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Pretty much what I just saidIt says this:
November 1, 1955 -- The U.S. redesignates MAAG, Indochina, as MAAG, Vietnam to specify its new direct combat advisory role with the South Vietnamese Army. The U.S. essentially took over the advisory role from the French, who were leaving Vietnam after their defeat at Diem Bien Phu in 1954. The Department of Defense views this date as the earliest qualifying date for inclusion on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
March 1959 -- Ho Chi Minh declares a People's War to unite all of Vietnam under his leadership. His Politburo orders a changeover to an all-out military struggle. From the comnmunist perspective, the "Vietnam War" against the U.S. has now officially started.
Does that mean it is when some soldiers were killed in Vietnam from the US?
Well, a bunch of soldiers were sent to Thailand in '63, I believe. But it wasn't a large force.My character was a regular GI Joe from the army, small town boy with no special training. So then he would ONLY be sent in around 65? This sucks if he did, I wanted him to go earlier. Is there another war going on in 60-63?
Oh, the ching chang thing was about areas not people names...lol. I can't pronounce any of those areas or spell them without an encyclopedia near me.
Not really with US involvement and regular troops. He could be a clerk or something similar sent to Saigon to work with MAAG, but he wouldn't be in combat unless he was an adviser (under most circumstances, anyhow).My character was a regular GI Joe from the army, small town boy with no special training. So then he would ONLY be sent in around 65? This sucks if he did, I wanted him to go earlier. Is there another war going on in 60-63?
Oh, the ching chang thing was about areas not people names...lol. I can't pronounce any of those areas or spell them without an encyclopedia near me.
Support troops means advisers, logistics types (read mechanics and trainers), and others. These are not combat troops, although many advisers did find themselves in the thick of things. I suspect the numbers you quote later also include the Special Forces types out in the woods with the natives.I changed my mind, I now read that
U.S. Involvement
In 1961, South Vietnam signed a military and economic aid treaty with the United States leading to the arrival (1961) of U.S. support troops and the formation (1962) of the U.S. Military Assistance Command.
So...I'm gonna use the Vietnam angle. Question: support troops means....army, navy, what?