Tanks in the Easter Offensive 1972

Download Tanks in the Easter Offensive 1972 PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1472849000
Total Pages : 49 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (728 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Tanks in the Easter Offensive 1972 by : William E. Hiestand

Download or read book Tanks in the Easter Offensive 1972 written by William E. Hiestand and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2022-02-17 with total page 49 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study explains how the armies of North and South Vietnam, newly equipped with the most modern Soviet and US tanks and weaponry, fought the decisive armored battles of the Easter Offensive. Wearied by years of fighting against Viet Cong guerillas and North Vietnamese regulars, the United States had almost completely withdrawn its forces from Vietnam by early 1972. Determined to halt the expansion and improvement of South Vietnamese forces under the U.S. “Vietnamization” program, North Vietnam launched a major fourteen-division attack in March 1972 against the South that became known as the “Easter Offensive.” Hanoi's assault was spearheaded by 1,200 tanks and was counteracted on the opposite side by Saigon's newly equipped armored force using U.S. medium tanks. The result was ferocious fighting between major Cold War-era U.S. and Soviet tanks and mechanized equipment, pitting M-48 medium and M-41 light tanks against their T- 54 and PT-76 rivals in a variety of combat environments ranging from dense jungle to urban terrain. Both sides employed cutting-edge weaponry for the first time, including the U.S. TOW and Soviet 9M14 Malyutk wire-guided anti-tank missiles. This volume examines the tanks, armored forces and weapons that clashed in this little-known campaign in detail, using after-action reports from the battlefield and other primary sources to analyze the technical and organizational factors that shaped the outcome. Despite the ARVN's defensive success in October 1972, North Vietnam massively expanded its armor forces over the next two years while U.S. support waned. This imbalance with key strategic misjudgments by the South Vietnamese President led to the stunning defeat of the South in 1975 when T54 tanks crashed through the fence surrounding the Presidential palace and took Saigon on 30 April 1975.

North Vietnam's 1972 Easter Offensive

Download North Vietnam's 1972 Easter Offensive PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Pen and Sword Military
ISBN 13 : 152675715X
Total Pages : 138 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (267 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis North Vietnam's 1972 Easter Offensive by : Stephen Emerson

Download or read book North Vietnam's 1972 Easter Offensive written by Stephen Emerson and published by Pen and Sword Military. This book was released on 2020-04-30 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By the end of 1971, in what Hanoi called the American War and at the height of the Cold War, the fighting had dragged on for eight years with neither side gaining a decisive advantage on the battlefield and talks in Paris to the end the war were going nowhere. While the United States was steadily drawing down its ground forces in South Vietnam, Washington was also engaging in a grand effort to build up and strengthen Saigon’s armed forces to the point of self-sufficiency. Not only had the ranks of Saigon’s forces swelled in recent years, but they were now being equipped and trained to use the latest American military equipment. Perhaps now was the time for Hanoi to take one last gamble before it was too late. With the rumble of men and mechanized equipment breaking the early morning silence, some 40,000 North Vietnamese troops advanced across the demilitarized zone into South Vietnam on March 30, 1972 in what would become the largest conventional attack of the war. Ill-prepared and poorly led, South Vietnamese troops in the far north were quickly routed in the face of the ensuing onslaught. Likewise, coordinated attacks across the Cambodian border northwest of Saigon and into the central highlands in the coming weeks gained steam and in due course as many as 200,000 men along with T-54/55 main battle tanks, 130mm towed artillery, ZSU-57 self-propelled ant-aircraft guns, and hundreds of trucks and armored personnel carriers were engaged across three battlefronts. Soon Saigon’s beleaguered forces were being pushed to the brink of defeat in what appeared to be the end for the Thieu government. Ultimately, however, the timely and massive intervention by U.S. and South Vietnamese air power, along with the bravery of some South Vietnamese commanders and their American advisers saved the day. Hanoi’s gamble had failed and in its wake lay up to 100,000 dead and South Vietnamese roads littered with the smoldering wrecks of North Vietnamese military equipment. Moreover, it would be another three years before the North had recovered enough to try again.

