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These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:01,566 --> 00:00:03,000 ANNOUNCER: MAJOR SUPPORT FOR "THE VIETNAM WAR" 2 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:06,500 WAS PROVIDED BY MEMBERS OF THE BETTER ANGELS SOCIETY, 3 00:00:06,500 --> 00:00:10,465 INCLUDING JONATHAN AND JEANNIE LAVINE, 4 00:00:10,465 --> 00:00:13,365 DIANE AND HAL BRIERLEY, 5 00:00:13,365 --> 00:00:15,766 AMY AND DAVID ABRAMS, 6 00:00:15,766 --> 00:00:18,265 JOHN AND CATHERINE DEBS, 7 00:00:18,265 --> 00:00:21,166 THE FULLERTON FAMILY CHARITABLE FUND, 8 00:00:21,166 --> 00:00:23,233 THE MONTRONE FAMILY, 9 00:00:23,233 --> 00:00:25,565 LYNDA AND STEWART RESNICK, 10 00:00:25,565 --> 00:00:28,332 THE PERRY AND DONNA GOLKIN FAMILY FOUNDATION, 11 00:00:28,332 --> 00:00:29,332 THE LYNCH FOUNDATION, 12 00:00:29,332 --> 00:00:32,200 THE ROGER AND ROSEMARY ENRICO FOUNDATION, 13 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:35,633 AND BY THESE ADDITIONAL FUNDERS. 14 00:00:35,633 --> 00:00:37,533 MAJOR FUNDING WAS ALSO PROVIDED 15 00:00:37,533 --> 00:00:39,265 BY DAVID H. KOCH... 16 00:00:41,566 --> 00:00:43,765 THE BLAVATNIK FAMILY FOUNDATION... 17 00:00:46,100 --> 00:00:48,533 THE PARK FOUNDATION, 18 00:00:48,533 --> 00:00:50,700 THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES, 19 00:00:50,700 --> 00:00:52,899 THE PEW CHARITABLE TRUSTS, 20 00:00:52,899 --> 00:00:55,566 THE JOHN S. AND JAMES L. KNIGHT FOUNDATION, 21 00:00:55,566 --> 00:00:58,332 THE ANDREW W. MELLON FOUNDATION, 22 00:00:58,332 --> 00:01:01,000 THE ARTHUR VINING DAVIS FOUNDATIONS, 23 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:03,200 THE FORD FOUNDATION JUSTFILMS, 24 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:04,400 BY THE CORPORATION 25 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:05,632 FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING, 26 00:01:05,632 --> 00:01:07,599 AND BY VIEWERS LIKE YOU. 27 00:01:07,599 --> 00:01:08,733 THANK YOU. 28 00:01:13,266 --> 00:01:15,400 ANNOUNCER: BANK OF AMERICA PROUDLY SUPPORTS 29 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:20,299 KEN BURNS' AND LYNN NOVICK'S FILM "THE VIETNAM WAR" 30 00:01:20,299 --> 00:01:22,700 BECAUSE FOSTERING DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES 31 00:01:22,700 --> 00:01:25,299 AND CIVIL DISCOURSE AROUND IMPORTANT ISSUES 32 00:01:25,299 --> 00:01:27,599 FURTHERS PROGRESS, EQUALITY, 33 00:01:27,599 --> 00:01:29,599 AND A MORE CONNECTED SOCIETY. 34 00:01:34,066 --> 00:01:38,099 GO TO BANKOFAMERICA.COM/ BETTERCONNECTED TO LEARN MORE. 35 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:05,766 ("With God on Our Side" by Bob Dylan playing) 36 00:02:05,865 --> 00:02:09,699 DYLAN: ♪ Oh, my name, it is nothin' ♪ 37 00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:12,066 JEAN-MARIE CROCKER: Well, I wanted to name him after his dad, 38 00:02:12,165 --> 00:02:14,966 Denton Winslow Crocker. 39 00:02:15,066 --> 00:02:18,699 So that was the name we chose. 40 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:21,066 He was a colicky little baby. 41 00:02:21,165 --> 00:02:25,066 And, uh, so we were up night and day with him. 42 00:02:25,165 --> 00:02:28,432 And my husband was a wonderful dad 43 00:02:28,533 --> 00:02:30,699 and very loving and attentive. 44 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:32,665 He'd walk the floor with him. 45 00:02:32,765 --> 00:02:36,566 And then he said one day, "He's a regular little mogul 46 00:02:36,665 --> 00:02:39,699 the way he rules our lives." 47 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:42,000 So that's where the name came from. 48 00:02:42,099 --> 00:02:43,566 We called him Mogie. 49 00:02:43,665 --> 00:02:48,265 NARRATOR: Mogie Crocker was born June 3, 1947, 50 00:02:48,365 --> 00:02:50,733 the oldest of four children. 51 00:02:50,832 --> 00:02:52,633 His father was a biology teacher, 52 00:02:52,733 --> 00:02:55,865 and Mogie was raised in college towns: 53 00:02:55,966 --> 00:03:00,265 Ithaca, Amherst, and finally Saratoga Springs, 54 00:03:00,366 --> 00:03:05,066 to which the family moved in 1960, when he was 13. 55 00:03:05,165 --> 00:03:09,032 My mother read books to all of us. 56 00:03:09,133 --> 00:03:11,365 My brother was definitely the one 57 00:03:11,466 --> 00:03:14,133 who probably gravitated towards them more than I did. 58 00:03:14,233 --> 00:03:16,332 He really feasted on books. 59 00:03:16,432 --> 00:03:19,165 NARRATOR: Mogie was an unusual boy. 60 00:03:19,265 --> 00:03:22,633 Intelligent, independent-minded, and too nearsighted 61 00:03:22,733 --> 00:03:24,765 to do well at team sports, 62 00:03:24,865 --> 00:03:28,733 he loved books about American history and American heroes. 63 00:03:28,832 --> 00:03:31,165 At 12, he started a diary 64 00:03:31,265 --> 00:03:34,400 in which he kept track of Cold War events. 65 00:03:34,500 --> 00:03:36,765 "I hate Reds!" he wrote, 66 00:03:36,865 --> 00:03:39,533 and he admired most those who had proved willing 67 00:03:39,633 --> 00:03:43,466 to sacrifice themselves for a cause. 68 00:03:43,566 --> 00:03:46,466 President John F. Kennedy's call for every American 69 00:03:46,566 --> 00:03:50,265 to ask what he or she could do for their country 70 00:03:50,365 --> 00:03:54,932 had mirrored ideas he'd held since he was a small boy. 71 00:03:55,033 --> 00:03:58,033 One evening when I was reading to Denton 72 00:03:58,133 --> 00:04:03,932 before he went to sleep, I chose a passage fromHenry V, 73 00:04:04,032 --> 00:04:09,300 which is, "He today that sheds his blood with me 74 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:11,532 "shall be my brother. 75 00:04:11,633 --> 00:04:16,466 "And gentlemen in England now a-bed 76 00:04:16,565 --> 00:04:19,065 "shall think themselves accurs'd 77 00:04:19,165 --> 00:04:23,300 "they were not here and hold their manhood cheap 78 00:04:23,399 --> 00:04:28,300 while any speaks that fought with us upon St. Crispin's Day." 79 00:04:28,399 --> 00:04:29,600 (distant bombs echoing) 80 00:04:29,699 --> 00:04:33,066 DYLAN: ♪ If another war comes... 81 00:04:33,165 --> 00:04:35,500 JEAN-MARIE CROCKER: I think that it was that sort of thing 82 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:37,466 that made Denton want to be 83 00:04:37,566 --> 00:04:43,100 part of something important and brave. 84 00:04:43,199 --> 00:04:46,199 DYLAN: ♪ With God on their side. 85 00:04:46,300 --> 00:04:50,899 ("With God on Our Side" continues) 86 00:04:59,332 --> 00:05:01,966 LYNDON JOHNSON: I just stayed awake last night thinking about this thing. 87 00:05:02,065 --> 00:05:05,665 The more I think of it, I don't know what in the hell... 88 00:05:05,766 --> 00:05:08,065 it looks like to me we're getting into another Korea. 89 00:05:08,165 --> 00:05:09,865 It just worries the hell out of me. 90 00:05:09,966 --> 00:05:12,533 I don't see what we can ever hope to get out of there with 91 00:05:12,632 --> 00:05:13,800 once we're committed. 92 00:05:13,899 --> 00:05:15,932 I don't think it's worth fighting for 93 00:05:16,033 --> 00:05:17,466 and I don't think we can get out. 94 00:05:17,565 --> 00:05:19,132 And it's just the biggest damn mess I ever saw. 95 00:05:19,233 --> 00:05:20,766 McGEORGE BUNDY: It is, it's an awful mess. 96 00:05:20,865 --> 00:05:23,699 JOHNSON: I just thought about ordering those kids in there, 97 00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:25,432 and what in the hell am I ordering them out there for? 98 00:05:25,533 --> 00:05:26,899 BUNDY: One thing that has occurred to me... 99 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:28,399 JOHNSON: What the hell is Vietnam worth to me? 100 00:05:28,500 --> 00:05:30,132 What is it worth to this country? 101 00:05:30,233 --> 00:05:31,600 BUNDY: Yeah, yeah. 102 00:05:31,699 --> 00:05:33,832 JOHNSON: Now, of course, if you start running the communists, 103 00:05:33,932 --> 00:05:35,832 they may just chase you right into your own kitchen. 104 00:05:35,932 --> 00:05:38,533 BUNDY: Yeah. That's the trouble. 105 00:05:38,632 --> 00:05:41,500 And that is what the rest of that half of the world 106 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:45,033 is going to think if this thing comes apart on us. 107 00:05:45,132 --> 00:05:46,566 LYNDON JOHNSON: It's damned easy to get in a war, 108 00:05:46,665 --> 00:05:48,300 but it's going to be awfully hard to ever extricate yourself 109 00:05:48,399 --> 00:05:49,432 if you get in. 110 00:05:49,533 --> 00:05:50,899 BUNDY: It's very easy... 111 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:52,432 JOHNSON: I'd like to hear Walter and McNamara to evaluate this thing. 112 00:05:52,533 --> 00:05:53,466 BUNDY: To debate it? 113 00:05:53,566 --> 00:05:54,832 JOHNSON: Yeah. 114 00:05:54,932 --> 00:05:56,600 BUNDY: All right, what's a possible time...? 115 00:05:58,332 --> 00:06:01,399 NARRATOR: Tragedy had brought Lyndon Johnson to the presidency 116 00:06:01,500 --> 00:06:04,632 in November of 1963. 117 00:06:04,733 --> 00:06:07,399 And he would not feel himself fully in charge 118 00:06:07,500 --> 00:06:11,399 until he had faced the voters the following year. 119 00:06:11,500 --> 00:06:14,865 But his ambitions for his country were as great 120 00:06:14,966 --> 00:06:18,266 as those of his hero, Franklin Roosevelt. 121 00:06:18,365 --> 00:06:20,332 During his years in the White House, 122 00:06:20,432 --> 00:06:22,632 he would lead the struggle to win passage 123 00:06:22,733 --> 00:06:26,800 of more than 200 important pieces of legislation-- 124 00:06:26,899 --> 00:06:32,365 the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, 125 00:06:32,466 --> 00:06:36,832 federal aid to education, Head Start, Medicare, 126 00:06:36,932 --> 00:06:40,132 and a whole series of bills aimed at ending poverty 127 00:06:40,233 --> 00:06:43,266 in America, all intended to create 128 00:06:43,365 --> 00:06:46,165 what he called "The Great Society." 129 00:06:46,266 --> 00:06:50,932 In foreign affairs, Johnson was less self-assured. 130 00:06:51,033 --> 00:06:53,199 "Foreigners are not like the folks I'm used to," 131 00:06:53,300 --> 00:06:54,899 he once said. 132 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:57,600 To deal with them, he retained in office 133 00:06:57,699 --> 00:07:00,399 all of John Kennedy's top advisors-- 134 00:07:00,500 --> 00:07:02,533 Dean Rusk at State, 135 00:07:02,632 --> 00:07:05,100 Robert McNamara at Defense, 136 00:07:05,199 --> 00:07:09,132 McGeorge Bundy as his National Security Advisor. 137 00:07:09,233 --> 00:07:14,399 "I need you," he told them, more than his predecessor had. 138 00:07:14,500 --> 00:07:16,199 Publicly, Johnson pledged 139 00:07:16,300 --> 00:07:18,699 that "This nation will keep its commitments 140 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:21,865 from South Vietnam to West Berlin." 141 00:07:21,966 --> 00:07:25,565 But privately, Vietnam filled him with dread. 142 00:07:25,665 --> 00:07:28,033 "It's going to be hell in a handbasket out there," 143 00:07:28,132 --> 00:07:30,832 his ambassador told him. 144 00:07:30,932 --> 00:07:34,132 "I want the South Vietnamese to get off their butts 145 00:07:34,233 --> 00:07:35,899 "and get out into those jungles 146 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:40,199 and whip the hell out of some communists," the president said. 147 00:07:40,300 --> 00:07:43,000 "And then I want 'em to leave me alone, 148 00:07:43,100 --> 00:07:45,165 "because I've got some bigger things to do 149 00:07:45,266 --> 00:07:47,300 right here at home." 150 00:07:49,132 --> 00:07:52,332 Johnson had opposed the military coup that had overthrown 151 00:07:52,432 --> 00:07:56,600 and murdered South Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh Diem, 152 00:07:56,699 --> 00:08:00,165 fearing it would make a bad situation worse. 153 00:08:01,865 --> 00:08:03,466 It had. 154 00:08:03,565 --> 00:08:05,833 (gunfire, shouting) 155 00:08:07,766 --> 00:08:12,432 The National Liberation Front-- the Viet Cong-- 156 00:08:12,533 --> 00:08:15,600 was making coordinated attacks throughout the countryside, 157 00:08:15,699 --> 00:08:19,132 some 400 of them in just two weeks. 158 00:08:43,700 --> 00:08:46,865 NARRATOR: An estimated 40% of the South Vietnamese countryside, 159 00:08:46,966 --> 00:08:49,500 and more than 50% of the people, 160 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:53,432 were effectively in the hands of the Viet Cong. 161 00:08:53,533 --> 00:08:57,265 And the Vietnamese generals who had overthrown Ngo Dinh Diem 162 00:08:57,365 --> 00:09:00,966 were bickering among themselves. 163 00:09:01,066 --> 00:09:04,100 The assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem set in motion 164 00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:06,133 a series of coups. 165 00:09:06,232 --> 00:09:10,466 Each government was less effective than the one before. 166 00:09:10,566 --> 00:09:13,966 NARRATOR: In January 1964, 167 00:09:14,066 --> 00:09:15,600 with U.S. encouragement, 168 00:09:15,700 --> 00:09:20,365 General Nguyen Khanh staged yet another coup. 169 00:09:20,466 --> 00:09:25,100 In March, Johnson sent McNamara to Vietnam with instructions 170 00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:28,533 to show the people that Khanh was "our boy." 171 00:09:30,432 --> 00:09:33,799 SAM WILSON: Johnson said, "Let's get him out and get him speaking to people, 172 00:09:33,899 --> 00:09:37,466 "and let McNamara go with him as well 173 00:09:37,566 --> 00:09:40,000 "so that people can see that the United States 174 00:09:40,100 --> 00:09:41,265 is solidly behind this man." 175 00:09:41,365 --> 00:09:44,633 We fully support the people of South Vietnam. 176 00:09:44,732 --> 00:09:49,332 BUI DIEM (speaking English): 177 00:09:56,566 --> 00:10:03,200 When Khanh gave a tedious, long, laborious speech ending up with, 178 00:10:03,299 --> 00:10:06,033 "Vietnam (speaking Vietnamese), Vietnam (speaking Vietnamese), 179 00:10:06,133 --> 00:10:07,700 Vietnam a thousand years." 180 00:10:07,799 --> 00:10:11,066 McNamara leaned over to the microphone and said... 181 00:10:11,166 --> 00:10:14,200 (attempting to repeat Vietnamese phrase) 182 00:10:14,299 --> 00:10:19,166 BUI DIEM: 183 00:10:19,265 --> 00:10:20,432 (McNamara attempting to repeat Vietnamese phrase) 184 00:10:20,533 --> 00:10:21,966 What he was saying was something like, 185 00:10:22,066 --> 00:10:25,600 "The little duck, he wants to lie down." 186 00:10:25,700 --> 00:10:26,899 (attempting to repeat Vietnamese phrase) 187 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:30,232 WILSON: He wasn't aware of the tonal difference. 188 00:10:30,332 --> 00:10:35,700 And McNamara grabbed one fist and held them up. 189 00:10:35,799 --> 00:10:37,033 And the crowd practically 190 00:10:37,133 --> 00:10:39,232 disintegrated on the cobblestones. 191 00:10:41,365 --> 00:10:43,100 NARRATOR: "No more of this coup shit," 192 00:10:43,200 --> 00:10:45,765 President Johnson told his advisors. 193 00:10:45,865 --> 00:10:49,799 But Khanh, too, lacked popular legitimacy, 194 00:10:49,899 --> 00:10:53,466 and other generals continued to jockey for power. 195 00:10:53,566 --> 00:10:57,033 Washington turned a deaf ear to Buddhist calls 196 00:10:57,133 --> 00:10:59,665 for the genuinely representative government 197 00:10:59,765 --> 00:11:03,600 they'd hoped they'd get when Diem was overthrown. 198 00:11:03,700 --> 00:11:09,033 Between January 1964 and June of 1965, 199 00:11:09,133 --> 00:11:13,000 there would be eight different governments. 200 00:11:13,100 --> 00:11:15,566 All of their leaders were so close to the Americans 201 00:11:15,666 --> 00:11:18,166 that they were seen as puppets. 202 00:11:18,265 --> 00:11:20,000 (shouting, whistling) 203 00:11:20,100 --> 00:11:22,166 One weary Johnson aide suggested 204 00:11:22,265 --> 00:11:25,033 that the national symbol of South Vietnam 205 00:11:25,133 --> 00:11:26,932 should be a turnstile. 206 00:11:27,033 --> 00:11:29,966 MURRAY FROMSON: These demonstrating students seem to symbolize 207 00:11:30,066 --> 00:11:33,899 the kind of anarchy that is descending on Saigon these days. 208 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:36,466 This kind of political backbiting is having 209 00:11:36,566 --> 00:11:38,665 serious consequences in the countryside, 210 00:11:38,765 --> 00:11:40,966 for until a strong government begins to function 211 00:11:41,066 --> 00:11:42,466 here in Saigon, 212 00:11:42,566 --> 00:11:44,865 the war against the communists will continue to founder. 