Tet Offensive

• • 30th of January 1968- 84000 Vietcong troops attacked over 100 towns, cities, and military bases in the South
  • Also an attack on the US Embassy in Saigon
  • Aim to inspire the South to rise up and revolt
• The US response

  • It didn't take the US long to recapture places
  • Embassy recaptured in 6hrs
  • 50000 Vietcong troops killed
  • US forces used lots of artillery and airpower to recapture the land
  • US citizens woke up to see video footage of the Tet Offensive on TV
  • Public were very angry
  • Despite all money spent all life lost, the Vietcong were able to capture embassy
• • 31st of March 1968- Johnson announced he wouldn't run again
  • Refuses a request for more troops in Vietnam
  • General Westmoreland was replaced in June 1968 due him wanting to keep on sending in more and more troops
  • Highlights the cost of the war, $30billion a year
• Every week 300 US soldiers killed
• Ancient monuments and cities such as Hue were destroyed or damaged
• A symbolic victory for the Vietcong as it proves to the Americans that there is no positive end to this War.
• Walter Cronkite announces the war is unwinnable
• "When you've lost Cronkite you've lost the people"