South Vietnam War Thesis

During the first few days of August 1964, the United States, an ally of Southern Vietnam, made an accusation that Northern Vietnam had attacked them two times in the Gulf of Tonkin (Treanor 59). The United States was fearing the supremacy of North Vietnam over South Vietnam. South Vietnam had teamed up with the United States in the early months of 1964 for missions along the coast of Northern Vietnam. While these operations were executed by the Vietnamese Navy, they we orchestrated by the CIA and Department of Defense (Treanor 59). These missions were successful at first, but large casualties soon followed. The Maddox set out on July 28 to patrol the waters off the North Vietnam coast starting at the demilitarized zone stretching up to the …show more content…
He claimed that the attack had been real and that there was witness testimony of the enemy vessels. Washington responded by saying that everything should wait until they can be certain of what had happened. There was to be no response to the attack until all evidence was shorted. The most promising piece of evidence was the report from two patrol boats that claimed to have shot down planes. This report paired with the belief from high command that the lack was true concluded the investigation. President Johnson addressed the nation saying, “Repeated acts of violence against the armed forces of the United States must be met not only with alert defense, but with positive reply. The reply is being given as I speak to you …show more content…
The incident is still a subject of great controversy and debate as it prompted the American entrance into the Vietnam war. Many claim that President Johnson was aware that there was not a battle. It is the reports from North Vietnam that add more doubt to the entire situation. General Vo Nguyen Giap insisted that the event was created by the Americans to justify action against Northern Vietnam (Drea). Along with North Vietnam, many US officials were discrediting the event. Robert S. McNamera, the main architect of involvement in Vietnam, expressed his doubts regarding the reliability of the reports. He went as far as stating that there was no second attack by North Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin. The report from the pilots tend to place more doubt on the event. While some of the reports claim there were enemy ships near, some claim that they did not see anything in the immediate area. These reports conflict the reports made by the crew members on the Maddox and Turner Joy that there were torpedo wakes and enemy lights