The Vietnamese-American War begins: United states Marine Corps Brigadier General Frederick J. Karch (private mercenary), commanding the 3,500-strong Ninth Marine Expeditionary Brigade, lands at Da Nang Airbase, in the kleptocratic Republic of (South) Vietnam to guard U.s. air bases.
NOTE: During this time, President Lyndon Johnson started receiving telegrams from many United States subject/enemy/citizens—exercising their Right to Petition as expressed by Article I of Amendment—voicing their opposition to his involving the U.s. in the Second Vietnamese Civil War. Johnson ordered the Federal Bureau of Investigation to conduct background checks on dozens of them.
Postscript: By the end of the year the presence of the U.s. Armed Forces in South Vietnam was 200,000 strong.
[restored 10/10/2022]
Robert Strange McNamara, Secretary of Defense (foreign military aggression), meets in Saigon with General Khanh Nguyen, military dictator of the kleptocratic Republic of (South) Vietnam: “We will stay as long as it takes, we shall provide whatever help is required to win the battle against the communist insurgents.”
Postscript: Five days later McNamara privately confessed to Commander-in-Chief Johnson: “The situation has unquestionably been growing worse, at least since September:
- “In terms of government control of the countryside, about 40% of the territory is under Viet Cong control or predominant influence. [This was up from 30% six months previous];
- “Large groups of the population are now showing signs of apathy and indifference;
- “In the last 90 days the weakening of the government’s position has been particularly noticeable;
- “The political control structure extending from Saigon down into the hamlets disappeared following the November coup.”
This begins the U.s.’ 12th attempt at nation building.
NOTE: While “nation-building is a laudable goal, Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution for the united States says that “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government”; it does NOT state that “The United States shall guarantee to every nation on this planet a Republican Form of Government” [emphasis added].
[added 6/19/2025]
Subsequent Events:
References:
Doug Bandow, “Nation-Building’s Grim Record,” Orange County (California) Register, 25 April 2003, Local:7.Stanley A. Karnow, Vietnam: A History, (1983; New York: Penguin, 1997), 357.
Calvin D. Linton, ed., The Bicentennial Almanac: 200 Years of America, 1776-1976, (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 1975), 402.
Irwin and Debi Unger, LBJ: A Life, (New York: John Wiley, 1999), 347.
The Federal Reserve and you
endthefednc.wordpress.com/
U.S. Banking Timeline
www.libertyforlife.com/banking/currency-us-timeline.html
U.S. Marines in Vietnam – The Landing and the Buildup 1965 PCN 19000307600.1.pdf
www.marines.mil/Portals/1/Publications/U.S.%20Marines%20in%20Vietnam_The%20Landing%20and%20the%20Buildup%201965%20%20PCN%2019000307600_1.pdf
Foreign Relations of the United States, 1965–1968, Volume I, Vietnam, 1965 – Office of the Historian
history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1965-68v01/d84
PolicyBrief#24 – Policybrief24.pdf
carnegieendowment.org/files/Policybrief24.pdf
Current U.s. National Debt:
