Paul Calle (1928 - 2010) and Chris Calle (B. 1961) "1960s - The Vietnam War" Signed lower right. Original Mixed Media painting on Illustration Board. Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation. This painting is the original painting which was published on the Fleetwood First Day Cover for the U.S. Celebrate the Century Series 33c The Vietnam War stamp issued September 17, 1999. What would become America's most unpopular war began with a seemingly small and muddled incident in the Gulf of Tonkin on the afternoon of August 2, 1964. The U.S. Navy's Seventh Fleet destroyer Maddox was patrolling the South China sea off Vietnam when three North Vietnamese PT boats appeared to launch an attack. Crusader jets from the carrier Ticonderoga came to the Maddox's aid, sinking one North Vietnamese boat and crippling another. After a second alleged attack on the Maddox two nights later, President Lyndon Johnson pressed Congress for the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, allowing punitive air strikes against North Vietnam. The resolution was quickly passed, beginning a war that ultimately would cost over one million lives -- including more than 58,000 Americans. Although the U.S. Government constantly assured its citizens that America was winning, the 1968 Tet offensive led by communist general Vo Nguyen Giap proved otherwise. Despite the fact that the Vietcong suffered heavy casualties and were driven out of Saigon and other cities by the U.S. Army, the Johnson administration was dealt a fatal blow in an election year. One month after the Tet offensive, Johnson stopped bombing most of North Vietnam, called for the opening of peace negotiations, and announced that he would not run for re-election. Image Size: 16 x 11.75 in. Overall Size: 23 x 16 in. Unframed. (B16540 / B16541)