Fulfill that or not, they were prepared to take a chance. Announcer sunday night, addie eastern on q a at eight eastern on q a. North vietnam launched surprise attacks in South Vietnam in the lunar new year. Many people considered it to be a turning point of the war. Reel america, saigon target zero 1968. Tet. Ffensive this film contains graphic scenes that may be disturbing to some viewers. Saigon was alive as everyone prepared for the lunar new year. For the people of vietnam, it is a sacred time of year. This was to be the first spring of the second republic of fear not. Of vietnam. The troops opposed by the north vietnamese seemed to promise people a safe holiday, free from the anxiety of war. At the temples, people gathered to pay respects to their ancestors. On the eve of the new year, thousands of families prayed before the altars of their ancestors. They prayed peace might be restored. This year, the traditional firecrackers became the fireworks of war. The viet cong taking advantage of the celebration launched a savage attack on saigon, violating the truce they had proposed. Areas of the city became a blazing inferno. Columns of smoke rose skyward as block after block burned with the fires of viet cong treachery. As frightened people fled, many fell victim to enemy gunfire. Government soldiers reacted quickly to counter the communist offensive and to protect civilian life and property. At the saigon radio, at strategic intersections are out throughout the city, wherever the enemy appeared, South Vietnamese troops went into action. [gunfire] many of the terrorists attempted to hide. Soldiers found them. Areas, tanks were deployed to these areas to help dislodge the viet cong. The enemy uses troops to attempt to capture the saigon radio station. The enemy set fire to the building. The vietnamese Airborne Troops were quickly on the scene, along with firefighters, who put out the blaze. These bodies are evidence of the miscalculation of north the generals north vietnamese general. He was credited with having planned the tet offensive. Times have changed. The loss of thousands of men have taught the general a grim lesson. This plans attack by the north vietnamese has been described as theyre all or nothing go for broke effort. It ended in failure. Communists dead for each alive and soldier is proof of the price they paid for their attempt. Sidebyside with combat enter thethey dangerous areas. They tell the people to remain calm. Everywhere in the city, there are fearful civilians depending on the soldiers to protect them. They take the people out of the city to temporary Refugee Centers. Doctors and nurses came to the aid of civilian wounded in the city. Military and civilian ambulances speeded the evacuation of the seriously wounded. Heroes wereal firefighting squads. Throughout the city, the viet cong set fire to heavily Populated Areas to cover their retreat. Each time, they had to be on hand to put up a fire and keep them from spreading. The firemen raved the flames and enemy guns to perform their vital roles in saving saigon. And enemythe flames guns to perform their vital roles in saving saigon. Wherever the fighting was the heaviest, psychological warfare on civic action teams were hand. The teams use their loudspeakers to tell troops about the attacks and how they could evacuate to safer areas. The teams use their loudspeakers continually to appeal to their enemy to surrender. Many viet cong responded to surrender. Entire squads surrendered as a unit. These prisoners proved an excellent source of information. They told up the lack of morale and spirit in their ranks. Some had been forced to fight. Killed,ir leaders were they willingly surrender to government soldiers. Surrendered to government soldiers. As the battle progressed, bodies of southern viet cong littered the street. Piles of weapons were taken from the defeated communist troops. Elderly man, a lifelong resident of saigon, showed the soldiers the best way to surround the area of the communists had infiltrated. Communist violence quickly turned large sections of the city into a a inferno filled with panicked residents trying to save themselves. In a matter of hours, the home was numbered in the tens of thousands. The homeless numbered in the tens of thousands. House to house fighting lasted four days. Most of the bloodiest firefighters occurred at the highway, not far from downtown saigon. Here, the army succeeded in the prevent the commonest from using women and children as human shields. Area withaturated the a lethal display of firepower. At the ammo dump, the entire battalion of entrenched viet cong proved no match for the third airborne battalion. They quickly surrendered. Many of these dead north vietnamese were forced from their farms and sent to saigon to face certain death. Hundreds of wounded and bleeding were abandoned on the streets of saigon by the viet cong. They were provided medical care by both civilians and military medical teams. Many of the victims were sick and undernourished even before the sevenday battle of saigon. It were given medical care and food. They were given medical care and food. Here are some of the viet cong prisoners being interviewed by military correspondents. All the weapons captured are from russia and red china. Thousands of families were burned out of their homes in the attack. The government launched a program to set up refugee camps in the areas of the city. When the fire subsided, the residents returned to the ashes of their homes and shuffled through the ruins to salvage what they could. Many of these people had been born