Qualla: Tet Offensive attacks on Da Nang

Tet Offensive attacks on Da Nang: Introduction

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Department of Defense. Department of the Navy. U.S. Marine Corps., Public domain. The Vietnamese Lunar New Year, Tết Nguyên Đán, was supposed to bring a ceasefire. Both sides had agreed to observe a truce; soldiers on leave had traveled home to be with their families. Then, in the early hours of 30 January 1968, coordinated attacks erupted across more than a hundred cities and military installations in South Vietnam. In Da Nang — the second-largest city in South Vietnam and the hub of American military operations throughout I Corps — North Vietnamese planners had been preparing since October 1967. The attacks that struck the city between 29 January and 11 February 1968 were ultimately repulsed, but the assumption behind the Tet Offensive was itself the damage: the war that American officials had declared was going well was not going well. Da Nang's defenders held their lines. The political ground shifted anyway.

Image: Department of Defense. Department of the Navy. U.S. Marine Corps. | Public domain

Tet Offensive attacks on Da Nang: A City Built for War

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Department of Defense. Department of the Navy. U.S. Marine Corps., Public domain. By January 1968, Da Nang had become one of the largest military installations in Southeast Asia. Da Nang Air Base was a major hub for offensive air operations across South Vietnam. Naval Support Activity Danang operated logistics facilities on the Tiên Sa peninsula east of the ci...

Image: Department of Defense. Department of the Navy. U.S. Marine Corps. | Public domain

Tet Offensive attacks on Da Nang: The Night of 29–30 January

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Department of Defense. Department of the Navy. U.S. Marine Corps., Public domain. The attacks on Da Nang began on the night of 29–30 January. PAVN and Viet Cong forces struck the city and its military installations, including the I Corps headquarters at Hòa Vang. North Vietnamese commanders had been frank in their own after-action accounts about what went wron...

Image: Department of Defense. Department of the Navy. U.S. Marine Corps. | Public domain

Tet Offensive attacks on Da Nang: The Fight at Hòa Vang

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Department of Defense. Department of the Navy. U.S. Marine Corps., Public domain. At the I Corps headquarters in Hòa Vang, the fighting was sharp. The VC attacked the headquarters and the surrounding village. A Marine military police platoon was part of the defense; Lieutenant Manning was among the two Marines killed in the action, along with six others wounde...

Image: Department of Defense. Department of the Navy. U.S. Marine Corps. | Public domain

Tet Offensive attacks on Da Nang: The Shape of the Tet Offensive

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Department of Defense. Department of the Navy. U.S. Marine Corps., Public domain. The attacks on Da Nang ran until 11 February 1968. Across that period, the combined American, South Vietnamese, and Republic of Korea Marine Corps forces repulsed every major assault. The PAVN and Viet Cong suffered heavy losses across the Da Nang tactical area of responsibility....

Image: Department of Defense. Department of the Navy. U.S. Marine Corps. | Public domain

Tet Offensive attacks on Da Nang: Da Nang After Tet

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Department of Defense. Department of the Navy. U.S. Marine Corps., Public domain. The city endured. Da Nang today is a modern coastal metropolis, rebuilt and expanding, its wartime geography softened by decades of development. The air base that was the operational center of American military power in I Corps is now Da Nang International Airport, one of the bus...

Image: Department of Defense. Department of the Navy. U.S. Marine Corps. | Public domain