| Counterparts/THDNA |
| Countries & Advisory Teams Allied with South Vietnam (RVN) |
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| Who were RVN (SV) Allies during the Vietnam War? |
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| Who were Advisors in Vietnam? |
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"The arrival of the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade's [3,500 Marines on March 8, 1965] provides as good a marker as any for the beginning of the Americanization of the Vietnam War. But it hardly marks the beginning of U.S. military involvement in the country. That had been going on for a decade.
The United States took responsibility for training the South Vietnamese army after the Geneva Accords were signed in 1954. An initial 352 U.S. military advisers grew to 3,200 by the end of 1961, 9,000 at the end of 1962, and some 23,000 by early 1965. Along the way the dividing line between training South Vietnamese soldiers and leading them in battle had eroded. The first military advisers killed in action died in 1959. By the time [the Marines] landed at Da Nang, more than 400 U.S. servicemen had fallen.
Not all U.S. officials favored the decision to dispatch the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade. Maxwell Taylor, the U.S. ambassador to Vietnam at the time and a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, expressed grave reservations. He predicted that the demand for more combat troops would become irresistible and the United States would rush head long into the same trap that had doomed the French.
Events proved him right." ( The Water's Edge, TWE Remembers: The First U.S. Combat Troops Arrive in Vietnam, James M. Lindsay ) |
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“From a personal perspective, I found the advisory duty very difficult. The duty required decisiveness and aggressive pursuit of the mission, but it also called for patience and restraint ... a conflicted mix, to say the least,...The reality on the ground often flew in the face of the need to report progress.
Advisors “walked a tightrope” when it came to their duties. They had to be involved and proactive without stifling the initiative of the Vietnamese commanders. They had to be empathetic to their counterparts and understand their culture while being honest about the units and their leaders
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Perhaps most importantly,...advisors had to find a way to build a relationship with their counterparts without making them too dependent on the advisor and on U.S. combat and service support. This proved to be a problem when the U.S. withdrew and the Vietnamese were left on their own.
I have to say, even with all the difficulties involved, and even knowing how it all turned out, I’m proud of what I did as an advisor in Vietnam, and I only wish we could have done more,...The South Vietnamese were good people, and they deserved better than they got.” ( LTC James Willbanks, "Advisors in the Vietnam War", Historical Speaker Series, Office of the Sec of Defense Historical Office; John Valceanu, American Forces Press Service )
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| What were the Advisory Teams in Vietnam? |
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