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William, Thomas Allison. "[159], Khe Sanh and its 6,000 U.S. Marine Corps, Army and ARVN defenders was surrounded by two to three PAVN divisions, totaling approximately 20,000 men. [168][169], Hanoi had underestimated the strategic mobility of the allied forces, which allowed them to redeploy at will to threatened areas; their battle plan was too complex and difficult to coordinate, which was amply demonstrated by the 30 January attacks; their violation of the principle of mass, attacking everywhere instead of concentrating their forces on a few specific targets, allowed their forces to be defeated piecemeal; the launching of massed attacks headlong into the teeth of vastly superior firepower; and last, but not least, the incorrect assumptions upon which the entire campaign was based. American POWs held there during the Vietnam War. [48] This did little to reduce the opposition to Thiu. [170] According to General Tran Van Tra: "We did not correctly evaluate the specific balance of forces between ourselves and the enemy, did not fully realize that the enemy still had considerable capabilities, and that our capabilities were limited, and set requirements that were beyond our actual strength. A Romanian man who was part of an international human smuggling ring was sentenced Tuesday July 11, 2023, to more than 12 years in prison for the deaths of 39 migrants from Vietnam who suffocated were found lifeless in a truck trailer in England in 2019. Stanley Karnow claims he confirmed this figure in Hanoi in 1981. Cu Chi Tunnels - Facts, History & Length [48] The Americans could only be worn down in a war of wills during a period of "fighting while talking". HISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. Palmer, p. 245. During one, on May 4, 1970, at Kent State University in Ohio, National Guardsmen shot and killed four students. With training and equipment from American military and the CIA, Diems security forces cracked down on Viet Minh sympathizers in the south, whom he derisively called Viet Cong (or Vietnamese Communist), arresting some 100,000 people, many of whom were brutally tortured and executed. The Viet Cong were South Vietnamese supporters of the communist National Liberation Front in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War (known in Vietnam as the American War). The main evacuation point was the DAO Compound at Tan Son Nhat; buses moved through the city picking up passengers and driving them out to the airport, with the first buses arriving at Tan Son Nhat shortly after noon. During this crucial crisis, however, no South Vietnamese unit broke or defected to the communists. The ARVN III Corps commander, General Ton, had organized five centers of resistance to defend the city. [144][145] 4050%[146][147] of Hu was destroyed by the end of the battle. [150] Those taken into custody included South Vietnamese military personnel, present and former government officials, local civil servants, teachers, policemen, and religious figures. Their basis for this conclusion included: a belief that the South Vietnamese military was no longer combat-effective; the results of the 1967 presidential election (in which the Thiu/K ticket had only received 24 percent of the popular vote); the Buddhist crises of 1963 and 1966; well-publicized anti-war demonstrations in Saigon; and continuous criticism of the Thiu government in the southern press. ", "Giai Phong! Further information on the U.S. effort prior to 1968: Further information on the battle for the city: Further information on communist atrocities committed during the occupation: Further information on operations around the Combat Base: Further information on the debate over the media's portrayal of the offensive and the public response: Further information on Phase II of the offensive: Further information on Phase III of the offensive: The South Vietnamese government estimated North Vietnamese forces at 323,000, including 130,000 regulars and 160,000 guerrillas. The origins of "Viet Cong," like those of the Vietnam War, are not found in America's Saigon embassy. It claimed,"In one day of ferocious fighting we . These records were transferred into the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration in 2008. [19] When the offensive did begin, a total of 27 allied maneuver battalions defended the city and the surrounding area. [38] Throughout April the speed of the evacuation increased, as the Defense Attach Office (DAO) began to fly out nonessential personnel. [37] Flights out of Saigon, lightly booked under ordinary circumstances, were full. [131], During the first days of the North Vietnamese occupation, U.S. intelligence vastly underestimated the number of PAVN troops and little appreciated the effort that was going to be necessary to evict them. Read More: Causes and Effects of the Vietnam War. The Fall and Liberation of Saigon, by Tiziano Terzani", "Post-Paris Agreement Struggles and the Fall of Saigon", "Was it 'fall' or 'liberation' of Saigon? [189] During this period, the PAVN would undergo a significant strategic re-structuring, being built into a combined-arms capable force while continually applying pressure on the U.S./ARVN with lighter infantry