Page:Airmobility 1961-1971.pdf/180

of Hue between 11 and 20 February to reinforce the weakening local forces. The aggressive actions by the 3d Brigade of the 1st Cavalry, commanded by Colonel Campbell, around La Chu had seriously disrupted the enemy plans for reinforcement.

The Tet offensive had hurt the enemy severely. The North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong had lost some 32,000 men killed and 5,800 detained from the period between 29 January and 11 February 1968. They had lost over 7,000 individual weapons and almost 1,300 crew-served weapons.

The communists had paid another kind of price. By choosing Tet for their attack, they had alienated a major portion of the population who considered that a sacred time of the year. They had also brought the battle into the very midst of the heavy populated areas causing many civilian casualties who were caught in the cross fire. Most importantly, they had totally misjudged the mood of the South Vietnamese. Believing in their own propaganda, the Viet Cong had called for and expected a popular uprising to welcome the Communists as liberators. Nothing approaching that myth occurred anywhere in Vietnam. The Government of Vietnam did not collapse under the Tet offensive. On the contrary, it rallied in the face of the threat with a unity and purpose greater than that which had ever been displayed up to that time.