Most American conflicts have a significant beginning (i.e. Pearl Harbor in 1941), but not so with Vietnam. The United States entered  in incremental steps between 1950 and 1964. It began with Truman assisting the French in maintaining their control in the region; this region included Cambodia and Laos. When the French had to accept the 17th parallel as the division between a communist and non-communist border, the United States under Eisenhower could not tolerate this arrangement. Military advisers were sent into Vietnam. President Kennedy took additional steps by secretly sending in 400 Special Operation Forces. They were there to train south Vietnamese soldiers to fight a counterinsurgency against Communist guerrillas in South Vietnam. By the time Kennedy was assassinated, over 16,000 advisers were in Vietnam with over 100 deaths. In 1964, Lyndon B. Johnson fully committed the United States with the Tonkin Gulf Resolution and the eventual bombings north of the 17th parallel. However, no actual war was declared and Vietnam was considered a conflict or police action.

For VA purposes, the dates of February 28,1961-August 5, 1964 covered those troops which Kennedy had sent in and is referred to as the “boots on the ground” time period. The soldier literally had to have his feet touching Vietnamese soil to qualify later for VA pension. Even Navy ships docked off the coastline were not included in this count. (However, an interesting side note, if a sailor left his ship to go on shore, he can collect pension for this time period, but only if he can show proof he left the ship for shore. The amount of time on shore did not matter; only that his boots were on the ground. Brown water [river] sailors were not afforded this same interpretation.)

Of course,  between August 5-1964- May 7, 1975, one could serve anywhere in the world and be eligible for Vietnam VA pension. Sadly, those who were in Vietnam prior to February 28, 1961, even under presidential orders, cannot receive a VA pension for time served.