National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy drafts and signs National Security Action Memorandum 328 on behalf of President Lyndon B. Johnson. This document came out of National Security Council meetings that were held on April 1 and April 2. The memorandum authorized U.S. personnel to take the offensive in South Vietnam to secure "enclaves" and to support South Vietnamese operations. The so-called "enclave strategy" called for the U.S. forces to control the densely-populated coastal areas while the South Vietnamese forces moved inland to fight the communists. This memorandum represented a major mission change for the American soldiers and Marines who had recently arrived in Vietnam. American forces had been limited to strictly defensive operations around the U.S. air bases, but the memorandum authorized them to go on the offensive to secure large areas of terrain, an escalation of U.S. involvement in the war.
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Apr 6, 1965:
U.S. ground combat troops to take offensive measures
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This Week in History, Apr 6 - Apr 12
- Apr 06, 1965
- U.S. ground combat troops to take offensive measures
- Apr 06, 1972
- U.S. forces respond to North Vietnamese offensive
- Apr 07, 1975
- North Vietnamese forces begin preparations for final offensive
- Apr 08, 1972
- North Vietnamese forces open a third front
- Apr 08, 1975
- Weyand reports to Congress
- Apr 09, 1969
- "Chicago Eight" plead not guilty
- Apr 10, 1970
- Poll reveals that public approval of Vietnam policy is down
- Apr 10, 1972
- B-52s begin bombing North Vietnam
- Apr 11, 1963
- Troops from Hawaii sent to South Vietnam
- Apr 11, 1972
- B-52s strike North Vietnamese positions
- Apr 12, 1961
- Rostow recommends escalation of effort
- Apr 12, 1975
- U.S. Embassy in Cambodia evacuated
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