Tet Offensive (January 30-March 31)
Tet was the most important holiday on the Vietnamese calendar, celebrating the lunar new year. This day had been marked as a informal truce in the long running conflict, however in 1968 the North Vietnamese military commander General Vo Nguyen Giap chose January 31st as the occasion to launch a series of surprise attacks to break the stalemate in Vietnam. Giap hoped that the attacks would ferment discontent and rebellion among the South Vietnamese population and making the rise up in rebellion to their young government, and also drive a wedge in the alliance between the US and South Vietnam.
First, Giap launched attacks on isolated American forts in the highlands of central Vietnam and along the Laotian and Cambodian frontiers to draw US troops away from their real objective: the Tet Offensive. Early Morning of January 30, 1968, Viet Cong forces attack 13 cities in central South Vietnam. Just 24 hours later, PAVN and Viet Cong forces struck a number of other targets throughout South Vietnam, including cities, towns, government buildings, and U.S. and ARVN military bases. Although Viet Cong soldiers achieved surprise, they were to thin to be able to succeed in the ambitious offensive.
Despite its heavy casualty toll, and its failure to inspire a rebellion among the South Vietnamese, the Tet Offensive was a strategic success. As seemingly endless amounts of footage of the chaos of the offensive streamed into American homes, weakening the already thin support for the war. On March 31, President Johnson declared that he was limiting the bombing of North Vietnam to the area below the 20th parallel, and called for negotiations to end the war. He also announced that he would not be running for reelection that November. As peace talks dragged for another 5 years, during which more American soldiers were killed than the previous years of the conflict, Johnson's decision to halt escalation after the Tet Offensive was a crucial turning point in American participation in the Vietnam War.
First, Giap launched attacks on isolated American forts in the highlands of central Vietnam and along the Laotian and Cambodian frontiers to draw US troops away from their real objective: the Tet Offensive. Early Morning of January 30, 1968, Viet Cong forces attack 13 cities in central South Vietnam. Just 24 hours later, PAVN and Viet Cong forces struck a number of other targets throughout South Vietnam, including cities, towns, government buildings, and U.S. and ARVN military bases. Although Viet Cong soldiers achieved surprise, they were to thin to be able to succeed in the ambitious offensive.
Despite its heavy casualty toll, and its failure to inspire a rebellion among the South Vietnamese, the Tet Offensive was a strategic success. As seemingly endless amounts of footage of the chaos of the offensive streamed into American homes, weakening the already thin support for the war. On March 31, President Johnson declared that he was limiting the bombing of North Vietnam to the area below the 20th parallel, and called for negotiations to end the war. He also announced that he would not be running for reelection that November. As peace talks dragged for another 5 years, during which more American soldiers were killed than the previous years of the conflict, Johnson's decision to halt escalation after the Tet Offensive was a crucial turning point in American participation in the Vietnam War.