March 29, 1973: U.S. Withdraws from Vietnam

On his day in 1973, after fighting for 8 years and losing over 58 thousand troops, the U.S. officially withdrew it’s remaining combat troops from Vietnam.

Regardless of whether you agree with the U.S.’s decision to sign the Vietnam peace agreement in Paris it was, in fact, the reason that John McCain and the rest of America’s POWs were released and it was also the reason that even more U.S. troops weren’t killed or tortured.

While the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have resulting in far fewer troop causualties than in Vietnam, the monetary cost of the wars now excedes that of Vietnam and is almost double that of the Korean war.

As we get ready to elect a new president, I certainly hope people keep all of this in mind.