Combat· Vietnam War
US Embassy Saigon Defense
The defense of the United States Embassy in Saigon was among the most dramatic and widely publicized episodes of the Tet Offensive, when a Viet Cong sapper team blasted its way into the embassy compound in the heart of the South Vietnamese capital before dawn.
Marine Security Guards, responsible for protecting the embassy, fought to hold the chancery and contain the attackers, locking down the building and engaging the intruders within the grounds alongside arriving American reinforcements. The attackers never managed to enter the chancery itself, milling about the compound until they were killed or captured over several hours of fighting in which the defending Marines took casualties. Though tactically a failure for the enemy, the spectacle of the assault on the embassy, broadcast to American audiences, delivered a powerful psychological blow. The action exposed the vulnerability of even the most prominent American installation and prompted an expansion of the Marine guard.
Record no. 685