** 1965?? I saw plenty of troops coming in the country in 1961. **

Read it again. He said "in force." That was 1965.

The 119th's predecessor was there in 1962, one of the first two aviation units in country. One helicopter company at Camp Holloway was hardly "in force."

My uncle was there in civilian clothes in 1959 with the Army Corps of Engineers. "In force?" No. He is buried at Arlington and his stone doesn't even say "Vietnam."

"In force" started in 1965. Strictly numbers, Marines and Cav. Their arrival qualifies as "in force."

Bob Kilpatrick