This woman member of a salt cooperative in North Vietnam
works with her rifle slung across her back.

Exclusive photos of the war in Vietnam!

Vietnam is a country with a
long history of struggles for in-
dependence.

Chinese (Han) feudalism ruled
the country for a thousand years
(111 B.C. to 939 A.D.) and this
was a period of intense strug-
gle against foreign oppression.
In 40 A.D. the two Trung sis-
ters led an insurrection which
threw out the Hans for a brief
period and they became Viet-
nam’s most famous heroines.

From 939 A.D. to 1862 the
Vietnamese enjoyed indepen-
dence, though bitter struggle
was needed to defeat three Mon-
gol invasions and one 15th cen-
tury attempt by the Ming dyn-
asty in China to regain control
of the country. A Manchu inva-
sion attempt was also smashed.

French imperialism conquered
Indochina in 1862 and the Viet-
namese people suffered under
cruel French rule for 90 years.
In 1940 the Japanese (unop-
posed by the French) moved in
to further exploit the Viet-
namese. :

In August 1945 the Vietnam
Independence League, led by
Ho Chi Minh, led a general up-
rising. Hanoi was liberated and
the puppet Bao Dai regime over-
thrown. On Sept. 2 of the same
year the Democratic Republic
of Vietnam was formally pro-
claimed.

The French colonialists stag-
ed a comeback and the Viet-
namese people again had to take
up arms. In May 1954_ the
French army was completely
defeated. at Dien Bien Phu and
shortly afterwards. the Geneva
Agreements were signed.

In accordance with the Agree-
ments a free election was to be
held in July 1956 tc achieve the
peaceful reunification of the
country, which had been tem-
porarily divided at the 17th
parallel. The election was never
held.

U.S. imperialism set up the
Southeast Asia Treaty Organ-
ization, installed a puppet gov-
ernment in Saigon, began ship-
ping war materials and military
personnel into South Vietnam.

In December 1960 the South
Vietnam National Front for
Liberation was formed. It had
the support of the overwhelm-
ing majority of the people and
soom was in control of more
than three-quarters of the land
area and half the population
south of the 17th parallel.

As the U.S. stepped up its
military aggression the National
Front forces struck back hard-

U.S. pilot Hayden Lockhart’s plane was brought down during.@p=9"8WBon a series of puppet
a bomhina raid over North Vietnam on March 2.

This is the seven-span bridge over the Ben Hai River at the 17th
parallel. The temporary military demarcation line was decided on at
the Geneva conference in 1954. Elections to reunify Vietnam were to
have taken place in 1956 but have never been held.

governments toppled and it be-
came obvious that victory for
the people was near.

In February the U.S. escalat-
ed the war by bombing North
Vietnam, thus bringing the
world to the brink of all-out
thermonuclear war.

This week the U.S. stepped up
air strikes against North Viet-
nam while in South Vietnam
liberation forces went on the
offensive.

In the end, Vietnam will
surely triumph and the U.S. ag-
gressors will suffer the fate of
the French imperialists.

Photo shows chiefs of the ‘combined U.S.-Vietnam
headquarters” in Saigon plotting a ‘mopping up” operation
Mekeng River Delta>

+ tnt
During a raid on Bien Hoa airport by the South vielt
National Front for Liberation forces, 57 U.S. planes were wie” —

FP
e

In the name of “mepping up” U.S. and their South Vietnam
puppet troops loot and rob everywhere. Photo shows villagers
from U.S. soldiers who hed broken into their homes.

SO RS. » RSS: SaaS y
A U.S. helicopter pilot flees after his craft was shot dog
units of the South Vietnam liberation forces.

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“June 11, 1965—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—P%™