"The Tet Offensive" 1968 - Vietnam Remembered Series

[@Combat556]

I was a Marine stationed at Camp Carroll during the TET Offensive, January 1968. I’ll never forget that time of my life, and how my life changed.

[@Americanpatriot-zo2tk]

I’m a Navy veteran myself. I want to say thank you very much for your service you guys were up against an awful lot. If it weren’t for heroes like you we wouldn’t enjoy the freedoms we have today. Thank you.

[@Combat556]

@@Americanpatriot-zo2tk thank you sir, and thank you for your service as well. Stay safe, stay strong in that patriotic spirit.

[@Americanpatriot-zo2tk]

@@Combat556 Brother, we’re sure we’re gonna need it since you’re a veteran and marine you know what is coming. In any case one more time thank you for your service God bless you and your family is always greeting from the state of Kentucky..

[@MusaA]

Americans love to kill, torture, rape and pillage but the cowards hate to die and have a low tolerance for pain!

[@rossbabcock3790]

Gulf 2/5. Hue City and the Citadel. It's funny how a few days can stay with you.

[@mariannflynn9739]

My brother was in the Army and fought in the Tet Offensive. Was wounded helping another solider and was blind for three months and was never the same. Came home a drug addict and never remained sober for long. He died at 46 miss him every day.

[@dennisgordon7767]

fuck. sorry to hear this horrible outcome.

[@donthevalen]

Sorry for your loss, I hope your heart heals one day. Pass your good memories of him along to others🫂

[@cindifranck72]

Sorry. My brother was in the army also and was killed defending the Tan Son San Nhut Airbase Jan 31. I miss him everyday too.

[@eckhal2]

52 years ago in 1968 on this date I was deployed on an emergency airlift from Dover AFB to Barksdale AFB, LA in support of an around the clock airlift of Cobra Helicopter Gunships and munitions to NAM in response to the TET Offensive. Was a USAF avionics tech. We were their for about 5-6 weeks with transports coming every few hours from bases all over the states. We were busy. 🇺🇸🗽

[@gggamer2738]

in your opinion if the US continued the war would you have won? and to what extent did the media sabotage the war effort.

[@njhoepner]

@@jamesboardman2721 Of course, if we had not stepped in to stop the nationwide elections that were agreed to in the 1954 peace treaty, there would have been no war either...or if we had supported Vietnamese independence in 1945 instead of handing the place back to the French. The bottom line is we stepped in and picked a fight we had no need to pick, because of our fear of a "domino effect." We invented South Vietnam out of whole cloth, and then found we could not make it stand on its own. Our mistake (and our hubris) to start with.

[@jamesboardman2721]

One more You don’t get off the hook that easy The 1954 elections you talk about, almost no one supported that And to boot there was a mass exodus of Catholics and Christians who were being singled out and prosecuted by ho chi minh Hanoi communist uprising Minh made himself a cult following much like mao did in China in 1945 He saw his opportunity to take over the country and make it fully commie When most farmers and working people in the south didn’t care or want his regime in power, as is the case now with most Vietnamese We are not France Heck France doesn’t even like us to this day We were not colonials going into Vietnam Republic of South Vietnam decided with France gone to create there own government much like the communists did in Hanoi Nothing wrong with that Freedom right ? Isn’t that what’s it’s all about When Hanoi saw they weren’t gonna be able to take over south Vietnam they created in the late 50s guerrillas and commie lovers to infiltrate the south, this led to students getting brainwashed Buddha’s burnings themselves at the direction of commie sympathizers and created a civil war We went in because the republic of south Vietnam asked us to And it was worth it By the time we were on the ground in the late 50s with advisers the Vietnamese were killing each other, we came in to help our allies You sir want to rewrite history with a commie narrative, it’s ok 👍 Truth hurts 😎

[@njhoepner]

