[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

12 Feb 55 - President Eisenhower's administration sends 1st 350 U.S. advisers to South Vietnam
to train the South Vietnamese Army
08 Jun 56 - 1st American advisor was killed
5 Sep 56 - President Eisenhower tells a news conference that the French are
"involved in a hopelessly losing war in Indochina"



From a Must Visit Site
Vipers Vietnam Veterans Page, A Vietnam Veteran & Proud Web Site
About Vietnam

The Vietnam war was the longest in our nation's history.
1st American advisor was killed on June 08, 1956,
and the last casualties in connection with the war occurred on May 15, 1975, during the Mayaquez incident. Approximately 2.7 million Americans served in the war zone; 300,000 were wounded and approximately 75,000 permanently disabled. Officially there are still 1,991 Americans unaccounted for from SE Asia.

Vietnam was a savage, in your face war where death could and did strike from anywhere with absolutely no warning. The brave young men and women who fought that war paid an awful price of blood, pain and suffering. As it is said: "ALL GAVE SOME ... SOME GAVE ALL"
The Vietnam war was not lost on the battlefield. No American force in ANY other conflict fought with more determination or sheer courage than the Vietnam Veteran.  For the first time in our history America sent it's young men and women into a war run by inept politicians who had no grasp of military strategies and no moral will to win. They were led by "top brass" who were concerned mainly with furthering their own careers, most neither understood the nature of the war nor had a clue about the impossible mission with which they'd tasked their soldiers.  And the war was reported by a self serving Media who penned stories filled with inaccuracies, deliberate omissions, biased presentations and blatant distorted interpretations because they were more interested in a story than the truth! It can be debated that we should never have fought that war. It can also be argued that the young Americans who fought so courageously, never losing a single major battle, helped in a huge way to WIN THE COLD WAR.

[Ramonchito]

The Vietnam War has amply demonstrated that Americans are made of sterner stuff. What few people realized is that the Vietnam War changed battle tactics. During the Korean War, the American troops had to retreat in the face of a massive counter attack by advancing Chinese forces. During the Vietnam War, the Americans faced the same situation that they faced during the Korean War. They were again outflanked by North Vietnamese advancing through Cambodia, but due to the tremendous increase in American fire power, a retreat was not necessary as American troops could easily seal the breach brought about by attacking North Vietnamese forces springing in the rear of the American forces. The Vietnam War was a military victory for the Americans showing how superior firepower could amply make up for outflanked forces. It was an exercise of supreme military brilliance. During the Korean War the only alternative for the Americans was to retreat or face annihilation, with their lines of supply and communication cut off by advancing Chinese armies. In the Vietnam War no such retreat occurred even though the American forces were outflanked by North Vietnamese that attacked from the rear through Cambodia.