South Vietnam slips toward war!
Aggression from the North!
By early 1964, the situation in South Vietnam was deteriorating rapidly. Viet Cong attacks were becoming larger, bolder, and more deadly, exposing the weakness of the South Vietnamese government and its armed forces.
A girl, holding a small child, stands in the ruins of their home after a Viet Cong attack.
On February 3, 1964, Viet Cong fighters struck the American advisory compound at Kontum as part of a broader offensive that swept across Tay Ninh Province and the Mekong Delta.
U.S. Air Force C-123 Taxiing Out for Takeoff from Kontum Special Forces Camp, Vietnam
Just three days later, a bomb exploded inside Saigon’s crowded Capital Kinh Do Theater, killing three Americans and wounding more than fifty people. The war was no longer confined to remote jungles; it had reached the heart of the capital.
The violence continued to escalate. In April, Viet Cong forces captured Kien Long, a district capital deep in the Mekong Delta. The battle was a disaster for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), which lost some 300 soldiers. Then, in May, commandos from North Vietnam’s 65th Special Operations Group carried out a spectacular attack in Saigon Harbor, sinking the American aircraft transport ship USNS Card. Although salvage crews succeeded in raising the vessel just 17 days later, the incident dealt a serious blow to American prestige.
The USNS Card was sunk in the Port of Saigon on May 2, 1964, by Viet Cong commandos who planted 180 pounds of high explosives, killing five crew members and marking the last time an American aircraft carrier was destroyed by enemy forces. (Credit / source US Naval Institute: photo Wikipedia work of a sailor or employee of the U.S. Navy)
Another humiliation followed on July 4, 1964, when the Viet Cong launched a fierce assault on the US Special Forces camp at Nam Dong in the Northern Highlands. The attackers penetrated the camp’s defenses, killing 50 South Vietnamese troops and two American advisers before withdrawing into the surrounding mountains.
Roger Hugh Charles Donlon (January 30, 1934 – January 25, 2024) was a United States Army officer. He was the first person to receive the Medal of Honor in the Vietnam War, as well as the first member of the United States Army Special Forces to be so honored. (Credit / source Wikipedia & photo work of a U.S. Army soldier or employee)
Medal of Honor Citation of Captain Donlon
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while defending a U.S. military installation against a fierce attack by hostile forces. Capt. Donlon was serving as the commanding officer of the U.S. Army Special Forces Detachment A-726 at Camp Nam Dong when a reinforced Viet Cong battalion suddenly launched a full-scale, predawn attack on the camp. During the violent battle that ensued, lasting 5 hours and resulting in heavy casualties on both sides, Capt. Donlon directed the defense operations in the midst of an enemy barrage of mortar shells, falling grenades, and extremely heavy gunfire. Upon the initial onslaught, he swiftly marshaled his forces and ordered the removal of the needed ammunition from a blazing building. He then dashed through a hail of small arms and exploding hand grenades to abort a breach of the main gate. En route to this position he detected an enemy demolition team of 3 in the proximity of the main gate and quickly annihilated them. Although exposed to the intense grenade attack, he then succeeded in reaching a 60mm mortar position despite sustaining a severe stomach wound as he was within 5 yards of the gun pit. When he discovered that most of the men in this gunpit were also wounded, he completely disregarded his own injury, directed their withdrawal to a location 30 meters away, and again risked his life by remaining behind and covering the movement with the utmost effectiveness. Noticing that his team sergeant was unable to evacuate the gun pit he crawled toward him and, while dragging the fallen soldier out of the gunpit, an enemy mortar exploded and inflicted a wound in Capt. Donlon's left shoulder. Although suffering from multiple wounds, he carried the abandoned 60mm mortar weapon to a new location 30 meters away where he found 3 wounded defenders. After administering first aid and encouragement to these men, he left the weapon with them, headed toward another position, and retrieved a 57mm recoilless rifle. Then with great courage and coolness under fire, he returned to the abandoned gun pit, evacuated ammunition for the 2 weapons, and while crawling and dragging the urgently needed ammunition, received a third wound on his leg by an enemy hand grenade. Despite his critical physical condition, he again crawled 175 meters to an 81mm mortar position and directed firing operations which protected the seriously threatened east sector of the camp. He then moved to an eastern 60mm mortar position and upon determining that the vicious enemy assault had weakened, crawled back to the gun pit with the 60mm mortar, set it up for defensive operations, and turned it over to 2 defenders with minor wounds. Without hesitation, he left this sheltered position, and moved from position to position around the beleaguered perimeter while hurling hand grenades at the enemy and inspiring his men to superhuman effort. As he bravely continued to move around the perimeter, a mortar shell exploded, wounding him in the face and body. As the long awaited daylight brought defeat to the enemy forces and their retreat back to the jungle leaving behind 54 of their dead, many weapons, and grenades, Capt. Donlon immediately reorganized his defenses and administered first aid to the wounded. His dynamic leadership, fortitude, and valiant efforts inspired not only the American personnel but the friendly Vietnamese defenders as well and resulted in the successful defense of the camp. Capt. Donlon's extraordinary heroism, at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty are in the highest traditions of the U.S. Army and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country
Faced with a worsening crisis, President Lyndon B. Johnson felt compelled to act. He approved a major expansion of counterinsurgency operations, increased the size of the ARVN, and dispatched additional aircraft, weapons, and military equipment to South Vietnam. Yet Johnson remained reluctant to commit American combat troops or authorize the sustained bombing of North Vietnam advocated by Air Force General Curtis LeMay.
US Air Force General Curtis LeMay (Credit / source Wikipedia work of a U.S. Air Force Airman)
South Vietnam’s leader, General Nguyen Khanh, pushed Washington to take stronger action. At a Saigon press conference in August 1964, he warned that the United States needed to demonstrate resolve, declaring that North Vietnam must learn America was “not a paper tiger.”
Events soon forced the issue. In August 1964, reports emerged that North Vietnamese patrol boats had attacked two American destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin. The incidents triggered a political earthquake in Washington. Within days, Congress overwhelmingly passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, granting President Johnson broad authority to use armed force in Vietnam without a formal declaration of war.
On the evening of August 4, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson addressed the nation in a televised speech in which he stated that U.S. ships had been attacked twice in international waters in the Gulf of Tonkin near North Vietnam. The following morning, the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was introduced in the Senate. Although the version shown here is the original draft resolution, the language was not amended and therefore reads the same as the final version that was signed into law August 10, 1964.
As American leaders debated their next move, North Vietnam’s leadership was reaching its own conclusions. Hanoi became convinced that Johnson would neither abandon South Vietnam nor accept a negotiated settlement on communist terms. The answer, they believed, was escalation. The insurgency in the South would be strengthened until it was capable of destroying ARVN forces and toppling the Saigon government.
In November 1964, that strategy entered a new phase. North Vietnamese regular troops began infiltrating South Vietnam in increasing numbers along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. What had started as a guerrilla conflict was steadily transforming into a conventional war—one that would soon draw the United States ever deeper into Vietnam’s deadly struggle.
Operation “Lincoln” was a search and destroy mission with combined forces from the 69th Armored, 25th Infantry Division and a brigade from the 1st Air Cavalry Division (Air Mobile). A M48A3 tank belonging to the 1st Battalion, 69th Armored, 25th Infantry Division moves through a destroyed Viet Cong camp which was located South of Pleiku, RVN. Other members of the unit grab a ride on the back of the tank. 27 March 1966