1968 in the Vietnam War The year 1968 saw major developments in the Vietnam War . The military operations started with an attack on a US base by the Vietnam People ' s Army ( NVA ) and the Vietcong on January 1 , ending a truce declared by the Pope and agreed upon by all sides . At the end of January , the North Vietnamese and the Vietcong launched the Tet Offensive . Although militarily the operation was a failure for the Vietnamese communists , for them it was a propaganda victory , as on the home front the American public were shocked by the images they were seeing on their televisions . Reflecting this public outrage the media made a number of iconic news stories including Peter Arnett quoting an unnamed US major as saying , " It became necessary to destroy the town to save it . " Eddie Adams ' iconic image of South Vietnamese General Nguyen Ngoc Loan ' s live execution of a Vietcong operative was taken in 1968 as was Walter Cronkite ' s call to honourably exit Vietnam because he thought the war was lost . This negative impression forced the Americans into the Paris peace talks with North Vietnam . US troop numbers peaked in 1968 with President Johnson approving the raising of the maximum number of Americans in Vietnam to 549 , 500 . The year was the most expensive in the Vietnam war with the American spending US $ ( US $ in 2018 ) on the war . The year also became the deadliest of the Vietnam War for America and its allies with 27 , 915 South Vietnamese ( ARVN ) soldiers killed and the Americans suffering 16 , 592 killed compared to around two hundred thousand of the communist forces killed . The deadliest week of the Vietnam War for the USA was during the Tet Offensive specifically February 11 – 17 , 1968 , during which period 543 Americans were killed in action , and 2547 were wounded . Vietnamese violate New Year ' s truce during the New Years Day Battle of 1968 . Present among the Americans were future writer Larry Heinemann and future film director Oliver Stone . Battle of Ban Houei Sane was a battle of the Vietnam War that began on the night of 23 January 1968 , when the 24th Regiment of the North Vietnamese 304th Division overran the small Laotian Army outpost at Ban Houei Sane . Operation Coburg was an Australian military action during the Vietnam War . The operation saw heavy fighting between the 1st Australian Task Force ( 1ATF ) and North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong during the wider fighting around Long Binh and Bien Hoa . Battle of Khe Sanh was conducted in northwestern Quang Tri Province , Republic of Vietnam ( South Vietnam ) . The combatants were elements of the United States ( U . S . ) III Marine Amphibious Force ( III MAF ) , elements of the South Vietnam ese Army of the Republic of Vietnam ( ARVN ) and two to three division - size elements of the People ' s Army of Vietnam ( PAVN ) . At half - past midnight on Wednesday morning the North Vietnamese launch the Tet Offensive at Nha Trang . At 2 : 45 that morning the US embassy in Saigon is invaded and while they could not gain entry it was held until 9 : 15AM . The First Battle of Saigon fought during the Tet Offensive of the Vietnam War was the coordinated attack by communist forces , including both the North Vietnam ese Army and the Viet Cong , against Saigon , the capital of South Vietnam . The Battle of Huế was one of the bloodiest and longest battles . The Army of the Republic of Vietnam and three understrength U . S . Marine Corps battalion s attacked and defeated more than 10 , 000 entrenched People ' s Army of Vietnam ( PAVN ) and National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam ( NLF , also known as , " Viet Cong " ) guerrilla forces . One notable ARVN unit , the 3d Armored Cavalry Squadron , fought a pitched battle with the Liberation Front ’ s H - 15 Local Force Battalion in or 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 . During South Vietnamese action following the first day of the Tet offensive General Nguyen Ngoc Loan is captured on film executing a Viet Cong prisoner by American photographer Eddie Adams . The Pulitzer Prize - winning photograph becomes yet another rallying point for anti - war protesters . February . The Battle of Lang Vei was a battle of the Vietnam War fought on the night of 6 February 1968 , between elements of the People ' s Army of Vietnam ( PAVN ) and the United States - led Detachment A - 101 , 5th Special Forces Group . International reporters arrive at the embattled city of Ben 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 . " 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 2547 wounded . Walter Cronkite , reporting after his recent trip to Vietnam for his television special " Who , What , When , Where , Why ? " gives a highly