A battalion of the U.S. 9th Infantry Division left Saigon in the
initial withdrawal of U.S. troops. The 814 soldiers were the
first of 25,000 troops that were withdrawn in the first stage
of the U.S. disengagement from the Vietnam War.

There would be 14 more increments in the withdrawal, but
the last U.S. troops did not leave until after the Paris Peace
Accords were signed in January 1973.

Maj. Dale R. Buis and Master Sgt. Chester M. Ovnand became
the first Americans killed in the American phase of the Vietnam 
War when guerrillas strike a Military Assistance Advisory Group
(MAAG) compound in Bien Hoa, 20 miles northeast of Saigon.

The group had arrived in South Vietnam on November 1, 1955,
to provide military assistance. The organization consisted of
U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps personnel  
who provided advice and assistance to the Ministry of
Defense, Joint General Staff, corps and  the division
commanders, training centers, and province and district
headquarters.