VIETNAM WAR - 11. THE TET OFFENSIVE

1. VIETNAM
WAR
THE
TET OFFENSIVE
11

2. THE TET OFFENSIVE VIDEO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NihOLXU8jBA

3. THE TET OFFENSIVE
In 1968 America had 600,000
troops in Vietnam.
70,000 Communist soldiers
launched a surprise offensive
on South Vietnam.
They attacked in 100 cities
and towns and brought the
war into the urban centres for
the first time.
The outcome would see US
public opinion begin to turn
against American involvement
in Vietnam.
Marines carry a wounded man to a helicopter pad on
Khe Sanh base to be evacuated on Jan. 25, 1968. The
base was hit by North Vietnamese mortar and artillery
fire. (Stars and Stripes)

4. GENERAL GIAP MOVE
General Vo Nguyen
Giap, leader of the
Communist People’s
Army of Vietnam
(PAVN), planned the
offensive in an
attempt both to incite
a rebellion among the
South Vietnamese
population and
encourage the United
States to scale back
its support of the
Saigon regime.
Stars and Stripes photographer John Olson captured this image of
A.B. Grantham, a Marine who had been shot in the chest in 1968. It
is on display at the Newseum to mark the 50th anniversary of the
Tet offensive. (John Olson).

5. AMERICA WAS SHOCKED
Though US and South Vietnamese
forces managed to hold off the
Communist attacks, news coverage
of the offensive (including the
lengthy Battle of Hue) shocked and
dismayed the American public and
further eroded support for the war
effort.
Despite heavy casualties, North
Vietnam achieved a strategic
victory with the Tet Offensive, as the
attacks marked a turning point in the
Vietnam War and the beginning of
the slow, painful American
withdrawal from the region.
John Olson in Vietnam in 1968
after his gear had been
destroyed by mortars. (UPI)

6. THE BATTLE BEGINS
On the early morning of January 30,
1968, Viet Cong forces attacked 13
cities in central South Vietnam, just
as many families began their
observances of the lunar new year.
24 hours later, Viet Cong forces struck
a number of other targets throughout
South Vietnam, including cities,
towns, government buildings and U.S.
military bases throughout South
Vietnam, in a total of more than 100
attacks.

7. INSIDE THE EMBASSY
In a bold attack on the
U.S. embassy in Saigon,
a Viet Cong platoon got
inside the complex’s
courtyard before U.S.
forces destroyed it.
The attack stunned U.S.
and international
observers, who saw
images of the carnage
broadcast on television
as it occurred.

8. ACHIEVING SURPRISE
Giap had succeeded in achieving surprise,
his forces were spread too thin in the
ambitious offensive, and U.S. forces
managed to successfully counter most of
the attacks and inflict heavy Viet Cong
losses.
Intense fighting took place in the city of
Hue, located on the Perfume River some 50
miles south of the Demilitarized Zone (DZ)
between North and South Vietnam.
The Battle of Hue would rage for more
than three weeks after Viet Cong forces
burst into the city on January 31.

9. OUTCOMES OF THE TET OFFENSIVE
Despite its heavy casualty toll, and its
failure to inspire widespread rebellion
among the South Vietnamese, the Tet
Offensive proved to be a strategic
success for Viet Cong.
Westmoreland requested more than
200,000 new troops in order to mount
an effective counteroffensive, an
escalation that many Americans saw as
an act of desperation.
As anti-war sentiment mounted on the
home front, some of Johnson’s advisers
that had supported past military build-
up in Vietnam now argued for scaling
back U.S. involvement.

10. TURNING POINT
On March 31, Johnson declared that he was
limiting the bombing of North Vietnam to the
area below the 20th parallel (90% of
Communist territory) and calling for
negotiations to end the war.
He announced that he would not be running for
re-election that November. Peace talks would
drag on for 5 years–during which more
American soldiers were killed than in the
previous years of the conflict–Johnson’s decision
to halt escalation after the Tet Offensive
marked a crucial turning point in American
participation in the Vietnam War.