Television also changed what military victory and defeat looked like. In 1968, the Vietcong launched the Tet Offensive against South Vietnam and its American allies. The surprise operation quickly turned into a massive battlefield failure for the attackers. Half of the 80,000-strong Vietcong were killed or wounded; they captured little territory and held none of what they did. But that wasn’t what American families watching in their dens back home saw. Instead, 50 million viewers saw clips of U.S. Marines in disarray; scenes of bloody retribution and bodies stacked deep. The most dramatic
Television also changed what military victory and defeat looked like. In 1968, the Vietcong launched the Tet Offensive against South Vietnam and its American allies. The surprise operation quickly turned into a massive battlefield failure for the attackers. Half of the 80,000-strong Vietcong were killed or wounded; they captured little territory and held none of what they did. But that wasn’t what American families watching in their dens back home saw. Instead, 50 million viewers saw clips of U.S. Marines in disarray; scenes of bloody retribution and bodies stacked deep. The most dramatic moment came when the U.S. embassy in Saigon was put under siege. Although the main building was never penetrated and the attackers were quickly defeated, the footage was mesmerizing—and, for many, deeply troubling. Unfolding across a hundred South Vietnamese cities and towns, Tet was the biggest battle of the Vietnam War. But the war’s real turning point came a month later and 8,000 miles away. Legendary journalist Walter Cronkite was the anchor of the CBS Evening News and deemed “the most trusted man in America.” In a three-minute monologue, Cronkite declared that the Vietnam War was never going to be the victory the politicians and generals had promised. In the White House, President Lyndon B. Johnson watched. Forlorn, he purportedly told his staff, “If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost Middle America.” Such was the power of moving images and sound, interspersed with dramatic narration and ...
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My father was always pissed off by this dichotomy, blaming the reporters rousted from brothels and bars and other “comforts” by the insurgent communist guerrillas for the mismatched and poor sentiment.