the Tet Offensive the Tet Offensive was
a shocking military campaign and the
major turning point in the Vietnam War
on January 30 1968 the North Vietnamese
Army and southern communist rebels known
as the Vietcong launched a number of
coordinated attacks against the US and
South Vietnamese troops the series of
surprise attacks named for their
occurrence during the Lunar New Year or
Tet led to a significant two-month
struggle altering the course of the
Vietnam War here
we'll summarize the events of the Tet
Offensive its aftermath and its legacy
as the turning point in the Vietnam War
u.s. involvement in Vietnam the u.s.
officially entered the Vietnam War in
1964 after years of denouncing communism
and sending secret operations in heed to
the conflict for the next four years
president lyndon b johnson would send
over half a million troops into Vietnam
sparking significant protests from
American citizens most warfare in
Vietnam consisted of guerrilla style
combat rather than large orchestrated
battles Viet Cong soldiers launched
hit-and-run style attacks and ambushes
and US troops conducted Search and
Destroy missions on a small scale On
January 30th 1968 however the North
Vietnamese and Viet Cong launched the
largest series of surprise attacks on
more than 100 South Vietnamese cities
the Tet Offensive that Lunar New Year
were tenth North Vietnamese troops
launched massive surprise attacks in
mountainous regions on the Laos Cambodia
border 85,000 North Vietnamese troops
attacked five major cities in South
Vietnam and almost 100 additional towns
villages and military installations they
also attacked the US Embassy in Saigon
partially penetrated the walls a
departure from previous guerrilla
tactics North Vietnam intended to
achieve a decisive victory that would
end the conflict but the fight was messy
the shocking strategic move marked a
major turning point of the Vietnam War
in the battle of leyte intense fighting
with many casualties continued for
months in February one of the longest
and bloodiest battles raged for over
three weeks the battle of way during
this time North Vietnamese and Viet Cong
soldiers conducted house-to-house
searches arresting civil servants
teachers religious leaders and others
connected to the United States or South
Vietnamese government the people rounded
up were labeled counter revolutionaries
and executed after the recapture of way
2,800 bodies were found massacred and
3,000 residents were reported missing
150 Marines were killed along with 400
South Vietnamese troops North Vietnam
suffered even heavier casualties losing
5,000 men aftermath after weeks of
fighting there was no clear victory on
either side the Vietcong and North
Vietnam suffered a great military loss
by the time the fighting ceased they had
lost an estimated 58,000 men the
Vietcong also failed to take any South
Vietnamese who are American strongholds
the u.s. lost 4,000 troops and more than
14,000 South Vietnamese men women and
children had been killed but despite a
lower number of casualties the United
States did not emerge as winners either
for Americans the offensive raised
troubling questions President Johnson
and his advisors had promised for years
that victory in Vietnam was just around
the corner
yet the television footage of US embassy
personnel fighting with Viet Cong
brothers showed otherwise the Johnson
administration had misled the American
people about the realities of the
Vietnam
these realities included the
brutalization of innocent civilians in
the heat of the US campaign against the
Tet Offensive on March 16 1968 US troops
stormed the small South Vietnamese
hamlet of milla expecting Viet Cong
guerrillas finding only women children
and elderly they raped and killed up to
500 villagers the massacre became
synonymous with American military power
gone awry public opinion on the war
shifted in the national confidence in
President Johnson's Vietnam strategy
dropped to an all-time low
this led Johnson to halt escalation pull
down troop strengths and limit bombing
in North Vietnam discredited he dropped
out of the presidential race opening the
door for deep divisions in the
Democratic Party and the victory of
Republican challenger Richard M Nixon
the president's diplomats began peace
talks in Paris with their North
Vietnamese counterparts by the time of
Nixon's victory in November
a majority of Americans favored a quick
exit from the conflict though the war
raged on for several more years the Tet
Offensive helped turn the tide of
American public opinion against the war
paving the way for American withdrawal
and the eventual defeat of South Vietnam
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