Death in Da Nang | US Marines' First Contact with Viet Cong | Vietnam War Combat Footage (1965)

On 8 March 1965, the first contingent of US Marines landed at Da Nang, marking the beginning of America's direct military involvement in the Vietnam War. Two months later, Sandy Gall reported on the Marines' experience of combat around Da Nang, and American efforts to adapt to an unfamiliar kind of warfare. Joining patrols through the countryside, Gall examined the technology and tactics being employed by US forces to counter the guerrilla insurgency being waged by the elusive Viet Cong. And he asked whether the United States might one day face its own Dien Bien Phu, the 1954 battle which saw French forces finally defeated by the Communist Viet Minh.

VIDEO HERE  (18:06 minutes)