USS Independence (CVA-62) 1965 Cruise Sweatshirt

In 1965, USS Independence (CVA-62) deployed to the waters off Vietnam as the United States dramatically escalated its military commitment to South Vietnam. Operating from Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin, Independence's air wing flew combat missions over North and South Vietnam — joining the generation of naval aviators who answered the call in Southeast Asia at the beginning of America's longest war.