History Channel: "Vietnam's Unseen War" 1/9

 

 

 

 

The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, the Vietnam Conflict,
and, in Vietnam, the American War, occurred from 1959 to April 30, 1975.
The war was fought between the communist Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam)
and its communist allies and the US-supported Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam).
It concluded with the defeat and dissolution of South Vietnam.
For the United States, the war ended in the withdrawal of American troops
and the failure of its foreign policy in Vietnam.[5][6]

Over 1.4 million military personnel were killed in the war (only 6 percent were members of the United States armed forces), while estimates of civilian fatalities range up to 2 million.
On April 30, 1975, the capital of South Vietnam, Saigon, fell to the communist forces of
North Vietnam, effectively ending the Vietnam War.

Various names have been applied to the conflict, and these have shifted over time,
although Vietnam War is the most commonly used title in English.
It has been variously called the Second Indochina War,
the Vietnam Conflict, the Vietnam War, and, in Vietnamese,
Chi?n tranh Vi?t Nam (The Vietnam War), Khang chi?n ch?ng M?
(Resistance War against America) or The American War.

The main military organizations involved in the war were, on the side of the South,
the U.S. military and the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN),
and, on the side of the North, the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF),
also known as the Viet Cong,
and the Vietnam People's Army (VPA), also known as the North Vietnamese Army (NVA)
or the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN).


Taiwan

Although Taiwan did not commit troops to Vietnam, the United States asked several squadrons
of the Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF) to participate in bombing raids over North Vietnam.
There were also confirmed reports that the ROCAF engaged in combat with North Vietnamese pilots.
It is known that the ROCAF did not suffer any casualties in the conflict, as their role was
mainly to take out North Vietnamese installations instead of supporting ground troops.


Philippines

Some 10,450 Filipino troops were dispatched to South Vietnam.
They were primarily engaged in medical and other civilian pacification projects.
These forces operated under the designation PHLCAAG or Philippines Civil Affairs
Assistance Group.


Thailand

Thai Army formations, including the "Queen's Cobra" battalion, saw action in
South Vietnam between 1965 and 1971.
Thai forces saw much more action in the covert war in Laos between 1964 and 1972,
though Thai regular formations there were heavily outnumbered by the irregular
"volunteers" of the CIA-sponsored Police Aerial Reconnaissance Units or PARU, who
carried out reconnaissance activities on the western side of the Ho Chi Minh Trail.


Soviet Union

The Soviet Union supplied North Vietnam with medical supplies, arms, tanks, planes,
helicopters, artillery, anti-aircraft missiles and other military equipment.
Soviet crews fired USSR-made surface-to-air missiles at the B-52 bombers
which were the first raiders shot down over Hanoi.
Fewer than a dozen Soviet citizens lost their lives in this conflict.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991,
Russian officials acknowledged that the Soviet Union had stationed up to 3,000 troops
in Vietnam during the war.[120]


North Korea

As a result of a decision of the Korean Workers' Party in October 1966, in early 1967,
North Korea sent a fighter squadron to North Vietnam to back up the North Vietnamese
921st and 923rd fighter squadrons defending Hanoi.
They stayed through 1968, and 200 pilots were reported to have served.[121] In addition,
at least two anti-aircraft artillery regiments were sent as well.
North Korea also sent weapons, ammunition and two million sets of uniforms to their
comrades in North Vietnam.
Kim Il Sung is reported to have told his pilots to "fight in the war as if the Vietnamese sky
were their own".