Cold War handed a watershed defeat by communist Viet Minh rebels at the 1954 Battle of Dien Bien Phu, the French accepted a negotiated abandonment of their colonial stake in Vietnam. In the Geneva Conference, peace accords were signed, leaving Vietnam divided between a pro-Soviet administration in North Vietnam and a pro-Western administration in South Vietnam at the 17th parallel north. Between 1954 and 1961, Eisenhower's United States sent economic aid and military advisers to strengthen South Vietnam's pro-Western regime against communist efforts to destabilize it. Many emerging nations of Asia, Africa, and Latin America rejected the pressure to choose sides in
17th Aero Squadron the squadron was ordered to Toronto, Ontario, Canada for training under the British Royal Flying Corps (RFC). The previous month, a reciprocal agreement was made between the British and American governments under which the British would organize and train at the RFC's camps near Toronto the pilots and mechanics of ten Aero squadrons for overseas service. The 17th Aero Squadron was the first group to arrive under that agreement. The squadron arrived on 4 August at the recruit's depot at Leaside, Ontario. Here the men underwent three week's British drill and discipline. Then, the squadron was divided into detachments and