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Vietnam War To many, the Vietnam War symbolizes controversy, myth and question in America. There are many events that made Americans wonder what reasons we had for putting our troops and families in Vietnam. Up till that point, many other Americans had never questioned the acts of the American government and armed forces. Issues dealt with in the Vietnam War showed great impact on the American people, particularly the students. American involvement started off very low key. Two marine battalions landed in Da Nang on March 8, 1965 (Doyle, Lipsman). They were not fighting a war yet, though a war was going on in the very country that they were in. Their job was to merely protect an air field in Da Nang, not look for trouble or initiate any kind of war tactics. But soon, holding off the enemy was not so easy for the American soldiers, and more troops were sent in. This continued on, and when May rolled around there were 46,000 American Troops in Vietnam (Doyle, Lipsman). It was at this time when American troops were then given the "permit to use more active defense," and soon after, the number soared to 82,000 American troops in Vietnam (Doyle, Lipsman). From there, the American defense quickly turned into an offense,