units. [73] On 20 December, Westmoreland cabled Washington that he expected the PAVN/VC "to undertake an intensified countrywide effort, perhaps a maximum effort, over a relatively short period of time. [35] A poll taken in November indicated that 55 percent wanted a tougher war policy, exemplified by the public belief that "it was an error for us to have gotten involved in Vietnam in the first place. In their memoirs, both Johnson and Westmoreland stated that they had predicted the offensive. The President was to make a televised address to the nation on Vietnam policy on 31 March and was deliberating on both the troop request and his response to the military situation. "[29] On 14April, they renamed the campaign the "H Ch Minh campaign", after revolutionary leader H Ch Minh, in hopes of wrapping it up before his birthday on 19 May. [162] Khe Sanh Base was later closed on 5 July 1968 because the base was seen as having less of a strategic importance than before. The main offensive was preceded by attacks on the border towns of Ty Ninh, An Lc, and Loc Ninh, which were initiated in order to draw defensive forces from the cities. Viet Cong - Wikipedia According to one estimate by late 1968, of a total of 125,000 main force troops in the South, 85,000 were of North Vietnamese origin. Both sides wanted the same thing: a unified Vietnam. RVNAF F-5s took off in pursuit, but they were unable to intercept the A-37s. The sound of gunfire alerted base sentries, who secured the gate and sounded the alarm. [28], In May, MACV attempted to obtain a compromise from the CIA by maintaining that VC militias did not constitute a fighting force but were essentially low-level fifth columnists used for information collection. [192], A political rivalry had also re-emerged after the 1967 South Vietnamese presidential election, when the coalition between Nguyn Vn Thiu and Air Force commander Nguyn Cao K re-emerged. "[156] In Westmoreland's view, the purpose of the base was to provoke the North Vietnamese into a focused and prolonged confrontation in a confined geographic area, one which would allow the application of massive U.S. artillery and air strikes that would inflict heavy casualties in a relatively unpopulated region. [168] Marilyn B. "[232] Between the results of Tet and the meetings of the group that bore his name, he became convinced that deescalation was the only solution for the United States. The final assessment of the majority stupefied the group. [87], In the days immediately preceding the offensive, the preparedness of allied forces was relatively relaxed. History Origin Soldiers and civilians took supplies south on the Ho Chi Minh trail (1959) By the terms of the Geneva Accord (1954), which ended the Indochina War, France and the Viet Minh agreed to a truce and to a separation of forces. pitting the so-called Viet Cong, who were sponsored by North Vietnam, against Diem's forces. [60] The resultant Resolution 14 was a major blow to domestic opposition and "foreign obstruction". [18] The purpose of the wide-scale offensive by the Hanoi Politburo was to trigger political instability, in a belief that mass armed assault on urban centers would trigger defections and rebellions. On November 15, 1969, the largest anti-war demonstration in American history took place in Washington, D.C., as over 250,000 Americans gathered peacefully, calling for withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam. [163], Except at Hu and mopping-up operations in and around Saigon, the first surge of the offensive was over by the second week of February. They believed that Vietnam did not have the experience to rule itself. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! The North Vietnamese plan of attack on Hu involved intensive preparation and reconnaissance. Heading this faction were party theorist Trng Chinh and Minister of Defense V Nguyn Gip. [219] By obliquely ordering Westmoreland to demand more forces, Wheeler was attempting to solve two pressing problems. General Tran Do, PAVN commander at the battle of Hu, gave some insight into how defeat was translated into victory: In all honesty, we didn't achieve our main objective, which was to spur uprisings throughout the South. [241], By 22 March, President Johnson had informed Kentrell to "forget the 100,000" men. In response to this pressure, Thiu made some changes to his cabinet, and Prime Minister Trn Thin Khim resigned. In 1976, Vietnam was unified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, though sporadic violence continued over the next 15 years, including conflicts with neighboring China and Cambodia. The ARVN finally withdrew from Xun Lc on 20April having inflicted heavy losses on the PAVN, and President Thiu resigned on 21April in a tearful televised announcement in which he denounced the United States for failing to come to the aid of the South. How Many Americans Were Killed In The Vietnam War? [57]:7172 C-130 flights were stopped temporarily after the air attack but resumed at 20:00 on 28April. Opponents of the war argued that civilians, not enemy combatants, were the primary victims and that the United States was supporting a corrupt dictatorship in Saigon. Eventually White House lawyers determined that the use of American forces to rescue citizens in an emergency was unlikely to run afoul of the law, but the legality of using military assets to withdraw refugees was unknown. