Asian Americans Serving and Fighting in the Vietnam War | Asian Americans

Among the 8.7 million Americans who served in the Vietnam War (1955 to 1975)—referred to by the Vietnamese as the American War—approximately 35,000 were Asian American. The war, between communist North Vietnam and anti-communist South Vietnam, was the fourth U.S. military conflict in Asia within the past sixty years. Like many young Americans who served in Vietnam, Asian Americans were drawn to the military by patriotism and desire to leave home. However, Asian Americans who served in the Vietnam War faced racial challenges that made their experiences unique and, in many cases, traumatic.