The Vietnam War (Vietnamese: Chien tranh Viet Nam), also known as the Second Indochina War, and in Vietnam as the Resistance War Against America (Vietnamese: Khang chien chong My) or simply the American War, was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union, China, and other communist allies; South Vietnam was supported by the United States, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, Thailand and other anti-communist allies. The war, considered a Cold War-era proxy war by some, lasted 19 years, with direct U.S. involvement ending in 1973, and included the Laotian Civil War and the Cambodian Civil War, which ended with all three countries becoming communist in 1975.
Donald Edward Close (1931) was born in California, the son of William Edgar Close (1901) and Hazel Rhoda De Sheil. He was in the US Armed Forces for a period of 12 years, reaching the rank of Captain. He was…
