Tet+Offensive

=Tet Offensive= The Tet Offensive was a military campaign involving the Viet Cong in South Vietnam and the People's Army of Vietnam of the North. These two groups fought against the U.S. forces in Vietnam and the Republic of Vietnam. The campaign was launched on January 31, 1968 in hopes of striking military and civilian command throughout the South as well as place control centers in South Vietnam. The Viet Cong and the People's Army hoped to spark an uprising in the population of South Vietnam in hopes of overthrowing the Southern government and therefore ending the entire war in one blow.

The NLF launched waves of attacks on South Vietnam in the early hours of the morning on January 31. The offensive was well organized with about 80,000 communist troops attacking over 100 cities and towns and striking 36 of the 44 provincial capitals in the South. This operation was the largest attack yet in the war by either side. The initial attacks at first stunned the U.S. and South Vietnamese armies. The attacks surprised them and caught them off guard, but most of the attacks were then contained and even beaten back, causing major casualties throughout the communist forces. Some of the battles that started with the Tet Offensive lasted for months. Even though the Offensive was a defeat for the communist army, the U.S. was shocked because they had been told that the Vietnamese were not capable of such a massive effort.

Citations:
Lewy, Gunther (1980). //America in Vietnam//. New York: Oxford University Press.

Pisor, Robert (1982). //The End of the Line: The Siege of Khe Sanh//. New York: Ballentine Books.