The year 1968 saw major developments in the Vietnam War. The military operations started with an attack on a US base by the North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the Viet Cong (VC) on January 1, ending a truce declared by the Pope and agreed upon by all sides. At the end of January, the PAVN and VC launched the Tet Offensive.
Hanoi erred monumentally in its certainty that the offensive would trigger a supportive uprising of the population. PAVN/VC troops throughout the South, from Hue to the Mekong Delta, attacked in force for the first time in the war, but to devastating cost as the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and American troops killed close to 37,000 of the ill-supported enemy in less than a month for losses of 3,700 and 7,600 respectively. These reversals on the battlefield (the VC would never again fight effectively as a cohesive force) failed to register on the American home front, however and fueled what would ultimately prove to be a propaganda victory for Hanoi.
U.S. troop numbers peaked in 1968 with President Johnson approving an increased maximum number of U.S. troops in Vietnam at 549,500. The year was the most expensive in the Vietnam War with America spending US$77.4 billion (US$ 716 billion in 2025) on the war. The year also became the deadliest of the Vietnam War for America and its allies with 27,915 ARVN soldiers killed and the Americans suffering 16,592 killed compared to around two hundred thousand PAVN/VC killed. The deadliest day of the Vietnam War for the U.S. was 31 January at the start of the Tet Offensive when 246 Americans were killed in action.
January
The PAVN violated the New Year's truce in the New Year's Day Battle of 1968. Among the Americans fighting were future writer Larry Heinemann and future film director Oliver Stone. The PAVN lost 328 killed, while U.S. losses were 23 killed.
In Newsweek magazine Robert Komer touted the early success of the Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development Support (CORDS) pacification program he led. He said that "only one South Vietnamese in six now lives under VC [Viet Cong] control."
Elements of the 12th Cavalry Regiment engaged a unit from the PAVN 2nd Division in a four-hour-long battle 5 km south of Firebase Ross resulting in 3 U.S. and 39 PAVN killed.
The VC launched more than 50 122 mm rockets at Da Nang Air Base destroying a United States Marine Corps (USMC) F-4B and two United States Air Force (USAF) aircraft and damaging 17 others.
The PAVN 3rd Regiment, 2nd Division attacked four U.S. firebases in the Quế Sơn Valley southwest of Hội An, launching ground attacks against Landing Zone Leslie and Firebase Ross. Leslie was occupied by D Company and a platoon from A Company, 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry. The PAVN penetrated the base, attacking bunkers with flamethrowers and satchel charges before being pushed out in the afternoon. Losses were 15 U.S and 63 PAVN. The PAVN emplaced heavy machine guns around Leslie and over a nine-day period shot down seven 1st Cavalry Division helicopters and damaged a further 26. At Ross the attack was repulsed with losses of 18 U.S. and 331 PAVN killed.
A unit of the U.S. 4th Infantry Division operating in Đắk Tô District captured a classified five-page North Vietnamese document, titled "Urgent Combat Order No. 1", that described the strategy for a series of attacks to take place in Pleiku in conjunction with the upcoming Tết holiday.
A PAVN rocket and mortar attack on Ban Me Thuot East Airfield destroyed two UH-1s and severely damaged three others.
The "Boston Five" Michael Ferber, Dr. Benjamin Spock, William Sloan Coffin, Mitchell Goodman and Marcus Raskin were indicted by a Grand jury in Boston on charges of conspiring to counsel young men to violate draft laws.
A CH-53A of HMH-463 crashed in the Hải Lăng Forest south of Đông Hà Combat Base, killing all 46 personnel on board
At a meeting with Commander of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) General William Westmoreland, II Field Force, Vietnam commander Major General Frederick C. Weyand showed Westmoreland that PAVN/VC main force units in the III Corps area were moving in from the Cambodian border towards Saigon. Weyand received permission from Westmoreland to cancel scheduled operations near the border and shift his forces back towards Saigon.
VC sappers penetrate the perimeter of Kontum Airfield and destroyed several helicopters with Satchel charges, killing 7 Americans and wounding 25. An estimated 16 VC were killed in the attack.
The Kampuchean Revolutionary Army was established by the orders of Pol Pot, the leader of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK).
