1973 in the Vietnam War

1973 in the Vietnam War
← 1972 1974 →
Hanoi Taxi the plane used to bring home American POWs from Hanoi
Location Indochina
Belligerents
Anti-Communist forces:  South Vietnam  United States  South Korea  Australia Khmer Republic Kingdom of Laos Republic of China	Communist forces:  North Vietnam Viet Cong Khmer Rouge Pathet Lao  Soviet Union
Strength
US:
Casualties and losses
US: 168 killed [1] South Vietnam: Killed

January

January 11, 1973

Right Honourable Sir Paul Meernaa Caedwalla Hasluck, KG, GCMG, GCVO proclaimed the cessation of hostilities in Vietnam by Australian Forces.^[2]

January 22, 1973

Former U.S. president Lyndon B. Johnson whose presidency was marred by the War, died.

January 27, 1973

The Paris Peace Accords of 1973, intended to establish peace in Vietnam and an end to the Vietnam War, ended direct U.S. military involvement and temporarily stopped the fighting between north and south. The governments of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam), the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), and the United States, as well as the Provisional Revolutionary Government (PRG) that represented indigenous South Vietnamese revolutionaries signed the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam on January 27, 1973.

February

February 12

Operation Homecoming was a series of diplomatic negotiations that in January 1973 made possible the return of 591 American prisoners of war held by North Vietnam. Starting on February 12, 1973, three C-141A transports flew to Hanoi, North Vietnam, and one C-9A aircraft was sent to Saigon, South Vietnam to pick up released prisoners of war. The first flight of 40 U.S. prisoners of war left Hanoi in a C-141A, later known as the "Hanoi Taxi" and now in a museum. From February 12 to April 4, there were 54 C-141 missions flying out of Hanoi, bringing the former POWs home.^[3]

March

March 17

All South Korean troops leave South Vietnam.^[4]

March 29

All American combat troops leave Vietnam as per the Paris Peace Accords.^[5] A small contingent stays to provide protection duties at the American embassy in Saigon.

June

June 19, 1973

The Case–Church Amendment was legislation approved by the U.S. Congress and signed into law on 1973 that prohibited further U.S. military activity in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. This ended direct U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War, although the U.S. continued to provide military equipment and economic support to the South Vietnamese government.^[5]

July

Operation End Sweep was a U.S. Navy operation to remove the naval mines from Haiphong harbor in North Vietnam in July 1973. This action was done in favor of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, abiding to the Paris Peace Accord.

August

August 15

The last bombing by American planes anywhere in Indochina takes place when B-52s strike a target in Cambodia.^[6]

November

November 7

The War Powers Resolution of 1973 (50 U.S.C. 1541–1548) was a United States Congress joint resolution providing that the President can send U.S. armed forces into action abroad only by authorization of Congress or if the United States is already under attack or serious threat. The War Powers Resolution requires the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of committing armed forces to military action and forbids armed forces from remaining for more than 60 days, with a further 30 day withdrawal period, without an authorization of the use of military force or a declaration of war. The resolution was passed by two-thirds of Congress, overriding a presidential veto.^[7]

Year in numbers

Armed Force	KIA	Reference		Military costs - 1971	Military costs in 2015 US$	Reference
South Vietnam ARVN
United States US Forces	168	[1]
North Vietnam

Bibliography

Notes

References