(3) Members of the United States Armed Forces began
serving in an advisory role to South Vietnam in 1961.
(4) As a result of the Gulf of Tonkin incidents on
August 2 and 4, 1964, the Congress of the United States
overwhelmingly passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (Public
Law 88-408) on August 7, 1964, effectively handing over
warmaking powers to President Lyndon B. Johnson until the
time of the return of peace and security to Vietnam.
(5) In 1965, United States Armed Forces ground combat
units arrived in Vietnam.
(6) By the end of 1965 there were 80,000 United States
troops in Vietnam.
(7) By 1969, a peak of approximately 543,000 troops was
reached.
(8) On January 27, 1973, the Paris Peace Accords were
signed, requiring the release of all United States prisoners
of war held in North Vietnam and the withdrawal of all United
States Armed Forces from South Vietnam.
(9) On March 29, 1973, the United States Armed Forces
completed the withdrawal of combat troops from Vietnam.
(10) On March 30, 1973, the last of the United States
Armed Forces landed at home.
(11) More than 58,000 members of the United States Armed
Forces lost their lives in Vietnam and more than 300,000
members were wounded.
(12) The Vietnam War was an extremely divisive issue
among the people of the United States and a conflict that
caused a generation of veterans to wait too long for the
public of the United States to acknowledge and honor the
efforts and services of those veterans.
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