1962 in the Vietnam War
1962 in the Vietnam War | ||
---|---|---|
← Indochina |
Anti-Communist forces:
South VietnamUnited States
Kingdom of Laos
Communist forces:
North VietnamViet Cong
Pathet Lao
South Vietnam: 4,457 killed[2]
The
U.S. analyses and statements about progress and problems with the war often conflicted or contradicted each other which is reflected in this article.
January
- 2 January
Two South Vietnamese technicians working in the government's anti-malaria program, Pham Van Hai and Nguyen Van Thach, were killed by VC with machetes, 12 miles (19 km) south of
- 3 January
The first United States Air Force (USAF) military transport aircraft arrived in South Vietnam under Operation Mule Train. The aircraft would be used to transport South Vietnamese soldiers.[4]: 23
- 4 January
Deputy Secretary of Defense Roswell Gilpatric recommended to General Lyman Lemnitzer, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that for military operations involving Americans in South Vietnam The Pentagon develop a "suitable cover story, or stories, a public explanation, a statement of no comment...for approval of the Secretary of Defense."[5]: 205
- 10 January
The first Operation Ranch Hand mission began. Agent Orange defoliants were sprayed from USAF aircraft along several miles of Highway 15 leading from the port of Vũng Tàu to Bien Hoa Air Base northeast of Saigon. Although the United States wished to keep the use of defoliants secret, the South Vietnamese government announced publicly that defoliants supplied by the U.S. were being used to kill vegetation near highway routes.[6]
- 12 January
- 15 January
McNamara pressed for a "clear and hold" operation in a single South Vietnamese province. Clear and hold envisioned the ARVN securing the province followed by civic and political action to exclude the VC permanently. Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) chief General Lionel C. McGarr proposed instead using two ARVN divisions in a conventional military sweep focused on killing VC but without the follow-up to hold the area.[5]: 175–8
- 20 January
Admiral Harry D. Felt, CINCPAC commander, authorized American advisers to accompany South Vietnamese military forces on combat operations.[4]: 24
- January - May 1963
In the Battle of Luang Namtha the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and Pathet Lao seized control of northwestern Laos from the Royal Lao Army.[8]: 67–73
February
- 2 February
Roger Hilsman, a U.S. State Department official with World War II experience in guerrilla war, submitted a paper entitled "A Strategic Concept for South Vietnam" to President Kennedy and General Taylor. Drawing heavily on British adviser Robert Grainger Ker Thompson's plan for strategic hamlets, Hilsman said "the struggle for South Vietnam...is essentially a battle for control of the villages." He stated that "the problem presented by the Viet Cong is a political and not a military problem, and that to be effective counterinsurgency "must provide the people and the villages with protection and physical security." Hilsman's solution to this problem was similar to that of Thompson's. Hilsman advocated that the ARVN adopt tactics of mobility, surprise, and small unit operations. Conventional warfare such as the use of artillery or aerial bombardment to soften up the enemy will "only give advance warning of an operation, permit the Viet Cong to escape and inevitably result in the death of uncommitted or wavering civilians whose support is essential for the Viet Cong's ultimate defeat."[9]
- 3 February
President Diệm created by presidential decree the strategic hamlet program headed by his brother, Ngô Đình Nhu. The program called for rural people to provide manpower and labor to build and defend the strategic hamlets. It was an ambitious program which projected that 7,000 strategic hamlets would be built by the end of 1962 and 12,000 by the end of 1963, thus consolidating nearly all the rural population of South Vietnam.[10]
- 4 February
The first American helicopter is shot down.[11]
- 8 February
President John F. Kennedy authorized the creation of "Military Assistance Command - Vietnam" (MACV) to support and assist South Vietnam in defeating the Viet Cong insurgency. MAAG continued to exist, but only to train Vietnam's armed forces. General Paul D. Harkins, recommended by President Kennedy's military adviser, General
- 11 February
An Operation Farm Gate SC-47 crashed 70 miles north of Saigon while on a leaflet-dropping mission, killing eight Americans (six Air Force and two Army) and one Vietnamese.[14][15]
- 14 February
Journalist James Reston published an article in The New York Times stating that "The United States is now involved in an undeclared war in South Vietnam. This is well known to the Russians, the Chinese Communists, and everybody else concerned except the American people...Has the President made clear to the Congress and the nation the extent of the U.S. commitment to the South Vietnam government and the dangers involved?"[16]: 57