213 00:11:49,966 --> 00:11:54,466 DONG SI NGUYEN: 214 00:12:23,232 --> 00:12:27,432 NARRATOR: Ho Chi Minh was still a beloved figure in North Vietnam, 215 00:12:27,533 --> 00:12:31,265 still concerned that his country remained fragile, 216 00:12:31,365 --> 00:12:34,799 still wary that stepping up the conflict in the South 217 00:12:34,899 --> 00:12:39,000 might force the Americans to take a still more active role. 218 00:12:39,100 --> 00:12:44,299 But Ho now shared power with younger, more impatient leaders. 219 00:12:44,399 --> 00:12:48,299 There had been change and turmoil in North Vietnam, too, 220 00:12:48,399 --> 00:12:51,832 just as there had been in Saigon and Washington, 221 00:12:51,932 --> 00:12:54,832 though Americans knew almost nothing about it. 222 00:12:57,533 --> 00:13:01,299 HUY DUC: 223 00:13:10,133 --> 00:13:12,765 NARRATOR: At the Ninth Party Plenum that began in Hanoi 224 00:13:12,865 --> 00:13:16,265 on November 22, 1963, 225 00:13:16,365 --> 00:13:19,265 the day President Kennedy was killed in Dallas, 226 00:13:19,365 --> 00:13:24,332 the Politburo had argued over how best to proceed in the war. 227 00:13:24,432 --> 00:13:27,799 North Vietnam's two communist patrons, 228 00:13:27,899 --> 00:13:33,466 the Soviet Union and China, were giving them conflicting advice. 229 00:13:33,566 --> 00:13:35,399 NGUYEN NGOC: 230 00:13:48,232 --> 00:13:51,000 NARRATOR: In two weeks of sometimes bitter debate, 231 00:13:51,100 --> 00:13:53,932 Ho Chi Minh, who favored the Soviet strategy, 232 00:13:54,033 --> 00:13:57,799 was outmaneuvered by party First Secretary Le Duan, 233 00:13:57,899 --> 00:14:01,365 who sided with the Chinese. 234 00:14:01,466 --> 00:14:07,066 NGUYEN NGOC: 235 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:24,332 NARRATOR: Le Duan believed that with Diem gone, 236 00:14:24,432 --> 00:14:26,633 and the Saigon government in disarray, 237 00:14:26,732 --> 00:14:31,133 it was time to move quickly in 1964. 238 00:14:31,232 --> 00:14:36,332 He proposed a two-phase plan for victory in South Vietnam. 239 00:14:36,432 --> 00:14:39,066 The first phase would destroy ARVN forces 240 00:14:39,165 --> 00:14:41,932 through big, "decisive battles"; 241 00:14:42,033 --> 00:14:45,732 the second, an attack on the cities, Le Duan believed, 242 00:14:45,832 --> 00:14:49,633 would then set off popular revolts within them. 243 00:14:49,732 --> 00:14:51,765 Party leaders and others 244 00:14:51,865 --> 00:14:54,365 suspected of having opposed the plan 245 00:14:54,466 --> 00:14:57,765 were denounced as "revisionists," demoted, 246 00:14:57,865 --> 00:15:00,166 dismissed, imprisoned. 247 00:15:00,265 --> 00:15:03,832 Hundreds were sent to "re-education camps." 248 00:15:03,932 --> 00:15:08,932 "Uncle Ho wavers," Le Duan said, "but I have only one goal-- 249 00:15:09,033 --> 00:15:10,799 final victory." 250 00:15:13,265 --> 00:15:14,966 WOMAN: Secretary McNamara on line 0. 251 00:15:15,066 --> 00:15:16,100 JOHNSON: Bob? 252 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:17,700 McNAMARA: Yes, Mr. President? 253 00:15:17,799 --> 00:15:19,133 JOHNSON: I hate to bother you, but... 254 00:15:19,232 --> 00:15:20,133 McNAMARA: No trouble at all. 255 00:15:20,232 --> 00:15:21,899 JOHNSON: Tell me, have we got anybody 256 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:24,865 that's got a military mind that can give us some military plans 257 00:15:24,966 --> 00:15:26,533 for winning that war? 258 00:15:26,633 --> 00:15:28,600 Let's get some more of something, my friend, 259 00:15:28,700 --> 00:15:30,133 because I'm going to have a heart attack 260 00:15:30,232 --> 00:15:31,332 if you don't get me something. 261 00:15:31,432 --> 00:15:33,533 We need somebody over there that can get us 262 00:15:33,633 --> 00:15:35,000 some better plans than we got, 263 00:15:35,100 --> 00:15:38,033 because what we got is what we've had since '54. 264 00:15:38,133 --> 00:15:39,633 We're not getting it done. 265 00:15:39,732 --> 00:15:41,133 We're-we're losing. 266 00:15:41,232 --> 00:15:43,232 McNAMARA: Well, it's one reason I want to go back. 267 00:15:43,332 --> 00:15:44,533 Kick 'em in the tail a little bit 268 00:15:44,633 --> 00:15:45,633 will help here at this point. 269 00:15:45,732 --> 00:15:46,765 JOHNSON: Yeah. 270 00:15:46,865 --> 00:15:49,100 What I want is somebody to lay up some plans 271 00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:52,165 to trap these guys and whup hell out of 'em. 272 00:15:52,265 --> 00:15:53,432 Kill some of 'em. 273 00:15:53,533 --> 00:15:55,100 That's what I want to do. 274 00:15:55,200 --> 00:15:57,200 McNAMARA: I'll try and bring something back 275 00:15:57,299 --> 00:15:58,232 that will meet that objective. 276 00:15:58,332 --> 00:15:59,665 JOHNSON: Okay, Bob. 277 00:15:59,765 --> 00:16:00,799 McNAMARA: Thank you. 278 00:16:00,899 --> 00:16:01,865 (phone hangs up) 279 00:16:03,566 --> 00:16:06,432 NARRATOR: When his counselors urged him to do so, 280 00:16:06,533 --> 00:16:10,732 Johnson increased the number of American military personnel 281 00:16:10,832 --> 00:16:15,765 from 16,000 to more than 23,000 by the end of the year. 282 00:16:15,865 --> 00:16:18,899 But he wanted his own team in Saigon. 283 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:21,432 He replaced Henry Cabot Lodge, 284 00:16:21,533 --> 00:16:25,066 making General Maxwell Taylor his ambassador, 285 00:16:25,166 --> 00:16:29,865 and selected 49-year-old General William Westmoreland, 286 00:16:29,966 --> 00:16:33,700 a decorated commander from WWII and Korea, 287 00:16:33,799 --> 00:16:36,665 to lead the American military effort. 288 00:16:36,765 --> 00:16:41,000 The president hoped to force Hanoi to abandon its support 289 00:16:41,100 --> 00:16:43,165 for the guerrilla struggle in the South 290 00:16:43,265 --> 00:16:47,165 by gradually escalating military pressure. 291 00:16:47,265 --> 00:16:51,799 He authorized American pilots to bomb North Vietnamese troops 292 00:16:51,899 --> 00:16:56,500 and installations in the neighboring country of Laos. 293 00:16:56,600 --> 00:16:58,432 And he directed the military 294 00:16:58,533 --> 00:17:00,700 to oversee South Vietnamese shelling 295 00:17:00,799 --> 00:17:06,333 of North Vietnamese islands and raids on coastal bases. 296 00:17:06,432 --> 00:17:09,932 All of it was to be conducted in secret. 297 00:17:10,032 --> 00:17:12,633 The American people were not to be told. 298 00:17:12,732 --> 00:17:15,932 It was an election year. 299 00:17:16,032 --> 00:17:19,700 Meanwhile, the Joint Chiefs of Staff felt strongly 300 00:17:19,799 --> 00:17:21,365 that the United States was fighting 301 00:17:21,465 --> 00:17:23,165 on the enemy's terms 302 00:17:23,266 --> 00:17:27,066 and urged far more drastic and dramatic action-- 303 00:17:27,165 --> 00:17:31,432 air strikes against "critical targets" in North Vietnam itself 304 00:17:31,532 --> 00:17:35,732 and the deployment of U.S. forces in South Vietnam-- 305 00:17:35,833 --> 00:17:37,665 boots on the ground. 306 00:17:37,766 --> 00:17:41,932 Johnson refused, fearing that such aggressive moves 307 00:17:42,032 --> 00:17:44,200 would pull China into the conflict 308 00:17:44,299 --> 00:17:49,200 just as it had entered the Korean War in 1950. 309 00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:51,299 JOHNSON: They say get in or get out. 310 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:52,266 McGEORGE BUNDY: Yeah. 311 00:17:52,365 --> 00:17:53,633 JOHNSON: And I told them, 312 00:17:53,732 --> 00:17:55,833 we haven't got any Congress that will go with us, 313 00:17:55,932 --> 00:17:58,232 and we haven't got any mothers that will go with us 314 00:17:58,333 --> 00:18:00,266 in the war, and I got to win an election 315 00:18:00,365 --> 00:18:04,333 and then you can make a decision. 316 00:18:04,432 --> 00:18:06,432 (crowd cheering) 317 00:18:06,532 --> 00:18:08,133 NARRATOR: Polls showed him with a commanding lead 318 00:18:08,232 --> 00:18:10,333 over his likely Republican opponent, 319 00:18:10,432 --> 00:18:14,066 Senator Barry F. Goldwater of Arizona, 320 00:18:14,165 --> 00:18:17,833 a blunt, uncompromising critic of what he charged 321 00:18:17,932 --> 00:18:20,000 was the administration's weakness 322 00:18:20,099 --> 00:18:22,700 in the face of communist aggression. 323 00:18:22,799 --> 00:18:24,965 BARRY GOLDWATER: Why does he put off facing the question 324 00:18:25,066 --> 00:18:28,032 of what to do about Vietnam? 325 00:18:28,133 --> 00:18:31,266 Does he hope that he can wait until after the election 326 00:18:31,365 --> 00:18:33,865 to confront the American public with the... 327 00:18:33,965 --> 00:18:37,365 BILL EHRHART: Here were these communists who were overrunning Southeast Asia 328 00:18:37,465 --> 00:18:40,633 and Johnson's doing nothing about it. 329 00:18:40,732 --> 00:18:41,900 My opponent has not told you 330 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:43,465 what he plans to do about the Cold War. 331 00:18:43,566 --> 00:18:46,799 I rode around the back of a flatbed truck in Perkasie 332 00:18:46,900 --> 00:18:48,732 with a bunch of my classmates 333 00:18:48,833 --> 00:18:51,099 singing Barry Goldwater campaign songs 334 00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:54,432 because Lyndon Johnson was not tough enough 335 00:18:54,532 --> 00:18:56,165 on those communists. 336 00:18:58,532 --> 00:19:01,665 NARRATOR: Johnson felt he did not yet have the political capital 337 00:19:01,766 --> 00:19:06,365 to take further action in Vietnam, but he asked his aide, 338 00:19:06,465 --> 00:19:10,200 William Bundy, to draft a congressional resolution 339 00:19:10,299 --> 00:19:13,333 authorizing him to use force if needed 340 00:19:13,432 --> 00:19:16,732 to be sent to Capitol Hill when the time was right. 341 00:19:20,532 --> 00:19:24,865 On July 30, 1964, South Vietnamese ships 342 00:19:24,965 --> 00:19:27,599 under the direction of the U.S. military 343 00:19:27,700 --> 00:19:32,833 shelled two North Vietnamese islands in the Gulf of Tonkin. 344 00:19:32,932 --> 00:19:37,833 The tiny North Vietnamese Navy was put on high alert. 345 00:19:37,932 --> 00:19:40,900 What followed was one of the most controversial 346 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:44,400 and consequential events in American history. 347 00:19:44,500 --> 00:19:47,266 On the afternoon of August 2, 348 00:19:47,365 --> 00:19:50,865 the destroyerU.S.S. Maddox was moving slowly 349 00:19:50,965 --> 00:19:53,266 through international waters in the gulf 350 00:19:53,365 --> 00:19:57,099 on an intelligence-gathering mission in support 351 00:19:57,200 --> 00:20:01,066 of further South Vietnamese action against the North. 352 00:20:01,165 --> 00:20:05,465 The commander of a North Vietnamese torpedo-boat squadron 353 00:20:05,566 --> 00:20:08,133 moved to attack theMaddox. 354 00:20:08,232 --> 00:20:13,099 The Americans opened fire and missed. 355 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:17,066 North Vietnamese torpedoes also missed. 356 00:20:17,165 --> 00:20:20,932 But carrier-based U.S. planes damaged 357 00:20:21,032 --> 00:20:23,000 two of the North Vietnamese boats 358 00:20:23,099 --> 00:20:26,099 and left a third dead in the water. 359 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:30,532 Ho Chi Minh was shocked to hear of his navy's attack 360 00:20:30,633 --> 00:20:34,099 and demanded to know who had ordered it. 361 00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:36,833 The officer on duty was officially reprimanded 362 00:20:36,932 --> 00:20:38,833 for impulsiveness. 363 00:20:38,932 --> 00:20:43,532 No one may ever know who gave the order to attack. 364 00:20:43,633 --> 00:20:47,599 To this day, even the Vietnamese cannot agree. 365 00:20:47,700 --> 00:20:51,432 But some believe it was Le Duan. 366 00:20:51,532 --> 00:20:54,266 HUY DUC: 367 00:21:36,766 --> 00:21:37,865 NARRATOR: Back in Washington, 368 00:21:37,965 --> 00:21:40,932 the Joint Chiefs urged immediate retaliation 369 00:21:41,032 --> 00:21:42,799 against North Vietnam. 370 00:21:42,900 --> 00:21:45,633 The president refused. 371 00:21:45,732 --> 00:21:48,200 Instead, the White House issued a warning 372 00:21:48,299 --> 00:21:51,299 about the "grave consequences" that would follow 373 00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:55,099 what it called "any further unprovoked" attacks-- 374 00:21:55,200 --> 00:21:59,299 even though Johnson knew the attack had been provoked 375 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:04,099 by the South Vietnamese raids on North Vietnam's islands. 376 00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:08,000 Both sides were playing a dangerous game. 377 00:22:08,099 --> 00:22:14,000 On August 4, American radio operators mistranslated 378 00:22:14,099 --> 00:22:15,766 North Vietnamese radio traffic 379 00:22:15,865 --> 00:22:21,633 and concluded a new military operation was imminent. 380 00:22:21,732 --> 00:22:23,799 Actually, Hanoi had simply called upon 381 00:22:23,900 --> 00:22:27,965 torpedo boat commanders to be ready for a new raid 382 00:22:28,066 --> 00:22:30,432 by the South Vietnamese. 383 00:22:30,532 --> 00:22:35,133 TheMad dox and another destroyer, theTurner Joy, 384 00:22:35,232 --> 00:22:38,232 braced for a fresh attack. 385 00:22:38,333 --> 00:22:39,965 So did the White House. 386 00:22:40,066 --> 00:22:41,665 LYNDON JOHNSON: Go ahead, Mac. 387 00:22:41,766 --> 00:22:44,232 McNAMARA: I-I personally would recommend to you, 388 00:22:44,333 --> 00:22:46,200 after a second attack on our ships, 389 00:22:46,299 --> 00:22:50,099 that we do retaliate against the coast of North Vietnam 390 00:22:50,200 --> 00:22:51,665 some way or other... 391 00:22:51,766 --> 00:22:55,266 JOHNSON: What I was thinking about when I was eating breakfast: 392 00:22:55,365 --> 00:22:58,133 when they move on us and they shoot at us, 393 00:22:58,232 --> 00:22:59,799 I think we not only ought to shoot at them, 394 00:22:59,900 --> 00:23:02,266 but almost simultaneously pull one of these things 395 00:23:02,365 --> 00:23:04,333 that you've been doing on one of their bridges or something. 396 00:23:04,432 --> 00:23:05,532 McNAMARA: Exactly. 397 00:23:05,633 --> 00:23:07,299 I quite agree with you, Mr. President. 398 00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:08,965 JOHNSON: But I wish we could have something 399 00:23:09,066 --> 00:23:10,900 that we've already picked out, 400 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:14,465 and just hit about three of them damn quick, right after. 401 00:23:14,566 --> 00:23:17,900 NARRATOR: No second attack ever happened, 402 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:22,133 but at the time, anxious American sonar operators 403 00:23:22,232 --> 00:23:26,932 aboard theMaddo x andTurner Joy convinced themselves one had. 404 00:23:27,032 --> 00:23:31,665 The attack was probable but not certain, Johnson was told, 405 00:23:31,766 --> 00:23:34,766 and since it had probably occurred, 406 00:23:34,865 --> 00:23:38,965 the president decided it should not go unanswered. 407 00:23:41,333 --> 00:23:44,700 JOHNSON: Aggression by terror against the peaceful villagers 408 00:23:44,799 --> 00:23:49,299 of South Vietnam has now been joined by open aggression 409 00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:53,532 on the high seas against the United States of America. 410 00:23:53,633 --> 00:23:57,400 Yet our response, for the present, 411 00:23:57,500 --> 00:23:59,965 will be limited and fitting. 412 00:24:00,066 --> 00:24:05,500 We Americans know, although others appear to forget, 413 00:24:05,599 --> 00:24:08,232 the risk of spreading conflict. 414 00:24:08,333 --> 00:24:13,833 We still seek no wider war. 415 00:24:13,932 --> 00:24:17,299 EVERETT ALVAREZ: If that came to be where we would be called upon 416 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:20,266 to carry out our responsibilities, 417 00:24:20,365 --> 00:24:22,965 and having been well trained for this, 418 00:24:23,066 --> 00:24:24,633 I never really gave it much thought. 419 00:24:24,732 --> 00:24:27,000 It was part of my duty. 420 00:24:27,099 --> 00:24:30,566 NARRATOR: Lieutenant Everett Alvarez from Salinas, California, 421 00:24:30,665 --> 00:24:34,200 was aboard the U.S.S. carrier Constellation. 