The Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive And Counteroffensive

The introductory attack began spectacularly during celebrations of the Vietnamese Lunar New Year and left global lungs breathless (Farber and Bailey 34-54). Widely seen as the turning point in the Vietnam War, the NLF and PAVN won an enormous psychological and propaganda-associated victory, which ultimately led to the loss of popular support for the War in the United States and the eventual withdrawal of American troops. Additionally, the events surrounding the Tet Offensive piloted American citizens to increased polarization. Attracting members from college campuses, middle-class suburbs, labor unions, and government institutions, the anti-war movement was swollen with aggrieved affiliates (Farber and Bailey 34-54). The observable pathos of the protesters delivered the distrust of a growing population to the White House doors; the budding doubt in governmental affairs was difficult to discard and impossible to ignore. Indisputably, the Tet Offensive of 1968 cleaved the fragile harmony of the public and birthed a political skepticism that continues to subsist in modern American minds.

The Vietnam War lasted longer, bloodier, and more hostile than any U.S. President or American citizen imagined. Lyndon Johnson faced many other enemies during the war such as the duration, the immense number of deaths, and for the first time in most American’s history, failure. Through deep evaluation of Lyndon B. Johnson’s foreign policies as President during the Vietnam war, failure was a recurring outcome, as he faced military and political difficulties over having complete authority over political decisions made leading to the misuse of his respective power, receiving split support through torn Americans at home, and his accord to deport so many troops into combat in Vietnam.

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 ‘Tet Offensive’ showed the first signs of the effect the media had in Vietnam, which led to the the question of “why did the audience see what they saw?” Firstly, unlike previous wars journalists had “extraordinary” freedom to cover Vietnam without any direct government intervention. Overtime this noticeably created a problem where the harsh brutal accounts from journalists differed from the positive optimism that United States Officials portrayed. The media was simply the messenger to the American people. But this was the first instance where technological advances had allowed a war to be played out on your own television screen every night of the week. The journalists reacted in the same way as the American public; they too were shocked beyond belief at the constant scenes of burning villages, bloody soldiers and lifeless bodies. These feelings came across in the broadcasts and like the ‘media effects theory’ explains, naturally Americans took up that same belief. This was the first time that the American public showed collective beliefs opposing to the war. To further push public opinion against the war, Hallin suggested that there was a “…declining morale among American troops in the field…”. The thirty-minute nightly

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

Considered one of the worst wars fought in American history, the Vietnam War created many controversies and casualties: a total of 58,000 American soldiers were killed and 304,000 wounded; almost 1,400,000 North and South Vietnamese were killed in action (Woods 9). Generally, people believed that the South Vietnamese would win with U.S. help. The turning point of the war, the Tet Offensive, was a campaign created by North Vietnam to regain initiative in the war by attacking South Vietnamese government and military sites on the Tet holiday (lunar new year). The

The Tet Offensive received its name from the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, the American public and further holiday called Tet (Tet Offensive n.p.).The series of surprise attacks that the North Vietnam and Viet Cong forces launched to attack many of South Vietnam cities and U.S. Embassy in Saigon is known today as the Tet Offensive. The Tet Offensive played a role in the Vietnam War and was considered to many Americans, soldiers, and even the President as a turning point in the war. The United States and South Vietnam forces were allies and managed to hold off the surprise communist attacks. The Tet Offensive led into The Battle of Hue, a lengthy battle that shocked and dismayed the American public and further eroded support for the war effort (Tet Offensive n.p.). The Tet Offensive lead to many difficulties throughout the Vietnam War. It was a victory to North Vietnam and Viet Cong forces, leaving damage to much of South Vietnam.

Although the Tet offensive was one of America’s greatest tactical victories, however it was a great political loss for the Americans. America saw a victory and a loss, tactically America won while politically America suffered a drastic loss. The attack intensified the anti-war movement in America, it also discredited U.S. president Lyndon Johnson and the U.S. military officials. The Tet offensive was a great representation of a major turning point politically and socially against the Americans. When asked on the involvement of American troops in the Vietnam War, Charles De Gaulle stated “I predict… that you will, step by step, be sucked into a bottomless military and political quagmire”

I will begin by giving a brief explanation of how the U.S. got involved in the Vietnam War, along with some of the motives that sparked the conflict. In order to understand the full picture of the Vietnam war, I believe that it is important to know why America was there in the first place. Next, I will be discussing the events of the Tet Offensive and the battles that followed. The massive attack launched against U.S. troops during the Tet Offensive caused a shift in the war that had many negative outcomes for America. Following the events of the Tet Offensive, I will discuss the media’s role in the conflict. The Vietnam War was the first American war to be broadcasted for all to see. This brings me to my next, and final point, the public’s opinion. The availability of combat footage led to the spark of many antiwar movements. Many antiwar protests took place at universities, such as the University of South Carolina, and in the nation’s capital. I hope that by sharing my point of view on the subject, I will help to connect the dots between the Tet Offensive, carried out by the North Vietnamese, and America’s less than victorious withdrawal from the Vietnam

