In addition to their activities associated with the orphanage, the Marine officers taught English to a number of Vietnamese civilians. Held three nights weekly, the classes were received enthusiastically. Beyond the foundations of good will which it helped shape, the People-to-People Program enabled the Marines to acquire a better understanding of the Vietnamese people, their culture, and their problems. _SHUFLY Operations in I Corps_ SHUFLY’s initial helicopter support operations in I Corps represented the beginnings of what would become a long association of U.S. Marines with South Vietnam’s rugged northern provinces. Essentially these early operations were characterized by continuity and adjustment. Since their arrival at Da Nang in September the Marines had extended the standard of consistent and effective combat support operations set earlier in the flat Mekong Delta. Necessarily, SHUFLY’s commanders had modified the previously developed tactics and techniques to fit the mountainous terrain and the nature of warfare being waged in I Corps. For the most part these adjustments had proven successful by allowing the Marines to continue the pace of helicopter support with a reduction of the risks involved. That SHUFLY had suffered its first fatalities during these initial months in I Corps dampened but did not detract from its overall achievements. As 1962 closed, the Marines had begun establishing a reputation in the northern provinces as courageous, professional fighting men and generous allies. It was this reputation upon which a generation of Marines would build in the ensuing decade. CHAPTER 7 The Laotian Crisis, 1962 _Genesis of the Problem--The American Response--The Marine Corps Role--Marine Participation: A Summary_ _Genesis of the Problem_ Almost simultaneous with SHUFLY’s deployment to Soc Trang in April 1962, U.S. Marine combat forces were ordered to Thailand in response to the growing crisis in Laos. Inhabited for the most part by peaceful hill tribes, the small, landlocked Kingdom of Laos seemed an unlikely setting for any significant military confrontation. Even more improbable was the possibility that a serious international crisis could stem from what had begun as a political rivalry among relatively obscure princes.