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Vietcong (VC), was the National Liberation Front (NLF). It formed at the end of 1960 and was created by the North Vietnamese. The northern communists wanted to further the armed forces against South Vietnam. The Vietcong had huge growth and by 1964 they totaled to about 30,000 soldiers.
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The United States Military becomes actively involved in the Vietnam War.
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The South Vietnamese Army (ARVN) and its American advisors were defeated by the Vietcong guerrilla at Ap Bac. The loss of this battle should have caused the U.S. policy makers to question the their efforts to train the ARVN troops, but they failed to see the battle's significance. The American people tried telling the policy makers, but they wouldn't listen.
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The United States offered north Vietnam economic aid. All they wanted in return was peace. However, the offer was rejected.
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Journalist Seymour Hersh allows Americans to read the crime committed by Lt. William Calley and his troops in the village of My Lai. The Lt. and his troops committed a huge massacre of innocent villagers in My Lai. When the reports were made public, the Army had already charged Lt. Calley with murder.
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President Richard Nixon takes office, and now has to deal with the Vietnam War.
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Only 133,000 U.S. troops came home from Vietnam at this point. Two thirds of American troops have gone home in two years.
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A ceasefire was agreed to take effect on midnight on January 27. This was the end of American involvement in Vietnam and all remaining troops were withdrawn.
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The war lasted around 15 years and the casualties were finally evaluated. Nearly 1,000,000 NVA and Vietcong troops, and a quarter of a million South Vietnamese troops have been killed. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed as well.
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58,183 Americans were killed in the Vietnam war. Every single one of their names is on the wall in Washington D.C. The Wall consists of two simple black concrete walls in the shape of a "V" and it speaks for itself. The memorial was finished and dedicated in November of 1982.
