American combat missions in the Vietnam War did not begin in 1962.  US military advisors first arrived in Vietnam in 1955.  The first American KIA occurred on November 1, 1955.   US military advisors including the entire 5th Special Forces Group subsequently were deployed to Vietnam bringing the number of advisors to about 15,000 by the end of 1964.  Many advisors were involved in combat operations and some were killed in action.  The first Green Beret killed in action was Specialist James Gabriel of Honolulu on April 8, 1962.  The first Medal of Honor was awarded to Special Forces Captain Roger Donlon for actions on July 6, 1964.  The first conventional combat units arrived in Vietnam in March 1965.  So, from where did 1962 come as the year the Vietnam war started?   Obama did it in 2012 when he re-wrote history and arbitrarily picked May 28, 1962 as the date it started to commemorate what he declared was the war’s 50th anniversary.