Operation San Angelo was a 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division search and destroy operation in Quang Duc and Phước Long Provinces. the operation resulted in 63 PAVN/VC and 12 U.S. killed.
President Lyndon Johnson nominates Clark Clifford to succeed Robert McNamara as United States Secretary of Defense.
At a White House luncheon with First Lady Lady Bird Johnson in a discussion about juvenile delinquency, singer Eartha Kitt said "You send the best of this country off to be shot and maimed. They rebel in the street. They will take pot ... and they will get high. They don't want to go to school because they're going to be snatched off from their mothers to be shot in Vietnam." Her remarks caused Mrs. Johnson to burst into tears and led to Kitt being blacklisted and investigated by the CIA, effectively ending her career.
In the first two weeks of 1968, PAVN/VC forces shelled 49 district and provincial capitals in South Vietnam and temporarily occupied two of them. General Westmoreland described the fighting to Time magazine "as the most intense of the entire war." MACV claimed that 5,000 PAVN/VC had been killed.
Ron Kovic serving with the 1st Amphibian Tractor Battalion, 3rd Marine Division was shot and paralysed during a battle with the PAVN in the vicinity of the village of My Loc, in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).
Operation McLain a security operation conducted by the U.S. 3rd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division and ARVN 44th Regiment, 23rd Division in Bình Thuận Province commences. The operation results in 1,042 VC and 69 U.S. killed.
North Korean commandos carry out the Blue House raid, the most significant escalation in the low-intensity conflict that had been underway in South Korea since October 1966. The attack raised the possibility that the South Korean Government might want to withdraw some of their forces in South Vietnam for homeland defense, requiring their replacement by already overstretched American forces.
Operation Jeb Stuart was planned as an operation by the 1st Cavalry Division to attack PAVN base areas in I Corps, but instead saw the division supporting other Allied forces during the Tet Offensive.
The long and bloody Battle of Khe Sanh began with an assault by the PAVN on Khe Sanh Combat Base in northwestern Quảng Trị Province. The combatants were elements of the U.S. III Marine Amphibious Force (III MAF) and the ARVN against two to three PAVN division-size elements. PAVN General Võ Nguyên Giáp later claimed that his objective was to create a diversion to draw U.S. forces away from the populated areas of South Vietnam. Khe Sanh diverted 30,000 US troops away from the cities that would be the main targets of the Tet Offensive. The USAF began Operation Niagara to provide continuous air support during the siege.
Operation Lancaster II a security operation to keep Route 9 open to Ca Lu Combat Base in northern Quảng Trị Province commences. By the end of the operation the Marines had lost 359 killed; PAVN fatalities were estimated to be in excess of 1,800.
North Korean forces seize the USS Pueblo.
The Battle of Ban Houei Sane began on the night of 23 January, when the 24th Regiment of the PAVN 304th Division overran the small Royal Lao Army (RLA) outpost at Ban Houei Sane. The PAVN lost 29 killed, while RLA losses are unknown. The RLA survivors fled across the border to Lang Vei Special Forces Camp.
Operation Coronado X conducted by the U.S. Mobile Riverine Force (MRF) and the ARVN, was originally planned as a sweep of western Dinh Tuong Province and eastern Kien Phong Province, however with the outbreak of the Tet Offensive on 31 January 1968 it instead became the MRF reaction to eject VC forces from Mỹ Tho and Vĩnh Long. The operation resulted in 269 VC killed for the loss of 12 U.S. killed.
Operation Coburg was an Australian military action that saw heavy fighting between the 1st Australian Task Force (1ATF) and PAVN and VC forces during the wider fighting around Long Binh and Biên Hòa.
In Time magazine, General Westmoreland said, "the Communists seem to have run temporarily out of steam."
Two companies of the PAVN 408th Sapper Battalion attacked Camp Holloway destroying five UH-1 helicopters and an ammunition storage area.
General Westmoreland in his annual report said "In many areas the enemy has been driven away from the population centers; in others he has been compelled to disperse and evade contact thus nullifying much of his potential. The year ended with the enemy increasingly resorting to desperation tactics in attempting to achieve military/psychological victory; and he has experienced only failure in those attempts."
