Journal Pieces
Journal Piece - Tet Offensive
American citizens were startled today; on January 30, 1968, when the Vietcong led by leader Ho Chi Minh attacked several major South Vietnamese cities on the day of the Vietnamese new year, otherwise known as "Tet". This massive attack comes as a shock to most American citizens, who up to this point saw this war as a winning battle which America just had to persist in. However, this successful attack has changed everything, sparking up protests against the war and demoralizing American citizens who were supporting the war due to clear government proclamations that everything was under control in Vietnam and that the U.S. was on the winning end of the front. However, whether that were true or not, it is clear now that the Vietcong have no intention of surrendering any time soon, and that all information provided by our government hasn't been entirely true. Therefore it is put into question whether the United States is winning this war with the Vietcong. Hopefully we can remain updated as this war continues, as the American government has deceived us. Now we know that the Vietcong is much more in this war than the public has been informed. The next action to come is whether to stay in the war or to bow to the rising protesters of anti-war movements appearing all over the country. American citizens can only hope that the government can make the right decision to represent them now, when it means the most.
This is Walie Wilson signing off. Have a good day and stay safe out there! Radio Interview AnalysisThis radio interview provides Americans with the information being otherwise misconceived in America where reality is seen and the Tet Offensive becomes clearly a problematic situation. This soldier went through the experience of traveling between several of the battlegrounds occurring all at once on the day of the Tet Offensive. Yet what is truly stunning about this report is the intense focus on the confusion over the radio message that Americans thought they had intercepted from the Vietcong, when no troops showed up. He claimed that troops were still searching for three battalions supposedly within the area of Saigon, yet this was in reality a hoax for when Vietcong troops invaded several other cities in the area. This was a highly successful military setup from the Vietnamese enemy because less troops were sent to each of these separate locations that the Vietcong attacked throughout the day which was the intended purpose of this fake message. Then the Vietcong had significant leverage in the war because they controlled many critical points such as supply bases and military bases as well as major cities which when released to the public was a stunning announcement.
This was likely a military operation that turned the course of the war overall, because the lacking of public support for the war made funding far more difficult , and as a result the United States was faced with a difficult decision on whether to continue the fight in hope of containment policies taking over or taking action for the belief that most of the public share since the people have knowledge against the current president Lyndon B. Johnson's claim that the United States was "winning" the war. The overlying result was a slow drop out which was the process of Vietnamization, but casualties of Vietcong soldiers were substantial which was not a factor brought before the public to bring into consideration. This could have been critical and could have actually won the war if Americans just pushed back. However, not only the public, but the government was becoming more skeptical over time and a denial of troops by Johnson showed his own intentions to keep the war going fading away. |
Info to know from InterviewSoldier description of Tet Offensive and General War radio interview - https://archive.org/details/NewsReportOnTheTetOffensive.LectureTowardsRevolutionaryEcological
Important info from this interview "Vietnamese soldiers are well trained, well disciplined, highly motivated..." "They are not the rag-tag peasant gorillas the Americans have become accustomed to hunting. |