Last U.S. Combat Troops Leave South Vietnam

Context

American involvement in Vietnam began with advisory support in the 1950s and escalated sharply under President John F. Kennedy and then Lyndon B. Johnson. By 1965, U.S. combat units had arrived in force, and troop levels climbed past 500,000 as the United States conducted large-scale search-and-destroy operations and an extensive bombing campaign against North Vietnam. Domestic opposition grew after the 1968 Tet Offensive exposed the war’s stalemate and high costs.

What Happened

President Richard Nixon shifted strategy toward Vietnamization, gradually transferring combat responsibilities to South Vietnamese forces while withdrawing American troops. Peace negotiations in Paris culminated in the January 27, 1973, agreement among the United States, North Vietnam, South Vietnam, and the Viet Cong that called for a ceasefire, U.S. withdrawal, and prisoner exchanges. Over the following weeks U.S. units stood down at bases across South Vietnam; on March 29 the last combat formations departed, primarily through Tan Son Nhut Air Base near Saigon, while North Vietnamese authorities released the remaining American prisoners of war.

Aftermath

Roughly 7,000 U.S. Department of Defense civilians stayed behind in a Defense Attaché Office to continue limited support. The ceasefire proved fragile, with both sides accusing the other of violations, and full-scale fighting resumed within months. Congress curtailed further U.S. military aid and, in November 1973, passed the War Powers Resolution over Nixon’s veto, restricting future presidential commitments of forces abroad.

Legacy

The withdrawal symbolized the limits of American military power in a protracted counterinsurgency and contributed to a broader reluctance, sometimes called the “Vietnam syndrome,” to commit ground troops in later conflicts. Two years later, in April 1975, North Vietnamese forces captured Saigon, ending the existence of South Vietnam and prompting a final, chaotic American evacuation. The war’s outcome shaped U.S. foreign-policy debates for decades and remains a reference point for discussions of intervention, nation-building, and the domestic politics of war.