page_title: 1968 in the Vietnam War
section_title: February
hierarchical_section_title: 1968 in the Vietnam War / February
caption_attribution_description: English: Men of the 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division at Chu Lai Air Base
context_page_description: The year 1968 saw major developments in the Vietnam War. The military operations started with an attack on a US base by the North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam and the Viet Cong on January 1, ending a truce declared by the Pope and agreed upon by all sides. At the end of January, the PAVN and VC launched the Tet Offensive.
  Hanoi erred monumentally in its certainty that the offensive would trigger a supportive uprising of the population. PAVN/VC troops throughout the South, from Hue to the Mekong Delta, attacked in force for the first time in the war, but to devastating cost as the Army of the Republic of Vietnam and American troops killed close to 37,000 of the ill-supported enemy in less than a month for losses of 3,700 and 7,600 respectively. These reversals on the battlefield failed to register on the American home front, however and fueled what would ultimately prove to be a propaganda victory for Hanoi.
  U.S. troop numbers peaked in 1968 with President Johnson approving an increased maximum number of U.S. troops in Vietnam at 549,500. The year was the most expensive in the Vietnam War with the American spending US$77.4 billion on the war.
context_section_description: 1 February
  The ARVN 3rd Armored Cavalry Squadron, fought a pitched battle with the VC H-15 Local Force Battalion near Pleiku. They were later awarded the United States Presidential Unit Citation for extraordinary heroism against hostile forces during the Tet Offensive, making them one of only a few non-U.S. military units to receive the highest U.S. military honor awarded at the unit level.
  South Vietnamese National Police chief General Nguyễn Ngọc Loan is captured on film executing a VC prisoner by American photographer Eddie Adams. The Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph becomes yet another rallying point for anti-war protesters.
  Former U.S. Vice President Richard M. Nixon announced his candidacy for the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States.
  2 February
  Deputy U.S. Secretary of Defense Paul H. Nitze inaugurated a program to curtail the growing use of marijuana among U.S. troops fighting in Vietnam.
  6-7 February
  The Battle of Lang Vei was fought on the night of 6 February 1968, between elements of the PAVN, supported by PT-76 light tanks and the United States-led Detachment A-101, 5th Special Forces Group.
  7 February
  International reporters arrive at the embattled city of Bến Tre in South Vietnam. Peter Arnett, then of the Associated Press, writes a dispatch quoting an unnamed US major as saying, "It became necessary to destroy the town to save it."
  8-9 February
  In the Battle of Lo Giang the U.S. 1st Marine Division and elements of the U.S. 23rd Infantry Division defeated an attack by the PAVN 2nd Division on Da Nang Air Base. The battle resulted in 286 PAVN and 18 U.S. killed.
  10 February - 10 March
  Operation Hop Tac I was a road security operation by the U.S. 9th Infantry Division along Route 4 in Dinh Tuong Province. The operation resulted in 345 VC and 92 U.S. killed.
  12 February
  In the Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất massacre the South Korean 2nd Marine Brigade killed 69-79 South Vietnamese civilians in Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất villages, Điện Bàn District.
  12 February - 3 March
  Operation Coronado XI was conducted by the MRF and ARVN forces to secure Cần Thơ in the aftermath of the Tet Offensive. The operation resulted in 297 VC killed.
  14-5 February
  The 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division begins deploying to South Vietnam arriving at Chu Lai Base Area.
  16 February
  North Vietnam released three American prisoners of war, the first of nine, to the custody of peace activists Daniel Berrigan and Howard Zinn. As part of the propaganda event, the POWs each "expressed their thanks to their captors for the humane and lenient treatment" that they had received, and "expressed remorse over the war". All but one of the nine met the order of release approved by the senior ranking officers (SROs) in each POW camp ("sick and injured first, then enlisted personnel and the remaining officers by order of shoot-down". The exception would be a Navy seaman who was given permission by his superiors to accept release because he had memorized the names of all his fellow prisoners of war.  
  The Selective Service System revised its rules for deferments and exemptions from the draft, allowing the induction of most graduate students who were pursuing a master's degree, a decision that affected 600,000 men. Students in medical school, dental school, or other health field remained exempt, as did those in a theological seminary who planned on "going into ministry".
  18 February
  During the week of February 11–17, 1968 the record for the highest US casualty toll during one week was set. The record coming off after the Tet Offensive was 543 Americans killed in action and 2,547 wounded.
  A VC rocket and mortar attack on Tan Son Nhut Air Base destroyed 6 aircraft and damaged 33 others and killed one person.
  19 February
  A VC rocket attack on Tan Son Nhut Air Base hit the civilian air terminal at Tan Son Nhut Airport killing one person and six further rocket/mortar attacks over this period killed another six people and wounded 151.
  24 February
  A VC rocket and mortar attack on Tan Son Nhut Air Base killed four U.S. personnel and wounded 21 
caption: the 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division arrives at Chu Lai
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