In the OTL it was the Gulf of Tonkin that began Vietnam as America's war. Before 1964, America was involved in Vietnam, but it was still a distant civil war in a far off land where the United States had military advisers, and was sending aid and supplies, but it was not an American war. In the wake of Tonkin, Johnson got the War Powers Act, and put combat boots on the ground and bombers and fighters in the air, increasingly building up US involvement and commitment.
Since the Gulf of Tonkin seems to be one of those incidents which could have happened or not happened so easily, what are some other ways or possible incidents which could incite the United States to expand its commitment in Vietnam into an American war?
Since the Gulf of Tonkin seems to be one of those incidents which could have happened or not happened so easily, what are some other ways or possible incidents which could incite the United States to expand its commitment in Vietnam into an American war?