ipl-logo

Tet Offensive Research Paper

642 Words3 Pages

Kenny Le
Period 1
1968 Research Paper
8 June 2016
The Tet Offensive Tet is one of the most important holidays of Vietnamese culture. It is the the celebration of the Lunar New Year. It was know as an informal truce between the North and the South. The North Vietnamese military commander General Vo Nguyen Giap and leader of the Communist People’s Army of Vietnam chose January 31 to break the stalemate between the North and the South with coordinated offensive of surprise attacks. He believed that the attacks would cause the Army of the Republic of Vietnam’s forces to collapse and cause a rebellion in Southern Vietnam. The alliance between the United States, and Southern Vietnam was something that Ho Chi Minh the communist leader of Vietnam disliked. Minh and Giap believed that …show more content…

Preparation for the attack started in 1967 when communist troops launched attacks series of attacks on American garrisons. “In the early hours of January 30, 1968, 70,000 North Vietnamese soldiers, together with guerrilla fighters of the NLF, launched one of the most daring military campaigns in history. The Tet Offensive was the real turning point in the Vietnam War”(Woods). The official attacks began on the morning of January 30, 1968 when most of the families were starting to celebrate Tet. A day later PAVN and Viet Cong forces struck down targets in South Vietnam including towns, cities, government buildings, and US military bases in a total of more than a hundred attacks. General Giap caught the South and the US by surprise causing them and a few international observers to be stunned. His forces however to spread to far out and it caused the US and ARVN forces to successfully counter most of the attacks. The most intense battles took place in the city of Hue. The Battle of Hue lasted for more than 3 weeks. Viet Cong soldiers conducted house to house searches, civilian arrests, religious leaders, teachers and other

Show More
Related
858 Words | 4 Pages

He believed with the use of America superior firepower and advance technology, the North would be easily defeated. He underestimated the North’s will to fight for their longed dream of a united Vietnam. His attrition strategy focused on killing the enemies quicker than they can be replaced, destroying their infrastructures, and making life as hard as possible on the North population. This strategy required expensive bombing operation, artillery strikes and massive defoliation. American ground units conduct “search and destroy” mission through the endless jungles and villages of Vietnam.

Read More
1992 Words | 8 Pages

The South, led by Ngo Dinh Diem, wanted a democratic Vietnam, and was supported

Read More
499 Words | 2 Pages

In 1963, after the assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother, John F. Kennedy who was the President of the United States has involved in Vietnam by sent 17,500 American military advisors to train with the South Vietnam military to have an ability to fight against Vietcong which is a rebel group that connect with vietminh in South Vietnam which also known as the 1st strategy. In 1964, Two U.S. Navy, USS Maddox and Turner Joy, were attacked by the North Vietnam army at the Golf of Tonkin, So U.S. sent Air Strike to destroy the North Vietnam boats base and oil storage depot. In 1967, General Nguyan Van Thieu became the President of South Vietnam. Meanwhile, President Kennedy was assassinated, and President Johnson, who was President Kennedy’s successor, had decided to increased military and economic support to confronted the Vietcong and dropped the bombing campaign on the Ho chi Minh Trail (2nd strategic) which was the series of connection between North and South Vietnam that go through Cambodia and Laos to South Vietnam which to support the military supply to the Vietcong to fight against the South Vietnam, because of the Geneva agreement Vietminh can’t go through South Vietnam, so they have to use Laos and Cambodia territory to transport the supply to Vietcong in the south Vietnam.

Read More
829 Words | 4 Pages

It was 1965 and the first U.S. troops were landing in South Vietnam, there were 3,500 U.S. Marines added to the already 25,000 advisers in the country. This war would define how we view life for decades and generations. Most people thought it was a mistaken war with no purpose other than to stop the flow of communism in Asia and the fear of others would follow, and add to the strength of the Soviet Union during the height of the cold war. Some people turned the war into a racist battle ground to justify the uprising and protest against the war. The troops were poorly armed and on average fought 240 days a year when compared to WW2 with only 40 days a year for infantrymen.

Read More
692 Words | 3 Pages

In 1968, the Communist North Vietnamese mobilized a plan to attack strategic locations in Southern Vietnam. The goal of the mission, commonly known as the Tet Offensive, was to overthrow the South Vietnamese government, liberate the south from American interference, force the United States to withdraw from the country, and ultimately reunify the country of Vietnam. The Tet Offensive has been categorized as a military failure for the North Vietnamese because they were unable to achieve their prime directive. However, the Tet Offensive has also been declared a political victory for the North Vietnamese due to the anti-war sentiments it stirred in the hearts of Americans. The ability of the Communist regime of North Vietnam to rattle American

Read More
1338 Words | 6 Pages

Perhaps the biggest reason that Nixon argued for war against Vietnam was because communism was seen as an evil force that needed to be stopped by any means necessary in order to protect America. a. “Our defeat and humiliation in South Vietnam without question would promote recklessness in the councils of those great powers who have not yet abandoned their goals of world conquest.” Since America’s beginning, they have been fighting for one thing: freedom. Communism is known to be an evil in the way of freedom. If America allowed this evil to spread, it would slowly gain more power and threaten the American democracy.

