SOUTH VIETNAM. Saigon. 1968. Refugees fleeing during military action in Saigon in May 1968. Philip Jones GriffithsVIETNAM. The battle for Saigon. American G.I’s often showed compassion toward the Vietcong. This sprang from a soldierly admiration for their dedication and bravery; qualities difficult to discern in the average government soldier. This VC had fought for three days with his intestines in a cooking bowl strapped onto his stomach. 1968. Philip Jones GriffithsVIETNAM. Called a “little tiger” for killing two “Vietcong women cadre” – his mother and teacher, it was rumored. 1968. Philip Jones GriffithsThe battles for Saigon. At Tet and again in Mai, the Viet Cong struck Saigon. They aimed for the middle-class districts which were duly destroyed by United States firepower. Looting was extensive, so people fled with everything they could carry. Philip Jones GriffithsVIETNAM. The battle for Saigon. 1968. Philip Jones GriffithsSOUTH VIETNAM. Civilian victims of US firepower fleeing over the Y Bridge in Saigon, May 1968. Philip Jones GriffithsVIETNAM. The battle for Saigon. 1968 Philip Jones GriffithsVIETNAM. The battle for Saigon. Scared looking marines crouch at a wall during Tet offensive. 1968 Philip Jones GriffithsVIETNAM. The battle for Saigon. Pity the poor fighting man in Vietnam. The problem was always too much water or too little. In the early days of the war, water was shipped from California, the indigenous sort considered unsafe. Later it was made “palatable” with huge quantities of chlorine. Wiser men know to fill up with the natural variety. 1968. Philip Jones GriffithsVIETNAM. The battle for Saigon. The problem with “close” artillery support was that it was often too close. on this occasion shells called in by these troops had landed among them. The officer’s desperate message to halt the bombardment was not received; he had taken up refuge inside an armored personnel carrier where his frenzied transmissions could not penetrate the metal hull. 1968. Philip Jones GriffithsVIETNAM. Hue. US Marines inside the citadel in Hue during the Tet offensive. 1968. Philip Jones GriffithsVIETNAM. The battle for Saigon. A refugee from US Bombing. 1968. Philip Jones GriffithsFebruary 2, 1968. An M-60 machine-gunner fires in support of advancing members of the 2d Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment during street fighting in Hue City. NATIONAL ARCHIVESFebruary 24, 1968. Members of the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment move through a secured part of Hue as the battle for the city winds down. NATIONAL ARCHIVESFebruary 6, 1968. A Navy corpsman treats a member of the 2d Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment during the battle for Hue. The Marines suffered nearly 1,000 casualties (killed and wounded) in the encounter. NATIONAL ARCHIVESFebruary 1968. Marines scale a mound of rubble as they fight their way into the NVA stronghold in the Citadel – the ancient Imperial capital’s fortress – during the battle for Hue. NATIONAL ARCHIVESOn February 1, 1968–during the Tet Offensive–General Nguyen Ngoc Loan, director of South Vietnam’s national police force, executed a Viet Cong prisoner on the streets of Saigon. so1blogPresident Johnson meets with Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and other advisors following the Tet Offensive, which marked a crucial turning point in America’s involvement in the war. HistoryIn October 1969, relatives gather at a mass funeral for recently-discovered victims of the Tet Offensive. HistorySouth Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu speaks at the funeral for those killed. History
