The Tet Offensive in the Vietnam War Essay

Upon the French’s exit, the American involvement and commitment escalated with the use of the political establishments in South Vietnam to assist in the curbing the spread of Communism. This presented America an opportunity for them to significantly integrate themselves in the South Vietnamese government to further delay the reunification election from taking place in 1954. The attacks on the US naval vessels during the Gulf of Tonkin incident provided the U.S, under the Johnson administration, another justification for the escalated involvement of the conflict in Vietnam. In which, the U.S responded with the Gulf of Tonkin resolution to launch a full-scale military effort towards the North until their withdrawal from Vietnam in 1969. The desolate gradual departure of America in Vietnam was summarised by Senator James Buckley as “that damning silence of those who cannot find even a single word of compassion for those under Communist tyranny”. It can be inferred from this context that as the situations in Vietnam continue to evolve, the American’s participation also varied to align with these conditions.

In the middle 1960s, every male in America had to register for Selective Service Draft at age 18. He would then be eligible for the draft and could be inducted into the Army for a period of two years. If you were a college student, you could receive a deferment and would be able to finish college without the fear of being drafted. However, once finished with college, a students name would be put to the very top of the draft list and could be deployed at anytime. The anti-war movement was about young men being drafted and then sent into war that most Americans did not believe threatened the security of the US. The Vietnam War was America’s rebellious war, a war without popular support

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 Intelligence Failure in War, written in 1991, James J. Wirtz argues, that Tet was unsuccessful because it failed to achieve its main goal which was to put an end to the war under communists terms. However, the communists had not for seen the reaction it would have especially how it would lead to the failure of U.S. policies in South Vietnam. Indeed, Tet had essential positive effects for Hanoi as it revealed that the immense U.S. military presence had not been able to stop the North Vietnamese Army infiltration into the South. Wirtz claims that the communist offensive was both a dismal military failure and a brilliant political success. Richard Betts agrees with Wirtz’s claim that, “Tet did not end the

For many in the United States "Vietnam" is a term which conjures up visions of war, anarchy, and finally defeat and humiliation. It was a war that many felt the U.S. should never have gotten involved in, and was a waste of more than 50,000 American lives. And for many years after the war ended the prevailing wisdom remained that the U.S. had failed. But as years turn to decades, and Vietnam is fading into the recesses of history, one can begin to look at the war in an objective manner; as just one part of the larger "Cold War." When viewing Vietnam as part of the larger Cold War, one can see that the United States should not only have been there, but it was necessary as part of the overall strategy to defeat Communism world wide.

The Vietnam war brought many changes to the United States in the 1960’s and the 1970’s. Some of the changes were for the better of the country, take the rediscovered Women’s Rights movements and the ever growing Free Speech movements inspired by New Left, while most of the other changes brought on tensions between government and their people. The Domino Theory pushed our leaders to the edge. In order to stop the Domino Theory in Vietnam, the U.S. invaded. The war was useless for the American government to get involved with. Even Robert Kennedy described our presence in Vietnam as ‘... sending a lion to halt an epidemic of jungle rot.’ (Doc E) From new groups forming to rebel, to inflation and loss of trust in the Government, from 1960’s to

Over thirty years ago the Vietnam War ended, and the U.S. came back home with their tails between their legs and nothing to show for other than a high number of casualties, and a huge pile of debt. The U.S. underestimated the North Vietnamese army, and it was costly. Many believe that the Vietnam War was none of the U.S. business, but on the contrary, many believe we should have tried to stop the spread of communism. The long-lasting Vietnam War was unnecessary for the U.S. to be a part of; it put many people through unneeded stress and hard times.

The Vietnam War started in 1945, resulting in almost 60,000 American deaths and nearly two million Vietnamese deaths, according to Mintze. Years after combat countless Vietnam veterans suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder in every aspect of their lives (Price). Posttraumatic stress disorder is an illness that can happen to anyone who has gone through a horrifying experience. It has been documented in all forms of literature and films the brutality of the war and the side effects it came with. The history of Vietnam is quite long and winding and leaves one to question its purpose (Mintze).

Vietnam was so significant to the United States partly as it would be the first war they would lose. It also had a tremendous financial impact on the country and the casualties were also more in the public eye than ever before due to the media. They learnt that: "a long war for limited objectives, with its steady stream of body bags, will not be supported by the American people" (Martino, 1996, p37). Some suggest that the US should have avoided any involvement in the war.

The U.S. was going to the extreme using chemical warfare tactics; this was counterproductive, riddling fields useless and sickening or killing not only the Viet Minh but also the Reunified Vietnam. At this point, they could not distinguish the enemy from the people they were trying to save. They angered the people of the Reunified Vietnam to the point of where they were switching to the communist side with a goal of getting the United States out of their country. Many United States citizens worried about what would happen if we pulled out of the war. John Foster Dulles, Secretary of the State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower, wrote in a speech “if they [Viet Minh] achieved military or political success, it is certain that they would subject the people to a cruel Communist dictatorship taking its orders from Peiping and Moscow.”(Document F). He like many others knew that if the U.S. abandoned the Vietnam War they would encourage communism to continue its infectious spread through Asia and Europe. Ultimately, The United States intermeddled with countries in attempt to help but failed, giving them over to communism

public a different view on the war (7). Now, not only had attacks been made on the Army

Insurgency in the Revolution and Vietnam Evaluating the strategy used by both the British and the United Stated during the Vietnam War, one can pin the underlying failure for both superior countries on the fact that neither fully understood the true nature of the conflict at hand. This led to unclear political objectives and an ensuing military strategy that relied upon limited use of force to quell each rebellion respectively. To paraphrase LtCol Daly, “military force” should only be advocated for “when the political situation” supports a “decisive military campaign.” This paper will discuss a few examples to compare and contrast the insurgency and counter-insurgency efforts in both conflicts using Mao Tse-tung’s three phases of insurgency. Both the British and the United States were considered the “superpower”, stronger in all facets of national power during each war as compared to the adversary.

For this reason the United States became involved in Vietnam because it believed that if all of the country fell under a Communist

As the Vietnam War progressed, People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) generals led by General Giap reassessed and adapted their strategy to fit the circumstances. This enabled the VC revolutionaries, supported by North Vietnamese regular forces, to achieve success without ever defeating US forces on the battlefield. For instance, the Tet Offensive in 1968 represented an operational failure in Stage Three of the Dau Tranh strategy but was considered a success for the North since it weakened American public support for the war. As a result the defeat on the battlefield, Giap adapted Dau Tranh to avoid concentration of forces and the effects of superior US firepower by transitioning back to Stage Two. The return to guerilla operations ensured sustained US casualties and the continued erosion of public support between 1968 and 1971. At the same time, main force units that were decimated during Tet could withdrawal and reconstitute. (Pike, 229)

This paper will be explaining the similarities, and differences, between the Vietnam War and the War in Afghanistan. There are many topics that bring these two wars together. However, I am only going to be talking about public support, policy objectives, military strategy, weapons, fighting spirit, links to home, and death totals. These topics have a lot of information about them, but there is too much to write about every little detail, so I will cover the broad overview of them. Each paragraph will be about one of the topics. There will also be a discussion about insurgencies and counter insurgency operations. These are two big topics in Vietnam and Afghanistan since almost all of the enemy in both wars were, and are, comprised of insurgents and different types of militia groups.