 At the end of January 1968, Saigon was alive with a festive spirit as everyone prepared for the Tet Lunar New Year. For the people of Vietnam, Tet is both a joyous and sacred time of the year. This was to be the first spring of the Second Republic of Vietnam. The Tet Truth, proposed by the Communist North Vietnamese, seemed to promise the people a safe holiday, free from the ever-present anxiety of war. At the temples, the people gathered to pay respect to their ancestors. On the eve of the new year, thousands of Saigon families prayed before the altars of their ancestors. They prayed that peace might be restored to their homeland. This year, however, the traditional firecrackers of the Tet celebration became the fireworks of war. The Viet Cong, taking advantage of the noisy celebrations, launched a savage attack on Saigon, violating the truth they themselves had proposed. Areas of the city became a blazing inferno. Columns of smoke rose skyward as block after block in the capital city burned with the fires of Viet Cong treachery. As the frightened people fled, many fell victim to the enemy gunfire. Government soldiers reacted quickly to counter the communist offensive and to protect civilian lives and property. First, fifth, and seventh districts of the capital. At Go Vap, at the Saigon radio, and the strategic intersections throughout the city, wherever the enemy appeared, south of the Vietnamese troops went into action. Many of the terrorists attempted to hide, and soldiers found them and brought them out. In a few areas of Saigon, the enemy seized and held the upper floors of tall buildings. Tanks were immediately deployed to these areas to help dislodge the Viet Cong. The enemy used his elite troops to attempt the capture of the Saigon radio station. Unable to seize his objective, the enemy set fire to the building. The Vietnamese airborne troops were quickly on the scene along with firefighting squads who put out the blade. These bodies are evidence of the miscalculation of North Vietnamese four-star general Vo Nguyen Giap. General Giap, who is credited with having planned the communist pet offensive, is the same officer who was victorious at the NBN Phu in 1954. Times, however, have changed. The loss of thousands of men and weapons has taught the communist general a grim lesson. This carefully planned attack by the North Vietnamese has been described as their all-or-nothing go-for-broke effort. It ended in dismal failure. Ten communist dead for each allied soldier lost is proof of the tremendous Christ they paid for their desperate attempt. By side with the combat soldiers, Thai war teams entered the dangerous areas. They called on the people to remain calm. In the city, the fearful civilians ran to government soldiers for protection. The soldiers led them out of the combat areas to safety in temporary refugee centers. Doctors and nurses at the medical store came to the aid of the civilian wounded in the city. Military and civilian ambulances speeded the evacuation of the seriously wounded. The real heroes of the day were the firefighting squads. Throughout the city, the Viet Cong set fire to heavily populated areas to cover their retreat. Each time, the squads had to be on hand immediately to put out the fires and to keep them from spreading. The firemen braved both the flames and enemy guns to perform their vital roles in the saving by God. Wherever the fighting was the heaviest, psychological warfare and civic action teams were on hand. The teams used their loudspeakers to tell the people the truth about the attack and how they could best escape to safer areas. The teams used their loudspeakers continually to appeal to the enemy to lay down his arms and surrender. Many Viet Cong responded to the call to surrender. Some areas and higher squads surrendered as a unit. These prisoners proved an excellent source of information. They told of the lack of morale and fighting spirit in their ranks. Some told how they had been forced to fight, but when their leaders had been killed, they willingly surrendered to the government soldiers. The battle progressed. The bodies of stubborn Viet Cong littered the streets. Files of red Chinese and Russian weapons were taken from the dead and defeated Communist troops. This elderly man, a lifelong resident of Saigon, showed the soldiers the best way to surround the area the Communists had infiltrated. Communist violence quickly turned large sections of the capital city into an inferno filled with frantic residents trying to save themselves and what few possessions they could carry with them. In a matter of hours, the homeless numbered tens of thousands. The fourth day of the battle, the focus of the conflict shifted to the heavily populated section of Sholok, the house-to-house fighting lasted for days. One of the bloodiest firefights occurred at the main intersection of the Binwa Highway, how far from downtown Saigon. Here the army succeeded in denying the Communists the chance to use the women and children of the area as human shields. Once the civilians were evacuated, the army saturated the area with a lethal display of firepower. As it goes off ammo dumps, the entire battalion of entrenched North Vietnamese regulars and V.C. proved no match for the Third Air Force battle group. They quickly circled the enemy and annihilated him. Many of these dead V.C. and North Vietnamese were forced from their farms and villages and sent to Saigon to face what their superiors knew was certain death. The wounded and bleeding were abandoned on the streets of Saigon by the Viet Cong. They were provided medical care by both civilian and military medical teams. Many of the victims were sick and undernourished even before the 7-day battle in Saigon. They were given medical care and here are some of the V.C. prisoners being interviewed by military correspondents. All the weapons captured here are from Russia and Red China. The homes of families were burned out of their homes in the attack. The government immediately launched a program to set up refugee camps in the stricken areas of the city. The residents returned into the ashes of their homes and sadly shuffled through the ruins to salvage what they could. Many of these people had been born in these houses and had reared their children in them. Now there was nothing left but ashes and memories. Days, troopers and marines were flushing out the last of the communists from the city. Other army units were busy relocating the homeless at the refugee centers where they could receive food and medical attention. Their fathers and husbands are dead. Here they are, helpless with their homes destroyed and possessions burned. The government now has the responsibility of caring for these orphans and widows as best it can while trying to prevent the communists from launching another devastating attack. Civic action teams also began a disease prevention campaign among the citizens, especially the refugees. Since civic action organizations from all over the world responded to the government's request for aid, food, medical supplies and clothing all poured into the refugee camps and were distributed to the victims. Truck after truck carried water in from outlying areas to the stricken city to help it get back on its feet. The food in the camps was simple but nourishing, children or children even in refugee camps. The Whacks supervised their play and recreation. As a health measure, the Army Engineer Corps began to collect the mounds of garbage and debris that piled up on the streets during the fighting and disaster mass. Tons of refugees were loaded into Army trucks and hauled away in an effort to help the residents get their neighborhoods back to normal. The people of Saigon have cleaned up the city and begun to rebuild. Barbed wire and barricades have given way to the traffic and activity typical of the big city. Life is returning to normal, yet the citizens of Saigon will never forget how the communists shattered the Ted troops with such devastation and violence.