in these houses and had reared their children there. Now, there was nothing left but ashes and memories. The homeless stand around confused and helpless. While the paratroopers and marines were flushing out the last of the communists from the city, others were busy relocating the homeless to the Refugee Centers where they could receive food and medical attention. Their fathers and husbands are dead. Helpless and, their homes destroyed, possessions burned. The government has the responsibility of caring for these orphans and windows as best they can while trying to prevent the communists from launching another devastating attack. Civic action teams began a Disease Prevention Campaign for the citizens, especially the refugees. Religious and civic action organizations from all over the world responded to the request for aid, food, medical supplies, and clothing, all forwarded to the refugee camps and were disturbed it were distributed. Carried wateruck to the outlying areas to help the area get back on its feet. Was simple the camps but nourishing. Children are children, even in refugee camps. As a health measure, the Army Engineer corps began to collect the mounds of garbage and her breed piled up in the streets during the fighting and its piled up and debris in the streets during the fighting and its aftermath. Tons of refuse were loaded into army trucks and hold the way in an effort to help the residents get their neighborhood back to normal. Saigon havef cleaned up the city and begun to rebuild. Barricades have given way to the traffic and activity typical of the city. Life is returning to normal. Yet the citizens of saigon will never forget how the communists it with such devastation and violence. Announcer two days before President Trump delivers his first state of the union speech, watch past state of the union addresses, featuring president reagan in 1982, president George H W Bush in 1990, president 1994 and president barack obama in 2010. Will notg taxes balance the budget. Raising taxes will slow economic growth, reduce production and destroy future jobs. Making it more difficult for those without jobs to find them. And making it more likely that those who have jobs could lose them. I will not ask you to try to balance the budget on the backs of the american taxpayers. Last fall, at the education summit, the governors and i agreed to look for ways to make sure our kids are ready to learn. The first day they walk into the classroom, ive made good on that commitment by proposing a record increase in funds, an extra . 5 billion for something near and dear to all of us, head start. Our approach protects the quality of care and peoples choices. It builds on what works today in the private sector to expand employerbased coverage, to guarantee private insurance for every american. I might say, employerbased private insurance for every american was proposed 20 years ago by president Richard Nixon to the United States congress. It was a good idea then and it is a better idea today. We cut taxes for 95 of working families. We cut taxes for small businesses. We cut taxes for firsttime homebuyers. We cut taxes for parents trying to care for children. We cut taxes for 8 million americans paying for college. Announcer watch sunday, at noon eastern on American History tv on cspan3. And oral history interview with a u. S. Military Academy Graduate who served as a the helicopter pilot in vietnam war. He describes his time as a west point cadet and his decision to switch to aviation and his experience flying through antiaircraft fire. Here is a preview. Made the major assault in the valley during that timeframe. Hat was a big deal effort we lost 24 aircraft the first day. Is distinct memories i have ook flying a chin down the valley with its tail end on fire. We were in the first lift that when in and he was hovering up the side of this mountain and he hovered right past a 37 millimeter. And put fiveon him rounds in his canopy and blue thehelicopter up blew helicopter appeared that day was a bad day. Went assault when in in, there was a small area in the valley and it is maybe a half mile wide and a mile long. Controlledybody going in and coming back out. We had to come out to rearm and refuel. We had to climb through this opening and get above the clouds and fly back to where the refueling point was. I could still hear those of seven millimeter guns shooting. They made a distinct sound. Out, thee climbing backs of our seats were armored. I slipped out of my seat as far as i could and still fly. I thought, just let me get out of this. As i was looking at my instruments, i was not looking ahead and the copilot sitting in the front seat, he just yelled plane. I looked up and here was a phantom coming down on a bombing run. Ive never seen so many bombs and he was coming right at us. I froze. I did not know what to do. He knew what to do. He rolled his aircraft and he came by s he came by us. He was so close i could see the skull and cross bones. Looked back. He dropped his bombs and off he went. Announcer watch the entire interview with the vietnam on sunday at 10 a. M. Eastern on cspan3. War tetr the vietnams offensive started more than 60 years ago with viet cong and , north vietnamese attacked more than 100 cities, towns, and outposts across South Vietnam. We are going live as Vietnam Veterans look back at the battle of hue where some of the most intense fighting of the campaign took place. Mark bowden will join the discussion. He is the author of hue 1968. Plus former Stars Stripes , photographer john olson, and also three marines who fought in hue