Vietnam under JFK was a very light police-action —it was nothing like what would later emerge under LBJ.
I’m no Kennedy fan —I’m totally immune to the mystique thing, but the guy who realllly poured on the steam for Vietnam (and welfare) was LBJ.
Under Kennedy, moooostly, “advisors” really did mean advisors.
I was onboard ship in the Gulf of Tonkin when Kennedy was shot, the Carriers were launching F-16's as fast as they could, months before that happened. You are right tho it did get much worse, as all Kings X type wars do.