Have you ever heard of the Tet Offensive? The Tet Offensive was one of the largest campaigns of the Vietnam War. It was a coordinated series of North Vietnamese attacks on more than 100 cities and outposts in South Vietnam. Although the Tet Offensive was a disaster that killed many, it still marked a turning point in the war. The Tet Offensive shocked the public. They weren’t shocked by the “heavy casualties of the PAVN and Viet Cong”. They also weren’t shocked by the Tet Offensive “failure to inspire a general revolt across South Vietnam”. The media was shocked by the “communist bold attack on the U.S. embassy in Saigon, the bloody and lengthy Battle of Hue, the execution of a Viet Cong by the chief of South Vietnamese National Police, …show more content…
The Tet Offensive determined to many Americans that their government had been misleading them about American progression in the war. Between administrators and reality there was “the credibility gap”. Many began to hold a more careful and suspicious attitude toward their government. The feeling of suspicion also was on the Vietnam War. Since then, the Vietnam war became increasingly unpopular amidst American people. The public was shown the true American progression and the reality of the war, which is another reason that the Tet Offensive was a turning point in the Vietnam …show more content…
The Tet Offensive is also a turning point because it made America realize that it was a tough war that they were fighting. The many troops that died and no progression made it this way. The Tet Offensive was lost by America. The people saw through the television this battle and were very angered. Americans did not agree. They didn’t agree with such support of the country’s corrupt government. They were convinced they were winning. Only to see that the government betrayed them and fed them lies. The Tet offensive was a bloody battle that ended with a huge impact that turned the war around. It heavily affected the war and made a big impact of the American homefront. The Tet Offensive today was almost a savior to us. It matters because it weakened the American public support in the war. This influenced the end of the war. The media started protesting, creating a anti-war movement against the Vietnam War. As the protests and marches went on the war was declining, ending 7 years after the Tet Offensive. In conclusion, although the war and Tet offensive was lost by the U.S. it still made an impact on the history and future of our
The Vietnam War was the most publicized war during its era; moreover, this was the most unpopular war to hit the United States. All over the country riots began to rise, anti-war movement spread all over the states begging to stop the war and chaos overseas. This truly was a failure on the political side of things. For the public, all they saw was a failed attempt in a far away country. Events such as the Tet Offensive where the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong established an all out attack on key locations around Vietnam, and although the Viet Cong was virtually wiped out, this still had a large affect psychologically on the troops as well as the populist back in the United States.
In August of 1944 the war in Europe was over and the face off between the United States and Japan had finally arrived. The United States had to choose between sending hundreds of thousands of US soldiers, to invade Japan killing and being killed by the hundreds of thousands, OR dropping a newly developed weapon called the atomic bomb on two cities in Japan which would result in tens of thousands of civilian lives with little cost to US servicemen. The only hope of ending the war quickly and honorably was to drop the bombs. Calls for surrender were ignored and the Japanese hierarchy, Okinawa and Iwo Jima had shown clearly what an invasion of Japan would be like. The decision was made, the bombs were dropped, the war was ended and both military and civilian lives were saved by both countries.
1968, the year of the Tet Offensive, was the peak of US involvement in the war. The Tet Offensive was a series of battles between the Communist and Anti-Communist forces in South Vietnam. Although it was a victory for the United States, public support decreased due to the number of casualties and struggle to win the offensive. President Johnson, in his comments on the Tet Offensive, bashed the public opinion (doc 4). He pointed out that in terms of numbers, the US and South Vietnamese had a huge victory. His point of view was simply from a statistical standpoint. But the public saw that many Vietnamese civilians were harmed and affected by the war. The Tet Offensive was the beginning of the decline of public support for the war, as well as decline in US involvement in the war due to the public opinion. In addition, President Johnson was losing support because of his stubborn foreign policy outlook. Robert Kennedy, the Senator of New York, was contemplating a presidential run to oppose the President 's Vietnam policy. In addition, Johnson was losing democratic primaries to Senator Eugene McCarthy, who also opposed Johnson’s Vietnam policy. The public support for McCarthy showed that the American people were now against participation in the Vietnam War. Soon after the Tet Offensive, President Johnson announced a slow decrease in bombings of North Vietnam, started to
Engaging in the war in Vietnam brought a whole different set of "American Views" to the topic of war. This time the country did not support the war like we've seen in the past. Mostly by young people, the war effort was criticized and Americans staged massive protests. The Vietnam War's controversy spurred a great many sources of protest, against our government's use of power, how far we could stretch the rights of free expression, and primarily against the violence of the war itself.
In conclusion, the Tet Offensive changed the US's attitude towards the Vietnam war by leading to further anti-war protests, a credibility gap in America, and for President Johnson to negotiate peace and not seek reelection.
