(( The North Vietnamese army and Viet Cong would not respect the Tet truce.))
With the beginning of the Tet Offensive on January 30, 1968, the Vietnamese lunar New Year, American forces had been committed to combat upon Vietnamese soil for almost three years. Highway One passed through Hué and over the Perfume River (the river ran through the city dividing it into both northern and southern areas) creating an important supply line from the coastal city of Da Nang to the DMZ for the Allied forces. Hué was also a base for United States Navy supply boats. The city, considering its value and its distance from the DMZ (only 50 miles), should have therefore been well-defended, fortified, and prepared for the communist offensive.
However, it was actually poorly defended and unprepared because the Allied forces expected that the North Vietnamese army and Viet Cong would respect the Tet truce. During the Tet, which is an important holiday celebrated in Vietnam, the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army launched a massive assault on South Vietnam, attacking hundreds of military targets and population centers across the country, among them the city of Hué. The Tet Offensive began on January 31, 1968.
Casualties and losses
South Vietnamese:
452 killed
2,123 wounded
U.S.:
216 killed
1,584 wounded[1]
Total:
668 killed
3,707 wounded
North Vietnamese:
8,113 killed[3]
wounded unknow ?
98 captured[4]
844 civilian deaths and 1,900 injuries due to accident of battle, 5,856 civilians and captured personnel executed by communists or missing according to the South Vietnamese government[5] |
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