Museum Audio Tour 28: Modern Flight Gallery: SEA War Introduction

DAYTON, OH, UNITED STATES

12.31.1969

Audio by NMUSAF PA 

National Museum of the U.S. Air Force

For many years in the early 20th century, the people of Southeast Asia struggled for independence from France. The U.S. gave France military assistance in fighting insurgents. After the French defeat in 1954, Indochina was divided into North Vietnam, South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. A demilitarized zone formed the border between North and South Vietnam. North Vietnam, under Ho Chi Minh, became a communist nation. Concurrently, the U.S. sponsored the creation of the eight-nation Southeast Asia Treaty Organization to protect Cambodia, Laos and South Vietnam from the spread of communism. North Vietnam soon declared its intention to reunite with South Vietnam—by military means if necessary. In 1959, it began supplying a terrorist campaign in South Vietnam carried out by southern Vietnamese communist Viet Cong guerrillas. Later, North Vietnam also began supporting communist guerrillas in Laos. What started as a small U.S. program to train the South Vietnamese army in 1961 grew into a massive military effort. U.S. combat operations began in South Vietnam, and eventually spread to North Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. The increasing U.S. commitment aimed to combat local communist insurgents, North Vietnamese troops and the flow of supplies supporting them.

• Date Taken: 12.31.1969
• Date Posted: 09.02.2015 13:21
• Category: Newscasts
• Audio ID: 41936
• Filename: 1509/DOD_102704315.mp3
• Length: 00:01:29
• Album: Museum Audio Tour
• Track #: 28
• Location: DAYTON, OH, US