Wednesday, May 31, 1972
No Drop In Troop Strength
SAIGON (AP) --For the first time in 16 months, there was no reduction in U.S. troop strength in Vietnam last week.While Army strength dropped 500 men and Air Force personnel by 100, an influx of U.S. Marine fighter-bombers to counter the North Vietnamese offensive increased Marine troops strength 600, balancing the cuts in the Army and Air Force.U.S. military sources said there was no freeze on reductions because of the offensive. They said the U.S. Command would meet or beat President Nixon's target of a 49,000-man force by July 1.In addition to 64,800 U.S. troops in the country, 41,000 Navy men aboard ships operating off the coast and an estimated 35,000 U.S. Air Force personnel are at bases in Thailand supporting the war effort."No Drop in Troop Strength", by (AP) published in the Pacific Stars and Stripes Wednesday, May 31, 1972 and reprinted from European and Pacific Stars and Stripes, a Department of Defense publication copyright, 2002 European and Pacific Stars and Stripes.