lets see, as its been 41 years since I was shot thru the brain, I am curious how many of you out there have ever heard of the BLOODIEST Battle of the Viet Nam War...??
2009-02-11T10:32:15Z
Lets see... I was stabbed and later shot thru the brain, which my unit's C.O was hit on the 17 as well one of our Lt.'s and I hid during some part of the siege... and the ramp eventually came into the hands of the NVA.... as well as the Citadel... as I faguely recall that's where I broke my M16!!! swinging it... as the enemy was at that point to close to even shoot!!!!
2009-02-11T10:37:36Z
addition here... How do you think Mr. Walter Cronkite arrived in Hue City on the 17th??? he really wasn't expected to walk... one thing I did learn was teamwork!!!!!!!!!! is EVERYTHING! s/f
2009-02-11T13:39:32Z
Thanks.. for the reply.. there but like you said, "from what I know".. this should of been done and this shouldn't of" maybe you could of gained some real insight if you would of only of been there!!!!!!!!!
2009-02-13T17:27:49Z
Anyone ever see those two marines carrying the American Flag to hang it over the Citadel? on the site.... poof a smoke unless mistaken??? Semper Fi!!!!! Dave
Anonymous2009-02-11T10:27:31Z
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I was at the 8th RRFS Phu Bai during Tet. Just one of the many reasons I have PTSD. Went from there to the 7th outside Udorn right after.
I certainly know of and about Hue and the Citadel. My uncle was with a Marine rifle company there, and fought to breach the citadel.
Sorry to hear you got hit.
You know, there's a pretty good book about the experiences of the Marines Grunts in the battle of Hue by a guy named Dale Dye. The title is "Run Between the Raindrops." If you get a chance, you might enjoy reading. it.
the tet offensive was orchestrated by the north vietnamese dictators. The main purpose was to eliminate the growing political influence of the "vietcong" leaders who were operating in south vietnam- they actually opposed some actions advocated by the north vietnamese rulers- and sending down whole divisions of north vietnamese draftees did not help much. what is worse the popularity of those southern leaders was becoming bigger than that of the north vietnamese "bosses" The excuse for the tet offensive was the growing effectiveness of the "hearts and minds" and "vietnamisation" policies. The influence of the NVA/vietcong was dropping and "something had to be done" the tet offensive itself was a military disaster- all the "guerillas" and the NVA draftees sent from the north came out into the open and (once the surprise effect was over) were anihilated by superior firepower and better training of the south vietnamese army and the allies In the areas where the NVA/vietcong took temporary power (eg in the city of Hue) the nationalist movement was anihilated- the NVA/vietcong systematically rounded up every known oppositionist, nationalist and even "fellow travellers" and methodically murdered each and every one of them Of course the tet offensive was a great media success. the fact that it caused the anihilation of the vietcong did not matter to the media. Facts rarely do.
I know all about it. That generations' "Fallujah", as they say. Some nasty house to house stuff. The casualties were high, the numbers and outcome favor the Marines of course, but I'd say the publicity helped the VC and NVA. It always kills me when the media talks about TET, it was a massive military FAILURE, but thats the media war for you.