302-303. The lack of success in SOGs missions during the first few months of 1964 made this proposal quite attractive. In less than 25 minutes, the attack was over. "11 136-137. In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earharts disappearance. While I was in training, my motivation was to get these wings and I wear them today proudly, the airman recalled in 2015. McNamara did not mention the 34A raids.15. As Communist communications activity was rising rapidly, American senior leaders were increasing support to the South Vietnamese government. As it turns out, Adm. Sharp failed to read to the Joint Chiefs the last line of the cable, whichread: Suggest a complete evaluation before any further actions.. Each boat carried a 16-man crew and a 57-mm recoilless rifle, plus machine guns. AND THERE is the fact of Vietnam's position today. The North Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs made all this clear in September when it published a "Memorandum Regarding the U.S. War Acts Against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in the First Days of August 1964." At the White House, administration officials panicked as the public spotlight illuminated their policy in Vietnam and threatened to reveal its covert roots. During a meeting at the White House on the evening of 4 August, President Johnson asked McCone, "Do they want a war by attacking our ships in the middle of the Gulf of Tonkin? Over the next few years, Johnson used the resolution to rapidly escalate American involvement in the Vietnam War. The rounds set some of the buildings ablaze, keeping the defenders off balance. As a result, the ships offshore were able to collect valuable information on North Vietnamese military capabilities. This is another government conspiracy that's true. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.. President, weve just had a report from the commander of that task force out there The report is that they have observed and we don't know by what means two unidentified vessels and three unidentified prop aircraft in the vicinity of the destroyers, McNamara told the president. The Gulf of Tonkin incident, like others in our nation's history, has become the center of considerable controversy and debate. The secondary mission of the Gulf of Tonkin patrols was to assert American freedom of navigation in international waters. McNamara insisted that the evidence clearly indicated there was an attack on August 4, and he continued to maintain so in his book In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons From Vietnam. The North Vietnamese didnt buy the distinction; they attacked the USS Maddox. 11. The first critic report from Phu Bai reached Washington at about 0740 hours, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). Nonetheless, the North Vietnamese boats continued to close in at the rate of 400 yards per minute. He also requested air support. Thats what all the country wants, because Goldwater's raising so much hell about how he's gonna blow 'em off the moon, and they say that we oughtn't to do anything that the national interest doesn't require. Gulf of Tonkin & the Vietnam War. Neither Herricks doubts nor his reconnaissance request was well received, however. It set a very terrible precedent, which is that he would go on to escalate further, not with any striking confidence that his objectives will be achieved, but only with the assurance that, unless he embarked on these massive military escalations, America would fail in Vietnam and he might well be labeled the only president in American history to lose a war.. including the use of armed force" to assist South Vietnam (the resolution passed the House 416 to 0, and the Senate 88 to 2; in January 1971 President Nixon signed legislation that included its "repeal"). PTF-1 and PTF-2 were U.S.-built 1950s vintage boats pulled out of mothballs and sent to Vietnam. . . These secret intelligence-gathering missions and sabotage operations had begun under the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 1961, but in January 1964, the program was transferred to the Defense Department under the control of a cover organization called the Studies and Observations Group (SOG). . Thus, the South Vietnamese raid on Hon Me Island, a major North Vietnamese infiltration staging point, became the tripwire that set off the August 2 confrontation in the Gulf of Tonkin. In the subsequent exchange of fire, neither American nor North Vietnamese ships inflicted significant damage. In the meantime, aboard Turner Joy, Captain Herrick ordered an immediate review of the nights actions. "1 Most of these would be shore bombardment. His assessment of the evidence now raised doubts in his mind about what really had happened. In the end the Navy agreed, and in concert with MACV, took steps to ensure that "34A operations will be adjusted to prevent interference" with Desoto patrols.7 This did not mean that MACV did not welcome the information brought back by the Desoto patrols, only that the two missions would not actively support one another. Defense Secretary McNamara called the president about the second Phu Bai critic report at approximately 0940 that morning. American aircraft flying over the scene during the "attack" failed to spot any North Vietnamese boats. For the maritime war specialist, it is of course invaluable. Under the operational control of Captain John J. Herrick, it steamed through the Gulf of Tonkin collecting intelligence. Changing course in time to evade the torpedoes, the Maddox again was attacked, this time by a boat that fired another torpedo and 14.5-mm machine guns. Was the collapse of the Twin Towers on 911 terrorism are a controlled demolition. This article by Capt. With this information, back in Washington President Johnson and his advisers considered their options. 