About the Tet Declassification Effort

First in Series of Releases Expected in July, New Transparency Effort To Share Historical Information of Current Relevance

In recognition of the 50th anniversary of the Tet Offensive—which took place on January 30, 1968—Director of National Intelligence Daniel R. Coats directed intelligence agencies to review their holdings to reveal previously classified details to the public.

image of u.s. soldiers during tet offensive via national archives

In December 2016, former DNI James R. Clapper instructed the Intelligence Community Senior Historians Panel to identify topics of historical interest for declassification and release, as a part of the IC’s continuing efforts to enhance public understanding of IC activities.

For the first release of this initiative, the panel recommended documents relating to the Tet Offensive be reviewed for declassification and release in commemoration of the Vietnam War.

The Tet Offensive

The Tet Offensive was a series of attacks launched by the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong on January 30,1968 throughout South Vietnam that targeted multiple prominent sites, including the Presidential Palace and the U.S. Embassy in Saigon.

While the attacks surprised the American public, U.S. and South Vietnamese forces repelled North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong forces nationwide. The dramatic nature of the Tet Offensive began to turn U.S. public opinion against the war and precipitated the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam.

Review & Declassification

Based on the recommendation of the Historians Panel, DNI Coats directed that IC elements review their record holdings to identify classified records pertaining to the Tet Offensive and review them for declassification and release.

The declassified documents are being released over a period of 15 months, in three installments, July 2018, January 2019, and April 2019. The July 2018 installment was released on July 31, 2018.

**NOTE: CIA focused their review on Tet only information. Anything marked with ‘NR’ or “Page denied” has been deemed not relevant to Tet, whether or not it has been previously released. Other information can be consulted on CIA’s electronic reading room or by submitting a FOIA request.

How to Learn More

Intelligence.gov is the hub for information on the progress of the Tet Offensive document declassification throughout the process and will continue to provide access to materials sourced from across the IC upon their release. Efforts to declassify historical information of current relevance are rooted in the 2015 transparency implementation plan that led to semi-annual meetings of the IC Historian Panel. Follow @inteldotgov #TetDeclassified for updates.