Kontum

Download Kontum PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : University Press of Kentucky
ISBN 13 : 0813140366
Total Pages : 378 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (131 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Kontum by : Thomas P. McKenna

Download or read book Kontum written by Thomas P. McKenna and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2011-09-09 with total page 378 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the spring of 1972, North Vietnam invaded South Vietnam in what became known as the Easter Offensive. Almost all of the American forces had already withdrawn from Vietnam except for a small group of American advisers to the South Vietnamese armed forces. The 23rd ARVN Infantry Division and its American advisers were sent to defend the provincial capital of Kontum in the Central Highlands. They were surrounded and attacked by three enemy divisions with heavy artillery and tanks but, with the help of air power, managed to successfully defend Kontum and prevent South Vietnam from being cut in half and defeated. Although much has been written about the Vietnam War, little of it addresses either the Easter Offensive or the Battle of Kontum. In Kontum: The Battle to Save South Vietnam, Thomas P. McKenna fills this gap, offering the only in-depth account available of this violent engagement. McKenna, a U.S. infantry lieutenant colonel assigned as a military adviser to the 23rd Division, participated in the battle of Kontum and combines his personal experiences with years of interviews and research from primary sources to describe the events leading up to the invasion and the battle itself. Kontum sheds new light on the actions of U.S. advisers in combat during the Vietnam War. McKenna's book is not only an essential historical resource for America's most controversial war but a personal story of valor and survival.

Hell in An Loc

Download Hell in An Loc PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : University of North Texas Press
ISBN 13 : 1574412760
Total Pages : 303 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (744 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Hell in An Loc by : Quang Thi Lâm

Download or read book Hell in An Loc written by Quang Thi Lâm and published by University of North Texas Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Three days before Easter last spring, the North Vietnamese struck South Vietnam with a fury unknown to the Vietnam war since the Tet offensive four years earlier. They poured south across the DMZ, smashed into the central highland from Laos, crossed the border from Cambodia and, with an army of 36,000 men and 100 Russian-made tanks, raced toward Saigon, boasting that they'd be in the city by May 19, Ho Chi Minh's birthday. From one end of the country to the other, bases and villages fell before the savagery of their onslaught. By April 5, all that blocked them from Saigon was a ragtag band of 6,800 South Vietnamese regulars and militiamen and a handful of American advisors holed up in An Loc, a once-prosperous rubber-plantation town of 15,000 astride Highway 13, which led to the capital, 60 miles to the south ... In Thi's opinion, reporting the victory of An Loc would contradict the U.S. media's basic premise that the war could not be won because ARVN was a corrupt and ineffective force. Subsequent published studies of the conflict provide a wealth of details about the use of U.S. airpower and the role of the U.S. advisors, but they fail to provide equal coverage to the activities and performance of ARVN units participating in the siege. Thi believes that it is time to set the record straight. Without denying the tremendous contribution of the U.S. advisors and pilots to the success of An Loc, this book is written primarily to tell the South Vietnamese side of the story and, more importantly, to render justice to the South Vietnamese soldier who withstood ninety-four days of horror and prevailed"--Publisher's website.

America's Last Vietnam Battle

Download America's Last Vietnam Battle PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : University Press of Kansas
ISBN 13 : 0700611312
Total Pages : 566 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (6 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis America's Last Vietnam Battle by : Dale Andradé

Download or read book America's Last Vietnam Battle written by Dale Andradé and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2000-12-31 with total page 566 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the spring of 1972, North Vietnam launched a massive military offensive designed to deliver the coup de grace to South Vietnam and its rapidly disengaging American ally. But an overconfident Hanoi misjudged its opponents who, led by American military advisers and backed by American airpower, were able to hold off the North's onslaught in what became the biggest battle of a very long war. Dale Andrade rescues this epic engagement from its previous neglect to tell a riveting tale of heroism against great odds. Originally published in cloth in 1995 as Trial by Fire and drawing upon recent Vietnamese-language sources, this new paperback edition will finally allow a true classic on the war to reach the wide readership it deserves.

The Easter Offensive

Download The Easter Offensive PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Leatherneck Classics
ISBN 13 : 9781591148814
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (488 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Easter Offensive by : Gerald H. Turley

Download or read book The Easter Offensive written by Gerald H. Turley and published by Leatherneck Classics. This book was released on 2010 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This thoroughly documented chronology of the April 1972 invasion of South Vietnam by the North Vietnamese Army, called the Easter Offensive, serves both as a historical lesson and a remarkable war memoir. On the Marine Corps Commandant's professional list for years, it is told with authority and compassion by a crucial player, an American Marine who was a senior advisor to the Vietnamese Marines. When first published in hardcover in 1984, it was a selection of the Military Book Club.

