Tet Offensive

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Tet Offensive

• January 31, 1968

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• One of the largest military campaigns of
  the Vietnam War, launched on January 30, 1968 by
  forces of the Viet Cong and North
  Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam against the
  forces of South Vietnam, the United States, and
  their allies.
• It was a campaign of surprise attacks against
  military and civilian commands and control
  centers throughout South Vietnam. The name of the
  offensive comes from the T?t holiday, the
  Vietnamese New Year, when the first major attacks
  took place.

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Tet Offensive

• 80,000 North Vietnam Army (NVA) aka Viet Cong
  (VC) launched the offensive that attacked 150
  hamlets, district capitals, provincial capitals,
  and autonomous cities
• Main fighting was at Saigon, Hue, and siege of
  Khe Sanh
• Goal was to create a general uprising in South
  Vietnam and overthrow the government

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Saigon
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Attack on the embassy

• VC commandos blew a hole in the wall surrounding
  embassy and killed several MPS
• The rest of the US MPs moved into building and
  locked it
• The VC milled around and when US reinforcements
  arrived the VC were killed
• 19 VC bodies littered the embassy
• Had a huge impact on public opinion in the US

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Khe Sanh

• NVA/VC lay siege to it
• 40,000 troops vs. 5,000 Marines
• Marines received aerial resupply to help outlast
  the siege
• Marines had close air and artillery support
• 300 Marines were killed in 3 month siege
• 15,000 NVA/VC killed

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Battle of Hue

• Lasted 25 days
• Old imperial city
• NVA lost 5,000 soldiers
• 210 Americans killed
• Hue Massacre soldiers killed 3,000 residents
  and dumped their bodies in a mass grave

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My Lai-March 16, 1968
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1st Platoon William Calley - Lieutenant who led
C-Company, the only person convicted David
Mitchell - Sergeant Charles Sledge - Radio
Operator - testified he saw Calley deliberately
kill a young child Paul Meadlo - Private First
Class - testified he was afraid of being shot if
he didn't participate Dennis Conti - Private
First Class - stated he was originally lost and
had to find his company Robert Maples - Private
First Class, stated to have refused to
participate Varnado Simpson - Private First
Class, committed suicide in 1997, citing guilt
over My Lai Harry Stanley - claimed to have
refused to participate
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Intervention Hugh Thompson, Jr. - Warrant Officer
Lawrence Colburn - Helicopter Gunner Glenn
Andreotta - Helicopter Crew Chief
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Effects of Tet Offensive

• Militarily it was a huge US victory
• -NVA/VC lost 45,000 killed
• An increased credibility gap back home- American
  people felt politicians were lying about the war
• President Johnson lost the political and moral
  will to continue fighting
• -when Johnson lost faith in the war, why
  should the public support it

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Irony of the Tet offensive

• The VC were virtually destroyed
• The remaining VC were attacked by the Phoenix
  Program hired assassins (figures are that they
  killed 9,000 VC)
• NVA had to take over all of the fighting in South
  Vietnam