Who won the Tet Offensive in 1968??? Can someone explain it?

Question

Who won the Tet Offensive in 1968??? Can someone explain it?

Answer 1

Good evening Popcorn,



“Who won Tet”? The North Vietnam won, and YES I can EXPLAIN! You win a war by any means necessary. The purpose of the 68’ Tet Offensive was to win the war. And YES, YES, YES, the Tet Offensive won the war. General Giap’s plan worked as he planned it. Any combat soldier will tell you no plan goes perfect, and he explains.



(QUOTE) In 1989 General Giap:

We paid a high price [during the Tet offensive] but so did you [Americans]... not only in lives and materiel.... Do not forget the war was brought into the living rooms of the American people. ... The most important result of the Tet offensive was it made you de-escalate the bombing, and it brought you to the negotiation table. It was, therefore, a victory....



The war was fought on many fronts. At that TIME the most important one was American public opinion. (UNQUOTE).



In 1967 the Vietnam War was at a stand-still. General Giap needed something, anything. The plan of the 68’ Tet Offensive was to bring a third party into the fight; that third party meaning the American people, politicians, and public opinion. General Giap knew the American People were turning against the Vietnam War.



The Tet offensive was actually in two (2) parts. The first part was to concentrate North Vietnam’s forces on Khe Sanh. He was very successful (yes or no?). Khe Sanh was CLOSED shortly after Tet.



http://www.history.com/topics/battle-of-khe-sanh



http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=5c8_1308630887



The battle at Khe Sahn was to distract the Americans while setting up the 2nd phase of the Tet Offensive. The second phase was to hit over 100 cities at one time.



WHAT, ONE HUNDRED CITIES AT ONCE? ONE HUNDRED CITIES AT ONCE!!!!!! The American people, politicians, and every military soldier were totally shocked. After Tet less than 30% of Americans supported the continuation of the Vietnam War, and an almost completely hostile press corps accompanying this portion of the war. The American press had a field day. The press used a new word. They called it “Vietnamization” of the war. In other words, General Giap’s plan worked as he planned it.



Years after returning from Vietnam, I saw a television interview with the Great Vietnamese General Giap. He stated, “We knew we would win the war. It was just a matter of time. It could take ten years or twenty years.”



This next question floored me because I was a Special Forces Intelligence NCO. Every military soldier should read it. I call it LIVE & LEARN:



They also asked General Giap about his military intelligence. He looks surprised, “What military Intelligence? We had no need for military intelligence. We always knew where to find the Americans. We knew they would always be on the highest mountain.”



When the American people don’t know any better it a hard to change what you do not know at the time. I would have taken the high ground. So would everyone who answers this question, because this is how we are trained and taught.



Americans are also taught “body counts” wins war. This is the reason General Westmoreland lied and was replaced over “body counts”.



Ho Chi Minh once said of the French whom he had fought before the Americans, “You can kill ten of our men for every one we kill of yours. But even at those odds, you will lose and we will win.” Clearly Ho Chi Minh had a better idea of what is real. Body counts were never his measure of success.



It is very hard for Americans to admit losing the Vietnam War, because they only see and understand war in terms of “body count”.



Let me explain. At the end of Tet 68’, I remember talking to one old lady. She said, “VC come kill papa son, baby son, and many friends.” She talked about life and death as if it were nothing or an everyday currents or events. “I (eye), I (eye), very bad” she said while walking away to start her work. An American woman would be off work for a month and crying as she told this sad but true story.



The facts: All the people in Vietnam have seen nothing but war their whole life. To them, this is what LIFE was about. Countries have fought over Vietnam for over a thousand (1000) years. In other words, the value of life to them is “cheap”. “Body counts” would mean NOTHING.



Americans never really grasp the facts. People who use such simple indicators begin to believe these numbers actually reflect reality. It is made worse when such indicators like “body counts” is not used by your enemy as the indicator of a successful war.



Live and learn; Do you still believe the Tet Offensive of 1968 was a defeat for North Vietnam? In that case, why do the “West Point” text books compare/place the surprise of the 68’ Tet Offensive on a par to the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in WW2?



Popcorn, thanks for your question. I wish you and your family a beautiful day. Peace, from Los Angeles.

Answer 2

The Tet offensive was one battle in the much larger Vietnam war. Are you asking why the battle was fought then, or why the war started? Why the war started is a much debated question. But essentially what it boils down to is that the US became involved in order to prevent the spread of communism from North Vietnam to South Vietnam. This was a gradual escalation, originally involving advisers and clandestine technical support. As for the Tet offensive itself, the North Vietnamese army attacked during the Tet holiday in the hopes that they would catch their enemy off guard. As with every large scale attack by the North it was initially successful, but the US forces quickly rallied and pushed them back. The US didn't lose the Vietnam war on the battlefield, they lost it in the political arena.