Powerful and Brutal Weapons

Download Powerful and Brutal Weapons PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 0674027094
Total Pages : 415 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (74 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Powerful and Brutal Weapons by : Stephen P Randolph

Download or read book Powerful and Brutal Weapons written by Stephen P Randolph and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2009-06-30 with total page 415 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As America confronts an unpredictable war in Iraq, Randolph returns to an earlier conflict that severely tested our civilian and military leaders. In 1972, America sought to withdraw from Vietnam with its credibility intact, with President Nixon and National Security Advisor Kissinger hoping that gains on the battlefield would strengthen their position at the negotiating table. Randolph's intimate chronicle of the commander-in-chief gains us unprecedented access to how these strategic assessments were made and played out.

The Battle of An Loc

Download The Battle of An Loc PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Indiana University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780253344816
Total Pages : 282 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (448 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Battle of An Loc by : James H. Willbanks

Download or read book The Battle of An Loc written by James H. Willbanks and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A firsthand account of a desperate battle fought during Hanol's 1972 Easter Offensive.

The Easter Offensive - Vietnam 1972: Invasion across the DMZ

Download The Easter Offensive - Vietnam 1972: Invasion across the DMZ PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Helion & Company Limited
ISBN 13 : 9781910294079
Total Pages : 72 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (94 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Easter Offensive - Vietnam 1972: Invasion across the DMZ by : Albert Grandolini

Download or read book The Easter Offensive - Vietnam 1972: Invasion across the DMZ written by Albert Grandolini and published by Helion & Company Limited. This book was released on 2015 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On 30 March 1972 the South Vietnamese positions along the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separated the North from South Vietnam were suddenly shelled by hundreds of heavy guns and multiple rocket launchers. Caught in a series of outposts of what was the former 'McNamara Line', the shocked defenders had just enough time to emerge from their bunkers at the end of the barrage before they were attacked by regular North Vietnamese Army divisions, supported by hundreds of armored vehicles that crashed though their defensive lines along the border. Thus began one of the fiercest campaigns of the Vietnam War but also one of the less well documented because by then most of the American ground forces had been withdrawn. Following on from the details of the downsizing of American forces and the setting up of the 'Vietnamization' policy, the build up of both the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) in the South and the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) in the North is discussed at length. A special emphasis is devoted to the study of the development the North Vietnamese armored corps that would spearhead the coming offensive. Consequently, the nature of the war changed dramatically, evolving from a guerrilla one into a conventional conflict. The South Vietnamese resistance shuddered, and then crumbled under the communist onslaught, putting Hue the ancient imperial capital at risk. It was only thanks to US airpower, directed by a small group of courageous American advisers, which helped to turn the tide. Under the command of a new capable commander, the South Vietnamese then methodically counterattacked to retake some of the lost ground. This culminated in the ferocious street fighting for Quang Tri. This first volume describes the combat taking place in the northern part of South Vietnam, and uses not only American archives but also Vietnamese sources, from both sides. The book contains 130 photos, five maps and 18 color profiles. Asia@War - following on from our highly successful Africa@War series, Asia@War replicates the same format - concise, incisive text, rare images and high quality color artwork providing fresh accounts of both well-known and more esoteric aspects of conflict in this part of the world since 1945.

The Limits of Air Power

Download The Limits of Air Power PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : U of Nebraska Press
ISBN 13 : 9780803264540
Total Pages : 338 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (645 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Limits of Air Power by : Mark Clodfelter

Download or read book The Limits of Air Power written by Mark Clodfelter and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2006-01-01 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tracing the use of air power in World War II and the Korean War, Mark Clodfelter explains how U. S. Air Force doctrine evolved through the American experience in these conventional wars only to be thwarted in the context of a limited guerrilla struggle in Vietnam. Although a faith in bombing's sheer destructive power led air commanders to believe that extensive air assaults could win the war at any time, the Vietnam experience instead showed how even intense aerial attacks may not achieve military or political objectives in a limited war. Based on findings from previously classified documents in presidential libraries and air force archives as well as on interviews with civilian and military decision makers, The Limits of Air Power argues that reliance on air campaigns as a primary instrument of warfare could not have produced lasting victory in Vietnam. This Bison Books edition includes a new chapter that provides a framework for evaluating air power effectiveness in future conflicts.

Through the Valley

Download Through the Valley PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Naval Institute Press
ISBN 13 : 1682470598
Total Pages : 273 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (824 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Through the Valley by : William Reeder Jr.

