Outline of the Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a war in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia from 1959 to 30 April 1975. The war was fought between the communist North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of South Vietnam, supported by the United States and other member nations of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO).

Military activity

Operations

Listed by starting date:

• Operation 34A – (1964)
• Operation Starlite – August 18–24, 1965
• Operation Hump – November 5, 1965
• Operation Crimp – January 7, 1966
• Operation Masher - January 24, 1966
• Operation Birmingham – April 1966
• Operation Crazy Horse -May 16, 1966
• Operation Hastings – July 15-August 3, 1966
• Operation Prairie – August 1966
• Operation Thayer - September 13, 1966
• Operation Dragon Eye (Yong Anh Plan)– November 9–27, 1966
• Operation Deckhouse Five – January 6, 1967
• Operation Cedar Falls – January 8, 1967
• Operation Junction City – February 21, 1967
• Operation Francis Marion – April 6–30, 1967
• Operation Union – April 21 – May 16, 1967
• Operations Malheur I and Malheur II – 11 May – July 1, 1967
• Operation Baker – May 11, 1967
• Phoenix Program – 1967–1972
• Operation Speedy Express 1968 - 1969
• Operation Scotland – See Battle of Khe Sanh
• Operation Pegasus – August 8, 1968
• Operation Dewey Canyon – January 22, 1969
• Operation Apache Snow – May 10–20, 1969
• Operation Chicago Peak – April 1970
• Operation Texas Star – April – September, 1970
• Operation Ivory Coast – November 21, 1970
• Operation Jefferson Glenn – 1970–1971
• Operation Lam Son 719 – February 8, 1971
• Ho Chi Minh Campaign January 24 – April 30, 1975
• Operation Frequent Wind – April, 1975

Battles

• Battle of Ap Bac – January 2, 1963
• Battle of Kien Long – April 11–15, 1964
• Battle of Thanh Hóa – July 31, 1964
• Battle of Binh Gia – December 28, 1964 – January 1, 1965
• Battle of Dong Xoai – June 10, 1965
• Battle near Minh Thanh – October 25–27, 1965
• Battle of Ia Drang – November 14–16, 1965
• Battle of Cu Nghi – January 28–31, 1966
• Battle of Kim Son Valley – February 16–28, 1966
• Battle of A Shau – March 9–10, 1966
• Battle of Xa Cam My – April 11–12, 1966
• First Battle of Dong Ha – Late May – June, 1966
• Battle on Minh Thanh Road – July 9, 1966
• Battle of Đức Cơ – August 9, 1966
• Battle of Long Tan – August 18, 1966
• Viet Cong attack on Tan Son Nhut airbase – December 4, 1966
• Battle of LZ Bird – December 27, 1966
• Battle of Tra Binh Dong – February 14–15, 1967
• Battle of Ap My An – February 17, 1967
• Battle of Hills 881 and 861 – April 24 – May 9, 1967
• Nine Days in May – May 18–28, 1967
• Battle of Vinh Huy – May 30 – June 2, 1967
• Battle of Con Thien – July 2–3, 1967
• Battle of Dong Son – September 4, 1967
• Battle of Ong Thanh – October 17, 1967
• First Battle of Loc Ninh – October 29 – November, 1967
• Battle of Dak To – November 3–22, 1967
• Battle in the Mekong Delta – December 4, 1967
• Battle of Tam Quan – December 6–20, 1967
• Battle of Thom Tham Khe – December 27–28, 1967
• Battle of Khe Sanh – January 21 – April 8, 1968
• Tet Offensive – January 30 – February 25, 1968
• Battle of Bien Hoa (1968) – January 24 – March 1, 1968
• First Battle of Saigon – January 31, – February 3, 1968
• Battle of Huế – January 31, – February 25, 1968
• Battle of Kham Duc – May 10–12, 1968
• Battle of Coral–Balmoral – May 12 – June 6, 1968
• Tet 1969 – February 1969
• Battle of Hamburger Hill – May 10–20, 1969
• Battle of Binh Ba – June 6–8, 1969
• Firebase Ripcord – March 12 – July 23, 1970
• Cambodian Incursion – April 29 – July 22, 1970
• Battle of Snoul – January 5 – May 30, 1971
• Battle of Long Khanh – June 6–7, 1971
• Easter Offensive – March 30 – October 22, 1972
• First Battle of Quảng Trị – March 30 – May 1, 1972
• Battle of Loc Ninh – April 4–7, 1972
• Battle of An Loc – April 20 – July 20, 1972
• Second Battle of Quảng Trị – June 28 – September 16, 1972
• Battle of Phuoc Long – December 13, 1974 – January 6, 1975
• Battle of Buon Me Thuot – March 10–12, 1975
• Battle of Xuan Loc – April 9–20, 1975

