SOUTH VIETNAM/title> </head> <body> </body> <img border="0" src="../3avstop.gif.jpg" width="335" height="121"> <body> SOUTH VIETNAM <table BORDER=0 CELLSPACING=0 WIDTH="984" > <tr> <td VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="54%"> OCTOBER 1961 Late in 1961 the U.S. began sending USAF and U.S. Army personnel to South Vietnam to train and advise its personnel. U.S. personnel were not to engage in combat operations. However, the Viet Cong guerrillas were not very particular in selecting their targets and soon, four U.S. Army helicopters had been shot down. As the Viet Cong became more active and as more Americans became casualties, the U.S. stepped up the training program and the supply of equipment so it could finish the training as soon as possible and withdraw its personnel. U.S. operations were conducted against North Vietnam during this period. LAOS : PANHANDLE In 1961, North Vietnam began to improve the Ho Chi Minh Trail, a network of paths through the Laotian mountains and jungles originally used in WWII against the Japanese. It soon began sending southward along this lifeline large numbers of guerrillas trained to operate within South Vietnam. These Viet Cong then began cutting strategic highways near Saigon and other cities in South Vietnam. LAOS : PLAIN OF JARS In the fall of 1961, the Pathet Lao, being supplied by North Vietnam, stepped up operations against the Royal Government of Laos. To assist Laos, the USAF began flying reconnaissance missions over Laos as well as South Vietnam, from bases in South Vietnam and Thailand. </td> <td VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="45%"> <div align=right><img SRC="t28.jpg" height=241 width=413></div> </td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" width="100%" id="table1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" height="29"> <tr> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#C0C0C0"> ©AvStop Online Magazine <a href="mailto:info@avstop.org">Contact Us</a> <a href="http://avstop.com/news/index.html"> Return To News</a> </td> </tr> </table> </body> </A> <footer> </footer></html>