t of Tet began on January 31, 1968 at the start of the Vietnamese lunar New Year celebration when a cease-fire had been agreed upon. It was the greatest celebration, it was "Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, and the Fourth of July all rolled into one, was how it was explained to American GIs."4 Most of the ARVN troops had gone home on leave and the US troops were on stand down in most areas. Over 85,000 NLF soldiers simultaneously struck almost every major city and provincial capital across South Vietnam sending defenders reeling. Previously thought invulnerable, the US Embassy in Saigon was taken over by the NLF. The imperial capital of Hue witnessed the bloodiest fighting of the entire war during this offensive.
             During the Tet offensive, Charlie Company was stationed at the American base LZ Dottie and put on alert. "The flashes in the west and the rolling concussions of explosions brought to Charlie Company a numbing sense of their own vulnerability. The enemy were all around."5 From LZ Dottie, Charlie Company was moved south to block the enemy's line of retreat. Between where Charlie Company was stationed and the sea lay the villages of My Lai. Having succumbed to American forces, the Viet Cong's 48th Local Force Battalion had retreated towards Charlie Company. Because Charlie Company was in ARVN territory, they were unable to open fire against the retreating 48th Battalion until they received permission from South Vietnamese authorities. "I distinctly remember watching them suckers march out of there and we could not touch them, Fred Widmer remembered"6 the enemy would never again be such an easy target. Charlie Company was frustrated, because after letting the Viet Cong retreat in the direction of My Lai, they were ordered to find them. "They were chasing phantoms. There was nothing to show for the long, hot, exhausting days tramping through paddy fields and frie...