Vietnam was controlled by France before but, during WWII Japan took control of Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh was the leader of Vietminh in 1930 he helped to create the Indochinese Communist Party. The goal of the Vietminh organization was to win Vietnam’s independence from foreign rule. On Sept 2nd, 1945 Japan surrenders, Ho Chi Minh stood in front of a huge crowd and declared Vietnam a independent nation. By the end of 1945 France had no intention of giving up it’s former colony. France regained control of Vietnam’s southern half. The U.S spent 1 billion dollars aiding the France over four years. The Geneva Accords were agreements to separate Vietnam along the 17th Parallel. The communists and their leader Ho Chi Minh controlled North Vietnam. Vietnam President Ngo Dihn Diem controlled anti-communist South Vietnam. Diem was a Catholic but the majority of the south were buddhist. He restricted Buddhist practices which angered the south. The Vietcong was a communist opposition group that formed in South Vietnam, there goal was reunite Vietnam under north communist rule. They were supported by North Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh. On November 1, 1963 a group of South Vietnamese generals had Diem assassinated the United States supported this assassination. In August 1964, the President of the U.S Lyndon Johnson told congress North Vietnamese patrol boats attacked two U.S Navy destroyers. Congress allowed President Lyndon Johnson to send American troops into Vietnam. By 1965 more than 185,000 U.S soldiers were in Vietnam. By 1968, more than half a million U.S soliders were in Vietnam. The Vietcong used guerrilla tactics while fighting the Americans. They would ambush US troops, set booby traps and land mines and plant bombs in towns. The Vietcong bought miles of tunnels to hide in when the tide of the battle turned. The Americans in a attempt to expose Vietcong tunnels and hideouts used Napalm, a gasoline based bomb that set fire to the jungle. In 1968 Richard Nixon was elected president. Vietnamization was a policy by Richard Nixon during the Vietnam War to end U.S involvement and aid the South Vietnam forces while slowly reducing the number of U.S combat troops. On March 29, 1973 the last American troops left Vietnam. On April 30th, 1975 South Vietnam unconditionally surrendered to North Vietnam the war in Vietnam is over with the North communists in control.