The Tet Offensive: Turning Point of the Vietnam War?
American History Hit
History Hit
4.3 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 4 January 2024
⏱️ 35 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
January, 1968. Fighting in Vietnam has been ongoing since the 1950s. Ho Chi Minh and the leaders of the communist forces in Hanoi have concocted a strategy for a decisive victory to end this conflict of attrition.
What happened in the Tet Offensive? Who won? And why was it such a massive turning point for the Americans in Vietnam. We find out with Mark Atwood Lawrence, Professor of History at the University of Texas at Austin.
Mark is the author of ‘The Vietnam War: A Concise International History’, ‘Assuming the Burden: Europe and the American Commitment to War in Vietnam’ and ‘The End of Ambition: The United States and the Third World in the Vietnam Era’.
Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Anisha Deva. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.
Discover the past on History Hit with ad-free original podcasts and documentaries released weekly presented by world renowned historians like Dan Snow, James Holland, Mary Beard and more.
Don’t miss out on the best offer in history! Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 for 3 months with code AMERICANHISTORYHIT1 sign up now for your 14-day free trial https://historyhit/subscription/
You can take part in our listener survey here.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | In downtown Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam today known as Hochiman City. |
| 0:12.0 | It's just before 3 a.m. on the night of January 31st, 1968. |
| 0:17.0 | We're on the grounds of the new U.S. Embassy Building, a block-long 8-story concrete fortress fortress just completed a few months ago having |
| 0:25.4 | reportedly cost three million dollars to build. In today's dollars that's 26 |
| 0:30.6 | million. |
| 0:32.8 | Things are quiet within the sprawling compound, only the occasional sounds of guards at |
| 0:37.2 | their posts and employees working the night shift, until suddenly the building is rocked by the explosion. |
| 0:45.0 | People shout and confusion. |
| 0:47.0 | Automatic gunfire breaks out. |
| 0:49.0 | grenade rockets thud against the chancery walls. |
| 0:52.0 | A radio crackles with the voice of MP Specialist |
| 0:55.8 | for Charles Daniels calling for urgent assistance. |
| 0:58.8 | They're coming in, they're coming in! |
| 1:00.8 | He shouts just before the system cuts out. |
| 1:04.0 | At the night gate, Daniels and his fellow guard, private first class, William Sebastian, |
| 1:09.6 | and shot. A team of Viet Cong sappers has blown a hole into the perimeter wall. |
| 1:15.0 | 19 VC eventually fight their way onto the grounds. |
| 1:19.0 | But with the loss of their troop leaders, the fighters falter, |
| 1:22.0 | and for the next six hours dig in against MPs and U.S. Marines. |
| 1:28.6 | By 9 a.m. it is all over, with the embassy back under American control. |
| 1:33.8 | 18 Viet Cong fighters lie dead, their bodies scattered. |
| 1:37.8 | Only one captive has been taken alive. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from History Hit, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of History Hit and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.