4. The 1968 Tet Offensive, led by Le Duan, aimed to knock the U.S. out of the war through a massive, coordinated strike. While the NVA suffered extreme casualties, the offensive was a strategic information victory. Images of fighting at the U.S. Embassy shattered domestic support, leading Walter Cronkite to declare the war a stalemate. Simultaneously, the siege of Khe Sanh illustrated the war’s futility. U.S. forces fought a bloody, months-long defense of the base, only to bulldoze and abandon it shortly after the North Vietnamese were driven off. (4)
1972