[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Page 1233]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            MORNING BUSINESS

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                 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE TET OFFENSIVE

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I rise today, the 40th anniversary of the 
beginning of the Tet Offensive, to commemorate the valor and 
courageousness with which our Armed Forces fought to repel this massive 
attack.
  Over the holiday recess, I was fortunate enough to spend a great deal 
of time in my home State of Nevada. While at home, I met with several 
veterans at the Veterans of Foreign Wars, VFW, Post 1753 in Las Vegas. 
After talking with them for quite a while, it was brought to my 
attention that we were only a few weeks away from the 40th anniversary 
of the onset of the Tet Offensive. In order to ensure that the heroism 
of our troops who fought in these arduous battles was not overlooked on 
this milestone anniversary, I told my friends at VFW Post 1753 that I 
would honor their sacrifices and the sacrifices of their fellow 
Nevadans and call attention to this important occasion on the floor of 
the Senate.
  From a tactical standpoint, the Tet Offensive would result in one of 
America's most convincing victories over the combined forces of the 
Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army, NVA. Yet few Americans recall 
the decisiveness with which our troops routed the surprise onslaught. 
Many mistakenly believe that Tet was a military defeat, significant for 
the enemy's ability to launch a large-scale attack on the United States 
and South Vietnamese forces. It is time to correct this mistaken 
impression and recognize the bravery and sacrifice of our soldiers, 
sailors, airmen, and marines in achieving victory during the Tet 
Offensive.
  As many Hollywood films have since immortalized, the surprise attacks 
began in full during the early morning hours of January 31, 1968, the 
Vietnamese lunar New Year holiday known as Tet. A few months earlier, 
the Governments of North and South Vietnam had agreed to observe a 7-
day truce from January 27 to February 3, 1968, in honor of the national 
holiday. With the Tet Truce abruptly violated, America's servicemembers 
regrouped to defend what would be the largest military operation 
conducted by either side up to that point in the conflict.
  Withstanding major assaults at Hue, Khe Sanh, and Saigon, our Armed 
Forces quickly turned the tide on the surprise offensive and delivered 
major tactical blows to both the Viet Cong and NVA. Most of the attack 
had been successfully repelled by mid-February with few notable 
exceptions, such as fighting at the coastal port of Hue, which 
continued into early March. When the dust settled, tens of thousands of 
Communist troops had died during the massive ambush, while 1,536 U.S. 
and non-Vietnamese allies perished in the violence and over 7,700 
others were wounded or declared missing.
  Despite America's impressive tactical victories in the aftermath of 
the original attacks, the Tet Offensive forever altered the course of 
the Vietnam war. Although the Tet Offensive would serve as a major blow 
in the court of American public opinion, we must never forget the 
resolve and bravery of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines, who 
fought a determined enemy and defended the freedoms of those who could 
not defend themselves.
  During the difficult times of today, when America remains at war 
abroad against another committed enemy, I believe we must all remember 
to take the necessary time and pay our deepest respects to those 
servicemembers who have fallen in years past. I certainly will never 
forget the 151 Nevadans who died during the course of the entire 
Vietnam war, many of whom would meet their eventual fate defending the 
south during the Tet Offensive. To all of those valiant Americans who 
fought during this mightiest of struggles, our Nation is eternally 
grateful for your sacrifice in turning what could have been one of our 
darkest hours into yet another great victory in the annals of our 
Nation's rich military history.

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