Mercenaries and Lyndon Johnson's "More Flags" The Hiring of Korean, Filipino and Thai Soldiers in the Vietnam War

On April 23, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson launched the "More Flags" (i.e., more countries at war in Vietnam) program as United States policy. Over the next four years of the Johnson administration, and in the face of extreme reluctance to send troops on the part of the target countries, the goal of "More Flags" became more direct: to hire mercenary troops-at extremely high cost-from countries such as South Korea, the Philippines, and Thailand to assist the U.S. military, while presenting the matter to the world as something entirely different.