Tyson Larsen

War in Vietnam: Tet Offensive

The war in Vietnam had a drastic effect on many people, especially the Tet offensive. What was the Tet offensive and how effective was it? What was President Johnsons response to the Tet offensive? The Tet offensive was a massive ground strike against the U.S. and South Vietnam by North Vietnam and the Viet Cong forces. Tet is a holiday for the Vietnamese to celebrate the New Year. During this time both sides agreed to a two day cease fire so that people could celebrate. North Vietnam lied and set up the biggest attack the U.S. has ever seen the morning of the holiday. In the early morning hours of January 31, during the traditional Tet holiday truce, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces launched a massive countrywide attack on the cities and towns of South Vietnam. More than 80,000 Communist troops mounted a coordinated assault on five of six autonomous cities, including Saigon and Hue, 36 of 44 provincial capitals, 64 of 245 district capitals, and more than 50 hamlets.1 At the very beginning of the war, America only wanted to be a light support for South Vietnamese armies, but when two American ships were fired upon, it led America into a full air and ground war. The Tet offensive led to heavy fighting. It was not a military success due to heavy casualties of the Viet Cong and containment of progressing soldiers, but it did have a powerful effect on the U.S. Michael Harr was there during the Tet offensive and this is what he had to say

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about it, In the morning we crossed the canal on a two-by-four and started walking in until we came across the first of the hundreds of civilian dead that we were to see in the next weeks: an old man arched over his straw hat and a little girl who'd been hit while riding her bicycle, lying there with her arm up like a reproach. They'd been lying out like that for a week, for the first time we were grateful for the cold.2 The Tet offensive led America to pull out of the war which was North Vietnams ultimate goal. In a sense, it was a huge success. Once America pulled out of the war, South Vietnam was completely overran and massacred by the North. Luckily they still became united as a nation but under communist rule. Essentially, the south lost. The attack showed America that the North could hold their own ground and that there was not going to be a military win to this war. It caused the people of America to lose hope in the war; they even started to hate it. They would protest and riot trying to get the government to pull out. President Johnson knew that something had to be done because the war was going nowhere, plus the people were against it. President Johnson decided to slowly pull out of the war. Tonight, I renew the offer I made last August: to stop the bombardment of North Vietnam.3 He stopped the bombarding of the North but sent more troops and used more money to help secure certain areas. More people were fighting and dying which only upset the American people even more. In order that these forces may reach maximum

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combat effectiveness, the Joint Chiefs of Staff have recommended to me that we should prepare to send during the next five months the support troops totaling approximately 13,500 men. The tentative estimate of those additional expenditures is 2 1/2 billion dollars in this fiscal year and 2 billion, 600 million in the next fiscal year.4 President Johnson realized it would be stalemate so he started these events but he was skeptical about it because deep down inside he wanted to war to continue. He wanted an official win with America on top, but he had to face his reality. Nixon became the new President and started a program called Vietnamization which would bring an end to the war. He expanded the war to Cambodia and Laos. His objective was to cut off the Ho Chi Minh Trail which was a major road to where the Viet Cong could get all their supplies. This was not very successful because after bombing, they still would travel on it, and after putting up barricades, the Vietnamese would kill all who tried to build them and then would take them down. America eventually pulled out of the war and that is when South Vietnam lost. The Tet offensive was technically successful because it caused America to leave the war even though North Vietnam suffered extreme casualties. Michael Herr said, Many of the houses had been completely collapsed, and not one had been left without pitting from shell fragments. Hundreds of refugees held to the side of the road as we passed, many of them wounded.5 President Johnson

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responded to the offensive by declaring a stalemate and slowly started plans to leave the war.

1. Willbanks, James H., Shock and Awe of Tet Offensive Shattered U.S. Illusions. Usnews.com. 04/10/13. 2. Herr Michael, Michael Herr on the Tet Offensive, Dispatches, 1977, chapter 31. 3. Johnson, Lyndon B., Address to the Nation, 1668, Chapter 31. 4. Johnson, Chapter 31. 5. Herr, Chapter 31.

Rosenburg, Jennifer. Vietnam War. About.com 20th Century History. About.com 2013. About.com. 04/10/13.

History After the Vietnam war. BBC Bitsize. BBC 2013. BBC.co.uk. 04/10/13.