On This Day: 8th July
To commemorate the first withdrawal of American soldiers from Vietnam, we look at the top five facts of ‘nam:
The Vietnam War (1954-1975)
1. Vietnam was divided into two, the communist North and the much less left wing, South. Much of the American fighting was carried out against the North and the two countries eventually unified in 1976 when the North won the war.
2. The war cost the US a reported $200 (£117) billion.
3. The bombing of North Vietnam had a higher total tonnage of bombs than was dropped on Germany, Italy, and Japan in World War II.
4.
Vietnam was first invaded by a European power in 1857, when Napoleon III sanctioned the conquest. The new French colony was known as Cochinchina.
5. Sadly, 1,642 American soldiers still remain lost in action.