THE TONKIN CHRONOLOGY

VT: Vietnam Time

EDT: Eastern Daylight Time

July 31 12:21 a.m. VT South Vietnamese boats, commanded by U.S.-trained navy officers, bombard North Vietnamese coastal targets. August 2 3:08 p.m. VT Destroyer Maddox, on patrol in Gulf of Tonkin, fires on three North Vietnamese PT boats and is fired on in return. Sunset, VT Destroyer Turner Joy joins the Maddox in Gulf of Tonkin; both ships under the command of Capt. John J. Herrick. August 3 Herrick requests that his patrol be terminated. Admiral Ulysses Grant Sharp Jr. turns down request. August 4 12:30 a.m. VT South Vietnamese boats again bomb targets on North Vietnamese coast. 7:40 p.m. VT Herrick radios his commanding officer that (7:40 a.m. EDT) intelligence intercept indicate an attack on the Maddox and Turner Joy by North Vietnamese boats is imminent. 9 a.m. EDT Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara receives Herrick report and telephones President Johnson. 9:52 a.m. EDT Herrick radios that his two ships are being fired (9:52 p.m. VT on by torpedoes from enemy boats. 1 a.m. Aug. 5 VT Johnson lunches with his advisers at the (1 p.m. EDT) White House. 1:30 p.m. Aug. 4 EDT Herrick cables his commanding officer, expressing (1:30 a.m. Aug. 5 VT) his concern about truth of attack and suggest “complete evalutaion before any further action taken” 4:34 p.m. Aug. 4 EDT Herrick tells Sharp “details of action present (4:34 a.m. Aug. 5 VT) a confusing picture although certain original ambush bonafide.” 9:09 p.m. Aug. 4 EDT Sharp urges McNamara to hold off presidential (9:09 a.m. Aug. 5 VT) announcement of retaliatory attack until U.S. planes have hit their targets on North Vietnamese coast. 10:43 p.m. Aug. 4 EDT U.S. planes take off from two carriers for (10:43 a.m. Aug. 5 VT) retaliatory strikes on North Vietnamese coast. 10:59 p.m. Aug. 4 EDT Herrick tells Sharp and Washington that his ships (10:59 a.m. Aug. 5 VT) never saw North Vietnamese boats and can confirm only one torpedo firing. 11:37 p.m. Aug. 4 EDT Johnson speaks on national television and (11:37 a.m. Aug. 5 VT) announces U.S. bombing of North Vietnam. August 5 1:15 a.m. Aug. 5 EDT U.S. planes drop bombs on North Vietnamese (1:15 p.m. Aug. 5 VT) targets. August 7 U.S. Congress passes Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. House backs President, 416-0; the Senate 88-2, with Sens. Wayne L. Morse (D-Ore.) and Ernest Gruening (D-Alaska) opposed.