1963 in the Vietnam War
| 1963 in the Vietnam War | |||
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← 1962
1964 →
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 A map of South Vietnam showing provincial boundaries and names and military zones: 1, II, III, and IV Corps. |
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| Belligerents | |||
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Anti-Communist forces:  South Vietnam United States Kingdom of Laos Republic of China
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Communist forces:  North Vietnam Viet Cong Pathet Lao
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| Strength | |||
| US: 16,732 | |||
| Casualties and losses | |||
| US: 122 killed South Vietnam: 5,665 killed |
North Vietnam: casualties | ||
Anti-Communist forces:
Communist forces:
The defeat of the South Vietnamese Army (ARVN) in a battle in January set off a furious debate in the United States on the progress being made in the war against the Viet Cong in South Vietnam. Assessments of the war flowing into the higher levels of the U.S. government in Washington were wildly inconsistent, some citing an early victory over the Viet Cong, others a rapidly deteriorating military situation. Some senior U.S. military officers and White House officials were optimistic; civilians of the Department of State and the CIA, junior military officers, and the media were decidedly less so. Near the end of the year, U.S. leaders became more pessimistic about progress in the war.
Although the U.S. denied that it had combat soldiers in South Vietnam, U.S. soldiers routinely participated in combat operations against the Viet Cong. The number of U.S. soldiers in South Vietnam rose to more than 16,000 by year's end with 122 combat deaths in just that year.
The President of South Vietnam Ngô Đình Diệm initiated a brutal crack-down on protests by Buddhists against his (largely Roman Catholic) government that caused consternation in the U.S and concern that the Diệm government was failing. In November, Diệm was overthrown and killed in a coup d'état by his military, with the tacit acquiescence of the United States. A military junta headed by General Dương Văn Minh replaced Diệm. United States President John F. Kennedy was assassinated three weeks later. Lyndon Johnson became President of the United States. Johnson did not make any major changes in Kennedy's policies or team of policy advisers on Vietnam.
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Wikipedia