Tet Docs

Once I read all of the "Tet Docs" I came to the conclusion that their were many views on the war and it was hard to predict what will really happen next. The Tet holiday was supposed to be a joyous day and celebration but it resulted in many deaths of both the American and Vietnamese people. Not only did US soldiers and those from the NVA forces die, but many towns were being attacked which killed innocent civilians. Even though the NVA and Viet Cong suffered about 10 times more deaths than the US and South Vietnamese forces, both sides were effected psychologically. It's crazy to think that just because of one conflict that occurred from a day that was supposed to be a pleasant one could result in the loss of thousands of people and millions of dollars. The event also ended President Johnson's desire to run for office again. Even today, the Tet Offensive "is seen as the turning point of the war" and that is because of the "psychological victory" on the North Vietnamese side. The experience's resulting from Tet had changed the pattern for future decisions and actions of leaders for both the Vietnamese side and the United States.
The Massacre at Hue was also a memorable event. After reading and processing the information from the event..I was startled and appalled at what happened during this time. The number of bodies found was mind boggling. Another thing that shocked me about the Massacre at Hue was that a large majority of the bodies were government officials or employees of the Americans. All of those people were captured by the Viet Cong cadres, and they were all recognized because of detailed blacklists that were carried during captures. If it weren't for all the false accusations and beliefs that the two countries made against each other, many of these little "inner" battles could have been avoided. The rumors that had been started were also a large influence on the Massacre at Hue which made me start to think why the people were so naive. Maybe it was because the public was not being told the whole truth?
Walter Cronkite's CBS Broadcast also had a large effect on the public. Many Americans believed that they were not getting the whole story on what was going on in Vietnam. Walter's opinion influenced the public to doubt their government and fear that they weren't being informed on progress or problems going on in Nam. He kept mentioning a future stalemate in the war, but no one could predict the future. Because he was such a popular celebrity figure, his opinion made a difference in the community. Whether he was being bias or not, the way he came about speaking of the issue in a public manner was wrong and unprofessional. Personal opinions should never be given on issues as large as these. If the broadcast was not aired, I'm sure that many people would not have been so paranoid about the issue.