How long was the Vietnam War?

The Wikipedia entry on the Vietnam War states that it lasted from 26th September 1959 to 30th April 1975:

"The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, was a Cold War Military conflict that occurred in Vietnam Cambodia and Laos from September 26, 1959 to April 30, 1975. The war was fought between the communist North Vietnam  supported by its communist allies, and the government of South Vietnam  supported by the United States and other anti-communist nations.

The Vietcong a lightly armed South Vietnamese communist controlled common front largely fought a guerrilla against anti-communist  forces in the region. The North Vietnamese  engaged in a more conventional war  at times committing large units into battle. U.S. and South Vietnamese forces relied on air superiority and overwhelming firepower to conduct search and destroy  operations, involving ground forces, artillery and air strikes.

The United States entered the war to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam as part of their wider strategy of containment. Military advisors  arrived beginning in 1950. U.S. involvement escalated in the early 1960s, with U.S. troop levels tripling in 1961 and tripling again in 1962. U.S. combat units  were deployed beginning in 1965. Operations spanned borders, with Laos and Cambodia heavily bombed. Involvement peaked in 1968 at the time of the Tet Offensive. After this, U.S. ground forces were withdrawn as part of a policy called Vietnamization . Despite the Paris Peace Accords , signed by all parties in January 1973, fighting continued.

The Case-Church Amendment  passed by the U.S. Congress in response to the anti-war movement, prohibited direct U.S. military involvement after August 15, 1973. U.S. military and economic aid continued until 1975. The capture of Saigon  by North Vietnamese army in April 1975 marked the end of Vietnam War. North and South Vietnam were reunified the following year.

The war exacted a huge human cost in terms of fatalities, including 3 to 4 million Vietnamese from both sides, 1.5 to 2 million Laotians and Cambodians and 58,159 U.S. soldiers."