On August 7, 1964, the U.S. Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, giving President Lyndon Johnson the power to take whatever actions he considered necessary to defend Southeast Asia. This set the stage for America’s longest war, which eventually involved the service of over 3,400,000 Americans in Southeast Asia. President Ronald Reagan said that the men and women of Vietnam fought for freedom where liberty was in danger, put their lives at risk in a land far from their own, and that many sacrificed their lives in the name of duty, honor, and country; he called them patriots who lit the world with fidelity and courage.