September 19, 2018 - Dr. Erik Villard

On January 30, 1968, North Vietnamese attacks across fronts spanning from the North/South Vietnam Boarder to Saigon started a country-wide campaign that became known as the Tet Offensive. Less well known is the "Mini Tet" offensive in May of 1968 in which American and Allied counterattacks knocked the North Vietnamese off balance. In this lecture, Dr. Erik Villard of the Center of Military History will focus on additional research he completed based off his work for the book, Combat Operations: Staying the Course, October 1967-September 1968. Dr. Villard will explore the May Offensive through the experience of three units and how their actions led to the success of allied counteroffensives following Tet, forcing the Communists to change and scale back their plans for the May Offensive. Dr. Villard incorporated numerous interviews he conducted with Veterans from all three units, as well as the leadership of their higher headquarters, into his books and presentation.

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