instance_of operation pony express
The Pony Express was the covert transportation of , and the provision of aerial support for , indigenous soldiers and material operating across the Laotian and North Vietnamese borders during the Vietnam ___MASK50___ . It was provided by Sikorsky CH - 3C helicopters of the US 20th Helicopter Squadron , the only USAF combat helicopter squadron in Vietnam , which had been transferred there in 1965 and was known as the `` Pony Express '' . The Vietnam ___MASK50___ , also known as the Second Indochina ___MASK50___ , and known in Vietnam as Resistance ___MASK50___ Against America or simply the American ___MASK50___ , was a ___MASK50___ that occurred in Vietnam , Laos , and Cambodia from ___MASK31___ 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 the ___MASK47___ of South Vietnam . The North Vietnamese army was supported by the Soviet Union , China and other communist allies and the South Vietnamese army was supported by the United States , South Korea , Australia , Thailand and other anti - communist allies and the ___MASK50___ is therefore considered a ___MASK29___ - ___MASK27___ proxy ___MASK50___ . The Indochina Wars were a ___MASK64___ of wars fought in Southeast Asia from 1946 until 1989 , between communist Indochinese forces against mainly French , South Vietnamese , American , Cambodian , Laotian and ___MASK73___ forces . The term " Indochina " originally referred to French Indochina , which included the current states of Vietnam , Laos and Cambodia . In use , it applies largely to a geographic region , rather than to a political area . The wars included : The ___MASK29___ was a state of political and military tension after World War II between powers in the Eastern Bloc ( the Soviet Union and its satellite states ) and powers in the Western Bloc ( the United States , its NATO allies and others ). Historians do not fully agree on the dates , but a common timeframe is the period ( the second half of the 20th century ) between 1947 , the year the Truman Doctrine ( a U . S . policy pledging to aid nations threatened by Soviet expansionism ) was announced , and 1991 , the year the Soviet Union collapsed . South ___MASK30___ , officially the ___MASK33___ of ___MASK30___ ( ROK ), is a ___MASK46___ in East Asia , constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula . ___MASK87___ ( or Kampuchea ), officially known as the Kingdom of ___MASK87___ ( Preh Réachéanachâk Kâmpchéa ), is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia . It is in area , bordered by Thailand to the northwest , Laos to the northeast , Vietnam to the east , and the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest . The Fall of Saigon , or the Liberation of Saigon , depending on context , was the capture of Saigon , the ___MASK11___ of South Vietnam , by the People ' s Army of Vietnam and the National Liberation ___MASK39___ of South Vietnam ( also known as the Vit Cng ) on April 30 , 1975 . The event marked the end of the Vietnam War and the start of a transition period to the formal reunification of Vietnam under the Socialist Republic . Vietnam , officially the Socialist ___MASK33___ of Vietnam ( SRV ), is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia . With an estimated 90 . 5 million inhabitants , it is the world ' s 14th - most - populous country , and the eighth - most - populous Asian country . Vietnam is bordered by China to the north , Laos to the northwest , Cambodia to the southwest , Thailand across the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest , and the Philippines , Malaysia and Indonesia across the South China ___MASK70___ to the east and southeast . Its capital city has been Hanoi since the reunification of North and South Vietnam in 1976 . A ___MASK19___ is a ___MASK69___ between two states or non - state actors where neither entity directly engages the other . While this can encompass a breadth of armed confrontation , its core definition hinges on two separate powers utilizing external strife to somehow attack the interests or territorial holdings of the other . This frequently involves both countries fighting their opponent ' s allies , or assisting their allies in fighting their opponent . South Vietnam , officially the ___MASK33___ of Vietnam was a ___MASK60___ governing the southern half of Vietnam from 1955 to ___MASK81___ . It received international recognition in 1949 as the " State of Vietnam " ( 1949  55 ), and later as the " ___MASK33___ of Vietnam " ( 1955  75 ). Its capital was Saigon . The term " South Vietnam " became common usage in 1954 , when the Geneva Conference provisionally partitioned Vietnam into communist and non - communist parts . North Vietnam , officially the Democratic ___MASK33___ of Vietnam ( DRV ), was a ___MASK60___ in Southeast Asia which existed from 1945 to 1976 . Vietnamese revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh declared independence from France on 2 September 1945 and announced the creation of the Democratic ___MASK33___ of Vietnam . France reasserted its colonial dominance and a war ensued between France and the Viet Minh , led by Ho . The Viet Minh (" League for the Independence of Vietnam ") was a coalition of nationalist groups , mostly led by communists . In February 1951 , the communists announced the creation of the Lao ng Party ( Labor Party ), gradually marginalizing non - communists in the Viet Minh . Laos , (, , or , " Lo ") officially the Lao ___MASK8___ ' s Democratic ___MASK33___ , ( Lao :          , " Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao ") or commonly referred to its colloquial name of Muang Lao ( Lao :    , " Muang Lao ") is a landlocked country in the heart of the Indochinese peninsula of Mainland Southeast Asia , bordered by Myanmar ( Burma ) and China to the northwest , Vietnam to the east , Cambodia to the southwest , and Thailand to the west and southwest .