<P> Hanoi erred monumentally in its certainty that the offensive would trigger a supportive uprising of the population . NVA and Viet Cong troops throughout the South, from Hue to the Mekong Delta, attacked in force for the first time in the war, but to devastating cost as ARVN and American troops killed close to 60,000 of the ill - supported enemy in less than a month . These reversals on the battlefield (the Viet Cong would never again fight effectively as a cohesive force) failed to register on the American home front, however, as shocking photos and television imagery, and statements such as Conkrite's, fueled what would ultimately prove to be a propaganda victory for Hanoi . </P> <P> Peter Arnett quoting an unnamed US major as saying, "It became necessary to destroy the town to save it ." Eddie Adams' iconic image of South Vietnamese General Nguyễn Ngọc Loan's execution of a Vietcong operative was taken in 1968 . The year also saw Walter Cronkite's call to honourably exit Vietnam because he thought the war was lost . This negative impression forced the US into the Paris peace talks with North Vietnam . </P> <P> US troop numbers peaked in 1968 with President Johnson approving an increased maximum number of US troops in Vietnam at 549,500 . The year was the most expensive in the Vietnam war with the American spending US $77.4 billion (US $544 billion in 2018) on the war . The year also became the deadliest of the Vietnam War for America and its allies with 27,915 South Vietnamese (ARVN) soldiers killed and the Americans suffering 16,592 killed compared to around two hundred thousand of the communist forces killed . The deadliest week of the Vietnam War for the USA was during the Tet Offensive specifically February 11--17, 1968, during which period 543 Americans were killed in action, and 2547 were wounded . </P> <Dl> <Dt> January 1 </Dt> </Dl>

What was the highest number of u.s. soldiers in south vietnam at one time