Download or read book Through the Valley written by William Reeder Jr. and published by Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2016-04-15 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Through the Valley is the captivating memoir of the last U.S. Army soldier taken prisoner during the Vietnam War. A narrative of courage, hope, and survival, Through the Valley is more than just a war story. It also portrays the thrill and horror of combat, the fear and anxiety of captivity, and the stories of friendships forged and friends lost. In 1971 William Reeder was a senior captain on his second tour in Vietnam. He had flown armed, fixed-wing OV-1 Mohawks on secret missions deep into enemy territory in Laos, Cambodia, and North Vietnam on his first tour. He returned as a helicopter pilot eager to experience a whole new perspective as a Cobra gunship pilot. Believing that Nixon’s Vietnamization would soon end the war, Reeder was anxious to see combat action. To him, it appeared that the Americans had prevailed, beaten the Viet Cong, and were passing everything over to the South Vietnamese Army so that Americans could leave. Less than a year later, while providing support to forces at the besieged base of Ben Het, Reeder’s chopper went down in a flaming corkscrew. Though Reeder survived the crash, he was captured after evading the enemy for three days. He was held for weeks in jungle cages before enduring a grueling forced march on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, costing the lives of seven of his group of twenty-seven POWs. Imprisoned in the notorious prisons of Hanoi, Reeder’s tenacity in the face of unimaginable hardship is not only a captivating story, but serves as an inspiration to all. In Through the Valley William Reeder shares the torment and pain of his ordeal, but does so in the light of the hope that he never lost. His memoir reinforces the themes of courage and sacrifice, undying faith, strength of family, love of country, loyalty among comrades, and a realization of how precious is the freedom all too often taken for granted. Sure to resonate with those serving in the armed forces who continue to face the demands of combat, Through the Valley will also appeal especially to readers looking for a powerful, riveting story.

Abandoning Vietnam

Download Abandoning Vietnam PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 412 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Abandoning Vietnam by : James H. Willbanks

Download or read book Abandoning Vietnam written by James H. Willbanks and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing upon both archival research and his own military experiences in Vietnam, Willbanks focuses on military operations from 1969 through 1975. He begins by analyzing the events that led to a change in U.S. strategy in 1969 and the subsequent initiation of Vietnamization. He then critiques the implementation of that policy and the combat performance of the South Vietnamese army (ARVN), which finally collapsed in 1975.

The Bridge at Dong Ha

Download The Bridge at Dong Ha PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Naval Institute Press
ISBN 13 : 1612511570
Total Pages : 120 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (125 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Bridge at Dong Ha by : Estate of John G. Miller

Download or read book The Bridge at Dong Ha written by Estate of John G. Miller and published by Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 1996-08-19 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the true story of the legendary Vietnam War hero John Ripley, who braved intense enemy fire to destroy a strategic bridge and stall a major North Vietnamese invasion into the South in April 1972. Told by a fellow Marine, the account lays bare Ripley's innermost thoughts as he rigged 500 pounds of explosives by hand-walking the beams beneath the bridge, crimped detonators with his teeth, and raced the burning fuses back to shore, thus saving his comrades from certain death. First published in 1989, the book has broad appeal as a riveting tale of adventure. But John Miller has taken this daring act of heroism beyond the specifics of time and place to provide new insights into the nature of war and warriors, characteristics that have remained unchanged for centuries and will remain valid for generations to come. It has been on the Marine Corps Commandant's recommended reading list since 1990. Newly illustrated by Col. Charles Waterhouse, USMCR (Ret.).

The Twenty-five Year Century

Download The Twenty-five Year Century PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : University of North Texas Press
ISBN 13 : 1574411438
Total Pages : 449 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (744 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Twenty-five Year Century by : Quang Thi Lâm

