The Tet Offensive Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 13

The Tet Offensive - Essay Example The â€Å"Tet Offensive† of 1968 has been widely referred to a moment that defined future policy, political as well as public opinion on the War in Vietnam. The offensive formed the biggest series of confrontations during the war. On the night of January 30th, Vietcong troops launched massive surprise attacks on twenty-eight provincial capitals in South Vietnam. The assaults targeted major U.S as well military installations belonging to the South Vietnam Army. The President’s palace at Hue and America’s Embassy were some of the targets of assault in the plan. Vietcong troops did not completely take control of any city, the lost approximately 15,000 of their troops but they successfully completed the mission. They were able to show the force that disenchanted public opinions in both America as well as South Vietnam on the war.The offensive demonstrated clearly that Vietcong was not about to surrender and more importantly that Allied troops could not guarantee the safety of civilians. The U.S military was successful in curtailing the offensive but in the eye of the public, it was a major defeat for the U.S and Allied troops by the way they were caught by surprise. Major players in the Tet Offensive were the Viet Cong and North Vietnam Army launching assaults on South Vietnamese troops, US forces and allied troops. The campaign was characterized by surprise assaults on military, civilian troops and centers of control in entire Southern Vietnam. communist forces orchestrated a well-coordinated series of attacks late in the night of January 30 on the 1st and 2nd Corps Tactical Zones of Southern Vietnam. the next morning saw countrywide attacks with over eighty thousand troops of the communists hitting over one hundred cities & major towns which included thirty-six of the forty-four provincial capitals, five autonomous cities out of six.