Operation Igloo White was a covert U.S. military electronic warfare operation carried out by the USAF 553d Reconnaissance Wing and the United States Navy VO-67 squadron to detect and interdict the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
Tet Offensive
At half-past midnight on Wednesday morning the PAVN launch the Tet Offensive at Nha Trang. At 2:45 that morning the US Embassy in Saigon is attacked, the VC fail to enter the Embassy building and 18 are killed and one captured, U.S. losses are five killed.
The VC fired rockets at Da Nang Air Base and then at 02:30 on 30 January they launched a sapper and mortar attack on the south of the base killing four Marines. At 03:30 a renewed rocket attack on the base began with 55 122 mm rockets hitting within 20 minutes, killing three marines and wounding 11 and destroying five aircraft and damaging a further 14.
The PAVN 406th Sapper Battalion and a company from the VC 304th Local Force Battalion attacked Kontum Airfield but were forced back by U.S. helicopter gunships and armor. The PAVN renewed their attack but failed to penetrate the airfield defenses. On 31 January, Company D, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment was landed at the airfield and the next day two companies from the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment were flown into the airfield securing its northern perimeter. By 4 February the city had been secured and normal operations resumed at the airfield.
The Battle of Huế was one of the bloodiest and longest battles. The ARVN and three understrength U.S. Marine battalions attacked and defeated more than 10,000 entrenched PAVN/VC. The PAVN/VC lost 5,113 killed and 98 captured in the battle, the ARVN lost 452 killed and the U.S. 216 killed. 844 Civilians were killed in the fighting. In the Massacre at Huế the PAVN/VC massacred 2,800–6,000 civilians and prisoners of war during their occupation of the city. In the aftermath of the battle South Vietnamese forces killed an estimated 1,000-2,000 people suspected of being VC or VC sympathisers.
In the deadliest single day for U.S. forces during the war 246 Americans were killed.
The PAVN/VC attacked major politico-military installations in and around Saigon. At Tan Son Nhut Air Base more than 670 PAVN are killed and 26 captured for the loss of 22 U.S. and 29 ARVN. In the attack on the Joint General Staff Compound 10 VC are killed and 10 captured for the loss of 17 U.S. killed. In the attacks on Bien Hoa Air Base and Long Binh Post 527 VC were killed and 47 captured for the loss of 11 U.S. killed. In the battle of Cholon 170 VC were killed for the loss of 12 U.S. killed.
In the attack on Quảng Trị the PAVN/VC lost 914 killed and 86 captured.
A VC rocket and mortar attack on Chu Lai Air Base triggered an explosion in the bomb dump destroying three aircraft and damaging a further 23.
The VC attack on Quảng Ngãi Airfield and Quảng Ngai was repulsed at a cost of 56 ARVN and over 500 VC killed.
The VC attack on Vĩnh Long Airfield was repulsed at a cost of seven U.S. killed and three UH-1 helicopters destroyed.
February
The ARVN 3rd Armored Cavalry Squadron, fought a pitched battle with the VC H-15 Local Force Battalion near Pleiku. They were later awarded the United States Presidential Unit Citation for extraordinary heroism against hostile forces during the Tet Offensive, making them one of only a few non-U.S. military units to receive the highest U.S. military honor awarded at the unit level.
South Vietnamese National Police chief General Nguyễn Ngọc Loan is captured on film executing a VC prisoner by American photographer Eddie Adams. The Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph becomes yet another rallying point for anti-war protesters.
Former U.S. Vice President Richard M. Nixon announced his candidacy for the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States.
Deputy U.S. Secretary of Defense Paul H. Nitze inaugurated a program to curtail the growing use of marijuana among U.S. troops fighting in Vietnam.
Operation Tran Hung Dao was the ARVN 1st, 3rd, 6th, 8th and 11th Airborne Brigades, VNMC 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 6th Brigades, 30th, 33rd, 35th, 38th & 41st Ranger Battalions, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment and 199th Infantry Brigade operation to defend the Saigon area during the Tet Offensive. The operation resulted in 953 PAVN/VC killed.