History

The Vietnam War was the first conflict to highlight the devastating effects of modern warfare on entire ecosystems. The U.S. forces adopted a strategy of destroying Vietnamese jungle canopy, ultimately spraying "Agent Orange" and other toxic chemicals over 10 percent of South Vietnam. In addition to destroying vegetation, the public health implications of these actions (primarily birth defects, diseases, and premature deaths) have become apparent, both in the Vietnamese population and U.S. war veterans.

The defoliation campaign and other U.S. tactics in Vietnam led to an international movement for treaties that specifically protect the environment during the war. This resulted in adoption of the Environmental Modification Convention (1976), which prohibits manipulating the environment as a weapon of war, and of Protocol Additional I to the Geneva Conventions (1977), which includes a prohibition against "widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment." However, many critics have called these treaties vague and impractical, and in fact they have yet to be applied to a specific case of wartime environmental damage.

 

		Vietnam War Timeline
	1010	The Ly dynasty and the Chinese are repelled
	1226	Tran dynasty
	1288	The Mongols are defeated
	1887	Creation of the Indochina Union
	1932	Bao Dai, the last emperor, begins his reign
	1940	Invasion of Indochina by Japan
	1941	Ho Chi Minh takes power
	1945	Ho Chi Minh declares independence in Hanoi
	1955	Ho Chi Minh declares independence in Hanoi
	1959	The communist party starts military operations in the South and construction of the Ho Chi Minh trail begins Major Dale Buis and Master Sargeant Chester M. Ovnand become the first Americans to die in the Vietnam War during the guerilla strike at Bienhoa
	1960	Vietcong Formed (National Liberation Front for South Vietnam)
	1961	Vice President Johnson Tours Saigon President Kennedy increases US military aid to South Vietnam Click the link for the Vietnam War Timeline
	1973	US military withdraw
	1975	Viet Cong troops enter Saigon
	1976	The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is officially proclaimed