From Wikipedia

Vietnam - Ten Thousand Day War

The Vietnam War was a military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1959 to 30 April 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 nations.

The Viet Cong, a lightly armed South Vietnamese communist-controlled common front, 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 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 airstrikes.

The United States entered the war to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam as part of their wider strategy of 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.

After this, U.S. ground forces were withdrawn as part of a policy called Vietnamization. Despite Paris Peace Accords, signed by all parties in January 1973, fighting continued.

The Case-Church Amendment, passed by the U.S. Congress in response to the anti-war movement, prohibited direct U.S. military involvement after August 15, 1973. U.S. military and economic aid continued until 1975. The capture of Saigon by North Vietnamese army, in April 1975, marked the end of Vietnam War. North and South Vietnam were reunified the following year.

The war exacted a huge human cost in terms of fatalities, including 3 to 4 million Vietnamese from both sides, 1.5 to 2 million Laotians and Cambodians, and 58,159 U.S. soldiers.

Vietnam War
Part of the Cold War
A South Vietnamese air force UH-1 "Huey" helicopter over the Mekong Delta in 1970
Date 1959[1] – 30 April 1975 Location Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos Result North Vietnamese and Communist victory, United States Defeat, eventual communist takeover of South Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Territorial changes Unification of North and South Vietnam
Belligerents
Anti-Communist forces:  South Vietnam  United States  South Korea  Australia  Philippines  New Zealand Khmer Republic  Thailand Kingdom of Laos Republic of China	Communist forces:  North Vietnam Viet Cong Khmer Rouge Pathet Lao  People's Republic of China  Soviet Union  North Korea
Commanders
Nguyễn Văn Thiệu Le Van Hung Nguyen Cao Ky Ngô Đình Diệm Ngo Quang Truong Lam Quang Thi Dwight D. Eisenhower John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Johnson Richard Nixon Gerald Ford Robert McNamara William Westmoreland Earle Wheeler Creighton Abrams Frederick Weyand Elmo Zumwalt Robin Olds John S. McCain II Park Chung-hee Chae Myung-shin Lee Se-ho Harold Holt Ferdinand Marcos Keith Holyoake Lon Nol Thanom Kittikachorn Vang Pao Chiang Kai-shek	Hồ Chí Minh Lê Duẩn Trường Chinh Nguyễn Chí Thanh Võ Nguyên Giáp Phạm Hùng Văn Tiến Dũng Trần Văn Trà Lê Ðức Thọ Đồng Sỹ Nguyên Nguyễn Hữu An Lê Đức Anh Tran Do Nguyen Van Toan Hoang Minh Thao Nguyen Minh Chau Tran The Mon Chu Phong Doi Truong Muc Vo Minh Triet Pol Pot Mao Zedong Nikita Khruschev Leonid Brezhnev
Strength
~1,200,000 (1968) South Vietnam: ~650,000 United States: 553,000 (1968)[2] South Korea: 312,853,[3] New Zealand, Thailand, Philippines: 10,450[4] Australia: 49,968 (1962–1973)[5]	~520,000 (1968) North Vietnam: ~340,000 PRC: 170,000 (1969) Soviet Union: 3,000 North Korea: 300
Casualties and losses
South Vietnam 220,357 dead;[6] 1,170,000 wounded US 58,159 dead;[6] 2,000 missing; 303,635 wounded[7] South Korea 4,960 dead; 10,962 wounded Kingdom of Laos 30,000 killed, wounded unknown [8] Australia 520 dead;[6] 2,400* wounded New Zealand 37 dead; 187 wounded Thailand 1,351 dead[6] Total dead: 315,831 Total wounded: ~1,490,000+	North Vietnam & NLF 1,176,000 dead/missing;[6] 600,000+ wounded[9] P.R. China 1,446 dead; 4,200 wounded Soviet Union 16 dead[10] Total dead: ~1,177,446 Total wounded: ~604,000+
South Vietnamese civilian dead: 1,581,000*[6] Cambodian civilian dead: ~700,000* North Vietnamese civilian dead: ~2,000,000[11] Laotian civilian dead: ~50,000* * = approximations, see Casualties below For more information on casualties see Vietnam War casualties