That was proposed by the Marine Corps in 65, I believe."
That was proposed by all of us snuffies back then but I don't think the upper leadership ever really got behind that plan. While it would have certainly caused the NVA to head for home as rapidly as possible, we also faced really lousy interior trafficability in North Vietnam - since like in the South, there was really only one north-south road near the coast and tall mountains and triple-canopy jungle not far inland. We also faced the near-certainty of Chinese intervention like we did in Korea a little earlier. The only pluses to the plan were that the South would have had a bit of a break while all the action went north and of course, everything in the North was enemy, so we could shoot a bit more enthusiastically.
I was a Marine back then and fought in Vietnam from early '66 to mid-'67. I went over with the enthusiastic support of the American public and came back to the Leftist-led hatred of us and our war. I am proud of us. always will be but I will never look at the American public the same way again.
LBJ would never have agreed to invade North Vietnam.
Take time to read Taking Charge: The Johnson White House Tapes 1963 1964, and Reaching for Glory: Lyndon Johnson’s Secret White House Tapes, 1964-1965. These are annotated transcripts of LBJ’s secret recordings from his first two years in office.
LBJ never had the stomach to do what was needed to win. He wanted to do just enough to make the other side quit. That waffling trickled down through the command structure and was fatal.
You can detect that attitude when you read what he said at the time.