Gulf of Tonkin
Ben Clark
On August 2, 1964, the U.S.S. Maddox was attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin. On August 7, 1964 the United States started to send troops over in mass quantities to Vietnam. Even though the United States says that the attack was unprovoked, the United States gave North Vietnam a reason to attack us by such activities as destroying bridges and roads.
The United States was in Vietnam to try to stop the spread of communism and to protect Southeast Asia’s freedom. The thought was that the Vietnamese attack on the U.S.S. Maddox was unprovoked. “United States is assisting the people of Southeast Asia to protect their freedom” (Document #1) “In each land the forces of independence would be considerably weakened, and Asia so threatened by Communist domination would certainly imperil the security of the United States itself” (Document #5). The United States was only trying to stop communism from going into South East Asia. The United States was going to do anything to try and to stop communism.
The United States was using force and violence in Vietnam to stop the spread of Communism and Vietnam retaliated by attacking the U.S.S. Maddox. In a private conversation between president Johnson and Robert Anderson, the President was giving evidence of the administration trying to cover up the truth: “There have been some covert operations in that area (Vietnam) that we have been carrying on- blowing up some bridges and things of that kind, roads and so forth. So I imagine they wanted to put a stop to it. So they fired and we responded immediately with five-inch artillery shells” (Document #3). Cables from Captain Herrick suggest that the attack may have not actually happened and that the US just wanted to fight for a suspected attack on the U.S.S Maddox. “The first boat to close the Maddox probably launched a torpedo at the Maddox which was heard but not seen. All subsequent Maddox torpedo reports are doubtful in that it is suspected that the sonarman was hearing the ship’s own propeller beat” (Document #7). The US was trying to stop Communism coming down from North Vietnam, but the North Vietnamese did not want the United States destroying their land. The US should have not been trying to stop Communism by destroying North Vietnam’s land. What the US should have done is taken a better way to prevent Communism from going into Southeast Asia by talking to the leader of North Vietnam to see what he wants for the situation.
Ben Clark
On August 2, 1964, the U.S.S. Maddox was attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin. On August 7, 1964 the United States started to send troops over in mass quantities to Vietnam. Even though the United States says that the attack was unprovoked, the United States gave North Vietnam a reason to attack us by such activities as destroying bridges and roads.
The United States was in Vietnam to try to stop the spread of communism and to protect Southeast Asia’s freedom. The thought was that the Vietnamese attack on the U.S.S. Maddox was unprovoked. “United States is assisting the people of Southeast Asia to protect their freedom” (Document #1) “In each land the forces of independence would be considerably weakened, and Asia so threatened by Communist domination would certainly imperil the security of the United States itself” (Document #5). The United States was only trying to stop communism from going into South East Asia. The United States was going to do anything to try and to stop communism.
The United States was using force and violence in Vietnam to stop the spread of Communism and Vietnam retaliated by attacking the U.S.S. Maddox. In a private conversation between president Johnson and Robert Anderson, the President was giving evidence of the administration trying to cover up the truth: “There have been some covert operations in that area (Vietnam) that we have been carrying on- blowing up some bridges and things of that kind, roads and so forth. So I imagine they wanted to put a stop to it. So they fired and we responded immediately with five-inch artillery shells” (Document #3). Cables from Captain Herrick suggest that the attack may have not actually happened and that the US just wanted to fight for a suspected attack on the U.S.S Maddox. “The first boat to close the Maddox probably launched a torpedo at the Maddox which was heard but not seen. All subsequent Maddox torpedo reports are doubtful in that it is suspected that the sonarman was hearing the ship’s own propeller beat” (Document #7). The US was trying to stop Communism coming down from North Vietnam, but the North Vietnamese did not want the United States destroying their land. The US should have not been trying to stop Communism by destroying North Vietnam’s land. What the US should have done is taken a better way to prevent Communism from going into Southeast Asia by talking to the leader of North Vietnam to see what he wants for the situation.