Let's Talk About It with Jenny White/ Interview with a Vietnam veteran

The Vietnam war was first being fought with French Indochina was against the communist-led Viet Minh. Most of the funding for the French war effort was provided by the US. After the French quit Indochina in 1954, the US assumed financial and military responsibility for the South Vietnamese state. US involvement escalated in 1960 under President John F. Kennedy troop levels gradually surged from just under a thousand in 1959 to 16,000 in 1963. By 1964, there were 23,000 troops in Vietnam, but this escalated further following the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident, in which a U S destroyer was alleged to have clashed with North Vietnamese fast attack craft. In response, President Lyndon B. Johnson was given authorization to increase U.S. military presence, deploying ground combat units for the first time and increasing troop levels to 184,000.

Every year forward there was significant buildup of forces despite little progress. Direct U S military involvement ended August 15, 1973.