America's
Longest War:
The United States and Yietnam,
1950-1975
:ICOND EDITION
Ceorge C. I,{erring
I
rE\rpLE uNrvERsrry
,ou* EEI
*nuoo"'on,"
lohn, and Lisa
19122
Press' Philadelphia
Temple University
Second
Edition
s8765432I
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Cataloging'in-Publication
Data
Library of Congress
C 1936
Hcrrrng Ceorge
wer'
Anreiica
s
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th' l'nitcd
Sldlet
"l
Amcricd
Amedca s
-b.t
.4insf \-orth Vietnae
-{m€rica-n
tle Far EaS rr-ith e I
f
the Vice hesident
t2
Rostow, Difusi..rn of pouer,
p.270.
5 le6t le,i""li"i. ijf., ["" sii.
Kennedv. Mav
Krock Papers. Seetey C. Mudd Vdnuscripr t-rS,"rv.
u
dist
and keenly a$'are of d
tEtn aPParently feared that tL
.lfrrican trooPs would not cnl
t cry but would also eire d
i"".."g". Shortll
*
port its diplomacy without provoking domestic or interru
ot converqtion with
that the decision to t
in the t-nited Strtt
i mrale rras to be arre*r
h Se aftermath of tb€ Iof,
aid- He clisPlar ed
modest increase in the MAAG of 100 advisers and
Vietnam 400 Special Forces troops to train the
counterinsurgency techniques. Convinced in the light of
negotiations that Diem had to be handled with special c
nedy recalled Anbassador Durbrow, the foremost advocate
bargaining tactics, and sent Vice president Lyndon B.
Job
Saigon to give personal assurances of American ,,rpport.
T
Ir Krocl
memorandum
rzrb
ilvoh-em
shlilied
Asia, and most administration officials
th.t V,
"gr""d
contrast to Laos, would be a suitable place
to make a star
Despite its growing concern with Vietnam. the adrniri
did not institute major policy changes or drastically erpand
can commitments in the spring of 1961. The president
concern. the administration waged coverl warfare in
The United Slates sent clandestine teams ol Sorrth
across the seventeenth parallel to attack enemy supply
lines,
tage military and civilian targets, and agitate againisi the
ff"l
gime. At the same time, the CIA initiated its.,secret war,,in
arming some 9,000 Meo tribesmen for operations against the
Chi Minh trail in what would become one of the larlest parar
tary operations ever undertaken.
., The reappraisal of the spring of Ig6l was more important
the questions it raised than for the solutions it provided', howe
The administration's decisions reflected, in the words of
House adviser Walt W. Rostow. a calculated Dolicv oI ..brw
time with limi(ed commitmenls of additional A meiicanresorrrcesBut many offcials feared that this might not be
,
force. appointed by Kennedy to review American
"r,o,lgt
"r.a
opiiorrs
ir, ":
nam began to consider the more drastic measures that
might be
quired if the Laos negotiations broke down or if the
Co" -,,n
laurched a major ofiensive in Vietnam. Among other things,
for
force openl]' rr
fiorcrs to \.ietoan
ust
?irnzs columnist Arthur Krock that he had to make
"Khrushchev doesn't misunderstand
Cuba, Laos. etc. to
that the United States is in a yielding mood on such matE
lin."rl Moreover, with the ouicome of the Laos
tain, it seemed urgent to prepare a fallback position in
after Joh
the sil
that
KennedY
amed
much more Perilous" ald rel
aid and advisers to eq)d
lVar intensified in the sumr
all'
'r advisers began to urge an\.ies
in
meeting
summit
. stormy
the Soviet commitment to !
fears. Rostos I
administration's
tlb€
in Vietnam of such "uneqt
.s helicopters and the nerr-lv crea!
rrrong to be develoPing tlrese c4
in a crucial theater," he adrist
'5 old phrase, we are not saring
tle
and former MIT Professor c
b the vear 1942 when the Allies s€f,t
gtobe, and he wamed Kennedr that
States must "win" in Viernam- ll
g
Laos, and Cambodia could be
I
to Kennedy. May 23, 1961. KeD-Fdr ftr
C,onffess. Sena(e, Subcommittee oE rurE
Elitio l d
l,i iTpit ttW s"r*t- Crcoel
Zited as Pentazon Papers (Ctaaetl'
79
possibility of
' .:':- :l,e task force openly raised ihe
discussed air
also
forces to Vietnam' and
,r, ," - -'
=U"t
North Victnam'
r
L
--. .:r-r idrainst
:m a::-rriiration studied various choices'
,
;'';:,j;Jl;"tican
pressures
involvement in vietnam After
a
in Sai, r,,,'i;;,lr+ ihe Far East with a major stopover
had
Laos
in
negotiate
,*r,.,,'-,....=d that the decision to
a
thatif
warned
:1"* ,.".i*"" -,h" u"it"d St"t"t "nd
{ollow
"deeds
must
l le, .,*- t
was to be arrested'
:'lt' -o."t"
of the Johnson vhit' D-iem himift.
-, f*,
"Hermath
;itiorr"l aid. He ilisplayed no interest in UtheS comal" Vice President discreetly raised
.issue
".".,
' ,.".,a"ti and keenly aware of the rising opposition to
teared ttiat the introduction of large
" ::"-'
-,
"Op"t""ify
Vietcong a
, -..t*" troops would not only give the
non-Commlnist-oP
give
the
also
-.r.r
' it- ".t- but would
Shortly after Johnson departed Saigon'
,-l ,l.i"t"r"g"
. : ';--'.;;;;-iennedv that the situation in Vietnam had
rcquested sufficienr addi-. -;;;;;;"'iil'""
"na
his arml by 100 000
expanj
-.- -,-r, aid and advisers to
of
15,- . , t \\'ar intensified in the summer of 1961' and some
Vi",llii:
luu:' ii, isers began to urge an all-orrtinefiort T,
Khrushchev
, .---; ;;;t= meeting in vienna June'
reinliberation'
of
wars
to
-i-. J if," Soviet commitment
the
had long advocated
.l-i"lr,*,.n's fears Rostow
counterguerrilla
"unexploited
sr.rch
of
.;.. ;' il;;
"It is
.-l'aan Rerets.
Berets "It-
.lL ie
^^l^,1 Green
t ..I;o;;t; ;"; the newly created
capabilities but not applvthese
. -;;i;;";;teloping
; -;';il";
-it"ut"r,"'
t'" advised Kennedv "In Knute
":
th."
, . , ,:a pft*", -e are not saving them fot
iT:i:"^T^;of
the-summer
,' . ;;';'ii;;;J,
ttaif p'or"io'
suffering defeats across
l'. .i"lt ig+z *ft"n the Allies were"ompared
'to turn th:
;ti^ rt" *".""J i""""av that
.tld:',llle
be. held'
r -: :-ites must "win" in Vietnam lf Vietnam could.
"we
have
shall
cambodia could be saved' and
;; -.;;:;
Utficc Frh Bor 30
- " : Kenned) \'lav 23 196l Kennedr Papers
-,
and Crounds'lrc
Subcommitlee on Public Buildinu'
L]ess.senate
6{J Hcrc
'n)"i)o'l9?l\'II
4\ols:Bustun
c*' a Uilionl
-.-- i''^-"
. -.
-:
3s Pent,t{on Paqe's
\ctotett