55 years ago today, April 30, 1970 (March 25, 1970 in the lunar calendar), Nixon sent troops to Cambodia. U.S. troops march in the jungle On April 30, 1970, President Nixon announced that he had sent U.S. combat troops to Cambodia to destroy Communist army sanctuaries in that country. In a televised address to the nation, the president described the operation as "not an invasion of Cambodia," but a necessary expansion of the Vietnam War to protect the lives of U.S. soldiers and shorten the duration of the war. As the president spoke, thousands of American soldiers were crossing the border and launching an offensive on Communist troop staging areas in Cambodia. This area penetrates directly into South Vietnam, 50 miles northwest of Saigon. The president's actions drew strong protests from anti-war critics in Congress. Senators John Sherman Cooper and Frank Church have drafted an amendment that would prohibit any military spending for military operations in Cambodia.