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Essay / Tet Offensive Essay - 822
Tet Offensive Before the Tet Offensive, the South Vietnamese Army (SVA) seemed to have the advantage with the help of the United States during the Tet Offensive Vietnam. Westmoreland said, “We have reached a point where the end becomes visible” (Willbanks). The US Army and SVA were fighting the Vietcong and the Army of North Vietnam (NVA). On the brink of defeat, North Vietnam felt forced to respond with a heavy attack, leading to the Tet Offensive. The Tet Offensive was a coordinated surprise attack against the United States Army and the SVA during the Vietnam War. Despite a disastrous loss for the NVA and Vietcong, the attack swung the war in their favor by catching the United States and the SVA off guard, causing heavy losses to their enemies, and persuading the Americans to withdraw their troops . After being newly appointed leader of the NVA, Vo Nguyen Giap felt the need for a major victory. He planned a huge surprise attack on the United States and the SVA during Tet, considered Vietnam's most important holiday (Willbanks). The South Vietnamese and Americans believed that the NVA and Vietcong would put the war aside for a few days to celebrate the traditional holiday. Giap had three expectations from this attack. Its goals were to provoke a public uprising of the South Vietnamese people, wipe out the SVA, and discourage the Americans (Willbanks, Zabecki). Giap prepared for his huge offensive by creating a diversion of 20,000 troops at Khe Sanh, which was far from where the surprise attacks had taken place (Willbanks). Therefore, during the Tet Offensive, the United States and the SVA would be surprised and distanced from the real, meaningful battle. The SVA and the US military were unaware of the NVA's intentions. It was not until January 31, 1968 that they learned of the NVA surprise attacks and...... middle of paper ...... I underestimated the NVA and the Vietcong. It was a “psychological victory at the strategic level” (Will Banks). The Tet Offensive was a turning point in the Vietnam War due to the surprising number of casualties, but especially its psychological effects on American citizens. Although the NVA and Vietcong made a devastating tactical error, which caused them to lose miserably against the US Army and the SVA, they were able to end US assistance to the SVA. General SLA Marshall said: “A potential major victory turned into a disastrous defeat because of erroneous estimates, a loss of courage and a tidal wave of defeatism (Zabecki). » The Tet Offensive should have been a clear victory for the United States. However, without the United States, the NVA and Vietcong would eventually defeat the SVA. If the United States had continued the war, South Vietnam would have triumphed over North Vietnam...