The Tet Offensive And My Lai Massacre

Question 1

What happened in the Tet Offensive?

Answer 1

• The Tet Offensive started on 31st January 1968. It was attack by the Vietcong and NVA on more than 100 cities, towns and military bases throughout South Vietnam, including Saigon.
• It was totally different to the guerrilla fighting they used before and was a surprise attack.
• The Communists expected the people to join them, but the uprisings they hoped for did not happen.
• Over 100,000 people were killed during the battle.

Question 2

What were the effects of the Tet Offensive?

Answer 2

1) The Tet Offensive could be seen as a huge failure for the North Vietnamese and Vietcong
2) The Tet Offensive was a huge turning point and was a major reason why more and more Americans turned against the war

Question 3

Tet Offensive - failure for NV and Vietcong

Answer 3

• 47% of the people killed during the Tet Offensive were Vietcong.
• Just 5% were ARVN and 2% were US troops. This seems to show it was a massive success for the Americans.
• As a result of what they saw as a failure, the North Vietnamese agreed to peace talks soon after the Tet Offensive ended.
• From now on, the NVA did most of the fighting, as the Vietcong never recovered from the setback of Tet.

Question 4

Tet Offensive - turning point and make Americans turn against the war

Answer 4

• Before the Tet Offensive, the Americans had been quite confident about the way the war was going. The US media had given the Americans back home the impression that the war would soon end.
• But, when the news of Tet appeared, many Americans felt that they had been deceived by the army. Vietcong troops were shown inside the US embassy in Saigon, which seemed to show that the war could not be won, or at least not for a long time.
• Most Americans became convinced that the war had to be ending as soon as possible. General Westmoreland, who saw Tet as a victory over the Vietcong and NVA, was refusing more troops.
• Tet also played a large part in Johnson’s decision to give up hopes of standing as President again. Richard Nixon, the Republican candidate, promised to end the war and was elected as President.

Question 5

What was the My Lai massacre and why was it important?

Answer 5

• On 16th March 1968, nine helicopter gunships landed three US platoons near the village of My Lao. The US troops were on a search and destroy mission and My Lai was believed to be a Vietcong stronghold. Over a two hour period, the Americans killed hundreds of men, women and children - probably 300, but maybe more.
• The truth about the massacre did not come out for eighteen months. Only Lieutenant Calley was convicted of war crimes; he only served three years of his life sentence.
• Pictures of the massacre were shown around the word and people were appalled. It was another reason why mean Americans began to turn against the war.