Krulak–Mendenhall mission
The Krulak–Mendenhall mission was a fact-finding expedition dispatched by the Kennedy administration to South Vietnam in early September 1963. The stated purpose of the expedition was to investigate the progress of the war by the South Vietnamese regime and its US military advisers against the Viet Cong insurgency. The mission was led by Victor Krulak and Joseph Mendenhall. Krulak was a major general in the United States Marine Corps, while Mendenhall was a senior Foreign Service Officer experienced in dealing with Vietnamese affairs.
United States Marine Corps General Victor Krulak
US President John F. Kennedy
Ngô Đình Nhu (pictured right) meeting US Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson
US Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, RVN President Ngô Đình Diệm and Frederick Nolting in South Vietnam's Presidential Palace in 1961
Victor Harold Krulak was a decorated United States Marine Corps officer who saw action in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Krulak, considered a visionary by fellow Marines, was the author of First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps and the father of the 31st Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Charles C. Krulak.
Victor H. Krulak
Lt. Gen Krulak in a training exercise at Camp Pendleton, May 7, 1964
Krulak inspecting Marines from First Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company in Hawaii, April 1965.