[cynwoody]

I don't know the answer, but the Wikipedia dates the War from 1 November 1955 to 30 April 1975 (19 years, 180 days). That's a lot of bad TV to remember.

Eisenhower and Dulles greet Ngo Dinh Diem at Washington National,
as a future president reads something in his hands
8 May 1957

[jjotto]

As late as 1962, there were only a few hundred American military in South Vietnam. By the end of ‘63 there were at least 15,000 - too many to be trainers and advisors.