How Did The Tet Offensive Changed History

The Vietnam war has been referred to by many names, one of the longer ones was 'the cornerstone of the free world southeast Asia'. It was called that by John F. Kennedy. He was talking about Vietnam being and essential country in a non-communist world. He believed that if Vietnam became a communist country, all of the surrounding countries would also become communists. This is the main reason America was involved in the Vietnam war. Another reason was that America wanted to spread their “political ideas around the globe”. They wanted to do this so that their anti-communism stance was clear. The public also wanted to keep communism from spreading. To soldiers, the war was like a crusade, a great journey to purge the communists from Vietnam.

The increasing number of troops and military efforts involved with Vietnam and the seemingly optimistic reports reported by the government were the primary factors that caused the Tet Offensive and Counteroffensive. The American government had become increasingly involved with the Vietnam war. From 1965 to 1967, over 400,000 soldiers were sent to help the South Vietnamese forces. This massive increase in the amount of soldiers was frustrating to the American people. Johnson’s approval rating fell to a mere 40%, half of what it had been in 1965.  (“Vietnam War (1959-1975)” ; Axelrod 1). When the American soldiers returned home from Vietnam, it was often heard that they were spit on, and

The Tet offensive was when the Viet Kong decided to attack on the week of Tet. Tet was similar to our new years and in the previous years neither side of the war had ever fought on that day. Suddenly Tet came and we (the United States) was being attacked. This played a huge role in society. Eventually this lead to Cronkite announcing that this war was not winnable, it also lead to LBJ announcing that he would not run again for president. Both of these were a wake up call to the United States basically letting them know that we are way further in on the war then we had expected. This also stated that we could not win the war, making more and more riots happen at home. No one wanted the United States at war anymore for they thought that they were there for no reason and we weren't going to win so why not come home? Tet Offensive also impacts the following topics.

January 31, 1968 North Vietnamese attacked over 100 cities throughout South Vietnam on thirty-five of forty-four province capitals, thirty-six district towns, and many villages and hamlets. Dubbed the “Tet Offensive” because it coincided with the Vietnamese New Year’s holiday, Tet, was a turning point in the Vietnam War. Most historians agree that the Tet Offensive was the turning point in the Vietnam War as events shifted the role of United States involvement in Southeast Asia as the shock it produced was the catalyst that led to the reevaluation of U.S. policy. While intelligence failure contributed to the shift in the Vietnam War, most historians have disagreed on the role of the media in aiding the American public’s views against the war.

The Vietnam War was an extremely controversial and costly war. The United States government implemented the draft which force many United States citizens to enter the military. The government proclaimed that the war was being fought in order to stop communism from spreading throughout the Asia. Unfortunately, the United States were fighting a losing battle and were only exacerbating the problem in Vietnam. The Tet Offensive

After WWII, the U.S. tried to return South Vietnam or, even better, all of Vietnam back to France. Involvement with Vietnam began with President Franklin Roosevelt and did not end until President Nixon was in office. The war began in order to stop the growth of communism in Vietnam. It had many important effects. In 1966, American deaths were topping 500 a month. By 1968, there were 500 American casualties each week. Through this war, the United States demonstrated its intolerance to communist growth and aggression anywhere on the globe. Because the U.S. entered into the war, they made a statement to the world that they would not accept the growth of threatening ideas or actions. U.S. dominance was crucial because it was a test of American virtues. The war proved the credibility and will power of the United States. The courage of the United States in Vietnam was very important. Depending on whether or not the U.S. stayed or ran had a great impact on the Chinese and the Soviets. If the United States had fled, the Soviets and Chinese would have believed that the United States was not properly prepared to hold up its interests around the globe. In reality, the Vietnam War was a sideshow of the Cold

To what extent can the Tet Offensive of 1968 be described as a key turning point in the Vietnam War in the Years 1963-73? (30 marks)

