Vietnam in 1968

For Vietnam veterans and their families the year 1968 meant dreading the daily news. The year had begun with reports of increased Viet Cong activity, but the U.S. military command in Vietnam gave weekly news briefings where the good news seemed to be in disagreement with news media and veterans' stories about enemy strength and activity. By the conclusion of the year the U.S. forces in Vietnam totaled 536,040 and casualty totals had been climbing as engagements with the enemy increased in both frequency and intensity. Of the total of over 31,000 U.S. troops killed in action in the war by year's end, 14,584 or almost half had been killed in 1968.

The Tet Offensive in early 1968 was a series of heavy attacks against U.S. and South Vietnamese troops and installations. Even the U.S. embassy in Saigon came under attack. Army and Marine units across the country encountered Viet Cong (VC) forces determined to bring the war to a close. The offensive was costly for the Viet Cong and their massive losses permanently destroyed the enemy's ability to field a truly effective military force. The VC success in the Tet Offensive was largely in the effect it had on U.S. support for the war. The news media incorrectly reported the Tet Offensive as having been successful for the communist forces, and the increase in U.S. casualties seemed to reinforce those false reports.

The loss of support for the war was also a result of the false reporting of U.S. successes and VC losses by the military command in Vietnam, which had not prepared the U.S. public for the intense battles of Tet.

The biggest slam to U.S. public confidence was caused by the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite. Cronkite was one of the most respected and trusted newsmen of his day. When he declared the Tet Offensive a Viet Cong victory and the war a lost cause he verified that the U.S. military command under General William Westmoreland had been misleading the American people. The biggest reactions to these reports were that Westmoreland was replaced as commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam and President Lyndon Johnson declared in March that he would not run for re-election as president.

Jack Dragoni attended Boston College and served in the U.S. Army in Berlin and Vietnam. He lives in Chaffee, Missouri.