Feb. 7, 1962 - Two U.S. Army air support companies totaling 300 men arrived in Saigon today from the plains of Kansas to bolster South Vietnam’s jungle war against Communist guerrillas. The U.S. Navy aircraft ferry Core landed the men and 21 Canadian-built U-1A Otters — large single-engine planes that can use short, makeshift runways, carry 10 soldiers each, and range about 600 miles. The new units, which have been based at Fort Riley, Kan., were identified as the 18th Aviation Company and the 339th Transportation Maintenance Company. They increase to about 4,000 the total of U.S. service personnel now in South Vietnam.
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