422 00:24:34,299 --> 00:24:37,865 His squadron of Skyhawk A-4 planes 423 00:24:37,965 --> 00:24:40,566 was ordered to attack torpedo boat installations 424 00:24:40,665 --> 00:24:45,200 and oil facilities near the port of Hon Gai. 425 00:24:45,299 --> 00:24:50,066 For the first time, American pilots were going to drop bombs 426 00:24:50,165 --> 00:24:52,200 on North Vietnam. 427 00:24:53,465 --> 00:24:54,700 ALVAREZ: When we approached the target 428 00:24:54,799 --> 00:24:56,432 coming down from altitude, 429 00:24:56,532 --> 00:24:59,633 it was obvious that they could pick us up on their radar. 430 00:24:59,732 --> 00:25:02,266 I remember my knees shaking. 431 00:25:02,365 --> 00:25:05,266 And I was saying, "Holy smokes, I'm going into war." 432 00:25:07,133 --> 00:25:09,200 "This is war." 433 00:25:10,299 --> 00:25:11,932 I was a bit scared. 434 00:25:12,032 --> 00:25:16,766 Once we went in and they started firing at us, 435 00:25:16,865 --> 00:25:19,165 the fear went away. 436 00:25:19,266 --> 00:25:23,932 Everything became smooth, deathly quiet in the cockpit. 437 00:25:24,032 --> 00:25:26,766 It was sort of like a symphony 438 00:25:26,865 --> 00:25:32,266 in the sense that my plane was just like a ballet in the sky, 439 00:25:32,365 --> 00:25:35,865 and I was just performing what I was doing. 440 00:25:38,066 --> 00:25:39,099 And then I got hit. 441 00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:40,266 MAN: Mayday, Mayday. 442 00:25:40,365 --> 00:25:41,532 (instruments beeping) 443 00:25:41,633 --> 00:25:45,333 NARRATOR: Coastal militiamen captured Alvarez 444 00:25:45,432 --> 00:25:47,865 and turned him over to the North Vietnamese military. 445 00:25:47,965 --> 00:25:53,700 ALVAREZ: One fella was yelling at me in Vietnamese and saying something. 446 00:25:53,799 --> 00:25:56,766 I started talking to him in Spanish. 447 00:25:56,865 --> 00:25:58,732 Don't ask me why. 448 00:25:58,833 --> 00:26:01,932 It seemed like a good idea at the time. 449 00:26:03,865 --> 00:26:09,000 After when they discovered U.S.A. on my ID card 450 00:26:09,099 --> 00:26:14,000 and then they started speaking to me in English. 451 00:26:14,099 --> 00:26:18,200 NARRATOR: Alvarez assumed he would be treated as a prisoner of war. 452 00:26:18,299 --> 00:26:20,532 ALVAREZ: I was sticking to the code of conduct, 453 00:26:20,633 --> 00:26:22,900 which is giving them name, rank, service number, 454 00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:24,232 and date of birth. 455 00:26:25,766 --> 00:26:29,766 But they quickly reminded me that there was no state of war, 456 00:26:29,865 --> 00:26:32,400 no declaration of war. 457 00:26:32,500 --> 00:26:36,232 So I could not be considered a prisoner of war. 458 00:26:37,766 --> 00:26:39,165 I recall thinking about it, 459 00:26:39,266 --> 00:26:40,865 and I says, "You know what? 460 00:26:40,965 --> 00:26:42,400 They're right." 461 00:26:42,500 --> 00:26:45,766 NARRATOR: Everett Alvarez was the first American airman 462 00:26:45,865 --> 00:26:49,232 to be shot out of the sky over North Vietnam 463 00:26:49,333 --> 00:26:52,032 and the first to be imprisoned there. 464 00:26:54,566 --> 00:26:56,865 Now, the president sent up to Capitol Hill 465 00:26:56,965 --> 00:27:00,665 the resolution he had asked his aide William Bundy to draft 466 00:27:00,766 --> 00:27:03,200 two months earlier. 467 00:27:03,299 --> 00:27:07,133 JAMES WILLBANKS: Johnson is sort of prepositioned to move anyway, 468 00:27:07,232 --> 00:27:11,000 and it gives him really the incident that he needs 469 00:27:11,099 --> 00:27:13,665 to go to Congress and ask for a resolution 470 00:27:13,766 --> 00:27:15,799 that will allow him to deal with what he sees 471 00:27:15,900 --> 00:27:17,566 as aggression in Vietnam. 472 00:27:17,665 --> 00:27:20,000 And what he gets is the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, 473 00:27:20,099 --> 00:27:23,700 which is, what he says, like "Grandma's nightshirt"-- 474 00:27:23,799 --> 00:27:25,232 it covers everything. 475 00:27:25,333 --> 00:27:29,700 I think what Johnson is looking for is the opportunity, 476 00:27:29,799 --> 00:27:33,599 the right time to send a message to North Vietnam 477 00:27:33,700 --> 00:27:37,665 that we're serious about supporting South Vietnam. 478 00:27:37,766 --> 00:27:39,865 That message is sent, 479 00:27:39,965 --> 00:27:41,700 I think we misread the enemy 480 00:27:41,799 --> 00:27:44,066 because they're just as serious as we are. 481 00:27:45,465 --> 00:27:48,566 NARRATOR: On August 7, 1964, 482 00:27:48,665 --> 00:27:52,333 by a vote of 88-2, the Senate passed 483 00:27:52,432 --> 00:27:56,465 what came to be called the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. 484 00:27:56,566 --> 00:28:00,833 In the House, not a single congressman opposed it. 485 00:28:00,932 --> 00:28:04,732 Senator Goldwater could no longer plausibly claim 486 00:28:04,833 --> 00:28:06,900 Johnson was failing to fight back 487 00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:10,732 against North Vietnam, while those voters concerned 488 00:28:10,833 --> 00:28:12,865 that the United States was in danger 489 00:28:12,965 --> 00:28:15,299 of becoming too deeply involved 490 00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:19,299 admired the president's measured response. 491 00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:23,133 Support for Johnson's handling of the war jumped overnight 492 00:28:23,232 --> 00:28:26,700 from 42% to 72%. 493 00:28:26,799 --> 00:28:29,799 The American public believed their president. 494 00:28:30,900 --> 00:28:34,432 Le Duan and his comrades in Hanoi did not. 495 00:28:34,532 --> 00:28:37,165 They had little faith in the president's claim 496 00:28:37,266 --> 00:28:39,299 that he sought no wider war. 497 00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:42,299 They resolved to step up their efforts 498 00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:43,900 to win the struggle in the South 499 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:47,032 before the United States escalated its presence 500 00:28:47,133 --> 00:28:49,465 by sending in combat troops. 501 00:28:50,732 --> 00:28:52,732 For the first time, 502 00:28:52,833 --> 00:28:55,432 Hanoi began sending North Vietnamese regulars 503 00:28:55,532 --> 00:28:58,165 into the South, down the network of paths 504 00:28:58,266 --> 00:29:01,500 they had hacked out of the Laotian jungle-- 505 00:29:01,599 --> 00:29:03,599 the Ho Chi Minh Trail. 506 00:29:04,865 --> 00:29:06,633 PETER KALISCHER: This is Bien Hoa Air Base, 507 00:29:06,732 --> 00:29:08,266 the biggest in South Vietnam, 508 00:29:08,365 --> 00:29:12,032 hours after being hit by a communist mortar barrage. 509 00:29:12,133 --> 00:29:15,200 NARRATOR: On November 1, Viet Cong guerrillas shelled 510 00:29:15,299 --> 00:29:19,365 the American airbase at Bien Hoa near Saigon. 511 00:29:19,465 --> 00:29:21,766 Five Americans died. 512 00:29:21,865 --> 00:29:23,900 Thirty were wounded. 513 00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:28,165 Five B-57 bombers were destroyed on the ground 514 00:29:28,266 --> 00:29:30,165 and 15 more were damaged. 515 00:29:30,266 --> 00:29:31,965 PETER KALISCHER: Mr. Ambassador, 516 00:29:32,066 --> 00:29:34,099 do you think this shows any new capability 517 00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:36,232 that they've got, the Viet Cong? 518 00:29:36,333 --> 00:29:38,665 Uh, I would simply say they've never done this before. 519 00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:43,833 NARRATOR: The Joint Chiefs advised the president to mount 520 00:29:43,932 --> 00:29:48,432 an immediate all-out air attack on 94 targets in the North 521 00:29:48,532 --> 00:29:51,766 and to send in regular Army and Marine units-- 522 00:29:51,865 --> 00:29:55,833 not more advisors-- to South Vietnam as well. 523 00:29:55,932 --> 00:29:57,333 He would not do it. 524 00:29:57,432 --> 00:29:59,932 The election was just two days away. 525 00:30:02,266 --> 00:30:06,400 Lyndon Baines Johnson won the presidency in his own right, 526 00:30:06,500 --> 00:30:08,500 and he won it by a landslide. 527 00:30:10,333 --> 00:30:12,700 Within a month, the president would approve 528 00:30:12,799 --> 00:30:15,400 what was called a "graduated response"-- 529 00:30:15,500 --> 00:30:19,400 limited air attacks on the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos 530 00:30:19,500 --> 00:30:22,465 and "tit for tat" retaliatory raids 531 00:30:22,566 --> 00:30:25,465 on North Vietnamese targets. 532 00:30:25,566 --> 00:30:29,465 But he refused to undertake sustained bombing of the North 533 00:30:29,566 --> 00:30:33,566 until the South Vietnamese got their own house in order. 534 00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:40,500 In private, Johnson doubted that airpower alone would ever work 535 00:30:40,599 --> 00:30:43,066 and believed that he would eventually have to send in 536 00:30:43,165 --> 00:30:44,432 ground troops, 537 00:30:44,532 --> 00:30:48,165 though he was not yet willing publicly to say so. 538 00:30:54,133 --> 00:30:57,900 JEAN-MARIE CROCKER: In the fall of '64, Denton was 17 539 00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:02,333 and he was determined to go into the service. 540 00:31:02,432 --> 00:31:06,299 NARRATOR: Mogie Crocker had been restless since the summer. 541 00:31:06,400 --> 00:31:09,465 After the Gulf of Tonkin incident, he had confided 542 00:31:09,566 --> 00:31:12,099 to his sister that he wanted to join the Navy, 543 00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:15,665 but he knew his parents would not sign the consent form 544 00:31:15,766 --> 00:31:20,266 that would have allowed a 17-year-old to enlist. 545 00:31:20,365 --> 00:31:24,099 He was talking about wanting to go into the service 546 00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:26,633 and that his attempts to go underage had failed. 547 00:31:26,732 --> 00:31:30,165 And that he wanted my parents to support him in that. 548 00:31:30,266 --> 00:31:32,665 NARRATOR: His parents tried to persuade him 549 00:31:32,766 --> 00:31:34,833 that he could be more useful to his country 550 00:31:34,932 --> 00:31:39,500 with a college education than as just another private. 551 00:31:39,599 --> 00:31:42,365 Mogie was adamant. 552 00:31:42,465 --> 00:31:46,032 JEAN-MARIE CROCKER: Monday morning he left for school. 553 00:31:46,133 --> 00:31:48,766 And I watched him leave. 554 00:31:48,865 --> 00:31:50,799 But that night he didn't come in for supper 555 00:31:50,900 --> 00:31:52,000 and he hadn't called. 556 00:31:52,099 --> 00:31:55,465 The day that my brother ran away has to be 557 00:31:55,566 --> 00:31:59,865 one of the most bizarre experiences in my life. 558 00:31:59,965 --> 00:32:03,099 I eventually happened to look in my piggy bank 559 00:32:03,200 --> 00:32:06,732 and he had taken the money I had and left a note for me. 560 00:32:06,833 --> 00:32:09,500 He had promised he would pay me back. 561 00:32:09,599 --> 00:32:12,333 JEAN-MARIE CROCKER: He was gone about four months 562 00:32:12,432 --> 00:32:15,732 and said that he would not come home 563 00:32:15,833 --> 00:32:18,266 unless we agreed to sign for him. 564 00:32:18,365 --> 00:32:22,599 And he wouldn't be 18 until June. 565 00:32:22,700 --> 00:32:26,066 But we did agree and he did come home. 566 00:32:26,165 --> 00:32:30,665 My husband felt it was an honor-bound agreement. 567 00:32:30,766 --> 00:32:33,766 I was hoping that I could change his mind. 568 00:32:36,665 --> 00:32:38,566 ("The Marines' Hymn" plays) 569 00:32:38,665 --> 00:32:42,465 PHILIP BRADY: To my mind, the Marine Corps represented the very best. 570 00:32:42,566 --> 00:32:43,932 And it does. 571 00:32:44,032 --> 00:32:46,532 They are the best. 572 00:32:46,633 --> 00:32:49,099 And I wanted to be part of the best. 573 00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:50,865 I was competitive. 574 00:32:50,965 --> 00:32:52,032 I was pugnacious. 575 00:32:52,133 --> 00:32:54,133 But I wanted to get in the Marine Corps 576 00:32:54,232 --> 00:32:56,833 and go to the first war I could find. 577 00:32:56,932 --> 00:33:00,200 NARRATOR: Lieutenant Philip Brady, from Port Washington, New York, 578 00:33:00,299 --> 00:33:03,066 arrived in Saigon just a few days 579 00:33:03,165 --> 00:33:05,400 after Lyndon Johnson's election, 580 00:33:05,500 --> 00:33:08,133 one of the new advisors sent to help shore up 581 00:33:08,232 --> 00:33:11,066 the South Vietnamese military. 582 00:33:11,165 --> 00:33:15,432 We must ensure that women and children are not injured. 583 00:33:15,532 --> 00:33:18,833 NARRATOR: General Westmoreland himself greeted the newcomers. 584 00:33:18,932 --> 00:33:22,799 He was an impressive-looking man with an impressive record. 585 00:33:22,900 --> 00:33:27,099 Many of the men he'd led in Tunisia, Sicily, and Normandy 586 00:33:27,200 --> 00:33:30,799 during World War II called him Superman. 587 00:33:30,900 --> 00:33:33,066 He'd fought with distinction in Korea, 588 00:33:33,165 --> 00:33:35,900 commanded the 101st Airborne, 589 00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:38,732 served as superintendent of West Point. 590 00:33:38,833 --> 00:33:40,165 TIME magazine called him 591 00:33:40,266 --> 00:33:44,665 "the sinewy personification of the American fighting man." 592 00:33:44,766 --> 00:33:45,900 But at the same time, 593 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:48,099 win the hearts and the minds of the people. 594 00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:50,865 BRADY: General Westmoreland told us that we were down 595 00:33:50,965 --> 00:33:53,633 on the five-yard line and we just needed a few more 596 00:33:53,732 --> 00:33:57,633 to go get the touchdown. 597 00:33:57,732 --> 00:34:00,732 Then I went out and then I got on the ground. 598 00:34:00,833 --> 00:34:03,465 And then I found out, "Don't you realize? 599 00:34:03,566 --> 00:34:05,865 We're losing this war." 600 00:34:05,965 --> 00:34:10,532 NARRATOR: Lieutenant Brady was assigned to assist Captain Frank Eller, 601 00:34:10,632 --> 00:34:12,900 senior advisor to the 4th Battalion 602 00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:16,199 of the Vietnamese Marine Corps, an elite unit 603 00:34:16,300 --> 00:34:20,532 whose members called themselves the "Killer Sharks." 604 00:34:20,632 --> 00:34:24,400 You were told that you were going over there to guide, 605 00:34:24,500 --> 00:34:28,632 educate, and elevate essentially these "little fellas" 606 00:34:28,733 --> 00:34:30,699 on how to fight a war 607 00:34:30,800 --> 00:34:33,865 when, in fact, they knew exactly how to fight the war. 608 00:34:33,965 --> 00:34:36,065 You were just an appendage. 609 00:34:36,166 --> 00:34:39,766 You were there simply to guide assets that they didn't have: 610 00:34:39,865 --> 00:34:44,199 American artillery, American air strikes. 611 00:34:44,300 --> 00:34:46,900 NARRATOR: Brady did his best to get to know 612 00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:49,266 the South Vietnamese marines in his unit. 613 00:34:50,965 --> 00:34:55,500 TRAN NGOC TOAN (speaking English): 614 00:35:16,500 --> 00:35:20,266 NARRATOR: Lieutenant Tran Ngoc Toan, the son of a trucker, 615 00:35:20,365 --> 00:35:22,699 had escaped life with a hostile stepmother 616 00:35:22,800 --> 00:35:27,365 by entering the South Vietnamese Military Academy at Dalat. 617 00:35:27,465 --> 00:35:31,800 He'd been fighting the Viet Cong for more than two years. 618 00:35:31,900 --> 00:35:33,233 Toan was one of the junior officers. 619 00:35:33,333 --> 00:35:34,699 I think he was a... 620 00:35:34,800 --> 00:35:36,132 I think he was a company commander. 621 00:35:36,233 --> 00:35:38,432 I knew him, I liked him. 622 00:35:38,532 --> 00:35:41,599 He was a Dalat graduate, which is like their West Point. 623 00:35:41,699 --> 00:35:43,500 Very dedicated. 624 00:35:53,565 --> 00:35:58,166 NARRATOR: Brady, Toan, and the 4th South Vietnamese Marine Battalion 625 00:35:58,266 --> 00:36:01,465 were stationed near the Bien Hoa Airbase in reserve, 626 00:36:01,565 --> 00:36:05,432 waiting to be called into action. 627 00:36:05,532 --> 00:36:07,333 There were new rumors now, 628 00:36:07,432 --> 00:36:11,965 of larger enemy units moving through the countryside. 629 00:36:12,065 --> 00:36:14,965 Le Duan's plan to win a quick and decisive victory 630 00:36:15,065 --> 00:36:16,800 was underway. 