Read More
670 Words | 3 Pages

The first phase, the PAVN would launch an attack on the border of South Vietnam. So they can draw American forces out of the South Vietnamese cities. The general knew this could be an extremely risky and dangerous move. His reasoning was that it would be worth the cost in the end. Phase two of the plan was very spread out attacks by the Viet Cong all over the South Vietnam's cities.

Read More
945 Words | 4 Pages

The main reason America went to war with Vietnam was to keep South Vietnam from falling to communism. At the time, the Domino Theory was a huge worry because America thought that if South Vietnam turned to communism then other countries would shortly follow (U.S. News). This affected the young draftees because some didn’t want to go and risk their lives just to try and fight, what they thought should be, South Vietnam’s own war. Americans didn’t think that the war was necessary because they believed that South Vietnam could fight its own battle while other Americans felt that they should help Vietnam so they could have a lesser chance of becoming communist. All of these opinions confused young draftees because they didn’t know if they should believe that South Vietnam should fight its own battle or if America should step in and

Read More
827 Words | 4 Pages

The Anti-War movement against U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War began small among peace activists and leftist intellectuals on college campuses, but gained national prominence in 1965, after the U.S. began bombing North Vietnam. Anti-war marches and protests attracted a widening base of support for the next three years, peaking in early 1968 after the successful Tet Offensive by North Vietnamese troops proved that the war’s end was nowhere in sight. Critics of the war questioned the governments assertion that it was fighting a democratic war to liberate the South Vietnamese people from Communist aggression. Most of American population still supported the administration policy in Vietnam, but there was still a small liberal minority that made its voice heard. This minority included students as well as prominent artists and intellectuals

Read More
873 Words | 4 Pages

It was feared that if Vietnam fell to communism, a domino effect would occur and other Southeast

Read More
788 Words | 4 Pages

Social tensions intensified on the home front from corresponding events happening in East Asia. The Tet Offensive in January 1968 caused the American public opinion to shift further away from the war causing more unrest and divide in the country. (footnote A Life in a Year) The United States announced a ceasefire that lasted seven days to celebrate Tet, the Vietnamese New Year. On January 32, 1968 the North Vietnamese disregarded the ceasefire and launched many surprise attacks against South Vietnam and the U.S.

Read More
1500 Words | 6 Pages

Ho Chi Minh sought to rectify these wrongs by confirming and solidifying Vietnam’s declaration of independence in 1945 when he rose to presidency in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (Tønnesson 12). This was a culmination of decades of attempts on Ho Chi Minh’s part to gain support and ultimately to give Vietnam basic recognition and freedom from international exploitation. As early as 1919, Ho Chi Minh, under a different pseudonym, presented his vision for Vietnam and sought aid to make it reality (Brocheux 13). Predictably, he was ignored, beginning a cycle of rejection that fueled Ho Chi Minh’s desperation for allies and paralleled the constant dismissal of Vietnam and other developing nations by world powers. The few instances that Ho Chi Minh was successful in forging alliances with other nations also played a major role in the causation of the First Indochina War, as is seen in the repercussions of Ho Chi Minh’s relations with various world powers in the beginning of the 20th

Read More
1139 Words | 5 Pages

January 31, 1968 Dear Diary, I’m writing to you because I just got the word that 19 Vietcong guerillas attacked South Vietnam’s embassy. As the President of the United States, I am very concerned about South Vietnam and all the Americans there at this time. Additionally, I am worried about how this will be portrayed to the Americans on the homefront through the media. I understand that South Vietnam and the Vietcong were in a “cease-fire” or a time where both sides agree to stop the fighting for a little while. I have been told that the Vietcong had hidden weapons throughout Saigon and attacked the second night of Tet, the Vietnamese New Year.

Read More
774 Words | 4 Pages

By 1956, Ngô Đình Diệm eliminated any political opposition and persecuted the Buddhist majority of Vietnam. This gave reasons for North Vietnam to start a campaign to take over South Vietnam and create a unified Vietnam with a communist government. When the time came for Vietnam to choose local leaders, Ngô Đình Diệm resisted the elections because the more populous North would win.[8] The government in Hanoi called upon the formation of the Viet Minh in order to conduct guerilla

Read More
555 Words | 3 Pages

They believed that if Vietnam fell to communism so would the surrounding countries like Cambodia and Laos would as well. The third reason was the North Vietnamese attack on an American ship also known as the Gulf of Tonkin incident. This incident was very influential in the US

Read More

More about Tet Offensive Research Paper

Related Topics

Open Document