CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A distant memory for some, those alive during the Vietnam Conflict -- Tuesday, marks the 55th year since what's become known as the turning point of that controversial war.
It's the day a North Vietnam offensive changed the lives of the thousands of men and women who served the U.S. Armed Forces.
Many paid the ultimate price, many of those lives coming from the Coastal Bend.
On Tuesday, a somber commemorative anniversary was observed at the Nueces County Courthouse.
"There were 11 killed through the Tet Offensive from the Coastal Bend," said Vietnam Veteran Ram Chavez.
On a bitter, cold, and cloudy day, a wreath was laid in honor of the lives lost during the North Vietnamese offensive -- called "Tet" for the Lunar New Year holiday. It was a brutal coordinated attack launched by the Viet Cong, hitting targets in South Vietnam.
Heavy losses were sustained by the U.S. and its allies.
Among those killed: Army Spc. Jose Cortez from Corpus Christi, who was drafted right out of high school. Cortez's sister, Rosie Perez, remembers the day the family was notified of her brother's death.
"He was the driver of a personnel carrier -- a tank," she said. "So, apparently a missile hit the tank, and everything exploded."
She is quick to proudly point out her brother's name, forever etched into the county's memorial wall. Perez says she knows that if her brother had made it back, he, too, would help honor the fallen warriors, just as she does.
"He'll always be my hero, just like all other soldiers that died for our country, she said.
For Nueces County Judge Connie Scott, it's important to commemorate occasions such as this one.
"It's important that we remember the fallen soldiers and the 11 people that we talk about from the Coastal Bend," she said. "We have families that have lost loved ones that gave the ultimate price."
The offensive was an attempt by the Viet Cong at achieving a decisive victory and while it did for a short period, it failed militarily.
Chavez was in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive.
"It was a changing mood for the American people, American troops and the war for Vietnam because of that event," he said.
In total, 160 service members from the Coastal Bend were killed in action, adding to the 58,281 who make up all the names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington.