1965: Announcement of dispatching 200,000 US troops to Vietnam

DATE: August 1964

DESCRIPTION:Following reports of two attacks from North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin on US destroyers without provocation, President Johnson and his advisors asked Congress for a mandate for future military action. On August 7, 1964, Congress passed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, giving Johnson the authority to use all necessary powers and measures to repel attacks against US forces and US allies in Southeast Asia. This resolution allowed Johnson to escalate US involvement in the Vietnam War; the numbers of American troops committed to the war grew, and by 1965, 200,000 ground troops had been dispatched to Vietnam.

BLAME: The fault for this happening lies mostly on North Vietnam because they were the ones that engaged the US destroyers; because this happened, this led to the escalation of US involvement in the Vietnam War. However, the American who made the report of the second North Vietnamese torpedo boat attack should also be faulted because it was found out later that it was a mistake; no attack ever took place on that day. His report, though it was false, helped to contribute to the passing of the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, which in turn was another factor that led to US escalation of involvement in the Vietnam War.

TENSION INCREASE: This event increased tensions between the North Vietnamese/Viet Cong and the Americans because the Americans were involving themselves more in the Vietnam War; more involvement probably created more tension between the two. The air was already tense around these countries because the US was involving themselves in what was meant to be a civil war between the two halves of Vietnam. However, this event doesn’t get as high of a rank as other events because this event was only a small part of the already-ongoing Vietnam War. The tensions created by the dispatching of soldiers added onto it, but only slightly. +0.5

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