NORTH AND SOUTH VIETNAM UNIFIED

Vietnam was divided after the French were forced out of the country. Northern Vietnam was still controlled by the communist while South Vietnam was controlled by those who still supported the French.  Many people turned against the government in the South because of its weaknes and communist rebels who were trained by the north were starting to come in.  The United States promised to help other countries that were being threatened by communism and therefore aid was sent to Vietnam.  The help was started with sending advisors to help the South Vietnam army but when an American warship was attacked ground troops were then deployed.  American thought this would be a quick war and that we could easily win with our modern weapons.  The Amercian troops were taken by surprise with the use of guerilla tactics and the surprise attacks on American.  After many lives were lost Anti-war protest started and American wanted their solders out of Vietnam.  Towards the end of 1960's the Vietcong and North Vietnam attacked the south on a much larger scale. With the enormous loss of lives and the pressure from the public President Johnson started to withdrawl troops and peace talks started in Paris.  In 1973 Vietcong, North Vietnam, South Vietnam andand the United States signed a peace agreement.  The peace agreement was not kept by North Vietnam and the Vietcong pushed further into South Vietnam. Without the assistance of the United States the South Vietnam army could not fight alone and many civilians fled. In 1975 communist troops entered Saiggon and the South Vietnamese had no other choice but to surrender.  In 1976 the war was officially over.  North VIetnam and South Vietnam were reunited under a communist government and Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City,  The VIetnam War was a long battle that took so many lives including women and children.  There were estimated to be over 50,000 American, more that one million vietnamese soldiers and two millions civilians that lost their lives.  The soliders returned home feeling like losers as opposed to heros.  The long term affects that these soldiers were left with was debilitating. 

http://history1900s.about.com/od/vietnamwar/a/vietnamtimeline.htm
http://www.english-online.at/history/vietnam-war/vietnam-war-background.htm
http://abcnews.go.com/Archives/video/march-29-1973-end-vietnam-war-12981147