Tet Offensive

Tet Offensive

By Dylan Erwin

The Tet Truce

• As the celebration of the lunar new year, the Tet holiday is the most important holiday on the Vietnamese calendar

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• In previous years, the holiday had been the occasion for an informal truce in the Vietnam War between South Vietnam and North Vietnam

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• 1968 was to be no different, so American did not expect any fighting

The Tet Offensive

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• In early 1968, the North Vietnamese military chose Tet as the occasion for the first large scale coordinated series of surprise attacks

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• Ho Chi Minh believed that the attacks would cause ARVN forces to collapse

Multiple Choice

What was Tet?

• When North Vietnam declared war on the United States

• An important Vietnamese celebration of the New Year

• Vietnam's Christmas

• Ho Chi Minh's birthday

Multiple Choice

What happened during Tet before 1968?

• Both sides of the war observed a truce

• The U.S. used it as an opportunity to bomb the North Vietnamese capital

• Viet Cong forces launched several surprise attacks

• Nothing, as this wasn't a big deal to the Vietnamese

Tet Offensive Begins

• North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces launched a series 120 coordinated attacks​

• The attacks happened as families began their observances of Tet

• ​The attack on the U.S. Embassy, and its initial success, stunned American observers, who saw images of the carnage broadcast on television as it occurred

Video of Attack on American Embassy in Saigon

https://myarkansaspbs.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/5c7743df-a389-4045-b0cc-d3d2f0b4948e/attack-on-the-us-embassy-video-ken-burns-lynn-novick-the-vietnam-war/#.WfI0ElWnHIU​

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Open Ended

Why do you think that early television footage of the embassy attack would have concerned many Americans?

Press Coverage of the Tet Offensive

https://myarkansaspbs.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/38ab0465-47e7-44b0-be7d-0a2e02f8982d/press-coverage-of-the-tet-offensive-video-ken-burns-lynn-novick-the-vietnam-war/#.WfI1OFWnHIU​

Open Ended

Why was President Johnson so upset about press coverage during Tet? What examples of this “unfair coverage” does he give?

Open Ended

How might the statement, “It became necessary to destroy the town to save it” have influenced public opinion about military goals and the Tet Offensive?

The Tet Offensive

https://myarkansaspbs.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/1acd1aae-7b42-46c0-bff2-1f961b87b804/the-tet-offensive-video-ken-burns-lynn-novick-the-vietnam-war/#.WfI3k1WnHIU​

Open Ended

What factors mentioned in the clip might have convinced some Americans that Tet was a defeat for the US and South Vietnamese forces?

Impact of the Tet Offensive

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• The Tet Offensive was a military disaster for the communists, but it succeeded in shocking the American people and became a psychological defeat for the United States.

• From the comfort of their televisions, Americans witnessed enemy soldiers storm the U.S. embassy and attack U.S. bases

Impact of the Tet Offensive

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• The President and U.S. generals had been claiming the end of the war was in sight

• Now it was clear that a long struggle was still ahead

• Faith in the U.S. leadership had been shaken, and anti-war feeling rose at home

Multiple Choice

What was the military outcome of the Tet Offensive?

• American forces lost half of their battles with the communists

• North Vietnam surrendered after the attack

• The Viet Cong lost all of their soldiers

• American forces were ultimately able to defeat all attacking Viet Cong forces

Multiple Choice

How was the Tet Offensive viewed within the United States?

• It inspired many Americans to patriotically sign up for the Army

• It shocked many and led to a growing anti-war sentiment

• As a reason to celebrate the New Year

• Most Americans didn't care because they weren't concerned with the war in Vietnam