This Day in History:, US Withdraws From Vietnam.
March 29, 1973.
After eight years of an extremely
unpopular war with North Vietnam,
the last U.S. combat troops left South Vietnam.
Peace talks between the U.S. and communist
North Vietnam had begun in 1968, culminating with
a peace agreement signed in January of 1973.
Provision of the agreement included a
ceasefire throughout Vietnam, the withdrawal
of American troops and the release of POWs.
7,000 U.S. Defense Department civilians
remained in Saigon to assist the South in their
continued efforts against the North.
The remaining U.S. civilians would be airlifted out
of Saigon a year later when the city fell to the North.
58,000 American and an estimated
2 million Vietnamese lives
were lost in the war