The Tet Offensive was a series of attacks led by the NVA and NLF on important and strategic locations in South Vietnam on the Buddhist New Year celebration known as "Tet". These locations included the US Embassy, Cities, as well as multiple US and South Vietnamese military bases.
Tet Battles
The Tet Offensive was a series of combined surprise attacks on the Americans and South Vietnamese. The surprise attacks were coordinated and planned by General Vo Nguyen Giap of the NVA. He planned over 100 coordinated attacks to try to break the stalemate between the two nations by encouraging a rebellion among the people of South Vietnam. The hope was to force the American forces to scale back its support of the government in Saigon.
" The American press portrayed Tet as a severe loss for American and South Vietnamese troops. That happened partly because Gen. William Westmoreland and U.S. officials said, before Tet, that U.S. efforts had "turned a corner" in Vietnam." -John Omicinski
" The American press portrayed Tet as a severe loss for American and South Vietnamese troops. That happened partly because Gen. William Westmoreland and U.S. officials said, before Tet, that U.S. efforts had "turned a corner" in Vietnam." -John Omicinski
Battle of Hue
The Battle of Hue was a major engagement of the Tet Offensive. It is famously known because of the mass executions of more than 4,800 South Vietnamese citizens. These mass executions caused the Tet Offensive to fail for the NVA and NLF because of their brutality towards the very people they were relying on for a rebellion to reinforce the efforts of the Tet Offensive.
Media in the Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive was highly televised in America. It brought the bloody and gruesome battles to the comfort of the living room for many Americans. This inside look at military battles was disturbing to many civilians and caused later backlash towards the soldiers who fought in Vietnam. The deadly battles of the Tet effected many people's views about the Vietnam War because of the misleading information given to the public by General Westmoreland.
Effects of the Tet Offensive
The push by the NLF and NVA during the battle of Tet Offensive brought an opportunity that had been elusive throughout the war. The large numbers of US troops quickly won superiority in open combat with the established opposition. The Tet Offensive militarily was a total failure for the NLF and NVA but in the eyes of the US public and the media, it was a shocking loss for the US troops.