Phase Three of the Tet Offensive Commences. August 17, 1968

Cẩm Lệ Bridge reopened on August 24, 1968 after having been held by the Viet Cong.

The North Vietnamese and Viet Cong launched the third, and final, phase of the Tet Offensive, eight months after the offensive had first commenced, by launching strikes on 27 South Vietnamese cities and towns, 47 airfields and 100 outposts.  This concluding phase would last a month and a half.

The operation was similar to the earlier, better known ones, and involved mass assaults on numerous targets as well as a large number of raids.  Th e fact that this could be done after the massive losses the NVA and the VC had sustained to date was impressive but there is good evidence that by this stage in this operation the Communist forces, which had been surprised by the success of the earlier phases, simply did not know what to do.  The results were similar in that the positions were all retaken by late September and the Communist forces sustained significant losses in the effort.