The Tet Offensive and the End of the Vietnam War

By sidneyimbun

  • Call for a Change

    In 1967 factions within the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese leadership began to call for a change of direction in the war’s conduct.

  • The Birth of Tet Offensive

    The Tet Offensive, launched in early 1968 by the Viet Cong, marked a significant escalation in the scale and the intensity of the Vietnam War.

  • The First Assault

    The offensive, during which more than 100 towns and cities were attacked, began during the early hours of 31 January 1968. The first assaults achieved almost complete surprise, not least because they occurred over the Chinese New Year or Tet holiday period, which, according to recent tradition, was a time of truce.

  • Aftermath of the Tet Offensive

    February 27: Walter Cronkite reports on the recent trip he took to Vietnam. He talked about the aftermath of the Tet Offensive.

  • The Most Casualities

    February 18: The most casualties occured on this date. 543 Americans were killed the previous week.

  • Talk about Peace

    May 3: The US and North Vietnamese leaders agree to talk about peace later in the month.

  • The Killing of the Vietmases People

    March 16: US troops rampage through the hamlet of My Lai and kill over 500 vietnamese people. They varied from small newborns to the oldest of them all.

  • Arrival at Ben Tre

    February 7: Reporters arrive at the city of Ben Tre.

  • The Turning Point

    The Tet offensive of February 1968 is regarded as a turning point in the Vietnam War.

  • Calling of Military Reserves

    April 11: The USSD, the United States Secretary of Defense call 24,500 military reserves to fight for a 2 year commitment. 1

  • Re-Election

    The fallout from Tet also led the United States President, Lyndon Johnson, to announce that he would not seek re-election. He was succeeded by Richard Nixon who won office in November 1968.

  • Strategy for Withdrawal

    In May 1968, just 4 months later, peace talks attended by representatives of North and South Vietnam, the Viet Cong and the United States, opened in Paris. Australia’s Government, having followed the United States lead in Vietnam, was now in the position of having to also enunciate a strategy for withdrawal.

  • Withdrawal of American Troops

    In 1969 Nixon announced that the withdrawal of American troops was a priority. In a policy known as ‘Vietnamisation’ the number of United States combat troops was gradually reduced and their places were taken by soldiers in an expanded South Vietnamese army.

  • Royal Australian Regiment

    In April 1970 the Australian Prime Minister, John Gorton, announced that the 8th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (8RAR) would not be replaced when its tour of Vietnam ended in November. This followed a United States Government announcement that more than 180,000 Americans would be withdrawn and, more importantly, that a complete American withdrawal would follow.

  • Joint Intelligence Organisation

    Early in 1971 Australia’s Joint Intelligence Organisation, reporting on the progress of Vietnamisation, described the ARVN as ‘uneven in quality’ and suffering from poor leadership.

  • Prime Minister McMahon

    In August that year the Prime Minister, Billy McMahon, announced that the remainder of the Task Force would be withdrawn at the end of 1971.

  • Returning Home

    3RAR returned home in October 1971 followed in December by 4RAR and the Royal Australian Air force’s No. 9 Squadron.

  • The arrival of the two last battalions

    Australia’s last two battalions to serve in Vietnam, the 3rd and 4th Battalions, Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR and 4RAR) arrived in 1971.

  • Last Unit to Leave

    Second Lieutenant Bill Denny, 86 Transport Platoon, RAASC, was with one of the last Australian units to leave Vietnam in February 1972.

  • Logistics Personnel

    Some logistics personnel and the last of No. 35 Squadron’s Caribou aircraft left early in 1972.

  • Bombing Campaign

    South. United States airpower, rather than the ARVN, stopped the North Vietnamese. A massive United States bombing campaign against the North followed in December 1972.

  • The capitulatation of the South

    The South capitulated in late April 1975, bringing the war in Vietnam to an end and ushering in an era of Communist rule.

  • Transportation of Humantarian

    In 1975, when the North Vietnamese Army again launched a major offensive against the South, the ARVN forces, this time without United States air support or supplies, were overwhelmed. South Vietnam descended into chaos as civilians fled and thousands of ARVN troops and officers deserted. RAAF personnel returned to Vietnam during these fraught days to help evacuate civilians and transport humanitarian supplies. They counted among their number the last Australian service personnel to leave Vietna