Paul Hardcastle - 19 (The Final Story)

50 Years ago today, the first American combat troops arrived in Vietnam. Until this point only military advisor’s and pilots had been assisting the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). But on the 8th of March 1965, two Battalions of US Marines (3,500 Men) landed at Da Nang. Triggering the beginning of America’s ground war in Vietnam. By the end of the year 200,000 US personal were “In Country“. The ordering of troops to Vietnam by President Lyndon B. Johnson and Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara had come as a direct result of an attack on the USS Maddox on August 4th, 1964 by three North Vietnamese Navy gunboats while stationed in Vietnamese waters. This became known as the Gulf of Tonkin incident. Over the next 10 years 153,303 American military personnel would be wounded in action, 2646 would be missing in action (1636 as of 2015) and 58,303 would lose their lives. Along with... 63 Journalists 500 Australians 39 New Zealanders