Vietnam War Turning Points

1. Why was the Tet Offensive a turning point? Explain your answer.
The Tet Offensive was a major turning point during the Vietnam War because it raised hard questions about the war in the USA. For example, there were nearly 500,000 troops in Vietnam and the USA was spending $20 billion a year on the war. This raised questions as to why the Communists had been able to launch a major offensive that took the US forces completely by surprise. Another for example, the US and South Vietnamese forces quickly retook the towns captured in the offensive but in the process they used enormous amounts of artillery and air power. Many civilians were killed, and the ancient Hue was destroyed. Was this right?

2. Are Sources 51 and 52 making the same point about the My Lai Massacre?
Sources 51 and 52 are not making the same point about the My Lai Massacre. This is because sources 51 is opposing the reasons behing the My Lai Massacre, claiming it was a Nai type of thing and they had not gone there to be Nazi's. The source also makes the point that they had gone there to be courageous on the behalf of their country and they had not known what they were doing. Source 52 however states tha tit was not a massacre of innocent civilians, they were only killing pawns who supported communism, something they needed to stop.

3. Why do you think it took 12 months for anyone to do anything about the massacre?
I think that it took 12 months for anyone to do anything about the My Lai Massacre because the revelations of the massacre would of course cause a great discrediting to the US army. Also there had already been photographs of horrid images of screaming children running from the Napalm Bombs the US had set off against Viet Cong, so the US had already been losing the support from the American people. If this were to get out, it would have enraged many antiwar protesters and cause a huge outrage among the people.

4. Why was the massacre so shocking to the American public?
The Massacre was so shocking to the American people because nobody thought the US army was capable of doing such horrid, and horrendous things such as killing 400 innocent civilians. Of which mostly were women, children, and old men. It was a deed that no person at the time would think America would commit.