critical editorial and urges America to leave Vietnam " . . . not as victors , but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy , and did the best they could . " Battle of Lima Site 85 was a battle of the Vietnam War . The site was located at Phou Pha Thi , Laos . March . US ground troops from Charlie Company of 1st Battalion , 20th Infantry Regiment , 11th Brigade , 23rd Infantry Division ( the Americal Division ) rampage through the hamlet of My Lai killing more than 500 Vietnamese civilians from infants to the elderly . The event would remain buried for more than a year . President Lyndon Johnson delivers his Address to the Nation Announcing Steps To Limit the War in Vietnam and Reporting His Decision Not To Seek Reelection . The speech announces the first in a series of limitations on US bombing , promising to halt these activities above the 20th parallel . United States Secretary of Defense Clark Clifford gets the President to authorize 24 , 500 more troops on an emergency basis , raising authorized strength to the Vietnam War ' s peak of 549 , 500 , a figure never reached . April . A rescue operation for downing crew members of helicopter , Dustoff 65 . The Operation undertaken by elements of the 101st ABN took 5days to find , rescue and extract the helicopter crew . Operation Toan Thang I was a US and ARVN operation conducted between 8 April 1968 and 31 May 1968 in the Vietnam war . Toan Thang , or " Complete Victory " , was part of a reaction to the Tet offensive by forces allied with the Republic of Vietnam designed to put pressure on PLAF ( Vietcong ) and PAVN ( North Vietnamese Army ) forces . Operation Delaware was a military operation of the Vietnam War in the A Shau Valley . The A Shau Valley was an important corridor for moving supplies into South Vietnam and used as staging area for attacks . American and South Vietnamese had not been present in the area since the Battle of A Shau , when a Special Forces camp located there was overrun . May Offensive was launched in the early morning hours of 4 May , in which communist units initiated PHASE II of the Tet Offensive of 1968 ( also known as the May Offensive , " Little Tet " , and " Mini - Tet " ) by striking 119 targets throughout South Vietnam , including Saigon . The Battle of Kham Duc was the struggle for the United States Army Special Forces camp located in Quang Tin province , South Vietnam . The Kham Duc special forces camp was occupied by the 1st Special Forces detachment consisting of U . S and South Vietnamese special forces , as well as Montagnard irregulars . The Battle of Coral - Balmoral was a notable series of significant actions fought in May and June 1968 during the Vietnam War , between the 1st Australian Task Force ( 1 ATF ) and communist forces , north - east of Saigon . The first US and North Vietnamese delegations meet at the Paris peace talks to discuss American withdrawal . Operation Sealords was launched on October 8 , 1968 , and was intended to disrupt North Vietnamese supply lines in and around the Mekong Delta . As a two - year operation , by 1971 all aspects of Sealords had been turned over to the South Vietnam Navy . President Johnson announces a total halt to US bombing in North Vietnam . After three - and - a - half years , Operation Rolling Thunder comes to an end . In total , the campaign had cost more than 900 American aircraft . Eight hundred and eighteen pilots are dead or missing , and hundreds are in captivity . Nearly 120 Vietnamese planes have been destroyed in air combat or accidents , or by friendly fire . According to U . S . estimates , 182 , 000 North Vietnamese civilians have been killed . Twenty thousand Chinese support personnel also have been casualties of the bombing . Richard Nixon wins the 1968 presidential election in America . The results of the popular vote are 31 , 770 , 000 for Nixon , 43 . 4 percent of the total ; 31 , 270 , 000 or 42 . 7 percent for Humphrey ; 9 , 906 , 000 or 13 . 5 percent for Wallace ; and 0 . 4 percent for other candidates . Operation Speedy Express was a controversial United States military operation of the Vietnam War conducted in the Mekong Delta provinces Kien Hoa and Vinh Binh . The operation was launched to prevent NLF ( Viet Cong ) units from interfering with pacification efforts and to interdict lines of NLF communication and deny them the use of base areas . Operation Taylor Common was a search and destroy operation conducted by " Task Force Yankee " , a task organized force of the 1st Marine Division , during the Vietnam War . The objective was to clear the An Hoa Basin , neutralize the North Vietnamese Army ' s Base Area 112 and develop Fire Support Bases ( FSBs ) to interdict Communist infiltration routes leading from the Laotian border .