Tet Offensive Turning Point

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On January 31, 1968, General Vo Nguyen Giap and 70,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong conducted “a massive surprise attack” (HMH Glossary) South Vietnam known as the Tet offensive. Often this series of attacks is viewed as the turning point in the Vietnam War in communist Vietnams favor. The Communist People's Army of Vietnam achieved major success on many levels aside from the many casualties they faced. The United States "successfully" defended the south from being completely controlled but because of this offensive they faced many new problems. The first is support; the invasion of South Vietnam was broadcasted and when the media got a hold of the information Americans became shocked by what is going on in Vietnam and soon the United States…show more content…
The significance of this day is that in previous years it was an informal truce between the North and their communist southern allies. General Giap saw there were many flaws in the alliance between the South and Americans so he decided to exploit it. What seems to be a very aggressively focused plan is actually a very strategic offensive to degrade the Souths current unity. The plan was not a guaranteed success. The fear was, “if the offensive failed, the revolution would be set back years.” (Willbanks 10). Due to this fear there was much speculation on wether engaging in 1968 would be too early or not, because of American fire power and mobility. On the morning of January 30th, 1968 attacks began in thirteen cities in central South Vietnam just as family celebrations began. This was the begin in of the bloody Tet Offensive. The next day PAVN and Viet Cong forces engaged in numerous attacks all over the South. “The fighting continued for several more months, entering yet another phase of the offensive.”(Willbanks…show more content…
Along with the news of the attack getting to the United States, there was also footage of how brutal the soldiers were there wether it be the North or South Vietnamese. “For all of these reasons, the Tet Offensive made the US news media, and the US public, much less enthusiastic about the war than they had been previously. General Westmoreland did not get the 200,000 additional troops he had requested, and in less than two years the US began withdrawing substantial numbers of troops. Negotiations began between the US and the Communists, and for most of the time the negotiations were going on, the US imposed limits on its bombing of North Vietnam. One might reasonably say that in the long run the Tet Offensive was a victory for the Communists, because of the way it reduced the American will to fight.” (Moise

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