Even while U.S. Marines and soldiers were still dying by the thousands in Vietnam in 1970, a brutal undeclared war in Southeast Asia was continuing to ravage the socio-political climate of the United States. At that time, the Pentagon was noticeably pressuring Congress for an official declaration of war against the communist forces of Ho Chi Minh. With a declaration of war, the U.S military could have been viciously unleashed to commit unlimited troops and firepower to possibly win a war that was in its seventh harrowing year.

The result, however, would have been devastating to both North Vietnam and the United States in terms of casualties. Had this happened, most historians tend to agree that China and, possibly, the USSR would have come to the defense of Hanoi against the U.S. As the noted historian and writer, Barbara Tuchman, insightfully quipped,