| THE TET OFFENSIVE |
| The Tet offensive was a surprise guerilla attack on the U.S. and South Vietnamese soldiers during the Tet holiday. Tet is the most holy holiday in Vietnam. People would be celebrating in the streets. Most of the South Vietnamese Army was off on leave for the break. Even the U.S. soldiers were on low alert. That is why the U.S., South Vietnamese, Viet Cong, and the North Vietnamese signed a 36-hour cease-fire. The attack began on January 31, 1968, at midnight. About three hours after the treaty took place, military posts and cities all over South Vietnam were attacked. The major cities, including Saigon, Hue, and Da Nang were hit hardest. Panic struck all over South Vietnam, why did this happen? The North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and the Vietcong (VC) had planned this for almost a whole year. They decided to attack all over South Vietnam, hoping to demoralize and destroy the war support in America. They also did this to fuel the anti-war protests. The offensive was a terrible loss for the communist forces. They lost nearly 10,000 men in the early part of the assault. Every man was either killed or captured in the attack on the US embassy in Saigon. It took about two weeks to drive the Viet Cong from the cities in South Vietnam. It took about three months for the Viet Cong to regroup and about a year to two years for the NVA to be able to attack at full strength. The attack, considered to be a huge military victory for the US, was a major political thorn. The media, improperly portraying the war back at home, only showed the US embassy being held by the Viet Cong soldiers. They never showed the US defeating the communist forces. As a matter of fact, the US never lost a major engagement. The Tet Offensive, despite being a major military victory, was the turning point in the communists’ eventual victory in Vietnam. |