U.S. Marines Arrive at Da Nang, South Vietnam

March 8, 1965

Overview

U.S. Marines of the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) arrive at Da Nang, South Vietnam. The brigade consists of two Marine battalions. One makes an amphibious landing and the other arrives by air. The 9th MEB assumes command of the helicopters of SHUFLY, which becomes Marine Aircraft Group 16.

This is the first deployment of a major U.S. ground combat unit to Vietnam. Although the mission of the 9th MEB is strictly limited to the defense of the air base at Da Nang, it signals another step in the United States’ transition from an advisory role to direct participation in the war.1

¹George C. Herring, America’s Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950–1975, (4th edition; New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002), 155–156; Jack Shulimson and Charles M. Johnson, The Landing and the Buildup, 1965, U.S. Marines in Vietnam (Washington, D.C.: History and Museums Division, 1978), xiii, 10–16; Graham A. Cosmas, MACV: The Joint Command in the Years of Escalation, 1962–1967, United States Army in Vietnam (Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, 2006), 177, 179–180; Spencer C. Tucker, ed. The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History (2nd edition; Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2011), 143–144.