Answer 3

The Allies( USA, South Vietnam, ROK, Australian forces) won.

The VC "Viet Cong" was destroyed as a fighting force. `Replaced by the regular North Vietnam Army form 1968 on. Explain? They launched a combined attack on the major cities of the South. From Hue to Saigon. This was to combine with a national Holiday & a ongoing siege on the US base at Kae song. The uprising of the populous did not happen. The VC came out of the shadows & got beat in open combat by a superior force. The End.......

Answer 4

The US won on the tactical level. The NVA won on a political level. The US inflicted a much greater number of casualties on the enemy, which was the strategy at the time, and drove them from the territory they attacked. The NVA, however, demonstrated how surprisingly well-coordinated they actually were planning and executing an offensive like that. Even though they tactically lost, the images news of the attack really turned the American public's perception of how the war was going. It looked like the US was getting its butt kicked and from that point on Vietnam was seen as a lost cause.

Answer 5

The Tet Offensive resulted in the combat deaths of about 45,000 Viet Cong (who actually ceased to exist) and North Vietnamese Army soldiers.



By comparison, the U.S. and ARVN forces suffered about 2500 killed in action.



The American press won the war for North Vietnam.



In 1975 when the North Vietnamese invaded South Vietnam the South Vietnamese military was holding its won until they ran out of ammunition because the Democratically-controlled Congress had violated or Treaty with South Vietnam and cut off military aid. I know...I was flying reconnaissance missions and monitoring the battlefield situation.



The Democrats hold ALL responsibility for the fall of South Vietnam and the thousands of murders that resulted. The North Vietnamese not only killed thousands of South Vietnamese who were involved with the Americans, they actually went back and murdered thousands of those who had worked with the French 20 years prior. They murdered entire extended families for revenge.

Answer 6

The Communists attacked around 100 major cities and towns in South Vietnam. The size and ferocity of the attack surprised both the Americans and the South Vietnamese, but they fought back. The Communists, who had hoped for an uprising from the populous in support of their actions, met heavy resistance instead.



In some towns and cities, the Communists were repelled quickly, within hours. In others, it took weeks of fighting. In Saigon, the Communists succeeded in occupying the U.S. embassy, once thought impregnable, for eight hours before they were overtaken by U.S. soldiers. It took about two weeks for U.S. troops and South Vietnamese forces to regain control of Saigon; it took them nearly a month to retake the city of Hue.



In military terms, the United States was the victor of the Tet Offensive for the Communists did not succeed in maintaining control over any part of South Vietnam.

Read more for the whole story http://history1900s.about.com/od/1960s/qt/tetoffensive.htm

Chetak

Answer 7

Despite what Cronkite said the North was almost completely wiped out in the Tet offensive.

They had no contingency plans or plans to withdraw and suffered terrible losses.

The majority of their troops were killed.

The North wanted to end the war, but Johnson refused.

Answer 8

The North did by getting All of the VC (Southerners)

decimated in the 1968 TET Offensive...



Militarily the combined Forces in SVN WON...

The War in the South was Now taken over solely by the NVA...

Which is the way they wanted it...

(Really must Study the Real History of the WAR...)

(A War that never ever had to be Fought...)



Once again The French and Our State Dept go us into it...1945...

Big Business "OIL" were after the Oil in the Spratly Islands...

The Same Oil that China is about to start a War Over...Today !!!!

Answer 9

ARVN

AFRVN

ROK Army

Australian Army

New Zealand Army

Thai Army

US Army

US Navy

US Air Force

USMC



The planners of this event were overwhelmed about the Press claiming they had won...since all NLF and PAVN Forces were hauling *** for N Viet Nam, Cambodia or Laos with their peckers dangling from having lost each and every attack. The Hue City Massacres created the exact opposite result within RVN. Instead of winning over a large support group from RVN the young men of RVN overwhelmed ARVN volunteering to fight communism.



SSG US Army 73-82

Know a person or 17 that grew up in RVN, one was ARVN from 1955-1975 a Officer, he is the one that wants me to hold John Kerry down while he cuts off Kerrys tiny little package aka the family jewels...it's a thang they do to liars.

Answer 10

trying to be careful here



militarily, the Viet Cong lost. they were decimated as a fighting force and near all future fighting was carried out by North Vietnamese regular soldiers.



