Memories of the Gulf of Tonkin

I was there…at 3,000 feet and twenty miles away in a Navy E1B aircraft equipped with a powerful radar. I directed strike aircraft to protect our ships as I saw raw video on the radar scope of at least 12 small boats darting in and around the USS Maddox. I also established relay communications with the USS Ticonderoga and heard the combat information officer aboard the USS Maddox report multiple torpedoes running under the ship.

















The only reason they did not sink her was the fact that the Maddox was at the end of her time on station in the Gulf of Tonkin and was low on fuel so was running high in the water. The torpedoes were set to run at a depth too low to hit her.

The USS Maddox combat information officer was the coolest dude I ever met in the Navy...torpedoes running literally under his feet and he’s reporting “there goes another one”... 

Two nights later I was in the same position to protect the USS Turner Joy. I fed vectors to CDR (later Adm) James Bond Stockdale in search of this attack. However, that action was probably over reaction of an exhausted CIC officer to lightening flashes. No enemy forces were found.

The New York Times said it didn’t happen. 

History is determined by press reports of the day. Someone once noted that freedom of the press is limited to those who own one. Reporter writes his version of what an eyewitness describes. The eye witness dies. The reporter’s version survives. 

I'm still here.

I served two tours in Vietnam and was awarded a chest full of medals. Two of those medals were from President Johnson who, as you might recall, caved in to public polls and the main stream media pressure and gave up.

Another example of a Democratic politician praising heroism without showing any. 
And another example of how press reports will distort and even ignore actual events.
Many years later, Robert McNamara wrote a book and said..."oooops...sorry"!

Didn't hear that from Walter Cronkite about his lies "reporting" the Tet offensive.

I have a letter of commendation for my actions that night from Admiral Roy L. Johnson to prove the above. You’ll find it in Navy records as Ser: 002-1406 dated 12 October 1964.

Author: frank

Frank is a pioneer in the use of integrated marketing communications techniques and is the author of a textbook and numerous published articles on the subject. His memberships in The Public Relations Society of America, American Association of Advertising Agencies, International Association of Business Communicators and Investor Relations Society of America span five decades. He has been certified by the Small Business Administration as a SCORE counselor. He taught marketing classes in four school district adult education programs. He was President and CEO of a Midwest advertising agency for ten years, and held key marketing positions with 3M, FUJI and others. He has provided marketing consulting services to numerous high technology startup firms, such as Templex Technology, Best Power Technology, Exide Electronics and CSI of Knoxville. All of these startups eventually went public or were acquired resulting in substantial financial return to the company founders. Frank's B.A. degree in Mass Communications is from The Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska. “After surviving two tours of combat in Vietnam, there is nothing in the business world that scares me…unless they start shooting.”