January 30 - President of the United StatesJohn F. Kennedy approved a $41 million counterinsurgency plan in North Vietnam, drawn up for President Eisenhower by General Edward Lansdale, to help the government of South Vietnam resist communist aggression. Designed to add 52,000 men to that nation's army and civil guards, the plan included provisions for American soldiers and military advisers to assist in the effort.[2]
February 28 - Under United States law, 38 U.S.C. §101 (29)(A), the Vietnam Era refers to "The period beginning on February 28, 1961, and ending on May 7, 1975, in the case of a veteran who served in the Republic of Vietnam during that period."[3]
March 23 - An American C-47 transport plane with eight men aboard disappeared over the war-torn nation of Laos after taking off from Vientiane toward Saigon. The U.S. Air Force did not announce the incident until two days later.[4] The sole survivor, Major Lawrence R. Bailey, Jr., was captured and became the first American POW of the Vietnam Era. He would be released on August 15, 1962.[5]
September 18 - For the first time, troops from North Vietnam seized control of a provincial capital in South Vietnam, capturing Phuoc Vinh in a predawn attack, only 55 miles from Saigon. The ARVN recaptured the city the next day, but not before the Governor of the Phuoc Thanh province was publicly beheaded, along with the top military officers, and the government buildings burned.[8]
November 3 - After returning from South Vietnam on a factfinding mission for President Kennedy, U.S. Army General Maxwell Taylor submitted a report proposing the commitment of 10,000 American combat troops to defend against the Communist Viet Cong. Kennedy did not publicly commit reports, but eventually sent 25,000 troops to South Vietnam.[10]
December 11 - The Vietnam War officially began for the United States, as the USS Core arrived at Saigon Harbor. The ship brought in two helicopter units, the 8th Transportation Company from Fort Bragg and the 57th Transportation Company from Fort Lewis, with 33 H-21 Shawnee helicopters, and 400 U.S. Army personnel.[11]
^Harold C. Relyea and L. Elaine Halchin, Informing Congress: The Role of the Executive Branch in Times of War (Nova Publishers, 2003) p28
^George C. McGhee, On the Frontline in the Cold War: An Ambassador Reports (Greenwood Publishing Group, 1997) p147
^Peter Dorland and James Nanney,, Dust Off: Army Aeromedical Evacuation in Vietnam (U.S. Army Center of Military History, 1982) p23; "Copter Load, 2 Companies Reach Saigon", Youngstown Vindicator, December 11, 1961, p1