- 18 February
North Vietnam contacted diplomats from the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, co-chairs of the
- 20 February
Senator Wayne Morse said in a Senate Hearing closed to the public, "when those ships start coming back to the west coast with the flag-draped coffins of American boys, look out, because the American people, in my judgement are going to be very much divided....I have grave doubts as to the constitutionality of the President's course of action in South Vietnam."[16]: 259–60
VC threw four hand grenades into a crowded village theater near
- 21 February
The
A National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) estimated VC numbers in South Vietnam. There were at least 25,000 full time fighters supported by 100,000 part time locals serving as village defense forces. The NIE estimated that 800 North Vietnamese PAVN officers and soldiers were in South Vietnam assisting the VC.[5]: 194–5
- 26 February
Newsweek magazine asked the question: "Will the sending of U.S. troops lead to escalation, more guerrillas, more Americans, and an eventual confrontation of the U.S. and Red China? Above all can the U.S. strategy win the war?"[16]: 257
- 27 February
Two
March
- 1 March
The
DOD identified three types of VC fighters. First the main forces were well armed and used only on large operations; second were the provincial and district units, a mixture of guerrillas and organized units; and third, not part of the 20,000 estimate, were the part-time guerrillas, often armed only with primitive weapons but important for intelligence, logistics, and terrorist operations. Five hundred to 1,000 men monthly were estimated to be infiltrating South Vietnam from North Vietnam.[13]: 72–3
- 6 March
The
- 12 March
The New Republic magazine said, "The US has 'capitulated' to Diệm and has bound itself to the defense of a client regime without exacting on its part sacrifices necessary for success. American lives are to be risked in a holding action based on the inexplicable hope that with sharpened-up counter-guerilla operations and marginal reforms the regime will last."[16]: 262
- 16 March
Flying Tiger Line Flight 739 disappeared approximately 300 miles (480 km) west of Guam. The Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation with a crew of 11 was transporting 93 U.S. soldiers and three South Vietnamese from Travis Air Force Base, California to Tan Son Nhut Air Base.[20]
- 19 March
- 26 March
Begun in November 1961 in the village of Buon Enao with 400 inhabitants, the
- 29 March
The Joints Chiefs of Staff finalized instructions to MACV concerning "maximum discretion" and "minimum publicity" for U.S. air operations in South Vietnam. If an enemy aircraft was shot down, MACV was instructed to remain silent unless it became necessary to contradict communist propaganda in which case MACV was to say that while on a routine training flight, an unidentified airplane initiated hostile action and was shot down. If a U.S. airplane was lost, MACV was instructed to say that the aircraft was on a routine orientation flight and the cause of the accident is being investigated. MACV was further instructed to ensure that all knowledgeable personnel were "instructed and rehearsed" with these rules.[5]: 214–5
April
- 8 April
The VC executed two wounded American prisoners of war near the village of An Châu. Each, hands tied, was shot in the face because he could not keep up with the retreating captors.[3]
- 15 April
The first
May
In May 1962, the Viet Cong began establishing battalion-sized units within the Central Highlands.[15]
- 6 to 27 May
A PAVN assault routed
- 8 May
Operation Sea Swallow began in
- 19 May - 1 July
The
- 21 May
Lieutenant Colonel John Paul Vann arrived in Mỹ Tho in the Mekong Delta 40 miles (64 km) south of Saigon as head of the U.S. advisory mission to the ARVN 7th Division. The southern half of the delta was under VC control and the northern half was contested.[24]: 1–43
- 26 May
General William B. Rosson who had recently visited Buon Enao and the CIDG program in the Central Highlands told General Maxwell Taylor, President Kennedy's military adviser, that the Special Forces soldiers assigned to CIDG were being used "improperly" and that they should be engaged in offensive operations. Rosson's opposition to Buon Enao was especially significant because he was the U.S. Army's Director of Special Operations which oversaw the Special Forces.[12]: 31, 71
- 30 May
June
- 2 June
The Canadian and Indian representatives on the International Control Commission accused North Vietnam of subversion and covert action against South Vietnam, the Polish representative rejected the accusations.[4]: 25
- 6 June
President Kennedy spoke to the graduating class at
- 8 June
Senator Wayne Morse went public with his criticism of the war. "I have heard no evidence which convinces me that it would be militarily wise to get bogged down anywhere in Asia in a conventional war."[16]: 267
- 10 June
