Alleged 1964 attacks on US destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin that justified the Vietnam War escalation, though the second attack was likely fabricated.
On August 2, 1964, the US destroyer USS Maddox reported being attacked by North Vietnamese patrol boats in the Gulf of Tonkin. This incident was real and documented. However, a second attack reported on August 4, 1964, during poor weather conditions and radar anomalies, almost certainly never occurred. Despite significant doubt from military personnel on the scene, including the Maddox captain, the Johnson administration used both incidents to justify the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution passed by Congress on August 7, 1964.
The resolution granted President Lyndon B. Johnson virtually unlimited authority to wage war in Vietnam without a formal declaration. Declassified NSA documents released in 2005, including a 2001 NSA historical analysis, confirmed that the August 4 attack did not happen. The radar signals interpreted as enemy boats were likely weather phenomena and equipment malfunction. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara later admitted in 1995 interviews that the second incident was doubtful. The manufactured justification enabled sustained bombing campaigns and troop deployments that killed over 58,000 American soldiers and millions of Vietnamese civilians over the next decade.
