Okla-homey
9/3/2007, 06:10 AM
Sept. 3, 1950: U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group arrives in Saigon
http://aycu35.webshots.com/image/28194/2001499283327032424_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001499283327032424)
http://aycu30.webshots.com/image/27989/2001419141249257372_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001419141249257372)
57 years ago the U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) of 35 men arrives in Saigon to screen French requests for American military aid, assist in the training of South Vietnamese troops, and advise on strategy.
http://aycu32.webshots.com/image/25951/2001481662075401872_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001481662075401872)
United States Air Force B-26s loaned to France sit on the ramp at Tourane, Vietnam—later known as Da Nang. They still wear the nose art they carried in Korean action, mere months before. American airpower assistance was the last hope for the French in Indochina.
President Harry Truman had approved National Security Council (NSC) Memorandum 64 in March 1950, proclaiming that French Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos) was a key area that could not be allowed to fall to the communists and that the United States would provide support against communist aggression in the area.
http://aycu05.webshots.com/image/25404/2001492108015224749_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001492108015224749)
France employed paratroopers in quick raids that destroyed Chinese supplies for the Viet Minh. Paratroopers were also used to reinforce Dien Bien Phu, but to no avail. French air mobility was not matched by air striking power.
However, NSC 64 did not identify who would receive the aid, the French or the South Vietnamese. The French did not want the aid to go directly to the South Vietnamese and opposed the presence of any American advisory group. Nevertheless, the U.S. government argued that such a team would be necessary to coordinate requisitioning, procurement, and dissemination of supplies and equipment.
http://aycu19.webshots.com/image/24858/2001456536342030469_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001456536342030469)
C-119 Flying Boxcars such as this one were lent to the French for both mobility and attack. Most of the aircrews flying these aircraft were Americans—some military advisors, some civilians.
Accordingly, an advisory group was dispatched to Saigon. In the long run, however, the French high command ignored the MAAG in formulating strategy, denied them any role in training the Vietnamese, and refused to keep them informed of current operations and future plans.
http://aycu06.webshots.com/image/25925/2001416857508261197_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001416857508261197)
French troops making use of a little girl's water buffalo.
By 1952, the United States would bear roughly one-third of the cost of the war the French were fighting, but find itself with very little influence over French military policy in Southeast Asia or the way the war was waged.
http://aycu19.webshots.com/image/28298/2001420024256103263_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001420024256103263)
This ex-US Navy F8F Bearcat in theater was armed with napalm. Napalm raids were flown by these and the C-119s in a desperate effort to strip away Victor Charlie’s jungle cover so his forces could be more accurately targeted.
Ultimately, the French would be defeated at the battle of Dien Bien Phu and withdraw from Vietnam, passing the torch to the United States.
In 1964, MAAG Vietnam was disbanded and its advisory mission and functions integrated into the U.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV), which had been established in February 1962.
http://aycu06.webshots.com/image/26925/2005624441813959667_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005624441813959667)
MACV patch
http://aycu27.webshots.com/image/25106/2001432231305661392_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001432231305661392)
http://aycu35.webshots.com/image/28194/2001499283327032424_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001499283327032424)
http://aycu30.webshots.com/image/27989/2001419141249257372_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001419141249257372)
57 years ago the U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) of 35 men arrives in Saigon to screen French requests for American military aid, assist in the training of South Vietnamese troops, and advise on strategy.
http://aycu32.webshots.com/image/25951/2001481662075401872_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001481662075401872)
United States Air Force B-26s loaned to France sit on the ramp at Tourane, Vietnam—later known as Da Nang. They still wear the nose art they carried in Korean action, mere months before. American airpower assistance was the last hope for the French in Indochina.
President Harry Truman had approved National Security Council (NSC) Memorandum 64 in March 1950, proclaiming that French Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos) was a key area that could not be allowed to fall to the communists and that the United States would provide support against communist aggression in the area.
http://aycu05.webshots.com/image/25404/2001492108015224749_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001492108015224749)
France employed paratroopers in quick raids that destroyed Chinese supplies for the Viet Minh. Paratroopers were also used to reinforce Dien Bien Phu, but to no avail. French air mobility was not matched by air striking power.
However, NSC 64 did not identify who would receive the aid, the French or the South Vietnamese. The French did not want the aid to go directly to the South Vietnamese and opposed the presence of any American advisory group. Nevertheless, the U.S. government argued that such a team would be necessary to coordinate requisitioning, procurement, and dissemination of supplies and equipment.
http://aycu19.webshots.com/image/24858/2001456536342030469_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001456536342030469)
C-119 Flying Boxcars such as this one were lent to the French for both mobility and attack. Most of the aircrews flying these aircraft were Americans—some military advisors, some civilians.
Accordingly, an advisory group was dispatched to Saigon. In the long run, however, the French high command ignored the MAAG in formulating strategy, denied them any role in training the Vietnamese, and refused to keep them informed of current operations and future plans.
http://aycu06.webshots.com/image/25925/2001416857508261197_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001416857508261197)
French troops making use of a little girl's water buffalo.
By 1952, the United States would bear roughly one-third of the cost of the war the French were fighting, but find itself with very little influence over French military policy in Southeast Asia or the way the war was waged.
http://aycu19.webshots.com/image/28298/2001420024256103263_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001420024256103263)
This ex-US Navy F8F Bearcat in theater was armed with napalm. Napalm raids were flown by these and the C-119s in a desperate effort to strip away Victor Charlie’s jungle cover so his forces could be more accurately targeted.
Ultimately, the French would be defeated at the battle of Dien Bien Phu and withdraw from Vietnam, passing the torch to the United States.
In 1964, MAAG Vietnam was disbanded and its advisory mission and functions integrated into the U.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV), which had been established in February 1962.
http://aycu06.webshots.com/image/26925/2005624441813959667_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005624441813959667)
MACV patch
http://aycu27.webshots.com/image/25106/2001432231305661392_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001432231305661392)