Tet Offensive 1968

The Communists from North Vietnam and the Viet Cong of South Vietnam combined forces like they had never done before, to launch attacks all over South Vietnam. Those simultaneous attacks became known as the ‘Tet Offensive’, a Vietnamese holiday that last from December 30th through January the 3rd.

Every town, city and U. S. base camp of any size was attacked at the same time. On those days, the enemy showed the citizens back in the United States that no place in Vietnam was safe from attack. Although the U. S. would be mired down in Vietnam until the 1973 withdrawal, the Tet Offensive would mark the beginning of the end for U. S. involvement in Vietnam.

The 9th Infantry was called into Saigon, even though the Unit had been banned from Saigon. This is the story of the part my squad played in the Tet Offensive, as told to me by some of the guys in the squad. I contracted ‘Jungle Rot’ on my feet and was sent to Bear Cat for a few days for my feet to be treated and given time to heal. I was there during the Tet Offensive, thus I guess I was lucky. Bear Cat was so heavily fortified that it was not attacked. The enemy did step up the mortar attacks on Bear Cat.

I was told the story a few days after the Tet Offensive had started. About my third day in Bear Cat, I looked up from my sore feet one day and saw my Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) with my squad coming into the motor pool at Bear Cat. The other squad members gathered around me. They had been in a graveyard somewhere in Saigon, fighting the enemy during the Tet Offensive. The Viet Cong (VC) had hidden in the graveyard behind gravestones. One of the guys said, “Binion it was awful, it was just like a turkey shoot.” I could understand why; going through a graveyard on an APC and shooting down on the enemy, meant they would not have a chance.

All was going fine from the point of view of my squad, when the driver got distracted and drove the APC off the side of an escarpment. Most of the squad members were just shaken up, but a couple were hurt and sent to hospital. The APC had to be brought in for repairs, thus my squad got to spend a few days with me in Bear Cat. By the time, the APC was fixed and ready to roll, so were my feet, and Tet was over.

After about six days for me, and three for the rest of the squad, we were back in the war. Once again, I had been lucky. I never had to point-blank shoot a man in Vietnam. I know they were the enemy, but they were human beings also. Chances are some of my bullets wounded or killed some of the VC, but I do not know that for sure. All the battles I was in; the enemy was in the jungle or so far away that I did not see my bullets hit them. I only saw what their bullets and explosives had done to my Army buddies. I know some men saw much more of the horrors of war than I did, which is why I keep saying I was lucky. Live and learn; learn and live.