Maj. Dale R. Buis (above left) and Master Sgt. Chester M. Ovnand
(right) became the first Americans killed in the American phase of
the Vietnam War when guerrillas struck 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
division commanders, training centers, and province and
district headquarters.

The Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington D.C.

More than 3 million people (including over 58,000 Americans) were
killed in the Vietnam War, and more than half were Vietnamese
civilians.

The Vietnam Memorial in Canby, Oregon

On June 27, 1950, President Harry S. Truman (above) announced
he is ordering U.S. air and naval forces to South Korea to aid the democratic nation in repulsing an invasion by communist North
Korea. The United States was undertaking the major military
operation, he explained, to enforce a United Nations resolution
calling for an end to hostilities, and to stem the spread of
communism in Asia. In addition to ordering U.S. forces to Korea,

Truman also deployed the U.S. 7th Fleet to Formosa (Taiwan) to
guard against invasion by communist China and ordered an
acceleration of military aid to French forces fighting communist guerrillas in Vietnam.

On April 28, 1967, boxing champion Muhammad Ali refused to be inducted into the U.S. Army and was immediately stripped of his heavyweight title. Ali, a Muslim, cited religious reasons for his
decision to forgo military service.

Born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., in Louisville, Kentucky, on
January 14, 1942, the future three-time world champ changed
his name to Muhammad Ali in 1964 after converting to Islam.

SANDY KOZEL

The Hubble Space Telescope was launched into low Earth orbit in
1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope,
but it is one of the largest and most versatile, renowned both as a
vital research tool and as a public relations boon for astronomy.

The Hubble telescope is named after astronomer Edwin Hubble
(below) and is one of NASA’s Great Observatories.

Edwin Powell Hubble
(November 20, 1889 – September 28, 1953)

MIKE GRACIA

Hans Christian Andersen (April 2, 1805 – August 4, 1875)