Vietnam and Afghanistan: HSC Modern History Cold War proxy wars

A focused answer to the HSC Modern History Cold War dot point on proxy wars in the Third World, the Vietnam War (American escalation 1965, Tet 1968, withdrawal 1973, fall of Saigon 1975), the Soviet war in Afghanistan (invasion 24 December 1979, withdrawal 15 February 1989), and the symmetrical strategic damage the two wars caused to American confidence and Soviet capacity.