@@jamesboardman2721 I notice your responses always throw around a lot of ad hominem and a lot of "anyone who doesn't agree with ME is an atheist communist devil worshiper" attitude...which kind of shows the overall weakness in your argument itself. 1) Realizing that this country has made errors - we are human and therefore not perfect - does not equate to "spit on the 58,000 plus dead," as your hyperbole would have it. Not all of our wars have been necessary, and not all of them have been about defending freedom...in addition to Vietnam, one could add the suppression of Philippine independence in 1899-1901, the unprovoked invasion of Mexico in 1846 (a pure land grab), and the unprovoked invasion of Iraq in 2003. It is no disrespect to the soldiers who served in those wars (including myself in the last one) to simply recognize the truth. 2) Whether everybody wanted elections in 1954 or not, they were: 1) agreed to in a signed treaty; 2) the basis of our democratic principles; and 3) the only way to ascertain the will of the entire Vietnamese people. I guess you're saying the Vietnamese people do not have the right to elect whomever they choose, they only have the right to elect someone who meets with U.S. approval? 3) Ho Chi Minh and his forces were our allies in 1944-45...again, simple fact, doesn't matter whether you like it or not. 4) There was nothing "free" about the Republic of Vietnam, it was a military dictatorship established by us out of fear of the expansion of Communism...again, just facts. 5) Those Buddhist monks were not burning themselves at the behest of communists (whom they despised) but in protest of the actions of the Diem regime, which was openly oppressing the Buddhist majority in favor of their Catholic minority...and was part of much wider protests against his regime for just that reason. In a way, you argue against yourself - admitting on the one hand that Ho Chi Minh would have easily won elections in 1954 (which is the truth behind your "but...but...but...it was a cult of personality" excuse), and insisting on the other hand that South Vietnam had the right to set itself up without elections. Of course, South Vietnam did not set itself up, it was set up by us, and maintained by us, from the start...it could never have survived on its own, even after twenty years of massive U.S. support it still couldn't. Again, just a fact. The bottom line is, by any democratic principles, Ho would have won a free and fair election in 1954 (as you've admitted); so we stepped in to prevent the Vietnamese people from electing who they clearly would have chosen if left to themselves; then we created the Republic of South Vietnam; which then (of course) asked for our protection; which we then provided; so that, after twenty more years and 58,000 American dead (and over one million Vietnamese), we managed to achieve what could have been achieved if we had simply let the elections happen in 1954...with less bitterness, less destruction, and less bloodshed. Brilliant.

[@pedrocoentro2009]

@@njhoepner We don´t know what would have been. Some reports say the massive support for communists was what started the bankrupcy of the Soviet Union. You are right though, many lives would have been spared. Peace

[@johnramirez3247]

To all the victims of war both sides, may you all rest in peace.

[@CandC68]

I was camp security officer in B-42, SF camp in Chau Doc (province capital) during Tet. We had some intel that something was coming. Around midnight the new year celebrators were firing tracers up into the sky, like fireworks. Couple hours later the tracer fire was level with the ground. Tet had started. During the 3 days of local activity we had had a SEAL team spending time with us. (the one Richard Marcinco was in. Read "Rogue Warrior" for his view of Tet.). They came back off their planned op and went into town to clear it out. 1.100 structures in Chau Doc were burned to the ground during Tet. The night sky was so bright from the fires, you could read by it.

[@larryboatwright1660]

I was in the Army stationed at. Camp Carroll on the OP outside Camp Carroll in 1968. I'll never forget that time of my life.

[@crazyhorseranchaz]

WELL BOYS I WAS THERE WITH THE 3RD /39TH. I WAS ARMY, THIS VIDEO MAKES IT SOUND LIKE MARINES ONLY AMERICAN IN THIS BATTLE,, I GOT NEWS FOR THEM. WE WENT BUILDING TO BUILDING, CLOSE AS YOU CAN GET TO THE ENEMY. IT WAS A FIGHT I'LL REMEMBER, I'LL SAY ONE THING ABOUT OUR ENEMY BACK THEN, THEY WERE BRAVE FIGHTERS, TOUGH LITTLE GUYS. VERY FEW EVER RAN OR SURRENDERD. PISS ME OFF ONLY MARINES MENTIONED, BUT MARINES ARE WORTHY FIGHTERS AND CERTAINLY HAVE MY RESPECT AS I'M SURE THEY HAVE RESPECT FOR THE ARMY. WE FOUGHT TOGETHER AS AMERICANS TRYING TO STAY ALIVE AND GO BACK TO THE WORLD AS WE USED TO SAY. WE LOST A LOT OF GREAT YOUNG MEN THAT I THINK ABOUT EVERY DAY. WE HAD NO BUSINESS IN VIETNAM. THEY LOST THEIR LIVES FOR A POLITICAL WAR. WE WERE YOUNG AND DUMB AND DIDN'T RUN TO CANADA LIKE SOME COWARDS THAT AFTER WARD GOT TO COME BACK TO AMERICA. VIETNAM NEVER HAS LEFT MY MIND DAY OR NIGHT. ENOUGH SAID!!! GOD BLESS THE DEAD!!! THEY DIED FOR NOTHING!!!!

