Williams County Vietnam War Memorial

Williams County Vietnam War Memorial. . , After a Communist insurgency ended French Colonial rule of Vietnam the country became divided into Communist North Vietnam and pro-Western South Vietnam. An election to unify the country was to be held in 1956, but the President of South Vietnam cancelled it, sparking a protracted war between the North and South. The first American soldier killed in the Vietnam War was Air Force T-Sgt. Richard B. Fitzgibbon Jr. on June 8. 1956. In January 1962, US. aircraft began spraying Agent Orange over rural areas of South Vietnam to kill vegetation providing cover to Communist forces, a decision that held long-term consequences for the health of U.S. Service members. On August 2. 1964, the Destroyer USS Maddox was operating in international waters in the Gulf of Tonkin when it was fired upon by North Vietnamese Navy torpedo boats. On August 7th, 1964 Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, authorizing President Johnson to "take all necessary measures, including the use of armed force" in Vietnam., In March 1965 U.S. Marines landed in Da Nang and began a steady escalation of the war. In July 1965, President Johnson called for 50,000 troops to be sent to Vietnam and increased the draft. In August 1965, during Operation Starlite some 5,500 U.S. Marines fought against a Viet Cong Regiment in the first major ground offensive by U.S. forces in Vietnam. In November 1965, in the Battle of la Drang Valley. US. ground troops were inserted into and withdrawn from the battlefield by helicopter, in what would become a common battle tactic. In 1966 U.S. troop numbers in Vietnam rose to 400,000. In June 1966, American aircraft struck targets in North Vietnamese cities of Hanoi and Haiphong. In 1967, U.S. troops continued to increase to 500.000. In November 1967, In the Battle of Dak To. U.S. and South Vietnamese forces resisted an offensive by Communist forces. In January through April 1968, the US. Marine garrison at Khe Sanh was bombarded by Communist forces for 77 days. The Marine and South Vietnamese forces fended off the siege.,

"We didn't lose the war; we were out of Vietnam two years before it ended. American forces served with honor and valor , -Bob Walkup, Pioneer Ohio, "We were brothers; we ate together, fought together, slept together and some died together. Yet we came home alone to no welcome. We are still brothers." , -Denny Keesbury, Montpelier Ohio, "The guys who went over there did a great service under very difficult conditions and deserve more credit than they were given. , - Karl E. Mauerhan, Edon Ohio, "There were some good times as well as bad times but isn't that just life? I was in the Central Highlands, a lot of our time was spent on search and destroy missions. I spent a year living in the jungle not making it back to base camp until it was time to come home." , Roger Wieland, Stryker Ohio