The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War (called the Vietnam War), was fought from 1964 (events in the Gulf of Tonkin) or from 1965 (the landing of the first, larger American forces in Vietnam) until 1975, i.e. until the occupation of South Vietnam through North Vietnam. The opponents in this war were, on the one hand, the United States, supporting its ally, i.e. South Vietnam and North Vietnam, along with the communist Vietcong guerrillas, supported (in one way or another) by the PRC and the USSR. Assume that at one time, at the maximum, North Vietnam involved about 690,000 soldiers in the conflict, Vietcong - about 200,000 people, while the United States reached the peak of its involvement in 1969, when Vietnam had about 540,000 American soldiers. The immediate cause of the conflict was the claims and ambitions of North Vietnam to take power and control over its southern neighbor, which the United States could not and did not want to agree to. The Vietnam War was an excellent example of a guerrilla war, in which the highly advanced technological armed forces of the USA suffered considerable losses and finally lost in the clash with the armed forces incomparably worse. It is worth adding that from a purely military point of view, the US troops were able to inflict huge losses on their opponent (e.g. the Tet offensive of 1968), but on the so-called The "home front" completely lost it. It is often assumed that the Vietnam War was lost by the US primarily because of tensions in American society, its reluctance to do so, and the inability of the US establishment to provide a convincing justification for it. The Vietnam War finally ended in 1975 with a complete defeat of the United States, which was forced to withdraw from Vietnam and come to terms with the unification of Vietnam by the communist government in Hanoi. The prestige of this country in the international arena has also decreased significantly for some time.
American 1st Cavalry Division, commonly known as " First Team ”Was formed in 1921 from the already existing cavalry units of the US Army. In 1943 it was transformed into an infantry division, although it retained its traditions and unusual organizational structure. During World War II, the division served in the Far East, fighting in New Guinea and the Philippines. After 1945, she ended up in Japan as part of the occupation forces. It also took an intensive part in the Korean War (1950-1953). In the 1960s, the division underwent a deep reorganization, as a result of which it became an aeromobile division, using mainly helicopters for its transport. It is worth adding that it was only in the division that the tactics of using such an innovative tactical unit were perfected and refined. It was also renamed the 1st Cavalry Division (Aeromobile). In 1965, the division was sent to Vietnam, where it remained as a whole tactical union until 1971, and partially - until 1972. In the course of this conflict, it suffered heavy losses - one of the largest among all American units involved in this war. After returning to the USA, in 1975 it was transformed into an armored-mechanized division, which it remains to this day. It took a marginal part in the First Gulf War (1990-1991). Instead, it took an active part in the stabilization activities in Afghanistan and Iraq after 2001.