Battlefield Vietnam: Ep 12 "The Fall of Saigon" (1/6)

The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, or the Vietnam Conflict, occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia from 1959 to April 30, 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).

The Vietcong, the lightly armed South Vietnamese communist insurgency, largely fought a guerrilla war against anti-communist forces in the region. The North Vietnamese Army engaged in a more conventional war, at times committing large-sized units into battle. U.S. and South Vietnamese forces relied on air superiority and overwhelming firepower to conduct search-and-destroy operations, involving ground forces, artillery and air strikes.

The United States entered the war to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam as part of a wider strategy called containment. Military advisors arrived beginning in 1950. U.S. involvement escalated in the early 1960s and combat units were deployed beginning in 1965. Involvement peaked in 1968 at the time of the Tet Offensive. Under a policy called Vietnamization, U.S. forces withdrew as South Vietnamese troops were trained and armed. Despite a peace treaty signed by all parties in January 1973, fighting continued. In response to the anti-war movement, the U.S. Congress passed the Case-Church Amendment in June 1973 prohibiting further U.S. military intervention. In April 1975, North Vietnam captured Saigon. North and South Vietnam were reunified the following year.

Battlefield Vietnam explores some of the most important battles fought during the Vietnam War. There are detailed battlefield descriptions and graphics, accompanied by actual combat footage. The narrator speaks throughout the series, without interviews of actual battle veterans. Detailed analysis of the battle including leaders, commanders, soldiers and weapons is presented. Events preceding the featured battle are included, as well as some aftermath details.

Category:

Education

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• Battlefield
• Vietnam
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• Indochina
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• Laos
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• Vietcong
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• DMZ

[BrendaQG]

@balianmachiavelli No those were South Vietnamese rangers. Seriously the USA had pulled out of the ground war for the most part at this time. The ARVN had some good units.

[oneinteligentmuslim]

Awesome ! I've wathched all your documentaries about Vietnam (1-12) . Thank you for posting !!

[Cthulu54]

@TheMrkukulcan Try decaf

[Cthulu54]

We fought the communists in Vietnam for ten years, losing fifty eight thousand soldiers. Then South Vietnam collapses with almost no resistance-an exception being Xuan Loc. Now the Soviet Union and worldwide communism, which we were ostensibly opposing, no longer exist and Nike uses Vietnam as a source for cheap labor, taking jobs from Americans. WTF!

[TheMrkukulcan]

@Saracen180 fuck tha USA did i did it rigth im from california fuck jews and gringos

[penitent2401]

@mikedawes26 yeah in war there's often very thin line between good guys and bad guys if the line is there at all. an example is winston churchill in world war 2, he was looked at as a hero for leading britan through against nazi germany. but alot of people were racist at that time, churchill included, he exported alot of food from british colony india for war when a drought hit them not caring for the people, millions starved to death, india declared independence very shortly after the war ended

[mikedawes26]

@penitent2401 I agree that the only reason America intervened is cause N. Vietnam was communists. If they had invaded the south and killed millions of people in the name of Democracy then the US would have been ok with it. I just hate how after giving up so much we just cut and run, thats all. In reality the SV government would never be accepted by there people and rightly so. America should have never got involved but it was a differnt time then and my dad serving makes it important to me.

[mikedawes26]

@penitent2401 OH. So if it wasnt for the Rouge attacking the Vietnamese in Cambodia they wouldnt have attacked. Either way at least they fought for them and I think the lesser of two evils would be the vietnamese. Again thanks

[penitent2401]

@mikedawes26 nah, vietnam wasn't being a saint either, they invaded because the khelmer rouge gets overly ambitious and wanted vietnam to give back territory that once belonged to a nation or empire that eventually became cambodia from hundreds of years ago. vietnam predictably refuse this demand, khelmer rouge attacked the border and slaughter ethnic vietnamese living in cambodia, total about 30,000 dead i think. vietnam then invaded in self defense, otherwise they would not have cared.

[mikedawes26]

@penitent2401 Sorry if I came across as a dick. It wasnt my intention in my earlier posts. I appreciate that you informed me of that. I always love learning something new about that conflict. You have anything else like that let me know.

[mikedawes26]

@penitent2401 I did not know that. Thanks for that info bro. So basically Vietnam invaded Cambodia to end the genocide and take that government out and saved untold numbers of people who would have ultimately been killed? I respect that. Is the Cambodian government that killed all of those people wiping out anyone who wasnt a peasant to make everyone equal the one that was overthrown? Its sucks that politics get so many innocent people killed. Good for Nam to do that then. Thanks again.

[penitent2401]

@mikedawes26 same thing happens a few years after the vietnam war. the khelmer rouge in cambodia wre murdering missions in their genocide and making raids accross neighbour countries borders. vietnamese invaded, end the genocide and set up a new government. the western countries refuse to recognise the cambodian seat in the UN after this and condemned vietnam's attack purely because vietnam is communist government even though they recognise the genocide was going on in cambodia.