1965 DEFENSE OF U.S. BASE FORESHADOWED THE WAR TO COME
resident John F. Kennedy didn’t live long enough to “lose” the Vietnam War, but on July 23, 1962, his State Department signed an agreement that arguably made it nearly impossible for his successors to “win” it. The U.S. naively signed the International Agreement on the Neutrality of Laos, which put the key to battlefield victories in Hanoi’s pocket. This diplomatic blunder essentially guaranteed that the Ho Chi Minh Trail would remain intact, providing an uninterrupted network that North Vietnam could