[@Itsatz0]

Thank you for saying that.

[@bademoxy]

the only reason why "they died for nothing" after YOU ACTUALLY WON THAT WAR ( Paris agreement) is because of Democrat congress cutting off S Vietnam from promised resupplies after Nixon left while Soviets rebuilt the NVA to renew their attacks . lame duck Ford should have bombed the NVA.

[@jimnaz5267]

God blees you for your loyal service. there is nothing wrong with respecing your enemy. Kill them, then respect.

[@anthonyfoutch3152]

If the ARVN had fought as hard as the north did things would be much different.

[@quanho3642]

@@anthonyfoutch3152 vnch đánh vì tiền

[@johnschreindorfer2439]

54 years ago my dad was there for tet it left him messed up in the head thats what war does and you will never forget it

[@kennethdaniels3000]

War is a racket for those who never have to pay for their consequences.

[@giaa3473]

Only the dead know the end of war. Plato.

[@charleswest6372]

War is stupid

[@richardwhitfill5253]

Excellent series. Interesting with a lot of information.. Richard in Dallas

[@cq7415]

Interesting footages. Needless suffering and loss of life. Thanks.

[@roywallace3964]

Got there in January of ‘69 and saw some of the results of TET on the way to Bien Hoa to be assigned to my arty base north of Long Binh. I was lucky to miss it.

[@stevent9179]

My birth year, God bless those who served....they never lost a battle. 🇺🇸

[@danielcunningham5940]

Thanks man

[@Itsatz0]

You think god is going to bless an 18 year old who was duped into fighting a peasant people?

[@njhoepner]

COL Harry Summers pointed that out to a North Vietnamese colonel in the 1980s (he was in Vietnam for the POW/MIA mission). The Vietnamese colonel responded "that may be true, it is also irrelevant."

[@6george8]

Yes. Never. They lost a war, not a battle

[@Wilson-xd4zq]

@@6george8 What war was that?

[@johnbrown2163]

If you have a Truce during wartime. Stay locked and loaded with eyes already down sights.

[@johnbrown2163]

@@BP-ic4oh Well said.

[@slickrick809]

Thank you for this series. I had no idea of the severity and length of this campaign. From what I understand, my uncle was in worst of the Tet Offensive. The only thing that he has ever said about it to our family is that they thought that it would never end. Guess that's why he is has never really come home from thar war, even after over 50 years of being back in the States.

[@Rastamon1]

I was in Danang on a USARPAC Calibration Team during Tet. It began there a day earlier than in most other areas.

[@jmsmaxwell]

As with many American military members I was there at Danang AB. We had just got off work and were headed for the barrack in Camp Danang when we hear the rockets go overhead just past midnight. Our bus was delayed about 10 minutes or the casualty rate would have been higher as our three barracks were blown up by 122mm rockets. I along with the other members of my Squadron lost every thing in that attack and it, for most, was the first time we ever came under fire from the enemy. As a Member of the 6924 Security Squadron (USAFSS) the even still remains high in my mind and I have flash blacks ever time fireworks are set off in my area.

[@Rastamon1]

Yes it hit Danang Air Base a day earlier then in most other areas of Vietnam. We'd finished drinking and partying at a green beanie bar in downtown Danang, returned to the air base and the rocket attack began shortly after midnight. Crazy but interesting times

[@dennisgordon7767]

@@Rastamon1 crazy, i lived in danang through covid. from what ive heard US guys paid to leave agent orange under the airfield so dont drink the tap water. Ive lived in VN for 3 years and to hear towns ive been to come up in history by you guys who are still alive and remember it, its surreal. Then i see young vietnamese wearing american flag shirts and old people not giving me an ounce of shit (one time a drunk guy in an alley jokingly punched me, a tiny bit harder than jokingly, thats the only transgression ive had ever in vietnam, and ive been drunk there a good number of times). Times change. Wonderful people the vietnamese, and cunning so its a shame there was such a war.

