"It was JFK who got us into the VN war."
Did you get your masters degree in American history from CrackerJax? JFK was the third president involved in VN.
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Vietnam: U.S. Advisors 1955-1965The U.S. military advisory effort in Vietnam had a modest beginning in September 1950, when the United States Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG), Vietnam, was established in Saigon. Its mission was to supervise the issuance and employment of $10 million of military equipment to support French legionnaires in their effort to combat Viet Minh forces. By 1953 the amount of U.S. military aid had jumped to over $350 million and was used to replace the badly worn World War II vintage equipment that France, still suffering economically from the devastation of that war, was still using.
US Military Advisor Captain Willem Hamel, 1st Special Forces Group (1st SF/A-123 Team) working with ARVN soldiers in Hoa Cam training center, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam, March 1962.
Today in WW II: 31 Jan 1942 End of Operation Barbarossa. German Wehrmacht casualties exceed 900 thousand out of 3 million soldiers in action on the Eastern Front. More? [/table>
Political Background to American Advisors in VietnamIn September 1954, right after the <a href="https://olive-drab.com/od_history_vietnam_french.php"]Geneva Accords were signed on 20 July 1954, dividing Vietnam into north and south at the 17th parallel, President Dwight D. Eisenhower wrote to the new Prime Minister of the Bao Dai government, Ngo Dinh Diem, promising United States support to ensure a noncommunist Vietnam. Following through on that commitment, direct United States aid to South Vietnam began in January 1955, and American advisors began arriving in February to train the South Vietnamese army. |
