In 1965, the United States rapidly increased its military forces in South Vietnam, prompted by the realization that the South Vietnamese government was losing the Vietnam War as the communist-dominated Viet Cong (VC) gained influence over much of the population in rural areas of the country. North Vietnam also rapidly increased its infiltration of men and supplies to combat South Vietnam and the U.S. The objective of the U.S. and South Vietnam was to prevent a communist take-over. North Vietnam and the VC sought to unite the two sections of the country.
Political instability and internal dissent continued to plague the government of South Vietnam, although in June General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu and Air Marshall Nguyễn Cao Kỳ took control of the country and remained in power for the remainder of the year. In the United States, a majority of Congress and the people supported U.S. participation in the war, although protests against the war became larger and more frequent, especially among college students.
The U.S. began bombing North Vietnam in March, in Operation Rolling Thunder. The U.S. Army and Marines began ground operations to ferret out and defeat the communist forces. U.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV), commanded by General William Westmoreland, adopted a strategy of attrition, employing U.S. superiority in firepower, technology and mobility. The usual military tactic of the United States was search and destroy operations in which large U.S. and South Vietnamese units, supported by air and artillery, swept through an area to attempt to engage the communists in battle. The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the VC, by contrast, relied on hit-and-run operations and ambushes, avoiding set-piece battles except at their own initiative.
In November, the U.S. and PAVN met head-on for the first time in the Battle of Ia Drang. Both sides claimed victory. The U.S. inflicted heavy casualties on the PAVN, but the battle vindicated the conviction by North Vietnam that its military could slowly grind down the U.S.'s commitment to the war.
South Korea contributed an army division to South Vietnam, while Australia, New Zealand and other countries provided smaller numbers of soldiers. North Vietnam received military aid from the Soviet Union and China.
At year's end, President Lyndon Johnson declared a temporary halt to the bombing of North Vietnam and undertook a diplomatic initiative to seek negotiations with North Vietnam. North Vietnam, on its part, aimed to achieve a decisive military victory, but prepared also for an expanded war if the U.S. continued to escalate its involvement.
January 1 January The South Vietnamese security forces, including the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), Regional and Popular Forces, Montagnard irregulars and National Police totaled 567,246 personnel. 23,310 U.S. military personnel were in South Vietnam.
The number of VC guerrillas and PAVN regulars in South Vietnam was a matter of much debate. One U.S. government estimate was that the VC consisted of 40,000 full-time fighters and 80,000 to 100,000 part-time guerrillas. The Department of Defense's fact book estimated that the VC numbered less than 200,000 plus 39,175 political cadre. These numbers presumably included thousands of PAVN soldiers and cadre infiltrated during the previous five years. The first PAVN units dispatched to South Vietnam, consisting of three regiments (about 5,000 men), had arrived in South Vietnam in late 1964. A junior-level Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst, Samuel A. Adams, had just begun work estimating VC numbers; he would later conclude that MACV underestimated VC strength by about one-half.
Both North Vietnam and the United States would rapidly increase the number of their troops in South Vietnam during 1965.
The Battle of Binh Gia concluded as the PAVN/VC withdrew from the battlefield. In six days of fighting, the VC 9th Division had killed 201 South Vietnamese soldiers from the Airborne Division, Marine Division and Rangers and five American advisers.
3 January Senator Mike Mansfield, considered the U.S. Congress's most knowledgeable person about Vietnam, appeared on television and said that neutralization of South Vietnam through an agreement reached by negotiations between the U.S. and the communist powers might be the best solution to the war. Mansfield was one of several senators who had doubts about the course of U.S. policy in South Vietnam.
6 January The Armed Forces Council made a show of officially renouncing all their power to Prime Minister Tran Van Huong, who was asked to organize elections. They also agreed to appoint a civilian body and release those arrested in the December coup.
The U.S. Ambassador to South Vietnam General Maxwell Taylor summed up the situation in a telegram to the U.S. government in Washington. "We are faced here with a seriously deteriorating situation characterized by continued political turmoil, irresponsibility and division within the armed forces, lethargy in the pacification program, some anti-US feeling which could grow, signs of mounting terrorism by VC directly at US personnel and deepening discouragement and loss of morale throughout SVN. Unless these conditions are somehow changed and trends reversed, we are likely soon to face a number of unpleasant developments ranging from anti-American demonstrations, further civil disorders, and even political assassinations to the ultimate installation of a hostile govt which will ask us to leave while it seeks accommodation with the National Liberation Front and Hanoi."