Air campaigns

• Operation Farm Gate
• Operation Chopper (1962)
• Operation Ranch Hand (1962–1971)
• Operation Pierce Arrow (1964)
• Operation Barrell Roll (1964–1972)
• Operation Pony Express (1965–1970)
• Operation Flaming Dart (1965)
• Operation Rolling Thunder (1965–1968)
• Operation Steel Tiger (1965–1968)
• Operation Arc Light (1965–1973)
• Operation Tiger Hound (1965–1968)
• Operation Shed Light (1966–1972)
• Operation Carolina Moon (1966)
• Operation Wahiawa (1966)
• Operation Bolo (1967)
• Operation Popeye (1967–1972)
• Operation Niagara (1968)
• Operation Igloo White (1968–1973)
• Operation Giant Lance (1969)
• Operation Commando Hunt (1968–1972)
• Operation Menu (1969–1970)
• Operation Patio (1970)
• Operation Freedom Deal (1970–1973)
• Operation Linebacker (1972)
• Operation Enhance Plus (1972)
• Operation Linebacker II (1972)
• Operation Homecoming (1973)
• Operation Baby Lift (1975)
• Operation Eagle Pull (1975)
• Operation Frequent Wind (1975)

Military medals

South Vietnam

• National Order of Vietnam
• Vietnam Military Merit Medal
• Vietnam Distinguished Service Order
• Vietnam Meritorious Service Medal
• Vietnam Special Service Medal
• Vietnam Gallantry Cross
• Vietnam Air Gallantry Cross
• Vietnam Navy Gallantry Cross
• Vietnam Armed Forces Honor Medal
• Vietnam Civil Actions Medal
• Vietnam Staff Service Medal
• Vietnam Technical Service Medal
• Vietnam Wound Medal
• Vietnam Campaign Medal
• Presidential Unit Citation (Vietnam)
• Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation
• Vietnam Civil Actions Unit Citation

North Vietnam

• Golden Star Medal
• Ho Chi Minh Order
• Defeat American Aggression Badge
• Vietnam Liberation Order
• Resolution for Victory Order

United States

• Medal of Honor gont
• Distinguished Service Cross rare
• Navy Cross uncommon
• Air Force Cross uncommon
• Silver Star uncommon
• Distinguished Flying Cross uncommon
• Air Medal frequent
• Purple Heart frequent
• Bronze Star frequent
• Presidential Unit Citation rare
• Vietnam Service Medal very common
• National Defense Service Medal very common
• Commendation Medal common

Anti-war publications in the US forces

• "Fatigue Press" at Fort Hood,
• "Last Harass" at Fort Gordon, Georgia
• "Pawn's Pawn" at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri
• "Ultimate Weapon" at Fort Dix, New Jersey
• "Attitude Check" at Camp Pendleton, California
• "Green Machine" at Fort Greely, Alaska
• "Napalm" at Fort Campbell, Tennessee
• "Arctic Arsenal" at Fort Greely, Alaska
• "Black Voice" at Fort McClellan, Alabama
• "Fragging Action" at Fort Dix
• "Fort Polk Puke" at Fort Polk, Louisiana
• "Custer's Last Stand" at Fort Riley, Kansas
• "Whack!" from the Women's Army Corps School
• "Where Are We?" at Fort Huachuca, Arizona
• "Voice of the Lumpen" (affiliated with the Black Panther Party) in Frankfurt
• "Can You Bear McNair?" at McNair Barracks, Berlin
• "Seasick" at Subic Bay
• "The Man Can't Win If You Grin" in Okinawa
• "Korea Free Press"
• "Semper Fi" in Japan
• "Stars and Bars" in England
• "Separated From Life" in England
• "Duck Power" in San Diego
• "Harass the Brass" at Canute Air Force Base, Illinois
• "All Hands Abandon Ship", Newport, Rhode Island
• "Now Hear This", Long Beach
• "Potemkin" on the USS Forestall
• "Star Spangled Bummer" at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio
• "Fat Albert's Death Ship" in Charlestown
• "Pig Boat Blues", USS Agerholm
• "Special Weapons", Kirtland AFB, New Mexico
• "I Will Fear No Evil", Kirtland AFB, New Mexico
• "Blows Against the Empire", Kirtland AFB, New Mexico

