American News
50 years after key Vietnam battles, Mattis seeks closer ties
A half-century after the Tet Offensive punctured American hopes of victory in Vietnam, Defence Secretary Jim Mattis is visiting the former enemy in search of a different kind of win. (Photo By Monica King – United States Department of Defense, Public Domain)
WASHINGTON — A half-century after the Tet Offensive punctured American hopes of victory in Vietnam, Defence Secretary Jim Mattis is visiting the former enemy in search of a different kind of win.
He’s looking for incremental progress as partners in a part of the world that the Pentagon has identified as vital for the U.S. to compete with China and Russia.
Mattis left Washington on Sunday and is scheduled to be in Hanoi on Wednesday and Thursday.
The retired general entered the Marine Corps during Vietnam but didn’t serve there.
He’ll be in Vietnam just days before the 50th anniversary of the communist offensive on Jan. 30-31, 1968. That’s when North Vietnam attacked an array of key objectives in the South, including the city of Hue (hway).
