"Then, much to the surprise of U.S. intelligence, the supposedly nearly beaten North Vietnamese and their Vietcong allies launched a major offensive against the cities of South Vietnam in February 1968. Coinciding with the Vietnamese Tet holiday, the communist forces attacked more than 100 towns and cities, including Saigon, where the grounds of the U.S. Embassy were penetrated, and Huế, the ancient capital of Vietnam, which the communists held for more than a month before they were driven out. While American and South Vietnamese forces were able to repel the communist onslaught, and inflict enormous losses on the enemy in the process, they also suffered heavy casualties. The Tet offensive was a significant military victory for the United States, but it was also a stunning psychological defeat. To most Americans, who had been subjected to repeated administration claims that the war was being won, it seemed incredible that the communists could mount such an impressive offensive."
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Academics from the United StatesMilitary leaders from the United StatesRepublican Party (United States) politiciansUnited States Army peoplePeople from South Carolina
Original Language: English
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Sources
Ronald Powaski, The Cold War: The United States and the Soviet Union, 1917-1991 (1998), p. 160-161
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Westmoreland
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William Westmoreland
William Childs Westmoreland (March 26, 1914 – July 18, 2005) was a United States Army general, who most notably commanded U.S. forces during the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1968. He served as [[w:Chief of Staff of the United States Army|Chief of Staff of the
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