Information to help you work out how much the US were involved in Vietnam

1. 1950-52 US spend more than $50 million dollars on technical and economic assistance. They provide seed and fertiliser to try to increase agricultural production. They also introduce health programmes
2. 1952 US set up the MAAG to be sent to Vietnam to aid in the training of the Vietnamese National Army (VNA)– an army of Vietnamese people fighting for the French. They provide bombers, tanks and weapons for the VNA to use
3. 1950-54 US spend over $3 billion on aid (weapons and equipment) to stop the communists winning in Vietnam
4. 1954 Despite the French asking for help from the US (bombing the Vietnamese at the key battle of Dien Bien Phu) the US refuse.
5. By the end of 1960 – Eisenhower had put 1800 advisors into Vietnam. Half of which were military
6. May 1961 - President Kennedy sends an extra 400 American Green Beret 'Special Advisors' to South Vietnam to train South Vietnamese soldiers in methods of 'counter-insurgency' in the fight against Viet Cong guerrillas.
7. February 1962 - MACV, the U.S. Military Assistance Command for Vietnam, is formed. It replaces MAAG-Vietnam, the Military Assistance Advisory Group which had been established in 1950.
8. End of 1963
By year's end, there are 16,300 American military advisors in South Vietnam which received $500 million in U.S. aid during 1963.
9. End of 1964
By year's end, the number of American military advisors in South Vietnam is 23,000.
10. Feb 1965
A U.S. helicopter base and advisory compound at Pleiku is attacked by Viet Cong commandos. Nine Americans are killed. President Johnson orders U.S. Navy fighter-bombers to attack military targets just inside North Vietnam.
11. 1965
President Johnson authorizes Operation Rolling Thunder, a limited but long lasting bombing offensive using heavy bombers. Its aim is to force North Vietnam to stop supporting Vietcong guerrillas in the South.
12. March 1965
The first U.S. combat troops arrive in Vietnam as 3500 Marines land at China Beach to defend the American air base at Da Nang.
13. 1965
First purely offensive operation by American ground forces in Vietnam, sweeping into Viet Cong territory just northwest of Saigon.
14. July 1965
During a noontime press conference, President Johnson announces he will send 44 combat battalions to Vietnam increasing the U.S. military presence to 125,000 men.
15. August 1965
Operation Starlite begins the first major U.S. ground operation in Vietnam as U.S. Marines wage a pre-emptive strike against 1500 Viet Cong planning to assault the American airfield at Chu Lai.
16. November 1965
The Battle of Ia Drang Valley marks the first major battle between U.S. troops and North Vietnamese Army regulars (NVA) inside South Vietnam..
17. End of 1965
U.S. troop levels in Vietnam reached 184,300.
18. 1966
American forces in Vietnam reach 385,000 men, plus an additional 60,000 sailors stationed offshore. More than 6,000 Americans have been killed in this year, and 30,000 have been wounded.
19. End of 1967
U.S. troop levels reach 463,000 with 16,000 combat deaths to date. By this time, over a million American soldiers have rotated through Vietnam, with length of service for draftees being one year, and most Americans serving in support units.

20. 1968
Operation Rolling Thunder comes to an end. In total, the campaign had cost more than 900 American aircraft. 818 pilots are lost. 800 tons of bombs were dropped each day.
21. End of 1968
US troop levels = 495,000
22. Feb 1969
President Nixon authorizes Operation Menu, the bombing of North Vietnamese and Vietcong bases within Cambodia. Over the following four years, U.S. forces will drop more than a half million tons of bombs on Cambodia.
23. April 1969
U.S. troop = 543,400.
24. June 1969
Nixon meets with South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu on Midway Island in the Pacific, and announces that 25,000 U.S. troops will be withdrawn immediately.
25. End of 1969
By year's