Tonkin Gulf Resolution (1964)
The Tonkin Gulf resolution was a response to the Tonkin Gulf incident. The incident involved the US destroyer USS Maddox and three North Vietnamese torpedo boats engaged in combat. The Maddox was on patrol in the Tonkin Gulf when three blips showed up on the radar. These blips turned out to be the ambushing torpedo boats attacking the destroyer. Over the course of the battle over 280 three and five inch shells at the attackers and received only 1 hit in return. The second "attack" was two days later. Two more blips were spotted on the radar, and the Maddox fired. It turned out that the blips were the wreckages of two of the three previous North Vietnamese torpedo boats, and the Maddox was shooting at nothing. Over the course of the entire incident, four North Vietnamese troops were killed and 6 were wounded. There were no casualties on board the Maddox.
The Tonkin Gulf Resolution was passed by the house and senate on August 7th, 1964 and signed by President Johnson on the 13th. Johnson's response was to launch Operation Pierce Arrow (a series of airstrikes) on the bases of the three torpedo boats in retaliation. In one of his speeches to the nation, he expressed how the United States supported the freedom of the Southern Vietnamese and the air strikes were justified to protect the US Armed Forces.
The Tonkin Gulf Resolution was passed by the house and senate on August 7th, 1964 and signed by President Johnson on the 13th. Johnson's response was to launch Operation Pierce Arrow (a series of airstrikes) on the bases of the three torpedo boats in retaliation. In one of his speeches to the nation, he expressed how the United States supported the freedom of the Southern Vietnamese and the air strikes were justified to protect the US Armed Forces.