In August of 1964, the United States claimed that North Vietnamese naval craft had attacked two destroyers in international waters off the coast of North Vietnam. This attack became known as the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. Days later, The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution passed unanimously in the House of Representatives. Only two Congressmen voted against it in the Senate. With the Resolution, the Congress authorized the President to use military force as he saw fit without a formal declaration of war. Through a massive commitment of ground forces in South Vietnam and an unrelenting bombing campaign in the North, the United States greatly intensified its military involvement in the Vietnam War (1955-1975.) The belief that the Gulf of Tonkin Incident may have been manufactured by the United States as grounds for war did not publicly surface for another decade. The actual details of the incident are still debated.
Greenfield Recorder-Gazette. “U.S. Planes Hit North Vietnam… .” August 5, 1964. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/l06-047/. Accessed on October 16, 2024.
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