Why the US Lost the Tet Offensive Despite Beating the NVA (Vietnam War Documentary)
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Published 2024-02-16
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After years of boots on the ground and bloody combat in Vietnam, US officials are publicly confident. The strategy of eliminating the Viet Cong is working. The North Vietnamese communist forces are on their last legs and victory is only a matter of time. Or so they say. But as 1968 and the traditional lunar new year festivities begin, US and South Vietnamese troops find themselves on the receiving end of a formidable North Vietnamese surprise attack: The Tet Offensive.
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» SOURCES
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»CREDITS
Presented by: Jesse Alexander
Written by: Jesse Alexander
Director: Toni Steller
Editing: Toni Steller
Motion Design: Philipp Appelt
Mixing, Mastering & Sound Design: above-zero.com/
Research by: Mark Newton
Fact checking: Florian Wittig, Jesse Alexander
Executive Producer: Florian Wittig
Channel Design: Simon Buckmaster
Contains licensed material by getty images, AP and Reuters
Maps: MapTiler/OpenStreetMap Contributors & GEOlayers3
Music Library: Epidemic Sound
All rights reserved - Real Time History GmbH 2024
All Comments (21)
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The Tet offensive is a perfect example of why tactical victories can be irrelevant within a strategic context. The offensive was an overwhelming tactical victory for US and South Vietnamese forces and simultaneously a crushing strategic defeat.
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My late hubby was with 2nd Battalion, 34th armored, Dreadnaughts. He was a loader in an M48 during TET and his tanknwas hit with an rpg which blew his commander and driver completely out through the hatch( I assume they were killed, I didnt press for an answer) and my hubby was blown up and almost out but his heels snagged on the rim of the turret hatch. He was covered with schrapnel wounds and blew his ears out. He even schrapnel fragments behind his eyes and could never have his head in a cat scan in case the magnetic power dislodged the metal. He was awarded the purple heart and passed away June 30th 2021, from complications due to agent orange heart damage. He will always be my hero. Rest easy, Denny, till we meet again💜💜💜
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I lost my uncle on February 15 1968 during Tet KIA in Hue in the citidale . Rest in peace uncle SONNY I LOVE YOU ❤️
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I read about a bury the hatchet meeting between officers in the 90's where a US major said to his counter part "we never lost to you in a proper conventional battle" to which the NVA officer said "that is true, but that's also irrelevant because here we are"
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My grandpa was KIA during the Tet Offensive. Glad to see you covered it so accurately.
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In 1965 I got my hands on an English translation of Vo Nguyen Giap's book, "People's War, People's Army". Reading it made it clear to me that the U.S. was fighting a war the U.S. military had made up in their heads, not the war that they would face on the ground. It was clear we would lose. The military academy at West Point made it mandatory reading in 1996, only thirty years too late.
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A perfect example of “yes but actually no”
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Westmoreland said " 90% of the area pacified there's light at the end of the tunnel" well the light is a train coming at him the Tet offensive..
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I was at Hue Phu Bai when the NVA launched the Tet offensive. Excellent video. Accurate and detailed.
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It was a tactical victory for the U.S. but a strategic victory for the Vietcong. The beginning of the end of that terrible conflict.
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Always glad to see more cold war era content! A very in-depth report on the Tet Offensive, the footage in this video especially was amazing - thanks a lot for sharing!
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The US had transitioned from a European style Cold War Army to a counterinsurgency army. Although the US was not completely surprised it was caught off guard by a full scale conventional attack by North Vietnam. Towards the end of US involvement in the Vietnam war, the NVA had moved south, not as a guerilla army, but as a conventional army complete with main battle Tanks, amphibious Tanks, APC's. Helicopters, radar guided AAA , man portable Strellas and mobile SAM batteries.
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I recommend that you guys did a video about 1972 easter offensive,because even tho the size of the fighting is larger the tet offensive it receive less attention from historian
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You miss one of the key points about the Tet offensive. Its North Vietnamese planners EXPECTED it to ultimately fail militarily but it served two, not one, political purposes. Yes, it discredited the "light at the end of the tunnel" stuff in the US and led to US withdrawal - the first purpose - but it also destroyed the Viet Cong leadership, the dangerous and indpendent-minded internal political rival to North Vietnamese communism. They wanted Vietnamese unification on their terms.
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I recall my uncle James retelling some of my grandfather's Vietnam stories to me (my granddad passed away before I was born - not KIA, thankfully. He died peacefully, surrounded by his family). He spoke of the Tet Offensive thusly: "American troops won the day, but our journalists lost the war. The enemy's leadership knew very well that the only weapon they could effectively defeat us with was a Nikon camera. Indeed, Ho Chi Minh's victory was achieved on US soil."
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The new SecDef in February 68 was Clark Clifford, not Clifford Clark.
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Cheers that was interesting.. I enjoyed watching that..
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Come across this channel after viewing a few Vietnam related vids. Great Channel and looks like plenty of great content! Thanks RTH