Vietnam was the first war that allowed full freedom to the press, allowing the media to cover the war in their own light. Without censorship, appalling images showed the public the sites of war they had never seen before. Many people believe that the media started the lack of support for the Vietnam War. For example, the Tet Offensive would become “one of the most controversial and climactic events in which the media played a role” (). Until the Tet Offensive, the media had portrayed the U.S. winning the war. However, when the North Vietnamese sprung an attack on the U.S. embassy in Saigonthe, the American public felt as if they were there. As the media started to influence the public through television and magazines, people began to doubt

During the night of January 30th 1968 while the southern Vietnamize were celebrating there new year, the north has other plans. President Lyndon B. Johnson was telling the USA that the war is almost over and would be leaving soon. The North on the other hand was preparing there last stand the Tet Offensive. The communist rule in Vietnam would not go out with out a fight they planned air raids on 40 cities. The key city they wanted to focus on was the city of Saigon, this was the capital city of the democratic Vietnam. If they could take this city over this would mostly likely mean the withdrawal of the United States. The Tet offensive was the turning point in the Vietnam war. It is known as one of the largest military campaigns ever. The Tet offensive took place on the Vietnam new year, which is January 30th. It started in 1967 and by the end over 14,000 people were killed in the attacks. The North wanted to launch a massive military attack on the American troops stationed in the town.

The Vietnam War escalated tension and anxiety in America and South Vietnam after North Vietnamese commander, Vo Nguyen Giap launched the Tet Offensive in the early morning of January 30th 1968. The traditional Buddhist New Year’s holiday, Tet, called on a day of ceasefire between the two Vietnamese nations, as it had in previous years. Vo Nguyen Giap aimed to extinguish the war in a ‘single blow’ and cause an uprising, effectively leading the Americans to withdraw and retreat South Vietnam into communist hands. After multiple surprise attacks on American strongholds and populated South Vietnamese cities, the anti-communist forces were caught, ‘unprepared’. American’s were initially called to Vietnam to contain the spread of communism into

When asked about the United States’ involvement in Vietnam Charles de Gaulle responded by saying, “I predict… that you will, step by step, be sucked into a bottomless military and political quagmire” (Wills 29). The Vietnam War should have been negotiated to an end and troops removed directly following the Tet Offensive, because by that time, it was made evident that further fighting would only cause more unnecessary harms.

The Tet Offensive was an attack led by North Vietnam, which targeted many critical coordinates in South Vietnam. Describing the Tet Offensive, Fred explains, “ I think was standard, something like that, they shortened it to six because, if you recall back into the Viet Nam era, the ‘68 Tet was one of the worst of the United States was in.”(Nash). Tet is a holiday for Vietnamese people, which nobody thought the North Vietnamese were going to attack, but they did. The Americans were able to defeat the North Vietnamese, but it was this event that heavily crippled U.S. public support for the war in Vietnam. The article “Tet’s Main Event” explains, “At almost the same moment, more than 80,000 communist troops -- North Vietnamese Army (NVA) regulars and Viet Cong guerrillas -- attacked major cities, provincial and district capitals, and military installations throughout South Vietnam.: Their objective: ignite a popular uprising that would topple the Saigon government and force the United States from Vietnam.” (Jones). The Tet Offensive showed that North Vietnam could fight the U.S and South Vietnam, which eventually led to the U.S withdrawing from Vietnam and North Vietnam taking over. Viet Cong was one issue to the Americans, but they are just peasants compared to the

The North Vietnamese became stronger and weakened the American Army substantially and increase the anti-war protests dramatically. In a carefully planned attack the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong attacked 13 cities simultaneously at the end of January in 1968. They attacked more cities every day. The aim of the Tet Offensive was to force the United States to stop helping South Vietnam as well as to break the stalemate in the war and get South Vietnamese to rise up against the Capitalist regime in Saigon. The Tet Offensive did not work out as planned as the North Vietnamese forces were spread too thin but it did mark a turning point in the War. The coverage of the Tet Offensive in America sparked more and intense protests. In the year of 1968, 15 000 American soldiers were killed and 100 cities were targeted in South Vietnam in the Tet Offensive. The biggest fight was in the city of Hue. One of the places targeted in these attacks was the American Embassy in South Vietnam. The Tet Offensive was a big strategic success. It showed that the end of the war was not in sight and despite the massive death toll and the American protests 200 000 new troops were called into South Vietnam. But within the American government there was division as some people thought that the United States should be scaling down their involvement in the war. President Johnson said that he was scaling down on the bombing of North Vietnam. He also announced that peace talks shall begin soon and that he was no running for a re-election into office. By this stage 50% of Americans were against the war while 15% didn’t have an