Deadliest Year in Vietnam: The Tet Offensive | Animated History 

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When I was in Vietnam a year ago I met a man who did not fight in the Tet offensive because at the time he was sent to Bulgaria to get his agricultural degree. However, the NVA asking for a son from each family to fight ended up sending his brother in his place since they couldn’t send, the oldest. The brother died during the offensive, and his body wasn’t recovered. For the next 20 years that man spent every off-season from his university job traveling to Saigon via motorbike in order to try and find his brothers bones to bring them home. With luck by his side he ended up meeting some women there, who knew his brother during the war. They ended up finding his brother’s bones returning them to Hanoi where they were buried properly.

Tet Offensive was a tactical failure but a strategic victory that sent shockwaves to the world for Vietnam. Prime examples of, not all failures are bad.

My grandfather was in Country during Tet and was fighting in Hue. He volunteered in 1963, went over in 1965 and came home in 1968. He often talked about his time before Tet and how boring it was and his volunteering to go on patrol to escape boredom. When Tet comes up, he gets quiet. He only ever told me two things about his time in Hue, the buildings and seeing Walter Kronkite reporting the news across the street while stacked behind a wall. The only other thing he talked about after Hue was the plane ride home. I remember when we were watching full metal jacket, he talked all about his time in basic, how a drill instructor cracked his ribs with a rifle butt, testing paper sleeping bags and parade formations. When the Hue segment came up, I could tell that he was no longer in a comfortable living room in modern day Missouri, he was back there.

WORDS CANNOT EXPLAIN HOW GREAT THIS CHANNEL IS

It is criminal how most people forget about the actions of south Vietnam’s armed forces (ARVN) during the Vietnam war while exclusively thinking it was a North Vietnam vs USA war. You guys gotta do a full fledged video about ARVN/the Vietnam war from the south Vietnamese perspective

If you stand close to Westmoreland's grave you can hear him saying “ The main attack is coming at Ke Sahn.” Over and over and over…..

I've been watching your videos since 2019, and all i have to say is that i am saddened that your channel is, like many other channels, is slowly loosing its popularity on youtube. i appreciate the work you put into these videos. keep it up for as long as you can.

If we got to end each chapter of my history class with one of these videos, I think there would be a lot more people appreciating history rather than looking past it.

My uncle fought in Vietnam over the course of the war and this offensive. He would talk about it time to time. He served as a radio operator with special forces groups and his most vivid memory is from Saigon when he was there. He was calling in request from a helicopter during the whole battle.

My grandfather was in Saigon for the Tet offensive. He was billeted in the Five Oceans hotel in the city and commuted to Bien Hoa airbase to advise ARVN logistical troops there. I've gotten the pleasure to spend a lot of time with him and to hear his stories of his time there, and he always mentioned a pilot he knew who was trying to get to an airfield and to his plane. He told me his jeep took a wrong turn somewhere and was never seen again. He mentioned also that the VC could be anyone. Was he the guy on a bike next to you at a stop light? Your driver? You could never tell. I've been watching your videos for a while, and the increase in quality is incredible. I especially love the perspective videos.

It should be noted that the Viet Cong ceased to be a real fighting force after the offensive because of how many of them died. The Viet Cong would never completely recover, it became completely depended on North Vietnam and it never consisted of majority South Vietnamese again.

Thank you for giving us so many historical videos. My granddad was actually in-country during the tet offensive, and though he doesn't talk about the war much anymore, he inspired me to start researching the vietnam war. Thanks for covering this!

My Uncle was a machine gunner in 'Nam and was part of the Tet Offensive. He says he spent hours shooting his M-60 and has no idea how many men he killed. He never looked, he never asked. He never wanted to know. He was shaken to his core.

Amazing video. My maternal grandfather served with the Army in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive from January 1968 to January 1969.

My Dad's American Grandfather was in the U.S Army in the Vietnam War and during most of the conflict with two uncles. Grandfather survived the war but my two uncles didn't made it. Feels emotional about it.

