The Tet Offensive.

The Tet Offensive was a shocking military campaign

and the major turning point in the Vietnam War.

On January 30, 1968, the North Vietnamese Army

and southern communist rebels known as the Viet Cong

launched a number of coordinated attacks

against the US and South Vietnamese troops.

The series of surprise attacks, named for their occurrence

during the lunar new year, or Tet,

led to a significant two month struggle altering

the course of the Vietnam War.

Here, we'll summarize the events of the Tet Offensive,

its aftermath, and its legacy as the turning

point in the Vietnam War.

US involvement in Vietnam.

The US officially entered the Vietnam War in 1964,

after years of denouncing communism

and sending secret operations and aid to the conflict.

For the next four years, President Lyndon B. Johnson

would send over half a million troops

into Vietnam, sparking significant protests

from American citizens.

Most warfare in Vietnam consisted

of guerrilla style combat rather than

large orchestrated battles.

Viet Cong soldiers launched hit and run style attacks

and ambushes, and US troops conducted search and destroy

missions on a small scale.

On January 30, 1968, however, the North Vietnamese and Viet

Cong launched the largest series of surprise attacks

on more than 100 South Vietnamese

cities, the Tet Offensive.

That lunar new year, or Tet.

North Vietnamese troops launched massive surprise

attacks in mountainous regions on the Laos-Cambodia border.

85,000 North Vietnamese troops attacked 5 major cities

in South Vietnam and almost 100 additional towns, villages,

and military installations.

They also attacked the US embassy in Saigon,

partially penetrated the walls.

A departure from previous guerrilla tactics, North

Vietnam intended to achieve a decisive victory

that would end the conflict, but the fight was messy.

The shocking strategic move marked a major turning

point of the Vietnam War.

The Battle of Hue.

Intense fighting with many casualties

continued for months.

In February, one of the longest and bloodiest battles

raged for over three weeks, the Battle of Hue.

During this time, North Vietnamese and Viet Cong

soldiers conducted house to house searches,

arresting civil servants, teachers, religious leaders,

and others connected to the United States

or South Vietnamese government.

The people rounded up were labeled counter-revolutionaries

and executed.

After the recapture of Hue, 2,800 bodies

were found massacred, and 3,000 residents

were reported missing.

150 Marines were killed, along with 400

South Vietnamese troops.

North Vietnam suffered even heavier

casualties, losing 5,000 men.

Aftermath.

After weeks of fighting, there was no clear victory

on either side.

The Viet Cong and North Vietnam suffered a great military loss.

By the time the fighting ceased, they had

lost an estimated 58,000 men.

The Viet Cong also failed to take

any South Vietnamese or American strongholds.

The US lost 4,000 troops, and more

than 14,000 South Vietnamese men, women,

and children had been killed.

But despite a lower number of casualties,

the United States did not emerge as winners, either.

For Americans, the offensive raised troubling questions.

President Johnson and his advisors

had promised for years that victory in Vietnam

was just around the corner.

Yet, the television footage of US

embassy personnel fighting with Viet Cong rebels

showed otherwise.

The Johnson administration had misled

the American people about the realities of the Vietnam War.

These realities included the brutalization

innocent civilians.

In the heat of the US campaign against the Tet Offensive

on March 16, 1968, US troops stormed

the small South Vietnamese Hamlet of My Lai,

expecting Viet Cong guerrillas.

Finding only women, children, and elderly,

they raped and killed up to 500 villagers.

The massacre became synonymous with American military power

gone awry.

Public opinion on the war shifted,

and the national confidence in President

Johnson's Vietnam strategy dropped to an all-time low.

This led Johnson to halt escalation,

pull down troop strengths, and limit bombing in North Vietnam.

Discredited, he dropped out of the presidential race,

opening the door for deep divisions

in the Democratic Party, and the victory

of Republican challenger Richard M. Nixon.

The president's diplomats began peace talks

in Paris with their North Vietnamese counterparts.

By the time of Nixon's victory in November,

a majority of Americans favored a quick exit from the conflict.

Though the war raged on for several more years,

the Tet Offensive helped turn the tide

of American public opinion against the war,

paving the way for American withdrawal

and the eventual defeat of South Vietnam.