Chapter Twenty-Nine: An Address to the Nation
On the evening of January 23rd, 1964, at 7 p.m. EST, regular television and radio programming was interrupted for a special address by the president of the United States, James McCormack, to the nation.
“Good evening my fellow Americans.
As many of you are aware for the last three years the United States has been aiding the democratic regime in South Vietnam by sending troops to that area to train the South Vietnamese army for the purpose of dealing with both incursions from her neighbor, North Vietnam, and from guerilla attacks by the Viet Cong.
There is more then abundant evidence that the North Vietnamese have been supplying weapons and training to their Viet Cong allies. And these weapons have been shipped into North Vietnam from both the Soviet Union and the Peoples’ Republic of China for the purpose of destabilizing South Vietnam and establishing a communist regime in that nation.
There has been concern in some quarters of this country that we would send more troops to South Vietnam to serve not merely in a training role and yes, in a very limited combat role, but to expand our operations to actively engage in regular combat operations against the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese army units presently in South Vietnam.
President Kennedy did not believe this to be a wise course of action. And I must totally agree. But if sending more troops to Vietnam is not acceptable neither is it acceptable that we should allow that nation to fall to communist tyranny.
Accordingly, earlier today a letter was presented to the North Vietnamese diplomatic delegation in Sweden to be delivered to the government in Hanoi. That letter states that as of midnight tonight Easter Standard time a naval quarantine will go into effect for the nation of North Vietnam. Even as I speak, a naval task force is moving in to effectively blockade North Vietnam ports. As of midnight tonight, all vessels entering a zone 30 miles off the North Vietnamese coast will be stopped and searched for any contraband.
This contraband shall include any military weapons and ammunition. Let me be clear, food and medical supplies shall – for now – be allowed through the blockade. But all military or military related hardware will not be. Those ships carrying such hardware will be ordered to return to their ports of origin.
I call upon the government of North Vietnam to reconsider its policies toward its southern neighbor. And I call upon that nation to publicly cease all support of the guerilla Viet Cong in the south. Failure to do so will result even stiffer penalties for the North Vietnamese should they persist in their actions.
As my predecessor President Kennedy acted decisively to deal with the threat of Soviet missiles in Cuba so now, I am acting decisively to end communist aggression in Vietnam. Our policy in Vietnam and elsewhere shall be simple as we send a message to both Hanoi, and their masters in Moscow and Beijing. That message shall be – not one more step.
Let no one doubt our resolve here. And in this time, let us remember our brave sailors and airmen as they fulfill their duties.
God Bless these United States! Thank you and good night!”