" (Vietnam War History N.D.) from now it is easy to see why the United States would of retreated from this war and why countries could even call it " the only war America lost". The United States had already lost thousands of people and weren't prepared to lose more. If they had lost more this could end in other countries seeing this weak point and wanting to attack the US then. They had already put lots of effort and military forces into this war and also made them look better to the allies of the US. During this period of time the war came to a holt and there was a very intense Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. A Cold War is when there is no fighting at all but both countries are ready to fight at any moment. This has happened with the US before and they were prepared for this. 3 million people from the US had died at this time and the odds seamed to never end for the US. At last the US realized enough was enough and President Nixon withdrew from the war in 1973. Shortly after in 1975 gained control of Saigon and which ended the war. Even though this was not originally the United States war it was still considered one the US

Then, on January 31, 1968, the North Vietnamese Army, supported by the Vietcong, launched the Tet Offensive, a series of surprise attacks on cities and towns throughout South Vietnam. Militarily, American forces repelled the attacks and retook the cities initially occupied by the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong. However, television portrayed the attack as an appalling defeat for the United States. In addition, the Tet Offensive made the brutality of the war very visible to Americans as the viewing public watched graphic footage of a prisoner being shot through the head by a South Vietnamese general.

There are two, interrelated myths surrounding the Tet Offensive that supporters of the war use in defense of the U.S. intervention in Vietnam. The first is that a resounding American military victory in Vietnam was turned into defeat due to the political and psychological impact of the attacks in the United States. The second myth was that the media and the television in particular, presented such a distorted picture of the attacks on the cities that it appeared that the war was being lost. This in turn led to a panic by the American public, and in parts of the Johnson administration, that led American officials to misunderstand the meaning of the attack and overreact to it. The result was the unnecessary beginning process of American withdrawal.

Due to the televised nature of the Vietnam War the Tet offensive was highly televised in the United States. This attack showed the American people that the United States had underestimated the abilities of the North Vietnamese army and their ability to use misinformation and perform large scale multi front attack. This in turn decreased the moral of American soldiers and civilian following war and lead to drastic increase in anti-war segment making the United States involvement in Vietnam unfadable in the eyes of a large majority of the United States population with only 28% of the United States endorsing the handing of the war. This drastic increase in anti-war sentiment throughout the war forced the withdraw of United State personnel from Vietnam by the end of 1975. This showed the United States how information warfare can affect the home

On January 31, 1968, the Vietnamese lunar New Year holiday Tet, roughly 80,000 troops from North Vietnam and the Viet Cong, launched a surprise, and coordinated attack on numerous cities and towns in South Vietnam, to include the American base at Danang and even the American embassy in Saigon. The goal was to drive a wedge between America and South Vietnam and hopefully destroy their alliance. This attack was known as the Tet Offensive.

The Tet offensive is touched in both “The Doves Ascendant: The American Antiwar Movement in 1968” and “1968: The End and the Beginning in the United States and Western Europe”. As we learned in class the Tet offensive was a military strategy that caught the United States’ forced off guard on a Vietnamese holiday.

Jada Eckel Mrs. Koehler English 10 28 February 2016 Tet Offensive The Vietnam war was started and lasts until 1968 when the Vietnamese launched their Tet Offensive. The Tet Offensive was a surprise for the United States because at that time we didn't think any country would be able to surprise attack us like the Tet Offensive did. The Tet offensive was one of the largest military campaigns of this war, it was built of over 80,000 communist troops all coming together to all attack the United States hoping in return, we would end the war.

In late January of 1968, during the Vietnamese lunar new year known as Tet, the North Vietnamese launched a coordinated series of attacks on cities and outposts in South Vietnam. The attack, which went on to be known as the Tet Offensive, was an attempt from the Viet Cong to spark a rebellion in South Vietnam and to send a stark message to United States, advising them to limit their involvement in the conflict. Although U.S. and South Vietnamese troops were able to hold off some of the attacks, the Tet Offensive was still a victory for the Viet Cong despite having received numerous casualties. The Tet Offensive marked a turning point for the Viet Cong in the Vietnam war, with the attack beginning the United States’ long withdraw from the country. Due to news coverage of the attack being broadcasted on American television, public support for the war began to deteriorate, leading to more people wanting for an end to the conflict.