On this very date, Sept. 3, 1950, 35 men arrived in Saigon, Vietnam to screen requests by the French for American Military aid and assistance in training South Vietnamese troops, and to advise on formulating an overall strategy to put in place. This all came about because President Harry Truman had approved a National Security Council (NSC) Memorandum #64, in March of 1950. That memorandum proclaimed that French Indochina (which was Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos) was a key area for the U.S. and could not be allowed to fall to the communists, so we should provide support against any aggression there. When we were discussing this around our morning coffee table, we were curious as to just how and when these military assistance advisory groups (aka, MAAG) got started and what all they actually did. This is what we found out:
Views: 15
