2. Exhibits
  3. Tet Offensive
  4. Exhibit Credits

The Tet Offensive (Tết Mậu Thân)

The Tet Offensive
Table of Contents

Exhibit Credits and Materials Index


Refugees crossing the Perfume River at Truong Thien Bridge outside of Hue
(Douglas Pike Photograph Collection [va001694])

ARVN forces and civilians aid a women wounded in Hue during the Communist TET offensive in the imperial city. Hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed, wounded, crippled, or left homeless in the communist so-called "liberation" movement
(Douglas Pike Photograph Collection [va003771])

(114) Under Fire-- A Leatherneck of "A" Company, 1st Battalion, First Marines, moves out under intense enemy .50 caliber machine gun fire during heavy street fighting taking place in the old Imperial Capital of Hue.
(Brigadier General Edwin H. Simmons Collection [va020947])

(024) Vietnam..... Marines of Co.C, 1st Battalion, Fifth Regiment, are engaged in a fire fight in the streets during Operation Hue City.
(Brigadier General Edwin H. Simmons Collection [va020857])

Victory At Hue - Vietnamese soldiers celebrate their victory over the North Vietnamese invaders of Hue with the raising of their national colors on the 200-foot flag pole from which a Viet Cong flag had flown for the 24 days of the battle. Exuberant soldiers unfurl their national colors on the south wall of the Citadel, overlooking the Perfume River, hours later, they assaulted and recaptured the nearby Imperial Palace, the last remaining point in the Citadel held by the Communist.
(Douglas Pike Photograph Collection [va000974])

Victory At Hue - Vietnamese soldiers celebrate their victory over the North Vietnamese invaders of Hue with the raising of their national colors on the 200-foot flag pole from which a Viet Cong flag had flown for the 24 days of battle. In clouds of colored smoke from grenades placed at the base of the pole, the huge flag of Vietnam billows in a stiff breeze as soldiers prepare to hoist it to the top of the pole.; ; In clouds of colored smoke from grenades placed at the base of the pole, the huge flag of Vietnam billows in a stiff breeze as soldiers prepare to hoist it to the tope of the pole.
(Douglas Pike Photograph Collection [va000099])

(060)Marines forward observers trying to spot North Vietnamese Army Mortar position from front lines at Khe Sanh.
(Brigadier General Edwin H. Simmons Collection [va020893])

A stern-faced U.S. Marine fashions the flag of his country...
(Douglas Pike Photograph Collection [va006823])

Elderly couple standing under umbrella in cemetery
(Douglas Pike Photograph Collection [va003108])

Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu flanked by a military aide placing flowers before an outdoor altar.
(Douglas Pike Photograph Collection [va003091])

FMFPac Hue, Vietnam 1968 Photog: Capt EK Aerial view of ruin in the city of Hue, Vietnam...
(Peter Braestrup Collection [va035395])

3m-6-288-68 I I I MAF Vietnam 24Feb68 Photog: Harlan Marines of "D" Company, 1st Battalion Fifth Marines, in the streets of Hue...
(Peter Braestrup Collection [va035338])

AVSG-S-1031-8/AGA68 RV Saigon U.S. soldiers move into the alley behind BOQ #3 in Saigon....
(Donald Jellema Collection (Department of the Army Special Photographic Office (DASPO)) [va030780])

AVSG-S-1031-64/AGA68 RVN Saigon Viet Cong suspects captured during fighting in the area of BOQ #3....
(Donald Jellema Collection (Department of the Army Special Photographic Office (DASPO)) [va030787])

Water for cooking and drinking is passed out at a refugee center to government troops...
(Douglas Pike Photograph Collection [va001620])

Tet Offensive Subject Guide

For more information about the Tet Offensive, see our comprehensive subject guide, listing many of the materials about this subject that are available in the holdings of The Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive, including links to digital materials in the Virtual Vietnam Archive.

Exhibit Credits

  • Overall Exhibit Curator
  • Battles of Tet Background and Aftermath Curator
    • Jason Stewart
  • The Imperial City Curator
  • The Battle of Khe Sanh Curator
    • Ty Lovelady
  • The Battle for Saigon Curator
  • Website Layout and Design

Exhibit Digital Materials Index


A pall of smoke hangs over the residential section of Cholon as hundreds of homes are consumed by fires resulting from the fighting...
(Douglas Pike Photograph Collection [va000420])

Self-Help - Girl guides in Saigon, accept a donation from a pretty Vietnamese girl for the relief of victims of the recent Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army TET offensive....
(Douglas Pike Photograph Collection [va000463])
  1. Introduction
  2. 1975
  3. The Evacuation
  4. The Final Days
  5. The Aftermath