Photo gallery: Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara in Vietnam, 1963

America's top military leaders sloshed through muddy remote villages of the strife-torn Republic of Vietnam to learn first-hand how the war against the Viet Cong is going.

(Click here to read the full story about Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara's 1963 visit to Vietnam.)

A banner strung across the street welcomes Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara to the Thu-Xa (Open Arms Camp) in the Republic of Vietnam, where Viet Cong deserters are rehabilitated.

Special Forces soldiers escort Secretary of Defense McNamara on a walk into an unsecured jungle area in Vietnam. At right is Pfc. Frank Orians of Grand Rapids, Mich.

Secretary McNamara , Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Maxwell Taylor (to McNamara's right) and Gen. Paul D. Harkins (to McNamara's left) listen to a briefing by Capt. Richard Hong of Honolulu, Hawaii, under a parachute canopy at the Plei Mrong (strike force) training camp.

Gen. Paul D. Harkins (foreground), Secretary McNamara and Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor listen as a former Viet Cong soldier tells why he deserted.

Secretary McNamara and Gen. Taylor inspect captured Viet Cong weapons.