THIS IS ERNEST GRUENING AND WAYNE MORSE, THE ONLY U.S. SENATORS WHO VOTED AGAINST AUTHORIZING THE VIETNAM WAR IN 1964. THE VOTE CAME AFTER THE “TONKIN GULF INCIDENT” IN WHICH NORTH VIETNAMESE REPORTEDLY ATTACKED A U.S. NAVY SHIP OFF THE COAST OF VIETNAM. THE PENTAGON, CIA, WHITE HOUSE, AND U.S. NEWS MEDIA ALL REPORTED DETAILS OF THE ATTACK. IN RESPONSE, 98 OF 100 SENATORS VOTED FOR WAR. GRUENING AND MORSE, ALONE, VOTED AGAINST, BECAUSE THEY DOUBTED THE REPORTS OF THE ATTACK. THEY WERE RIGHT. YEARS LATER, IT WAS REVEALED THAT THE ATTACK WAS FABRICATED BY THE U.S. GOVERNMENT IN ORDER TO OBTAIN AUTHORIZATION FOR THE WAR. MORE THAN 58,000 AMERICAN SOLDIERS DIED IN THE WAR; MORE THAN 303,000 WERE WOUNDED. AT LEAST 1.5 TO 2 MILLION PEOPLE TOTAL DIED FROM THE WAR. NO ONE INVOLVED IN THE FABRICATION WAS EVER PUNISHED.
