.
The Vietnam Era
The Truman Administration did not pursue total victory in Korea in part to maintain US defensive emphasis on Western Europe. The next major conflict for the US Armed Forces, however, once again took place in Asia.
The Early Years (1950 - 1964)
In the mid 1950s, the United States’ involvement in Vietnam began as a cold war operation. Vietnam was essentially a French battle. However, the post WWII policy of containment of communism prompted President Harry S. Truman to intervene. On 7 February 1950, the United States recognized the legitimacy of the French-backed ruler of Vietnam, the former Emperor Bao Dai. The French then requested US economic and military aid, stating they would leave the nation to Ho Chi Minh and Communism if they did not receive the assistance. The United States appropriated $75 million. On 25 June 1950, Communist forces from North Korea invaded South Korea and President Truman increased aid. He also ordered eight C-47 transports directly to Saigon, the first air force presence in Vietnam. On 3 August 1950, the first contingent of the US Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) arrived in Saigon.
By 1952, the United States supplied one-third of the cost of the French military effort in Vietnam, yet it was becoming apparent that the French were losing heart. On 4 January 1953, the United States deployed the first sizable contingent of Air Force personnel (other than those attached to the MAAG). This group included a complement of enlisted technicians to primarily handle supply and aircraft maintenance.
In April 1953, the Viet Minh (under Ho Chi Minh’s direction) staged a major offensive, advancing into Laos and menacing Thailand. President Eisenhower authorized C-119 transports (aircraft only, not crews) to the area and loaned additional cargo planes to the French in the fall of 1954. Because French air units were seriously undermanned, US officials made the fateful decision on 31 January 1954 to dispatch 300 airmen to service aircraft at Tourane and at Do Son Airfield near Haiphong.
On 7 April 1954, President Eisenhower presented to the American press a rationale for fighting Communism in Vietnam. “You have a row of dominoes set up,” he explained, “you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty it will go over very quickly.”
On 7 May 1954, the French and Viet Minh agreed to divide Vietnam along the 17th parallel. The United States evacuated its personnel. Ho Chi Minh was confident the country would be reunified by a popular vote mandated by the armistice and scheduled for July 1956. The United States and French worked with the South Vietnamese to create a stable government and an effective South Vietnamese military. When South Vietnam refused to conduct the voting process for reunification, President Eisenhower decided to commit the United States to a long-term advisory role, intending to create an effective South Vietnamese military. North Vietnamese insurgency into the south increased during the closing years of the decade.
The Air Force escalated its presence in Vietnam beginning in 1961. A mobile combat-reporting post (a radar installation), began arriving on 26 September and became operational at Tan Son Nhut on 5 October. The first combat unit, the 4400th Crew Training Squadron, arrived in Bien Hoa on 11 October 1961. Flying T-28, SC-47, and RB-26 aircraft, the unit’s designation was somewhat misleading; it performed special operations as well as provided crew training to South Vietnamese pilots.
As Air Force presence increased in the early 1960s, so did the need for support personnel. Construction of airfields, barracks, and intelligence gathering were among the priorities. In addition, Operation Ranch Hand kicked off in January 1962. Using modified transports, Operation Ranch Hand crews sprayed herbicides on jungles and undergrowth to kill the foliage and deny cover to the enemy. On 2 February 1962, a C-123 on a training flight for Operation Ranch Hand crashed in South Vietnam, probably the result of ground fire or sabotage. Staff Sergeant Milo B. Coghill, the aircraft’s flight engineer, became the first Air Force enlisted member to die in South Vietnam as a result of this crash.
Even with the increasing American commitment, by 1963 “Viet Cong” insurgents backed by North Vietnam stepped up their attacks and were making major gains in the south. The situation in South Vietnam continued to look bleak through the summer of 1964 when in August North Vietnamese patrol boats fired on the US destroyer Maddux in international waters in the Gulf of Tonkin. The incident served as a pretext for expanded US military involvement in the region. In the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, Congress granted President Lyndon Johnson the authority to use force in the area as he saw fit.
