we are great at conventional war and that s what they found out. everywhere they attacked, they were driven back. whether it was offer, they had suffered well over 10 fatalities for every one they inflicted upon the u.s. or the south vietnamese. it was a devastating defeat for them. is. bret: conservative estimates put the north s losses at 40,000 killed. the vaught congress forced for the first time to fight out in the open suffered the worst casualties and never really recovered. after the tet offensive, the south vietnamese viet cong were no longer an effective fighting force. they write this in heir own histories. bret: the largest battle of the war had ended in total defeat for hanoi. the north vietnamese came nowhere near what they were trying to do with tet. johnson was handed this victory and his generals said now is the time to exploit this let s
inevitable. mike? lydia hu live in new york tonight, thanks very much. 1968 was the bloodiest month for americans fighting in vietnam. now 54 years later new evidence, much of it from recently opened vietnamese, chinese and russian archives is changing the way historians think about the war. in a new fox nation documentary series coming soon the unauthorized history of the vietnam war. bret baier take as fresh look at this controversial episode from america s past, including what the latest research tells us about the biggest battle of the war, the so-called ted offensive. john f. kennedy was a staunch anti-communist who believed south vietnam s war with the north was a crucial battle in the larger cold war, a global struggle between democratic capitalism and communist dictatorship. in contrast, his successor, linden bans johnson wanted as little to do with vietnam as possible. but as we ll see, the war would
finish the job and johnson said no. you can find out more about how lbj and other presidents handled the war by watching the unauthorized history of the vietnam war with bret baier coming later this month on fox nation. up next, the friday lightning round. the baby formula shortage, the midterm elections plus winners and losers but as we head to break former security adviser robert budd mcfarland has died. he helped offensive hastening with the collapse of the soviet union. pleaded guilty to withholding information to congress about the iran contra scandal. mcfarland was a marine corps lieutenant colonel and decorated combat veteran in vietnam. he died yesterday at a hospital in michigan. robert mcfarland was 84. if you have advanced non-small cell lung cancer, your first treatment could be a chemo-free combination of two immunotherapies that works differently.
become a major part of president johnson s legacy. a bloody battle rages in the center. vietnam north vietnamese were infinitely patient. it turns out now that we know more about their internal thinking by 1967, they had become very inpatient because things are going very badly for them. they are taking crippling losses from the americans. so they decide something has got to change. on january 31st hanoi put its plan into motion. just after midnight, the north vietnamese launched a surprise attack against nearly every provincial capital and major is i city in south vietnam. north vietnamese tanks, troop carriers and all the trappings of a regular army. by fighting a conventional type conflict, it actually worked to our strength because this is the kind of war that we are really good at. the united states can t always cope with counter insurgency but
succeeding in its mission suffering and destruction isn t limit to the capital of kyiv. mariupol remains under russian occupation with a small group of ukrainian fighters still hold up in a steel plant. new satellite images shoat facility continuing to take fire. nearly 80 days into the war. other satellite images show destroyed russian landing craft and structures on the strategic black sea position of snake island. last week the ukrainians confirmed they targeted the russians on the island with a drone. today u.s. defense secretary lloyd austin spoke with his russian counterpart for the first time since the war began. austin called for an immediate cease-fire in ukraine. mike? trey yingst live in kyiv. trey, thanks very much. up next, a major healthcare supply shortage could effect how you and your family receive medical care. first, beyond our borders tonight. israeli police move in on a crowd of mourners at the funeral of an al jazeera journalist who