Vietnam War
- Period
- November 1955 – April 1975
- Sides
- North Vietnam vs South Vietnam
- Battles
- 21
The Vietnam War was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam and their allies. North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union and China, while South Vietnam was supported by the United States and other anti-communist nations. The conflict was the second of the Indochina wars and a proxy war of the Cold War. The Vietnam War was one of the postcolonial wars of national liberation, a theater in the Cold War, and a civil war, with civil warfare a defining feature from the outset. Direct US military involvement escalated from 1965 until US forces were withdrawn in 1973. The fighting spilled into the Laotian and Cambodian civil wars, which ended with all three countries becoming communist in 1975.
Sources: Wikipedia — Vietnam War · CC BY-SA 4.0
Battles 21
January 1963
Battle of Ap Bac
The Battle of Ấp Bắc was a major battle fought on 2 January 1963 during the Vietnam War in Định Tường Province, South Vietnam. On 28 December 1962, US intelligence detected the presence of a radio transmitter along with a sizable force of Viet Cong (VC) soldiers, reported to number around 120, in the hamlet of Tân Thới in Định Tường Province, home of the Army of the Republic of South Vietnam (ARVN) 7th Infantry Division. The South Vietnamese and their US advisers planned to attack Ấp Tân Thới from three directions to destroy the VC force by using two provincial Civil Guard battalions and elements of the 11th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. The infantry units would be supported by artillery, M113 armored personnel carriers (APCs), and helicopters. However, VC forces anticipated a major attack from the South Vietnamese government from a variety of sources including movement of supplies, an undercover VC agent, and decoded radio communications from the ARVN. Accordingly, the VC prepared for an attack by US and South Vietnamese forces.
July 1964
Battle of Nam Dong
The battle of Nam Đông took place from July 5–6, 1964 during the Vietnam War, when the Viet Cong (VC) and People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) attacked the Nam Đông CIDG camp in an attempt to overrun it. During the battle, 57 South Vietnamese defenders, two Americans, an Australian military advisor, and at least 62 attackers were killed.
August 1964
Gulf of Tonkin incident
The Gulf of Tonkin incident refers to a naval confrontation in the Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of North Vietnam, which led to the United States engaging more directly in the Vietnam War. On 2 August 1964 there was a clash between a destroyer of the United States Navy that was collecting signals intelligence close to North Vietnamese waters, and three North Vietnamese naval vessels. On the night of 4 August, two US destroyers reported they were attacked by North Vietnamese vessels and that they were returning fire. Later investigation revealed that the 4 August attack did not happen; no North Vietnamese vessels had been present. Shortly after the events, the National Security Agency, an agency of the US Defense Department, deliberately skewed intelligence to create the impression that an attack had been carried out.
December 1964 – January 1965
Battle of Binh Gia
The Battle of Bình Giã was conducted by the Viet Cong (VC) and People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) from 28 December 1964, to 1 January 1965, during the Vietnam War in Bình Giã, Phước Tuy province, South Vietnam.
June 1965
Battle of Đồng Xoài
The Battle of Đồng Xoài was a major battle fought during the Vietnam War as part of the Viet Cong (VC) Summer Offensive of 1965. It took place in Phước Long Province, South Vietnam, between 9 and 13 June 1965.
August 1965
Operation Starlite
Operation Starlite was the first major offensive action conducted by a purely U.S. military unit during the Vietnam War from 18 to 24 August 1965. The operation was launched based on intelligence provided by Major general Nguyen Chanh Thi, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) I Corps commander. III Marine Amphibious Force commander Lieutenant General Lewis W. Walt devised a plan to launch a pre-emptive strike against the Viet Cong (VC) 1st Regiment to nullify their threat to the vital Chu Lai Air Base and Base Area and ensure that its powerful communication tower remained intact.
November 1965
Battle of Ia Drang
The Battle of Ia Drang was the first major battle between the United States Army and the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), as part of the Pleiku campaign conducted early in the Vietnam War, at the eastern foot of the Chu Pong Massif in the central highlands of Vietnam, in 1965. It is notable for being the first large scale helicopter air assault and also the first use of Boeing B-52 Stratofortress strategic bombers in a tactical support role. Ia Drang set the blueprint for the Vietnam War with the Americans relying on air mobility, artillery fire and close air support, while the PAVN neutralized that firepower by quickly engaging American forces at very close range.
August 1966
Battle of Long Tan
The Battle of Long Tan took place in a rubber plantation near Long Tân, in Phước Tuy Province, South Vietnam, during the Vietnam War. The action was fought between Viet Cong (VC) and People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) units on one side and elements of the 1st Australian Task Force on the other.
November 1967
Battle of Dak To
The Battle of Dak To in Vietnam was a series of major engagements of the Vietnam War that took place between 3 and 23 November 1967, in Kontum Province, in the Central Highlands of the Republic of Vietnam. The action at Đắk Tô was one of a series of People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) offensive initiatives that began during the second half of the year. PAVN attacks at Lộc Ninh, Sông Bé and at Con Thien and Khe Sanh, were other actions which, combined with Đắk Tô, became known as "the border battles". The post hoc purported objective of the PAVN forces was to distract American and South Vietnamese forces away from cities towards the borders in preparation for the Tet Offensive.
January 1968 – September 1968
Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive was both a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. The North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the Viet Cong (VC) launched a surprise attack on 30 and 31 January 1968 against the forces of the South Vietnamese Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), the United States Armed Forces and their allies, targeting military and civilian command and control centers throughout South Vietnam. The name is the truncated version of the Lunar New Year festival name in Vietnamese, Tết Nguyên Đán, a holiday period when most ARVN personnel were on leave. The North Vietnamese Politburo and leader Lê Duẩn intended to trigger political instability and hoped that mass armed assaults on urban centers would trigger defections and uprisings.
