Tet Offensive Notecards

Americans Opinions of LBJ's Handling of the War "In the United States, a Gallup Poll in February reported that 50 percent of those surveyed disapproved of President Lyndon B. Johnson's handling of the war, while 35 percent approved." (4)

A Gallup Poll reported that 50% of Americans disapproved of the way President Lyndon B. Johnson was handling the war.

Impact on the United States "On March 31, the beleaguered President Johnson declared that he was limiting the bombing of North Vietnam to the area below the 20th parallel (thus sparing 90 percent of Communist territory) and calling for negotiations to end the war." (3)

After the Tet Offensive we started the process of ending the war.

The War After The Offensive "The struggle in Vietnam was to continue for another seven years; eventually, a frustrated and war-weary United States withdrew and, at the end, Communist North Vietnam's army rolled over the demoralized forces of South Vietnam." (4)

Although the Offensive ended the war continued for seven more years until the U.S. withdrew and the South Vietnamese were dominated by the Viet Cong.

What Americans thought of the War "By 1967 growing numbers of Americans were becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the war." (1)

Americans did not like the war at all.

Impact on the North Vietnamese "Before Tet, Westmoreland and other representatives of the Johnson administration had been claiming that the end of the war was in sight; now, it was clear a long struggle still lay ahead. Westmoreland requested more than 200,000 new troops in order to mount an effective counteroffensive, an escalation that many Americans saw as an act of desperation." (3)

Before the Tet Offensive everybody though we had already won the war but really we still had a long ways to go before it was over.

The Beginning of the Tet Offensive "Though Giap had succeeded in achieving surprise, his forces were spread too thin in the ambitious offensive, and U.S. and ARVN forces managed to successfully counter most of the attacks and inflict heavy Viet Cong losses." (3)

Even though it was a successful surprise attack they still lost many men.

Politicians Opinions of LBJ's Handling of the War "Former Secretary of State Dean Acheson, in a private report to the President, said victory in Vietnam was not feasible within the limits of public tolerance. On March 31, President Johnson announced he would not run for re-election." (4)

Former Secretary of State Dean Acheson said "Victory was not likely within the limits of public tolerance."

Goals of the Tet Offensive "Giap believed that the attacks would cause Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) forces to collapse and foment discontent and rebellion among the South Vietnamese population, leading them to rise up against the regime in Saigon." (3)

General Giap thought that the Offensive would cause South Vietnam to collapse and start a rebellion.

Westmoreland After the Tet Offensive "General Westmoreland had requested 206,000 additional troops for Vietnam." (4)

General Westmoreland believed we needed more troops to defend ourselves.

Tet Offensive Comparison "A week later, on Feb. 25, Gen. William C. Westmoreland, commander of United States forces, compared the Tet offensive to the Battle of the Bulge in 1944, Nazi Germany's last major drive in World War II. Advantage, but Defeat" (4)

General Westmoreland said he compares the Tet Offensive to the Battle of the Bulge because they were both failed last drives to win their wars.

Ending Date "The Tet offensive is generally considered to have ended Feb. 25, when the last Communist units were dislodged from the ancient imperial citadel at Hue." (4)

Most people say that the Tet Offensive ended on February 25.

First Day of the Tet Offensive On the early morning of January 30, 1968, Viet Cong forces attacked 13 cities in central South Vietnam, just as many families began their observances of the lunar new year." (3)

On the morning of January 30, 1968 the NVA and the Viet Cong attacked 13 South Vietnamese cities.

Martial Law Declared "Hanoi radio said the aim of the offensive was to overthrow the South Vietnamese Government of President Nguyen Van Thieu. The next day, President Thieu declared martial law throughout South Vietnam." (4)

South Vietnamese radio said that the Viet Cong was trying to overthrow the South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu. The next day President Thieu declared martial law.

South Vietnamese Fighting Skills "South Vietnamese soldiers, often defending their homes and families, fought surprisingly well, and nowhere did the population rise up to support the Viet Cong." (1)

South Vietnamese soldiers did better than we thought because they were defending their soldiers.

The Holiday of Tet "As the celebration of the lunar new year, Tet was the most important holiday on the Vietnamese calendar." (3)

Tet is the Vietnamese New Year and the most important holiday of the year.

