About this collection
The Vietnam War (also the Second Indochina War) is often viewed as a product of the Cold War between the United States and Russia.  The country of Vietnam was divided into North and South.  The government of North Vietnam was communist, and therefore allied with Russia, while the government of South Vietnam identified as democratic, and therefore was allied with the United States.  United States involvement in the region began in the 1950s when advisors were sent to train soldiers in the South, in the hopes of preventing the further spread of communism.  American involvement ratcheted up through the 1960s, and peaked around 1968.  U.S. involvement in the conflict ended in 1973, and the capture of Saigon by North Vietnam ended the war in 1975.  The American War Experience – Vietnam War digital collection contains materials such as, images, documents, and oral histories related to the conflict.