Vietnam War, 1959 to 1975

At the Battle of Dien Bien Phu between March and May 1954, the French were handed a stunning military defeat by the Viet Minh. On 7 May 1954, the French Union garrison surrendered. Vietnam was split in two: in the north, the Viet Minh established a socialist state and in the south, Ngo Dinh Diem was chosen by the US to lead South Vietnam. After Diem was overthrown and executed, US President John F Kennedy increased the number of US military advisers from 800 to 16,300 to cope with rising guerrilla activity. Kennedy also introduced helicopters to the war and created a joint US-South Vietnamese Air Force, staffed with American pilots. He also sent in the Green Berets. After the assassination of Kennedy, President Lyndon Johnson escalated the American involvement in the Vietnam War, from 16,000 American soldiers in 1963 to 550,000 in early 1968.

Dragon US 7th Cavalry Battalion Commander Lt Col Moore (played by Mel Gibson in "We Were Soldiers" (2002) and Radio Telephone Operator "Smith", MACV-SOG "Ron", US Army 25th Infantry Division grunt/newbie PTE Chris Taylor played by Charlie Sheen in "Platoon" (1986), US Army Special Forces Green Beret, USMC Infantryman "Russell" and behind him, USMC Senior Drill Instructor Gunnery Sergeant Hartman.

US Army Mine Detector by Action Man, M60 Machine Gunner by Hasbro, USMC Infantryman with M79 grenade launcher and RTO with M14, Helicopter pilot and gunner, GI Joe Green Beret.

US Navy SEALs - Stoner Machine Gunner (Hot Toys and 21st Century), M60 Shorty Machine Gunner (Hot Toys and 21st Century), MIKE Force (21st Century) and behind him, Action Man Green Beret by Tsukuda of Japan 

Viet Cong scout, Viet Cong soldier, North Vietnamese soldier, Vietnam War vet, US Army Combat Engineer, GI Joe MACV-SOG and Action Man Green Beret

The Vietnam War would be the longest military conflict in US history. The war ended on 30 April 1975 when the capital of South Vietnam, Saigon fell to the communist forces of North Vietnam. Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City on 1 May 1975 in honour of Ho Chi Minh, the Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman, who was prime minister (1946–1955) and president (1946–1969) of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam).