The Tet Offensive: A Brief History with Documents by William Allison

Acknowledgements     x
List of illustrations     xi
List of abbreviations     xiii
Chronology     xv
Introduction     1
The Tet Offensive     5
Background: the situation before Tet     7
The American political and military context     7
The South Vietnamese political and military context     16
The North Vietnamese political and military context     19
North Vietnamese planning and objectives     22
The Tet campaign     28
The Border Battles     28
The Battle of Khe Sanh     33
Tet begins     40
The battle for Saigon     42
The across South Vietnam     49
The battle for Hue     50
The aftermath of Tet     57
The request for more troops     58
Public opinion     61
A change in policy     63
The impact of Tet     69
On the NLF/PLAF     69
On North Vietnam     70
On South Vietnam     71
On the United States     71
Documents     77
JUSPAO Field Memorandum Number 31: A Vietnamese looks at Tet: November 28, 1966     79
Memorandum from the Special Assistant for Counterinsurgency and Special Activities (DePuy) to the Director, Joint Staff (Goodpaster): September 8, 1967     83
Address on Vietnam before the National Legislative Conference, San Antonio, Texas: September 29, 1967     85
Memorandum from the President's Assistant (Jones) to President Johnson: meeting of the Wise Men: November 2, 1967     92
Telegram from the Embassy in Vietnam to the Department of State: November 22, 1967     108
Telegram from the Commander, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (Westmoreland) to the Deputy Commander, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (Abrams): November 25, 1967     109
Telegram from General Westmoreland, COMUSMACV, to General Wheeler, CJCS: December 10, 1967     111
Information memorandum from the President's Special Assistant (Rostow) to President Johnson: December 16, 1967     115
U.S., puppets, to sabotage holiday cease-fire on Liberation Radio in Vietnamese to South Vietnam: December 18, 1967     117
Memorandum from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Wheeler) to Secretary of Defense McNamara: January 20, 1968     120
Memorandum from the Joint Chiefs of Staff to President Johnson: January 29, 1968     122
Telegram from the Commander of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (Westmoreland) to the Commander in Chief, Pacific Forces (Sharp) and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Wheeler): January 30, 1968     124
Notes of meeting: January 30, 1968     126
Intelligence memorandum: January 31, 1968     130
Interrogation of Ngo Van Giang: January 28-January 31, 1968     133
Interrogation of Nguyen Van Sau: January 28-January 31, 1968     138
Telegram from General Westmoreland, COMSUMACV, to General Wheeler, CJCS: February 1, 1968     144
Telegram from the Commander, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (Westmoreland) to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Wheeler): February 1, 1968     145
Memorandum from William J. Jorden of the National Security Council Staff to the President's Special Assistant (Rostow): February 3, 1968     147
Telegram from the Commander, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (Westmoreland) to the Commander in Chief, Pacific Forces (Sharp): February 3, 1968     151
Telegram from the Embassy in Vietnam to the Department of State: February 4, 1968     153
Telegram from General Westmoreland, COMUSMACV, to General Wheeler, CJCS: February 4, 1968     158
Memorandum from the President's Special Assistant (Rostow) to President Johnson: February 6, 1968     160
Notes of meeting: February 7, 1968     163
Notes of meeting: February 9, 1968     167
Telegram from the Commander, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (Westmoreland) to the Commander in Chief, Pacific Command (Sharp) and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Wheeler): February 12, 1968     177
Notes of meeting: February 12, 1968     180
After action report, 716th Military Police Battalion: February 12, 1968     187
PLAF Command salutes 20-day fight in Hue over Liberation Radio (South Vietnam People's Liberation Armed Forces Command's message to the armed forces and people of Hue): February 21, 1968     193
Memorandum from the Ambassador's Special Assistant (Lansdale) to the Ambassador to Vietnam (Bunker): February 27, 1968     196
Notes of meeting: February 27, 1968     206
Walter Cronkite on CBS News: February 27, 1968     209
Report by the Joint Chiefs of Staff: March 1, 1968     211
Memorandum from the President's Special Assistant (Rostow) to President Johnson: March 6, 1968     215
Telegram from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Wheeler) to the Commander, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (Westmoreland) and the Commander in Chief, Pacific (Sharp): March 8, 1968     218
President Johnson's remarks to delegates to the National Farmers Union Convention in Minneapolis: March 18, 1968     221
Telephone conversation between President Johnson and Secretary of Defense Clifford: March 20, 1968     226
Letter from 2nd Lieutenant Ray Smith, USMC, to Captain Batcheller, USMC: March 25, 1968     230
Medal of Honor citation for Sergeant Alfredo Gonzales, United States Marine Corps     233
President Johnson's address to the nation: March 31, 1968     235
Report on Operation Bigbuild: c. July 1968     245
Notes     253
Bibliography     256
Index     260