When this episode was recorded, the war in Afghanistan had become America's longest-running military conflict. Before that war, the longest conflict for American forces was the war in Vietnam. 1968 was a pivotal year in that war, for the North Vietnamese, South Vietnamese, and the United States. After the Tet Offensive, which killed tens of thousands of people, the war remained stalemated for another seven years despite leaders on both sides continuing to promise that an end was near.