Senator Mike Mansfield became the first prominent Democrat to question U.S. policy in South Vietnam. Mansfield, an early supporter of President Diệm and the most knowledgeable Senator on Vietnam, called for Diệm to put more emphasis on political and economic development - as had been emphasized to Diệm "for many years." He advocated a greater use of diplomacy by the United States and less emphasis on military aid.[16]: 263–4
- 12 June
The RLG, Pathet Lao and Forces Armées Neutralistes agreed a power-sharing arrangement, temporarily suspending the civil war.[4]: 25
The VC ambushed a civilian passenger bus near Le Tri,
July
North Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh visited China. He told the Chinese that the United States might attack North Vietnam. China was alarmed by his statement and offered to equip 230 battalions (more than 100,000 soldiers) of the PAVN.[28]
- 16 July
Journalist
- 19 July
The National Liberation Front proposed to end the war in South Vietnam with a ceasefire, the withdrawal of American soldiers and the creation of a coalition government of all factions pending elections. South Vietnam would become a neutral country, as were Cambodia and Laos, guaranteed by international treaty.[17]: 136
- 23 July
The CIA had requested an increase in Special Forces soldiers to 400 to expand the CIDG program among the Montagnards in the Central Highlands. Instead, Secretary of Defense McNamara and MACV commander General Harkins transferred responsibility for CIDG from CIA to the DOD which wanted the Special Forces "used in conjunction with active and offensive operations, as opposed to support of static training activities." The transfer of responsibility was called Operation Switchback.[12]: 71–2 A factor possibly influencing the takeover by DOD of the CIDG program was the concern of President Diệm. He was afraid that the Montagnards in Darlac, having gained weapons, training and organization under CIDG, might demand autonomy within South Vietnam. Diệm demanded that the Montagnards be disarmed and be under the control of provincial authorities appointed by him.[21]: 29–30
General Harkins told a meeting of Secretary of Defense McNamara and U.S. military leaders in Hawaii that "there is no doubt we are on the winning side." He predicted that it would take about one year for MACV to develop the South Vietnamese military forces to the point where they could fully engage the VC. McNamara was more cautious stating that he thought it would take three years to get the VC insurgency under control.[30]: 131
The
- 31 July
The Australian Army Training Team Vietnam arrived in South Vietnam beginning Australia's military commitment there.[31]
August
- 3 August
An Australian analysis of North Vietnam's proposal for the neutralization of South Vietnam concluded that President Diệm was "unlikely...to agree to internal negotiations for the withdrawal of United States military aid and the neutralization of South Vietnam." Thus, Hanoi was exploiting international opinion by appearing to be open to negotiations. The failure of the Geneva Agreement on Laos and the outbreak of hostilities between the Royal Lao Government, supported by the U.S., and the Pathet Lao, supported by North Vietnam, in the summer of 1962 destroyed whatever faith North Vietnam had in negotiations with the United States and South Vietnam and strengthened the militants, notably Lê Duẩn, in their conviction that Vietnam would only be united by military action.[17]: 137–43
- 20 August
Cambodia's Prince Norodom Sihanouk asks Kennedy to convene an international conference to guarantee Cambodian neutrality, otherwise he threatens to request Chinese protection.[4]: 26
September
- 11 September
In a briefing for President Kennedy's military adviser, General Taylor in Saigon, Colonel Vann attempted to present his views that the war was going badly, but General Harkins overrode or refuted him. Vann believed that the ARVN was too passive and that indiscriminate bombing, by both South Vietnamese and American pilots, of villages and hamlets was counterproductive, aiding the VC in gaining recruits. He also believed that too many American arms provided to the ARVN and security forces were ending up in the hands of the VC, thus contributing to their growth in numbers.[30]: 131 [24]: 98–100
- 20 September
After his visit to South Vietnam, General Taylor returned to Washington. His report was optimistic, citing progress in implementing the strategic hamlet program and training ARVN, improved performances by the paramilitary Civil Guard and Self-Defense Forces, and a larger area of territory under the control of South Vietnam. He also cited problems with intelligence, South Vietnam's lack of a counterinsurgency plan, and continued infiltration of men and supplies from North Vietnam.[30]: 134
October
