1960s Timeline

Feb. 19, 1962 - Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara said today that the South Vietnam war “seems to be stabilized,” but that guerrilla...

Feb. 17, 1962 - The Republicans charged again today that President Kennedy was hiding the extent of U.S. involvement in South Vietnam....

Feb. 16, 1962 - Washington officials predicted today the ultimate defeat of the Communist guerrillas in South Vietnam by the Government...

Feb. 15, 1962 - Frederick E. Nolting, Ambassador to South Vietnam, said today that social, economic and political reforms in South...

Feb. 14, 1962 - Responding to criticism, President Kennedy said today he was being as frank as possible about U.S. involvement in the war...

Feb. 13, 1962 - United States destroyer escorts will arrive at Danang in South Vietnam this week to bolster the South Vietnamese Navy’s...

Feb. 13, 1962 - The Republican National Committee called on President Kennedy today to “make a full report to the American people” on...

Feb. 11, 1962 - U.S. military personnel on reconnaissance in central Vietnam have run into hostile aborigines, belonging to the Katu...

Feb. 11, 1962 - What President Kennedy has called the “increasing ferocity” of the war in South Vietnam and the increasing involvement of...

Feb. 9, 1962 - The decision announced yesterday to set up a new U.S. command in Saigon under a full general is said to be a result of the...

Feb. 8, 1962 - The U.S. established a new military command in Communist-threatened South Vietnam today and named a four-star general to...

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...

Feb. 6, 1962 - One U.S. Army helicopter crashed and burned, and two others were hit by Communist Viet Cong guerrilla fire today on an...

Feb. 4, 1962 - A U.S. Air Force helicopter company carrying Vietnamese troops routed Communist forces today around the village of Hung...

Jan. 27, 1962 - U.S. pilots are risking their lives dropping live pigs and chickens to starving South Vietnamese troops at army outposts...

Jan. 18, 1962 - United States planes have sprayed jungle growth along the Saigon-Saint Jacques road in South Vietnam to remove foliage...

Jan. 17, 1962 - Despite considerable improvement in its information and propaganda services, the South Vietnamese Government is losing...

Jan. 12, 1962 - Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara (right) will fly to Hawaii Sunday for a day-long conference Monday on the...

Jan. 11, 1962 - A plan by U.S. officials to “defoliate” trees and bushes in South Vietnam with a chemical sprayed from planes as a means...

Jan. 9, 1962 - The Kennedy Administration believes there is a fairly good chance of saving South Vietnam from communism, but it foresees...