Vietnam War

noun

1. a conflict, starting in 1954 and ending in 1975, between South Vietnam (later aided by the U.S., South Korea, Australia, the Philippines, Thailand, and New Zealand) and the Vietcong and North Vietnam.

Vietnam War

1. A war in Southeast Asia, in which the United States fought in the 1960s and 1970s. The war was waged from 1954 to 1975 between communist North Vietnam and noncommunist South Vietnam, two parts of what was once the French colony of Indochina. Vietnamese communists attempted to take over the South, both by invasion from the North and by guerrilla warfare conducted within the South by the Viet Cong. Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy sent increasing numbers of American military advisers to South Vietnam in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Kennedy's successor, President Lyndon Johnson, increased American military support greatly, until half a million United States soldiers were in Vietnam. American goals in Vietnam proved difficult to achieve, and the communists'Tet offensive was a severe setback. Reports of atrocities committed by both sides in the war disturbed many Americans (see My Lai massacre). Eventually, President Richard Nixon decreased American troop strength and sent his secretary of state, Henry Kissinger, to negotiate a cease-fire with North Vietnam. American troops were withdrawn in 1973, and South Vietnam was completely taken over by communist forces in 1975.

The involvement of the United States in the war was extremely controversial. Some supported it wholeheartedly; others opposed it in mass demonstrations and by refusing to serve in the American armed forces (see draft). Still others seemed to rely on the government to decide the best course of action (see silent majority).

A large memorial (see Vietnam Memorial) bearing the names of all members of the United States armed services who died in the Vietnam War is in Washington, D.C.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Vietnam War¹

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

The squadron earned its “Gunfighters” nickname during the Vietnam War and has since served in major operations including Operations Desert Storm, Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

There are some less fluffy bits, yes; mentions of Candy’s capacity to hold a grudge and his almost uncharacteristic desire to enlist in the Vietnam War after high school come up.

Read more on Salon

A moderately liberal Democrat, Updike was in the smallest of literary minorities in not being fervently against the Vietnam War.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The term post-traumatic stress disorder did not come into being until the Vietnam War and was not added to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders until 1980.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

"It was a time that people don't remember. You know we had a war... the Vietnam War, you became, I became immersed in it. We were saying the country needed to change," she said.

Read more on BBC