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. The French loss at the battle ended almost a century of French colonial rule in Indochina. For some young people, the war symbolized a form of unchecked authority they had come to resent. [194] This increase would bring South Vietnam's troop strength to more than 900,000 men. The operations, however, were not well coordinated at the local level. ", "48 U.S. soldiers killed in ambush on edge of Saigon", "G.I. "Tunnel rats," as American soldiers who worked in the Cu Chi tunnels during the Vietnam War were known, used the evocative term "black echo" to describe the experience of being. The General was then ordered to the capital to explain his concept in person to the Military Central Commission. [55] All of the arrests were based on the individual's stance on the Politburo's choice of tactics and strategy for the proposed general offensive. "[55], In October, the Politburo decided on the Tet holiday as the launch date and met again in December to reaffirm its decision and formalize it at the 14th Plenary session of the Party Central Committee in January 1968. "[182] As also noted by the official history, "because our armed local forces had suffered severe losses, guerrilla operations had declined. On 9 June, President Johnson replaced Westmoreland as commander of MACV with General Creighton W. Abrams. During their occupation, the PAVN/VC executed thousands of people in the Massacre at Hu. The operational plan for the general offensive and uprising had its origin as the "COSVN proposal" at Thanh's southern headquarters in April 1967 and had then been relayed to Hanoi the following month. The Fall of Saigon,[3][4] also called the Liberation of Saigon[5] or Liberation of the South[6][7] by the Vietnamese government, and Black April[8] by anti-communist overseas Vietnamese, was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (Viet Cong) on 30 April 1975. [140] Two of the PAVN regiments had made a forced march from the vicinity of Khe Sanh to Hu in order to participate. Viet Cong Fighters | American Experience | Official Site | PBS More arrests followed in November and December. At 03:45 on the morning of 30 April, Kissinger and Ford ordered Martin to evacuate only Americans from that point forward. The territory is being gained. On 4 February, the residents were ordered to leave their homes and the area was declared a free fire zone. [165], The leadership in Hanoi was despondent at the outcome of their offensive. [122]:4601 From 11 March to 7 April, Allied forces launched Operation Quyet Thang to pacify the area around Saigon. People's Army of Vietnam /Viet Cong forces killed around 164,000 civilians in democide between 1954 and 1975 in South Vietnam, from a range of between 106,000 and 227,000, plus another 50,000 killed in North Vietnam. The Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File of the Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) Extract Files contains records of 58,220 U.S. military fatal casualties of the Vietnam War. The U.S . "[172] General Wheeler reported that the offensive had brought counterinsurgency programs to a halt and "that to a large extent, the VC now controlled the countryside". Tet Offensive - Wikipedia The Khe Sanh actions would draw PAVN forces away from the offensive into the cities, but Gip considered them necessary in order to protect his supply lines and divert American attention. Psychologically, the effects ran even deeper. The surrender announcement was recorded by German journalist Brries Gallasch's tape recorder. [46], By 19661967, however, after suffering massive casualties, stalemate on the battlefield, and destruction of the northern economy by U.S. aerial bombing, there was a dawning realization that if current trends continued, Hanoi would eventually lack the resources necessary to affect the military situation in the South. [24] The political situation in South Vietnam, after the 1967 South Vietnamese presidential election, looked increasingly stable. [29] According to MACV's chief of intelligence, General Joseph A. McChristian, the new figures "would create a political bombshell", since they were positive proof that the North Vietnamese "had the capability and the will to continue a protracted war of attrition". According to the U.S. State Department, the VC "made pacification virtually inoperative. Concurrently, a propaganda offensive to induce ARVN troops to desert and the South Vietnamese population to rise up against the government would be launched. In the aftermath of Tet, K supporters in the military and the administration were quickly removed from power, arrested, or exiled. According to it, many high-level officials believed that the U.S. troop increase would be matched by the communists and would simply maintain a stalemate at a higher level of violence. If Westmoreland had a grasp of the potential for danger, he did not communicate it very well to others. The tunnels also hosted armament workshops, training depots, headquarters, and a variety of other facilities. Continuing their border-clearing