VIETNAM WAR - 11. THE TET OFFENSIVE

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.