January 1968 – July 1968
Siege of Khe Sanh
The Battle of Khe Sanh was conducted in the Khe Sanh area of northwestern Quảng Trị Province, Republic of Vietnam, during the Vietnam War. The main forces defending Khe Sanh Combat Base (KSCB) were a regiment of the United States Marine Corps and a battalion of Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) troops. These were pitted against two to three divisional-size elements of the North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN).
January 1968 – March 1968
Battle of Saigon (1968)
The First Battle of Saigon, fought during the Tet Offensive of the Vietnam War, was the coordinated attack by communist forces, including both the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong (VC), against Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam.
March 1968
Battle of Huế
The Battle of Huế was a major battle in the Tết Offensive launched by North Vietnam and the Việt Cộng during the Vietnam War. Initially losing control of most of Huế and its surroundings, the combined forces of South Vietnam and the United States gradually recaptured the city after a little over one month of intense fighting. The battle was one of the longest and bloodiest of the war, causing it to negatively affect the American public perception of the war. The battle is widely considered to be one of the toughest and most intense urban battles fought by the United States armed forces.
May 1968
Battle of Kham Duc
The Battle of Kham Duc was a major battle of the Vietnam War. The event occurred in Khâm Đức, now district capital of Khâm Đức District, then in Quảng Tín Province, from 10–12 May 1968. During the Tet Offensive of 1968, the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) 2nd Division tried to capture Đà Nẵng, but they were defeated in the Battle of Lo Giang by elements of the U.S. 1st Marine Division and the 23rd Infantry Division. PAVN General Chu Huy Mân disengaged from the fight on the outskirts of the city, and pulled the 2nd Division into the mountains to rest, rebuild, and prepare for the next major operation. The US and allied defenders of the Special Forces camp at Khâm Đức, a small district in the north of Quảng Tín, were chosen as the next target for the 2nd Division. Although the Special Forces camp had never been an obstacle to the constant infiltration of PAVN troops around it, the North Vietnamese hoped to attract major US reinforcements away from the lowland populated areas, kill or capture them and film the battle, presumably to make it look like a U.S. Điện Biên Phủ on the eve of the 1st Paris peace conference.
May 1969
Battle of Hamburger Hill
The Battle of Hamburger Hill was fought by United States Army and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) forces against People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) forces during Operation Apache Snow of the Vietnam War. Though the heavily fortified Hill 937, a ridge of the mountain Dong Ap Bia in central Vietnam near its western border with Laos, had little strategic value, US command ordered its capture by a frontal assault, only to abandon it soon thereafter. The action caused a controversy among both the US armed services and the public back home, and marked a turning point in the US involvement.
November 1970
Operation Ivory Coast
Operation Ivory Coast was a mission conducted by United States Special Operations Forces and other American military elements to rescue U.S. prisoners of war during the Vietnam War. It was also the first joint military operation in United States history conducted under the direct control of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The specially selected raiders extensively trained and rehearsed the operation at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, while planning and intelligence gathering continued from 25 May to 20 November 1970.
May 1972
Battle of Kontum
The lead-up to the Battle of Kontum began in mid-1971, when North Vietnam decided that their performance in Operation Lam Son 719 indicated that the time had come for large-scale conventional offensives that could end the war quickly. The resulting offensive, planned for the spring of 1972, would be known as the Easter Offensive in Western media, the 1972 Spring–Summer Offensive in North Vietnam, or the Fiery Red Summer in South Vietnam. The Easter Offensive would make use of fourteen divisions and would be the largest in the war.
April 1975
Fall of Saigon
Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, was captured by North Vietnam on 30 April 1975. This caused the evacuation of thousands of civilians and U.S. personnel, and ended the Vietnam War. The aftermath ushered in a transition period under the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam until the formal reunification in 1976.
April 1975
Operation Babylift
Operation Babylift was a mass evacuation of children from South Vietnam to the United States and other Western countries at the end of the Vietnam War, in April 1975. Over 3,300 infants and children were airlifted, although the actual number has been variously reported.
April 1975
Fall of Phnom Penh
The Fall of Phnom Penh was the capture of Phnom Penh, capital of the Khmer Republic, by the Khmer Rouge on 17 April 1975, effectively ending the Cambodian Civil War. At the beginning of the month, Phnom Penh, one of the last remaining strongholds of the Khmer Republic, was surrounded by the Khmer Rouge and totally dependent on aerial resupply through Pochentong Airport.
April 1975
Battle of Xuân Lộc
The Battle of Xuân Lộc was the last major battle of the Vietnam War that took place at Xuân Lộc, Biên Hòa Province. Over a period of 12 days between 9 and 21 April 1975, the outnumbered South Vietnamese attempted to stop the North Vietnamese forces from overrunning the town and breaking through towards South Vietnam's capital, Saigon. The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) committed almost all their remaining mobile forces, especially the 18th Division, under Brigadier general Lê Minh Đảo, to the defence of the strategic crossroads town of Xuân Lộc, hoping to stall the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) advance. The battle ended when the town of Xuân Lộc was captured by the PAVN 4th Army Corps led by Major general Hoàng Cầm.
Earlier and later events nearby
- c. AD 200Óc Eo, trading port of Funan
- AD 802Founding of the Khmer Empire
- c. 1113Construction of Angkor Wat begins
- November 1955 – April 1975Vietnam WarThis page
- 1975Fall of Saigon
- 1975–1979Cambodian genocide
Who ruled this land
States that held this place in the historical borders data (Cliopatria). Years are approximate, as fine as the data's snapshots (every few years to a century). Tap to open the map for that year.
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