631 00:36:21,733 --> 00:36:25,333 NGUYEN VAN TONG: 632 00:37:15,166 --> 00:37:17,666 NARRATOR: Nguyen Van Tong was a political officer 633 00:37:17,766 --> 00:37:20,833 in the newly created Viet Cong 9th Division, 634 00:37:20,932 --> 00:37:24,865 one of perhaps 2,000 Viet Cong and North Vietnamese troops 635 00:37:24,965 --> 00:37:29,733 who had for weeks been quietly filtering into Phuoc Tuy, 636 00:37:29,833 --> 00:37:31,766 a supposedly "pacified" province 637 00:37:31,865 --> 00:37:35,233 less than 40 miles southeast of Saigon. 638 00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:39,632 NGUYEN VAN TONG: 639 00:37:56,365 --> 00:37:59,599 NARRATOR: The target for Tong and his comrades 640 00:37:59,699 --> 00:38:02,500 was the strategic hamlet of Binh Gia, 641 00:38:02,599 --> 00:38:07,000 home to some 6,000 Catholic anticommunist refugees. 642 00:38:08,632 --> 00:38:11,333 Their plan was to seize the hamlet 643 00:38:11,432 --> 00:38:15,166 and then annihilate the forces Saigon was sure to send 644 00:38:15,266 --> 00:38:16,766 to retake it. 645 00:38:16,865 --> 00:38:19,233 To ensure success, 646 00:38:19,333 --> 00:38:22,733 tons of heavy weapons were smuggled onto the coast 647 00:38:22,833 --> 00:38:24,699 under cover of darkness-- 648 00:38:24,800 --> 00:38:27,865 mortars, machine guns, recoilless rifles 649 00:38:27,965 --> 00:38:30,766 capable of blasting tanks. 650 00:38:30,865 --> 00:38:33,465 The communists had never attempted 651 00:38:33,565 --> 00:38:36,432 anything on this scale before. 652 00:38:36,532 --> 00:38:39,733 Before dawn on December 28, 653 00:38:39,833 --> 00:38:43,932 Viet Cong advance units easily overwhelmed the village militia 654 00:38:44,032 --> 00:38:45,766 and occupied Binh Gia. 655 00:38:45,865 --> 00:38:47,099 (shouting, gunfire) 656 00:38:48,733 --> 00:38:51,699 When two crack South Vietnamese Ranger companies 657 00:38:51,800 --> 00:38:53,932 were helicoptered in the next day, 658 00:38:54,032 --> 00:38:58,000 they were ambushed and shot to pieces. 659 00:38:58,099 --> 00:39:00,400 On the morning of the 30th, 660 00:39:00,500 --> 00:39:03,766 Philip Brady, his friend Tran Ngoc Toan, 661 00:39:03,865 --> 00:39:07,699 and the 4th Marine Battalion were flown in to relieve 662 00:39:07,800 --> 00:39:10,365 and reinforce the Rangers. 663 00:39:10,465 --> 00:39:13,932 The enemy withdrew east of the village. 664 00:39:18,733 --> 00:39:22,666 NGUYEN VAN TONG: 665 00:39:43,465 --> 00:39:47,932 All of a sudden you could see the tracers come out 666 00:39:48,032 --> 00:39:51,532 of the plantation, hit the helicopter, it crashed. 667 00:39:51,632 --> 00:39:54,632 We were ordered to go down and retrieve the remains 668 00:39:54,733 --> 00:39:56,565 the following morning. 669 00:39:58,000 --> 00:40:00,465 NGUYEN VAN TONG: 670 00:40:30,699 --> 00:40:33,233 BRADY: The lead company got to the remains 671 00:40:33,333 --> 00:40:37,166 and then was pounced on and mauled badly. 672 00:40:37,266 --> 00:40:39,632 (gunfire) 673 00:40:41,465 --> 00:40:44,865 NARRATOR: Twelve South Vietnamese Marines from Toan's unit were killed 674 00:40:44,965 --> 00:40:47,465 getting to the downed helicopter. 675 00:40:47,565 --> 00:40:49,333 Their comrades wrapped them in ponchos 676 00:40:49,432 --> 00:40:53,632 and laid them out next to the dead Americans. 677 00:40:53,733 --> 00:40:56,500 An American chopper dropped into the clearing. 678 00:40:56,599 --> 00:40:59,132 The American crew jumped out under fire, 679 00:40:59,233 --> 00:41:01,365 picked up the four Americans, 680 00:41:01,465 --> 00:41:05,132 climbed back into their chopper, and took off again. 681 00:41:06,099 --> 00:41:11,465 TRAN NGOC TOAN: 682 00:41:16,199 --> 00:41:21,400 NARRATOR: For three hours, Toan and his men stayed with their own dead 683 00:41:21,500 --> 00:41:25,666 waiting for a helicopter to carry them off the battlefield. 684 00:41:27,432 --> 00:41:30,666 BRADY: Meanwhile, I am getting a little bit antsy 685 00:41:30,766 --> 00:41:33,099 because, first of all, we're losing light. 686 00:41:33,199 --> 00:41:36,833 Second of all, we are now outside of artillery range. 687 00:41:36,932 --> 00:41:39,266 We've got to get out of there. 688 00:41:39,365 --> 00:41:41,565 TRAN NGOC TOAN: 689 00:41:49,666 --> 00:41:52,733 BRADY: I went to the Major Nho, his name was, and I said, 690 00:41:52,833 --> 00:41:55,932 "Major, we have to get out of here now." 691 00:41:56,032 --> 00:42:00,432 And Nho said, "Don't you forget I am a major, 692 00:42:00,532 --> 00:42:01,599 and you are a lieutenant," 693 00:42:01,699 --> 00:42:04,833 turned on his heel and walked away. 694 00:42:04,932 --> 00:42:10,266 Ten minutes later all hell broke loose. 695 00:42:13,132 --> 00:42:14,465 TRAN NGOC TOAN: 696 00:42:14,565 --> 00:42:15,965 (man shouts in Vietnamese) 697 00:42:30,400 --> 00:42:33,266 NARRATOR: The shelling eventually died down. 698 00:42:33,365 --> 00:42:35,766 But then bugles blew, 699 00:42:35,865 --> 00:42:38,365 and wave after wave of enemy troops 700 00:42:38,465 --> 00:42:40,632 advanced toward the badly outnumbered men. 701 00:42:43,965 --> 00:42:47,465 BRADY: It was as if you turned a soundtrack of shooting... 702 00:42:50,833 --> 00:42:52,865 And just went (imitates rapid gunfire). 703 00:42:52,965 --> 00:42:54,032 Just like that. 704 00:42:54,132 --> 00:42:55,833 All of a sudden it came out of nowhere. 705 00:42:59,465 --> 00:43:02,766 We used what little air strikes we had left with helicopters, 706 00:43:02,865 --> 00:43:07,099 calling in the strikes on our position to slow it down. 707 00:43:07,199 --> 00:43:10,266 There was no way. 708 00:43:10,365 --> 00:43:12,300 TRAN NGOC TOAN: 709 00:43:45,500 --> 00:43:47,500 (explosions) 710 00:43:47,599 --> 00:43:50,699 BRADY: What we did was we tried to get out. 711 00:43:50,800 --> 00:43:53,733 Twenty-six of us broke through. 712 00:43:53,833 --> 00:43:56,599 Eleven ultimately made it. 713 00:43:56,699 --> 00:43:57,632 (gunfire) 714 00:43:57,733 --> 00:43:58,932 NARRATOR: All that night, 715 00:43:59,032 --> 00:44:01,132 the Viet Cong moved among the trees, 716 00:44:01,233 --> 00:44:02,965 carrying away their wounded 717 00:44:03,065 --> 00:44:05,965 and shooting any South Vietnamese troops 718 00:44:06,065 --> 00:44:08,233 they found alive. 719 00:44:08,333 --> 00:44:09,900 TRAN NGOC TOAN: 720 00:44:34,800 --> 00:44:36,800 NARRATOR: Cradling his rifle in his arms, 721 00:44:36,900 --> 00:44:40,532 Toan began trying to crawl toward Binh Gia. 722 00:44:40,632 --> 00:44:43,833 He was not found for three days. 723 00:44:45,132 --> 00:44:49,766 TRAN NGOC TOAN: 724 00:45:16,900 --> 00:45:21,432 NARRATOR: When it was all over, five Americans had died at Binh Gia. 725 00:45:21,532 --> 00:45:26,432 Thirty-two Viet Cong bodies had been left on the battlefield. 726 00:45:26,532 --> 00:45:30,065 200 South Vietnamese were killed; 727 00:45:30,166 --> 00:45:34,699 200 more were wounded. 728 00:45:34,800 --> 00:45:39,065 NGUYEN VAN TONG: 729 00:45:49,599 --> 00:45:52,300 BRADY: What it really said was 730 00:45:52,400 --> 00:45:56,699 they were capable of marshaling this kind of force. 731 00:45:56,800 --> 00:45:58,900 The Vietnamese officers I talked to in the Marine Corps 732 00:45:59,000 --> 00:46:01,666 figured they had six months before the end. 733 00:46:01,766 --> 00:46:05,233 NARRATOR: The big question after Binh Gia, 734 00:46:05,333 --> 00:46:07,632 an American officer at headquarters said, 735 00:46:07,733 --> 00:46:10,699 is how a thousand or more enemy troops 736 00:46:10,800 --> 00:46:14,233 "could wander around the countryside so close to Saigon 737 00:46:14,333 --> 00:46:16,199 "without being discovered. 738 00:46:16,300 --> 00:46:21,132 That tells you something about this war." 739 00:46:21,233 --> 00:46:23,632 Hanoi was exultant. 740 00:46:23,733 --> 00:46:26,833 Ho Chi Minh called it "a little Dien Bien Phu." 741 00:46:26,932 --> 00:46:31,300 Le Duan was convinced his strategy was working. 742 00:46:31,400 --> 00:46:34,666 "The liberation war of South Vietnam has progressed 743 00:46:34,766 --> 00:46:37,266 by leaps and bounds," he said. 744 00:46:37,365 --> 00:46:40,800 "After the battle of Ap Bac two years ago, 745 00:46:40,900 --> 00:46:44,733 "the enemy knew it would be difficult to defeat us. 746 00:46:44,833 --> 00:46:47,766 "After Binh Gia, the enemy realizes 747 00:46:47,865 --> 00:46:52,900 that he is in the process of being defeated by us." 748 00:46:53,000 --> 00:46:55,699 NGUYEN VAN TONG: 749 00:47:07,532 --> 00:47:08,766 JOHNSON: I, Lyndon Baines Johnson, 750 00:47:08,865 --> 00:47:10,800 do solemnly swear... 751 00:47:10,900 --> 00:47:14,166 NARRATOR: Twenty-six days after the Binh Gia battle ended 752 00:47:14,266 --> 00:47:17,500 and just a week after President Johnson's inauguration, 753 00:47:17,599 --> 00:47:20,865 McGeorge Bundy handed the president a memorandum. 754 00:47:20,965 --> 00:47:23,032 I will to the best of my ability. 755 00:47:23,132 --> 00:47:26,865 NARRATOR: The current strategy was clearly not working, it said. 756 00:47:26,965 --> 00:47:30,365 The Viet Cong were on the move and on the rise, 757 00:47:30,465 --> 00:47:33,833 supplied and now steadily reinforced 758 00:47:33,932 --> 00:47:36,666 with soldiers from North Vietnam. 759 00:47:36,766 --> 00:47:41,400 If an independent South Vietnam was to survive, 760 00:47:41,500 --> 00:47:44,666 the United States needed to act fast. 761 00:47:44,766 --> 00:47:48,666 The administration faced two choices, Bundy said. 762 00:47:48,766 --> 00:47:51,233 It could go along as it had been going 763 00:47:51,333 --> 00:47:55,266 and try to negotiate some kind of face-saving settlement. 764 00:47:55,365 --> 00:48:00,166 Or they could use still more American military power 765 00:48:00,266 --> 00:48:03,900 to force the North to abandon its goal of uniting the country. 766 00:48:04,000 --> 00:48:08,166 Bundy and McNamara favored that option. 767 00:48:08,266 --> 00:48:11,132 Unless the president chose it, they said, 768 00:48:11,233 --> 00:48:13,132 South Vietnam would fall. 769 00:48:13,233 --> 00:48:16,900 "I don't think anything," Johnson told McNamara, 770 00:48:17,000 --> 00:48:19,800 "is going to be as bad as losing." 771 00:48:24,666 --> 00:48:27,166 Then, a little over a week later, 772 00:48:27,266 --> 00:48:30,766 guerrillas struck an American helicopter base at Pleiku 773 00:48:30,865 --> 00:48:32,565 in the Central Highlands, 774 00:48:32,666 --> 00:48:37,365 killing eight American advisors and wounding over 100 more. 775 00:48:37,465 --> 00:48:39,400 McNAMARA: Approximately 24 hours ago, 776 00:48:39,500 --> 00:48:41,900 the first attack in the Pleiku area... 777 00:48:42,000 --> 00:48:44,599 NARRATOR: Johnson immediately approved an air strike 778 00:48:44,699 --> 00:48:47,500 on a North Vietnamese army barracks. 779 00:48:48,733 --> 00:48:52,132 On February 10, 1965, 780 00:48:52,233 --> 00:48:55,400 the Viet Cong blew up a hotel in Qui Nhon, 781 00:48:55,500 --> 00:49:01,932 killing 23 Americans and pinning 21 more beneath the rubble. 782 00:49:02,032 --> 00:49:05,400 Johnson ordered another airstrike. 783 00:49:05,500 --> 00:49:08,900 Anxiety about what seemed to be happening 784 00:49:09,000 --> 00:49:11,500 spread around the world. 785 00:49:11,599 --> 00:49:14,432 France, which had spent nearly a century in Vietnam, 786 00:49:14,532 --> 00:49:18,800 now called for an end to all foreign involvement there. 787 00:49:18,900 --> 00:49:22,432 The British prime minister urged restraint. 788 00:49:22,532 --> 00:49:26,166 Many leaders of the president's own party agreed, 789 00:49:26,266 --> 00:49:28,766 though not in public. 790 00:49:28,865 --> 00:49:30,932 In a private memorandum, 791 00:49:31,032 --> 00:49:33,565 Johnson's own vice president, Hubert Humphrey, 792 00:49:33,666 --> 00:49:36,932 warned him that widening the war would undercut 793 00:49:37,032 --> 00:49:41,666 the Great Society, damage America's image overseas, 794 00:49:41,766 --> 00:49:46,199 and end any hope of improving relations with the Soviet Union. 795 00:49:47,599 --> 00:49:49,900 Johnson never responded. 796 00:49:50,000 --> 00:49:53,032 Instead, on March 2, 1965, 797 00:49:53,132 --> 00:49:56,666 the United States began a systematic bombardment 798 00:49:56,766 --> 00:49:58,666 of targets in North Vietnam, 799 00:49:58,766 --> 00:50:02,699 code-named Operation Rolling Thunder. 800 00:50:04,699 --> 00:50:07,766 It was meant to be a "mounting crescendo" of air raids, 801 00:50:07,865 --> 00:50:09,365 Ambassador Taylor wrote, 802 00:50:09,465 --> 00:50:12,500 intended to bolster morale in the South 803 00:50:12,599 --> 00:50:17,300 and destroy morale in the North. 804 00:50:17,400 --> 00:50:20,365 WILSON: The thesis behind Rolling Thunder, 805 00:50:20,465 --> 00:50:26,065 as I understood it, was that as we ratcheted up the tempo 806 00:50:26,166 --> 00:50:30,733 and the volume of this effort against the North Vietnamese, 807 00:50:30,833 --> 00:50:33,699 sooner or later they would cry uncle. 808 00:50:36,365 --> 00:50:39,065 And there'd be a pause, 809 00:50:39,166 --> 00:50:43,699 and we would begin to negotiate our way out of this situation. 810 00:50:43,800 --> 00:50:46,599 This became an article of faith. 811 00:50:46,699 --> 00:50:50,465 And this article of faith was a fallacious assumption. 812 00:50:50,565 --> 00:50:53,000 They weren't going to give up. 813 00:50:53,099 --> 00:50:57,365 They read us better than we read them. 814 00:50:57,465 --> 00:51:01,400 NARRATOR: The president insisted on strict secrecy-- 815 00:51:01,500 --> 00:51:04,699 the American people were not to be told 816 00:51:04,800 --> 00:51:08,099 that the administration had changed its policy 817 00:51:08,199 --> 00:51:12,032 from retaliatory airstrikes to systematic bombing; 818 00:51:12,132 --> 00:51:15,365 that he had, in fact, widened the war. 819 00:51:15,465 --> 00:51:19,065 They jointly agreed that joint retaliatory action 820 00:51:19,166 --> 00:51:20,666 was required. 821 00:51:20,766 --> 00:51:24,500 NARRATOR: General Westmoreland, who had initially been hesitant 822 00:51:24,599 --> 00:51:27,300 about committing ground troops to Vietnam, 823 00:51:27,400 --> 00:51:32,000 now asked for two battalions of Marines-- 3,500 men-- 824 00:51:32,099 --> 00:51:34,432 to protect the Danang airbase 825 00:51:34,532 --> 00:51:38,000 from which fighter-bombers were hitting the North. 826 00:51:38,099 --> 00:51:42,032 Ambassador Taylor, who had once called for ground troops, 827 00:51:42,132 --> 00:51:44,733 now objected to the whole idea. 828 00:51:44,833 --> 00:51:48,266 "Once you put that first soldier ashore," he wrote, 829 00:51:48,365 --> 00:51:52,266 "you never know how many others are going to follow him." 830 00:51:52,365 --> 00:51:56,266 But the president felt he had no choice but to give Westmoreland 831 00:51:56,365 --> 00:51:58,400 what he asked for. 832 00:51:58,500 --> 00:52:03,432 He knew he would be blamed if more American advisors died. 833 00:52:03,532 --> 00:52:07,500 "I feel like a jackass caught in a Texas hailstorm," 834 00:52:07,599 --> 00:52:09,099 he complained. 835 00:52:09,199 --> 00:52:14,333 "I can't run, I can't hide, and I can't make it stop." 836 00:52:14,432 --> 00:52:15,800 ("Hello Vietnam" by Johnnie Wright playing) 837 00:52:15,900 --> 00:52:17,800 In March of 1965, 838 00:52:17,900 --> 00:52:20,699 Johnson finally took the action he had managed to avoid 839 00:52:20,800 --> 00:52:22,865 for so long. 840 00:52:22,965 --> 00:52:25,166 WRIGHT: ♪ Kiss me goodbye... 841 00:52:25,266 --> 00:52:28,266 NARRATOR: He was putting American ground troops in Vietnam. 842 00:52:31,032 --> 00:52:36,500 WRIGHT: ♪ Goodbye, my sweetheart; hello, Vietnam ♪ 843 00:52:36,599 --> 00:52:40,333 NARRATOR: The government of South Vietnam was not even consulted; 844 00:52:40,432 --> 00:52:44,900 the United States of America had larger considerations. 845 00:52:47,032 --> 00:52:51,500 GARD: Clearly, we saw it in terms of the Cold War. 846 00:52:51,599 --> 00:52:55,666 Assistant Secretary of Defense John McNaughton said... 847 00:52:55,766 --> 00:52:57,266 He said our interests there 848 00:52:57,365 --> 00:53:02,766 were 70% to avoid humiliation, 849 00:53:02,865 --> 00:53:06,599 20% to contain China, 850 00:53:06,699 --> 00:53:10,099 and ten percent to help the Vietnamese. 851 00:53:12,400 --> 00:53:15,065 NARRATOR: Johnson quietly told his good friend, 852 00:53:15,166 --> 00:53:17,365 Senator Richard Russell of Georgia, 853 00:53:17,465 --> 00:53:19,800 what was about to happen. 