The Fifth of March

CHATTING with Lyndon Johnson at the Texas ranch last week, TIME Correspondent Richard Saltonstall asked if, on reflection, there was anything he would have done differently as President. Johnson pondered for a second and then, in a voice so low that he could hardly be heard, said that he could not answer until he sat down with his diary and looked at the events and decisions of each day. When he got out the record for March 5, 1965, for example, and examined the specifics, he said, he might ... At that point his voice became inaudible even to the reporter a few inches away.

To most Americans, March 5, 1965 is one of the less memorable dates in their history. It was, however, the last day Johnson could have revoked the decision to put a contingent of Marines ashore in Viet Nam. On March 5, 3,500 men landed five miles west of Danang in what was officially titled a "limited mission." It was, in fact, the beginning of the direct military involvement that was to place 535,000 U.S. troops in South Viet Nam and lead eventually--among a host of other things--to the retirement of Lyndon Johnson from the White House. To the former President, it was obviously a date to remember.

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