ABSTRACT
On March 29, 1973, the last American combat troop boarded a plane in Saigon, marking the end of US involvement in the Second Indochina War. Although the fighting continued for another two years, the outcome was never seriously in doubt. From beginning to end, US allies in Indochina were less disciplined, determined, and committed—though seldom less well armed—than their adversaries. As popularly told, Vietnam's history is a litany of resistance to foreign domination. Formed in the Red River Delta, Vietnam fell under Chinese rule in 208 b.c.; the Vietnamese rebelled periodically over the next millennium, achieved independence in 938 a.d., defeated a Chinese attempt at reconquest in 1077, repulsed Mongol invasions in 1283 and 1287, and successfully resisted another Chinese occupation from 1407 to 1427. Direct colonial rule began in 1858 with a series of French military thrusts. By 1883, the whole of Vietnam was under French control and administered as part of French Indochina.
