1960s Timeline

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...

Feb. 1962 | President Kennedy filmed a New Year's message to the people of South Vietnam, calling their struggle against Communist...

Feb. 1, 1962 - President Kennedy told the people of South Vietnam today that the prospects for peace in their country “will brighten...

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

Jan. 24, 1962 - The Army assigned its youngest general today to responsibility for directing the ground force’s expanding efforts in...

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...

Jan. 6, 1962 - An American construction foreman on the $4 million Saigon airport improvement project was fatally wounded in an ambush...

Jan. 4, 1962 - The United States and South Vietnam announced today a “broad economic and social program” to raise living standards in...

Dec. 31, 1961 - Aided by a build-up in U.S. military support, South Vietnam is preparing a strong counter-offensive against Communist...

Dec. 30, 1961 - A United States Army specialist kidnapped by Communist guerrillas on Christmas Day is alive, reliable sources said today....

Dec. 29, 1961 - American military personnel in South Vietnam were instructed today to stay within the Saigon (pictured) city limits....

Dec. 28, 1961 - A United States Army sergeant is believed to have been kidnapped by the Viet Cong (pictured), as the Communist guerrillas...

Dec. 25, 1961 - Two South Vietnamese paratroopers were killed and three Americans injured Saturday when a U.S. Army helicopter crashed...