Hue 1968 summary

The American intervention soon spiraled out beyond its original remit, especially under President Kennedy and his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ). Both were opposed to Communist expansion, but it was LBJ who dramatically increased troop numbers after his predecessor’s assassination in 1963.

Ground operations had officially begun in 1965 to support the expansive bombing campaigns which had commenced the year before. These strikes were already killing an estimated 1,000 Vietnamese civilians every week. Staggeringly, by the end of 1967, more bombs had fallen on Vietnam than on Europe during the whole of World War II.

In July 1967, General Westmoreland, known as “Westy,” informed the press that he was as optimistic as he’d ever been since arriving in Vietnam in 1963.

He remained convinced that because casualties were increasing on the North Vietnamese side, US–South Vietnamese forces were in the ascendency, and Hanoi would be forced to capitulate.

Hue had, up to that point in the war, been relatively unaffected, despite its central position close to the seventeenth parallel, and despite being the third most important city in both countries thanks to its status as a center of learning and culture.

Hue had even been the base of Vietnamese power for over a century prior to the French colonial period. Its imperial citadel was well-fortified. But, more pertinently, it was symbolically important to the Vietnamese nation.

In 1968, the Vietnamese New Year, known as Tet, fell on January 30 and 31. A truce was normally observed over the holiday period so that both nations could celebrate.

Hanoi had different plans. The regime knew that an attack timed to coincide with Tet would catch the Americans and South Vietnamese unprepared.

The attack on Hue was a major component of the Tet Offensive. But other planned assaults, including a foolhardy attack on the US embassy in Saigon, had not gone nearly so well.

Hue, however, still represented a major prize, and so, in the hours after the city was taken, Communist troops massed there for the imminent and inevitable American counterattack.

From the moment the South Vietnamese tanks were blown sky high, it was clear to the US Marines stationed at Phu Bai, a few miles from Hue, that something was amiss.

This was confirmed when the American compound in Hue radioed to signal they were under attack and in need of reinforcements.

It wasn’t just the US military command who refused to acknowledge the full extent of the Communist attack on Hue. It had gone almost unnoticed in the outside world too. Instead, the media’s focus had been drawn to the daring Viet Cong attack on the US embassy in Saigon.

It was the thanks to the brave work of Gene Roberts, a New York Times journalist, that news of Hue finally emerged.

The fighting in Hue continued apace. By February 3, the Americans had succeeded in capturing one further city block. But 100 American soldiers had died in the three days since the city had been captured by the Communist forces.

Something more was needed. Consequently, US commanders decided on a three-pronged attack to retake the city. Firstly, the Communist supply lines in the countryside around Hue would be disrupted. Secondly, the marines would lead an assault on southern Hue. Finally, the South Vietnamese would attack the Citadel.

Meanwhile, back in the United States, public opinion of the Vietnam War began to shift. Although the anti-war movement had slowly been growing since the war’s beginning, it was the images and news broadcasts from Hue that turned the tide.

It could almost be said that by 1967, anti-war sentiment was fashionable, as celebrities such as Muhammad Ali and the Beach Boys’ Carl Wilson announced their opposition.

As the sun fell on February 7, the Americans had control of 70 blocks in southern Hue.

By February 11, southern Hue and the triangular area of government buildings were more or less in American hands.

Although the battle for Hue was won, this Pyrrhic victory signaled the beginning of the end for US involvement in Vietnam.

The public was shocked by the scale of the destruction.