Word: tonkin
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...young men of the 2,200-ton U.S. destroyer Maddox, patrol duty in Tonkin seemed as ho-hum and hum drum as duty on any of a hundred other routine tin-can patrols. In this case, the mission of the Maddox was mainly to show the U.S. flag and keep a casual lookout for Communist gun runners or seaborne Red guerrilla cadres. Occasionally the Maddox would slip up to within 13 miles of the Communist mainland, set her radar to sniffing the coast. But the real challenge to her sailors was to stay awake on lonely watches. Few of them...
...Pacific (CINCPAC). "Oley" Sharp was returning to his headquarters near Pearl Harbor after touring the U.S. military missions in South Viet Nam and Thailand -the everlasting hot spots of his vast command (see box). It was over the C-118 radiotelephone that the word of the fight in Tonkin Gulf was relayed to Sharp...
Lusty Liberty. By Monday, most Americans, leaders and populace alike, were ready to accept the notion that Sunday's attack-incredible as it was-would stand as an isolated incident. The Maddox and the Joy sailed serenely through the Gulf of Tonkin without challenge. Their crews stayed sharp-eyed, but once again began counting the days until their tedium would end, perhaps with lusty liberty in Tokyo, Hong Kong or Manila...
...Pacific Fleet commander, Admiral Thomas H. Moorer, stationed at nearby Makalapa Naval Base, told him: "We're going to clo it." Orders crackled through the Pacific as units of the Seventh Fleet were alerted. The carrier Constellation moved out of Hong Kong-about 500 miles from the Tonkin bases-with instructions to join the Ticonderoga as quickly as possible...
...under way, Lyndon went on nationwide TV networks at 11:37 p.m. to deliver his somber message. "My fellow Americans: As President and Commander in Chief, it is my duty to report that renewed hostile actions against United States ships on the high seas in the Gulf of Tonkin have today required me to order the military forces of the United States to take action in reply . . . That reply is being given as 1 speak to you tonight. Air action is now in execution against gunboats and certain supporting facilities in North Viet Nam which have been used in these...