North Vietnamese torpedo boat attacking the USS Maddox
Events: Starting around 1960 a new policy came about to stop communism from entering South Vietnam. Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy all contributed to this policy. South Vietnam started to fall apart as time went on, so the United States needed to take some action by helping South Vietnam. In 1962 patrol boats were used to travel the seas and gain any signals from North Vietnam. On the fourth of August, two American ships were patrolling near North Vietnam. One of the destroyers, the USS Maddox (DD-731), was being followed by Vietnam torpedo boats. While radioing in, the ship ended up getting attacked. Previously to this, USS Maddox (DD-731) had been attacked on international seas. The United States then took action because of these events and took military responsibility. "What really happened"
Speech:
United States President Lyndon B. Johnson gave a speech to Americans about what happened in the Gulf of Tonkin incident. He explained that the U.S. ships had been attacked by North Vietnam boats and that he needed to take responsibility.
Cold War: The Soviet Union was a country that wanted to spread communism throughout the world and the United States wanted to stop this. In the 1960s North Vietnam had a plan to spread communism to the South because they were funded by the Soviet Union. In the Gulf of Tonkin and even before, the United States tried to keep an eye out to protect this from happening.
1964: Gulf of Tonkin Episode
Events:
Starting around 1960 a new policy came about to stop communism from entering South Vietnam. Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy all contributed to this policy. South Vietnam started to fall apart as time went on, so the United States needed to take some action by helping South Vietnam. In 1962 patrol boats were used to travel the seas and gain any signals from North Vietnam. On the fourth of August, two American ships were patrolling near North Vietnam. One of the destroyers, the USS Maddox (DD-731), was being followed by Vietnam torpedo boats. While radioing in, the ship ended up getting attacked. Previously to this, USS Maddox (DD-731) had been attacked on international seas. The United States then took action because of these events and took military responsibility.
"What really happened"
Speech:
United States President Lyndon B. Johnson gave a speech to Americans about what
happened in the Gulf of Tonkin incident. He explained that the U.S. ships had been attacked by North Vietnam boats and that he needed to take responsibility.
Cold War:
The Soviet Union was a country that wanted to spread communism throughout the world and the United States wanted to stop this. In the 1960s North Vietnam had a plan to spread communism to the South because they were funded by the Soviet Union. In the Gulf of Tonkin and even before, the United States tried to keep an eye out to protect this from happening.
Find more Information on the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, visit:
http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1598
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2261
Sources:
Picture-http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/h95000/h95611.jpg
Videos- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dx8-ffiYyzA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXmxfCvO7lA
Johnson, Lyndon B. "The Tonkin Gulf Incident." Tonkin Gulf Incident (2009): 1. Primary Search. EBSCO. Web. 31 Mar. 2011.
<__http://libraries.maine.edu/mainedatabases/authmaine.asp?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.prxy2.ursus.maine.edu/login.aspx? direct=true&db=prh&AN=21212327&site=ehost-live__>.