1964

• Maddox (US destroyer) was fired at by North Vietnamese patrol boats on the Gulf of Tonkin

• Maddox was gathering intelligence information

• 2 days later there was another (alleged) attack

• Johnson was able to use the second attack to persuade Congress to support greater US involvement in Vietnam

• Congress believed that, due to the second attack, action needed to be taken

• Gulf of Tonkin Resolution - gave Johnson power to take any military measures

• Johnson ordered airstrikes on North Vietnam, despite doubts

• The Resolution had the same effect as a declaration of war - but it wasn’t that

• Fighting begun at Binh Gia and the VC won

• By February 1965, US involvement was costing $2 million per day