Video: 'SYND 27-1-73 SIGNING OF VIETNAM PEACE AGREEMENT'
(Saturday, January 27, 1973, agreement effective at 7:00 p.m. EST; during the Vietnam War, part of the Indochina Wars and the Cold War) — The Vietnam War cease-fire agreement was signed today at the Majestic Hotel in Paris in eerie silence, without a word or a gesture to express the world’s relief that the years of war were officially ending.
The accord was effective at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (7:00 a.m. Hanoi time and 8:00 a.m. Saigon time on Jan. 28, 1973).
U.S. Secretary of State William P. Rogers wrote his name 62 times on the documents providing — after 12 years — a settlement of the longest, most divisive foreign war in America’s history.
Video: 'Vietnam Peace Treaty - 1973 | Movietone Moment | 27 Jan 17'
The official title of the text was “Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam.” But the cold, almost gloomy atmosphere at two separate signing ceremonies reflected the uncertainties of whether peace is now assured.
The conflict, which has raged in one way or another for over a quarter of a century, had been inconclusive, without clear victory or defeat for either side.
While all U.S. forces withdrew under today’s agreement, the accords were broken almost immediately, and fighting continued for two more years.
The 1975 spring offensive would see the fall of Saigon to the PAVN on April 30, marking the end of the war; North and South Vietnam would officially be reunified the following year.
