Dr. Clif CleavelandA hammer blow fell on U.S. and Allied forces in South Vietnam in the early morning hours of Jan. 30, 1968. The day marked the beginning of the Lunar New Year, celebrated as the most important holiday in Vietnam. The Tet Offensive marked a turning point in U.S. politics and public opinion.
A massive artillery attack on the Marine base at Khe Sahn, near the border of South Vietnam and Laos began on Jan. 21 and became a focal point of U.S. news for the ensuing two months of siege. Perhaps the attack was planned as a diversion for the coming, widespread offensive.
On Jan. 30, a coordinated attack of an estimated 85,000 Viet Cong and North Vietnamese soldiers began on more than a hundred cities, towns, villages and military bases in South Vietnam. Planners of the offensive expected it to turn civilians of South Vietnam against their government and lead to its collapse.
U.S. and South Vietnam combat deaths soared to more than 500 per week in the intense fighting of February. Details of the casualties and chaos related to the Tet Offensive reached the U.S. slowly.
On Jan. 31, a combined force of Viet Cong and North Vietnamese attacked Hue, Vietnam’s third-largest city. Most of the city fell to the invaders who executed thousands of civilians. Recapture of Hue required three weeks of bloody, street-by-street fighting by U.S. Army, Marine and South Vietnam forces.
A surprise attack on the capital city of Saigon was repelled, but not before a Viet Cong unit managed to enter the grounds of the U.S. embassy before being annihilated.
By the end of February, the first wave of attacks had been repelled. Other attacks followed in May and August. Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces lost an estimated 45,000 killed. U.S. forces sustained 1,536 deaths; South Vietnamese forces lost 2,788 soldiers. Civilian casualties numbered in the thousands.
National media reported in early March that General Westmoreland, commander of U.S. forces in South Vietnam, requested more than 200,000 additional men. The newscasts of highly respected CBS commentator Walter Cronkite reflected growing pessimism over the outcome of the war. Anti-war protests in the U.S. intensified.
In the New Hampshire presidential primary on March 12, anti-war candidate Sen. Eugene McCarthy finished a close second to Lyndon B. Johnson.
In mid-March, 131 members of Congress signed a resolution calling for a review of U.S. policy in South Vietnam.
In a nationwide TV address on March 31, President Johnson called for negotiations to end the war. He announced limits on U.S. bombing of North Vietnam. Near the end of the speech, he surprised viewers by announcing that he would not seek re-election in November.
Although the Tet Offensive represented a loss for Viet Cong and North Vietnam forces, it irreparably eroded U.S. support for the war. Peace talks began but dragged on for almost five years. Direct U.S. engagement in the war ended in January 1973.
By war’s end, U.S. forces had suffered 58,220 fatalities and more than 153,000 wounded. Washington, D.C.’s Vietnam Memorial is a stark reminder of the war’s cost in American lives.
“The Vietnam War,” last year’s multi-episode documentary on PBS directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, provides valuable insights into that troubled time both in Southeast Asia and in the U.S.
Watching the series, I finally understood the conflict from its origin to its unsettling conclusion. Only through the lens of history can we make sense of chaotic, bloody times. The series should be required viewing for our political leaders.
Contact Clif Cleaveland at ccleaveland@timesfreepress.com.