Last U.S. combat troops leave Vietnam

The ceasefire provisions of the Paris agreement took effect. Fighting continued, and the agreement’s monitoring and enforcement mechanisms could not establish a durable political settlement....

The first group of U.S. prisoners of war was released and flown from Hanoi under the Paris agreement. The operation brought home 591 U.S. prisoners over several weeks; Vietnamese prisoners and missing...

Operation Homecoming began with the release of U.S. prisoners from North Vietnam. The National Archives records 591 American prisoners released under the agreement, while Vietnamese detainees and...

The Lao parties signed an agreement restoring peace and achieving national concord, setting a ceasefire and a path toward a coalition government. The settlement formed part of the wider regional...

Operation End Sweep began clearing mines laid by U.S. forces during the war, following the Paris Peace Accords. Helicopter crews worked in Haiphong’s shipping approaches and other ports. The operation...

The final U.S. combat troops departed Vietnam under the Paris agreement. The withdrawal ended direct U.S. ground combat deployment but did not end the conflict between Vietnamese forces or the...

Captain Robert White, held by a local National Liberation Front member, was transferred to U.S. officials after the larger prisoner-release process. His case showed that the return of U.S. prisoners...

The two negotiators resumed meetings as fighting continued and the ceasefire proved unstable. The U.S. diplomatic record describes the May–June meetings as an unsuccessful effort to reaffirm the...

The June communiqué attempted to reaffirm implementation of the Paris agreement after continued fighting. The diplomatic effort could not resolve the conflict between the South Vietnamese parties,...

U.S. naval forces completed the minesweeping mission and departed North Vietnamese territorial waters; Task Force 78 was disbanded later in July. Clearing mines did not remove the much broader...