<Li> 1947--1949--The Viet Minh fight a limited insurgency in remote rural areas of northern Vietnam . </Li> <Li> 1949--Chinese communists reach the northern border of Indochina . The Viet Minh drive the French from the border region and begin to receive large amounts of weapons from the Soviet Union and China . The weapons transform the Viet Minh from an irregular large - scale insurgency into a conventional army . </Li> <Li> May 1, 1950--After the capture of Hainan Island from Chinese Nationalist forces by the Chinese People's Liberation Army, President Truman approves $10 million in military assistance for anti-communist efforts in Indochina . The Defense Attaché Office was established in Saigon in May 1950, a formal recognition of Viet Nam (vice French IndoChina). This was the beginning of formal U.S. military personnel assignments in Viet Nam . U.S. Naval, Army and Air Force personnel established their respective attaches at this time . </Li> <Li> September 1950--Truman sends the Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) Indochina to Vietnam to assist the French . The President claimed they were not sent as combat troops, but to supervise the use of $10 million worth of U.S. military equipment to support the French in their effort to fight the Viet Minh forces . </Li>

When did us troops first go to vietnam