The book traces the origins of the Army’s long, and frequently unhappy, involvement in Indochina from World War II to the end of the Eisenhower administration. This work describes the activities of the U.S. Army in Vietnam during World War II, military advice and assistance to the French government during the immediate postwar years, and the advisory program that developed after Geneva Agreements of 1954. The scope ranges from high-level policy decisions to low-echelon advisory operations in the field, presented against a background of relevant military and political developments. Useful not only as a study of military assistance but as a view of the Army as an agent in national policy, this volume is a fitting introduction to the overall study of the conflict in Vietnam.