When was vietnam war

Sharpened bamboo stakes of various length and width, punji stakes could be used in a variety of ways, most infamously in camouflaged pits.

Bamboo stakes could also be run through large balls of mud, which would then be left to harden in the sun. Inside each can? A grenade whose pin had been pulled. Inserted into the can, the safety lever would be held down. Sometimes in the case of larger shells fatal, most often these traps left a man permanently disabled.

The Vietnamese made use of pressure release traps as well. When the case is lifted, an electrical charge was released, which ignited an explosive within, killing two men.

Leaving their flags flying or laying on the ground as they retreated, the Vietnamese would sometimes rig booby traps to go off when the flag was touched or lowered. Aside from the infamous bamboo punji stakes which were also used by the Japanese in WWII , the VC sometimes used another common feature of the landscape as a booby trap or psychological weapon — poisonous snakes.

Left in old weapons caches, or tied and left around corners in the various tunnel complexes dug by the Viet Cong, the snakes were not necessarily the most effective booby trap of the war but ranked high in terms of the fear the thought of finding one instilled. This is but a small sampling of many different types deployed during the war, and which took such a profound physical and psychological toll on their enemy.

She left the foster care system as soon as her papers said she was 18, and the two married and had three children. The couple split up after six years.

He moved to his home country of Mexico, and Dudley raised her daughter and two sons on her own, earning her GED and massage therapist license. Her children are 29, 28 and Dudley knows her maternal aunts and uncles. She had always wanted to find her dad, but had little information to go off of. Her mother had told her that he knew she was pregnant and wanted her to move to the United States with him, but she declined.

For Christmas , her boyfriend got her a 23andMe testing kit. Last September, she woke up to six messages on 23andMe. Through Whitsitt, Dudley received photos of her dad and learned that he had served four tours in the Vietnam War. He was an army sergeant, who was shot in the leg, but fought to return to Vietnam, Dudley said.

He lived in North Carolina and died at 62 in His sister and three brothers are still alive. I was so delighted, and just talking to Jessica, I could hear him in her, her sense of humor and her dry wit. Dudley looks like her paternal grandmother and shares certain characteristics with her dad, Whitsitt said. Whitsitt and her parents ran toward Dudley when they saw her coming down the elevator at Los Angeles International Airport.

The war had pierced the myth of American invincibility and had bitterly divided the nation. Many returning veterans faced negative reactions from both opponents of the war who viewed them as having killed innocent civilians and its supporters who saw them as having lost the war , along with physical damage including the effects of exposure to the toxic herbicide Agent Orange , millions of gallons of which had been dumped by U.

On it were inscribed the names of 57, American men and women killed or missing in the war; later additions brought that total to 58, But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. The Vietnam War started in the s, according to most historians, though the conflict in Southeast Asia had its roots in the French colonial period of the s. Vietnam War protests began small among peace activists and leftist intellectuals on college campuses but gained national prominence in , after the United States began bombing North Vietnam in earnest.

Anti-war marches and other protests, such as the ones organized by Of the nearly 1 million Americans who served on active duty in the U. Armed Forces during the Vietnam War era , many were or went on to become famous in diverse fields such as politics, entertainment, sports and journalism. The young Navy pilot John McCain, son of a The United States and many other countries intervened, propping up both sides—but especially South Vietnam—with troops, weapons and Vietnamization was a strategy that aimed to reduce American involvement in the Vietnam War by transferring all military responsibilities to South Vietnam.

The increasingly unpopular war had created deep rifts in American society. President Nixon believed his Vietnamization From air power to infantry to chemicals, the weapons used in the Vietnam War were more devastating than those of any previous conflict.

United States and South Vietnamese forces relied heavily on their superior air power, including B bombers and other aircraft that dropped Women in the Vietnam War served as soldiers, health workers, and in news-gathering capacities. Four Kent State University students were killed and nine were injured on May 4, , when members of the Ohio National Guard opened fire on a crowd gathered to protest the Vietnam War.

The tragedy was a watershed moment for a nation divided by the conflict in Southeast Asia. Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. Recommended for you. Vietnam War: The Fall of Saigon. Vietnam: Anti-War Protests. Vietnam War: Tet Offensive. Vietnam War: Presidents and Policy Makers. Vietnam War. Weapons of the Vietnam War. Adlai Stevenson on Vietnam War. Westmoreland on the Vietnam War. Vietnam War Timeline The Vietnam War started in the s, according to most historians, though the conflict in Southeast Asia had its roots in the French colonial period of the s.

Vietnam War Protests Vietnam War protests began small among peace activists and leftist intellectuals on college campuses but gained national prominence in , after the United States began bombing North Vietnam in earnest.