Vietnam

During the Vietnam War, major campaigns and battles listed included the Tet Offensive, the Vietcong Offensive, Operation Rolling Thunder, the Battle of Khe Sahn, the Battle of Dak To, Operation Junction City, the Battle of Ia Drang Valley, Operation Attleboro, the Battle of Que Son Valley, Operation Kingfisher, the Battle of Firebase Ripcord, Operation Cedar Falls, Hamburger Hill, and Operation Starlite, with reported deaths ranging from forty-five to two thousand five hundred. Military service personnel participants totaled 3,403,000, with 58,200 in-theater deaths, 32,000 deaths in service, 153,303 wounded in service, and 1,870 missing in action. Illinois recorded 2,930 deaths and 75 missing in action, while Kane County recorded 53 deaths and one missing in action. In 1964, the U.S. Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, authorizing the President to use armed force in Southeast Asia, though the U.S. did not declare war. In 1965, President Johnson sent a Marine brigade to Danang, the first U.S. ground troops in the war. In 1968, the Paris Peace Talks opened. In 1969, U.S. forces reached a peak of more than 543,000 troops, and the U.S. Selective Service began a draft lottery. In 1970, the U.S. Congress voted to repeal the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. In 1973, the Paris Peace Accord, a cease fire, was signed by the United States, South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and the Vietcong, and the last American ground troops left Vietnam. In 1975, Saigon fell and was renamed Ho Chi Minh City. Volunteers accounted for over 70% of combat deaths, their average age was 19, the war cost the U.S. nearly 150 billion over two decades, Vietnam estimated its casualties at 3 million soldiers and civilians, with one-third from the North and two-thirds from the South, and the war ended in a stalemate.

Geneva, Illinois · United States