1960s Timeline

Oct. 15, 1961 - Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor (pictured) left for South Vietnam today and indicated that the U.S. would be reluctant to commit...

Oct. 14, 1961 - President Kennedy has asked the mission to South Vietnam headed by Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor (left) to make a broad study of...

Oct. 13, 1961 - Mao Tse-tung (left), chief of the Chinese Communist party, and North Vietnamese President Ho Chi Minh (right) met last...

Oct. 12, 1961 - The Moscow radio asserted today that Washington had “openly aggressive” plans to send troops to South Vietnam. It...

Oct. 11, 1961 - General Maxwell D. Taylor (pictured left) will go to South Vietnam this week on President Kennedy’s behalf to study means...

Oct. 7, 1961 - The United States is considering sending troops to Southeast Asia to cope with the worsening situation in Vietnam and a...

Sept. 22, 1961 - For the second time this week, the Communist guerrillas known as Viet Cong launched a devastating attack in South...

Sept. 18, 1961 - More than 1,000 Communist rebels in South Vietnam attacked and burned the capital of Phuoc Vinh Province, 60 miles north...

Aug. 20, 1961 - The South Vietnamese Army, equipped and trained by the U.S. in new jungle warfare tactics, is reported to have assumed...

Aug. 17, 1961 - For the second time in a month, the South Vietnamese army (pictured) registered a victory over the Communist guerrillas...

Aug. 12, 1961 - South Vietnamese troop units are reported to be operating in southern Laos to cut the flow of Communist supplies and...

July 31, 1961 - Communist guerrillas staged a pre-announced hand-grenade incident in Saigon last night to demonstrate their ability to...

July 30, 1961 - In South Vietnam, Communist Viet Cong guerrillas (pictured) are now estimated to number 12,000. They are taking 500-700...

July 27, 1961 - Communist guerrillas have increased their activity in South Vietnam. Numerous acts of terrorism have occurred throughout...

July 16, 1961 - South Vietnamese Government troops crushed a Communist guerrilla force today in the bloodiest battle since South Vietnam...

July 12, 1961 - Pat Hingle will portray one of the leading characters in the forthcoming Marlon Brando vehicle, "The Ugly American,"...

July 10, 1961 - Here is video of Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara's press conference from earlier today. #communism #communist...

July 6, 1961 - Secretary of State Dean Rusk warned today that any cuts in the Administration's foreign aid program would be "a great...