Sept. 11, 1962 - Top U.S. military authorities in Saigon have described the campaign against Communist guerrillas in South Vietnam with “cautious optimism” to General Maxwell D. Taylor (pictured left last October). General Taylor, Chairman-designate of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, attended a three-hour briefing as part of his visit to South Vietnam, where the U.S. is committed to the support of the Government in its attempt to fight off the Communist Viet Cong. General Taylor later met with President Ngo Dinh Diem (right) and other Vietnamese officials. This is his first trip to South Vietnam in almost a year. On his last trip, when he came as a special representative of President Kennedy, the war against the Viet Cong rebels was, in the eyes of many observers, going very badly. Some felt that the anti-Communist Government would not be able to hold out very long. Since then, the U.S. has made a major military commitment in South Vietnam. An estimated 10,000 American servicemen are on duty in that country serving as advisers and giving logistical and other help to the South Vietnamese Army.
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