(page 3 of 4) In March of 1965 President Johnson began sending combat troops to Vietnam, the first of one half million soldiers there by 1967. America was in a big shooting war. The government called it a "limited war" for the survival of an independent South Vietnam, and McNamara took credit for its strategy and tactics. He gave frequent briefings quoting statistics that seemed to back up his optimistic predictions. There was a new ambassador sent to Saigon in 1964, General Maxwell Taylor, a hero of World War Two and a well known military thinker. There was also a new American military commander, General William C. Westmoreland, but critics said he was an officer better known for his Boy Scout appearance that is a youthful, trusting appearance, and public relations skills than his military ability. That prediction would be borne out over the next four years. And even the troubled Saigon political situation had settled down after a series of military takeovers, and Generals Nguyen Van Thieu and Nguyen Cao Ky were in charge of the government. But America's enemy, the Vietcong, the local insurgents from the villages and towns, and the NVA, the regular North Vietnamese military forces, were growing in strength. The NVA were supplied with heavy weapons by both the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China. And they were led by the legendary Ho Chi Minh. The American buildup continued day after day, from the far north of the country to the deep south of the Mekong delta. But casualties on both sides were increasing. By 1966, over 10,000 Americans were dead on the battlefield. The communist dead were uncounted, usually buried where they died, anonymous and forgotten. And United States military planners tried new tactics, such as dropping the defoliant Agent Orange on the thick jungles, near roads and riversides, to clear away the trees and bushes. The agent dioxin in the product was later claimed to have deadly effects on the health of those living nearby.         PREVIOUS PAGE RETURN TO BIO NEXT PAGE