in fighting the ground war against the North Vietnamese. By now the South Vietnamese troops consist over 1 million soldiers. In the coming battles the North Vietnamese forces increasingly triumph.
B-52 aircraft carpet bombing Vietnam
Final bombings of Vietnam
While peace talks had already commenced, but failed, on December 18 th president Nixon authorizes the final US bombing campaign against the North Vietnamese. The 'Operation Linebacker Two', during which more than 20,000 tons of bombs are dropped in and around Hanoi and Haiphong, would last for 12 days. The operation included three days of bombing by up to 120 B-52s.
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[ 1973 ] Vietnam war ending
Formal ending
After presuming the peace talks, on January 27 th, 1973 a cease-fire agreement was signed and the formal ending of the Vietnam War was announced. The signing of a new accord on June 13 th, 1973 in Geneva would confirm this.
Real ending with united Vietnam and aftermath
Despite the signing of the cease-fire agreement, in reality the war was still going on. On January 8 th, 1975, the North Vietnamese set the stage to liberate South Vietnam. The Soviet-supplied North Vietnamese Army was the fifth largest in the world. It anticipated a two-year struggle for victory, but Saigon fell in 55 days. On April 30 th, 1975, the Viet Minh President Minh broadcasted a message of unconditional surrender. The war was over. In 1976 South Vietnam and North Vietnam were united in a new Socialist Republic of Viet Nam.
Spraying agent orange
During the Vietnam war an estimate of 1 million Vietnamese combatants and 4 million Vietnamese civilians were killed, against approximately 58,500 Americans, 4,500 Koreans, 500 Australians and 60 New Zealand soldiers that died in the war or were missing in action. Although the war was over, Vietnam would continue to experience the result of the war. Old bombs, artillery shells and land mines litter the wasteland just south of what was once the demilitarised zone and have continued to kill innocent people. Since the war's end it has been reported that close to 3,000 people in the region and 2,000 elsewhere have been killed by land mines, unexploded artillery shells and cluster bombs. Agent Orange, of which 12 million gallons was sprayed over more than 10 percent of South Vietnam, continuous to cause harm to the health of the Vietnamese people. According to sources within Vietnam, millions of people were exposed to Agent Orange and hundreds of thousands have since suffered from cancers, other illnesses and birth defects.
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[ 1973 ] Cambodia, ending of bombings by USA
On July 1 st , 1973 the USA congress votes to end all bombing in Cambodia after August 15 th . North Vietnamese and Vietcong troops had used eastern Cambodia as a safe haven from which to launch attacks into South Vietnam. Despite the announcement fighting would continue between Hanoi-backed insurgents and U.S.-supplied government troops.
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On April 17 th, 1975 Cambodia falls as Khmer Rouge troops capture Phnom Penh and government forces surrender. It marks the beginning of the Khmer Rouge period. The four years of nightmarish Khmer Rouge rule led to the state-sponsored extermination of citizens by its own government. Between 1 million and 2 million people were massacred on the "killing fields" of Cambodia or worked to death through forced labour. Pol Pot's radical vision of transforming the country into a Marxist agrarian society led to the virtual extermination of the country's professional and technical class. Thirteen years later Jan Montyn would meet Roumpha.
| Pol Pot defeated |
On December 1978, Vietnamese forces invade Cambodia and install a pro-Hanoi government, led by. Heng Samrin. They will remain for 12 years. Pol Pot and 35,000 Khmer Rouge fighters fled into the hills of western Cambodia, where they were joined by forces loyal to the ousted Sihanouk in a guerrilla movement aimed at overthrowing the Heng Samrin government.
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