TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Tet Offensive Remembered In Tampa Re-Enactment

Tribune Photo By Valerie Kalfrin

Gerard Abbett, 60, of Brandon served in the 199th Light Infantry Brigade in Vietnam during the 1968 Tet Offensive. Abbett describes his experiences during a special display at Veterans Memorial Park Saturday.

ADVERTISEMENT

By VALERIE KALFRIN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 31, 2009

TAMPA - Gerard Abbett of Brandon remembers well the weapons and gear stocked at a Vietnam-era command post set up in Veterans Memorial Park today.

Grenades, helmets, guns and ammunition nestled near cots with bug netting. A Vietnamese phrase book, waterproof matches, unopened cans of Schlitz beer and vintage copies of Life and Motor Trend magazines rested on a table.

"It brings back a lot of memories for me," Abbett said, poking through a meal kit to describe how the cans of peanut butter and beans were served with the labels on the lids hidden so troops had to trade for the good ones once they found out what they had.

For the second year in a row, a group of military aficionados – many veterans of the service, if not combat – set up a special display at the park at 3602 N. U.S. Highway 301 to commemorate the 1968 Tet Offensive, a military victory turned public-relations debacle.

The display continues Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Some of the re-enactors, dressed in authentic military uniforms, planned to camp out overnight.

Abbett, 60, said he defended an air base north of Saigon with the 199th Light Infantry Brigade during the uprising, named after the lunar New Year holiday in Vietnam. He said he's glad to see his efforts and his colleagues' sacrifice honored.

"We didn't get much respect. Someone's at least paying attention to the guys who are on that wall," he said, alluding to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Mike Alvarez, 37, of Tampa, organized the event and also coordinates exhibitions for veterans of other conflicts. Alvarez's father was a Marine who fought at Hue, the former imperial Vietnamese capital, and now lives in Jacksonville.

"It's a labor of love," said co-organizer Alex Solera, 42, of Tampa, who served in the Army National Guard. "As long as we're educating the public and honoring the veterans, that's our litmus test."

Although both sides had agreed to a truce during Tet, on Jan. 31, 1968, the North Vietnamese launched a widespread, surprise attack in South Vietnam cities, forcing American troops and their allies already fighting at Khe Sanh and other outposts to beat them back.

"They started moving us as a blocking force. We sat there for a week while they came out of the woodwork every night," said Abbett, who served from August 1967 through August 1968, ending his tour as a sergeant and radio operator.

The Americans and South Vietnamese ultimately were victorious, but their victory didn't translate to the American public, who saw for the first time much of the war on television newscasts. The offensive turned into an embarrassment for the Johnson Administration, undermining the perception that the war would be won easily.

"They had been lying to them [the public], like the North Vietnamese didn't have anything," Abbett said. After the offensive, "people thought, 'We're losing this war.'"

Abbett, a retired truck driver who is married with an adult daughter, said the warm reception at the park swapping stories is a huge difference from his homecoming.

"The veterans' organizations didn't want us," he recalled. "They deemed us losers."

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT