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started to be asked by American troops and its citizens was: ?Is this the offensive or not??

The answer to that question was yes, the battle ended up being called ?the most important

battle of the world? (Anzalone 4).

The first attack was not the Tet-Offensive. This larger battle was composed of

many smaller battles. On January 21st, 1968, at 12:30 a.m., the North Vietnamese 325

division launched an assault against Hill 861, a marine outpost northwest of the main

combat base (?Massacre?). Following that battle, there were many other battles, until

mid/late February. And end to the Tet-Offensive finally came into view. On February

20th, there were 47 marines killed, 240 badly wounded, and 60 wounded, but still fighting

(?More?). The Americans had actually killed more than four times the number of dead on

their side. They started fighting the Platoon Task Force, which included a sniper team.

They had two buildings to secure before they could take over the tower. Amazingly, there

was no resistance in the two buildings of the tower itself. On February 21st, the northeast

wall of the Citadel fell to Major Thompson?s 1st Battalion marines. The marines then

hoisted an American flag over the liberated South Vietnamese soil (more specifically, the

Citadel). The Tet-Offensive finally came to an end. The Black Panther Company of the

1st ARVN Division?s 2nd Battalion, 3rd Regiment, secured the main flagpole at the

Midday Gate of the Imperial Palace. At 5:00 a.m., they hauled down the NLF (National

Liberation Front) flag, that ran up the yellow and red standard of the Republic of Vietnam

(?Vietnam?). Although the battle was then officially over, there were still many losses.

There were 5,113 NVA/VC dead in Hue, and 89 captured (Young 65). The ARVN had

384 casualties, and 1,830 wounded (73). Among the civilians of Hue, there were 5,800

listed as dead or missing, most of whom had been killed by communist death squads and

buried in mass graves in the inner city (98). The U.S. Army had 74 dead and 507

seriously wounded (15). And, the Marine Corps had 147 dead, and 857 seriously

wounded (Anzalone 2).

From the experience of the Tet-Offensive, the American?s learned to never

underestimate the abilities of their enemies. In this battle, each side proved something to

the other. The Vietnamese Communists proved that they were able to pull off a

large-scale uprising and also still fight with a lot of power. The Americans proved that

they too could hold up their side of the fight, but they also learned that sometimes there

are no true winners in a battle, each side has its casualties and failures.

Bibliography

Young, Marilyn B. The Vietnam Wars: 1945-1990. New York: HarperCollins,

1991.

Massacre at Hue. 25 November 1999. Excerpt from the Viet Cong Strategy of

Terror. 6 Apr. 2000 .

Couteau, Robert. Home Page. New Insights Into the Spirit of Place. 6 Apr.

2000. .

Anzalone, Tom. Home Page. Tet 1968. 6 Apr. 2000. .

Porter, D. Gareth. Home Page. University of Texas. The 1968 Hue Massacre. 6

Apr. 2000. .

Vietnam. 17 Feb. 1998. The History Net. 8 Apr. 2000. .

Mueller, James M. Tet in Hue. 6 Apr. 2000. .

More About the 1968 Tet Offensive. 19 Mar. 1998. Fortune City. 10 Apr.

2000. .

Omicinski, John. ?Tet Offensive Marked Turn in War.? Gannett News Service 30

Jan. 1998, nat. ed.

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