Politically, the anti-war faction of the Dimocratic party seized control via the mass media. In the end, this resulted in the Dimocrats voting [in 1974] to cut off all further aid and support to the South Vietnamese government, which assured the North Vietnamese victory.



Another political loser was Lyndon Baines Johnson, President of the United States. He chose to not run for re-election and his Vice President [Hubert Humphrey] lost the election to Richard Nixon, in significant part because he had to defend the Vietnam War.



The American voters are fickle. They loudly say they're in favor of freedom and representative governments, but when it comes down to risking their own children's lives for any one else's freedom -- they aren't very willing.



By contrast, there are plenty of nationalistic movements worldwide that are very willing to fight and [if necessary] die for their beliefs and desires -- even if that has to further their dictator on the way. The current poster for this is Russia acting the bully to seize the Crimea from Ukraine. The Russians are willing to fight for this and plenty confident that Obama and the Americans aren't.

Answer 11

The 1968 Tet offensive was a total and complete miltary disaster for the North Vietnamese Communists no matter how you look at it. If you measure victory by territory gained or enemy killed, the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong failed dismally in their attacks.

The NVA and VC had counted on a "People's Uprising" to carry them to victory, however there was no such uprising. They did exactly what the American military wanted them to do. They massed in large formations that were incredibly vulnerable to the awesome fire support the U.S. Military was able to bring to bear on them in a coordinated and devastating manner.



The NVA and VC attacked only ARVN installations with the exception of the US Embassy in Saigon. Despite reports to the contrary by all major television news networks and the print media, the VC sapper team of 15 men never entered the chancery building and all 15 VC were dead within 6 hours of the attack. They caused no damage to any property and managed to kill 4 US Army MPs, and one Marine guard. The South Vietnamese Police tasked with guarding the Embassy fled at the first sound of gunfire.



The NVA/VC launched major attacks on Saigon, Hue, Quang Tri City, Da Nang, Nha Trang, Qui Nhon, Kontum City, Ban Me Thout, My Tho, Can Tho, and Ben Tre. With the exception of the old imperial city of Hue, the NVA/VC were forced to retreat within 24 hours of the beginning of the offensive. In the process they suffered devastating losses among the southern VC cadres. Using the southern VC as the spearhead of these attacks was an intentional device on the part of the North Vietnamese politcal leadership. They did not want to share power with the southerners after the war, so they sent them out to what was inevitable slaughter. The NVA mainforce battalions were held in "reserve" according to Vo Nguyen Giap, in order to "exploit any breakthroughs".



In the first week of the attack the NVA/VC lost 32,204 confirmed killed, and 5,803 captured. US losses were 1,015 KHA, while ARVN losses were 2,819 killed. ARVN losses were higher because the NVA/VC, reluctant to enter into a set-piece battle with US forces, attacked targets defended almost exclusively by South Vietnamese troops.



Casualties among the people whom the NVA/VC claimed to be "liberating" were in excess of 7,000, with an additional 5,000 tortured and murdered by the NVA/VC in Hue and elsewhere. In Hue alone, allied forces discovered over 2,800 burial sites containing the mutilated bodies of local Vietnamese teachers, doctors, and political leaders.



Only the news media seemed to believe that in some way the Communists had achieved a "victory". To put this in perspective, the news media would have reported the Battle of the Bulge, Hitler's last ditch attempt to stop the allied forces in Europe, as a "disaster" for the Allies. They would have said that "despite Allied efforts, the enemy still has the means to mount a major offensive, and therefore the war in Europe is unwinable". Sound goofy? Well, that is exactly what Walter Cronkite said on national TV after the 1968 Tet offensive.

Answer 12

Nobody all was done was underwrite most of the faith with many people involved.This in Arabic Ahmet do Ahmet to gain.A sounds of a race Unknown.Just as I mention Arabic so to Asian to Give always (Defense) collects (Offense) gives.......

Answer 13

Just a note for Michael. The fall of SVN was in 1975 and was a result of Pres. Ford not complying with our promise to support SVN should NVN attack them. Both NVN andthe US broke the treaty we signed in 1973. The Democrats had nothing to do with it. Ford had the power to act.



According to congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, we now have two Vietnams living side by side, in peace. She's about as bright as a lot of the people who post on here, especially on the subject of Vietnam. Do some research on why Ford chose not to provide any support for SVN and you can ignore the thumb thingys from ignorant people.

Answer 14

No one officially won because war was never officially declared in Vietnam. But I guess the north Vietnamese won since the US troops started slowly pulling out.

Answer 15

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