Title: Vietnam War
Content: remained in the field for four days. Tellingly, South Vietnamese forces were again defeated in June 1965 at the Battle of Đồng Xoài. On 8 March 1965, 3,500 U.S. Marines were unilaterally dispatched to South Vietnam. This marked the beginning of the American ground war. U.S. public opinion overwhelmingly supported the deployment. The Marines' initial assignment was defensive. The first deployment of 3,500 in March 1965 was increased to nearly 200,000 by December. The U.S. military had long been schooled in offensive warfare. Regardless of political policies, U.S. commanders were institutionally and psychologically unsuited to a defensive mission. General William

Title: Role of the United States in the Vietnam War
Content: South Vietnamese government. Instead the initial deployment and gradual build-up was a unilateral decision by the US government. On May 5 the U.S. 173rd Airborne Brigade became the first U.S. Army ground unit committed to the conflict in South Vietnam. On August 18, Operation Starlite began as the first major U.S. ground operation, destroying an NLF stronghold in Quảng Ngãi Province. The North Vietnamese had already sent units of their regular army into southern Vietnam beginning in late 1964. Some officials in Hanoi had favored an immediate invasion of the South, and a plan was developed to use PAVN units

Title: RMK-BRJ
Content: 1964, the deteriorating political situation of the southern government after the assassination of President Ngô Đình Diệm, and an increase in Viet Cong large unit actions, the U.S. government decided to introduce American ground combat troops into Vietnam. On 8 March 1965, 3,500 U.S. Marines of the 3rd Marine Division landed over the beach at Da Nang to protect the airfield at Da Nang, now operated by the U.S. Air Force (, pp. 99–102) and (, p. 19). In the first five months of 1965, U.S. troop levels increase to 55,000. By the end of 1965, 200,000 troops had been

Title: 1964 in the Vietnam War
Content: Vietnam and the introduction of U.S. combat troops into South Vietnam. By year's end, the 23,000 U.S. military personnel in South Vietnam were still technically "advisers" (although they participated in many air and ground operations with the ARVN), but Johnson was contemplating U.S. ground troops. At the time, most of the reports and conversations mentioned below were secret; they were not made public for many years. U.S. Ambassador to South Vietnam Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. reported to Washington that the new President of South Vietnam Dương Văn Minh told him that he opposed American soldiers going into villages and districts

Title: War in Vietnam (1959–1963)
Content: and hold it in a plan." Or, put another way, let us demonstrate that in some place, in some way, we can achieve demonstrable gains. On 11 December 1961 the United States aircraft carrier "USNS Card" docked in downtown Saigon with 82 U. S. Army H-21 helicopters and 400 men, organized into two Transportation Companies (Light Helicopter); Army aviation had not yet become a separate branch. Twelve days later these helicopters were committed into the first airmobile combat action in Vietnam, Operation Chopper. It was the first time U.S. forces directly and overtly supported ARVN units in combat, although the

Question: In what year were US ground troops first dispatched to Vietnam?
Answer: 1965