On July the 6th 1967, the top officials in ÃÂÃÂNorth Vietnam gathered in HÃÂà NÃÂôi for the funeral of Senior General NguyÃÂên ChÃÂàThanhÃÂÃÂ1, after his funeral they were going to meet to discuss the speedy and victorious end of the war. Thanh had favored removing forces from South Vietnam and conducting a long drawn-out campaign ÃÂÃÂto wear down the Americans.ÃÂÃÂ2 However the Democratic Republic of VietnamÃÂÃÂs (DRV) General VÃÂô NguyÃÂên GiÃÂáp had made his mind up that he would engage the Americans like his success ÃÂÃÂover the French at ÃÂiÃÂên BÃÂên Phu.ÃÂÃÂ3GiÃÂápÃÂÃÂs plan, borrowed from Chinese Communist doctrine, was based on the conceptof the ÃÂÃÂGeneral Offensive.ÃÂàFollowing, the General Offensive would come theÃÂÃÂGeneral Uprising,ÃÂàduring which the people of South Vietnam would rally to theCommunist cause and overthrow the SÃÂà i GÃÂòn government. The General Uprisingwas a distinctly Vietnamese element of revolutionary dogma.4GiÃÂápÃÂÃÂs goal for the offensive was to drive out the Americans by initiating an attack so fierce and deadly that the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and American troops would turn their tails and return home.
The TÃÂêt Offensive, has proven to be a political and psychological victory for the North Vietnamese communists. It is widely believed that this was the turning point in the Vietnam War. When people in the United States saw the carnage from the offensive on television they were utterly shocked. The mediaÃÂÃÂs role in the downfall of Vietnam has been controversial at the very least. It is very hard to judge where the true blame lies on the loss in Vietnam. It may be said that TÃÂêt was the ÃÂÃÂbeginning of the endÃÂàbecause the media exposure it was given. The attack on the American Embassy in SÃÂà i GÃÂòn drove home that the war was not about over. It was seen...