


Antietam Battlefield today, site of the first major battle in the American Civil War.



Antietam Battlefield today, site of the first major battle in the American Civil War.

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
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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.


