Photo Credit: PH1 T.L. Lawson/ Wikimedia Commons
5. Was the Tet Offensive a defeat or a victory?
Militarily, the Tet Offensive in 1968 was costly for North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces. They launched coordinated attacks across South Vietnam during the Tet holiday, striking cities, towns, military bases, and even the U.S. Embassy compound in Saigon. U.S. and South Vietnamese forces eventually pushed them back.
But politically and psychologically, Tet changed everything. American officials had been telling the public that progress was being made. Then, suddenly, people watching television saw fighting in places they had been told were secure. The question was no longer just “Who won the battle?” It became “Have we been told the truth?”
That is why Tet is still studied today. It showed that perception can reshape a war even when the battlefield result looks different. In the age of livestreams, viral clips, satellite images, and instant analysis, that lesson feels even sharper. A military operation can fail tactically and still succeed in changing the story.