At a press conference, Secretary of State Dean Rusk reports that Viet Cong forces have grown to 12,000 men and that they had killed or kidnapped more than 3,000 persons in 1960. While declaring that the United States would supply South Vietnam with any possible help, he refused to say whether the United States would intervene militarily. At a press conference the next day, President John F. Kennedy said that consideration was being given to the use of United States forces. Kennedy's successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, did eventually commit more than 500,000 American troops to the war.
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May 4, 1961:
Rusk reports on Viet Cong strength
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This Week in History, May 4 - May 10
- May 04, 1961
- Rusk reports on Viet Cong strength
- May 04, 1970
- Four students killed at Kent State
- May 05, 1970
- U.S. forces capture Snoul, Cambodia
- May 05, 1972
- North Vietnamese turn back South Vietnamese relief column
- May 06, 1970
- Students launch nationwide protest
- May 06, 1972
- South Vietnamese defenders hold on to An Loc
- May 07, 1954
- French fall to Viet Minh at Dien Bien Phu
- May 08, 1970
- Nixon defends invasion of Cambodia
- May 08, 1972
- Mining of North Vietnamese harbors is announced
- May 09, 1969
- Reporter breaks the news of secret bombing in Cambodia
- May 09, 1970
- Demonstrations held in Washington
- May 09, 1974
- House votes to initiate impeachment proceedings
- May 10, 1969
- Operation Apache Snow is launched
- May 10, 1972
- Intense air war continues over North Vietnam
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