Tonkin Gulf and the escalation of the Vietnam War
On the night of August 4, 1964, the U.S. Navy destroyers Maddox and Turner Joy reported that they were under attack by North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin. Within hours, President Lyndon Johnson ordered the first U.S. airstrikes against North Vietnam, and on August 7, Congress passed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, which gave President Johnson authority to take "all necessary measures" to prevent further aggression
Print Book, English, ©1996
University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, ©1996
xviii, 304 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm
9780807823002, 0807823007
34477141
Covert operations
Thoughts of escalation
The DeSoto patrol
The first incident, August 2
The DeSoto patrol resumes
The second incident, August 4
The evidence from the destroyers
Evidence from other sources
Retaliation
Toward further escalation