Viet-Nam: The Struggle for Freedom: Questions and Answers

On August 2, 1964, three North Vietnamese PT boats fired torpedoes and shells at the US destroyer Maddox on the high seas in the Gulf of Tonkin. The destroyer and US aircraft promptly fired back and drove off the PT boats. On August 4 that attack was repeated in the same international waters against two US destroyers. Our Navy s response was equally prompt and at least two of the attacking boats were sunk. In addition, air units of our 7th Fleet struck at the bases and other facilities in North Viet-Nam which supplied and supported the attacking boats. This latter action, as President Johnson told the nation that same night, was taken because repeated acts of violence against the Armed Forces of the United States must be met not only with alert defense but with positive reply. The next day the President told the nation and the world: Aggression deliberate, willful, and systematic aggression has unmasked its face to the entire world. The world remembers the world must never forget that aggression unchallenged is aggression unleashed.