Snapshot of the Vietnam War:

When: The Vietnam War began on November 1, 1955 and ended April 30, 1975. It lasted for 19 and 1/2 years.

Where: Although the bulk of the fighting took place in Vietnam, the war also spilled over into neighboring Laos and Cambodia in the early 1970s.

Who: Communist North Vietnamese forces, led by Ho Chi Minh, were allied with the Viet Cong in South Vietnam, the People's Republic of China, and the Soviet Union.

They faced an anti-communist coalition made up of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), the United States, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and Laos.

Maximum Troop Deployment: North Vietnam and its allies - approx. 500,000. South Vietnam and its allies - 1,830,000 (peak in 1968).

Who Won the Vietnam War? The North Vietnamese army and their Viet Cong allies won the war. The United States and other foreign nations withdrew their troops by March, 1973. The South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to the communist forces on April 30, 1975.

Estimated Total Deaths:

South Vietnam - approximately 300,000 soldiers dead, up to 3,000,000 civilians

North Vietnam + Viet Cong - approximately 1,100,000 soldiers dead, up to 2,000,000 civilians

Cambodia - 200,000 or more civilians dead

United States - 58,220 dead

Laos - approximately 30,000 dead

South Korea - 5,099 dead

People's Republic of China - 1,446 dead

Thailand - 1,351 dead

Australia - 521 dead

New Zealand - 37 dead

Soviet Union - 16 dead.

Major Events and Turning Points:

Gulf of Tonkin Incident, August 2 and 4, 1964.

My Lai Massacre, March 16, 1968.

Tet Offensive, January 30, 1968.

Large Anti-war Protests Begin in US, October 15, 1969.

Kent State Shootings, May 4, 1970.

Fall of Saigon, April 30, 1975.

For More Information, See Also:

? Why did the United States enter the Vietnam War?

? What was the Domino Theory?

? A Timeline of the Vietnam War

? The Vietnam War in Photos