This eerie photo shows a South Vietnamese soldier in a cemetery, pointing to a Viet Cong hideout place to his fellow comrades. What an ironic setting for an ensuing battle, a cemetery that would just keep getting bigger.
The only thing more terrifying than a cramped cemetery is the idea of Viet Cong guerilla fighters hiding out behind the tombs.
The Deceased Children Of Vietnam
The atrocities of war always result in the deaths of men, women, and children. Statistics show that there were 84,000 child fatalities in the span of the Vietnam War. They are the demographic who suffered the most as a result of deadly chemical weapons, on top of combat and bombardments.
Children were left alone to survive, as many parents were killed or fighting in the war. They had no place to go since schools were burned down and destroyed. While most chose to stay hidden, some children joined the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army as soldiers.
Soldiers Leaving Their Uniforms Behind
The only means of winning a war is by surviving it. Shown above are abandoned army uniforms from the South Vietnamese Army soldiers in an attempt to conceal their identity. The moment they received reports of a quickly approaching enemy towards the outskirts of Saigon, the soldiers left behind a massive quantity of boots and army gear in the middle of the road and ran for their lives.
There is a saying that goes, "A real winner knows when to fight their battles," and what the South Vietnamese Army Soldiers did here was a perfect example of that. Who knows what might have happened if they got imprisoned by the infamously brutal North Vietnamese Army?
Two Women Get Ready for Battle
It is a well-known fact that Vietnamese women were incredibly brave and courageous during the Vietnam War. There were countless women that volunteered to fight in the army (whether it was for the People's Army in North Vietnam, the Viet Cong, or the anti-communist army from South Vietnam). Photographed below are two young women rice farmers loading up their gun, getting ready to defend their village from the U.S. army.
The village they were defending was called Hoa Lok, located in Thanh Hoa province, in the north of Vietnam. The photo was taken on September 1967, and the two women were later awarded the Feat Order of the third stage for their courage. The Feat Order is an award given by the Government of Vietnam to"exceptionally outstanding feats, brave, wise, creative in excellently fulfilled assigned tasks in combat service."
The Fall of South Vietnam
An epic photograph that captured a pivotal moment in history. A tank is driven by the North Vietnamese Army as it rolls through the gate of the presidential Independence Palace in Saigon, celebrating the fall of South Vietnam. It was 11:30 am when President Dương Văn Minh, who had just taken over the role two days before, surrendered to NVA Colonel Bùi Tín.
The date was April 30th, 1975, and after 20 years of carnage and devastating war atrocities, the communists won, and the country was seized by North Vietnamese troops. The NVA captured many other buildings and facilities as they entered and took over the city of Saigon.