720th Military Police Battalion Vietnam History Project |
6th U.S. Campaign |
Tet Counteroffensive,
30 January 1968-1 April 1968. |
On 29 January 1968 the
Allies began the Tet-lunar new year expecting the usual 36-hour peaceful
holiday truce. Because of the threat of a large-scale attack and communist
buildup around Khe Sanh, the cease fire order was issued in all areas
over which the Allies were responsible with the exception of the I CTZ,
south of the Demilitarized Zone. Determined enemy assaults began in the
northern and Central provinces before daylight on 30 January and in Saigon
and the Mekong Delta regions that night. Some 84,000 VC and North Vietnamese
attacked or fired upon 36 of 44 provincial capitals, 5 of 6 autonomous
cities, 64 of 242 district capitals and 50 hamlets. In addition, the enemy
raided a number of military installations including almost every airfield.
The actual fighting lasted three days; however Saigon and Hue were under
more intense and sustained attack. The attack in Saigon began with a sapper
assault against the U.S. Embassy. Other assaults were directed against
the Presidential Palace, the compound of the Vietnamese Joint General
Staff, and nearby Ton San Nhut air base. At Hue, eight enemy battalions infiltrated
the city and fought the three U.S. Marine Corps, three U.S. Army and eleven
South Vietnamese battalions defending it. The fight to expel the enemy
lasted a month. American and South Vietnamese units lost over 500 killed,
while VC and North Vietnamese battle deaths may have been somewhere between
4,000 and 5,000. Heavy fighting also occurred in two remote
regions: around the Special Forces camp at Dak To in the central highlands
and around the U.S. Marines Corps base at Khe Sanh. In both areas, the
allies defeated attempts to dislodge them. Finally, with the arrival of
more U.S. Army troops under the new XXIV Corps headquarters to reinforce
the marines in the northern province, Khe Sanh was abandoned. Tet proved a major military defeat for
the communists. It had failed to spawn either an uprising or appreciable
support among the South Vietnamese. On the other hand, the U.S. public
became discouraged and support for the war was seriously eroded. U.S.
strength in South Vietnam totaled more than 500,000 by early 1968. In
addition, there were 61,000 other allied troops and 600,000 South Vietnamese. The Tet Offensive also dealt a visibly severe setback to the pacification program, as a result of the intense fighting needed to root out VC elements that clung to fortified positions inside the towns. For example, in the densely populated delta there had been approximately 14,000 refugees in January; after Tet some 170,000 were homeless. The requirement to assist these persons seriously inhibited national recovery efforts. |
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