[@fabiosunspot1112]

Ho chi Minh lost 40 thousand men during the tet offensive but this was the beginning of the end for South Vietnam...

[@bradr2142]

One of there general's Gip said one more year of fighting it would of been all over for nva. What does that tell ya.

[@dailypinoytech6132]

@@bradr2142 then what happened to that one year?

[@charleswest6372]

We shouldn't have been there to start with

[@Americanpatriot-zo2tk]

The moral of the story here is you don’t fight with one hand tied behind your back.

[@McmM-cv9sb]

I just like to say thank you to all of the ones that serve a special thanks to the ones that didn't make it back home God bless them and their families they never lost a battle👍👍

[@garyeichler7927]

On Jan 30th, my platoon (Alpha 1/1, 3rd plt) was picked up by choper in Quang Tri and brought to Phu bai. That night, we were loaded onto 6bys and headed into Hue City to help the surrounded MACV compound, located a block from the Perfume River. I was the point man for the 3rd squad. I survived the whole 26 days of the battle of Hue, how? I don't know

[@kyledunn6853]

At 14:58, those GIs are the cast from Hamburger Hill. I love that film.

[@markcopeland4344]

I was at Long Binh at work all broke at midnight I was stuck in the 501st Field Depot for 3 days

[@manbaby__8901]

My grandpa was an airborne ranger during the tet Offensive, and he told me to do some research on it . I can't even imagine what it would have been like to really be there.

[@aquillafleetwood8180]

Glad my number was 307 and I didn't have to go to war and lose! My Dad fought in WWII and didn't like the way we were fighting it! He was right!

[@TriNguyen-ug1qv]

I was there in those days.

[@burtb.8536]

Tri where were you?

[@TriNguyen-ug1qv]

@@burtb.8536SAIGON city . I was in 10th grade .

[@burtb.8536]

@@TriNguyen-ug1qv I'm glad you are alive and well Tri !!!

[@macjeez1450]

I was assigned to the 145th Combat Aviation Bn in Vietnam at Bien Hoa in 67&68. After Tet was over there was so many dead VC on the perimeter that had tried to break through they had to pile them up and haul them off. It sounds inhumane but there was no other choice.

[@giantdutchviking]

Glad you made it! I know it's not really cool to ask someone about their war experience, but would you mind if I ask you a question about that time? I know back then in the US there were a lot of protests against the war. When you returned back to the US, did you experience any animosity? As in, did the protest against the war continue against its soldiers?

[@stephenwright8824]

I had to read the unit you were in twice, just to be sure I wasn't wrong. My dad was an M60 door gunner (trained in the Shotgun program in Hawaii) in the same unit from 65-67. Thank you for your service.

[@davidbusekrus2336]

I was at Long Bihn during the 1968 Tet Offensive. I say let the kneeling professional athletes go and fight the next war. Let them take their turn. Hooah!!

[@billpugh58]

No, you go. They don’t have to.

[@geraldlane2187]

Gone but not forgotten

[@ryanchapman76]

My dad used to watch Vietnam the Ten Thousand Day war. I was a kid. My granddad was over there. We want to see the bodies. Of their faces. Of family members.

[@tonycolca2241]

General Weiand was the only general in vietnam that had a clue as to whatcwas going on problem was he was outranked

[@norbertofalcon6013]

Always mention marines...but infantry army was there too....

[@rhysweertman1810]

My dad was in a fire support base blocking the VC’s way home north in the jungle. The APC’s had mortar walked through them. So the VC weren’t happy that possum 161 was in its way

[@craigfenters6408]

I was there. 173rd Airborne 1/503. Can’t remember. Old age has its pluses

[@richsimpson2583]

I got in to the country of Vietnam the night All this started. At 90th replacement

[@Americanpatriot-zo2tk]

All those guys died for nothing but a lost flight that a bunch of politicians screwed off on. We should have either gone in in March Street in Hanoi are we should’ve just left to begin with. Much respect to all the soldiers.

