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Morale of USA troops and THE TET OFFENSIVE - Coggle Diagram
Morale of USA troops and THE TET OFFENSIVE
Morale of the American Troops
● The failure to defeat the PLAF and the long-drawn war affected the morale of the American troops.
o Soldiers were young.
o Soldiers cared little about democracy or communism.
o Soldiers were not fighting for their country unlike the Viet Cong.
o Plan to send soldiers for only 1-year backfired as they were sent back as soon as they gained experience.
● In the USA, public opinion began to turn against the war, as the American media broadcasted incidents of torture and killings of civilians in Vietnam.
o The images shocked the American public, as they did not expect the extent of brutality and destruction of American actions in Vietnam.
o Americans staged demonstrations to protest against the war as it was no longer perceived to be a fight to contain communism.
o The USA was also incurring high battlefield casualties and economic costs due to the war.
A Turning Point - The Tet Offensive 1968
● During the Vietnamese New Year Holiday (the Tet Holiday), the North Vietnamese and PLAF forces launched a massive surprise offensive throughout South Vietnam.
● Viet Cong fighters attacked over 100 cities and other military targets.
● One Viet Cong commando unit tried to capture the US embassy in Saigon.
● US forces had to fight to regain control room by room.
● Around 4500 fighters tied down a much larger US and South Vietnamese force in Saigon for two days.
● The American and South Vietnamese forces were able to launch an effective counter-attack and regained control of the cities, causing heavy casualties for the communists and the withdrawal of communist forces.
● The Tet Offensive also resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians.
● In many ways the Tet Offensive was a disaster for the Communists.
o They hoped that the people of South Vietnam would rise up and join them but they didn't.
o The Viet Cong lost around 10,000 experienced fighters and were badly weakened by it.
Peace Movement in the USA
● The Tet Offensive proved to be a turning point in the war because it raised hard questions about the war in the USA.
o The American public and government began to raise questions about the effectiveness of the US forces and the chances of a lasting victory, since the vast amount of American economic ($20 billion a year) and military aid (500 000 troops) could not prevent this surprise attack.
o While US and South Vietnamese forces quickly retook the towns captured in the offensive, in the process they used enormous amounts of artillery and air power with many civilians were killed.
● Anti-Vietnam War feelings were mounting in the USA, forcing the American government to review its policies and actions in Vietnam (media war).
o Thousands of television, radio and newspaper reporters, and a vast army of photographers sent back to the USA and Europe reports and pictures of the fighting.
o Television showed prisoners being tortured or executed or women and children watching with horror as their house was set on fire.
o Instead of Vietnam being a symbol of a US crusade against Communism, it had become a symbol of defeat and confusion.
o Thousands began to 'draft dodge' - refusing to serve in Vietnam when they were called up.
o There were hundreds of demonstrations in universities across the USA.
o Horrors of My Lai Massacre