NEWS FLASH DATE: 15 April 1965

 

• Johnson seeks meeting with Mao President Johnson announced today that he was seeking a meeting with Chinese leader Mao Zedong. Such a meeting, the first ever between the chief executives of the two nations, would concern the conflict in Vietnam. "I'm sure the US and China can come to an agreement on how to stop the Vietnam war," concluded the President. This announcement follows the administration's plan to exchange American and Chinese servicemen for an international Ping-Pong tournament for diplomacy.
• Renewed fighting on the Ho Chi Minh Trail In a series of surprise attacks, Vietcong forces attacked American units in the field, raided United States camps and seized equipment and supplies. Casualties appear heavy on both sides. At least several of the NLF assaults came from across the border with Cambodia, adding more evidence to support the idea that Vietcong bases exist within Cambodia.
    This new phase of fighting on this crucial supply route marks the second month of intense combat, with American airborne units repeatedly driving NLF and North Vietnamese units from parts of the trail in South Vietnam. In this guerrilla war, however, Vietcong and NVA units are able to "fade away," returning to run the supply route once the Americans withdraw.
• LBJ sticks to his guns Unnamed sources in the Johnson administration confirm the President's unwillingness to hold back combat units from Vietnam. One anonymous official explained: "At this present time, [the President] feels that, given the current conditions in South Vietnam, a pullback of [air] forces from the North Vietnam areas would not aid the South's situation."