The Buon Enao CIDG project in Darlac province now counted about 200 Montagnard villages with a population of 60,000 people joined to resist the VC. They were protected by 10,600 defenders and 1,500 strike force personnel. Both the defenders and strike force personnel were themselves villagers. The U.S. Special Forces had four soldiers in each of six Area Development Centers responsible for both civic and paramilitary action. Firefights between the VC and the villages were nearly daily occurrences. About 50 villagers were killed by the VC during 1962; VC casualties were estimated at 200 killed and 460 captured. Buon Enao was considered by some senior U.S. military officers as the most impressive American accomplishment achieved until then in South Vietnam.[21]: 25–9 However, the transfer of responsibility for the CIDG from the CIA to the DOD under Operation Switchover would soon destroy the effectiveness of the program as U.S. Special Forces were increasingly assigned purely military missions.[12]: 72–3 [32]: 128–9
- 1 October
General Taylor was named by President Kennedy to be Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
- 8 October
Two UH-34Ds of
- 9 October
After being deluged with more than 200 visitors from the DOD in the previous month, all requiring food, housing, entertainment, and visits to the countryside to see the war, General Taylor issued a directive to "reduce the number of visitors...to those having actual business of pressing interest." The directive only temporarily reduced the number of visitors.[13]: 41
The Utility Tactical Transport Helicopter Company equipped with 15 armed UH-1A helicopters arrived in South Vietnam. They would make their combat debut escorting troop carrying helicopters ten days later.[34]
- 11 October
The first sea shipment of weapons from North Vietnam to the VC was unloaded in
- 20 October
Journalist David Halberstam wrote in The New York Times that "the closer one gets to the actual contact level of the war, the further one gets from official optimism."[30]: 131
A VC threw a grenade into a holiday crowd in downtown Saigon, killing six persons, including two children and injuring 38 people.[3]
November
- 4 November
A VC threw a grenade into an alley in Can Tho, killing one American serviceman and two Vietnamese children. A third Vietnamese child was seriously injured.[3]
- 14 November
A Situation Report prepared at The Pentagon expressed satisfaction at progress being made in South Vietnam. The ARVN was becoming more effective; VC activity was diminishing. The ARVN now numbered 219,000, the Civil Guard 77,000 and the Self Defense Corps 99,500. In South Vietnam, the U.S. had 11,000 advisers, 300 aircraft, 120 helicopters, heavy weapons, pilots flying combat missions, defoliants and napalm.[30]: 136
- 30 November
Senator Mansfield arrived in Saigon as head of a congressional fact-finding delegation. Ambassador Nolting and General Harkins gave the delegation optimistic briefings on the military situation in South Vietnam. "We can see the light at the end of the tunnel", said Nolting. Mansfield had been an early supporter of Diệm, but found him on this occasion "gradually being cut off from reality." He met with an "aggressive"
December
- 10 December
The Politburo of North Vietnam assessed the progress of the insurgency in South Vietnam, in a meeting from 6 to 10 December. Although the VC had achieved many successes, they were still not able to counter American and ARVN mobility. The VC were tasked with studying how they could overcome that mobility. Political and military struggle was still rudimentary in South Vietnam and liberated areas were small. A priority for the VC was to destroy the Strategic Hamlet Program with an expanded insurgency. Military Transportation Group 559 was instructed to build a road through Laos to facilitate the transportation of greater quantities of arms and supplies from North Vietnam to the VC.[36]
- 26 December
Senator Mansfield gave Kennedy a copy of his lengthy report on South Vietnam and briefed the President. Mansfield concluded that little progress had been made by Diệm, politically or militarily, since the Geneva Accords of 1954. Diệm had also made little progress in gaining popular support in the countryside, which by night was ruled largely by the VC. It "wasn't a pretty picture" that Mansfield presented to Kennedy, who disagreed with some of Mansfield's opinions.[16]: 273–6
- 27 December
The reports of several American military officers who had visited South Vietnam were mostly pessimistic. They said that President Diệm's control of the ARVN extended to refusing to arm certain units because he feared they would attempt a
- 31 December
North Vietnam infiltrated 12,850 persons into South Vietnam, mostly southern communists who had migrated to North Vietnam in 1954–1955.[17]: 243 Fifty-three American soldiers were killed in South Vietnam during the year.[1] The South Vietnamese armed forces suffered 4,457 killed in action, 10 percent more than the total killed in the previous year.[2]
References
- ^ a b "Vietnam War U.S. Military Fatal Casualty Statistics". National Archives. 15 August 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
- ^ .
