Changes

America at first operated on the assumption that [[victory by body count]] was possible and would eventually bring the North Vietnamese to the peace table.  There were in fact peace negotiations following [[Operation Linebacker II]] in December 1972, but these succeeded mostly in giving the United States its prisoners back and time to withdraw from the fight.  It was simply impossible for the North Vietnamese leadership, which had been fighting in some form for 30 years, to imagine the indefinite existence of South Vietnam apart from unification under their rule.  Accordingly, after U.S. troops had withdrawn, they renewed their offensive in 1975 and took over the former South Vietnamese capital of [[Saigon]], renaming it "Ho Chi Minh City."

America at first operated on the assumption that [[victory by body count]] was possible and would eventually bring the North Vietnamese to the peace table.  There were in fact peace negotiations following [[Operation Linebacker II]] in December 1972, but these succeeded mostly in giving the United States its prisoners back and time to withdraw from the fight.  It was simply impossible for the North Vietnamese leadership, which had been fighting in some form for 30 years, to imagine the indefinite existence of South Vietnam apart from unification under their rule.  Accordingly, after U.S. troops had withdrawn, they renewed their offensive in 1975 and took over the former South Vietnamese capital of [[Saigon]], renaming it "Ho Chi Minh City."

Over the course of the war, the United States suffered 46,226 battle deaths with 153,311 wounded 5,486 missing and 10,326 non-battle deaths.  3.3 million troops fought over the course of the war, with the largest number of 625,866 reached on March 27th, 1969.  The North Vietnamese are estimated to have lost 1 million men.<Ref>Encyclopedia of Military History, Dupuy & Dupuy, 1979, Chart Page 1221</Ref>   

Over the course of the war, the United States suffered 46,226 battle deaths with 153,311 wounded 5,486 missing and 10,326 non-battle deaths.  3.3 million troops fought over the course of the war, with the largest number of 625,866 reached on March 27th, 1969.  The North Vietnamese are estimated to have lost upwards of 1.1 million men.<Ref>20 Years After Victory, April 1995, Folder 14, Box 24, Douglas Pike Collection: Unit 06 - Democratic Republic of Vietnam, The Vietnam Archive, Texas Tech University.

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Today Vietnam has a communist government.

Today Vietnam has a single party socialist government, with a relatively free national economic policy, featuring one of the fastest growing information sectors in Asia. <ref>[http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/11/13/8393174/index.htm] Vietnam Vrooooom: Asia's second-fastest-growing economy takes the global stage. - CNN Money  </ref>

==Controversies about the war==

==Controversies about the war==