Exploring the Impact of the 1968 Battle of Hue on the American War in Vietnam

Lucien B. Lane: I'm a 1970 graduate of The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina. Then served in the U.S. Army. I didn't go to Vietnam, but had some classmates who did. My plebe year roommate was an Army helicopter pilot there, spraying the jungle with agent orange. He died of stomach cancer shortly afterwards. I believe it was the agent orange that caused his tragic youthful death. So, the whole topic of Vietnam still stirs deep but conflicting emotions in my heart. I didn't realize until reading this excellent book how central the Battle of Hue was to the overall history of this war. This author's epilogue is brutally honest, regarding both sides of this conflict. And I much appreciate that. I can say from personal experience that this war nearly broke the back of the state side U.S. Army (where I spent most of my time during the 3 years of my active duty service). Moral was rock bottom. After Nixon ended the draft, a big portion of our new recruits were jail birds. Drugs & drink permeated all ranks, big time. America had turned against us soldiers, and that hurt deep into the soul. After my honorable discharge, when job hunting, I wouldn't put my Army service onto my resumes,...

United States on Sep 27, 2023

jerry hyde: As three dimensional an account from all sides as you could wish for, personal, visceral, brilliantly researched, highly recommended

United Kingdom on Sep 18, 2023

John noble: Very well researched and presented.
Tries to present a multifaceted view of the battle and succeeds.
Tet was the beginning of the end of the American involvement in Vietnam.

Canada on Sep 08, 2023

Fullcleveland: I turned 18 literally days before the Tet offensive started. I recall watching the nightly news report on the various attacks.
Bowden's book brings the fighting in and around Hue down to the level of the front line soldiers on both sides. While reading I just kept thinking that I could have been in that hell.

Canada on Aug 30, 2023

Dr. DNA: Useful, if you need to know. But it's so over-crowded with the quotidian, the narrative gets sluggish (names, names, names!) and clogs up, impedes the drama. It's difficult finding the balance, I know, but the plethora of detail isn't always integral to the truth.

Canada on Aug 13, 2023

Clem: If you only chose to read one book about the Vietnam War, Hue (pronounced “Hway”) 1968 might be the best choice available. No, the book doesn’t cover the whole war. As the title implies, it focuses on the location of the infamous Tet offensive initiated by Ho Chi Minh and the North Vietnamese. The event, however, does an accurate job of summarizing the entire war. The battle of Hue was what made most realize that Vietnam was a losing effort. It woke up even the majority of the most jingoistic supporters and turned the tide of, not only the conflict itself, but the public opinion.

What makes this book so endearing (yet depressing) is that Bowden tells the story (literally) down in the trenches. Most of this book doesn’t focus on the bigwigs in power making decisions. Yes, we do read about some of that, but what we mostly read about are personal stories of the young people who were sent to this war with no inkling of what it was even about, and experienced a literal hell on earth. This book cuts deep into one’s emotional core. The author does such a great job in this aspect that the book would make an excellent movie if it wasn’t such a horrid, discouraging tale....

United States on May 12, 2023

Jeffrey Swystun: What first struck me, and struck throughout the book, was the author’s research. Given it felt like I was a young Marine battling the enemy and the worsening deprivations in Hue, I was amazed at how Bowden brought the battle to life. When I got to the section on source material, I was impressed by the secondary research and the extensive interviews conducted.

The work paid off. This is more a narrative history than a strict, sterile recitation of battle orders and force movements. It puts you in the action with sufficient background and context. That is more than many of the American forces received. I was blown away by the story of a Marine whose first day in Vietnam had him dropped into this battle. It is hard to imagine being just 17 and thrust into such a nightmare.

This early paragraph puts the book into perspective, “Battle of Hue would be the bloodiest of the Vietnam War, and a turning point not just in that conflict, but in American history. When it was over, debate concerning the war in the United States was never again about winning, only about how to leave. And never again would Americans fully trust their leaders.”

Bowden covers off a lot of...

Canada on Jul 15, 2021

Ricardo Mio: The Vietnam War was believed to be all but over by January 1968. The commander of U.S. forces in South Vietnam, General William Westmoreland, said the end was in sight, while in Washington D.C., Lyndon Johnson’s special assistant for National Security, Walt Rostow, told New York Times reporter Gene Roberts that, apart from a few “brush fire episodes,” the United States had won the war. And so it came as a complete shock when, in the pre-dawn hours of January 31,1968, the Tet Offensive was launched throughout South Vietnam. The taking of Hue, the ancient capital city, was the chief objective, a bold undertaking that Honoi hoped would spark an uprising of South Vietnamese civilians and win the war. After 24 days of bloody and unrelenting fighting, with 80 percent of Hue destroyed and 10,000-plus fatalities, U.S. forces took back the city. The cost was so overwhelming that American debate over the war was never again about winning, only about how to leave.

Interestingly, the reporter who was told by Walt Rostow the war over, Gene Roberts, should have been on the scene during the battle for Hue (pronounced “Hway”). His reports for the New York Times were the first and...

United States on Jul 07, 2017