Nation: Action in Tonkin Gulf

(See Cover) The Gulf of Tonkin is a forbidding body of water. Along its shores lie the brutal war in South Viet Nam, the belligerent Red regime of North Viet Nam's Ho Chi Minh, the ominous expanse of Communist China.

Yet, to the young men of the 2,200-ton U.S. destroyer Maddox, patrol duty in Tonkin seemed as ho-hum and hum drum as duty on any of a hundred other routine tin-can patrols. In this case, the mission of the Maddox was mainly to show the U.S. flag and keep a casual lookout for...

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