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insurgency growing rapidly
insurgency has grown to about 80,000-100,000. the south vietnamese were expanding their army but they still were not able to respond to the viet cong attacks. -
Limited successes
American ‘search and destroy’ missions were often successful but their strategic impact was limited. In other words, they killed numbers of the enemy but failed to eradicate them completely or halt their activities. -
Lyon Johnson's election
he was a democratic candidate he was the 36th president of the U.S he was president after JFK assignation -
Americans on the offensive
Over time, the rules of engagement laid down in early 1965 were revised and American ground missions became more mobile, expeditious and aggressive. Marines based in Da Nang ventured further away from the city on patrols and counterinsurgency missions. -
operation rolling thunder
it went on for 3 years. American air craft were taking bombs over to north Vietnam and Viet cong. it ended up killing 80,000 to 120,000 people -
U.S combat troops arrive
American combat troops were initially tasked with defending US and South Vietnamese bases. Many American military commanders in Vietnam, led by General William Westmoreland, disliked this defensive approach. -
US operations escalate
The first major offensive launched solely by US troops came in August 1965. During Operation Starlite, as it was known, 5,000 American soldiers decimated a 2,000-strong Viet Cong force near Chu Lai, killing or capturing more than one-quarter of them. -
Search and destroy
From late 1965, American battle strategies focused largely on ‘search and destroy’ missions. American troops would move into regions that were controlled by the enemy, usually by hiking or aboard helicopters. -
Americans on the offensive
Over time, the rules of engagement laid down in early 1965 were revised and American ground missions became more mobile, expeditious and aggressive. Marines based in Da Nang ventured further away from the city on patrols and counterinsurgency missions. -
Further expansion
The year 1966 began with Operation Crimp, a joint US-Australian mission in Binh Duong province that involved 8,000 men. Operation Crimp’s objective was to locate a significant Viet Cong headquarters, which US intelligence placed in Cu Chi, several miles north-west of Saigon. -
Zippo missions
When American soldiers failed to locate or engage the Viet Cong in a known ‘hot zone’, there were often reprisals against civilians suspected of supporting them. Many villages had their grain stores destroyed, their wells poisoned, their livestock killed and buildings torched. -
US deaths increase
With the escalation in US combat activity in 1965-67 came a sharp rise in the number of American deaths. Between 1956 and 1964, only 401 US personnel had died in Vietnam. This rose sharply in late 1965, both from casualties in search and destroy missions, as well as Viet Cong raids, ambushes and bombings:
