aug 2, 1964 - Gulf of Tonkin incident ---Mia Bryan

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Gulf Of Tonkin Incident

On August 2nd, 1964, North Vietnamese patrol boats attacked the American USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin. This attack happened when the United States was supporting South Vietnamese attack North Vietnam through a mission called OPLAN 34A. The plan was to sabotage operations against North Vietnamese infrastructure. They also had navy ships sailing around to gather information. Now, they said there was a second attack that was reported on August 4th, but come to see it, it didn't actually happen. There was no visual confirmation from any ships of attacks, and it was actually a misinterpreted radar signal. After both of these incidents, the US congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution on August 7th. This gave President Lyndon B. Johnson had the authority to use military force in Southeast Asia, and it allowed the US to increase their involvement in the Vietnam war without an actual declaration of war, increasing way more conflict.



“Gulf of Tonkin Incident.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 5 Feb. 2026, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Tonkin_incident.
“USS Maddox (DD-731).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Dec. 2025, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Maddox_(DD-731).
The Truth about Tonkin | Naval History Magazine - February 2008 Volume 22, Number 1, www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2008/february/truth-about-tonkin. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
“Special Forces History.” OPLAN 34A Vietnam, specialforceshistory.info/vietnam/oplan34a.html. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.

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