854 00:53:19,900 --> 00:53:22,599 JOHNSON: I guess we got no choice, but it scares the death out of me. 855 00:53:22,699 --> 00:53:23,965 I think everybody's going to think, 856 00:53:24,065 --> 00:53:25,532 "We're landing the Marines. 857 00:53:25,632 --> 00:53:27,300 We're off to battle." 858 00:53:27,400 --> 00:53:28,932 Of course, if they come up there, 859 00:53:29,032 --> 00:53:30,166 they're going to get them in a fight. 860 00:53:30,266 --> 00:53:31,599 And if they ruin those airplanes, 861 00:53:31,699 --> 00:53:33,599 everybody is going to give me hell for not securing them, 862 00:53:33,699 --> 00:53:35,432 just like they did last time they made a raid. 863 00:53:35,532 --> 00:53:36,833 RUSSELL: Yeah. 864 00:53:36,932 --> 00:53:38,132 JOHNSON: What do you... what do you think? 865 00:53:38,233 --> 00:53:39,900 RUSSELL: Well, Mr. President, 866 00:53:40,000 --> 00:53:41,065 it scares the life out of me. 867 00:53:41,166 --> 00:53:42,565 But I don't know how to back up now. 868 00:53:42,666 --> 00:53:44,865 It looks to me like we just got in this thing, 869 00:53:44,965 --> 00:53:46,065 and there's no way out. 870 00:53:46,166 --> 00:53:47,432 JOHNSON: I don't know. 871 00:53:47,532 --> 00:53:50,432 Dick, the great trouble I'm under... 872 00:53:50,532 --> 00:53:53,599 A man can fight if he can see daylight 873 00:53:53,699 --> 00:53:55,233 down the road somewhere. 874 00:53:55,333 --> 00:53:57,199 But there ain't no daylight in Vietnam. 875 00:53:57,300 --> 00:53:59,233 There's not a bit. 876 00:54:01,800 --> 00:54:05,599 NARRATOR: On March 8, 1965, Dr. Phan Huy Quat, 877 00:54:05,699 --> 00:54:08,733 yet another prime minister of South Vietnam, 878 00:54:08,833 --> 00:54:12,699 called his chief of staff, Bui Diem. 879 00:54:12,800 --> 00:54:14,333 BUI DIEM: 880 00:54:46,400 --> 00:54:48,699 NARRATOR: The Marines were landing at Danang 881 00:54:48,800 --> 00:54:52,965 on the east coast of South Vietnam, some 100 miles south 882 00:54:53,065 --> 00:54:55,065 of the demilitarized zone 883 00:54:55,166 --> 00:54:58,199 that divided the North from the South. 884 00:54:58,300 --> 00:55:01,833 They were prepared to fight their way ashore. 885 00:55:01,932 --> 00:55:03,900 They did not need to. 886 00:55:05,599 --> 00:55:06,733 PHILIP CAPUTO: What struck me 887 00:55:06,833 --> 00:55:11,900 was how beautiful Vietnam was to look at. 888 00:55:13,865 --> 00:55:16,900 There were just these endless acres 889 00:55:17,000 --> 00:55:19,300 of these jade-green rice paddies. 890 00:55:19,400 --> 00:55:23,465 And these lovely villages inside these groves 891 00:55:23,565 --> 00:55:26,132 of bamboo and palm trees. 892 00:55:26,233 --> 00:55:31,333 And way off in the distance these bluish jungled mountains, 893 00:55:31,432 --> 00:55:34,500 and they looked like Shangri-La. 894 00:55:34,599 --> 00:55:38,699 And I remember seeing this line of Vietnamese women, 895 00:55:38,800 --> 00:55:40,599 or schoolgirls I think they were. 896 00:55:40,699 --> 00:55:43,800 They actually looked like angels come to earth 897 00:55:43,900 --> 00:55:45,199 or something like that. 898 00:55:45,300 --> 00:55:50,632 So it was really quite striking but a little unsettling 899 00:55:50,733 --> 00:55:51,800 because... 900 00:55:51,900 --> 00:55:53,432 so how can a place like this-- 901 00:55:53,532 --> 00:55:56,932 so beautiful and so enchanting-- be at war? 902 00:55:58,333 --> 00:56:00,532 DUONG VAN MAI: My father was very happy. 903 00:56:00,632 --> 00:56:03,599 We're such a small and poor country 904 00:56:03,699 --> 00:56:08,166 and the Americans have decided to come in to save us 905 00:56:08,266 --> 00:56:11,800 not only with their money, their resources, 906 00:56:11,900 --> 00:56:14,766 but even with their own lives. 907 00:56:14,865 --> 00:56:16,632 We were very grateful. 908 00:56:16,733 --> 00:56:18,032 We thought the... 909 00:56:18,132 --> 00:56:21,032 sure enough with this power, the Americans are going to win. 910 00:56:21,132 --> 00:56:25,065 NARRATOR: Seeing foreign troops marching past his village, 911 00:56:25,166 --> 00:56:30,733 an old man emerged from his home shouting, "Vivent les Français!" 912 00:56:30,833 --> 00:56:33,865 He thought the French had returned. 913 00:56:35,233 --> 00:56:36,632 "The problem around here," 914 00:56:36,733 --> 00:56:41,065 a Marine captain leading a patrol told a reporter, 915 00:56:41,166 --> 00:56:44,000 "is who the hell is who?" 916 00:56:44,099 --> 00:56:47,965 WILSON: As a voting member of Saigon Mission Council, 917 00:56:48,065 --> 00:56:52,532 I was opposed to the entry of American ground combat forces. 918 00:56:54,599 --> 00:56:58,865 I felt if the Vietnamese had to beat them off 919 00:56:58,965 --> 00:57:02,166 with a bloody stump, they had to do it themselves. 920 00:57:02,266 --> 00:57:06,333 We had to do everything we humanly could to help them, 921 00:57:06,432 --> 00:57:09,132 but we could not win it for them. 922 00:57:10,766 --> 00:57:14,766 So, I think we crossed the River Styx at that point. 923 00:57:16,699 --> 00:57:20,166 TRAN NGOC TOAN: 924 00:57:41,932 --> 00:57:44,632 BILL ZIMMERMAN: The first protest I went to against the war in Vietnam 925 00:57:44,733 --> 00:57:48,865 was a protest at a Dow Chemical facility. 926 00:57:51,900 --> 00:57:54,500 Dow was manufacturing napalm. 927 00:57:54,599 --> 00:57:57,599 They were dropping napalm on villages in Vietnam. 928 00:57:57,699 --> 00:58:00,233 It was a very disappointing experience 929 00:58:00,333 --> 00:58:03,400 because only 40 people came. 930 00:58:03,500 --> 00:58:06,099 And we seemed very out of place 931 00:58:06,199 --> 00:58:09,266 and very ineffectual, impotent, 932 00:58:09,365 --> 00:58:13,432 standing outside with 40 people. 933 00:58:13,532 --> 00:58:18,099 NARRATOR: Most Americans understood little about Indochina, 934 00:58:18,199 --> 00:58:21,833 rarely knew anyone actually involved in the fighting, 935 00:58:21,932 --> 00:58:25,233 saw no reason to question the government's assertion 936 00:58:25,333 --> 00:58:28,065 that the United States had vital interests 937 00:58:28,166 --> 00:58:30,733 8,000 miles from home. 938 00:58:30,833 --> 00:58:32,333 ("I Ain't Marching Anymore" by Phil Ochs playing) 939 00:58:32,432 --> 00:58:35,465 Still, there was a small but growing number of people 940 00:58:35,565 --> 00:58:39,432 who had begun to oppose the war for any number of reasons-- 941 00:58:39,532 --> 00:58:43,965 because they thought it unjust or immoral, 942 00:58:44,065 --> 00:58:46,800 believed it was unconstitutional 943 00:58:46,900 --> 00:58:50,532 or simply not in the national interest. 944 00:58:50,632 --> 00:58:53,965 OCHS: ♪ Oh I marched to the battle of New Orleans ♪ 945 00:58:54,065 --> 00:58:56,932 NARRATOR: Two weeks after the Marines landed at Danang, 946 00:58:57,032 --> 00:59:00,800 members of the University of Michigan faculty organized 947 00:59:00,900 --> 00:59:03,766 a night-long discussion between professors 948 00:59:03,865 --> 00:59:09,300 and some 3,000 students about the escalation of the war. 949 00:59:09,400 --> 00:59:11,065 The demonstration was called a teach-in 950 00:59:11,166 --> 00:59:12,900 because the idea originated 951 00:59:13,000 --> 00:59:14,699 with a group of university professors. 952 00:59:14,800 --> 00:59:18,065 What do you hope to accomplish? 953 00:59:18,166 --> 00:59:20,733 DR. ERIC WOLF: I'd like to open up communication between people 954 00:59:20,833 --> 00:59:23,000 and the government because I believe 955 00:59:23,099 --> 00:59:25,000 that they are not telling us what is going on, 956 00:59:25,099 --> 00:59:27,465 and the people have the right to know, and we have the right 957 00:59:27,565 --> 00:59:29,300 to tell the government what we think. 958 00:59:29,400 --> 00:59:34,300 NARRATOR: Soon, there were teach-ins on most major university campuses. 959 00:59:34,400 --> 00:59:37,565 There is no morally wonderful way out. 960 00:59:37,666 --> 00:59:42,599 NARRATOR: NYU in Manhattan, the University of Wisconsin in Madison, 961 00:59:42,699 --> 00:59:47,432 the University of California in Berkeley. 962 00:59:47,532 --> 00:59:50,666 The teach-ins were really raucous affairs. 963 00:59:50,766 --> 00:59:53,300 A lot of contention. 964 00:59:53,400 --> 00:59:54,733 STUDENT: We want to discuss 965 00:59:54,833 --> 00:59:57,632 is what's wrong with the Vietnam War, and... 966 00:59:57,733 --> 00:59:59,565 OCHS: ♪ And so many others 967 00:59:59,666 --> 01:00:01,266 ♪ But I ain't marchin' anymore 968 01:00:01,365 --> 01:00:02,766 REPORTER: Do you endorse 969 01:00:02,865 --> 01:00:04,766 the administration's policy in South Vietnam? 970 01:00:04,865 --> 01:00:06,465 Whole-heartedly. 971 01:00:06,565 --> 01:00:07,932 ZIMMERMAN: There were plenty of times 972 01:00:08,032 --> 01:00:09,932 when people who were supportive of the war 973 01:00:10,032 --> 01:00:11,333 came to these teach-ins 974 01:00:11,432 --> 01:00:14,465 to try to give an alternative anticommunist point of view. 975 01:00:14,565 --> 01:00:16,766 They were often shouted down. 976 01:00:16,865 --> 01:00:18,733 (crowd booing) 977 01:00:18,833 --> 01:00:22,699 NARRATOR: The bombing of the North and the Marines' arrival 978 01:00:22,800 --> 01:00:26,800 also drew protestors to Washington that spring. 979 01:00:26,900 --> 01:00:28,532 The demonstration was organized 980 01:00:28,632 --> 01:00:33,365 by the Students for a Democratic Society-- the SDS. 981 01:00:33,465 --> 01:00:38,266 I saw SDS calling for a demonstration at the White House 982 01:00:38,365 --> 01:00:40,900 in the spring of 1965. 983 01:00:41,000 --> 01:00:44,032 I didn't want to go because I didn't want to be disappointed 984 01:00:44,132 --> 01:00:45,666 in the same way again and, you know, 985 01:00:45,766 --> 01:00:47,333 go all the way to Washington 986 01:00:47,432 --> 01:00:49,132 and stand outside the White House with 40 people. 987 01:00:49,233 --> 01:00:50,766 (crowd cheering) 988 01:00:50,865 --> 01:00:53,833 25,000 people attended that rally. 989 01:00:56,233 --> 01:00:58,166 And that suddenly told me 990 01:00:58,266 --> 01:01:01,766 and others I was working with at the time 991 01:01:01,865 --> 01:01:05,565 that it might be possible to build an antiwar movement. 992 01:01:11,099 --> 01:01:13,000 JEAN-MARIE CROCKER: It was quite astounding to think 993 01:01:13,099 --> 01:01:15,833 that he had that degree of commitment. 994 01:01:15,932 --> 01:01:18,065 And it made sense 995 01:01:18,166 --> 01:01:23,400 in what we knew of him, as drastic as it was. 996 01:01:23,500 --> 01:01:24,900 ("It's My Life" by the Animals playing) 997 01:01:25,000 --> 01:01:27,565 NARRATOR: Nothing Mogie Crocker's parents could say or do 998 01:01:27,666 --> 01:01:29,632 since Mogie had come home 999 01:01:29,733 --> 01:01:32,199 shook his determination to serve, 1000 01:01:32,300 --> 01:01:34,233 and recent developments in Vietnam 1001 01:01:34,333 --> 01:01:36,965 had only strengthened his resolve. 1002 01:01:37,065 --> 01:01:41,199 He wanted to become a paratrooper and get into combat. 1003 01:01:41,300 --> 01:01:43,766 His parents finally, reluctantly, 1004 01:01:43,865 --> 01:01:46,733 agreed to let him go, and on March 15, 1005 01:01:46,833 --> 01:01:50,532 a week after the first Marines landed at Danang, 1006 01:01:50,632 --> 01:01:55,800 Denton Crocker, Jr. entered the United States Army. 1007 01:01:55,900 --> 01:01:59,132 JEAN-MARIE CROCKER: So Denton bounced down the steps one morning 1008 01:01:59,233 --> 01:02:02,432 and was off to Fort Dix. 1009 01:02:02,532 --> 01:02:06,132 It was in a way a sort of relief, actually, 1010 01:02:06,233 --> 01:02:09,099 that the conflict and the anxiety 1011 01:02:09,199 --> 01:02:12,500 over whether he would or would not go was done. 1012 01:02:12,599 --> 01:02:13,965 And he was happy. 1013 01:02:14,065 --> 01:02:17,500 And we just tried to believe that this was the right thing 1014 01:02:17,599 --> 01:02:19,465 for him to do. 1015 01:02:26,900 --> 01:02:31,099 LE MINH KHUE: 1016 01:03:09,733 --> 01:03:13,099 NARRATOR: Le Minh Khue was orphaned as a small girl, 1017 01:03:13,199 --> 01:03:16,132 her parents victims of the brutal land reforms 1018 01:03:16,233 --> 01:03:18,900 the communists had imposed. 1019 01:03:19,000 --> 01:03:21,500 She was raised by her aunt and uncle, 1020 01:03:21,599 --> 01:03:25,699 who encouraged her to read American literature. 1021 01:03:25,800 --> 01:03:30,532 She was 16 when Operation Rolling Thunder began. 1022 01:03:30,632 --> 01:03:35,233 LE MINH KHUE: 1023 01:04:05,900 --> 01:04:08,465 NARRATOR: Khue was assigned to an organization called 1024 01:04:08,565 --> 01:04:11,365 the "Youth Shock Brigades Against the Americans 1025 01:04:11,465 --> 01:04:13,400 for National Salvation," 1026 01:04:13,500 --> 01:04:16,865 and along with thousands of other young people 1027 01:04:16,965 --> 01:04:21,199 was sent south to work keeping open the Ho Chi Minh Trail. 1028 01:04:23,400 --> 01:04:27,065 LE MINH KHUE: 1029 01:05:00,766 --> 01:05:02,666 NARRATOR: As Johnson had feared, 1030 01:05:02,766 --> 01:05:06,500 it quickly became clear that the bombing campaign alone 1031 01:05:06,599 --> 01:05:08,266 was not working. 1032 01:05:08,365 --> 01:05:12,565 Troops and supplies continued steadily to filter down 1033 01:05:12,666 --> 01:05:14,865 the Ho Chi Minh Trail. 1034 01:05:14,965 --> 01:05:17,699 General Westmoreland and the Joint Chiefs 1035 01:05:17,800 --> 01:05:21,333 called for more men, tens of thousands of them. 1036 01:05:21,432 --> 01:05:24,666 The president was cautious. 1037 01:05:24,766 --> 01:05:27,500 He wanted to do "enough, but not too much," he said. 1038 01:05:27,599 --> 01:05:31,500 But he quietly agreed to send two more Marine battalions 1039 01:05:31,599 --> 01:05:37,065 and changed their mission from base security to active combat. 1040 01:05:37,166 --> 01:05:38,432 For the first time, 1041 01:05:38,532 --> 01:05:40,965 American troops were being asked 1042 01:05:41,065 --> 01:05:44,166 to fight on their own in Vietnam. 1043 01:05:44,266 --> 01:05:47,699 Johnson did not want that fact revealed 1044 01:05:47,800 --> 01:05:50,233 to the American public either. 1045 01:05:50,333 --> 01:05:52,065 But the bombing of the North 1046 01:05:52,166 --> 01:05:54,632 and rumors of harsher measures to come 1047 01:05:54,733 --> 01:05:58,065 had heightened concern around the world. 1048 01:05:58,166 --> 01:06:00,965 UN Secretary-General U Thant had proposed 1049 01:06:01,065 --> 01:06:03,300 a three-month ceasefire. 1050 01:06:03,400 --> 01:06:06,199 Great Britain, America's closest ally, 1051 01:06:06,300 --> 01:06:10,032 publicly offered to reconvene the Geneva Talks 1052 01:06:10,132 --> 01:06:13,065 that had divided Vietnam in 1954, 1053 01:06:13,166 --> 01:06:16,666 with the goal of reuniting it. 1054 01:06:16,766 --> 01:06:19,865 JOHNSON: The people of South Vietnam be allowed to guide 1055 01:06:19,965 --> 01:06:21,300 their own country... 1056 01:06:21,400 --> 01:06:24,666 NARRATOR: On April 7, at Johns Hopkins University, 1057 01:06:24,766 --> 01:06:26,965 Johnson sought to persuade the world 1058 01:06:27,065 --> 01:06:29,333 of America's good intentions 1059 01:06:29,432 --> 01:06:33,800 and again to calm American fears of a wider war. 1060 01:06:35,400 --> 01:06:39,266 In recent months, attacks on South Vietnam were stepped up. 1061 01:06:39,365 --> 01:06:44,233 Thus, it became necessary for us to increase our response 1062 01:06:44,333 --> 01:06:47,532 and to make attacks by air. 1063 01:06:47,632 --> 01:06:51,233 This is not a change of purpose. 1064 01:06:51,333 --> 01:06:56,733 It is a change in what we believe that purpose requires. 1065 01:06:56,833 --> 01:07:00,699 NARRATOR: Nothing was said about the new orders sending Marines 1066 01:07:00,800 --> 01:07:03,365 directly into combat. 1067 01:07:03,465 --> 01:07:08,166 Instead, the president called for "unconditional discussions" 1068 01:07:08,266 --> 01:07:11,599 with Hanoi, and as an old New Dealer, 1069 01:07:11,699 --> 01:07:14,432 proposed a massive development program 1070 01:07:14,532 --> 01:07:16,500 for all of Southeast Asia. 1071 01:07:16,599 --> 01:07:19,233 JOHNSON: The vast Mekong River can provide 1072 01:07:19,333 --> 01:07:20,900 food and water and power 1073 01:07:21,000 --> 01:07:24,500 on a scale to dwarf even our own TVA. 1074 01:07:24,599 --> 01:07:26,532 (gunfire) 1075 01:07:26,632 --> 01:07:28,766 BRADY: I was outside of the village. 1076 01:07:28,865 --> 01:07:31,132 We're getting some fire from the village. 1077 01:07:31,233 --> 01:07:33,465 I had the little transistor radio. 