1965 in the Vietnam War
| 1965 in the Vietnam War | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
← 1964
1966 →
|
|||||
 US Army soldiers disembarking from helicopters in the Ia Drang Valley |
|||||
|
|||||
| Belligerents | |||||
|
Anti-Communist forces:  South Vietnam United States South Korea Australia New Zealand Kingdom of Laos Republic of China
|
Communist forces:  North Vietnam Viet Cong Pathet Lao People's Republic of China Soviet Union North Korea
|
||||
| Strength | |||||
| US: 184,314 South Vietnam: 514,000 (including militia) |
|||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||
| US: 1,928 killed South Vietnam: 11,242 killed. |
North Vietnam: casualties | ||||
Anti-Communist forces:
Communist forces:
In 1965, the United States rapidly increased its military forces in South Vietnam, prompted by the realization that the South Vietnamese government was losing the Vietnam War as the communist-dominated Viet Cong gained influence over much of the population in rural areas of the country. North Vietnam also rapidly increased its infiltration of men and supplies to combat South Vietnam and the U.S. The objective of the U.S. and South Vietnam was to prevent a communist take-over. North Vietnam and the insurgent Viet Cong sought to unite the two sections of the country.
Political instability and internal dissent continued to plague the government of South Vietnam although in June General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu and Air Marshall Nguyễn Cao Kỳ took control of the country and remained in power for the remainder of the year. In the United States, a majority of Congress and the people supported U.S. participation in the war although protests against the war became larger and more frequent, especially among college students.
The U.S. began bombing North Vietnam in March in Operation Rolling Thunder. The U.S. Army and Marines began ground operations to ferret out and defeat the communist forces. General William Westmoreland commanded U.S. forces in South Vietnam. Westmoreland's strategy was attrition, employing U.S. superiority in firepower, technology, and mobility. The usual military tactic of the United States was search and destroy operations in which large U.S. and South Vietnamese units, supported by air and artillery, swept through an area to attempt to engage the communists in battle. North Vietnam and the Viet Cong, by contrast, relied on hit-and-run operations and ambushes, avoiding set-piece battles except at their own initiative.
...
Wikipedia