Your wrong, jfk got us into it, we were there as early as 59.
It became an official war under LBJ when he sent Marine ground troops in March 1965.
If you want to get technical ... Ho Chi Mihn declared independence from France in 1945., Truman provided $23M in aid to the French in Vietnam ending American neutrality in 1950. Eisenhower began sending more money and weapons to South Vietnam when France demanded more assistance in 1954 when the Geneva Convention split Vietnam into North and South. JFK continued, sent more non-fighting military advisers and in November 1963, the United States backed a military coup in which Diem and his brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu, were murdered, JFK was assasinated 3 weeks later.
you sure it was a war?
Whatever you want to call it, we officially had Marines on the ground fighting in March '65. I call it a waste of blood and treasure. Eisenhower was convinced of the Domino theory of communism. France let it turn into a mess and dumped it in our lap. LBJ decided to escalate. We lost 58K Americans there.
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