Vietnam veterans return medals at the U.S. Capitol

Congress enacted restrictions on U.S. ground forces and advisers in Cambodia through the Cooper-Church amendment. The measure reflected legislative resistance to the expansion of the war and a renewed...

Operation Lam Sơn 719 sent South Vietnamese forces into Laos to disrupt supply routes, with U.S. air support but no U.S. ground combat units. The operation suffered major losses and demonstrated the...

South Vietnamese ground forces crossed into Laos with U.S. air and logistical support, seeking to disrupt the Hồ Chí Minh Trail. The operation tested Vietnamization and Laos’s sovereignty; Laotian...

South Vietnamese forces withdrew from Laos after heavy losses. The operation failed to permanently sever supply routes and exposed the limits of U.S. claims that Vietnamization could sustain major...

Veterans gathered in Washington for a week of protest, testimony and public actions against the war. The protest challenged the claim that opposition came only from civilians and used veterans’...

The newspaper published classified Defense Department history revealing that successive U.S. administrations had misled the public about Vietnam. The Nixon administration sought to stop publication;...

Nixon announced that he would visit China, changing the strategic setting of the Vietnam conflict. U.S. leaders hoped improved relations with Beijing could influence Hanoi, revealing how Vietnamese...

Nixon’s visit opened a new phase in U.S.-China relations as the Vietnam War continued. The summit illustrated the unequal diplomatic field: Vietnamese independence struggles were discussed within...

The United States announced an indefinite suspension of public meetings in Paris. As negotiations stalled, combat and bombing continued; public diplomacy became intertwined with pressure tactics and...

The People’s Army of Vietnam launched a major conventional offensive across the demilitarized zone and into the Central Highlands. South Vietnamese forces resisted with substantial U.S. air support....