Gulf+of+Tonkin

Gulf of Tonkin Incident In reports it is said that on August 2, 1964, there were three North Vietnamese torpedo boats approaching the U.S.S. Maddox at high speeds.. Along with other American warships, Maddox was steaming in international waters some 28 nautical miles off North Vietnam's coast, gathering information on that country's coastal radars. As the torpedo boats continued their travel towards the Maddox the Maddox was ordered to fire warning shots if they got inside 10,000 yards. When the boats reached the 10,000 yard mark the Maddox fired three warning shots, but the torpedo boats continued, neither American nor North Vietnamese ships inflicted significant damage, in their exchange of fire.

The sort of “catch” to this whole detailed report above is that the Gulf of Tonkin Incident never happened. This was staged by President Johnson because he wanted an excuse to get in Vietnam and be able to spend as much money as he needed to. Looking back on Vietnam, the Gulf of Tonkin incident it really what got us into the Vietnam War, sort of the match that lit the fire. The gulf of Tonkin incident is seen as being so controversial because it is something that didn’t happen but still got us into war. This is why the Gulf of Tonkin incident may be seen as so controversial.

Kim, Tom. "The Gulf of Tonkin Incident." Gulf of Tonkin Incident: 1964. Dec. 1999. Web. 28 Apr. 2012. < __http://www.thenagain.info/webchron/usa/GulfTonkin.html>.__

Schuster, Otis, Carl.. "CASE CLOSED: THE GULF OF TONKIN INCIDENT." Vietnam. 01 Jun. 2008: 28. eLibrary. Web. 26 Apr. 2012.

