The Tet Offensive: A Brief History with Documents

by Allison; William Thomas

• ISBN13: 9780415956802
• ISBN10: 0415956803
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-03-17
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

The Tet Offensive is widely considered to be a turning point of the Vietnam War. From that point forward, although the campaigns included in the Offensive were crushing defeats for the Communist forces, the U.S. support for the war dwindled. Although defeated militarily, the Communists did effectively manipulate media influence, propaganda, and popular opinion to sway the outcome of their military objectives. Through primary sources, collected together for the first time, William Thomas Allison explores the Tet Offensive through political, military, and public lenses, including the Vietnamese perspective, to give students and scholars a well-rounded view of the events.

Author Biography

William Thomas Allison is Professor of History at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. x
List of illustrations	p. xi
List of abbreviations	p. xiii
Chronology	p. xv
Introduction	p. 1
The Tet Offensive	p. 5
Background: the situation before Tet	p. 7
The American political and military context	p. 7
The South Vietnamese political and military context	p. 16
The North Vietnamese political and military context	p. 19
North Vietnamese planning and objectives	p. 22
The Tet campaign	p. 28
The Border Battles	p. 28
The Battle of Khe Sanh	p. 33
Tet begins	p. 40
The battle for Saigon	p. 42
The across South Vietnam	p. 49
The battle for Hue	p. 50
The aftermath of Tet	p. 57
The request for more troops	p. 58
Public opinion	p. 61
A change in policy	p. 63
The impact of Tet	p. 69
On the NLF/PLAF	p. 69
On North Vietnam	p. 70
On South Vietnam	p. 71
On the United States	p. 71
Documents	p. 77
JUSPAO Field Memorandum Number 31: A Vietnamese looks at Tet: November 28, 1966	p. 79
Memorandum from the Special Assistant for Counterinsurgency and Special Activities (DePuy) to the Director, Joint Staff (Goodpaster): September 8, 1967	p. 83
Address on Vietnam before the National Legislative Conference, San Antonio, Texas: September 29, 1967	p. 85
Memorandum from the President's Assistant (Jones) to President Johnson: meeting of the Wise Men: November 2, 1967	p. 92
Telegram from the Embassy in Vietnam to the Department of State: November 22, 1967	p. 108
Telegram from the Commander, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (Westmoreland) to the Deputy Commander, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (Abrams): November 25, 1967	p. 109
Telegram from General Westmoreland, COMUSMACV, to General Wheeler, CJCS: December 10, 1967	p. 111
Information memorandum from the President's Special Assistant (Rostow) to President Johnson: December 16, 1967	p. 115
U.S., puppets, to sabotage holiday cease-fire on Liberation Radio in Vietnamese to South Vietnam: December 18, 1967	p. 117
Memorandum from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Wheeler) to Secretary of Defense McNamara: January 20, 1968	p. 120
Memorandum from the Joint Chiefs of Staff to President Johnson: January 29, 1968	p. 122
Telegram from the Commander of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (Westmoreland) to the Commander in Chief, Pacific Forces (Sharp) and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Wheeler): January 30, 1968	p. 124
Notes of meeting: January 30, 1968	p. 126
Intelligence memorandum: January 31, 1968	p. 130
Interrogation of Ngo Van Giang: January 28-January 31, 1968	p. 133
Interrogation of Nguyen Van Sau: January 28-January 31, 1968	p. 138
Telegram from General Westmoreland, COMSUMACV, to General Wheeler, CJCS: February 1, 1968	p. 144
Telegram from the Commander, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (Westmoreland) to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Wheeler): February 1, 1968	p. 145
Memorandum from William J. Jorden of the National Security Council Staff to the President's Special Assistant (Rostow): February 3, 1968	p. 147
Telegram from the Commander, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (Westmoreland) to the Commander in Chief, Pacific Forces (Sharp): February 3, 1968	p. 151
Telegram from the Embassy in Vietnam to the Department of State: February 4, 1968	p. 153
Telegram from General Westmoreland, COMUSMACV, to General Wheeler, CJCS: February 4, 1968	p. 158
Memorandum from the President's Special Assistant (Rostow) to President Johnson: February 6, 1968	p. 160
Notes of meeting: February 7, 1968	p. 163
Notes of meeting: February 9, 1968	p. 167
Telegram from the Commander, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (Westmoreland) to the Commander in Chief, Pacific Command (Sharp) and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Wheeler): February 12, 1968	p. 177
Notes of meeting: February 12, 1968	p. 180
After action report, 716th Military Police Battalion: February 12, 1968	p. 187
PLAF Command salutes 20-day fight in Hue over Liberation Radio (South Vietnam People's Liberation Armed Forces Command's message to the armed forces and people of Hue): February 21, 1968	p. 193
Memorandum from the Ambassador's Special Assistant (Lansdale) to the Ambassador to Vietnam (Bunker): February 27, 1968	p. 196
Notes of meeting: February 27, 1968	p. 206
Walter Cronkite on CBS News: February 27, 1968	p. 209
Report by the Joint Chiefs of Staff: March 1, 1968	p. 211
Memorandum from the President's Special Assistant (Rostow) to President Johnson: March 6, 1968	p. 215
Telegram from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Wheeler) to the Commander, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (Westmoreland) and the Commander in Chief, Pacific (Sharp): March 8, 1968	p. 218
President Johnson's remarks to delegates to the National Farmers Union Convention in Minneapolis: March 18, 1968	p. 221
Telephone conversation between President Johnson and Secretary of Defense Clifford: March 20, 1968	p. 226
Letter from 2nd Lieutenant Ray Smith, USMC, to Captain Batcheller, USMC: March 25, 1968	p. 230
Medal of Honor citation for Sergeant Alfredo Gonzales, United States Marine Corps	p. 233
President Johnson's address to the nation: March 31, 1968	p. 235
Report on Operation Bigbuild: c. July 1968	p. 245
Notes	p. 253
Bibliography	p. 256
Index	p. 260
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