<P> With the advent of Rolling Thunder , American airbases and facilities needed to be constructed and manned for the aerial effort . The defense of those bases would not be entrusted to the South Vietnamese . So , on March 8 , 1965 , 3,500 United States Marines came ashore at Da Nang as the first wave of U.S. combat troops into South Vietnam , adding to the 25,000 U.S. military advisers already in place . On May 5 the U.S. 173rd Airborne Brigade became the first U.S. Army ground unit committed to the conflict in South Vietnam . On August 18 , Operation Starlite began as the first major U.S. ground operation , destroying an NLF stronghold in Quảng Ngãi Province . The NLF learned from their defeat and subsequently tried to avoid fighting an American - style ground war by reverting to small - unit guerrilla operations . </P>
<P> With the advent of Rolling Thunder , American airbases and facilities needed to be constructed and manned for the aerial effort . The defense of those bases would not be entrusted to the South Vietnamese . So , on March 8 , 1965 , 3,500 United States Marines came ashore at Da Nang as the first wave of U.S. combat troops into South Vietnam , adding to the 25,000 U.S. military advisers already in place . On May 5 the U.S. 173rd Airborne Brigade became the first U.S. Army ground unit committed to the conflict in South Vietnam . On August 18 , Operation Starlite began as the first major U.S. ground operation , destroying an NLF stronghold in Quảng Ngãi Province . The NLF learned from their defeat and subsequently tried to avoid fighting an American - style ground war by reverting to small - unit guerrilla operations . </P>
when did the us begin to fight in vietnam
when did the us begin to fight in vietnam
March 8 , 1965
March 8 , 1965