Remember folks the republic did not go down without a fight if you want to disappear then you must take it down by force, my grandpa was a NVA soldier who had a hard time fighting off the republic meanwhile my grandma who was a medic in the ARVN also had a hard time fighting for the republic. After the war end in 1975 with the communist victory they both married and lived a happy life after i have alot of relatives who fought for both sides and then have their own perspective and way of thinking about the war but a wise person would take those two perspectives, scramble it to form a final perspective and not being biased to one perspective only

my grandfather who was in the US Army was already 2 years into his service in Vietnam. I think he had already become a Sergeant by 1968. he was stationed at a firebase somewhere in the central highlands once the tet offensive started and he got out of that offensive with a bronze star and purple heart. he ended up returning with three bronze stars and two purple hearts. supposedly he has been under consideration recently to recieve a silver star for some other actions he did in his service in Vietnam

I've just come back from a four-month stint in Vietnam. There was a famous cafe in D3 in downtown HCMC (Saigon) that helped to store arms and munitions in preparation for the Tet Offensive. Was a very interesting place that I otherwise would have walked past unaware of its significance.

Been on a big vietnam and indo china binge as of late, and this only sassiates my palate. Thanks mate.

I have been on this channel for about 4 years or so. I have to say that quality, animation and education this channel proudces are still amazing. Awsome video, Keep up the great work team.

13:42 Rising Storm 2 players can remember the desperation of holding onto the Embassy building in the Saigon Map

Thank you for sharing these wonderful videos!!! Very informative, and I love the animations!

6:05 nice Full Metal Jacket reference on one of the helmets.

Loved this style of video and looking at well known events but from different POV’s. Also looking sharp Griffen with the haircut 👍

I've been waiting for another Vietnam video since Ia Drang! These videos are so good.

I remember Giap didn’t like the Tet offensive, he went even further by protesting it in going to czech and didn’t even command the troops during tet offensive

Absolutely love this channel. Very informative and well put together. Great graphics I can’t imagine how much work goes into each episode.

Another great video Thanks guys!❤

Inaccuracy on the map at 10:47 - the ARVN 42nd Division does not exist. That's a Regiment that operates under the command of the 22nd. Also this is an anacronism, but the 23rd is typically headquartered in Ban Mê Thuột (as it was called back then). It's marked on the map as Buon Ma Thuot which is the modern name. The 22nd is typically at Kon Tum, but I'm not sure for 68, that's for 72.

TET also brought about the end of the Viet Cong as a viable fighting force. And when the PAVN finally resupplied for their next huge offensive, it also failed even though there were only a fraction of the U.S. forces in country.

Thank you for still posting on RU-vid!

A textbook example of technically winning on the military side. But losing badly on the Public Relations/perception front.

Fantastic channel. Always good content

Another amazing video!

Excellent video as always, thanks.

One of my family members was in this, great to see someone talking about it!

Vietnam People are one of the bravest people in the world who hold on to three mega superpowers in less than 4 decades ! The French, USA and China Ho chi Minh is a true symbol of Valor and courage for the years to come... Much Respect from the Indian Brothers 🇮🇳🤝🇻🇳

very cool production on this one dude. Thanks from some rando to you and your crew.

Thanks for hitting my niche. I was just pining for a good Vietnam story (im not old lol), and this shows up in my feed. Gold.

Excellent video as always! Lol Star Trek nod got me gigglin’ thanks.

Great video, keep it up!

I'll keep saying this this might be the best history channel ever love your content!

Fantastic video. Thank you 😊

Armchair never ceases to amaze and give me knowledge

One severe and classic mistake that most people believe if they don't know the latest research. Võ Nguyên Giáp's involvement is strictly untrue and he opposed it to the point he left Vietnam for Eastern Europe during its planning, in protest. This came out after numerous Vietnamese government sources became unsealed in roughly 2005. This overemphasis on Giáp or Hồ Chí Minh is typical of the orthodox view of the war, and many of its points have been taken down. By this point, Lê Duẩn and Lê Dức Thọ drove North Vietnamese policy.

