I served in the U.S. Navy from September 1960 to September 1966. From May of 1963 I was on the crew of USS Constellation (CVA-64). At that time, the Constellation was the Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, homeported in San Diego.
In late July 1964, we were deployed on a Western Pacific cruise, enjoying a liberty call in Hong Kong. I was “on the beach,” exploring that beautiful port city, when we were recalled to the ship to make ready for an immediate emergency departure.
We steamed at flank speed to a place called Vietnam, where, on Aug. 2 in the Gulf of Tonkin, one of our destroyers, the USS Maddox (DD-731), was attacked by North Vietnamese torpedo boats. The Maddox returned fire, damaging all three of the boats, and called for air support from another aircraft carrier, the Ticonderoga (CV-14). When Constellation and her task group arrived on the scene, the first skirmish was over. We were placed in a state of battle readiness called “general quarters.”
On Aug. 4, another destroyer, the Turner Joy (DD-951), reported being under attack from PT boats. Radar operators had seen what they believed to be swift moving targets approaching the ship, and the captain ordered the ship to open fire. Turner Joy also requested air support and Ticonderoga and Constellation launched aircraft to assist. After a search of the area, our aircraft saw nothing and returned to the ship.
This second attack, perceived as real by the crew of Turner Joy, got greater attention in Washington, and President Lyndon Johnson ordered Constellation and Ticonderoga to launch reprisal attacks on North Vietnam at the port of Haiphong, where the PT boats were stationed. During these first attacks, one of our pilots, Lt. j.g. Richard Sather, was shot down and killed. A second, Lt. j.g. Everett Alvarez, was shot down and taken prisoner. He was a POW for more than 8 years. Another crewmember, James P. Powell, was killed on the flight deck during operations.
While these attacks were taking place, President Johnson went before Congress and asked them to pass the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which granted him full powers to prosecute war on North Vietnam.
Further investigation by Naval authorities revealed that the so-called second attack on the Turner Joy wasn’t an actual attack on the ship but that over-eager radar and sonar operators, in a high state of readiness, had probably reported a phenomenon known as “sea return” – false targets that are radar reflections off waves. This explained why aircraft from the carriers saw nothing.
Can we conclude that inadequate training and faulty interpretation of radar data and the following government action resulted in the escalation of the Vietnam War?
I think so, and this incident, along with other elements of our government provoking the North Vietnamese, led to America’s 10-year war with Vietnam, resulting in 58,220 deaths and 153,303 wounded on the American side, and probably millions of casualties suffered by the Vietnamese, although nobody knows for sure.
We dropped more bombs on Vietnam, a country roughly the size of California, than in all of World War II.
(Paul Hague lives in Weare.)