The incident occurred on Fourth, August 1964 after North Vietnamese patrol boats were reported to have attacked United States boats. The incidence provided a very convenient excuse for the United States military involvement in Vietnam. It was also overstated, so that the United States government could gain support for military involvement.
The first incident that occurred in the Gulf of Tonkin was recorded as occurring on August second, 1964. On this particular day, the United States Navy boat known as the Maddox was out conducting its usual patrol. However, they encountered North Vietnam patrol ships which attacked them. The United States Navy Seals reported this attack to the administration. Initially, all the American people thought of was how they could retaliate. They wanted the American government to avenge their people who were attacked by North Vietnamese. They wanted war rained on the people that had harmed soldiers defending them and their country.
However, the president and his administration did not retaliate. President Johnson did not want to send troops to attack North Vietnam. He believed that South Vietnam should be left to handle their wars. The Maddox thus continued with their mission and were joined by another boat known as USS Turner Joy. On the fourth August, the two boats reported that North Vietnam troops attacked them. This was the second attack on the United States Navy seal by Vietnam. The American government believed that North Vietnam provoked them and thus sought to retaliate.
The campaigns were at the crucial stage, and President Johnson took this as an opportunity for him to gain support from the American public. The people’s faith in him was to be restored by retaliating against the Vietnamese thus proving that he had what it takes to protect the American people. He took that opportunity to seek the Congress support so as to allow him to use force in Vietnam as a form of retaliation. Congress approved his proposal, and this led to the airstrike and eventually the American involvement in the Vietnam War.
The Gulf of Tonkin incident was just an excuse American government used to gain military involvement. It was also overstated, so that the military could support the invasion. As later verified, the second attack that led to the final decision to engage in the attack was alleged and did not occur (Hiroshi, 114). It was just used as a cover story to show the need for retaliation and the joining of the American army in the fight against Vietnam. The main reason behind that was the presidential election of President Johnson, which was used as a strategy to get him back into power for another term.
As has also been proven, the first attack on the Maddox was justified. The United States Navy boat was less than three miles from the North Vietnam coast. It was mainly being used to gather intelligence which was illegal. The rules are that international waters are from twelve miles off the coast of every country. The North Vietnamese patrol boats thus had the right to attack the Maddox as it had invaded their waters which were an act of war. However, the United States government claimed that international waters were about three miles, unlike the twelve miles the North Vietnam government claimed. They thus supported their argument and refused to agree on the fact that the Maddox was used to gather information for the government (Galloway, 167).
In addition, the Congress made the agreement to grant President Johnson permission to use any amount of force necessary before the actual logs of the second attack were available. They did not wait for confirmation or verification regarding this issue. Rather, they just decided that it was an act of war, and the government had to retaliate thus authorizing an air strike. Were the Gulf of Tonkin incident not just an excuse, Congress and the Johnson administration at large, would have waited for verification of the incidence after which they would commence the air strike. They thus overstated the issue and used it as an excuse to gain military support.
Works Cited
Galloway, John. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. University Press, 2010. print.
Hiroshi, Fujimoto. "The Legacy of the Gulf of Tonkin Incident: “Real American War” in Vietnam." Nanzan Review of American Studies, Volume 36 (2014): 113-121. print.
Hunt, Michael. A Vietnam War Reader. America, 2010. print.
