By mid-February, or two weeks into the offensive, Washington was estimating that enemy casualties had risen to almost 39,000, including 33,249 killed. Allied casualties were placed at 3,470 dead, one-third of them Americans, and 12,062 wounded, almost half of them Americans.
The U.S. military reported 58,220 American casualties. Although North Vietnamese and Viet Cong casualty counts vary wildly, it is generally understood that they suffered several times the number of American casualties.
Despite its heavy casualty toll, and its failure to inspire widespread rebellion among the South Vietnamese, the Tet Offensive proved to be a strategic success for the North Vietnamese.
January 27, 1973: President Nixon signs the Paris Peace Accords, ending direct U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. The North Vietnamese accept a cease fire. But as U.S. troops depart Vietnam, North Vietnamese military officials continue plotting to overtake South Vietnam.
American and South Vietnamese forces lost over 3,000 men during the offensive. Estimates for communist losses ran as high as 40,000. While the communists did not succeed militarily, the impact of the Tet Offensive on public opinion in the United States was significant.
President Lyndon B. Johnson
| 1968 in the Vietnam War |
|---|
| ← 1967 1969 → |
|---|
| Casualties and losses |
| US: 16,592 killed 87,388 wounded South Vietnam: 27,915 killed 172,512 wounded | US estimates: 191,000 – 181,149 killed) North Vietnamese Records: KIA: 44,842 Total KIA/WIA: 111,306 Killed and Wounded, |
This had happened in Eastern Europe after 1945. China had become communist in 1949 and communists were in control of North Vietnam. The USA was afraid that communism would spread to South Vietnam and then the rest of Asia. It decided to send money, supplies and military advisers to help the South Vietnamese Government.
Definition of Tet. : the Vietnamese New Year observed during the first several days of the lunar calendar beginning at the second new moon after the winter solstice.
The North Vietnamese and Viet Cong paid dearly for their deviation from the guerrilla warfare strategy that had so frustrated U.S. commanders. Initial United States Information Agency estimates placed the number of communists dead at 60,000 (a figure that was subsequently revised down), with 24,000 weapons captured.
On February 24, 1968, the Tet Offensive ends as U.S. and South Vietnamese troops recapture the ancient capital of Hue from communist forces. However, on January 30, 1968, the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese launched their massive Tet Offensive all across South Vietnam.
In sudden attacks on urban areas throughout South Vietnam, North Vietnamese forces struck and briefly held portions of Saigon and 36 of the country's 44 provincial capitals. In Saigon, attackers penetrated both the presidential palace and the compound of the U.S. embassy.
The 1968 United States Presidential election became a referendum on the Vietnam War. After Vice President Humphrey won the Democratic nomination at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, another wave of violent protests emerged, this time between the mostly young antiwar demonstrators and police.
1968 Events
- PRAGUE SPRING.
- NORTH KOREA.
- TET OFFENSIVE.
- LBJ BEDEVILED BY VIETNAM.
- MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. ASSASSINATED.
- STUDENTS PROTEST ALL OVER THE WORLD.
- ROBERT F. KENNEDY ASSASSINATED.
- CHICAGO DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION.
The question of who won the Vietnam War has been a subject of debate, and the answer depends on the definition of victory. Those who argue that the United States won the war point to the fact that the U.S. defeated communist forces during most of Vietnam's major battles.
Tet Offensive shakes Cold War confidence. American and South Vietnamese forces lost over 3,000 men during the offensive. Estimates for communist losses ran as high as 40,000. While the communists did not succeed militarily, the impact of the Tet Offensive on public opinion in the United States was significant.
President Lyndon B. Johnson
In late January, 1968, during the lunar new year (or “Tet”) holiday, North Vietnamese and communist Viet Cong forces launched a coordinated attack against a number of targets in South Vietnam. The Tet Offensive played an important role in weakening U.S. public support for the war in Vietnam.