[@davidbrinkmoeller8465]

I was there with A 1/52 198th LIB, on an ambush that not

[@jimamccracken5783]

I was in the Tet offensive a trap for sure.

[@J23-o7u]

I never heard of this story any recommendations about this battle???????

[@handsomeman-pm9vy]

If you don't know about the Tet Offensive, then you know nothing about the Vietnam war.

[@edwinsalau150]

The Rockpile 13 Jan on Rt 1 the ambush! Does anyone remember? How many were killed? How many will want it? No convoys to L Z Stud after that! Did the siege start then?

[@rodneydavis9230]

This war could have ended much sooner. The [lack of] tactics including the arrogance and know it all attitude of Gen. Westmoreland and not being open to suggestions to others killed, maimed and messed up many many American and South Vietnamese soldiers. Westmoreland was a loose cannon and in my book, from years of reading, watching and studying stories of his tactics is responsible for this war going as long as it did.

[@anthonyfoutch3152]

It was the ARVN that lost the war lots of top officers were corrupt including the corrupt president put into office by the CIA. Aid would be sent to the South then sold on the black market. Plus half the army refused to fight.

[@stephenwright8824]

I can't argue with that. "Westie" was definitely a guy who ignored MacArthur's warning about getting involved in a land war in Asia.

[@BinhLe-bz2eu]

To all US Vietnam Vet. You should blame that on your parents and grandparents and all those fellow Americans of yours who voted for Democrats President Truman, JF Kennedy, and LB Johnson as United States commander in Chief. Because they were one who brought communist to Vietnam and started the Vietnam War. US Democracts President Truman was the 1st US President who got Americans involve in Vietnam when he sent the 1st US MAAG to assist the French to recolonize Vietnam in 1950. Then US Democrats President JF Kennedy stage a military coup on South Vietnam President, Ngo Dinh Diem giving America power start a War and to do what ever they wish to Vietnam and its Vietnamese peoples. And appoint an ex-Vietminh soldiers, Nguyen Van Thieu as their puppet President of South Vietnam to replace Ngo Dinh Diem after the military coup assination on Nov. 2, 1963. The following year on August 4, 1964. US Democrats President LB Johnson announce to the American peoples about the Gulf of Tonkin incident. Where a US Destroyer Maddox was patroiling at sea past the 17th parallel DMZ near the capital of communist North Vietnam, Hanoi. That even today that it didn't happen according to John White a nuclear weapon officier on the US Destroyer Maddox. Without the South Vietnamese President declare military action or War on North Vietnam. US Democrats President LB Johnson push for military action against North Vietnam which lead to the start of the Vietnam War. American peoples did this to Vietnam and all the 58,000 US killed during the Vietnam by electing these Truman, JF Kennedy and LB Johnson as their US Commaner in Chief and War, death, and pain to the Vietnamese peoples of Vietnam. 3,000,000 innocents Vietnamese civilian had to die in their own country. White 10s of thousands die at sea of hunger, thirst, and illness as refugee. All those US President were all US War Vets.

[@charlesdensmore9389]

My cousin was killed during the tet

[@ronnieterry4916]

LBJ was incompetent. He picked the targets in the north Vietnam. LBJ mostly picked bridges and did not pick the real targets in north Vietnam. Military warehouses Military training military headquarters should have been the main targets in the bombing of north Vietnam. Johnson micro managed the bombing of north Vietnam this was a mistak. The bombing should have been done as was the bombing during world War two. Johnson should have never allowed the supplies to leave the cities of North Vietnam. Johnson allowed the communist north vietmese to move supplies down the roads and trails into South Vietnam. This should have never been allowed to happen. Johnson was not a military specialist but micro managed many of the major military operations this was a mistake and caused the war to continue for years. Westmoreland should have told LBJ to allow the military leaders plan and execute the war efforts.

[@falconinflight6235]

I was there during Tit 1968 in the Central Highlands on Artillery Hill. I came home, my cousin didn't make it home.

