Tet Offensive Research Paper
Tet offensive
Introduction During the Vietnam War there was a sudden, sporadic, and fierce attack against US Armed forces that coincided with the Tet Vietnamese holiday (Schmitz, 2005). This series of strikes was later called the Tet Offensive and was a defining moment in Vietnam War History. It led to a number of poor decisions on the part of the United States military, which were primarily fueled by media sensationalism and a general fear of losing the public support. Public support is a crucial part of effective military efforts and determines the elective power, taxation base, and general camaraderie of a country. If that were to be lost totally, continuing the war in Vietnam would be incredible difficult1.
It was because of this fear …show more content…
The retaliations were not conceived out of tactical necessity, but out of a need to please the media (Hallin, 1989). This was an unfortunate but recurring theme in the Vietnam War, because media attention turned negative could quickly mobilize voters, polltakers, and activists. This may have been in part because it was long before the Internet was a viable means of communicating – people were much more dependent on television media for news information and had less opportunities to discern the truth through thorough research. Without the possibility for due diligence that is now essentially available through the Internet, viewers were at the mercy of whatever television newscasters claimed (Hallin, …show more content…
The government administration admitted that there were more casualties than they were prepared for, and the rising poll numbers of detractors showed that the general population of the American people no longer supported the war (Cardaras, 2012). These were all grave problems for the war effort, as attempting to gain victories became significantly more difficult without public support. Fearing that the war efforts would be completely removed without immediate success, retaliation efforts were initiated after the Tet Offensive. However, if the media had not been so primarily involved, the military would have had more opportunities for flexibility in retaliation. This could have potentially saved the lives of many United States military men in Vietnam (Cardaras,
Introduction During the Vietnam War there was a sudden, sporadic, and fierce attack against US Armed forces that coincided with the Tet Vietnamese holiday (Schmitz, 2005). This series of strikes was later called the Tet Offensive and was a defining moment in Vietnam War History. It led to a number of poor decisions on the part of the United States military, which were primarily fueled by media sensationalism and a general fear of losing the public support. Public support is a crucial part of effective military efforts and determines the elective power, taxation base, and general camaraderie of a country. If that were to be lost totally, continuing the war in Vietnam would be incredible difficult1.
It was because of this fear …show more content…
The retaliations were not conceived out of tactical necessity, but out of a need to please the media (Hallin, 1989). This was an unfortunate but recurring theme in the Vietnam War, because media attention turned negative could quickly mobilize voters, polltakers, and activists. This may have been in part because it was long before the Internet was a viable means of communicating – people were much more dependent on television media for news information and had less opportunities to discern the truth through thorough research. Without the possibility for due diligence that is now essentially available through the Internet, viewers were at the mercy of whatever television newscasters claimed (Hallin, …show more content…
The government administration admitted that there were more casualties than they were prepared for, and the rising poll numbers of detractors showed that the general population of the American people no longer supported the war (Cardaras, 2012). These were all grave problems for the war effort, as attempting to gain victories became significantly more difficult without public support. Fearing that the war efforts would be completely removed without immediate success, retaliation efforts were initiated after the Tet Offensive. However, if the media had not been so primarily involved, the military would have had more opportunities for flexibility in retaliation. This could have potentially saved the lives of many United States military men in Vietnam (Cardaras,