1968 in the Vietnam War Adams' iconic image of South Vietnamese General Nguyễn Ngọc Loan's execution of a Viet Cong operative was taken in 1968. The year also saw Walter Cronkite's call to honourably exit Vietnam because he thought the war was lost. This negative impression forced the US into the Paris peace talks with North Vietnam. US troop numbers peaked in 1968 with President Johnson approving an increased maximum number of US troops in Vietnam at 549,500. The year was the most expensive in the Vietnam War with the American spending US$ (US$ in 2019) on the war. The year also became the deadliest
1972 in the Vietnam War National Security Adviser Kissinger documents outlining the communist proposal for a peace agreement in Vietnam. The proposal dropped demands for the ouster of President Thieu of South Vietnam and called for the withdrawal of all American troops, the release of all American prisoners of war. and a cease fire "in place" which would allow North Vietnamese soldiers in South Vietnam to remain there. A tentative text was agreed upon by both sides. Kissinger met with Nixon in Washington to explain the draft peace agreement with North Vietnam. Nixon approved the agreement subject to the agreement of President Thieu of South