5. Events in the Gulf of Tonkin Weren’t Completely Accurate
The incident recorded in the Gulf of Tonkin was the precursor for mounting American action in Vietnam. It refers to two incidents that were said to occur in August 1964, including the destroyer USS Maddox getting attacked by NVA torpedo boats. In response, The Maddox responded by shooting off over 280 rounds.
Yet there was no official response from the Johnson Administration, and the US military and the public felt their first betrayal, suggesting Lyndon Johnson was a coward. To top this off, the second incident – which supposedly occurred on August 4th – apparently never happened at all, according to Secretary McNamara who admitted as much in Errol Morris’ 2003 documentary The Fog of War. Then the Pentagon Papers even led to allegations that the Maddox fired first in the first incident, in an effort to keep the Communists at a safe distance.
Therefore, the deployment of US troops as a response to the Gulf of Tonkin was seemingly carried out on a base of lies and manipulation – yet the beginning of open war on North Vietnam was already underway.
4. The M-16 Rifle Was a Bust, So AK-47’s Became the New Weapon of Choice
The immediate response to General William Westmoreland’s decision to replace the M-14 rifle with the M-16 proved less than favorable. As the Commander of U.S. Forces in Vietnam, Westmoreland wanted the standard issue infantry rifle introduced in 1966, but the first generation of the M-16 rifle was terrible to use, failing to extract and jamming in the middle of heavy enemy fire.
Instead, the US troops decided to pick up the enemy’s weapon, the AK-47. In fact, an underground market was created in Vietnam for those who didn’t trust their M-16.