source: "The American War" – see references below

Prominent figures

South Vietnamese

• Bảo Đại
• Dương Văn Minh
• Madame Nhu
• Ngô Đình Diệm
• Ngô Đình Nhu
• Nguyễn Cao Kỳ
• Nguyễn Khánh
• Nguyễn Văn Thiệu

American

• Creighton W. Abrams
• Dean Acheson
• Spiro Agnew
• Ellsworth Bunker
• McGeorge Bundy
• William Bundy
• William Calley
• Clark Clifford
• William Colby
• A. Peter Dewey
• John Foster Dulles
• Dwight D. Eisenhower
• Daniel Ellsberg
• J. William Fulbright
• Barry Goldwater
• David Hackworth
• Alexander Haig
• Paul D. Harkins
• Seymour Hersh
• Hubert Humphrey
• Lyndon Johnson
• John F. Kennedy
• John Kerry
• Henry Kissinger
• Melvin Laird
• Edward Lansdale
• Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.
• Mike Mansfield
• Graham Martin
• Robert McNamara
• George McGovern
• Richard Nixon
• Pete Peterson
• Dean Rusk
• Maxwell D. Taylor
• John Paul Vann
• William Westmoreland

South Korean

• Park Chung-hee
• Chae Myung-shin

North Vietnamese

• Ho Chi Minh
• Lê Duẩn
• Trần Văn Trà
• Lê Đức Thọ
• Phạm Văn Đồng
• Võ Nguyên Giáp

Cambodian

• Lon Nol
• Pol Pot
• Norodom Sihanouk
• Sirik Matak
• Sosthene Fernandez

Media

Non-fiction

• David H. Hackworth. 1989 About Face
• A.J. Langguth. 2000. Our Vietnam: the War 1954–1975.
• Mann, Robert. 2002. Grand Delusion, A: America's Descent Into Vietnam.
• Windrow, Martin. 2005. The Last Valley: Dien Bien Phu and the French Defeat in Vietnam.
• Bernard Fall. 1967. Hell in a Very Small Place: the Siege of Dien Bien Phu.
• Harvey Pekar. 2003. American Splendor: Unsung Hero
• Prados, John. 2000. The Blood Road: The Ho Chi Minh Trail and the Vietnam War.
• Prados, John. 1999. Valley of Decision: The Siege of Khe Sanh.
• Shultz, Robert H. Jr. 2000. The Secret War Against Hanoi: The Untold Story of Spies, Saboteurs, and Covert Warriors in North Vietnam.
• Plaster, John L. 1998. SOG: The Secret Wars of America's Commandos in Vietnam.
• Murphy, Edward F. 1995. Dak To: America's Sky Soldiers in South Vietnam's Central Highlands.
• Nolan, Keith W. 1996. The Battle for Saigon: Tet 1968.
• Nolan, Keith W. 1996. Sappers in the Wire: The Life and Death of Firebase Mary Ann.
• Nolan, Keith W. 1992. Operation Buffalo: USMC Fight for the DMZ.
• Nolan, Keith W. 2003. Ripcord : Screaming Eagles Under Siege, Vietnam 1970.
• Robert S. McNamara. 1996. In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam.
• Larry Berman. 2002. No Peace, No Honor: Nixon, Kissinger, and Betrayal in Vietnam.
• Bergerud, Eric M. 1994. Red Thunder, Tropic Lightning: The World of a Combat Division in Vietnam.
• Bernard Edelman. 2002. Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam.
• Darrel D. Whitcomb. 1999. The Rescue of Bat 21.
• Oberdorfer, Don. 1971. Tet: the Story of a Battle and its Historic Aftermath.
• LTG Harold G. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway. 1992. We Were Soldiers Once ... And Young.
• Duiker, William J. 2002. Ho Chi Minh: A Life.
• John Laurence. 2002. The Cat from Hue: A Vietnam War Story.
• Emerson, Gloria. 1976. Winners and Losers: Battles, Retreats, Gains, Losses and Ruins from a Long War.
• Philip Caputo. 1977. A Rumor of War.
• Al Santoli. 1981. Everything We Had: an Oral History of the Vietnam War by 33 American Soldiers Who Fought It.
• Robert C. Mason. 1983. Chickenhawk.
• Michael Herr. 1977. Dispatches.
• Joseph T. Ward. 1991. Dear Mom: a Sniper's Vietnam.
• Hemphill, Robert. 1998. Platoon: Bravo Company.
• Noam Chomsky. 1967. The Responsibility of Intellectuals.
• Moore, Robin. 1965 The Green Berets (ISBN 0-312-98492-8)
• Tim O'Brien. 1973. If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Send Me Home.
• Frank W. Snepp III. 1977. Decent Interval: An Insider's Account of Saigon's Indecent End Told by the CIA's Chief Strategy Analyst in Vietnam
• Strunk, John. 2015. "We Walked Across Their Graves" Vietnam 1967-The Que Son Valley