[@langstondah5219]

The college white guys got scared...SMDH FBA/B1

[@shouldertoshouldercollecti7444]

Too many toads ... Too many toads!

[@jaysonbiggs8979]

I was active in the antiwar war movt starting at age 17. Tet WAS TRULY the turning point. I clearly remember how shocked civilians were. We were told the US is winning the war and it would soon be over.

[@cyclone8974]

Well you had people like Walter Cronkite lying saying Tet was lost kzbin.info/www/bejne/ipewoJaGf7-pnLM

[@Dan_hug6]

Who has been sent here for school

[@boring247boring5]

Moi I would make a great ambassador

[@emperorconstantine1.361]

Ok, so American troops did use AK’s, now I have seen a sample of that on this video. Yes, I heard the stories and the vets retelling their story (when they can bring themselves to talk about it) but I just haven’t seen on one of these videos of them doing that.

[@donthevalen]

Definitely not issued but picked up from a Viet Cong.

[@stephenwright8824]

@@donthevalen On balance a better weapon given the climate than the M-16. Even after they added the zinc lining to the barrel. My dad would have preferred to keep his M-14, but rules are rules.

[@donthevalen]

@@stephenwright8824 good insight

[@hustensaftvernichter3785]

​@@stephenwright8824The AK really seems to be the bread and butter of assault rifles. Definitely the safest bet on a budget.

[@bigrobnz]

the yanks were fighting against 2 groups of communists.....one group in Viet-nam and the other in the USA......

[@njhoepner]

Or, you could equally (and more accurately) say we picked a fight in Vietnam that we had no need to pick, and the people back home eventually wised up and realized they'd been lied to for two decades.

[@bigrobnz]

@@njhoepner No I think my statement is closer to the truth...

[@njhoepner]

@@bigrobnz I suppose, if one assumes that the only possibilities are to be pro-war or to be a communist...which I think is an invalid assumption - false dichotomy logic error.

[@angloaust1575]

There were thousands of nationalist Chinese troops In Taiwan who were available For use in vietnam letting american troops withdraw!

[@jimnaz5267]

the way your naritive goes, regarding Hue, you make it sound like it would have been better to let the NVA keep the citiy, even though they tooki it by force and massacared 2000+ civilians, You cant help the anti war rhetoric that spews from your mouth. you must do better

[@_6666-]

METAPHORICAL VIETNAM WAS MORE THAN WHAT IS PRESENTED , THE KOREAN CONFLICT , SOME STATE AS THE SECOND VIETNAM

[@totallynotalpharius2283]

American officer : “ you never beat us once” Vietnamese officer: “this is true but also irrelevant “ A pointless genocidal war that the people of Vietnam Laos Cambodia and America still suffer from

[@cyclone8974]

Ho Chi Minh killed 172,000 of his own people in North Vietnam in late 50s. It didn't work out because the South Vietnamese Army was left to fight without bullets.

[@Furnique]

all directed by the American's Gov

[@SaccidanandaSadasiva]

Hail to North Vietnam soldiers! Hail to Viet Cong! Hail to Ho Chi Minh!

[@Furnique]

viva Vietnam, long live Ho Chi Minh

[@BinhLe-bz2eu]

US General William Westmoreland didn't believe intel warning about a massive up coming North Vietnamese armies assault on South Vietnam during the Tet holiday. Consider US place all its US military force on high alert along the DMZ line. But the North Vietnamese armies have dug hundreds of miles of tunnels leading all the way to Saigon, Vietnam as far back during the French Indochina War. When US Democrats President Truman sent the 1st US MAAG to help and assist the French armies in Vietnam to recolonize Vientam since 1950.

[@miltonmartinez1508]

Un le Sam want You , fool .

[@cameupstarvin7351]

One of the greatest events in colonial history.

[@jaysonbiggs8979]

Read the most authoritative book on the history of the anti war movt. "Out Now" by Fred Halstead (Pathfinderpress). 1,000 pages. 22 printings since early 1990's.

[@klausschindler6132]

Vietnamesen...

[@dsvntest5287]

this is the reason why my parents wont let me join the army. from their perspective, being army = political puppets.

[@zalo_tuandriverga]

coward

[@johnramirez3247]

To all the victims of war both sides, may you all rest in peace.