U.S. Combat Troops Leave Vietnam: The Longest War Comes Home

What Happened?

By the early 1970s, the Vietnam War had become a symbol of everything Americans feared about foreign entanglements and government overreach. It had started with whispers—military advisors in the '50s and '60s—and exploded into a full-blown war with over half a million U.S. troops on the ground by 1969.

Public support collapsed after years of brutal fighting, rising casualties, and shocking images like the My Lai massacre. The Tet Offensive shattered the illusion of progress. In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced he wouldn't seek reelection, and peace talks began.

Under President Nixon, U.S. troops began withdrawing, even as the war spilled into neighboring Cambodia and Laos. Protests surged. Draft resistance grew. And by January 1973, a peace agreement had been signed in Paris, promising a ceasefire and the safe return of American POWs.

Two months later, on March 29, 1973, the last American combat forces left Vietnam. Though military advisers and civilian contractors remained, the official U.S. war effort was over. It was a moment of relief, grief, and reflection.

The war wasn’t truly over. The ceasefire broke almost immediately, and by 1975 Saigon had fallen to communist forces. Nearly 58,000 Americans and over 2 million Vietnamese were dead. What began as a Cold War conflict became a national wound. And even today, the war’s legacy lingers—in our politics, our military, and our trust in government.

Why It Matters

March 29, 1973 wasn’t just the end of a military deployment. It was the beginning of reckoning. The Vietnam War forced Americans to question their government, their values, and the cost of power. It remains a cautionary tale about the limits of force, the dangers of misinformation, and the human price of war.