AMAZING VIDEO, BEST ONE IVE SEEN IN SO LONG 🎉

I like and support your unadulterated content so much you're the only channel where.i actually sit through the ad

The Vietnam War is a topic I don't know as much about compared to WW1 or WW2 but, thanks to this channel, I'm always learning something new

This channel is amazing

I started watching this channel in 2021 and the difference in quality is crazy of how much this channel has grown

Nice haircut Griffon and another great video!

This really may be the best videos y'all have ever done. This really showed as the viewer how formidable the North Vietnamese forces were. Messing with them on their home territory...why did we do it!

This man never misses with his content

Best history channel ever!!!

Love the animation

Yooo nice fade bro 💈

6:05 Hey I see that Full Metal Jacket reference.

WOW! What a video! Insanely well made, and deeply entertaining. This is so inspiring for me as a creator, wish I had a team like you guys! Because you are a team right? Right...?

It's a lovely day when Oversimplified and The Armchair Historian uploads.

I love the Armchair Historian

My Grandpa's Brother Was Conscripted in to the ARVN in 1967 and got stationed at Quang Tri and in 1968 pull backed to Hue before a Landmine put him out of Action, he did lived tho

There are so many easter eggs in these animations. I love it

YEEEEAAAAAAH! Sorry, always happy when there's a new video hahaha I know what I'm listening to tonight hehe Ps: I would love one day a video about the romanian ww2 perspective! Probably not as much to cover as Germany Italy or japan for the axis side but there's still a fair amount to cover and I can't think of another historian to cover it than you!

When you win militarily, but lose confidence in the final victory.

Hey, cool video as always. Great animations. Great script. The narrator is always amazing. But there’s just two things I believe are inaccurate. I might be wrong about this, but I believe that the NVA did not really use the tunnel systems that much. The Vietcong were the main people that used the tunnel systems in the Vietnam war. Also, on the animations depicting, American soldiers with M-16, whoever is doing the animating is giving the M-16s a banana clip but the banana clips weren’t used until after the Vietnam war. They had a smaller 20 round straight magazine.

Love this video

Commenting for recommendations

i wonder how much hamas had studied the tet offensive

I love the full metal jacket reference he worked into this one. Anyone else spot it?

Hey Armchair Historian, could you possibly make a video about Cambodia? I want to learn more about my people and I love your videos.

Griffin and his fresh cut is 👌🏻

You should make a vid about the “whiskey on the rocks” incident during the 80’s, the time when Sweden got the closest to war against the soviets

Fresh cut goes hard

Diggin the rest cut dude😎

Great video

I was not expecting that haircut mid video. Looks fresh though :)

This was ALOT better than my 8th grade paper on the Tet. Well done.

The slow mo looks incredible guys

Looking dapper with that haircut Mr History Man

Thank you for including black American soldiers in your video. My great uncle died in Vietnam. RIP to all the brave Americans that died 🇺🇸

In Vietnam, what we call the Vietnam war, they call the American war, because it was just another war for independence. America thought it was fighting communism, it was actually more or less, fighting a national independence movement, and it couldn’t understand how it could be anything but. I also think how it’s funny that we described one side as a communists on the other side as the United States or south Vietnam instead of the capitalists. If we are going to be using ideological labels for one side, we may as well use them for the other.

Thanks!

great video

It's sort of funny, the US Army thought they won the Tet Offensive pretty decisively, and a lot of soldiers were surprised at how it was being portrayed back home. In many ways the NVA's loss was their biggest victory.