operations, three PAVN regiments asserted heavy pressure on the U.S. Special Forces camp at Bu Prang, in Quang Duc Province, five kilometers from the Cambodian border. [32] The victory at Xun Lc, which had drawn many South Vietnamese troops away from the Mekong Delta area,[32] opened the way for PAVN to encircle Saigon, and they soon did so, moving 100,000 troops in position around the city by 27April. South VietnamUnited StatesAllied forces: In Phase One: South Vietnam:4,954 killed15,917 wounded926 missing Others: 4,124 killed19,295 wounded604 missingTotal casualties in Phase One:45,820 casualties: Phase One, Phase Two and Phase Three: Trn Vn Tr reports (Phase One and Two):75,000+ killed and wounded[12]PAVN source (total for 3 phases):111,179 casualties: The Tet Offensive[16] was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. Ambassador, Ellsworth Bunker, to Washington, D.C., for what was billed as a "high-level policy review". [67] The offensive, therefore, was aimed at influencing the South Vietnamese public, not that of the U.S. How eight countries got involved in the Vietnam War's Cold War proxy battle. The civil war in Vietnam lasted from 1955 to 1975, with direct U.S. military involvement from 1964 to 1973. [64] Ambassador Martin was ordered by President Ford to board the evacuation helicopter. The next few years would bring even more carnage, including the horrifying revelation that U.S. soldiers had mercilessly slaughtered more than 400 unarmed civilians in the village of My Lai in March 1968. [19] The offensive was the largest military operation conducted by either side up to that point in the war. [25] Protests, campaigning and the atmosphere of elections had been interpreted by the Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam and L Dun as signs that the population would embrace a 'general uprising' against the government of South Vietnam. [78] The intense shelling (100150 rounds per day) prompted Westmoreland to launch Operation Neutralize, an intense aerial bombardment campaign of 4,000 sorties into and just north of the DMZ. Working under the domino theory, which held that if one Southeast Asian country fell to communism, many other countries would follow, Kennedy increased U.S. aid, though he stopped short of committing to a large-scale military intervention. To "break the will of their domestic opponents and reaffirm their autonomy vis--vis their foreign allies", hundreds of pro-Soviet, party moderates, military officers, and intelligentsia were arrested on 27 July 1967, during what came to be called the Revisionist Anti-Party Affair. The U.S. War in Vietnam - Statistics & Facts | Statista One of the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy planes involved in the operation crashed, killing 155 passengers and crew and seriously reducing the morale of the American staff. The Cu Chi front, to the northwest, was defended by the 25th Division; the Binh Duong front, to the north, was the responsibility of the 5th Division; the Bien Hoa front, to the northeast, was defended by the 18th Division; the Vung Tau and 15 Route front, to the southeast, were held by the 1st Airborne Brigade and one battalion of the 3rd Division; and the Long An front, for which the Capital Military District Command was responsible, was defended by elements of the re-formed 22nd Division. [38] General Bruce Palmer Jr., one of Westmoreland's three Field Force commanders, claimed that "the Viet Cong has been defeated" and that "He can't get food and he can't recruit. [66] Meanwhile, members of the police in Saigon had been promised evacuation in exchange for protecting the American evacuation buses and control of the crowds in the city during the evacuation. Despite the later inclusion of the South Vietnamese and the NLF, the dialogue soon reached an impasse, and after a bitter 1968 election season marred by violence, Republican Richard M. Nixon won the presidency. Nixon ended draft calls in 1972, and instituted an all-volunteer army the following year. Simultaneously a U.S. Navy advisor contacted the U.S. military police who soon attacked the VC from adjoining streets, the resulting crossfire ended the attack, killing eight sappers with two captured. Includes casualties incurred during the "Border Battles", Tet Mau Than and the second and third phases of the offensive. [74][75], At approximately 10:30 Major Pham at Tan Son Nhut Air Base heard of the surrender broadcast of President Minh and went to the ARVN Joint General Staff Compound to seek instructions. North Vietnamese foreign policy therefore consisted of maintaining a critical balance between war policy, internal and external policies, domestic adversaries, and foreign allies with "self-serving agendas."[54]. In 1970, Sean Flynn, son of Vintage Hollywood legend, Errol Flynn, disappeared in Cambodia while covering the Vietnam War. "[235][236], While this was being deliberated, the troop request was leaked to the press and published in The New York Times on 10 March. [25], Protests, campaigning and the atmosphere of elections had been interpreted by the Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam and L Dun as signs that the population would embrace a 'general uprising' against the government of South Vietnam.