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  • Tet Declassified Home
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  • Tet Offensive at Fifty
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View Documents

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.

This page displays selected documents from the declassified volume as well as other contextual images, videos, and quotes which will be updated on a periodic basis. To view all declassified documents that have been released to date please click on the 'view documents' link. Additional items of interest can be found in the menu to provide greater context and insight into the Tet Offensive declassification effort.

Intel.gov will serve as the hub for the release of Tet offensive declassified documents. However, some agencies have dedicated locations for their corresponding documents:

  • Central Intelligence Agency
doc
Vehicles in Village Sanctuary North Vietnam

RELEASED 06.28.2018
National Photographic Interpretation Center
Video
Air Strike Missions, VIETNAM, 13 AND 14 MARCH 1965

RELEASED 11.19.2017
SRC: US National Archives
“
The element of hope has been taken away by the Tet Offensive...  People don't think there is likely to be an end.

Secretary of State
Dean Rusk
archive
Moods: Dean Rusk, President Lyndon B. Johnson & Sec. Def. Robert McNamara

National Archives
SRC: catalog.archives.gov
video
3rd Marine Division Marine honors first African-American Marine Medal of Honor recipient

Video by Cpl. Carl King
RELEASED 02.12.2018
SRC: DVIDS
Doc
SAIGON - Consolidated Militia/Guerrilla Organization

RELEASED 06.28.2018
SRC: CIA
“
Despite enemy security measures, communications intelligence was able to provide clear warning that attacks, probably on a larger scale than ever before, were in the offering.

Intelligence Warning
of the
Tet Offensive
in South Vietnam
doc
INTELLIGENCE WARNING OF THE TET OFFENSIVE IN SOUTH VIETNAM

RELEASED 04.04.2005
SRC: CIA
image

Crossing a Deep Irrigation Canal during Operation Bang Dong
Image by Private Fred L. Greenleaf
“
It is hard to imagine or recreate the atmosphere in the sixty days after Tet.  The pressure grew so intense that at times I felt the government might come apart at its seams.

Secretary of Defense
Clark Clifford
article
Clark M. Clifford

Historical Office
Office of the Secretary of Defense
SRC: history.defense.gov
“
I have always felt that a man's judgement is no better than his information. We have spent a great deal of time on this situation.

President Lyndon Johnson
January 31, 1968 Breakfast
with Policy Holders
archive
BREAKFAST MEETING WITH CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS & POLICY ADVISORS

US Department of State Archives
Released By the Office of Historian
SRC: 2001-2009.state.gov
doc
The Situation in the South Weekly

Intelligence Report
RELEASED 06.28.2018
SRC: CIA
doc
Hanio's Evaluation of American Attitudes Towards the War

Memorandum
RELEASED 06.28.2018
SRC: CIA
DOC
Winter-Spring Campaign, Coalition Government, Negotiations, & Front's New Program

Message From Saigon
RELEASED 06.28.2018
SRC: CIA
Doc
Communist Counteraction Against the Revolutionary Development Program in South Vietnam

NEW RELEASE
RELEASED 06.28.2018
SRC: CIA
Play Video
Mr. & Mrs. Anderson receive their son's medal of honor
video
Honoring PFC. James Anderson
Anderson pulled the grenade to his chest, curled around it, and absorbed the majority blast with his body, ultimating saving the lives of his fellow marines.

1st African-American Marine
Medal of Honor recipient
video
1st African-American Marine Medal of Honor recipient

Video by Cpl. Carl King
3rd Marine Division
SRC: DVIDS
Image
Marine Cpl Fred E. Kelso wounded during Operation Dewy Canyon in the northern Ashau Valley Complex

Video by Cpl. J. G. McCullough
SRC: National Archives
video
In Her Own Words: Life at Refugee Camp Talega

Video by Lance Cpl. Dylan Chagnon
RELEASED 11.30.2017
SRC: DVIDS
Doc
Capabilities of the Vietnamese Communist for Fighting in South Vietnam

Special National Intelligence Estimate
RELEASED 06.28.2018
SRC: CIA
video
3rd Marine Division Marine honors first African-American Marine Medal of Honor recipient

Video by Cpl. Carl King
RELEASED 02.12.2018
SRC: DVIDS
DOC
Pre-Tet Rail Activity

RELEASED 06.28.2018
SRC: NGA
“
On the night of the first Lunar New Year, January 30, we heard what we thought were firecrackers. The sound was actually gunfire.  Bullets were flying in every direction.  Flares occasionlly lit the sky, but the ground around our house were dark.  We had no way of seeing that communist troops had us surrounded.

Nguyen Qui Duc
(10 years old at the time)
article
Revisiting Vietnam 50 Years After the Tet Offensive

By Nguyen Qui Duc
RELEASED 01.2018
SRC: Smithsonian
video
AIR STRIKE MISSIONS, VIETNAM, 13 AND 14 MARCH 1965

RELEASED 11.09.2017
SRC: National Archives
video
Crew Chief/ Door Gunner (UH-1Ds), Vietnam, Reel 1 of 2

RELEASED 02.03.2017
SRC: National Archives
doc
Saigon

RELEASED 06.28.2018
SRC: CIA
video
In Her Own Words: Life at Refugee Camp Talega

Video by Lance Cpl. Dylan Chagnon
RELEASED 11.30.2017
SRC: DVIDS
Image
Intensive Care on Hospital Ship USS Repose

General Records Department of Navy
SRC: National Archives
DOC
The Presidents Daily Brief

RELEASED 06.28.2018
SRC: CIA
Doc
Intelligence Memorandom

New Release
RELEASED 06.28.2018
SRC: CIA

Watch: IC Historians Talk Tet

TET OFFENSIVE AT FIFTY

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Mission
  • Our Values
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  • A Day in the Life
  • Barrier Breakers in History
  • Current Barrier Breakers
Careers
  • Career News
  • Explore Careers
  • Students
  • Veterans
Intel Vault
  • Intel Vault - All
The Public’s Daily Brief
  • President’s Daily Brief
  • Public's Daily Brief Articles
  • The NIS @ a Glance
How the IC Works
  • Our Organizations
  • Oversight
  • Myth vs Fact Quiz
  • Website Policies
  • No FEAR Act
  • FOIA
  • Contact the IC IG
  • USA.gov
  • Style Guide
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