- ^ a b c d e f Pike, Douglas (1970). The Vietcong Strategy of Terror (PDF). US Mission, Saigon. pp. 93–115. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ ISBN 978-0785828570.
- ^ ISBN 978-0446516785.
- .
- ^ "On This Day: America begins first combat operation in Vietnam War" http://uk.news.yahoo.com/on-this-day-america-begins-first-combat-operation-in-vietnam-war-153329849.html#ORNfMSk, accessed 3 Sep 2014
- ISBN 0-87364-825-0.
- ^ Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961-1963, Vol. II, Vietnam, 1962, Document 42; The Pentagon Papers, Gravel Edition, Vol. 2, Chapter 2, "The Strategic Hamlet Program, 1961-1963", pp. 128-159
- ^ a b Peoples, Curtis, "The Use of the British Village Resettlement Model in Malaya and Vietnam" Texas Tech University, 4th Triennial Vietnam Symposium, 11–13 April 2002 http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/events/2002_Symposium/2002Papers_files/peoples.php, accessed 3 Sep 2014
- ^ Gutzman, Philip (2002). Vietnam: A Visual Encyclopedia. PRC Publishing Ltd. p. 10.
- ^ ISBN 978-0801836572.
- ^ .
- .
- ^ a b Gutzman, Philip (2002). Vietnam: A Visual Encyclopedia. PRC Publishing Ltd. p. 11.
- ^ ISBN 978-0465043705.
- ^ ISBN 978-0520287495.
- ^ Bowman, John S. (1985), The World Almanac of the Vietnam War, New York: Pharos Book, p. 55;
- ISBN 0-670-84218-4.
- ^ "ASN Aircraft accident Lockheed L-1049H Super Constellation". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
- ^ a b c Harris, J. P. "The Buon Enao Experiment and American Counterinsurgency", Sandhurst Occasional Papers, No. 13, 2013, pp. 15-25
- ^ .
- ^ Hilsman, Roger, "Progress Report on South Vietnam", in The Pentagon Papers, Gravel Edition, Vol. 2, pp. 673-681
- ^ ISBN 978-0679724148.
- ^ Fisher, Binnie (28 October 2001). "The last missing woman from the Vietnam War". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
- ^ Lloyd, Alice B. (29 May 2017). "Fact Check: Why Are So Few Women's Names on the Vietnam Memorial Wall?". Weekly Standard. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
- ^ "Remarks at West Point to the Graduating Class of the U.S. Military Academy. | the American Presidency Project". www.presidency.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 3 Sep 2014.
- ^ Chen Jian (June 1995), " China's Involvement in the Vietnam War, 1964-69", The China Quarterly, No. 142, p. 359. Downloaded from JSTOR.
- ISBN 978-0520229198.
- ^ ISBN 978-0521599405.
- ^ "Vietnam, 1962-1975". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
- ISBN 978-0226567709.
- ISBN 978-0-16-092044-8. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ISBN 9781472845153.
- ISBN 0-7006-1175-4.
- ^ Ang Cheng Guan, "The Vietnam War, 1962–1964: The Vietnamese Communist Perspective", Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 35, No. 4 (Oct. 2000), pp. 66–67