1078 01:07:33,565 --> 01:07:36,632 And I'm sitting there listening to LBJ. 1079 01:07:36,733 --> 01:07:38,599 JOHNSON: ...will use our power with restraint 1080 01:07:38,699 --> 01:07:40,699 and with all the wisdom... 1081 01:07:40,800 --> 01:07:44,233 At the same time we got to lay some nape on the village. 1082 01:07:44,333 --> 01:07:46,132 So I'm calling in the nape 1083 01:07:46,233 --> 01:07:49,632 and listening to the president talk peace. 1084 01:07:49,733 --> 01:07:52,766 JOHNSON: We will try to keep conflict from spreading. 1085 01:07:52,865 --> 01:07:55,565 BRADY: It was surreal. 1086 01:07:55,666 --> 01:07:57,699 JOHNSON: We have no desire to devastate 1087 01:07:57,800 --> 01:08:02,032 that which the people of North Vietnam have built 1088 01:08:02,132 --> 01:08:05,300 with toil and sacrifice. 1089 01:08:05,400 --> 01:08:11,432 This war, like most wars, is filled with terrible irony. 1090 01:08:11,532 --> 01:08:13,233 What do the people of North Vietnam want? 1091 01:08:13,333 --> 01:08:14,800 (sirens wailing) 1092 01:08:18,233 --> 01:08:22,300 NARRATOR: Hanoi denounced the president's offer as a trick. 1093 01:08:22,399 --> 01:08:25,399 Johnson's advisors and the Joint Chiefs of Staff 1094 01:08:25,500 --> 01:08:29,600 continued to debate how many men would actually be needed 1095 01:08:29,699 --> 01:08:33,000 and how rapidly they should be deployed. 1096 01:08:33,100 --> 01:08:37,466 Meanwhile, the president sent the first Army combat troops 1097 01:08:37,565 --> 01:08:38,765 to the country. 1098 01:08:38,865 --> 01:08:41,065 It was increasingly clear 1099 01:08:41,166 --> 01:08:44,966 that the United States was in it for the long haul. 1100 01:08:48,832 --> 01:08:56,065 You can't just be a neutral witness to something like war. 1101 01:09:03,865 --> 01:09:07,800 It crawls down your throat. 1102 01:09:07,899 --> 01:09:13,033 It eats you alive from the inside and the out. 1103 01:09:17,432 --> 01:09:22,100 It's not something that you can stand back and be neutral 1104 01:09:22,199 --> 01:09:28,466 and objective and all of those things we try to be 1105 01:09:28,565 --> 01:09:32,100 as reporters, journalists, photographers. 1106 01:09:34,699 --> 01:09:37,432 It doesn't work that way. 1107 01:09:39,932 --> 01:09:43,966 MAN (on radio): ...defense and they're real quick... and check it out... 1108 01:09:44,065 --> 01:09:47,765 NARRATOR: The growing presence of American combat troops in Vietnam 1109 01:09:47,865 --> 01:09:51,832 attracted flocks of journalists. 1110 01:09:51,932 --> 01:09:54,033 There was no press censorship, 1111 01:09:54,132 --> 01:09:57,466 as there had been in World War II. 1112 01:09:57,565 --> 01:10:01,865 Reporters just had to agree to follow military guidelines 1113 01:10:01,966 --> 01:10:04,300 so as not to compromise the security 1114 01:10:04,399 --> 01:10:06,666 of ongoing operations. 1115 01:10:06,765 --> 01:10:09,065 It was dangerous work. 1116 01:10:09,166 --> 01:10:13,500 More than 200 journalists and photographers would die 1117 01:10:13,600 --> 01:10:16,699 covering the fighting in Southeast Asia. 1118 01:10:16,800 --> 01:10:20,065 Joseph Lee Galloway was a young UPI reporter 1119 01:10:20,166 --> 01:10:23,466 from Refugio, Texas. 1120 01:10:23,565 --> 01:10:27,300 He stopped in Saigon just long enough to get his credentials. 1121 01:10:27,399 --> 01:10:30,399 Then he headed for Danang. 1122 01:10:30,500 --> 01:10:33,699 GALLOWAY: The Marines originally came ashore there 1123 01:10:33,800 --> 01:10:36,332 to guard the airbase. 1124 01:10:36,432 --> 01:10:42,432 And they quickly figured out you can't just guard an airbase. 1125 01:10:42,533 --> 01:10:44,265 You've got to spread out 1126 01:10:44,365 --> 01:10:45,632 because they're going to mortar it, 1127 01:10:45,733 --> 01:10:47,565 they're going to shoot rockets. 1128 01:10:47,666 --> 01:10:51,365 So you've got to reach out 15 or 20 miles. 1129 01:10:51,466 --> 01:10:55,399 That means you've got to run operations that far out. 1130 01:10:55,500 --> 01:10:56,966 And once you're doing that, 1131 01:10:57,065 --> 01:10:59,365 you're no longer guarding an airbase... 1132 01:10:59,466 --> 01:11:01,166 (gunfire) 1133 01:11:01,265 --> 01:11:04,466 ...you're operating in hostile territory. 1134 01:11:07,733 --> 01:11:09,332 (soldiers cheering) 1135 01:11:13,565 --> 01:11:16,000 NGUYEN THANH SON: 1136 01:11:35,000 --> 01:11:39,300 CAPUTO: It wasn't so much the Viet Cong that were intimidating 1137 01:11:39,399 --> 01:11:42,666 at that point as it was the terrain. 1138 01:11:42,765 --> 01:11:47,399 Going from Point A to Point B in the jungle 1139 01:11:47,500 --> 01:11:48,800 was so difficult. 1140 01:11:48,899 --> 01:11:53,233 As it happened to me once, it took four hours 1141 01:11:53,332 --> 01:11:55,432 to move a half a mile, 1142 01:11:55,533 --> 01:11:58,733 cutting through this bush with machetes. 1143 01:12:01,000 --> 01:12:06,899 GALLOWAY: The Viet Cong knew the terrain far better than the Marines did, 1144 01:12:07,000 --> 01:12:10,699 and ran circles around them. 1145 01:12:10,800 --> 01:12:13,233 (gunfire) 1146 01:12:23,000 --> 01:12:28,332 MOGIE CROCKER (dramatized): Fort Dix, June 10, 1965. 1147 01:12:28,432 --> 01:12:30,000 Dear Mum, 1148 01:12:30,100 --> 01:12:34,000 Basic is now all over and I am presently waiting for orders. 1149 01:12:34,100 --> 01:12:36,300 Waiting for orders could be very dull 1150 01:12:36,399 --> 01:12:38,132 but I have found there are excellent chances 1151 01:12:38,233 --> 01:12:39,966 to do some reading. 1152 01:12:40,065 --> 01:12:42,233 Recently I have read Wuthering Heights, 1153 01:12:42,332 --> 01:12:47,100 Animal Farm, Seven Pillars of Wisdom , andLord Jim. 1154 01:12:47,199 --> 01:12:48,899 I hope you are all well. 1155 01:12:49,000 --> 01:12:50,500 Love, Mogie. 1156 01:12:52,300 --> 01:12:54,932 NARRATOR: Mogie Crocker was allowed two weeks at home 1157 01:12:55,033 --> 01:12:57,832 before shipping out to Vietnam. 1158 01:12:59,666 --> 01:13:01,432 JEAN-MARIE CROCKER: We were at dinner one evening 1159 01:13:01,533 --> 01:13:04,800 just talking, I guess, in generalities about the war 1160 01:13:04,899 --> 01:13:07,132 and the general situation. 1161 01:13:07,233 --> 01:13:11,932 And Mogie said, "Of course if I were a Vietnamese, 1162 01:13:12,033 --> 01:13:14,832 I would be on the side of the Viet Cong." 1163 01:13:14,932 --> 01:13:18,666 That... I puzzled over that. 1164 01:13:18,765 --> 01:13:22,100 I suppose relating like to our American Revolution 1165 01:13:22,199 --> 01:13:25,666 that he saw their need for their own freedom. 1166 01:13:25,765 --> 01:13:27,932 But as an American citizen, 1167 01:13:28,033 --> 01:13:32,832 he saw the larger picture of trying to prevent communism. 1168 01:13:32,932 --> 01:13:35,666 CAROL CROCKER: I remember one night in particular 1169 01:13:35,765 --> 01:13:37,432 he and I were up late. 1170 01:13:37,533 --> 01:13:42,600 And he suddenly leaned his head in his hands. 1171 01:13:42,699 --> 01:13:45,832 And he said, "I don't want to go back." 1172 01:13:47,065 --> 01:13:49,399 I was dumbstruck. 1173 01:13:49,500 --> 01:13:55,100 And said to him, "But this is what you want to do." 1174 01:13:55,199 --> 01:13:58,632 It had never occurred to me that he was torn about this, 1175 01:13:58,733 --> 01:14:02,199 that he was afraid and yet was determined to go. 1176 01:14:10,300 --> 01:14:12,699 ("Play With Fire" by the Rolling Stones playing) 1177 01:14:12,800 --> 01:14:16,565 NARRATOR: In South Vietnam, things were steadily growing worse. 1178 01:14:18,666 --> 01:14:21,166 JAGGER: ♪ Well, you've got your diamond. ♪ 1179 01:14:21,265 --> 01:14:24,332 NARRATOR: In May, the Viet Cong, 1180 01:14:24,432 --> 01:14:28,132 supported now by four regiments of North Vietnamese regulars-- 1181 01:14:28,233 --> 01:14:30,733 approximately 5,000 men-- 1182 01:14:30,832 --> 01:14:34,600 were destroying the equivalent of a South Vietnamese battalion 1183 01:14:34,699 --> 01:14:36,432 every week. 1184 01:14:36,533 --> 01:14:38,365 JAGGER: ♪ But don't play with me 1185 01:14:38,466 --> 01:14:40,600 ♪ Because you're playing with fire. ♪ 1186 01:14:40,699 --> 01:14:45,699 NARRATOR: South Vietnam now seemed only weeks from complete collapse. 1187 01:14:45,800 --> 01:14:49,466 Desperate, General Westmoreland requested 1188 01:14:49,565 --> 01:14:54,533 tens of thousands of more American troops right away. 1189 01:14:54,632 --> 01:14:57,365 But neither the continuing bombing 1190 01:14:57,466 --> 01:15:01,166 nor the growing likelihood of full-scale American intervention 1191 01:15:01,265 --> 01:15:04,565 seemed to intimidate Hanoi. 1192 01:15:04,666 --> 01:15:07,533 Le Duan, having failed to win the war 1193 01:15:07,632 --> 01:15:10,332 before the United States sent in ground troops, 1194 01:15:10,432 --> 01:15:13,565 was now persuaded the American public, 1195 01:15:13,666 --> 01:15:17,100 like the French public before them, would eventually weary 1196 01:15:17,199 --> 01:15:22,832 of a costly, bloody war being waged so far from home. 1197 01:15:22,932 --> 01:15:28,000 By contrast, he said, "The North will not count the cost." 1198 01:15:28,100 --> 01:15:30,666 Le Duan's confidence was bolstered 1199 01:15:30,765 --> 01:15:33,332 by the help American intervention had forced 1200 01:15:33,432 --> 01:15:37,000 the Soviet Union and China to offer him. 1201 01:15:37,100 --> 01:15:41,265 Moscow agreed to supply vast amounts of modern weaponry 1202 01:15:41,365 --> 01:15:42,733 and materiel. 1203 01:15:42,832 --> 01:15:47,666 Hanoi would eventually become the most heavily defended city 1204 01:15:47,765 --> 01:15:49,033 on Earth. 1205 01:15:49,132 --> 01:15:52,265 And China agreed to send support troops, 1206 01:15:52,365 --> 01:15:55,600 freeing North Vietnamese soldiers for combat 1207 01:15:55,699 --> 01:15:57,265 in the South. 1208 01:15:57,365 --> 01:16:02,565 320,000 Chinese would eventually serve behind the lines 1209 01:16:02,666 --> 01:16:05,765 in the North. 1210 01:16:05,865 --> 01:16:07,966 "We will fight," Le Duan promised, 1211 01:16:08,065 --> 01:16:11,332 "whatever way the United States wants." 1212 01:16:12,500 --> 01:16:15,733 JOHN NEGROPONTE: In June of 1965, 1213 01:16:15,832 --> 01:16:18,300 Secretary McNamara, the Secretary of Defense, 1214 01:16:18,399 --> 01:16:19,666 came out to Saigon. 1215 01:16:19,765 --> 01:16:23,300 There were a lot of captains and majors and lieutenants. 1216 01:16:23,399 --> 01:16:27,365 And every person said to Mr. McNamara, 1217 01:16:27,466 --> 01:16:29,865 "The situation is so dire 1218 01:16:29,966 --> 01:16:32,666 we must bring in United States forces." 1219 01:16:32,765 --> 01:16:35,666 So, whatever doubts we may have had, 1220 01:16:35,765 --> 01:16:37,565 whatever people may say after the fact, 1221 01:16:37,666 --> 01:16:40,466 I recall distinctly at the time 1222 01:16:40,565 --> 01:16:43,365 telling the Secretary of Defense that I thought we needed 1223 01:16:43,466 --> 01:16:44,533 to bring troops in there. 1224 01:16:45,832 --> 01:16:47,199 NARRATOR: For three weeks, 1225 01:16:47,300 --> 01:16:50,600 the president and his advisors argued over how to respond 1226 01:16:50,699 --> 01:16:54,300 to Westmoreland's urgent request for more troops, 1227 01:16:54,399 --> 01:16:58,966 differing mostly over how many should be sent how fast. 1228 01:16:59,065 --> 01:17:03,565 Undersecretary of State George Ball made the argument 1229 01:17:03,666 --> 01:17:06,332 against further escalation. 1230 01:17:06,432 --> 01:17:10,399 He told the president the war could not be won. 1231 01:17:10,500 --> 01:17:13,533 The American people will grow weary of it. 1232 01:17:13,632 --> 01:17:15,699 Our troops will get bogged down 1233 01:17:15,800 --> 01:17:18,233 "in the jungles and rice paddies," he warned, 1234 01:17:18,332 --> 01:17:21,899 "while we slowly blow the country to pieces." 1235 01:17:22,000 --> 01:17:24,365 No one else agreed. 1236 01:17:24,466 --> 01:17:27,565 JAGGER: ♪ But don't play with me... 1237 01:17:27,666 --> 01:17:33,132 NARRATOR: In the end, Johnson sent Westmoreland 50,000 men. 1238 01:17:33,233 --> 01:17:38,666 But he pledged another 50,000 by the end of 1965, 1239 01:17:38,765 --> 01:17:41,699 and still more if they were needed. 1240 01:17:41,800 --> 01:17:44,166 JAGGER: ♪ Because you're playing with fire. ♪ 1241 01:17:45,899 --> 01:17:49,832 SOLDIERS: ♪ Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die ♪ 1242 01:17:49,932 --> 01:17:53,332 TRAN NGOC TOAN: 1243 01:18:18,466 --> 01:18:20,199 MAN: Hold your fire! 1244 01:18:20,300 --> 01:18:21,432 Hold your fire. 1245 01:18:22,632 --> 01:18:24,300 JOHN SCALI: Does the fact 1246 01:18:24,399 --> 01:18:27,332 that you are sending additional forces to Vietnam 1247 01:18:27,432 --> 01:18:30,365 imply any change in the existing policy 1248 01:18:30,466 --> 01:18:34,000 of using American forces to guard American installations 1249 01:18:34,100 --> 01:18:36,265 and to act as an emergency backup? 1250 01:18:36,365 --> 01:18:39,565 It does not imply any change in policy whatever. 1251 01:18:39,666 --> 01:18:42,666 It does not imply any change of objective. 1252 01:18:42,765 --> 01:18:43,865 Uh... 1253 01:18:46,065 --> 01:18:47,966 LOU CIOFFI: The month of June saw soldiers here 1254 01:18:48,065 --> 01:18:49,265 taking what appears to be... 1255 01:18:49,365 --> 01:18:51,899 NARRATOR: Most television reports from Vietnam 1256 01:18:52,000 --> 01:18:55,332 echoed the newsreels Americans had flocked to see 1257 01:18:55,432 --> 01:18:59,765 during the Second World War-- enthusiastic, unquestioning, 1258 01:18:59,865 --> 01:19:04,765 good guys fighting and defeating bad guys. 1259 01:19:04,865 --> 01:19:09,233 But at dinnertime on August 5, 1965, 1260 01:19:09,332 --> 01:19:12,132 Americans saw another side of the war. 1261 01:19:13,765 --> 01:19:16,365 MORLEY SAFER: We're on the outskirts of the village of Cam Ne 1262 01:19:16,466 --> 01:19:18,233 with elements of the 1st Battalion... 1263 01:19:18,332 --> 01:19:21,800 NARRATOR: CBS correspondent Morley Safer and his crew 1264 01:19:21,899 --> 01:19:25,132 went on patrol with Marines near Danang. 1265 01:19:25,233 --> 01:19:28,332 Their orders were first to search a cluster 1266 01:19:28,432 --> 01:19:32,332 of four villages for caches of arms and rice 1267 01:19:32,432 --> 01:19:37,265 meant for the enemy and then to destroy them all. 1268 01:19:40,632 --> 01:19:43,666 This is what the war in Vietnam is all about. 1269 01:19:43,765 --> 01:19:47,432 (speaking Vietnamese) 1270 01:19:47,533 --> 01:19:50,966 The old and the very young. 1271 01:19:51,065 --> 01:19:53,832 The Marines have burned 1272 01:19:53,932 --> 01:19:55,832 this old couple's cottage 1273 01:19:55,932 --> 01:19:57,699 because fire was coming from here. 1274 01:19:57,800 --> 01:19:59,432 And now when you walk into the village 1275 01:19:59,533 --> 01:20:01,199 you see no young people at all. 1276 01:20:01,300 --> 01:20:05,832 (woman speaking Vietnamese) 1277 01:20:05,932 --> 01:20:09,100 The day's operation burned down 150 houses, 1278 01:20:09,199 --> 01:20:12,432 wounded three women, killed one baby, 1279 01:20:12,533 --> 01:20:17,966 wounded one Marine, and netted these four prisoners. 1280 01:20:18,065 --> 01:20:21,033 Today's operation is the frustration of Vietnam 1281 01:20:21,132 --> 01:20:22,932 in miniature. 1282 01:20:23,033 --> 01:20:25,365 There is little doubt that American firepower 1283 01:20:25,466 --> 01:20:27,699 can win a military victory here. 1284 01:20:27,800 --> 01:20:32,565 But to a Vietnamese peasant whose home is a... 1285 01:20:32,666 --> 01:20:34,899 means a lifetime of backbreaking labor, 1286 01:20:35,000 --> 01:20:37,800 it will take more than presidential promises 1287 01:20:37,899 --> 01:20:40,765 to convince him that we are on his side. 1288 01:20:42,500 --> 01:20:44,365 NARRATOR: The next morning, the president called 1289 01:20:44,466 --> 01:20:48,666 his friend Frank Stanton, the head of CBS. 1290 01:20:48,765 --> 01:20:51,932 "Hello, Frank, this is your president. 1291 01:20:52,033 --> 01:20:54,199 Are you trying to fuck me?" 1292 01:20:55,632 --> 01:20:59,000 Safer had defaced the American flag, Johnson said. 1293 01:20:59,100 --> 01:21:03,466 He was probably an agent of the Kremlin, had to be fired. 1294 01:21:03,565 --> 01:21:07,733 The Marines claimed Safer had provided a zippo lighter 1295 01:21:07,832 --> 01:21:11,600 and asked the Marines to burn the hut for the camera. 1296 01:21:11,699 --> 01:21:14,000 A major at the Danang Marine press office 1297 01:21:14,100 --> 01:21:18,132 called CBS the "Communist Broadcasting System." 