for two battalions of United States Marines to defend the American base at Da Nang. The U.S. Marines set foot on the beach at Da Nang on March 8, 1965, ready to do battle with the Vietcong. It was the first time the Marines set foot in Asia since the Korean War. More U.S. troops entered Vietnam each week, by December there were over two hundred thousand. The United States had a plan of heavy bombing from its B-52 jets and to run search and destroy missions throughout the jungles and villages of South Vietnam. The Vietcong depended on Guerrilla warfare by using its jungles and setting traps for the U.S. soldiers in the foreign territory. In March 1965 the U.S. B-52 bombers dumped tons of explosives on North Vietnam, they used Napalm as a key explosive. In June, the U.S. made 4,800 attacks on the North Vietnamese targets. Before early 1967 the United States bombers flew twelve thousand bombing missions per month on various targets. During Operation Rolling Thunder the United Sates dropped more bombs on North Vietnam than it did on Europe during all of World War II. The United States hoped the raids would destroy North Vietnamese supplies, however the Vietcong needed little supplies for their Guerrilla warfare. The United States would later learn that the raids would be useless against the Vietcong. During all of the bombing raids the Vietcong soldiers were living in the mountains. They survived on rice and slept on the ground, not needing the luxuries like the United States. The U.S. had everything money and modern technology could offer. The soldiers carried fully automatic M-16 rifles. The air swarmed with helicopters, fighter planes, and bombers. The U.S. had destroyers, tankers, and patrol boats along all of the water routes. They were supplied with medicines, surgical equipment, packaged food, and other necessities. On average one U.S. soldier had one hundred pounds of supplies given to them each day, while the Vi...