Fiction

• Robert Olen Butler. 1992. A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain
• Nelson Demille. 2002. Up Country.
• Garth Ennis. 2003. The Punisher: Born
• Daniel Ford. 1967. Incident at Muc Wa (filmed 1976 as Go Tell the Spartans).
• Graham Greene. 1955. The Quiet American (filmed 1958, 2002).
• Larry Heinemann. 1986. Paco's Story.
• Gustav Hasford. 1979. The Short-Timers (filmed 1987 as Full Metal Jacket).
• Duong Thu Huong. 2005. No Man's Land.
• Phillip Jennings. 2005. Nam-a-Rama.
• Denis Johnson. 2007. Tree of Smoke.
• Karl Marlantes. 2010. Matterhorn.
• William Pelfrey. 1984. The Big V.
• Stephen King. 1999. Hearts in Atlantis. (filmed 2001 as "Hearts in Atlantis")
• Walter Dean Myers. 1995. Fallen Angels
• Bao Ninh. 1995. The Sorrow of War.
• Tim O'Brien. 1978. Going After Cacciato.
• Tim O'Brien. 1990. The Things They Carried.
• Edward B. Robinson. 2006. The Godhead[2]
• James H. Webb. 1978. Fields of Fire.
• John M. Del Vecchio. 1982. The 13th Valley.
• Wayne Care. 1989. Vietnam Spook Show.

