Tet 1968 - The Turning Point
Lesson Objectives
• Understand and summarize the military and domestic political
situation on the Vietnam War in January 1968.
• Describe and analyze the events of the Tet 1968 Offensive in
Vietnam.
• Describe and analyze the operational and strategic
significance of the Tet Offensive.
Major Issues
Tet 68: The Turning Point
What was the Communist objective for the Tet 68 Offensive?
• How did this fit into their Strategy of Revolutionary War?
What was Tet (the holiday)?
• Why did the Communist choose Tet to launch their attack?
What happened during the Tet 68 attacks in Saigon? Hué?
How was the Tet offensive portrayed in the U.S. news media?
What were the results of the offensive:
• Militarily (tactically)?
• Politically (strategically)?
Review
Strategy of Revolutionary War
Generic: Used in Chinese Civil War, First & Second Indochina Wars
Phase I: Targeted state stronger militarily
• Revolutionaries avoid combat
• Guerrilla war: raids, ambushes, sabotage, terrorism
• Political conflict predominant
Phase II: Rough military parity
• Combined guerrilla and conventional war
• Military and political conflict equally important
Phase III: Revolution stronger than targeted state
• Revolutionary forces go to totally conventional war
• “General Offensive” linked to political “Great Uprising”
Review
Strategy of Revolutionary War
General Characteristics
• It is a total war
• It is wage with total unity of effort
• It is, by necessity and choice, a protracted war
• It stresses gaining and keeping the initiative
• It is a changing war (shift between phases)
• It is a mosaic war (different phases, different areas)
Davidson
Strategy of Revolutionary War
Timeline
1954-1965: Phase I (guerrilla warfare)
• 1961-1965: Heated Politburo debate on transition
1965-1967: Phase II (guerrilla & conventional warfare)
• Increased large unit actions (Ia Drang, Khe Sanh)
1968 (early): Phase III (conventional warfare)
The Tet Offensive
Decision to Tet 1968
7 Jul 67
North Vietnam's Politburo makes the decision to launch a
widespread offensive against South Vietnam
Transition to Phase III of Revolutionary War
Offensive planned with three components:
Diversion: Attacks against remote border areas in an effort to
lure American troops away from South Vietnam's cities.
Main Attack (Tet Offensive): Attack against the cities themselves by
Viet Cong forces aided by NVA troops in the hope of igniting a
"general uprising" to overthrow the government of South Vietnam.
Follow-on : Conventional invasion to capture all of South Vietnam
Timeline
Early 1960’s
NVA troops begin moving into South Vietnam
7 Aug 64
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
2 Mar 65
Operation Rolling Thunder (bombing of North) begins
8 Mar 65
Marines land at Da Nang
1967
Spring 67
North Vietnamese Army (NVA) increases pressure on South
Siege of Khe Sanh Begins
Siege of Khe Sanh
Spring 1967 - March 1968
Khe Sahn
Khe Sahn
1966
1968
Siege of Khe Sanh
YouTube
Tet Offensive 1968
Began January 30, 1968
Country-wide combined VC & NVA offensive intended to inspire popular uprising
Attack on Khe Sanh began earlier as a diversion
Tet Offensive 1968
Began January 30, 1968
Country-wide combined VC & NVA offensive intended to inspire popular uprising
Tet in Saigon
Tet in Saigon
Tet in Saigon
Video Pt 1 - 9:48
Tet Offensive 1968
Battle of Hué Jan 30 - Mar 3 1968
Hué
The Historic & Cultural Capital of Vietnam
In February 1966, LBJ asked Gen. Westmoreland,
the US commander in Vietnam, what he would do
next if he were the enemy commander
“Capture Hué,” Westmoreland immediately replied.
Hué Citadel
Almost two years to the day later,
North Vietnam did just that
Hue Citadel Airfield
MACV Compound - Hue
Hue MACV Compound Officer Quarters
Tet in Hué
Hué Citadel
= Areas not captured
Tet Offensive 1968
Battle of Hué Jan 31- Mar 3 1968
Tet Offensive 1968
Battle of Hué Jan 31- Mar 3 1968
Video (8:08)
Battle of Hué
Video Pt 2 - 9:09
Pt 3 - 8:48
Pt 4 - 9:10
Pt 5 - 7:02
Tet Offensive
Military Results
US and Vietnamese Dead: 6,000
PAVN and Viet Cong Dead: 40,000 (estimated)
Viet Cong (NLF) essentially eliminated as a fighting force
Tet Offensive 1968
Turning point of the war … politically
Saigon police chief executes Viet Cong Terrorist
Photograph by Eddie Adams
Tet Offensive 1968
Walter Cronkite, CBS Evening News anchor, visited Vietnam Feb1968
Post-Tet
Walter Cronkite
Upon his return to the US, Cronkite delivered an unprecedented
editorial comment on this trip (February 27, 1968)
“To say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only
realistic, yet unsatisfactory, conclusion.”
LBJ’s reply on hearing this: “If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost middle America.”
On March 31, 1968, President Johnson announced he would not seek re-election.
Source
Video 5:04 - 5:41
Cronkite on Vietnam War
Strategy of Revolutionary War
1954-1965: Phase I (guerrilla warfare)
• 1961-1965: Heated Politburo debate on transition
1965-1967: Phase II (guerrilla & conventional warfare)
• Increased large unit actions (Ia Drang, Khe Sanh)
1968 (early): Phase III (Tet Offensive) (conventional warfare)
• Military disaster (VC destroyed)
• “General Uprising” did not occur
• Strategic victory for the Communists none the less
1968 (mid): Phase II
US Strategy in Vietnam
Clark Clifford, SecDef in 1968
• Interviewed senior officials, military and civilian:
• none of them could tell him what constituted
victory in Vietnam
• found that US had no military plan to win war
Summers
US Strategy in Vietnam
US had no clear strategy in Vietnam
• Never mobilized the American people
• Never committed sufficient force to win
• Never defined what “win” meant
Tactical Victory, Strategic Defeat
Vietnam: The Home Front
End