Over the course of the Vietnam War, U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard units trained and assisted South Vietnamese forces; located and destroyed North Vietnamese troops and supply routes; conducted ground operations against the Việt Cộng; patrolled rivers and canals; mined North Vietnamese ports; ...

1955-1975. The Vietnam War was a long, costly, and divisive conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. The conflict was intensified by the ongoing Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Vietnam, unlike many other wars, was not a conflict defined by a series of pitched battles. Prolonged, limited engagement was a frequent occurrence for many American troops, who faced a recurring danger in patrols and search-and-destroy missions.

The heavily forested terrain often made it difficult to locate the enemy. Unlike U.S. soldiers, the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) knew this land intimately and were skilled at concealing themselves in the dense tropical vegetation.