The Village

As North Vietnam had planned, the Tet Offensive shocked the world. It had not, however, led to a general uprising in the South. Throughout February, Allied forces counterattacked Viet Cong enclaves, eliminating them one by one. Viet Cong losses were …

1968-02-09

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As North Vietnam had planned, the Tet Offensive shocked the world. It had not, however, led to a general uprising in the South. Throughout February, Allied forces counterattacked Viet Cong enclaves, eliminating them one by one. Viet Cong losses were horrendous. Finally they were forced to revert to their old hit-and run tactics, hitting the Allies when they could, and melting back into the countryside when serious opposition arrived. One of those hits took place in a small village well south of Saigon. The VC, firing from fortified positions in the town’s buildings, ambushed an ARVN platoon sent to clear the village, but the VC were in turn trapped by an ARVN mechanized platoon sent to extract the pinned South Vietnamese.

Saigon, South Vietnam

The First Battle of Saigon, fought during the Tet Offensive of the Vietnam War, was the coordinated attack by communist forces, including both the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong (VC), against Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam. In late January 1968 the VC launched the Tet Offensive attacking U.S. and South Vietnamese positions across South Vietnam. Saigon was the main focal point of the offensive, but a total takeover of the capital was not intended or feasible. They rather had six main targets in the city which 35 battalions of VC were to attack and capture: the ARVN Joint General Staff compound near Tan Son Nhat International Airport, the Independence Palace, the U.S. embassy, Tan Son Nhut Air Base, the Long Binh Naval Headquarters and the National Radio Station. Because it was Tet (the Vietnamese New Year), the sound of firecrackers exploding masked that of gunfire, giving an element of surprise to the Vietcong attacks.

Wikipedia: Battle of Saigon (1968)

ARVN

Viet Cong