Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing series on retiring abroad. To see all the articles in the series, jump to the end.
Long gone are the days when Vietnam was solely associated with a prolonged war that embroiled the U.S., splitting it in two politically, and giving rise to the 1960s counterculture, an enduring mistrust of government, and the modern mass protest movement. With the U.S. taking the side of anti-communist South Vietnam against North Vietnam, the war that began in 1955 saw public opposition to U.S. involvement rise to 60% by 1970. The war ended with the humiliating spectacle of the fall of Saigon in 1975, but the country reunified the following year.
