The Tet Offensive Essay -- essays research papers fc

The Tet noisome was unquestionably the biggest occurrence of the Vietnam struggle. speckle the military success of the Viet Cong in mounting a sustained rising in cities across South Vietnam was virtually non-existent, the psychological impact it had on the American public was quite simply phenomenal. This effect was partially due(p) to the reporting of the war by the media. To completely chthonicstand the impacts of Tet, we must rootage study the goals of Tet. The execution of Tet was a failure on the battlefield however, it proved to be an astounding success on college campuses across America.The main objectives of the Tet Offensive of 1968 were to mount numerous uprisings in cities that were supposedly secure. The cities focused on in Tet were Saigon, Hue, and Danang. The idea originally came about around 1966. The reason being was that everyday Westmorelands continuous pressure constantly harried the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong (Ford 33). The US armed forces were depriving their Vietnamese aggressors of what they needed most, time to plan. about this time General Nguyen Chi Thanh was being reprimanded for his failures in using large-scale unit operations against the devastating firepower of US forces. Basically, if Thanh continued the war under these circumstances he would have no army to continue the revolution. The conclusiveness from Hanoi was that their only hope was to use a Protracted War Strategy and outlast the Americans (Ford 33). In 1967 Thanh died and was replaced by General Giap. This gave the decision makers in Hanoi a solution to their problem of adopting a sound strategy. It wasnt hard to make a decision, they decided on fighting a long and drawn out guerilla war. Hanoi also grow the debate to consider the views of others (Ford 34). Psychology was a factor in this war, the leadership in North Vietnam made sure of it. They realized that Vietnam was a semipolitical war for America. In fact, it was not uncommon for the North Vietnamese leaders to tune in to American broadcasts to see how the media handled the war.On January 30th, 1968 the Tet Offensive came into being. cardinal Vietnamese sappers blew a hole in the eight-foot wall surrounding the US embassy in Saigon. Initially the dozen military police and Marine army corps guards were taken by surprise, by dawn the wall was secure and ... ...r the Viet Cong it was a great psychological victory over the American public. The decline of events in 1968 was enough to keep President Johnson from seeking re-election.It isnt difficult to understand why the Tet Offensive of 1968 changed many Americans opinion of the war. The unquiet took the US by surprise. There were signs that it was coming but these signs were not apt(p) the proper attention that they required. The media in Vietnam was in disarray when the offensive first gear broke out and when they finally came back into their normal functions the damage had been through by misreporting and t he chaos and confusion that swept the country.List Of Works CitedBraestrup, Peter. heavy(a) Story. New Haven Westview Press, Inc., 1977.Ford, Ronnie E. TET 1968 Understanding the Surprise. London Frank Cass & Co. LTD, 1995Gilbert, Marc Jason and William Head. The Tet Offensive. Westport Praeger, 1996.Omicinski, John. Tet Offensive A Turning Point. Vets With A Mission. 4 Feb. 2003.Wirtz, James J. The Tet Offensive Intelligence disappointment In War. Ithaca Cornell University Press, 1991.