Disputes over who would control Vietnam date back at least to 1930 when the new Indochinese Communist Party began to oppose French rule. Those two sides fought an active war from 1946-54, ending with a French defeat and the division of the country into South Vietnam and North Vietnam.

But fighting continued and a buildup of American forces there began in 1961, though major U.S. involvement came only after the Gulf of Tonkin incident in early August 1964. Combat troops entered Vietnam in March 1965, and the size of the American forces grew rapidly. Peace talks began in May 1969, but it was not until January 1973 that peace accords were signed and America’s combat role ended. South Vietnam fell to the Communists in April 1975.

About 8.7 million Americans served in the military during the war, and about 58,000 died in the war. Of those, 88 were residents of St. Louis, Lake, Cook and Carlton counties.

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