1298 01:21:19,265 --> 01:21:20,666 But after the operation, 1299 01:21:20,765 --> 01:21:26,033 Safer interviewed some of the Marines who'd burned Cam Ne. 1300 01:21:26,132 --> 01:21:28,365 Do you ever have any private thoughts, 1301 01:21:28,466 --> 01:21:30,966 any private regrets about some of these people 1302 01:21:31,065 --> 01:21:32,365 you are leaving homeless? 1303 01:21:32,466 --> 01:21:33,699 I feel no remorse. 1304 01:21:33,800 --> 01:21:34,899 I don't imagine anybody else does. 1305 01:21:35,000 --> 01:21:36,199 You can't expect to do your job 1306 01:21:36,300 --> 01:21:37,699 and feel pity for these people. 1307 01:21:39,800 --> 01:21:42,100 NARRATOR: When some viewers registered their shock, 1308 01:21:42,199 --> 01:21:46,233 Westmoreland admitted, "We have a genuine problem 1309 01:21:46,332 --> 01:21:50,199 "which will be with us as long as we are in Vietnam. 1310 01:21:50,300 --> 01:21:55,332 "Commanders must exercise restraint unnatural to war 1311 01:21:55,432 --> 01:21:59,300 and judgment not often required of young men." 1312 01:22:05,500 --> 01:22:08,233 CAPUTO: You kind of thought at first 1313 01:22:08,332 --> 01:22:10,966 that it was going to be like the GIs, you know, 1314 01:22:11,065 --> 01:22:13,699 rolling through Paris after the liberation. 1315 01:22:15,832 --> 01:22:18,600 Well, you know, it sure didn't work out that way. 1316 01:22:20,733 --> 01:22:22,966 I can remember once going in this one ville. 1317 01:22:23,065 --> 01:22:26,332 And I remember finding this entire Vietnamese family 1318 01:22:26,432 --> 01:22:29,199 cowering in a bunker. 1319 01:22:30,500 --> 01:22:32,832 And they were terrified of us. 1320 01:22:36,500 --> 01:22:39,065 And I remember thinking to myself, I said, 1321 01:22:39,166 --> 01:22:43,332 "Well, I wonder if back in the colonial days, 1322 01:22:43,432 --> 01:22:46,533 "when the Redcoats barged into Ipswich, Massachusetts, 1323 01:22:46,632 --> 01:22:47,666 "or wherever, 1324 01:22:47,765 --> 01:22:51,365 "if this is how Americans must have felt 1325 01:22:51,466 --> 01:22:55,033 looking at these foreign soldiers coming in here." 1326 01:22:55,132 --> 01:22:56,332 FREDERICK ACKERSON: The Viet Cong 1327 01:22:56,432 --> 01:23:01,765 have terrorized you, and have burned your homes. 1328 01:23:01,865 --> 01:23:04,899 We are here to help you. 1329 01:23:05,000 --> 01:23:09,265 To show how much we are able to protect you, 1330 01:23:09,365 --> 01:23:14,600 we are going to have the Air Force 1331 01:23:14,699 --> 01:23:19,865 hit some Viet Cong on the other side of the valley. 1332 01:23:19,966 --> 01:23:21,832 That will be at 10:30. 1333 01:23:21,932 --> 01:23:27,065 (playing "Colonel Bogey" march) 1334 01:23:27,166 --> 01:23:30,233 (distant explosion) 1335 01:23:44,800 --> 01:23:46,865 MOGIE CROCKER (dramatized): Dear Mum and Dad, 1336 01:23:46,966 --> 01:23:50,033 I am now with the 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division 1337 01:23:50,132 --> 01:23:51,932 in Vietnam. 1338 01:23:52,033 --> 01:23:54,865 ("The War Drags On" by Donovan playing) 1339 01:23:58,033 --> 01:23:59,865 What is taking place in America? 1340 01:23:59,966 --> 01:24:02,832 We who are in Vietnam find these protests 1341 01:24:02,932 --> 01:24:04,600 very hard to comprehend, 1342 01:24:04,699 --> 01:24:08,265 and many people here are quite bitter about them. 1343 01:24:08,365 --> 01:24:11,733 DONOVAN: ♪ Let me tell you the story in South Vietnam. ♪ 1344 01:24:11,832 --> 01:24:13,399 MOGIE CROCKER (dramatized): The belief I have in our present policy 1345 01:24:13,500 --> 01:24:17,365 has been completely confirmed by what I have seen here. 1346 01:24:17,466 --> 01:24:20,500 My chief worry is that these pacifist bleatings 1347 01:24:20,600 --> 01:24:23,500 might effect even a small change in government policy 1348 01:24:23,600 --> 01:24:26,265 at a time when we appear close to success. 1349 01:24:26,365 --> 01:24:30,966 DONOVAN: ♪ And the war drags on. 1350 01:24:33,100 --> 01:24:37,332 JEAN-MARIE CROCKER: As Vietnam began to be more and more chaotic, 1351 01:24:37,432 --> 01:24:42,065 I certainly wondered very much whether we should be there. 1352 01:24:42,166 --> 01:24:44,565 But I never expressed that to him. 1353 01:24:44,666 --> 01:24:48,033 That's one of those conflicts that's just too difficult 1354 01:24:48,132 --> 01:24:50,800 to bring up, or at least it was for me. 1355 01:24:52,399 --> 01:24:55,600 ("Big River" by Johnny Cash playing) 1356 01:24:57,100 --> 01:25:02,800 CASH: ♪ Now I taught the weeping willow how to cry ♪ 1357 01:25:02,899 --> 01:25:07,800 ♪ And I showed the clouds how to cover up a clear blue sky. ♪ 1358 01:25:07,899 --> 01:25:09,832 GALLOWAY: We were all excited about the arrival 1359 01:25:09,932 --> 01:25:14,565 of the 1st Cavalry Division, an experimental unit. 1360 01:25:14,666 --> 01:25:18,865 They've been trained in air-mobile warfare 1361 01:25:18,966 --> 01:25:25,565 using these helicopters to the absolute maximum benefit. 1362 01:25:25,666 --> 01:25:31,632 They're moving their artillery by helicopter, jumping it, 1363 01:25:31,733 --> 01:25:36,632 leapfrogging troops, chasing the enemy, driving him crazy. 1364 01:25:38,932 --> 01:25:40,932 This is something new, 1365 01:25:41,033 --> 01:25:44,699 and it's going to change the way we do war. 1366 01:25:44,800 --> 01:25:47,466 CASH: ♪ I found her trail in Memphis... ♪ 1367 01:25:47,565 --> 01:25:50,132 NARRATOR: In September of 1965, 1368 01:25:50,233 --> 01:25:52,832 the newly created 1st Cavalry Division-- 1369 01:25:52,932 --> 01:26:01,300 16,000 men, 1,600 vehicles, 435 helicopters-- 1370 01:26:01,399 --> 01:26:06,233 had begun arriving at An Khe, a massive base carved out 1371 01:26:06,332 --> 01:26:09,199 of the grasslands at the edge of the Central Highlands. 1372 01:26:10,733 --> 01:26:14,065 Its heliport would come to be called the "Golf Course." 1373 01:26:17,733 --> 01:26:21,265 As the 1st Cavalry got used to its new surroundings, 1374 01:26:21,365 --> 01:26:25,132 thousands of North Vietnamese regulars were slipping south 1375 01:26:25,233 --> 01:26:28,600 into the Highlands along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, 1376 01:26:28,699 --> 01:26:32,100 joining Viet Cong units already in place. 1377 01:26:32,199 --> 01:26:35,533 They established their own base on and around 1378 01:26:35,632 --> 01:26:38,899 a jumble of thickly forested mountains and ravines 1379 01:26:39,000 --> 01:26:41,733 south of the Ia Drang River. 1380 01:26:41,832 --> 01:26:44,399 On the evening of October 19, 1381 01:26:44,500 --> 01:26:47,666 communist commandos slipped to within 40 yards 1382 01:26:47,765 --> 01:26:51,332 of the perimeter wire of the U.S. Special Forces outpost 1383 01:26:51,432 --> 01:26:52,800 at Plei Me, 1384 01:26:52,899 --> 01:26:57,533 which was defended by a 12-man team of U.S. Green Berets, 1385 01:26:57,632 --> 01:27:03,500 14 ARVN, and some 400 mountain tribesmen. 1386 01:27:09,565 --> 01:27:12,265 Nine of the 12 Green Berets were hit. 1387 01:27:12,365 --> 01:27:15,100 They managed to hold out for two days 1388 01:27:15,199 --> 01:27:21,600 before 15 more Green Berets and 160 South Vietnamese Rangers 1389 01:27:21,699 --> 01:27:26,265 were helicoptered in, commanded by Major Charles Beckwith, 1390 01:27:26,365 --> 01:27:30,365 known to his fellow soldiers as Chargin' Charlie. 1391 01:27:30,466 --> 01:27:31,365 (explosion) 1392 01:27:31,466 --> 01:27:32,800 The next day, 1393 01:27:32,899 --> 01:27:35,466 Joe Galloway managed to talk a helicopter pilot 1394 01:27:35,565 --> 01:27:38,966 into flying him into the besieged camp. 1395 01:27:39,065 --> 01:27:43,865 GALLOWAY: That's where I met Major Charles Beckwith. 1396 01:27:43,966 --> 01:27:47,332 He said, "I need everything in the world. 1397 01:27:47,432 --> 01:27:51,365 "And what has the Army in its wisdom sent me 1398 01:27:51,466 --> 01:27:54,565 but a godforsaken reporter?" 1399 01:27:54,666 --> 01:27:57,699 He drug me over and showed me 1400 01:27:57,800 --> 01:28:01,565 a 30-caliber air-cooled machine gun. 1401 01:28:01,666 --> 01:28:04,265 He showed me how to load it, how to clear a jam. 1402 01:28:04,365 --> 01:28:08,365 NARRATOR: "You can shoot the little brown men outside the wire," 1403 01:28:08,466 --> 01:28:10,365 Beckwith told Galloway. 1404 01:28:10,466 --> 01:28:12,399 "You may not shoot the little brown men 1405 01:28:12,500 --> 01:28:16,100 inside the wire; they are mine." 1406 01:28:16,199 --> 01:28:18,000 GALLOWAY: And I'm sitting there thinking, 1407 01:28:18,100 --> 01:28:20,932 "Ah, I'm a civilian noncombatant." 1408 01:28:21,033 --> 01:28:24,300 I tried that line on Beckwith and he said, 1409 01:28:24,399 --> 01:28:27,233 "Ain't no such thing in these mountains, son." 1410 01:28:27,332 --> 01:28:31,432 NARRATOR: For nearly a week, the North Vietnamese launched assault 1411 01:28:31,533 --> 01:28:34,166 after assault on Plei Me. 1412 01:28:34,265 --> 01:28:38,365 It was only after American bombs and napalm 1413 01:28:38,466 --> 01:28:41,565 turned the surrounding terrain into a moonscape 1414 01:28:41,666 --> 01:28:44,733 that the enemy withdrew. 1415 01:28:44,832 --> 01:28:48,800 JOHN LAURENCE: What kind of fighters are the Viet Cong that you met here? 1416 01:28:48,899 --> 01:28:54,632 I would give anything to have 200 of them under my command. 1417 01:28:54,733 --> 01:28:56,632 They're the finest soldiers I've ever seen. 1418 01:28:56,733 --> 01:28:57,932 The Viet Cong. 1419 01:28:58,033 --> 01:28:59,332 That's right. 1420 01:28:59,432 --> 01:29:01,100 They're dedicated, and they're good soldiers. 1421 01:29:01,199 --> 01:29:02,632 They're the best I've ever seen. 1422 01:29:05,600 --> 01:29:08,600 NARRATOR: Despite the losses his men had suffered at Plei Me, 1423 01:29:08,699 --> 01:29:12,033 the North Vietnamese commander, General Chu Huy Man, 1424 01:29:12,132 --> 01:29:14,033 was eager for another confrontation 1425 01:29:14,132 --> 01:29:15,899 with the Americans. 1426 01:29:16,000 --> 01:29:19,466 He was determined to learn how to fight them. 1427 01:29:19,565 --> 01:29:22,865 Reinforcements streaming down the Ho Chi Minh Trail 1428 01:29:22,966 --> 01:29:25,065 to the Ia Drang Valley included 1429 01:29:25,166 --> 01:29:29,300 a newly minted second lieutenant, Lo Khac Tam, 1430 01:29:29,399 --> 01:29:32,565 who had volunteered to fight in the South. 1431 01:29:54,100 --> 01:29:56,966 NARRATOR: On the morning of November 14, 1965, 1432 01:29:57,065 --> 01:30:01,199 1st Cavalry helicopters belonging to the 1st Battalion 1433 01:30:01,300 --> 01:30:03,399 of the 7th Regiment-- 1434 01:30:03,500 --> 01:30:06,300 George Armstrong Custer's old outfit-- 1435 01:30:06,399 --> 01:30:10,033 flew west along the Ia Drang toward the Chu Pong Massif, 1436 01:30:10,132 --> 01:30:12,033 looking for the enemy. 1437 01:30:14,199 --> 01:30:17,466 Their commander, Kentucky-born Korean-War veteran 1438 01:30:17,565 --> 01:30:19,666 Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore, 1439 01:30:19,765 --> 01:30:22,399 had been told there was a large enemy base camp 1440 01:30:22,500 --> 01:30:24,300 somewhere on its slopes. 1441 01:30:24,399 --> 01:30:28,132 His orders were to take his understrength outfit-- 1442 01:30:28,233 --> 01:30:34,733 29 officers and just 411 men-- find the enemy and kill him. 1443 01:30:34,832 --> 01:30:38,800 There were two clearings large enough for Moore to bring in 1444 01:30:38,899 --> 01:30:40,800 eight choppers at once. 1445 01:30:40,899 --> 01:30:45,832 He chose the one closest to the mountain-- Landing Zone X-Ray. 1446 01:30:49,399 --> 01:30:52,800 Moore made a point of leading from the front. 1447 01:30:52,899 --> 01:30:55,600 He was the first man off the first chopper. 1448 01:31:00,132 --> 01:31:04,533 He sent four six-man squads 100 yards in every direction. 1449 01:31:04,632 --> 01:31:07,399 The Ia Drang Valley was so beautiful, 1450 01:31:07,500 --> 01:31:09,533 one soldier remembered, 1451 01:31:09,632 --> 01:31:12,699 it reminded him of a national park back home. 1452 01:31:12,800 --> 01:31:17,033 Within minutes, Moore's men captured a deserter. 1453 01:31:17,132 --> 01:31:18,565 Terrified and trembling, 1454 01:31:18,666 --> 01:31:21,466 he said there were three battalions of soldiers 1455 01:31:21,565 --> 01:31:25,100 on the mountain-- 1,600 men. 1456 01:31:25,199 --> 01:31:28,000 They wanted very much to kill Americans, he said, 1457 01:31:28,100 --> 01:31:31,765 but so far had been unable to find any. 1458 01:31:31,865 --> 01:31:34,800 Moore quickly set up a command post 1459 01:31:34,899 --> 01:31:39,166 behind one of the huge termite mounds that dotted the clearing. 1460 01:31:39,265 --> 01:31:41,432 It would take until mid-afternoon 1461 01:31:41,533 --> 01:31:44,966 for all of his men to be ferried in. 1462 01:31:46,132 --> 01:31:48,033 He had no time to waste. 1463 01:31:48,132 --> 01:31:50,565 "We needed to get off the landing zone 1464 01:31:50,666 --> 01:31:54,765 and get at them before they could hit us," Moore remembered. 1465 01:31:54,865 --> 01:31:58,832 He sent two companies up the slope toward the hidden enemy. 1466 01:31:58,932 --> 01:32:02,632 Most of the North Vietnamese, like the Americans, 1467 01:32:02,733 --> 01:32:04,365 were new to combat. 1468 01:32:05,832 --> 01:32:08,100 They were ordered to fix bayonets. 1469 01:32:10,233 --> 01:32:11,932 LO KHAC TAM: 1470 01:32:22,800 --> 01:32:25,600 NARRATOR: Colonel Moore had no way of knowing 1471 01:32:25,699 --> 01:32:29,100 that instead of 1,600 enemy soldiers on the mountain, 1472 01:32:29,199 --> 01:32:34,865 there were 3,000-- seven times his strength. 1473 01:32:47,733 --> 01:32:49,033 (gunfire) 1474 01:32:49,132 --> 01:32:51,800 Within minutes, the Americans found themselves 1475 01:32:51,899 --> 01:32:56,332 under attack from hundreds of North Vietnamese soldiers. 1476 01:32:56,432 --> 01:32:59,932 In the fighting, an overeager second lieutenant 1477 01:33:00,033 --> 01:33:03,065 led his platoon of 28 men too far away 1478 01:33:03,166 --> 01:33:06,565 from the rest of his company and was surrounded. 1479 01:33:06,666 --> 01:33:08,033 (gunfire, shouting) 1480 01:33:09,166 --> 01:33:10,765 The lieutenant was killed. 1481 01:33:10,865 --> 01:33:15,033 The sergeant who took his place was shot through the head. 1482 01:33:15,132 --> 01:33:19,666 By late afternoon, only seven of the trapped platoon's men 1483 01:33:19,765 --> 01:33:23,065 were still capable of firing back. 1484 01:33:23,166 --> 01:33:26,432 (gunfire, shouting) 1485 01:33:31,699 --> 01:33:36,332 Moore was now engaged in three simultaneous struggles-- 1486 01:33:36,432 --> 01:33:40,432 to defend the landing zone, attack the North Vietnamese, 1487 01:33:40,533 --> 01:33:44,399 and find a way to rescue his trapped patrol. 1488 01:33:47,332 --> 01:33:51,466 That night, Joe Galloway again managed to talk his way 1489 01:33:51,565 --> 01:33:54,300 onto a chopper taking ammunition and water 1490 01:33:54,399 --> 01:33:56,199 to the besieged Americans. 1491 01:33:56,300 --> 01:33:59,432 As the helicopter approached the battlefield, 1492 01:33:59,533 --> 01:34:02,065 Galloway was sitting on a crate of grenades, 1493 01:34:02,166 --> 01:34:05,432 peering out into the darkness. 1494 01:34:05,533 --> 01:34:10,500 GALLOWAY: And I could see these little pin pricks of light 1495 01:34:10,600 --> 01:34:13,166 coming down the mountain. 1496 01:34:13,265 --> 01:34:18,065 This was the enemy approaching for the next day's attacks. 1497 01:34:19,666 --> 01:34:22,432 We flew in there. 1498 01:34:22,533 --> 01:34:26,699 As they pulled on out, it was dead dark. 1499 01:34:26,800 --> 01:34:29,966 And we're lying there waiting for someone to come tell us 1500 01:34:30,065 --> 01:34:31,332 what to do. 1501 01:34:34,466 --> 01:34:39,365 And the next morning, all of a sudden the bottom fell out. 1502 01:34:41,832 --> 01:34:43,600 (gunfire) 1503 01:34:43,699 --> 01:34:47,733 There was an explosion of fire. 1504 01:34:49,166 --> 01:34:53,666 The noise is horrendous, unimaginable. 1505 01:34:53,765 --> 01:34:56,800 (rapid gunfire, followed by short bursts) 1506 01:35:01,033 --> 01:35:03,899 (gunfire, shouting) 1507 01:35:05,966 --> 01:35:08,733 And in the middle of all of this, you know, 1508 01:35:08,832 --> 01:35:11,600 I-I just flattened out on the ground 1509 01:35:11,699 --> 01:35:15,865 because all that was being fired seemed to be about two, 1510 01:35:15,966 --> 01:35:19,265 two-and-a-half feet off the ground. 