“Yes, the French were defeated at Dien Bien Phu - May 07, 1954 and JFK decided to involve us in the remnants of a Vietnamese civil war.”
Well not exactly. We had Military Assistance Advisory Group officers in Vietnam as early as 1950 under Truman. When the French bugged out Eisenhower increased the MAAG presence.
Eisenhower sent advisers but no combat troops. The fighting was a classic Communist insurgency that targeted and murdered local village officials. It was sponsored and financed by the Soviets who called it a “civil war” in the the propaganda campaign they waged in the United States.
There were only 700-800 MAAG in South Vietnam as Eisenhower left office. The communist insurgency was growing and Kennedy began sending more American advisers, including Special Forces. Kennedy created MACV and ramped up the American presence to around 16,000.
In November 1963 Kennedy stood by and allowed a coup against South Vietnam President Diem. Diem was assassinated, then Kennedy was assassinated, and Lyndon Johnson inherited a rudderless South Vietnam. In 1964 South Vietnam had seven different leaders and was foundering. LBJ decided to send in American combat troops and the big buildup began.
What didn’t begin was a strategy and a willingness to invade North Vietnam and put an end to their ability to make war against the South, the strategy that solved the problem of Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany. Neither LBJ nor Nixon were willing to fight the Vietnam war to decisive conclusion.
Thank you for clarifying my somewhat shortened version of events. I was much younger then and newly married and attending an engineering college. I wasn't paying much attention to the finer points of politics at the time. I was sweating out the draft for the most part. I was called down to the induction center and classified 1-A even though I'm blind in one eye. I was 1-A through the entire conflict and was never called up. I was passed over in the lotteries as well.
Regards,
GtG
PS I knew there was something wrong w/ the time line as the French bailed in 1957 and JFK was killed about 1963. I never realized that Truman was responsible for involving us in the fray.
Thanks again!