Tet Offensive

In January of 1968 both sides were building up their forces. After years of fighting General Vo Nguyen Giap of the Socialists Republic of Vietnam felt that the NVA (North Vietnamese Army) needed a decisive victory over the Americans to progress towards victory. Having control over Khe Sanh, the American generals saw the build-up coming. By late January, some 6,000 Marines had been flown in to the Khe Sanh garrison and thousands more had been moved north …

…period of peace between the north and south, the NVA were looking to "flank" the American and ARVN forces by attacking multiple fronts simultaneously. General Frederick Weyand later said that he anticipated the attack but the numbers show otherwise. The General have had his attention on Khe Sanh because the ARVN was very ill prepared for the attack. The Tet offensive caused some 12,000 civilian deaths, the NVA/VC lost 45,000, and the ARVN causalities totaled 4,300 KIA.`