2. When the enemy boats closed to less than 10,000 yards, the destroyer fired three shots across the bow of the lead vessel. It took only a little imagination to see why the North Vietnamese might connect the two. Shortly after taking office following the death of President John F. Kennedy, President Lyndon B. Johnson became concerned about South Vietnam's ability to fend off the Communist Viet Cong guerillas that were operating in the country. Each sides initial after-action review was positive. . Within days, Hanoi lodged a complaint with the International Control Commission (ICC), which had been established in 1954 to oversee the provisions of the Geneva Accords. Operation Fast and Furious 10 It is difficult to imagine that the North Vietnamese could come to any other conclusion than that the 34A and Desoto missions were all part of the same operation. The conspiracy theory has been dying for several years, and this work will probably be a stake through its heart. Lyndon Johnson on August 5, 1964, assertedly in reaction to two Forced Government Indoctrination Camps . It also outlined the Maddoxs path along the coast on 2 August and the 34A attacks on Vinh Son the following day. These types of patrols had previously been conducted off the coasts of the Soviet Union, China, and North Korea. A Senate investigation revealed that the Maddox had been on an intelligence Send the First Troops to Vietnam? That initial error shaped all the subsequent assessments about North Vietnamese intentions, as U.S. SIGINT monitored and reported the Norths tracking of the two American destroyers. Not all wars are made for navies, and the U.S. Navy had to insinuate itself into the Vietnam one and carve out a role. Telegram from Embassy in Vietnam to Department of State, 7 August 1964, FRUS 1964, vol. Westmoreland reported that although he was not absolutely certain why the Swatows were shifted south, the move "could be attributable to recent successful [34A] operations. And it didnt take much detective work to figure out where the commandos were stationed. By late July 1964, SOG had four Nasty-class patrol boats, designated PTF-3, PTF-4, PTF-5, PTF-6 (PTFfast patrol boat). In late 2007, that information was finally made public when an official National Security Agency (NSA) history of signals intelligence (SIGINT) in Vietnam, written in 2002, was released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. This along with flawed signals intelligence from the National Security Agency led Johnson to order retaliatory airstrikes against North Vietnam. But only a few minutes later, McNamara was back on the line with news of a second incident in the Gulf of Tonkin. 13. Scattered small-arms sent tracers toward the commandos, but no one was hurt. But, to me, the more pernicious deception was this idea that American ships were sailing innocently in the Gulf of Tonkin and were attacked without provocation, he continues. For the maritime part of the covert operation, Nasty-class fast patrol boats were purchased quietly from Norway to lend the illusion that the United States was not involved in the operations. Hisfirst ship was USS Glennon (DD-840), a FRAM I destroyer, thesame class as Maddox. They are part and parcel of a continuing Communist drive to conquer South Vietnam. A National Security Agency report released in 2007 reveals unequivocally that the alleged Aug. 4, 1964, attack by North Vietnam on U.S. destroyers never actually happened. Simultaneously, U.S. SIGINT was placed on increased alert to monitor indications of future North Vietnamese threats to the Desoto Missions, and additional air and naval forces were deployed to the Western Pacific. After suggesting a "complete evaluation" of the affair before taking further action, he radioed requesting a "thorough reconnaissance in daylight by aircraft." 426-436. After the Tonkin Gulf incident, the State Department cabled Seaborn, instructing him to tell the North Vietnamese that "neither the Maddox or any other destroyer was in any way associated with any attack on the DRV [Democratic Republic of Vietnam, or North Vietnam] islands." The Johnson administration had made the first of several secret diplomatic attempts during the summer of 1964 to convince the North Vietnamese to stop its war on South Vietnam, using the chief Canadian delegate to the ICC, J. Blair Seaborn, to pass the message along to Hanoi. During May, Admiral U. S. G. Sharp, the Pacific Fleet Commander-in-Chief, had suggested that 34A raids could be coordinated "with the operation of a shipboard radar to reduce the possibility of North Vietnamese radar detection of the delivery vehicle." AIDS Brotherhood Symbology The Illuminati Flame . The U.S. in-theater SIGINT assets were limited, as was the number of Vietnamese linguists. By late 1958 it was obvious that a major Communist buildup was underway in South Vietnam, but the American SIGINT community was ill-placed and ill-equipped to deal with it. There remains some disagreement among historians about the second (Aug. 4) incident, which involved the Maddox and another destroyer, the USS Turner Joy. Both U.S. ships opened fire on the radar contacts, but reported problems maintaining a lock on the tracking and fire control solution. We're going to retaliate and well make an announcement a little later in the evening, in the next hour or so and well ask Congress for a resolution of war the next day to support us, Johnson toldan old friend. But for a band of South Vietnamese commandos and a handful of U.S. advisers, not much had changed. Approved on Aug. 10, 1964, the Southeast Asia (Gulf of Tonkin) Resolution, gave Johnson the power to use military force in the region without requiring a declaration The departure of the North Vietnamese salvage tug en route to the damaged craft was reported to the American ships as a submarine chaser, not a serious threat but certainly more so than an unarmed seagoing tug. Neither the United States nor State of Vietnam signed anything at the 1954 Geneva Conference. Quoted in Steve Edwards, "Stalking the Enemys Coast," U.S. Here's why he couldn't walk away. SOG took the mounting war of words very seriously and assumed the worstthat an investigation would expose its operations against the North. "I think we are kidding the world if you try to give the impression that when the South Vietnamese naval boats bombarded two islands a short distance off the coast of North Vietnam we were not implicated," he scornfully told McNamara during the hearings.16 WebJoe Rogan interview on the 911 Conspiracy Theory. For some reason, however, the second Desoto Mission, to be conducted by Maddox, was not canceled, even though it was scheduled to start at the same time that a late July commando mission was being launched.