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Jarqui

(10,110 posts)
2. The number of U.S. military personnel in Vietnam,
Tue Dec 1, 2015, 01:42 PM
Dec 2015

less than 800 throughout the 1950s, rose to about 9,000 by the middle of 1962.
—from 16,000 at the time of Kennedy’s death in November 1963 to 23,000 by the end of 1964.
- June 1965 Westmoreland was predicting the likely collapse of the South Vietnamese army, and he recommended the rapid dispatch of U.S. troops to undertake offensive missions against the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese anywhere in South Vietnam. Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, on a mission to Vietnam in early July, confirmed the need for additional forces. In late July, )President) Johnson took the final steps that would commit the United States to full-scale war in Vietnam: he authorized the dispatch of 100,000 troops immediately and an additional 100,000 in 1966.
http://www.britannica.com/event/Vietnam-War

The current debate/discussion reminds me of that time. It's too easy to get sucked in to war.

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