March 7, 1965:
3,500 Marines are the first American ground combat forces to go to Vietnam.

The US had already been engaged in an extensive bombing campaign and providing advice to the South Vietnamese military. Its commitment of ground troops would eventually swell to more than half a million and result in 58,318 casualties over the next ten years.
Taken From: This Day in History by Jim Daley; Copyright 2019; Publications International, LTD