Media Type

Audio

Physical Location

Number of Media

1

Language(s)

English

Format

Cassette

Digitized in HD?

No

General Note

[VNCA NOTE: This media is a recording of a radio program and contains copyrighted popular music throughout to serve as period immersion for the listener.]

Tape label: WEAPONRY – Gulf of Tonkin 8/9/94

Side A:
Interview with Professor Robert Dallek, an American historian and professor of history. Professor Dallek is the author of Lone Star Rising: Lyndon Johnson and his Times. Interview expounds on Lyndon Johnson being chosen as a running mate for John F. Kennedy, their background as colleagues and how that influenced their policies, the challenges they were faced with after the assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem, the delicate fight for civil rights, and the difficulties Johnson faced in inheriting the Vietnam War after Kennedy’s assassination.

Side B:
Interview with Professor Robert Dallek continues. Professor Dallek discusses hindsight in regards to the Vietnam War and Johnson’s views on the bombing campaign. Next, history Professor Edwin Moïse, from Clemson University, discusses covert operations, including OPLAN 34A, the escalation of the war, the conflict in Laos and how policy makers viewed it, DESOTO patrols, and why the USS Maddox was in position the morning of August 2nd.