When you have a number of choices to select from, use a list or a chart. Draw a circle or a semi-circle with a radius of about 4 - 6. Mark the choices off as degrees on the circle. Hold the pendulum in the center and the swing of the pendulum will line-up with the appropriate marked off selection.
April 24, 1965 - President Johnson announces Americans in Vietnam are eligible for combat pay. May 3, 1965 - The first U.S. Army combat troops, 3500 men of the 173rd Airborne Brigade, arrive in Vietnam.
The Vietnam War, Part I: Early Years and Escalation. Fifty years ago, in March 1965, 3,500 U.S. Marines landed in South Vietnam. They were the first American combat troops on the ground in a conflict that had been building for decades. The communist government of North Vietnam (backed by the Soviet Union and China) was locked in a battle with South Vietnam (supported by the United States) in a Cold War proxy fight.