General Giap did not command this battle, he was in Eastern Europe in a hospital when this happened. People keep giving him credit for stuff he didn't even plan for. He also did way more in the French Indochina War than he did in the Vietnam War. You forgot the mention that this strategy was entirely dependent on the ARVN uprising against the US forces, that was why it was called the "General Uprising Plan". You neglect to mention the tensions between the pro-war and pro-peace camps in Hanoi that lead to the Tet offensive. the VC forces disagreed with the PAVN command because this would use most of their reserves that were meant to commit to hit and run tactics, not long engaging conventional warfare that it would end up doing during this operation. None of the intention was to "convince the US public to quit the war" that was an unintended side effect that helped them later on. To say that North Vietnam was rejoicing is an incorrect assessment. In fact they kept going 2 and 3 more times before realizing it wasn't working. They were pissed, but Le Duan knew the US wouldn't invade the North so he kept the aggressive conventional policy despite the Politburo disagreeing for a more "sit and wait" approach as they have stated: "Never again and under no circumstances are we going to risk our entire military force for just such an offensive. On the contrary, we should endeavor to preserve our military potential for future campaigns." They wouldn't use the VC for offensives like in the early days, but kept them in more of an intelligence role in urban areas (Biet Dong Thanh). The North Vietnamese were not suicidal like they are portrayed, the Le Duan camp really thought they could militarily take the South, based on fears that the ARVN would be too militarized by the West, before it was too late. Not a single ARVN troop disserted, which goes to show the overconfidence of Hanoi to not bother working on their own hearts and minds for the great switcheroo they wanted. Around 80% of the Viet Cong forces were destroyed, leading to PAVN troops filling the ranks and paving the way for the rest of the War's strategy focusing on even more deadlier catastrophic, conventional land seizures using state of the art Soviet and Chinese tanks and artillery pieces. The Eastern Offensive would be one of the deadliest battles the PAVN will ever face before achieving victory.

My grandfather in his 3rd war in Asia, defended a base in Tailand on the Tet Off. The base commander asked my grandfather where they put the tank. He said the only chance they have is the front gate, put it there. He was "so proud of my boys...in the morning there was nothing but ribbons on the wire." As defense supervisior he lead the MPs as the Top-on-base and although I'm not aware of when he got his bronze star as my family has a Never ask questions always listen quietly to our family members that have served. I knew he had 3 Combat medals WWii, Korea, and Vietnam but the bronze was news. Tough man. Fair man. RIP William A.Glover AAC/USAF

I love the channel

A lot of people like to call the Americans involvement in Vietnam a mistake.One question I have....What would have happened in southeast Asia had The USA decided not to get involved?....Many can hypothesize...but no one can really know....So I conclude by saying that it is very possible the involvement of the USA was still a necessary and correct choice..Although different strategies surely would have been better.

Unfortunately, the main American failure in Vietnam is hubris and over-optimism. Because of that the civilian population thought that the war was going splendidly. If the efforts on the ground were honestly reported, that it was a gradual slog, but still making progress, then I wonder if the American populace would not have had such massive gut reaction to pull out ?

0:28 Wrong rifle barrel for an M16

Excellent work. This was certainly the turning point in this controversial war.

I remember seeing the "I'm a Star Wars"tm" fan though" during the live stream yesterday.

Wrong m16 14:10 m16a2 didn't exit in 1968 and was adopted only in 1983 you can see it with wrong magazine and hand guard!

Sought refuge, not sought refugee 12:22 love u bro

17:11 also wanna mention I’ve read in several books about the tet offensive, it’s recorded that during the tet offensive the Vietcong was almost completely wiped out

My grandfather was a NVA spy who fought during the offensive, he was shot in the head by an American sniper and the sniper missed his brain by 1.5 inches. After the offensive he joined the south Vietnamese military as a spy and rose to the rank of Lt colonel where he fed troop movement information to the Vietcong forces. He told me the stories when I was a young boy, and know that I am older I regard him as a hero to our country, before he died he requested that he would be buried in the states and we honored his wish.

I love this channel but not sure how the millions of South Vietnamese refugees living in America and other western countries feel about unambiguously referring to Viet Cong territories as “liberated”. I’m aware that’s how the VC referred to it, but I’d recommend more neutral terms like “captured” or “controlled” territories, or if you really want to use the VC terminology maybe say “what the VC referred to as the ‘liberated territories’”.

i like your haircut. i love you keep of the good work love your channel

“I ain’t no fortunate one…”