One of the most enduring icons of the Vietnam War has to be the use of napalm bombs and the ghastly stunning images and videos of their use.

Napalm is a fuel gel mixture that has been used to make incendiary weapons like firebombs. The gel like consistency allows it to stick to targets while it burns at over 5,000 degrees fahrenheit. The use of napalm in Vietnam was especially effective because it was able to defoliate and destroy the dense jungle canopy.

An incredible amount of ordnance was dumped on Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia during the war. Over 7.5 million tons of bombs were dropped, which is double the amount that was dropped on Europe and Asia during WWII, and to this day, remains the largest aerial bombardment campaign in world history.