1968 in the Vietnam War Adams' iconic image of South Vietnamese General Nguyễn Ngọc Loan's execution of a Viet Cong operative was taken in 1968. The year also saw Walter Cronkite's call to honourably exit Vietnam because he thought the war was lost. This negative impression forced the US into the Paris peace talks with North Vietnam. US troop numbers peaked in 1968 with President Johnson approving an increased maximum number of US troops in Vietnam at 549,500. The year was the most expensive in the Vietnam War with the American spending US$ (US$ in 2019) on the war. The year also became the deadliest
1965 in the Vietnam War was stationed at the port city of Nha Trang. The Battle of Ia Drang was one of the most consequential battles of the Vietnam War. For the first time, the United States Army and the People's Army of Vietnam (the North Vietnamese Army) met head-on in a major engagement, with the South Vietnamese army and the Viet Cong playing only minor roles. Casualties were heavy on both sides, with some 250 U.S. and at least 1,200 North Vietnamese dead. For General Westmoreland, the battle was a victory for U.S. firepower and mobility in a war of attrition in which the