NOT the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. NOT the Tet Offensive. NOT the attack on Camp Holloway.
That most important day in the history of American involvement in the Second Indo-China war 31 August 1963? From the American Thinker and the article by Sam C. Holliday. Resolve of the top American officials made most clear. "Today" as belatedly by one day.
"Today is the anniversary of the most critical decision of the Vietnam War"
"On 31 August, 1963, the most important meeting for Americans regarding the Vietnam War took place to debate U.S. policy and the possibility of a coup against the Diem regime."
Diem or no Diem, that was the question!
Ngo Dinh Diem the President of the Republic of Vietnam [RVN] seen in Washington D.C. as the proverbial loose cannon, a leader ineffectual, the RVN counter-insurgency [COIN] effort bungled and pathetic.
American policy makers at the top echelon of government their decision to continue aiding/abetting/assisting the South Vietnamese COIN effort, hell or high water. Again, Diem or no Diem.
Diem very shortly the victim of a coup, the South Vietnamese military have gained control of the government, Diem perishing in the process.
IT HAS BEEN SPECULATED THAT U.S. OFFICIALS HAD PRIOR KNOWLEDGE OF THE COUP ATTEMPT BUT DID NOTHING TO STOP IT! NOT NECESSARILY THAT THE U.S. GOVERNMENT INITIATED THE COUP NON-INTERFERENCE PROPERLY AND BEST UNDERSTOOD AS TACIT APPROVAL!
And in three years hence that contingent of American troops in South Vietnam having increased thirty times [30X] in number and the rest is history as they say!
coolbert.