Role of the United States in the Vietnam War in PAVN/NLF casualties after which a decisive (or at least political) victory would be possible. It is widely held that the average U.S. serviceman was nineteen years old, as evidenced by the casual reference in a pop song ("19" by Paul Hardcastle); the figure is cited by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman ret. of the Killology Research Group in his 1995 book "" (p. 265). However, it is disputed by the Vietnam Helicopter Flight Crew Network Website, which claims the average age of MOS 11B personnel was 22. This compares with 26 years of age for those who participated in World
1965 in the Vietnam War D.C. about 20,000 people gathered to protest the Vietnam War. This was the first large protest against the war in the United States. China rescinded the order to its air force to not attack American war planes violating Chinese air space. Over the next three years, 12 American war planes and several reconnaissance planes were shot down over China. In a meeting in Hawaii, Ambassador Taylor finally agreed to the introduction of U.S. combat ground forces into South Vietnam. In a memo to the President the next day, Secretary of Defense McNamara described the military consensus that "it would take