During the Vietnam War, the bodies of numerous South Vietnamese government soldiers killed in 1963 were laid out and placed in a grass hut. The bodies of South Vietnamese government soldiers were wrapped in U.S. Army ponchos.

   During the Vietnam War, the bodies of numerous South Vietnamese government soldiers killed in 1963 were laid out and placed in a grass hut. The bodies of South Vietnamese government soldiers were wrapped in American ponchos. Operations against Viet Cong-held settlements were rendered less surprise by prolonged bombardment and artillery fire that preceded troop landings and movements. During the month of March 1963, Viet Cong attacks reached an all-time high of approximately 1,861, with attacks becoming larger and more widely dispersed.

   The number of military advisors was reduced from less than about 1,000 in 1959, and in November 1961, John F. Kennedy, who became U.S. president on January 20, 1961, decided to greatly increase U.S. military aid to South Vietnam.In December 1961, the USS Carrier Core was launched in Saigon with 35 helicopters and arrived in Saigon; by mid-1962, about 12,000 U.S. military advisors were stationed in Vietnam. Special warfare and a policy of strategic hamlets allowed the Saigon government's South Vietnamese forces to push back in 1962; in 1963 the Viet Cong regained military initiative. The Viet Cong won their first military victory over the South Vietnamese army in January 1963 at the Battle of Ap Bac. By 1964, the U.S. military advisory corps numbered about 23,000. On July 17, President Kennedy announced that U.S. troops would stay in South Vietnam because withdrawal from the country would mean the collapse of Southeast Asia; on November 22, Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.

　Between 1961 and 1963, some 40,000 Communist soldiers infiltrated South Vietnam. The Vietcong grew rapidly, and by early 1962 an estimated 300,000 soldiers were registered with the Liberation Society.The Battle of Ap Bac on January 2, 1963, was the Vietcong's first major victory over South Vietnamese and American forces. The ratio of Viet Cong to South Vietnamese government soldiers jumped from 1 to 10 in 1961 to 1 to 5 a year later in 1962. The communist side was prepared for maximum military expansion, and the strength of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) in North Vietnam reached about 174,000 men at the end of 1963.