After I wrote my little essay, I read the Wikipedia article on the Tonkin Gulf Incident.
After I wrote my little essay, I read the Wikipedia article on the Tonkin Gulf Incident..which led me in turn to a little more digging...
Now I know why Daniel Ellsberg went from gung-ho pro war to Pentagon Papers activist, and how he wound up on Richard Nixon's shit list.
Ellsberg was a Marine Corps veteran, an officer in charge of rifle platoons and commanding an infantry company in the late 50s, but his service in Vietnam was as a civilian military analyst evaluating the pacification program. His duties required him to go on patrol with combat units.