Over decades of conflict in Vietnam, Hue, the former imperial capital, had been spared. But everything changed on January 31, 1968, the eve of the lunar new year--a national holiday long marked by a mutual ceasefire--when the North Vietnamese launched a massive offensive. In the cataclysm of violence that convulsed South Vietnam during the now-infamous Tet Offensive, Hue was overrun--and the only forces available to counterattack were a handful of Marine infantry companies based eight miles south of the city. This photographic history chronicles the savage battle that followed as, for four excruciating weeks, the Marines of Task Force X-Ray fought house to house and street by street to retake the city so central to the Vietnamese culture and psyche. Through photographs taken in the heat of the action, readers will follow one of the wars most important campaigns, as ground gained is measured in painstaking inches and every alley, every street corner, every window might be the last.

Includes index.

Author's Note -- Acknowledgments -- Glossary and Guide to Abbreviations -- Maps -- Chapter 1 Marines Fight in Cities and Towns -- Chapter 2 General Offensive General Uprising -- Chapter 3 Assault on Hue: January 30-31, 1968 -- Chapter 4 Send in the Marines: January 31, 1968 -- Chapter 5 Stabilizing the Lodgement: February 1-2 1968 -- Chapter 6 The Six-Block War: February 3-6, 1968 -- Chapter 7 Scenes from the South Side: February 7 - March 8, 1968 -- Chapter 8 Battles for the Citadel: February 1-9, 1968 -- Chapter 9 Reinforcing the Citadel: February 10-12, 1968 --Chapter 10 Marines in the Citadel: February 13-20, 1968 -- Chapter 11 The Flagpole: February 21-24, 1968 -- Epilogue -- Index.