Word: maddox
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...with his frequent trips to Southern capitals in the last year. Last May, when Southern anger over the school desegregation guidelines was at its height. Humphrey visited the Southern governors to soothe their feelings. The highlight of this effort came in Georgia, where he put his arm around Lester Maddox and called him "a good Democrat...
...Maddox radarmen spotted what they reckoned to be five torpedo boats 36 miles to northeast. Task Group 72.1 began preparing for action...
...about five miles, star shells were fired from Maddox. It was, in McNamara's words, "a very dark, moonless, overcast night"-or, as Maddox Radarman James Stankevitz put it, "darker than the hubs of hell...
When the blips were about three miles off, Turner Joy began firing, using her radar as guide, since nothing could be seen. Maddox followed suit-though her radar showed no target at all. Says Lieut. Raymond Connell, in charge of Maddox's guns: "I recall we were hopping around up there, trying to figure out what they [Turner Joy] were shooting at. We fired a lot of rounds, but it was strictly a defensive tactic." It could also have been a malfunction on the radar screen. Aircraft from the carriers Ticonderoga and Constellation were overhead by this time...
...these questions represents the weakest point in the Administration's case. "Review of action makes many reported contacts and torpedoes fired appear doubtful," wired Captain John Herrick, commander of the patrol. "Freak weather effects and overeager sonarman may have accounted for many reports. No actual visual sightings by Maddox, suggest complete evaluation before any further action." With access to classified information, Herrick has since changed his mind. McNamara says that he has "unimpeachable" intelligence, probably intercepted North Vietnamese radio messages, to verify independently not only that Hanoi planned an attack on the U.S. destroyers but also that...