World War II was one of the most important wars in history. It featured multiple countries at constant conflict with each other. There were several battles that occurred in this 12 year long war. An example of two of the battles would be the Battle of Britain in the European theater of war, and the Attack on Pearl Harbor in the Pacific theater of war. Only one of these wars saw victory, while the other caused great devastation to the American military.
The Vietnam War was a turning point in the way America sees war, by being the first war with media coverage, having great influence on soldiers fighting in it, and influencing the American citizens watching it happen. Often referred to as the “living-room war”, the Vietnam war was heavily impacted by media coverage, leading to controversy both at home in the U.S. and overseas on the battlefield.
During 1968 the Vietnam War was a defining moment in American history, in that due to the Tet Offensive, American morale concerning the war and President Johnson decreased, mistrust in the government increased, and the end of the Vietnam War seemed nearer. This year was truly a turning point in American history; the three listed examples are only a few reasons why. The Vietnam War in general changed the history of America, but the year,1968, especially affected the American society. During this time, fear and suspicion were prevalent due to the decisions of the government, and battles occurring in Vietnam.
There was nothing that affected America in 20th century like the vietnam war,It tore the nation apart .It was a costly war which took three million lives . The main reason it has so much impact on america was that some people were for the war but so many were against it .The younger nation ,especially the young men who were drafted ,did not...
The Tet Offensive was the turning point in the Vietnam War due to the surprising high causalities, but most importantly the psychological effects towards the American citizens. Although NVA and Vietcong made a devastating tactical error, which caused them to miserably lose against the US army and SVA, they were able to end the American assistance to the SVA. General S. L. A. Marshall said,” a potential major victory turned into a disastrous defeat through mistaken estimates, loss of nerve, and a tidal wave of defeatism (Zabecki).” The Tet offensive should have been a clear victory for the US. However, without the US, the NVA and Vietcong would eventually defeat SVA. If US had continued the war, southern Vietnam would have triumph over northern Vietnam.
...untry to war at anytime and anywhere in the world. Because of this, the American people want to have confidence in its leader’s abilities. Plus, the actions of the President and his staff have a direct influence on the thoughts and perceptions of the people towards interference in foreign countries. Most people did not find the threat of Vietnam falling to communist rule as justification for the number of lives that were lost.
In May of 1942, Japanese Admiral Isorosku Yamamoto devised a plan to draw the US Pacific fleet into battle where he could completely destroy it. To accomplish this master plan of his, he sought out the invasion of Midway Island which would provide a base for the Japan troops to attack Hawaii. Unfortunately for Yamamoto, America decrypted Japanese radio transmissions and Admiral Chester Nimitz was able to establish a counter attack against this offensive. Nimitz sent three aircraft carriers, The USS Enterprise, The USS Hornet and The USS Yorktown to destroy the Japanese. This is just a short overview of The Battle of Midway, or as commonly referred to as, the battle that changed the war. People argue that it had no affect on the war, but those critics couldn’t be farther from the truth. The Battle of Midway was the turning point of the war because it fully enters America into the war, it kicked off the Pacific Campaign, and it had Japan on the defensive, thus preventing them from helping The Axis Forces.
The political and societal ramifications of Vietnam's Tet Offensive indubitably illustrate the historical oddity of 1968. 1967 had not been a bad year for most Americans. Four years after the profound panic evoked by the assassination of John Kennedy, the general public seemed to be gaining a restored optimism, and even the regularly protested Vietnam War still possessed the semblance of success (Farber and Bailey 34-54). However, three short weeks following the eve of 68, Americans abruptly obtained a radically different outlook. The Tet Offensive, beginning on January 30, 1968, consisted of a series of military incursions during the Vietnam War, coordinated between the National Liberation Front's People's Liberation Armed Forces (PLAF), or "Viet Cong," and the ...
For nine years, the United States were hell-bent in achieving their rightful victory in Vietnam, however, destiny had different plans for them. The Tet Offensive is considered the turning point of the Vietnam Conflict because of the fact that the Vietcong and North Vietnamese Army surprised the U.S and South Vietnam with several sporadic attacks. Consequently, many effects from these attacks were expected, not only for America, but for North and South Vietnam as well. With U.S citizens’ opinions quickly turning against U.S. involvement in Vietnam, South Vietnam faced much disaster. Its government was stricken with humility because of the increased abandonment of their army, leading to the inability to protect its citizens. On the other hand, North Vietnam began accepting great amounts of land along with the power to frighten the rural population.
Kennedy and Diem were both killed in 1963 and 1964. Johnson took control of the situation by increasing the amount of money and manpower put into Vietnam. Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, giving the president full military power. After Johnson dramatically escalated the amount of soldiers in Vietnam, The North Vietnamese mounted a surprise attack during the Vietnamese new year, and this strike was called the Tet Offensive. It made America more aware of what they were up against, that the communists were capable of fierce, guerrilla warfare, unlike anything Americans had ever fought before. Images of the terror and disarray reached back home, and the U.S. began to wonder how effective their involvement in Vietnam really was.