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Selected Documents Relating to the Tonkin Gulf Incidents of 2 and 4 August 1964

• Abbreviations

Formerly Classified Documents from 2 August 1964

• Memorandum from Duty Officer in White House Situation Room to President.
  
• COMSEVENTHFLT message regarding 2 Aug. torpedo boat attack. 021008Z.
  
• CTG 72.1 message "July-August DESOTO 021200Z OPSUM."
  
• Telegram from Chairman, JCS to Commander in Chief, Pacific, 12:25 p.m.
  
• Telegram from Dept. of State to Embassy in Vietnam, 1:41 p.m.
  
• CTG 77.5 message "Torpedo Attack on DD(S)," 021506Z.
  
• Telegram from Chairman of JCS to Commander in Chief, Pacific, 6:49 p.m.
  

Formerly Classified Documents from 3 August 1964

• Telegram from Embassy in Vietnam to Dept. of State, 11:00 a.m.

Formerly Classified Documents from 4 August 1964

• Memorandum of Telephone Conversation, McNamara and Secy. of State, 11:10 a.m.
  
• Telegram From the Dept. of State to the Embassy in Thailand, 6:03 p.m.
  

Formerly Classified Documents Subsequent to 4 August 1964

• USS Turner Joy "Statements, Chronology of Action and Summary..." dated 7 Aug.
  
• "Personal Statements of 4 August Action," dated 7 Aug.
  
• CINCPACFLT message regarding "Proof of Attack, 071101Z."
  
• Letter From President Johnson to Chairman Khrushchev, dated 7 Aug.
  
• USS Maddox "Report of Action, Gulf of Tonkin, 2 August 1964," dated 24 Aug.
  
• USS Maddox "July-August DESOTO Patrol..."dated 24 Aug.
  
• USS Maddox "Report of Tonkin Gulf Action of 4 August 1964," dated 25 Aug.
  
• USS Turner Joy "Action Report for Gulf of Tonkin, 4 August 1964," dated 11 Sep.
  
• Summary of Key Messages Leading to JCS Decision to Order Reprisal Attacks. n.d.
  
• July-August 1964 DESOTO Patrol -- Complete Chronology. n.d.
  
• DESOTO Patrols. n.d.
  
• Memorandum on North Vietnamese Territorial Waters, 1 Feb. 1968
  

Publicly Released Information

• "Chronology of the Incident Concerning the USS Maddox..."3 Aug. 1964.
  
• Statement by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, 4 Aug. 1964.
  
• Statement by Asst. Sec. of Defense Arthur Sylvester, 4 Aug. 1964.
  
• Statement by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, 5 Aug. 1964.
  
• List of Targets in North Vietnam Under Attack by Carrier Aircraft, 5 Aug. 1964.
  
• Summary of Carrier Air Strikes Against Targets in North Vietnam, 6 Aug. 1964.
  
• Statement by Asst. Sec. of Defense Arthur Sylvester, 7 Aug. 1964.
  
• Statement of Robert McNamara Before Foreign Relations Committee, 20 Feb. 1968.
  

Note: The suffix Z (Zulu) appearing in some of the above documents indicates Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). Messages with time indicated as a.m. or p.m. refer to Washington time (five hours earlier than Greenwich). The date/time group used in messages employs the 24 hour clock and can be understood by the following example. In the date/time group 021305Z AUG 64; 02 refers to the day of the month; 1305 means the time, in this case 1:05 p.m; Z refers to the time zone; and AUG 64 means August 1964. Variants of date/time groups are common. For example, some may also be preceded by a Z and not include the month and year as in the case of Z021305Z.

Acknowledgement: Robert B. Aloe, a student at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, selected and digitized many of the above documents during a summer internship with the Naval Historical Center's Curator Branch.

12 August 2004