Taylor opposed the introduction of U.S. ground units to help fight the VC (as proposed in frustration by President Johnson a few days earlier), endorsing instead a U.S. policy of graduated air attacks against the Ho Chi Minh trail, the supply line for the PAVN/VC itself.FRUS, Document 9 + South Vietnamese military strength: January 1, 1965 Regulars (Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps) 246,284 Regional Force (RF) 96,049 Popular Force (PF) 168, 317 National Police 31,395 Civilian Irregular Defense Group 21,454 Coastal Force 3,747 Total 567,246
7 January A VC company attacked a Popular Forces platoon camped 6km southeast of Huế. A second Popular Forces platoon was ambushed going to their aid. A reaction force of a Regional Forces company, a rifle company, a troop of M113 armored personnel carriers, and part of the 1st Division's elite Black Panther Reconnaissance Company joined the battle. The fighting was at such close quarters as to prevent fixed-wing aircraft and U.S. Army helicopter gunships from lending support. A second M113 platoon arrived and assaulted the VC flank. When the South Vietnamese searched the battlefield the next morning, they found 50 VC dead, a 60mm mortar, three light machine guns, and 11 rifles. The relief force lost four dead, four missing, and two carbines.
The VC attacked a post 23km northwest of the city at Viet An, where an infantry company guarded a platoon of 155-mm. howitzers and the headquarters of the 3rd Battalion, 6th Infantry. The defenders fought stubbornly before being forced to withdraw. Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) aircraft then hit the post with 24 sorties. A relief force comprising a ranger and two infantry battalions and an armored cavalry troop was sent to the post. A VC ambush was detected and the ARVN successfully attacked forcing the VC to flee. ARVN losses were 37 dead, 45 wounded, and four missing and 33 individual and three crew-served weapons were lost. The VC left 230 dead, including a battalion commander, seven prisoners, and 35 individual and five crew-served weapons.
A VC battalion attacked an ARVN company in Thua Thien, inflicting 22 casualties and capturing 18 weapons, while in Quảng Nam province, the VC ambushed two companies, causing six casualties and the loss of five weapons.
8 January In Quảng Trị province, the VC ambushed a territorial company, inflicting 14 casualties, while in Thua Thien, they attacked a Popular Forces post, inflicting 20 casualties. Meanwhile, in Quang Nam, the VC simultaneously hit three hamlets, killing 22 territorial soldiers, and capturing 30 more and 42 weapons. An additional 25 civilians and three Popular Forces platoons went missing.
9 January Huong and the South Vietnamese military again reiterated their commitment to civilian rule through an elected legislature and a new constitution, and that "all genuine patriots" would be "earnestly assembled" to collaborate in making a plan to defeat the communists. Khánh and Taylor were both signatories to this announcement.
12 January The ARVN 1st Infantry Regiment, 1st Division, encircled an 80-man Local Force VC company 8km west of Quảng Trị. The ARVN killed 32 VC and captured four prisoners and 19 weapons.
14 January Two U.S. jets were shot down over central Laos while bombing North Vietnamese supply lines.
15 January The first two Women's Army Corps soldiers arrived in Saigon.
20 January While Buddhist protests against the government and the United States intensified, including the burning of a United States Information Service library in Huế, Ambassador Taylor met with a Buddhist leader. He said the Buddhists wanted peace and told Taylor that the leaders of South Vietnam were only interested in the benefits they could derive personally from American aid and would otherwise capitulate to the VC. The Buddhists had been protesting against the government of South Vietnam for the previous two years.
The ARVN 2nd Division launched a block-and-sweep operation 18km northwest of Tam Kỳ. VC losses were 28 killed and 36 captured. The ARVN suffered one dead and four wounded.
21 January An ARVN air assault in Kien Hoa Province killed 46 VC and captured 61.
The ARVN 25th Division launched Operation An Dan 70 to hit the VC 506th Battalion in one of its sanctuaries along the Hậu Nghĩa–Long An province border. The 52nd Ranger Battalion engaged VC entrenched along a canal bank and became pinned down. The 2nd Battalion, 49th Infantry was landed by helicopter, but also came under heavy fire and further landings were impossible. The 1st Battalion, 50th Infantry was then transported by boat to link up with the 2/49th. Meanwhile, the rangers attempted to disengage and fell back to form a perimeter along the Vaico Oriental River, followed by the VC who clung so close as to make support by aircraft and artillery difficult. Vessels of the 22nd River Assault Group then arrived to cover the rangers as they scrambled aboard the boats. VC losses were 73 killed and it was estimated that air and artillery fire had killed 130 more. ARVN losses were 33 dead and 52 wounded.
The ARVN 7th Division attacked a VC force massing in Ba Tri district, Kien Hoa Province. An armored cavalry troop, an airborne battalion, and a ranger battalion advanced in line abreast northeast out of Ba Tri toward the village of Tan Xuan. A second armored cavalry troop and several infantry companies stood in reserve. After a bombardment by Vietnamese aircraft and artillery, US helicopters landed an infantry battalion to two landing zones northeast and northwest of Tan Xuan. As the troops swept toward the blocking forces at the landing zones, they had multiple contacts with the VC. When the VC fell back to prepared positions, air and artillery fire assisted M113s and soldiers in overrunning them. The attack continued until dark. The VC lost 50 killed, 61 captured and 58 suspects along with two 60mm mortars and 33 individual weapons. The prisoners revealed that the allies had caused 350 casualties. ARVN losses were seven dead and 20 wounded. The VC shot down two helicopters, one of which was destroyed.
22 January