Fifty years ago, the United States was in the early stages of escalating its involvement in the war in Vietnam. It would not end well.

By early 1969, more than 500,000 American troops would be deployed to Southeast Asia; some 2.7 million troops would serve in the armed forces throughout the conflict. Above all else, more than 58,200 American service men and women would sacrifice their lives in nearly two decades of fighting; another 303,644 would be listed as casualties.