Vietnam’s early history, its people, dynastic struggles and invasions. The French, the Japanese in WWII and the rise of communism in 1941. The emergence of Ho Chi Minh, nationalism into communism. The effect of the domino theory, JFK’s assassination and the Gulf of Tonkin incident. The US were drawn into bloody conflict.
After early domination through Operation Thunder, three years of B52 raids, napalm and Agent Orange drops. In 1968 the Vietcong Tet Offensive turned the tide, the TV war began in full, anti-war demos, the Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy assassinations and My Lai massacre the war was now being shown on the nightly news for the first time. Over half a million US troops are deployed.
In 1972 Nixon orders the majority of US troops back. In 1974, after Watergate, he resigns. The US embassy is evacuated on April 30th 1975. In Vietnam the South face a backlash from the North and US veterans face dishonour and neglect back home. Today Vietnam is the world’s second largest coffee producer, still ruled by a communist government and moving at the pace of China.