DESERET NEWS: WASHINGTON (UPI) -- The United States is rushing 10,500 additional combat troops to South Vietnam, the Defense Department announced Tuesday.
The announcement said the troops were being sent in response to a request by Gen. William C. Westmoreland, American commander in Vietnam. Officials refused to identify the units involved or even to say whether they included both Army and Marine troops. Based on earlier Westmoreland request, however, they may be airborne outfits.The spokesman said the men were being sent for "insurance purposes" in the wake of the current country-wide Communist offensive. They will increase the total of U.S. troops in South Vietnam to 510,500.
The lingering war in Vietnam, begun in 1957, was a predominantly unpopular thorn in the side of Americans. Fearful of the spread of Communism throughout Southest Asia, American presidents had adopted a policy of aiding the South Vietnamese, and by 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson had committed ground troops to the war. The increasing U.S. involvement set off a spate of protests across America and many young men refused calls to military service. A cease-fire agreement in 1973 ended the conflict for America, but left a bad taste in many mouths as a frustrating, "no-win" historic debacle.