During the following 25 years the ensuing war would create some of the strongest tensions in us history. Almost 3 million us men and women were sent thousands of miles to fight for what was a questionable cause. In total, it is estimated that over 2,5 million people on both sides were killed. This site does not try to document the entire history of the vietnam war, but is intended as a picture essay illustrating some of the incredible conditions under which soldiers from both sides lived, fought, played and ultimately died. The legendary combat photographer, tim page, took almost all of the images shown on this site and they are nothing short of stunning.

Please be advised that strict copyright laws protect this site and under no circumstances may any images be copied or used. Please see the acknowledgment section for more details about the pictures and this site. I cannot give anyone permission to use the images, they are the property of the photographers or their publishers. Finally, if you have come here to only look at blood and gore you have come to the wrong place, a soldiers facial expression can be just as terrifying. First air cavalry division point their weapons at villagers whom they flushed from the brush along the riverbank. an injured north vietnamese soldier is led from his bunker by soldiers of the u.s. Advance for one hour with machine gun fire from his position. wearing a bloody bandage over the left side of his face, medic thomas cole of richmond, va. This picture is from an unforgettable sequence of one man's dedication. a young viet cong suspect cries after hearing a rifle shot.

Special forces, pretended to shoot his father, a ruse designed to make the boy reveal information about communist guerrillas. fifty years ago, in march 1965, 3,500 u.s. They were the first american combat troops on the ground in a conflict that had been building for decades. The communist government of north vietnam backed by the soviet union and china was locked in a battle with south vietnam supported by the united states in a cold war proxy fight. Had been providing aid and advisors to the south since the 1950s, slowly escalating operations to include bombing runs and ground troops. Troops were in the country, fighting alongside south vietnamese soldiers as they faced both a conventional army and a guerrilla force in unforgiving terrain. Each side suffered and inflicted huge losses, with the civilian populace suffering horribly.

Based on widely varying estimates, between 1.5 and 3.6 million people were killed in the war. This photo essay, part one of a three part series, looks at the earlier stages of u.s. Involvement in the vietnam war, as well as the growing protest movement, between the years 1962 and 1967. warning: several of these photographs are graphic in nature. hovering u.s. Army helicopters pour machine gun fire into a tree line to cover the advance of south vietnamese ground troops in an attack on a viet cong camp 18 miles north of tay ninh, near the cambodian border, in march of 1965. An american officer serving with the south vietnam forces poses with group of montagnards in front of one of their provisionary huts in a military camp in central vietnam on november 17, 1962.

They were brought in by government troops from a village where they were used as labor force by communist viet cong forces. The montagnards, dark skinned tribesmen numbering about 700,0, live in the highlands of central vietnam. Special forces troops set out to raid a viet cong supply base 62 miles northwest of saigon, on august 6, 1963. As the h 21 helicopters hovered six feet from the ground to avoid spikes and wires and under sniper fire, the troops jumped out to attack.

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A south vietnamese marine, severely wounded in a viet cong ambush, is comforted by a comrade in a sugar cane field at duc hoa, about 12 miles from saigon, on august 5, 1963. A platoon of 30 vietnamese marines was searching for communist guerrillas when a long burst of automatic fire killed one marine and wounded four others. Napalm air strikes raise clouds into gray monsoon skies as houseboats glide down the perfume river toward hue in vietnam on february 28, 1963, where a battle for control of the old imperial city ended with a communist defeat.

Thich quang duc, a buddhist monk, burns himself to death on a saigon street on june 11, 1963, to protest alleged persecution of buddhists by the south vietnamese government. President ngo d nh diem, part of the catholic minority, had adopted policies that discriminated against buddhists and gave high favor to catholics. Flying low over the jungle, an a 1 skyraider drops 500 pound bombs on a viet cong position below as smoke rises from a previous pass at the target, on december 26, 1964. Partially covered, a dying viet cong guerrilla raises his hands as south vietnamese marines search palm groves near long binh in the mekong delta, on february 27, 1964. The guerrilla died in a foxhole following a battle between a battalion of south vietnamese marines and a unit of viet cong.

Eagle flight helicopters hover overhead, south vietnamese troops wade through a rice paddy in long an province during operations against viet cong guerrillas in the mekong delta, in december of 1964. The eagle flight choppers were loaded with vietnamese airborne troops who were dropped in to support ground forces at the first sign of enemy contact. A father holds the body of his child as south vietnamese army rangers look down from their armored vehicle on march 19, 1964. The child was killed as government forces pursued guerrillas into a village near the cambodian border. Marines wade ashore with heavy equipment at first light at red beach near da nang in saigon on april 10, 1965.

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With the persuasion of a viet cong made spear pressed against his throat, a captured viet cong guerrilla decided to talk to interrogators, telling them of a cache of chinese grenades on march 28, 1965. He was captured with 13 other guerrillas and 17 suspects when two vietnamese battalions overran a viet cong camp about 15 miles southwest of da nang air force base. Thousands attend a rally on the grounds of the washington monument in washington on april 17, 1965, to hear ernest gruening, a democratic senator from alaska, and other speakers discuss u.s.

The rally followed picketing of the white house by students demanding an end to vietnam fighting. Army soldier in a ward of the 8th army hospital at nha trang in south vietnam on february 7, 1965. The soldier was one of more than 100 who were wounded during viet cong attacks on two u.s. Military installations in south vietnam, on february 7, are placed in transport plane at saigon, february 9, 1965, for return flight to the united states. Injured vietnamese receive aid as they lie on the street after a bomb explosion outside the u.s. Four ranch hand c 123 aircraft spray liquid defoliant on a suspected viet cong position in south vietnam in september of 1965. The four specially equipped planes covered a 1,0 foot wide swath in each pass over the dense vegetation.

A vietnamese battalion commander, captain thach quyen, left, interrogates a captured viet cong suspect on tan dinh island, mekong delta, in 1965. A strategic air command b 52 bomber with externally mounted, 750 pound bombs heads toward its target about 56 miles northwest of saigon near tay ninh on november 2, 1965. General william westmoreland talks with troops of first battalion, 16th regiment of 2nd brigade of u.s.

Flares from planes light a field covered with the dead and wounded of the ambushed battalion of the u.s. 1st cavalry division in the ia drang valley, vietnam, on november 18, 1965, during a fierce battle that had been raging for days. Units of the division were battling to hold their lines against what was estimated to be a regiment of north vietnamese soldiers. Bodies of the slain soldiers were carried to this clearing with their gear to await evacuation by helicopter. Marine, newly arrived in south vietnam on april 29, 1965, drips with perspiration while on patrol in search of viet cong guerrillas near da nang air base. A marine corps commandant, after a visit to the area, authorized light short sleeved uniforms as aid to troops rsquo comfort. In berkeley oakland city, california, demonstrators march against the war in vietnam in december of 1965.