Viet Cong's Holiday Tet In Vietnam

The Vietnam War is still a very controversial subject to this day. Whether or not we won is still being debated, but during 1968 there were many significant events that took place involving the Vietnam War. The most significant would probably be the “Tet Offense”. On January

On January 30th 1968 over 80,000 Vietcong soldiers launched a surprise attack on over 100 towns and cities in South Vietnam. This is known as the Tet Offensive. The US army and South Vietnamese Army (ARVN) launched a counter-attack which regained all lost territory and crippled the military capabilities of the Vietcong. Some historians argue Tet was not as important as it appears to be. However, it is widely considered to be a pivotal turning point in the Vietnam War, causing the US military to change strategy to Vietnamisation, turning US public opinion against the war, and resulting in President Johnson not standing for re-election. It it provided a catalyst

The start of 1968 would mark nearly three years since the United States first became involved with the conflict in Vietnam centered around the rise of communism. The Truman Doctrine was a foreign policy announced in 1947 that the United States would counter attempts of communistic expansion, thus resulting in their involvement in the Vietnam War beginning in 1965. In years prior to 1968, Tet--a celebration of the Vietnamese lunar New Year—had been observed as a seven day ceasefire between both sides to honor the tradition. This informal truce was similar to the Christmas Truce of 1914 during which both sides of the Western front united for a day, sharing everything from cigarettes to a game of soccer.

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 one of the biggest military battles of the Vietnam War, propelled on January 30, 1968, by powers of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam against the powers

In January 1968, the Vietcong, North Vietnamese forces executed a big coordinated attack on South Vietnam. Both U.S. and South Vietnamese forces payed dearly. The Tet Offensive was the turning point of the war because after it, the people at home were even angrier than

By 1968, after fighting for 7 years, America won almost every battle they fought with a death ratio of 1:10. But in January 1968, during the Vietnamese Lunar, Tet, the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong attacked the American and South Vietnamese forces violating the Tet Mau Tanh ceasefire agreement which the North

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 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.

Ho Chi Minh, Ho Chi Minh made trails with the Vietnam Army so they can secretly carry war supplies to the South. The trail was about 16,000-kilometer (9,940-mile). The trail was a network of roads built from North Vietnam to South Vietnam. The countries that helped them get information was Laos and Cambodia during the Vietnam War.

Preceding Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination was North Vietnam’s Tet Offensive against the United States which “signified the beginning of the end of U.S involvement in the Vietnam War” (CNN). Tet, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, “was a holiday during which the North and South had previously observed an informal truce” (CNN). However, on January 31st, 1968, a “coordinated attack by Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese targeted 36 major cities and towns in South Vietnam” (CNN). Despite the heavy casualties, “North Vietnam achieved a strategic victory with the Tet Offensive, as the attacks marked a turning point in the Vietnam War and the beginning of the slow, painful American withdrawal from the region” (“Tet Offensive”). This attack was a crucial turning point in the war because the ambush resulted in Americans withdrawing their support of the war. Before the offensive, the U.S.

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

New Year is always an important holiday of each country in a year. As the New Year time, an

France colonised Saigon, French colony of Indo-China declared by 1887. French influence penetrated the region and stimulates the nationalist movement

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.