Battle of Bến Tre 1968
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
About the battle
The Battle of Bến Tre took place during the Tet Offensive of the Vietnam War when Vietcong (VC) forces attacked Bến Tre, the capital of Kien Hoa Province, on 31 January 1968. The battle lasted until 5 February when U.S. and South Vietnamese forces ejected the VC who suffered 328 killed.
In the United States, the battle is best remembered for a quote from an unnamed American Major, reported by journalist Peter Arnett, that "It became necessary to destroy the town to save it." This quote has often been paraphrased as "We had to destroy the village in order to save it." The veracity of the original quote has often been questioned.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Bến Tre (revision 1370401204), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Browse more: battles in Vietnam · Asia · Post-1945 battles