The Vietnam War and Tet in particular demonstrated that the U.S. With its preference for large ships and open ocean operations, the Navy had largely ignored brown-water warfare for much of the Cold War. The ability to operate and fight on rivers and shallow coastal areas (known as brown-water or inshore warfare) was critical to Tet and the broader war, but this capability had withered in the U.S. Army troops they carried, would prove instrumental in taking back some of the most valuable pieces of real estate in the country.

During the offensive, Navy small boats were employed for fire support, troop transport, amphibious assault, forward basing, logistical support, and numerous other missions. Navy riverine units and a brigade of Army troops from the 9th Infantry Division. Much of the defense of the delta fell upon the shoulders of U.S. In the Mekong Delta, the communists attacked 64 district capitals. Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV) because it was home to more than a third of the country’s 17 million people and the source of 75 percent of the nation’s food. When Tet occurred, IV Corps became a high priority for the U.S. Two of the most critical battle areas of Tet were the northernmost military region of South Vietnam (I Corps) and the southernmost (IV Corps), which contained the Mekong Delta. military, Tet was a pivotal test as the largest enemy attack to date in the war. war effort in Southeast Asia.įor the U.S. Over time, the allies reconquered almost all of the lost ground and inflicted significant losses on the enemy, but the scale and ferocity of the attacks proved a major political blow for the U.S.

The offensive on the evening of Tet, the Vietnamese lunar New Year, came as a complete shock to both the United States and the Republic of Vietnam. 31, 1968, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese troops attacked over 100 of South Vietnam’s cities and towns.

Us navy in the vietnam war