The Vietnam War was a conflict during the Cold War era that took place in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from November 1955 to the fall of Saigon in April 1975.
It was officially fought between the governments of South Vietnam and North Vietnam. The South Vietnamese Army was supported by the United States and its anti-communist allies, while the North Vietnamese Army was backed by the Soviet Union, China and their communist allies.
The Viet Cong, communist rebels aided by the North, fought a fierce guerrilla war against the United States and South Vietnamese forces. In the course of the war the U.S. Army conducted several search and destroy operations in the heart of the Vietnamese jungle.
The capture of Saigon by the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong in April 1975 marked the end of the war.