On 13 November 1982 the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was unveiled in Washington D.C. A wall containing 58,195 names, it honours US Armed Forces personnel who were killed or unaccounted for in the Vietnam War.

Beginning in November 1955 and ending in April 1975, the Vietnam War was a conflict that tore America apart.

On the surface it was a civil war between North and South Vietnam. Lurking just beneath that surface were the twin ideologies of communism and capitalism. North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union and China. South Vietnam was backed by the United States.

It was a time when communism was spreading. America feared the ‘domino effect’. If Vietnam fell to the communists then surrounding countries might follow suit.

A stand had to be taken.

Initial US involvement was relatively small, however by 1964 it had increased to approximately 184,000 troops. By 1968 public support for the war began to fade. The American public started to wonder why their young were sacrificing their lives in a faraway country, for a cause they had less belief in as time went on. Politicians publicly maintained their support for the war despite private misgivings. Protests grew stronger, particularly amongst students. Families were torn apart. On 4 May 1970 the National Guard killed four students at a Kent State University protest.

American involvement in the war ended in August 1973. Fighting continued in Vietnam for another two years with the North Vietnamese eventually emerging victorious.

US Army veterans of the war were not always treated kindly when they returned home. There was no show of gratitude. America had lost a war. It took several years before veterans were viewed positively. Eventually the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was built to honour those who never returned home. It now attracts close to 5 million visitors a year.

In the years after the war many veterans returned to Vietnam, befriending the people they had fought against.

The futility of war.