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Hue' Vietnam: 1968 - The Viet Cong went from house to house, building to building, looking for anyone on their lists. The lists contained the names of actual and suspected "enemies of the people of Vietnam." When the people on the lists were found, many were forced to their knees and shot in the back of the neck – at least during the first hours of the attack. Others, including the secretaries and custodial staff at newspapers, were rounded up and taken to different locations throughout the city – temporary captives. As soon as their captors had gotten together and worked out what to do with them, they were told they would be moved to a location inland and be " e-educated." The "lucky" ones were taken to different Viet Cong camps and some even to camps in the North, but most were told lies, taken to a wooded or isolated place within the city, and clubbed to death. Some were buried alive. Most foreigners, meaning white people, who were caught were also shot. This included reporters, clerks, and minor foreign government officials. When the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong were defeated after 26 days of the heaviest fighting of the Vietnam War, they left behind nearly 6,000 victims – men, women, and children, who had been killed as "enemies of the people."
On January 31st, 1968, the North Vietnamese Army, the "VA," and its communist South Vietnamese allies, the Viet Cong, or "C," launched the Tet Offensive, a massive attack on South Vietnamese cities, US and South Vietnamese military bases, and political centers, and much more. The now famous attack began as Vietnam was starting the New Year'sHoliday, or " et," and was planned intentionally for that day when the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese believed the people of the south, along with their armed forces and those of the Americans, to be least expecting an attack, let alone one which took place throughout the country simultaneously.
One of the main targets of the VC and the NVA was Hue, one of the oldest and most important cities in South Vietnam. From 1307 to 1905, the city on the Perfume River was the Vietnamese imperial capital. Even after the capital status was removed when the French took over the country in the early 20th century, Hue continued to play an important symbolic role for the Vietnamese people and a reminder of its former independence.
In 1945, after the Japanese in Vietnam surrendered, North Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh made Hue the capital of Vietnam again but was forced out when the French returned in force shortly after that. In 1968, Hue was a small city of about 140,000 people. Compared to the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon, nearly 400 miles south, Hue was, and still is, a calm and dignified symbol of former greatness. In 1968, the United States would be 192 years old. Hue had been the capital of Vietnam for 400 years before the United States had become a country.
#vietnamwar #huemassascre #nvavietnam #history
Sources:
D. Newbold. "Tet - What Really Happened at Hue." HistoryNet. Last modified May 19, 2022. [ Ссылка ].
"Massacre at Hue - North Vietnamese Communist Crime Against Its Own People." Vietnam, Colonel NGO THE LINH, Special Forces Commander, Director of Strategic Technical Directorate (STD) Viet Nam Cong Hoa. Accessed February 6, 2024. [ Ссылка ].
Stilwell, Blake. "8 Reasons Why the Battle of Hue Was So Pivotal in the Vietnam War." Military.com. Last modified April 11, 2022. [ Ссылка ].
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