American Valor Quarterly Issue 1 - Winter 2007 | Page 24

On January 30th, 1968, the Vietnamese lunar New Year,
what became known as the Tet Offensive began on a day
that historically had been a time of peace during all of the
years of the war. A surprising decision to “strike out on an
audacious, novel strategic course in a Herculean effort to
win the war” was made by NVA General Vo Nguyen Giap
and President Ho Chi Minh. Allied intelligence knew that
the enemy was preparing for something big, but they were
unable to identify when it would be. It assumed that military
action would happen before or after the first day of Tet,
but not on the important Vietnamese holiday. North
Vietnam avoided the conflict of not celebrating this
important holiday by moving the celebrations to January
29th with an excuse that “had to do with the relative positions
of heavenly bodies.” A cease-fire went into effect on the
29th of January and allied forces looked forward to a time
of rest. Shortly after midnight Hanoi began a “most nearly
successful campaign.”
Tet: 1968

revenge the sneak