Download or read book The Twenty-five Year Century written by Quang Thi Lâm and published by University of North Texas Press. This book was released on 2001 with total page 449 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For Victor Hugo, the nineteenth century could be remembered by only its first two years, which established peace in Europe and France's supremacy on the continent. For General Lam Quang Thi, the twentieth century had only twenty-five years: from 1950 to 1975, during which the Republic of Vietnam and its Army grew up and collapsed with the fall of Saigon. This is the story of those twenty-five years. General Thi fought in the Indochina War as a battery commander on the side of the French. When Viet Minh aggression began after the Geneva Accords, he served in the nascent Vietnamese National Army, and his career covers this army's entire lifespan. He was deputy commander of the 7th Infantry Division, and in 1965 he assumed command of the 9th Infantry Division. In 1966, at the age of thirty-three, he became one of the youngest generals in the Vietnamese Army. He participated in the Tet Offensive before being removed from the front lines for political reasons. When North Vietnam launched the 1972 Great Offensive, he was brought back to the field and eventually promoted to commander of an Army Corps Task Force along the Demilitarized Zone. With the fall of Saigon, he left Vietnam and emigrated to the United States. Like his tactics during battle, General Thi pulls no punches in his denunciation of the various regimes of the Republic, and complacency and arrogance toward Vietnam in the policies of both France and the United States. Without lapsing into bitterness, this is finally a tribute to the soldiers who fell on behalf of a good cause.

Hanoi's War

Download Hanoi's War PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Univ of North Carolina Press
ISBN 13 : 0807882690
Total Pages : 462 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (78 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Hanoi's War by : Lien-Hang T. Nguyen

Download or read book Hanoi's War written by Lien-Hang T. Nguyen and published by Univ of North Carolina Press. This book was released on 2012-07-15 with total page 462 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While most historians of the Vietnam War focus on the origins of U.S. involvement and the Americanization of the conflict, Lien-Hang T. Nguyen examines the international context in which North Vietnamese leaders pursued the war and American intervention ended. This riveting narrative takes the reader from the marshy swamps of the Mekong Delta to the bomb-saturated Red River Delta, from the corridors of power in Hanoi and Saigon to the Nixon White House, and from the peace negotiations in Paris to high-level meetings in Beijing and Moscow, all to reveal that peace never had a chance in Vietnam. Hanoi's War renders transparent the internal workings of America's most elusive enemy during the Cold War and shows that the war fought during the peace negotiations was bloodier and much more wide ranging than it had been previously. Using never-before-seen archival materials from the Vietnam Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as materials from other archives around the world, Nguyen explores the politics of war-making and peace-making not only from the North Vietnamese perspective but also from that of South Vietnam, the Soviet Union, China, and the United States, presenting a uniquely international portrait.

Operation Linebacker I 1972

Download Operation Linebacker I 1972 PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1472827546
Total Pages : 97 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (728 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Operation Linebacker I 1972 by : Marshall Michel III

Download or read book Operation Linebacker I 1972 written by Marshall Michel III and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2019-01-24 with total page 97 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At Easter 1972, North Vietnam invaded the South, and there were almost no US ground troops left to stop it. But air power reinforcements could be rushed to the theater. Operation Linebacker's objective was to destroy the invading forces from the air and cut North Vietnam's supply routes – and luckily in 1972, American air power was beginning a revolution in both technology and tactics. Most crucial was the introduction of the first effective laser-guided bombs, but the campaign also involved the fearsome AC-130 gunship and saw the debut of helicopter-mounted TOW missiles. Thanks to the new Top Gun fighter school, US naval aviators now also had a real advantage over the MiGs. This is the fascinating story of arguably the world's first “modern” air campaign. It explains how this complex operation – involving tactical aircraft, strategic bombers, close air support and airlift – defeated the invasion. It also explains the shortcomings of the campaign, the contrasting approaches of the USAF and Navy, and the impact that Linebacker had on modern air warfare.

Nixon's Trident: Naval Power in Southeast Asia, 1968-1972

Download Nixon's Trident: Naval Power in Southeast Asia, 1968-1972 PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Government Printing Office
ISBN 13 : 0160928699
Total Pages : 193 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (69 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Nixon's Trident: Naval Power in Southeast Asia, 1968-1972 by : John Darrell Sherwood

Download or read book Nixon's Trident: Naval Power in Southeast Asia, 1968-1972 written by John Darrell Sherwood and published by Government Printing Office. This book was released on 2015-05-01 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This commemoration booklet focuses on naval air power during the final years of the Vietnam War. For much of this period, Navy aircraft sought to hamper the flow of supplies down the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos—a huge investment in air power resources that ultimately proved fruitless. After North Vietnam’s invasion of the South in 1972, however, Navy tactical aviation, as well as naval gunfire support, proved critical, not only in blunting the offensive but also in persuading North Vietnam to arrive at a peace agreement in Paris in1973. The Navy’s forward presence saved the day in 1972 and allowed President Nixon to finally achieve “peace with honor.”