1960s Timeline

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...

Dec. 19, 1961 - U.S. military men in South Vietnam were understood today to be operating in battle areas with South Vietnamese forces...

Dec. 14, 1961 - President Kennedy has promised more military assistance to South Vietnam in its fight against the Communists. Mr....

Dec. 11, 1961 - Two U.S. Army helicopter companies arrived in Saigon today. The helicopters, to be flown and serviced by U.S. troops, are...

Dec. 8, 1961 - The U.S. called on non-Communist nations today to rally to the defense of South Vietnam. Warning that the Southeast Asian...

Dec. 7, 1961 - Communist China announced in a broadcast today that it would send a military delegation to Communist North Vietnam “in the...

Dec. 5, 1961 - War dogs from the U.S. Army are being brought to South Vietnam to hunt Communist guerrillas in underground jungle...

Nov. 16, 1961 - President Kennedy has decided on the measures that the U.S. is prepared to take to strengthen South Vietnam against...

Nov. 12, 1961 - Reliable informants said today that U.S. Air Force jets were flying reconnaissance missions over South Vietnam to...

Nov. 11, 1961 - Military intelligence sources in South Vietnam estimate that 6,000 Communist troops occupy a number of bases in Cambodia....

Nov. 9, 1961 - The U.S. Air Force has begun a huge supply and training program in Saigon to strengthen South Vietnam’s defenses against...

Nov. 6, 1961 - The Government’s malaria-control teams have taken heavy losses in South Vietnam’s protracted jungle war with Communist...

Nov. 4, 1961 - Officials sources indicated today that the U.S. would press South Vietnam to undertake major economic, social, and...

Nov. 3, 1961 - A two-part study of guerrilla warfare techniques will be shown on “The Twentieth Century” on CBS-TV Sunday, Nov. 12 and...

Nov. 3, 1961 - President Kennedy remains strongly opposed to the dispatch of American combat troops to South Vietnam, it was reported in...

Nov. 1, 1961 - More than 500 Vietnamese Communist guerrillas are reported to have been killed in clashes with Government forces in recent...