Vietnam v. United States
Vietnam: Viet Cong (Vietnam Communists) led by Ho Chi Minh with ideals of a unified Vietnam modeled after communism.
United States: Government of the Republic of Vietnam led by Ngo Dinh Diem with ideals of a united Vietnam with support from the West, the United States backed them up.

Started November 1st, 1955 - ended April 30th, 1975. United States was actively involved starting 1954.
The war started following Japan's departure from Vietnam and immediately after France's need for help in an attempt to reclaim Vietnam as their colonies again. Angered by this, Ho Chi Minh formed Viet Minh, a communist party and seized the city of Hanoi and declared it a Democratic State of Vietnam (or North Vietnam). United States, though reluctantly, joined the war in support of France to stop Vietnam from becoming a communist country entirely.

One of the major events was the Massacre of My Lai. With dwindling morale especially after the Tet Offensive staged by the North, the Charlie Company led by Lieutenant William Calley found a village filled with only women, children, and the elderly. It didn’t take long for them to be rounded up and killed. Their huts burned to the ground, countless women raped, and numerous deaths yet not a single shot was fired at the Company. The massacre was a controversial topic and when those back home found out, further split the people regarding the United State’s involvement in Vietnam.

After two decades of fighting, the outcome of the war was not pretty. The American soldiers returned home to negative reactions from those that were opposed to the war for the atrocities committed and from those that were for the war for losing the war. Furthermore, many of the soldiers suffered from effects either from the intake of drugs that especially rose after the Tet Offensive. On Vietnam’s side, the war resulted in an estimated two million Vietnamese killed, three million wounded, and another twelve million as refugees and destroyed infrastructure of the entire nation.