Reconstruction of events that occurred in the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, 2-5 August 1964. USS Ticonderoga underway in the Tonkin Gulf. U.S. Navy Rear Admiral R. B. Moore in an CIC (Combat Information Center) room aboard the ship. Moore in the CIC room along with other men. Moore with Chief of Staff Captain J. C. Daniels. They discuss. Moore and Daniels talk. (Vietnam War period).
United States planes and soldiers are rushed to Vietnam, responding to the Gulf of Tonkin crisis. U.S. Destroyer Maddox seen underway in the gulf of North Vietnam following reported skirmish with North Vietnamese torpedo boats (the "Maddox Incident.") Narrator indicates U.S. war planes from two carriers avenged the unwarranted Red communist assault with 64 sorties against North Vietnam. An airman boards a U.S. aircraft. Night view of the White House in Washington DC. President Lyndon Johnson addresses the American people in a midnight speech on August 4, 1964 describing U.S. actions in response to the Gulf of Tonkin incident. Scenes of South Vietnamese women and children evacuees looking exhausted and scared beside nearby American helicopters. The President's speech continues, including, "We Americans know, although others appear to forget, the risks of spreading conflict. We still seek no wider war." View of the United Nations building in New York and flags of various nations at the UN building. Ambassador Adlai Stevenson is seen making his report of the Gulf of Tonkin attacks to the UN Security Council and affirms U.S. position that it wants the people in Vietnam to be free of North Vietnamese intervention and agression. United States military advisors and U.S. Army soldiers board helicopters. A gunner aims at a target on the ground. Vietnamese troops accompany U.S. soldiers. South Vietnamese forces exit a helicopter and wade through water and rice paddies. U.S. soldiers advance in trucks with artillery. A Douglas TBD Devastator aircraft takes off armed with a torpedo. Another one lands at an airfield. A TBD plane, armed with a torpedo, taxis with wings folded. several TBD aircraft parked on a flight line. The President concludes his remarks referring to "firmness in the right" being indispensible for peace. (Vietnam War period).
During the Vietnam War, President Lyndon B. Johnson addresses the United States public during the “Radio and Television Report to the American People Following Renewed Aggression in the Gulf of Tonkin” from the Fish Room at the White House in August 4, 1964. "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,” says President Johnson. The USS Constellation (CV-64) aircraft carrier sailing. Pilots walk away from Douglas EKA-3B Skywarrior fighter jets in the USS Constellation. Aircrafts fire missiles, destroying facilities in North Vietnam. United States Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara addresses the public to explain the direct attack against North Vietnam. “We wish to emphasize we seek no wider war. Our response will depend upon the action of the aggressors, in this case the North Vietnamese. The key to the situation remains the cessation of infiltration from the North into the South,” says Secretary McNamara.
Ordinance being moved to the flight deck of the Aircraft Carrier, USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14) during re-enactment of the Gulf of Tonkin incident, that occurred 2-5 August, 1964. A 1000 pound bomb arrives at the flight deck on an elevator. T. L. Billingsly pulls the bomb from the bomb elevator on a small bomb cart. J. E. Danial unloads rockets from the elevator on a trailer. 250 pound fragmentation bombs come up on the elevator, a handle is attached to a small cart. Three of the bombs are pulled off. A 1000 pound bomb comes up the elevator to the flight deck level. R. A. Eggan pulls the bomb from the elevator onto the flight deck.
North Vietnamese documentary propaganda film. North Vietnamese gun boats firing in a river. North Vietnamese antiaircraft guns firing. Wreckage of downed U.S. Navy airplane. Captured U.S. pilot under guard by armed North Vietnamese sailor. Viet Cong firing machine guns at American aircraft. A transport plane hit by gunfire and burning in flight. Armed American soldiers running from a crashed helicopter. American MPs in a jeep pass a cyclist on city street. President Lyndon Baines Johnson; Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara; Secretary of State, Dean Rusk; U.S. Air Force General Curtis Lemay. Dean Rusk and Robert McNamara meeting with Vietnamese officials.Vietnamese man looking through periscopic binoculars. The North Vietnamese flag. Waterfront with factory on shore and Junks in the water. A manufacturing complex. Harvester in farm. Vietnamese school girls dancing in school yard. Vietnamese gun crew at an antiaircraft gun. Vietnamese Navy gun crew on deck of a gunboat. Vietcong preparing booby traps. Viet Cong escorting South Vietnamese prisoner. Vietnamese paratroops. Headlines of American newspapers saying U.S. officials urge raids against North Vietnam. Map showing U.S. attacks on Vietnam. Map highlights date 30th July 1964 and Tau Chien. U.S. aircraft carriers and task force underway at sea. Map highlights Hanoi and date 1st August 1964. Map highlights 2nd August 1964. Guns on ships fired by gun crew. Battleship underway at sea. Map highlights date 3rd August 1964. Map highlights Gulf of Tonkin and date 4th August 1964. Officials in a meeting. U.S. President Lyndon B Johnson speaks at mike. Men under a plane parked on airfield. U.S. carrier underway at sea. Map highlights date 5th August 1964. Aircraft takes off from carrier to attack North Vietnam. Vietcong fire on U.S. planes overhead. Machine guns fired. Men fire guns from North Vietnamese torpedo boat. Torpedo boats and American destroyers in fight.
USS Ticonderoga (CV-14) in the Gulf of Tonkin. U.S. Navy crew carries a 19-shot rocket pod on a trolley. He opens its front portion and ensures the rockets are properly seated. Crew members attach the rocket under the wing of the A-4 Skyhawk. (Vietnam War period.)