50 years ago: Army executes rapid buildup in Vietnam
WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Aug. 3, 2015) -- In early 1965, about 50,000 U.S. troops, mostly advisors, were in South Vietnam. By the end of 1966, that number had grown to 385,000 with the majority being Army...
...The rapid buildup was not really part of the original strategy, Jones said. The U.S. advisors, including some 1,200 Green Berets, were there to buy time to train up the South Vietnamese, who would then carry the fight to the enemy on their own initiative.
But things weren't going well. In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson's administration and military leaders became aware that South Vietnam was on the verge of collapse, Jones said. Insurgents controlled about half of South Vietnam, along with about a third of the population.
Furthermore, South Vietnamese forces were not showing a willingness to fight and many were deserting. There were even concerns that Saigon could fall unless more U.S. troops were sent in to bolster the country. The role was beginning to change from advise and assist to offensive action.
Johnson, who was a senator during the Korean War, remembered how President Harry S. Truman had been castigated by the Republicans for "losing" China. "That stayed in his memory," Jones said. He didn't want Saigon to fall on his watch. ...
...U.S. troop numbers peaked in 1968 with President Johnson approving an increased maximum number of U.S. troops in Vietnam at 549,500. The year was the most expensive in the Vietnam War with the American spending US$77.4 billion (US$ 603 billion in 2022) on the war. The year also became the deadliest of the Vietnam War for America and its allies with 27,915 ARVN soldiers killed and the Americans suffering 16,592 killed compared to around two hundred thousand PAVN/VC killed. The deadliest day of the Vietnam War for the U.S. was 31 January at the start of the Tet Offensive when 246 Americans were killed in action. ,,,
