Tet Offensive and Election of 1968 Flashcards
What was the turning point of the war?
Tet Offensive
Were there big numbers at Tet, why?
Yes because the war is very Americanized by now.
What has been the strategy for the Vietnamese up to this point?
guerrilla warfare, waiting for right moment to strike
What do the NVA and VC think is their right moment to strike?
Tet
What is actually Tet?
a holiday for the lunar new Year
With Tet being a holiday, describe how the holiday related to the logistics of the war.
In Asian culture, new year is a big deal, there is a fighting truce for this holiday.
When was Tet?
January 1968
Even though there is a truce, what do the NVA do?
They take advantage of the truce with nobody fighting and attack.
What do the NVA attack on Tet?
Attack over 100 Southern Vietnamese cities.
Would Tet be a war crime?
Possibly, but only debatable if they lost.
When they performed the attacks, what did people realize?
They had planned this attack for a while
How was Tet prepared by the Vietnamese?
Weapons, ammo were made to bring to south for Tet attack
What was the goal of the Tet attacks?
- Force US negotiations
- Spark SV uprising against government
- Weaken US-ARVN alliance
- Heavy American losses would drive US out
What did the NVA hope that Tet would do?
The south would want to be united with the North because they do not like the Americans there and dislike their own government.
How was Tet pulled off?
Required lots of planning, guns and ammo were hid under chrysanthemum carts, along with food carts and coffins
What are chrysanthemum carts?
flower carts that are symbolic of holiday
How was ammo hidden under food carts?
When farmers came in with their fresh carts they used when they were not looking and hid the ammo under them.
Why was ammo hidden in coffins?
They were Buddhists, so they avoided to disturb the dead, so they could hide weapons in places they didn’t go. Also, there were many dead bodies around with the war, so many places were around to hide them.
How did the NVA and VC get more men to join the fight?
Many people going home to celebrate holidays, many tourists, lots of pedestrian traffic, very easy to blend in all of this, men and equipment are there and just wait for the attack.
What did Westmoreland initially think of the Tet attacks?
The attack is conventional warfare and it fits us well to respond and start our type of warfare.
What is Westmoreland’s mistake with figuring out Tet?
He didn’t tell the American people and did not think as a politician, as the intensity of Tet shocked Americans and Johnson.
Who stepped down from his position?
Robert McNamara
Why did McNamara step down?
He was frustrated as Secretary of Defense and had trouble relying on the military and its leaders.
Who replaced McNamara?
Clark Clifford
How did Clifford think of the war when he first got into office?
He is trying to think of options and cannot find answers from anyone else because we are in a rough situation.
How was driving the US out a goal of Tet?
If they put heavy losses on US, we would get out and leave the war up to them.
How was the US-ARVN alliance damaged at Tet?
Our embassy was important, we turned the embassy over to the ARVN and they scattered as it was attacked.
Who wins Tet militarily?
US
What are the NVA’s casualty numbers at Tet Offensive?
52,000 casualties in 4 weeks of fighting and 50,000 men captured, enemy loses 40% of men in 4 weeks in combat
How many men do we lose at Tet?
We only lose 2600 and 12,000 wounded.
After the bombings by the NVA, what did we do next?
We fought back at the NVA and tried to get the bombed Southern cities back to us.
Of the 100 bombed cities, how many do we retain?
All 100
