March+8,+1965

March 8, 1965  The 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade under the command of Brigadier General Frederick J. Karch landed at Da Nang, South Vietnam. It consisted of two Marine battalions, one arrived by air and one over the beach. Da Nang was a flat, coastal city eighty-five miles from the demilitarized Zone separating North and South Vietnam.

 The Marine battalion that landed on the beaches proved even more alarming than the Marine Air Group. These 3,500 Marines were the first U.S. combat force in Vietnam and them being there marked the end of the U.S. advisory phase and the shift of U.S. participation in the Vietnam War.

 Roberson, W. Allen. "From the Director: March 8, 1965..." The Regimental Courier. Mar. 2010. Web. 28 Apr. 2012. < __http://www.imakenews.com/bcb/e_article001688658.cfm?x=bgFDlP4,bb1pVt46,w>.__

 "8 March 1965: Two battalions of US Marines, 3,500 soldiers, land to defend Danang airbase in South Vietnam...." Hutchinson Chronology of World History. 2005. eLibrary. Web. 28 Apr. 2012.

