Video: 'President Richard Nixon Address to the Nation Announcing Vietnam Peace Agreement, January 23, 1973'

(Tuesday, January 23, 10:00 p.m. EST; during the Vietnam War) — U.S. President Richard Nixon said tonight that U.S. National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger and North Vietnam’s chief negotiator, Le Duc Tho, had initialed an agreement in Paris today, “to end the war and bring peace with honor in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.”

Video: '45 85 Part 12' (Jan. 23, 1973 at 3:49)

In a televised report to the nation, a few hours after Kissinger returned to Washington, Nixon said a ceasefire in Vietnam would go into effect on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (Jan. 28, 1973, at 7:00 a.m. Hanoi time and 8:00 a.m. Saigon time).

Simultaneous announcements were made in Hanoi and Saigon.

Nixon said that under the terms of the accord—which will be formally signed on Saturday — all American prisoners of war would be released and the remaining 23,700-man American force in South Vietnam would be withdrawn within 60 days.

Video: 'Conclusion of Vietnam Peace Agreement Press Conference'

Nixon said it was a just and fair peace — an honorable way to end a nightmarish decade-long war that left nearly 350,000 Americans killed and wounded and caused an unprecedented upheaval at home.

While all U.S. forces withdrawn under today’s agreement, the accords were broken almost immediately, and fighting continued for two more years.

The 1975 spring offensive see the fall of Saigon to the PAVN on April 30, marking the end of the war; North and South Vietnam would be reunified the following year.