January 31, 1968: The Tet Offensive

January 31, 1968: The Viet Cong launch the Tet Offensive, an attack on American and South Vietnamese installations in South Vietnam, on Tết Nguyên Đán, the Vietnamese lunar new year.

More than 80,000 troops hit more than 100 towns, including 36 out of the country's 44 provincial capitals, including the national capital of Saigon. The idea was to trigger a popular uprising that would lead to the collapse of the South Vietnamese government, and its replacement by one more favorable to the North Vietnamese government, thus uniting the country under Communism, and forcing the American troops out.

The Viet Cong didn't get that. At least, not in the short term. But they got the next best thing, which gave them their goal in the long term.

Over 4,000 U.S. personnel were killed, and another 5,000 South Vietnamese. But the Viet Cong lost 45,000 men, about as many as America lost in the war from its beginning until 1971 or so. And they were fought back, capturing very little territory, and not getting the popular uprising. Militarily, the Tet Offensive was one of the biggest blunders in the history of warfare.

But that was offset by the psychological victory they gained. They had gotten troops inside the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. They couldn't hold it, but they did it. And it was caught on U.S. television.

Also caught on U.S. television was an event on February 1: The Chief of South Vietnam's National Police, Major General Nguyễn Ngọc Loan, personally executing Nguyễn Văn Lém. It looked like one of America's best friends in the conflict was shooting a handcuffed teenage boy in the head, a brutal act.

In fact, Lém was 36 years old, held the rank of Captain, and had murdered not just a friend of General Loan, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Tuan, but also Tuan's wife, six of his seven children, and his 80-year-old mother. Women, children, even the elderly were not safe. The Vietcong even went after the families of their enemies. They were worse than the Mafia.

Eddie Adams of the Associated Press was standing next to the NBC cameraman who filmed the shooting, and clicked his shutter at the moment of impact for bullet against head. He won the Pulitzer Prize for the photo, but regretted he hadn't gotten a photo of what Lém did to deserve it.

"Two men died in that photograph," Adams said. "The General killed the Viet Cong. I killed the General with my camera." 

After the fall of Saigon, General Loan fled to America, and lived out his life in Virginia, near Washington, D.C. He died in 1998. Adams lived until 2004.

There was one survivor of Lém's killing of Tuan's family: Huan Nguyen, Tuan's son, was 9, and survived 2 bullet wounds. After the fall of Saigon, he was smuggled out of the country. He grew up in Oklahoma, and enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1993. He is the highest-ranking officer of Vietnamese descent in U.S. military history: In 2019, he was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral.

But people saw the film and the photo of the shooting, and began to ask themselves why we were supporting such an ally. Were they unworthy allies? There had been plenty of corruption in the South Vietnamese government. (Loan has never been accused of any of it.)

A few days later, CBS Evening News anchorman Walter Cronkite went to Vietnam to personally see what was going on. He had dinner with General Creighton Abrams, who had become a friend in World War II, and was now the commander of all forces in Vietnam. Abrams told Cronkite a painful truth: "We cannot win this goddamned war, and we ought to find a dignified way out."

On February 27, 1968, back at the CBS News desk in New York, Cronkite said this:

To say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only realistic, if unsatisfactory conclusion. On the off chance that military and political analysts are right, in the next few months we must test the enemy's intentions, in case this is indeed his last big gasp before negotiations.

But it is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could.

Upon seeing this report, President Lyndon B. Johnson said, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America." Just 32 days later, with this in mind, having taken National Security Council meetings where nobody seemed to know how to solve the war, with Senator Eugene McCarthy having come close to beating him in the New Hampshire Primary, and with Senator Robert F. Kennedy having gotten into the race for President, Johnson announced that he would not seek another term as President, and would devote the last 9 months of his Presidency to seeking a peace deal.

He didn't get it. Why is a story for another time. His successor could have ended the war any time he wanted. He ended it 3 days into his 2nd term, 1 day after Johnson died. A little more than 2 years after that, Vietnam was united, and it was Communist.

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January 31, 1968 was a Wednesday. Baseball and football were out of season. These 4 games were played in the NBA that night:

* The New York Knicks beat the Cincinnati Royals, 128-126 in overtime at the Cincinnati Gardens. For the Royals, Oscar Robertson scored 42 points, and Jerry Lucas had 22 points and 22 rebounds. For the Knickerbockers, Walt Bellamy had 23 points, Cazzie Russell 21, Willis Reed 20, Walt Frazier 19 and Dick Van Arsdale 18.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Chicago Bulls, 118-109 at the Boston Garden.

* The Baltimore Bullets beat the Detroit Pistons, 113-108 at the Baltimore Civic Center (now the CFG Bank Arena). Dave Bing scored 41 for the Pistons, while Earl "the Pearl" Monroe got 35 for the Bullets.

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the St. Louis Hawks, 110-102 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

There were 3 games played in the American Basketball Association, which was in its 1st season:

* The New Jersey Americans beat the Dallas Chaparrals, 119-111 at the Teaneck Armory in Teaneck, New Jersey. The next season, the Americans moved to Long Island, and became the New York Nets. The Chaps moved in 1973, to become the San Antonio Spurs. Both teams were admitted to the NBA in 1976, then the Nets became the New Jersey Nets in 1977, and the Brooklyn Nets in 2012.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Pittsburgh Pipers, 119-113 at the Indiana Fairgrounds Coliseum (now the Indiana Farmers Coliseum) in Indianapolis. The Pacers were admitted to the NBA in 1976.

* And the Anaheim Amigos beat the Denver Rockets, 112-105 at the Anaheim Convention Center outside Los Angeles. The Rockets became the Denver Nuggets in 1974, and were admitted to the NBA in 1976.

And there were 3 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Chicago Black Hawks, 3-2 at the old Madison Square Garden. The Rangers would play only 3 more games there before moving to the new Garden on February 18.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 9-4 at the St. Louis Arena.

* And the Minnesota North Stars beat the Los Angeles Kings, 6-1 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.