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...took the U.S. and South Vietnamese military by surprise. In that sense, and because they continued after five days of fighting to hang on to some of their targets, the Communists undeniably won a victory of sorts. "This is real fighting on a battlefield," admitted Brigadier General John Chaisson, Westmoreland's combat operations coordinator for South Viet Nam. The Communist attack was, he said, "a very successful offensive. It was surprisingly well coordinated, surprisingly intensive and launched with a surprising amount of audacity." Westmoreland himself called the enemy campaign "a bold one," though marked "by treachery and deceitfulness...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: The War: The General's Gamble | 2/9/1968 | See Source »

...both General Westmoreland and President Johnson interpreted Giap's attacks primarily in hard military terms: as a specific effort to draw U.S. troops away from the U.S. Marine base of Khe Sanh, where Giap has assembled some 40,000 men for what could be the largest single battle of the entire war. Not all of Westmoreland's and Johnson's subordinates agree. The dissenters suspect Giap of intending just the opposite?of having created the threat to Khe Sanh as a diversion designed to draw U.S. forces away from cities and towns and thus give him a foothold...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: The War: The General's Gamble | 2/9/1968 | See Source »

...enemy force of at least 700 men tackled the city's most vital military target: Tan Son Nhut airstrip and its adjoining MACV compound housing Westmoreland's headquarters and the 7th Air Force Command Center, the nerve centers of U.S. command in the war. The Communists breached the immediate base perimeter, slipping past some 150 outposts without a shot being fired, and got within 1,000 feet of the runways before they were halted in eight hours of bloody hand-to-hand combat. All told, the Communists attacked from 18 different points around Tan Son Nhut, getting close enough...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: The War: The General's Gamble | 2/9/1968 | See Source »

Civilian Shields. In the fighting throughout the country, the Communists, as Westmoreland pointed out, showed "a callous disregard for human life," attacking hospitals as well as military compounds, using churches and schools as defense posts and captured civilians as shields. In the highland town of Ban Me Thuot, the Viet Cong killed six American missionaries in a sweep through a leprosarium operated by the Christian and Missionary Alliance, leaving their bodies wired with booby traps...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: The War: The General's Gamble | 2/9/1968 | See Source »

...which connects with Khe Sanh via Route 9, is the best, and will thus not be left gladly in enemy hands. One of Giap's aims in his general offensive is to stretch U.S. lines?and U.S. troop deployments?as thin and as wide as he can, forcing General Westmoreland to make difficult choices of priority...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: The War: The General's Gamble | 2/9/1968 | See Source »

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