Tet Offensive

The Tet Offensive was a large-scale attack on US and South Vietnamese military bases and cities in South Vietnam, triggering some of the most intense and vicious battles of the Vietnam War. It was carried out by the North Vietnamese Army and the Vietcong guerrilla forces from January 30 to July 9, 1968.

This communist onslaught, which caught the US Army and Marines by surprise, marked a turning point in the war, which would lead to a total North Vietnamese victory by 1975, with the fall of Saigon. The Battle of Hue, Battle of Cholon, Battle of Khe Sanh, Bien Hoa, and the fierce attack on the US embassy in Saigon were the most notorious and gory events of the Tet Offensive.

Although the US and South Vietnamese units were able to hold the line and to counterattack, recovering lost ground and inflict heavy loses on the communist forces, it was a psychological victory for North Vietnam and the Vietcong as the US mass media, with all its TV networks, described and narrated the military events triggered by this offensive as a North Vietnamese victory and as if no progress had been made in the war. This mass media false perception stirred up massive peace demonstrations throughout the United States, forcing Congress to significantly cut back the military budget allocated to the war in Southeast Asia. This negative way in which the war in Vietnam would now be regarded forced the incumbent president Lyndon B. Johnson to make the decision not to run for a second term in the white House as he explained it clearly on his March 31 live speech, paving the way for the Richard Nixon’s term.

The offensive was launched on the night of January 30/31, 1968, which was the anniversary of the Lunar New Year in Vietnam as it was a holiday known to the Vietnamese people as Tet. Although it was a well-coordinated and massive attack, the offensive failed to accomplish its objectives. Despite their massive commitment of forces and heavy losses, the communists were not able either to hold the cities they attacked or to rally the people inside them to their cause. They did not even manage to cripple the South Vietnamese Army. Their assaults were quickly beaten back by US and South Vietnamese troops.

Below, an M48 Patton tank provides fire support to US Marines during the Tet Offensive on the outskirts of Saigon. The US troops managed to hold their ground and later counterattack.

The Vietcong 35 battalions involved in the attacks on several targets in Saigon were also completely defeated. For the offensive against the city of Hue, the old imperial capital, the North Vietnamese Army employed two regiments, which was about 7 thousand men. However, the US Marines were able to beat the enemy back after fierce house-to-house fighting and to recover the city. Meanwhile, to reinforce their counteroffensive, the US Air Force launched air attacks, which included B-52 bombers, against concentration of enemy troops and their supply lines. Although an estimate of 40,000 communist troops were killed in action during the Tet, the United States also suffered heavy losses, with 1,400 soldiers killed and about 3,500 wounded.

The Tet Offensive Combat Footage. Archive Historical Video.

Below, Saigon, with several building burning, on February 5, 1968.

Street fighting in the ancient city of Hue during February, 1968.