1965
- March 5: An eight-mile wide "special military sector" is established around Danang, and thousands of local residents are removed from the area. Miles of fencing and defensive structures are to be built.
- March 8: The 9th MEB, under BGEN Karch, beings landing at Red Beach Two, north of Danang. The first units ashore are greeted by sightseers, ARVN officers, Vietnamese girls with leis, and four Americans soldiers carrying a large sign: "Welcome Gallant Marines."
- March 9-12: As the Marines continue to land near Danang, scattered sniper fire is encounterd, but no casualties are reported. The Marines begin moving into the newly-created bases around the city.
- April 1-2: ARVN and VC forces engage in a battle 25 miles south of Danang.
- April 10-14: More Marine units arrive in Danang, and begin to spread into the surrounding provinces; over 5,000 Marines are now based at Danang. VMFA-531 begins operating F-4B Phantom II jets from the Danang airbase.
- April 22: The Vietcong fire on a South Vietnamese radio station 3 miles south of Danang.
- May 2: The first patrols by American Marines enter into the countryside.
- May 7: 6,000 Marines begin creating a base at Chu Lai, 55 miles south of Danang.
- June 1: MAG-12 begins operating A-4 Skyhawk aircraft from Chu Lai.
- June 2: The Marines at Chu Lai, along with ARVN forces, mount an operation against the VC around the Chu Lai base; naval gunfire support is provided by the USS Canberra (CAG-2).
- June 6-8: Sub-unit 1 of G Detachment, 1st ANGLICO lands on Mon Hemay Island, off the South Vietnamese coast. Over the next few nights, two of the Marines are killed by VC guerillas.
- June 9: The Marines are removed from Mon Hemay island, whose residents are evacuated to a resettlement camp near Danang. The next day, the island is bombed by naval aircraft, and shelled by the USS Canberra (CAG-2).
- June 13: A military government, headed by General Thieu, takes over control of South Vietnam.
- June 19: Air Vice-Marshal Nguyen Cao Ky becomes Premier of South Vietnam. He promises to rule with an iron fist, and demands full mobilization.
- June 24: Premier Ky announces the imposition of martial law nation-wide, along with budget cuts, price controls, curfews, and other 'austerity measures'.
- July 1: An 85-man VC sapper unit infiltrates the Danang airbase and destroys three aircraft. One USAF airman is killed, three Marines are wounded.
- July 6: The headquarters unit of the 9th Marines begins landing at Danang. Privates Mourning and Sturm arrive at Danang.
- July 12: Lt. Frank Reasoner, USMC, of the 3rd Recon Battalion, is killed when his patrol is ambushed by the VC. He becomes the first Marine to earn the Medal of Honor in Vietnam.
- July 15: Premier Ky is quoted in a British newspaper as saying that Adolph Hitler is one of his heroes. Confronted with outraged protest, Ky will at first deny making the statement, then admit he had meant only that he admired the way in which Hitler rallied the German people.
- July 24: American destroyers attack a fleet of Communist junks near the South Vietnamese coast, and sink 23. Privates Mourning and Sturm recover a box from the flotsam; it contains a set of oddly-inscribed metal plates.
- July 27: Privates Sturm and Mourning are attacked by members of the Three Lions tong while in Danang. The marines were attempting to find someone who could translate, or at least identify, the text on the metal plates they had found. Sturm and Mourning kill and seriously injure several of the gang members in a hard-fought melee, and are restricted to base for two weeks "for their own protection".
- August 3: The first charge that US forces have engaged in 'unacceptable' actions is reported by CBS, when it shows men of the 1st Battalion, 9th Marines burning most of the village of Camne, 6 miles southwest of Danang.
- August 5: An attack by the Vietcong on the Esso oil storage terminal on the Haivai peninsula -- across the bay from Danang -- destroys 2 million gallons of fuel, or 40% of the supply. American aircraft and the destroyer USS Stoddard (DD-566) move in quickly to attack the VC, but they escape. The US command claims the lost fuel will not affect its operations.
- August 10: Privates Mourning and Sturm are no longer confined to base.
- August 14: The 7th Marines begin landing at Chu Lai, bringing the USMC presence in South Vietnam to four regiments and four air groups.
- August 18-21: The first major ground action fought only by American forces takes place: Operation STARLITE. A force of 5500 Marines, supported by aircraft and naval gunfire, destroys a VC stronghold near Vantuong, on a peninsula 16 miles south of Chu Lai. 45 Marines are killed, and several hundred VC, many of whose bodies remain in the caves "as indicated by the odor pervading the area".
- August 31: All American military personnel in South Vietnam must turn in their American currency, and from this point on will be paid only in "MPC" scrip, to curb the black market.
- September 7-10: In Operation PIRANHA, Marines and ARVN troops attack a VC stronghold on the Batangan peninsula, 23 miles south of Chulai. A couple hundred VC casualties are claimed.
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