Video: 'Vietnam: A Television History - Cambodia and Laos [8/11]' (Aug. 15, 1973, at 41:29)

(Wednesday, August 15, 1973, 10:45 a.m. local time; during Operation Freedom Deal, part of the Cambodian Civil War, the Vietnam War, the Indochina Wars and the Cold War in Asia) — The American bombing of Cambodia halted this morning after a final round of U.S. Air Force bombardment of suspected Khmer Rouge guerrilla enclaves.

The bombing halt, originally set for one minute after midnight in Washington D.C., officially ended 12 years of American combat in Southeast Asia.

During the six and a half months since the Vietnam ceasefire had gone into effect on Jan. 28, 1973, the U.S. had dropped 240,000 tons of bombs on Cambodia in 34,410 raids at a cost of $442,800,000.

Video: 'Vietnam: A Television History (Ep-12) The End of the Tunnel' (Aug. 15, 1973, at 13:19)

The final mission was flown by two A-7 Corsair jets, whose pilots were Major John Hoskins and Captain Lonnie Ratley. Captain Ratley’s plane was the last to land at Korat Air Base in Thailand, but he told reporters that Major Hoskins had dropped the last bombs.

The U.S. dropped over 7 million tons of bombs on Indochina during the Vietnam War, more than triple the 2.1 million tons of bombs the U.S. dropped on Europe and Asia during all of World War II and more than ten times the amount dropped by the U.S. during the Korean War.

500,000 tons were dropped on Cambodia, 1 million tons were dropped on North Vietnam, and 4 million tons were dropped on South Vietnam.