What North Vietnamese Citizens Thought of the War "In Hanoi the communist leadership was also becoming impatient with the progress of the war. Although pleased with their ability to hold their own against the more numerous and better-armed Americans and their South Vietnamese allies, they were aware that the United States showed no sign of giving up its hopes of victory and indeed had continued to pour more troops into Vietnam." (1)

The North Vietnamese had mixed feelings about the war. They liked that they could hold their own against a big country like the United States but they did not like that it was still going on.

The North Vietnamese during the Offensive "With the exception of Hue, the communists were unable to hold any town or base for more than a day or two, and their forces suffered extremely heavy casualties." (1)

The North Vietnamese, with the exception of Hue, could not hold any town or city for more than a day or two.

Americans at Home "The Tet Offensive sent shock waves throughout the United States, startling those who had believed the White House's claims that victory was near and convincing those with doubts that the situation was even worse than they had imagined." (1)

The Tet Offensive scared Americans at home because they thought that the war was almost over but realized there was a long way to go.

Planning the Offensive "General Vo Nguyen Giap chose January 31 as the occasion for a coordinated offensive of surprise attacks aimed at breaking the stalemate in Vietnam." (3)

The Viet Cong chose the Tet holiday to attack because they thought it would catch the U.S. by surprise.

The Hostages' Fate "They executed these so-called counterrevolutionaries and buried their bodies in mass graves. U.S. and ARVN forces discovered evidence of the massacre after they regained control of the city on February 26." (3)

The Viet Cong took all the hostages, executed them, and then buried them in mass graves.

Viet Cong Invades Hue "Early in their occupation of Hue, Viet Cong soldiers conducted house-to-house searches, arresting civil servants, religious leaders, teachers and other civilians connected with American forces or with the South Vietnamese regime." (3)

The first thing the Viet Cong did was they went house to hose and arrested anybody that was with American Forces.

The Scariest Part of the Offensive "The daring of the Tet attackers extended into the heart of Saigon and, most startling, into the very confines of the American Embassy." (4)

The scariest part was when they made it into the U.S. Embassy.

Tet Offensive on TV "Television coverage of the destructive fighting in Saigon and Hue was extensive and graphic and left many with the impression that the United States and its ally were in desperate straits." (1)

The television coverage of the Tet Offensive was very graphic and left many people scarred for life.

The Citadel "The toughest fighting in Hue occurred at the citadel, which the Communists struggled fiercely to hold against superior U.S. firepower." (4)

The toughest fight in Hue was at the Citadel because the Communists struggled to stop the U.S. with their superior firepower.

The U.S. Embassy "A handful of Vietcong, wearing South Vietnamese uniforms, held parts of the embassy for the first six hours of the offensive." (4)

To get in the U.S. Embassy The Viet Cong disguised themselves as South Vietnamese soldiers and they held parts of the embassy for the first six hours of the Tet Offensive.

Preparing for the Tet Offensive "In preparation for the planned offensive, Communist troops launched a series of attacks in the fall of 1967 on isolated American garrisons in the highlands of central Vietnam and along the Laotian and Cambodian frontiers." (4)

To prepare for the Offensive they launched small attacks so South a Vietnam would let their guard down

Casualties of the Offensive By mid-February, or two weeks into the offensive, Washington was estimating that enemy casualties had risen to almost 39,000, including 33,249 killed. Allied casualties were placed at 3,470 dead, one-third of them Americans, and 12,062 wounded, almost half of them Americans.

Two weeks into the Offensive Washington estimated that 39,000 enemy soldiers had been killed but the there were only 3,500 allied soldiers were dead.

Fighting on Tet "In previous years, the holiday had been the occasion for an informal truce in South Vietnam's long-running conflict with North Vietnam and their Communist southern allies, derisively known as Viet Cong." (3)

In the past years all fighting between North and South Vietnam had stopped.

What the U.S. Expected after the Tet Offensive "Many in Washington still expected a major battle at Khe Sanh or further large communist attacks elsewhere." (1)

Many Americans were still scared of a major battle at Khe Sanh.