Today In History; December 18

On this day in 1968, as part of the Tet Offensive, a squad of Viet Cong guerillas attacks the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. The soldiers seized the embassy and held it for six hours until an assault force of U.S. paratroopers landed by helicopter on the building’s roof and routed the Viet Cong.

The Tet Offensive was planned as a massive, simultaneous attack on the major cities and provincial capitals of South Vietnam. It was scheduled to take place during Tet, the Vietnamese lunar New Year celebration, which was traditionally a time of decreased fighting. In December 1967, following an attack on the U.S. Marine base at Khe Sanh, 50,000 American troops were sent in to defend the area, thereby weakening U.S. positions elsewhere. This American response played into the Viet Cong’s strategy to clear the way for the surprise Tet Offensive, in which Communist forces attacked Saigon, Hue (the imperial capital) and over 100 other urban areas.

The timing and magnitude of the attacks caught the South Vietnamese and American forces off guard, although they quickly recovered and recaptured the occupied areas. Militarily, the Tet Offensive was a disaster for the Communists, who suffered devastating losses. However, while the offensive was a crushing military defeat, the Communists scored a huge psychological victory that would ultimately help them win the war. The graphic images of U.S. casualties suffered during the offensive helped stoke anti-war sentiment among the American people, who had grown tired of the long conflict (active U.S. combat troops had been in Vietnam since 1965; the U.S. first sent in military advisers in 1961). The public was disillusioned by earlier overly optimistic reports of progress in the war and disenchanted with President Lyndon Johnson’s handling of it.

Johnson, frustrated with his inability to reach a solution in Vietnam, announced on March 31, 1968, that he would neither seek nor accept the nomination of his party for re-election. General William Westmoreland, commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam, requested an additional 206,000 troops to finish off the weakened enemy forces. Johnson denied Westmoreland’s request and replaced him with General Creighton Abrams. In May 1968, the U.S. and North Vietnamese began peace talks in Paris and reached a formal agreement in January 1973. Fighting between the North and South continued in Vietnam before the war finally ended on April 30, 1975, when Saigon fell to the Communists and the last Americans left Vietnam.

Other Memorable Or Interesting Events Occurring On December 18 In History:

218 (BC) – In the 2nd Punic War at the Battle of the Trebia, Hannibal’s Carthaginian forces defeat those of the Roman Republic;

1271 – Kublai Khan renames his empire “Yuan” officially marking the start of the Yuan Dynasty of China;

1606 – In Westminster London, Guy Fawkes, chief conspirator in the plot to blow up the British Parliament building, jumps to his death moments before his execution for treason;

1787 – New Jersey becomes the 3rd state to ratify the constitution;

1865 – U.S. House of Representatives passes the 13th Amendment to the Constitution abolishing slavery in the United States of America. It read: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude…shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”;

1898 – New automobile speed record is set at 39mph;

1944 – Three United States Navy destroyers, USS Hull, USS Spence & USS Monaghan sink in a typhoon in the Philippines;

1945 – Private Eddie Slovik becomes 1st American soldier since the Civil War to be executed for desertion;

1950 – U.S. President Harry S. Truman publicly announces his decision to support the development of the hydrogen bomb, a weapon theorized to be hundreds of times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on Japan in WWII;

1953 – Flooding in the North Sea kills more than 1,500 people in the Netherlands and destroys 1 million acres of farmland and also causes death & destruction in Great Britain & Belgium;

1956 – Japan is admitted to the United Nations;

1917 – In WWI, Germany announces the renewal of unlimited submarine warfare in the Atlantic;

1971 – Apollo 14 departs for the moon. On February 9, it returns safely back to Earth;

1972 – North Vietnam publishes the nine-point plan they submitted during the secret Paris peace talks charging President Nixon & Henry Kissinger with “unilaterally” divulging the substance of the talks, creating the impasse at the talks & distorting the facts;

1990 – As the decades old “Cold War” draws to a close the Soviet Union’s 1st McDonald’s fast food restaurant opens in Moscow. Throngs of people lined up to pay the equivalent of several days’ wages for Big Macs, Shakes & Fries;

1995 – Sidestepping congress’ rejection, President Bill Clinton exercises executive power to authorize a $20 billion load to Mexico as the peso hit an all-time low claiming national interests & national security were at stake;

2008 – U.N. court in Tanzania convicted former Rwandan army colonel, Theoneste Bagosora, of crimes against humanity for masterminding the killings of more than a half million people in a 100-day slaughter in 1994;

2011 – Last convoy of U.S. troops leaves Iraq formally marking the end of the Iraq war.

And Now – Off To Today’s Fun Stuff !

Today’s Word Of The Day:

Cesspool – is a pit or cistern, built to collect the sewage or other sediments from a house. It is commonly used to describe any filthy or immoral place.

Today’s Inspirational Music Video:

When The Stars Burn Down –  https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yp4ZenavaQg

Today’s Why ?:

Why do banks leave vault doors open and then chain the pens to the counters?

Today’s Cartoon:

Today’s General Quote:

“The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time.”  -Abraham Lincoln

Today’s Funny BullDog:

Today’s Do You Remember How To Play With These?:

Today’s It’s Still A Real Law:

In Alabama – It is illegal to wear a fake moustache that causes laughter in church.  (Sounds good to me !!!)

Today’s I Wonder Why?:

Why when people are asked, “what three things would you bring with you on a desert island?” no one ever replies, “A BOAT”

Today’s Inspirational Picture:

UNTIL TOMORROW – GOD BLESS TO ALL !!!