From the last time

A Pentagon spokesman said today that "the corner defninitely has been turned" toward victory in South Vietnam and Defense Department officials are hopeful that the 12,000-man United States force there can be reduced in one to three years...
-The New York Times, May 8, 1963

Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara:"...We are going to bring back several hundred before the end of the year, but ...on the question of the exact number I thought we would wait until the meeting of November 20th."
- The New York Times, November 15, 1963

...This statement, reflecting a decision of the National Security Council, said the program for training Vietnamese troops should have progressed by the end of the year to the point "where one thousand United States military personnel" could be withdrawn.
-The New York Times, November 25th, 1963

Sec. of Defense McNamara:"We continue to be hopeful that we will be able to complete the training responsibilities of many of the other United States personnel now in Vietnam and gradually withdraw them over the period between now, and the end of 1965."
-The New York Times, February 19, 1964

Sec. of Defense McNamara::"...We believe the U.S. policy in reducing military personnel in South Vietnam as the Vietnamese become capable of carrying on the logistical training and other programs which we are presently supplying to them is sound and should be continued."
- before the House Appropriations Committee, March 24, 1964

Sec. of Defence McNamara:"...It think we'll begin to see the signs of that progress in the months ahead. It's going to be slow, however; the war's going to be long; it can't be won quickly - no guerilla war has ever been won quickly..."
-before the Advertising Council, May 6, 1964

(all quotations from Triumph or Tragedy - Reflections on Vietnam, by Richard N. Goodwin, Vintage Books, 1966; pages 132-135)