Film

Main article: Vietnam War in film

Other

• The musical Miss Saigon

See also

• Vietnamese boat people
• Reeducation camp

Further reading

History texts

• Vaughn Davis Bornet. [1984]. "The Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas. Chapters 3, 4, 11, 14.
• Phillip Davidson. 1988. Vietnam at War: The History 1946–1975
• Daniel Ellsberg. 2002. Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers. New York: Viking Press.
• Bob Fink. 1981 Vietnam, A View from the Walls. Detroit: Greenwich Publishing. ISBN 0-912424-08-7.
• Frances FitzGerald. 1972. Fire in the Lake: The Vietnamese and the Americans in Vietnam. Boston: Little Brown and Company.
• Felix Greene. 1966. VIETNAM! VIETNAM! IN PHOTOGRAPHS AND TEXT. Palo Alto, California: Fulton Publishing Company, LCCN: 66-28359.
• David Halberstam. 1969. The Best and the Brightest. New York. Ballantine Books.
• Patrick J. Hearden. 1991. The Tragedy of Vietnam New York: Harper Collins.
• George C. Herring. 1979. "America's Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950–1975". Boston: McGraw-Hill.
• Stanley Karnow. 1983. Vietnam, A History. New York: Viking Press, ISBN 0-14-026547-3
• Michael P. Kelley. 2002 Where We Were In Vietnam, 1945–1975. Hellgate Press. ISBN 1-55571-625-3
• Gabriel Kolko. 1994. Anatomy of a War: Vietnam, the United States, and the Modern Historical Experience London: Phoenix Press.
• Guenter Lewy. 1978. America in Vietnam. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Michael Maclear. 1981. Vietnam, The Ten Thousand Day War. London: Mandarin, ISBN 0-7493-0016-7
• Robert J. McMahon. 2003. Major Problems in the History of the s relating Vietnam War. New York, Houghton Mifflin Co., ISBN 0-618-19312-X
• Robert McNamara. 1995. In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam. (written with Brian VanDeMark) New York: Vintage Books.
• Robert Mann. 2001. A Grand Delusion: America's Descent into Vietnam. New York: Basic Books.
• Wilbur H. Morrison. 2001. The Elephant and the Tiger. Hellgate Press. ISBN 1-55571-612-1
• Mark Moyar. 2006. Triumph Forsaken: The Vietnam War, 1954–1965. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-86911-9.
• Jonathan Neale. 2001. The American War: Vietnam 1960–1975. London: Bookmarks Publications Limited, ISBN 1-898876-67-3
• James S. Olson (editor). 1988. Dictionary of the Vietnam War. New York: Greenwood Press, Inc.
• Gareth Porter, Perils Of Dominance: Imbalance Of Power And The Road To War In Vietnam, University of California Press (June, 2005), hardcover, 403 pages, ISBN 0-520-23948-2
• Robert Schulzinger. 1997. A Time for War: The United States and Vietnam, 1941–1975. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Neil Sheehan. 1988. A Bright Shining Lie. New York: Vintage.
• Lewis Sorley. 1999. A Better War: The Unexamined Victories and Final Tragedy of America's Last Years in Vietnam New York: Harcourt.
• Harry G. Summers. 1982. On Strategy: A Critical Analysis of the Vietnam War. Presidio Press. ISBN 0-89141-563-7, ISBN 978-0-89141-563-3
• Shelby Stanton. 1987. Vietnam: Order of Battle
• Shelby Stanton. 1988. The Rise and Fall of an American Army
• Louis A. Wiesner. 1988. Victims and Survivors Displaced Persons and Other War Victims in Viet-Nam. New York: Greenwood Press.

External links

• 4-part video series profiling the untold story of the Vietnam War.
• Timeline of NVA invasion of South Vietnam
• VietnamWar.com – biographies, pictures, historical data
• A Vietnam Veterans Site, Excellent Historical Information and photos
• Blog covers Widow’s travels to Vietnam in search of her MIA husband’s jet crash site in Que Son Mtns
• About the Khe Sanh Hill Fights
• Asian-Nation: The Viet Nam/American War
• Congressional Use of Funding Cutoffs Involving US Military Forces and Overseas Deployments
• Department of the Navy—Navy Historical Center: By Sea, Air, and Land
• GI Resistance in the Vietnam War, 1961–1973 Covers the fraggings, "search and avoid" missions, etc.
• Over There by Peter Egan and Joel Fields
• PBS American Experience: Vietnam Online
• Pentagon Papers
• Teaching about Vietnam and the Vietnam War
• The Annals of Vietnam (emphasis on the early years of the conflict)
• Viet Nam Today for Vets
• Photographs by Vietnamese war photographers
• Vietnam War picture essay
• Vietnam War picture gallery
• Vietnam War Terminology and Slang
• Vietnam Views (marking the 30th anniversary of its end, a social journal that captures stories from those affected by the war)
• Vietnam War uniforms and equipment
• The personal account of a GI about army personnel's resistance to the war by Dave Blalock
• Virtual Vietnam Archive (more than 2 million pages of online historical materials)
• The Effects of Vietnamization on the Republic of Vietnam's Armed Forces, 1969–1972
• The Virtual Wall online Vietnam Veterans Memorial
• Vietnam War Films
• Flags of the Viêt Nam War
• Spraying of Agent orange by US Army in Vietnam and its consequences
• CBC Digital Archives – Canada's Secret War: Vietnam
• The Blood-Red Hands of Ho Chi Minh