1511 01:35:19,365 --> 01:35:23,500 (gunfire, whistling) 1512 01:35:26,265 --> 01:35:29,033 NARRATOR: Hundreds of enemy soldiers hurled themselves 1513 01:35:29,132 --> 01:35:30,432 at the Americans. 1514 01:35:31,932 --> 01:35:35,699 They wore webbed helmets camouflaged with grass, 1515 01:35:35,800 --> 01:35:40,632 and as they came, blowing whistles, screaming, 1516 01:35:40,733 --> 01:35:44,932 they looked like "little trees," one American remembered. 1517 01:35:45,033 --> 01:35:47,733 They were trying to overrun us. 1518 01:35:47,832 --> 01:35:50,065 And they came close. 1519 01:35:50,166 --> 01:35:52,365 They came close. 1520 01:35:59,733 --> 01:36:02,100 (gunfire, shouting) 1521 01:36:08,332 --> 01:36:11,699 But we had two things going for us. 1522 01:36:13,033 --> 01:36:16,432 We had a great commander and great soldiers. 1523 01:36:16,533 --> 01:36:23,033 And we had air and artillery support out the yin-yang. 1524 01:36:23,132 --> 01:36:25,800 We had it, and they didn't. 1525 01:36:29,765 --> 01:36:34,500 NARRATOR: But using that air and artillery support could be dangerous. 1526 01:36:34,600 --> 01:36:38,533 Each of Moore's units carefully marked its position with smoke 1527 01:36:38,632 --> 01:36:41,533 to keep from being mistaken for the enemy 1528 01:36:41,632 --> 01:36:43,899 by American airmen overhead. 1529 01:36:46,832 --> 01:36:48,265 LO KHAC TAM: 1530 01:36:55,432 --> 01:36:59,432 NARRATOR: Some 18,000 artillery shells would be called in 1531 01:36:59,533 --> 01:37:00,800 over the course of the battle, 1532 01:37:00,899 --> 01:37:05,865 some of them landing just 25 yards from Moore's own men. 1533 01:37:05,966 --> 01:37:11,432 Helicopter gunships fired 3,000 rockets into the enemy. 1534 01:37:11,533 --> 01:37:13,966 The forward air controller 1535 01:37:14,065 --> 01:37:17,600 called for every available aircraft in South Vietnam 1536 01:37:17,699 --> 01:37:19,166 to come and help. 1537 01:37:19,265 --> 01:37:24,733 Warplanes, including B-52 long-range strategic bombers, 1538 01:37:24,832 --> 01:37:28,966 were stacked at 1,000-foot intervals above the battlefield, 1539 01:37:29,065 --> 01:37:32,199 from 7,000 to 35,000 feet, 1540 01:37:32,300 --> 01:37:36,733 impatiently awaiting targets to strafe or bomb or burn. 1541 01:37:39,065 --> 01:37:43,733 "By God," Moore said, "they sent us over here to kill communists 1542 01:37:43,832 --> 01:37:45,332 and that's what we're doing." 1543 01:37:51,500 --> 01:37:53,199 I looked up... 1544 01:37:55,065 --> 01:38:02,365 and there were two jets aiming directly at our command post. 1545 01:38:02,466 --> 01:38:08,600 He's dropped two cans of napalm and it's coming toward us, 1546 01:38:08,699 --> 01:38:12,632 loblolly, end over end. 1547 01:38:12,733 --> 01:38:17,432 And these kids, two or three of 'em, plus a sergeant, 1548 01:38:17,533 --> 01:38:21,765 had dug a hole or two over on the edge. 1549 01:38:21,865 --> 01:38:26,800 And I looked as the thing exploded... 1550 01:38:30,932 --> 01:38:35,500 And two of them were dancing in that fire. 1551 01:38:35,600 --> 01:38:39,432 And there's a rush, a roar, 1552 01:38:39,533 --> 01:38:43,600 from the air that's being consumed 1553 01:38:43,699 --> 01:38:49,632 and drawn in as this-this hell come to earth 1554 01:38:49,733 --> 01:38:51,399 is burning there. 1555 01:38:51,500 --> 01:38:56,666 And as that dies back a little, then you can hear the screams. 1556 01:38:58,865 --> 01:39:03,800 And someone yells, "Get this man's feet." 1557 01:39:03,899 --> 01:39:10,765 And I reach down and the boots crumble, 1558 01:39:10,865 --> 01:39:14,966 and the flesh is cooked off of his ankles. 1559 01:39:15,065 --> 01:39:19,166 And I feel those bones in the palms of my hands. 1560 01:39:19,265 --> 01:39:21,966 I can feel it now. 1561 01:39:23,365 --> 01:39:25,966 He died two days later. 1562 01:39:26,065 --> 01:39:30,399 A kid named Jim Nakayama out of Rigby, Idaho. 1563 01:39:45,033 --> 01:39:47,600 NARRATOR: By 10:00 that morning, 1564 01:39:47,699 --> 01:39:51,365 American airpower had beaten back the enemy assault. 1565 01:39:52,733 --> 01:39:54,865 The survivors from the trapped platoon 1566 01:39:54,966 --> 01:39:57,000 were rescued that afternoon. 1567 01:39:57,100 --> 01:40:00,865 They had been pinned to the ground and under fire 1568 01:40:00,966 --> 01:40:03,733 for so long that they had to be coaxed 1569 01:40:03,832 --> 01:40:06,065 into getting to their feet again. 1570 01:40:12,699 --> 01:40:14,733 On the morning of the next day, 1571 01:40:14,832 --> 01:40:18,199 enemy soldiers hurled themselves against the same sector 1572 01:40:18,300 --> 01:40:21,399 of Moore's line four more times 1573 01:40:21,500 --> 01:40:24,899 and were obliterated by artillery and machine gun fire. 1574 01:40:27,100 --> 01:40:29,865 The surviving North Vietnamese and Viet Cong 1575 01:40:29,966 --> 01:40:31,966 withdrew into the forest, 1576 01:40:32,065 --> 01:40:34,932 leaving behind a ghastly ring of their dead 1577 01:40:35,033 --> 01:40:36,832 surrounding the landing zone-- 1578 01:40:36,932 --> 01:40:43,265 634 corpses, shot, blasted, blackened by fire. 1579 01:40:46,832 --> 01:40:50,432 LO KHAC TAM: 1580 01:41:08,966 --> 01:41:11,865 NARRATOR: After three days and two nights of combat, 1581 01:41:11,966 --> 01:41:15,132 helicopters began lifting out the American survivors 1582 01:41:15,233 --> 01:41:18,100 and gathering up the dead. 1583 01:41:18,199 --> 01:41:19,865 SOLDIER: When you look at them, 1584 01:41:19,966 --> 01:41:23,100 it doesn't even resemble a human body. 1585 01:41:23,199 --> 01:41:26,365 It just, it looks just like a mannequin. 1586 01:41:26,466 --> 01:41:29,332 You look at them and say, "That couldn't happen to me." 1587 01:41:32,166 --> 01:41:35,166 SHEEHAN: I saw them fight at Ia Drang. 1588 01:41:35,265 --> 01:41:38,265 It always galls me when I read or hear 1589 01:41:38,365 --> 01:41:40,466 about the World War II generation 1590 01:41:40,565 --> 01:41:42,365 as the greatest generation. 1591 01:41:42,466 --> 01:41:45,399 These kids were just as gallant and as courageous 1592 01:41:45,500 --> 01:41:47,699 as anybody who fought in World War II. 1593 01:41:49,300 --> 01:41:52,100 NARRATOR: Seventy-nine of Hal Moore's men lost their lives 1594 01:41:52,199 --> 01:41:55,632 at Landing Zone X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley 1595 01:41:55,733 --> 01:42:01,033 and another 121 were wounded. 1596 01:42:01,132 --> 01:42:04,500 Please convey to the American people 1597 01:42:04,600 --> 01:42:08,733 what a tremendous fighting man we have here. 1598 01:42:08,832 --> 01:42:14,199 He's courageous, he's aggressive, and he's kind. 1599 01:42:14,300 --> 01:42:18,065 And he'll go where you tell him to go. 1600 01:42:18,166 --> 01:42:20,666 And he's got self-discipline. 1601 01:42:20,765 --> 01:42:24,033 And he's got good unit discipline. 1602 01:42:24,132 --> 01:42:26,332 He's just an outstanding man. 1603 01:42:26,432 --> 01:42:27,932 And... 1604 01:42:29,432 --> 01:42:32,399 Having commanded this battalion for 18 months... 1605 01:42:35,100 --> 01:42:36,966 You must excuse my emotion here, 1606 01:42:37,065 --> 01:42:42,600 but when I see some of these men go out the way they have... 1607 01:42:50,332 --> 01:42:52,365 I haven't... 1608 01:42:52,466 --> 01:42:54,765 I can't tell you how highly I feel for them. 1609 01:42:54,865 --> 01:42:57,500 They're tremendous. 1610 01:42:57,600 --> 01:42:59,865 NARRATOR: Hal Moore refused to leave 1611 01:42:59,966 --> 01:43:04,600 until every single man in his command had been accounted for. 1612 01:43:04,699 --> 01:43:09,800 He had been the first of his men to step onto Landing Zone X-Ray, 1613 01:43:09,899 --> 01:43:13,166 and he made sure he was the last to leave it. 1614 01:43:21,199 --> 01:43:26,800 LO KHAC TAM: 1615 01:43:50,100 --> 01:43:52,699 NARRATOR: The North Vietnamese suffered terrible losses 1616 01:43:52,800 --> 01:43:54,233 in the Ia Drang Valley 1617 01:43:54,332 --> 01:43:58,000 and many of the survivors were traumatized. 1618 01:43:58,100 --> 01:44:01,800 "The units were enveloped in an atmosphere of gloom," 1619 01:44:01,899 --> 01:44:03,865 a North Vietnamese colonel remembered. 1620 01:44:03,966 --> 01:44:08,265 Some men would not leave their rope hammocks. 1621 01:44:08,365 --> 01:44:10,300 Some refused to wash. 1622 01:44:10,399 --> 01:44:15,600 One soldier wrote a poem expressive of their plight: 1623 01:44:15,699 --> 01:44:18,365 "The crab lies still on the chopping block 1624 01:44:18,466 --> 01:44:22,500 Never knowing when the knife will fall." 1625 01:44:28,233 --> 01:44:33,932 GALLOWAY: In the Ia Drang we killed ten of them for every one of us. 1626 01:44:35,600 --> 01:44:39,733 That's a ten-to-one kill ratio is how the military puts that. 1627 01:44:43,132 --> 01:44:49,500 But the enemy, he was fully prepared to pay that price 1628 01:44:49,600 --> 01:44:53,966 and more for the value of the lessons he learned. 1629 01:44:55,666 --> 01:44:57,966 LO KHAC TAM: 1630 01:45:09,765 --> 01:45:12,800 JOE GALLOWAY: Grab 'em by the belt buckle. 1631 01:45:12,899 --> 01:45:16,233 That means you've got to get so close, 1632 01:45:16,332 --> 01:45:22,865 they can't use the artillery and the aerial bombardments on you 1633 01:45:22,966 --> 01:45:25,399 for fear of killing their own. 1634 01:45:25,500 --> 01:45:30,332 Get in so close that it's man-on-man. 1635 01:45:30,432 --> 01:45:33,500 And then everything is even. 1636 01:45:34,733 --> 01:45:38,166 The Vietnamese suffered hundreds of dead 1637 01:45:38,265 --> 01:45:41,100 attacking Hal Moore's battalion at LZ X-Ray. 1638 01:45:41,199 --> 01:45:46,932 But then they ambushed another battalion a couple of days later 1639 01:45:47,033 --> 01:45:50,199 and wiped it out. 1640 01:45:50,300 --> 01:45:52,865 NARRATOR: In the fighting near Landing Zone Albany, 1641 01:45:52,966 --> 01:45:56,865 the enemy had gotten too close for artillery to be called in. 1642 01:45:58,300 --> 01:46:04,600 Out of some 425 Americans involved, 155 were killed. 1643 01:46:04,699 --> 01:46:09,300 124 more were wounded. 1644 01:46:09,399 --> 01:46:14,233 Both sides claimed victory in the Ia Drang Valley. 1645 01:46:14,332 --> 01:46:17,065 The Americans talked up the number of enemy dead 1646 01:46:17,166 --> 01:46:18,765 at Landing Zone X-Ray. 1647 01:46:18,865 --> 01:46:21,000 The ratio of losses to your kill... 1648 01:46:22,500 --> 01:46:24,533 NARRATOR: The North Vietnamese took their lessons 1649 01:46:24,632 --> 01:46:26,765 from Landing Zone Albany. 1650 01:46:34,000 --> 01:46:36,300 WILLIAM WESTMORELAND: I don't anticipate 1651 01:46:36,399 --> 01:46:41,800 that this conflict will end any time soon, 1652 01:46:41,899 --> 01:46:46,466 and we could find that we have more difficult days ahead. 1653 01:46:46,565 --> 01:46:49,365 Certainly we must be prepared for this. 1654 01:46:57,100 --> 01:47:02,000 EHRHART: In the fall of my senior year, November 1965, 1655 01:47:02,100 --> 01:47:05,432 was that huge battle at the Ia Drang Valley, 1656 01:47:05,533 --> 01:47:08,432 which was the first time there was actually confirmed 1657 01:47:08,533 --> 01:47:10,932 North Vietnamese regular soldiers as opposed 1658 01:47:11,033 --> 01:47:12,666 to Viet Cong. 1659 01:47:12,765 --> 01:47:15,666 And of course my way of interpreting that was, 1660 01:47:15,765 --> 01:47:17,265 "There it is, that's the proof. 1661 01:47:17,365 --> 01:47:19,265 The North Vietnamese are the aggressors here." 1662 01:47:19,365 --> 01:47:23,765 And that's when I began thinking in terms of 1663 01:47:23,865 --> 01:47:26,265 maybe I don't want to go to college right away. 1664 01:47:26,365 --> 01:47:29,565 Maybe I'll join the Marines. 1665 01:47:29,666 --> 01:47:30,733 And it was always the Marines. 1666 01:47:30,832 --> 01:47:32,565 I never... there was no question. 1667 01:47:32,666 --> 01:47:34,233 The Marine Corps is full of little guys like me 1668 01:47:34,332 --> 01:47:35,500 with chips on our shoulder. 1669 01:47:35,600 --> 01:47:37,033 ("Eve of Destruction by Barry McGuire plays) 1670 01:47:37,132 --> 01:47:39,466 McGUIRE: ♪ The eastern world, it is explodin'. ♪ 1671 01:47:39,565 --> 01:47:42,466 NARRATOR: The battles in the Ia Drang Valley may have been declared 1672 01:47:42,565 --> 01:47:46,733 American victories, but privately, General Westmoreland 1673 01:47:46,832 --> 01:47:50,000 and the Johnson administration were worried. 1674 01:47:50,100 --> 01:47:53,600 In spite of the Americans' new airborne mobility, 1675 01:47:53,699 --> 01:47:56,132 the enemy had been able to choose 1676 01:47:56,233 --> 01:47:58,932 the place and time of battle. 1677 01:47:59,033 --> 01:48:02,600 The intelligence on which basic decisions had been made 1678 01:48:02,699 --> 01:48:07,033 in Washington had been uniformly bad. 1679 01:48:07,132 --> 01:48:10,166 There were now believed to be 12 Viet Cong regiments 1680 01:48:10,265 --> 01:48:13,000 in South Vietnam, not just five; 1681 01:48:13,100 --> 01:48:16,466 nine North Vietnamese regiments, not three. 1682 01:48:17,666 --> 01:48:19,466 Despite months of bombing, 1683 01:48:19,565 --> 01:48:22,300 three times as many North Vietnamese regulars 1684 01:48:22,399 --> 01:48:25,932 were now slipping south of the demilitarized zone 1685 01:48:26,033 --> 01:48:28,365 as originally believed. 1686 01:48:28,466 --> 01:48:32,666 Hanoi seemed to be escalating, too. 1687 01:48:32,765 --> 01:48:36,865 And American casualties were climbing. 1688 01:48:36,966 --> 01:48:40,132 When Senator Fritz Hollings visited Saigon 1689 01:48:40,233 --> 01:48:42,666 shortly after the Ia Drang battles, 1690 01:48:42,765 --> 01:48:46,432 General Westmoreland told him, "We're killing these people 1691 01:48:46,533 --> 01:48:48,765 at a rate of ten to one." 1692 01:48:48,865 --> 01:48:50,199 Hollings warned him, 1693 01:48:50,300 --> 01:48:53,865 "Westy, the American people don't care about the ten. 1694 01:48:53,966 --> 01:48:56,033 They care about the one." 1695 01:48:57,932 --> 01:49:00,666 Westmoreland, who had said he could win the war 1696 01:49:00,765 --> 01:49:04,800 in three years, now sent an urgent cable to Washington 1697 01:49:04,899 --> 01:49:07,765 asking for 200,000 more troops. 1698 01:49:07,865 --> 01:49:09,865 McGUIRE: ♪ Yeah, my blood's so mad... 1699 01:49:09,966 --> 01:49:12,533 NARRATOR: "The message came as a shattering blow," 1700 01:49:12,632 --> 01:49:14,765 Robert McNamara remembered. 1701 01:49:14,865 --> 01:49:19,865 Once again, he offered Johnson two options: 1702 01:49:19,966 --> 01:49:23,166 try to negotiate a compromise with Hanoi, 1703 01:49:23,265 --> 01:49:26,865 or accede to Westmoreland's request for more men, 1704 01:49:26,966 --> 01:49:30,233 though the chances of victory, the secretary of defense said, 1705 01:49:30,332 --> 01:49:34,432 might be no better than one in three. 1706 01:49:34,533 --> 01:49:37,166 GALLOWAY: And then they all sat down 1707 01:49:37,265 --> 01:49:40,132 and voted for option two. 1708 01:49:40,233 --> 01:49:42,166 McGUIRE: ♪ Over and over and over... 1709 01:49:42,265 --> 01:49:46,332 KARL MARLANTES: My bitterness about the political powers at the time 1710 01:49:46,432 --> 01:49:51,332 was, first of all, the lying. 1711 01:49:51,432 --> 01:49:54,800 I mean, I can understand a policy error 1712 01:49:54,899 --> 01:49:57,500 that is incredibly, incredibly painful 1713 01:49:57,600 --> 01:49:59,565 and kills a lot of people out of a mistake 1714 01:49:59,666 --> 01:50:02,765 if they made that with noble hearts. 1715 01:50:02,865 --> 01:50:05,233 That was, you know, when Eisenhower and Kennedy 1716 01:50:05,332 --> 01:50:07,899 were trying to figure things out. 1717 01:50:08,000 --> 01:50:12,233 And you read that, you know, McNamara knew by '65-- 1718 01:50:12,332 --> 01:50:14,132 it was just three years before I was there-- 1719 01:50:14,233 --> 01:50:15,466 that the war was unwinnable. 1720 01:50:15,565 --> 01:50:17,365 That's what makes me mad. 1721 01:50:17,466 --> 01:50:19,666 Making a mistake, people can do that. 1722 01:50:19,765 --> 01:50:21,432 But covering up mistakes, 1723 01:50:21,533 --> 01:50:25,699 then you're killing people for your own ego. 1724 01:50:25,800 --> 01:50:28,966 And that makes me mad. 1725 01:50:31,100 --> 01:50:32,600 NARRATOR: Tens of thousands of American troops 1726 01:50:32,699 --> 01:50:36,500 continued to prepare to deploy to Vietnam 1727 01:50:36,600 --> 01:50:37,699 from all over the country, 1728 01:50:37,800 --> 01:50:41,233 and General Westmoreland and his commanders 1729 01:50:41,332 --> 01:50:43,432 drew up plans for major offensives 1730 01:50:43,533 --> 01:50:46,699 in the new year of 1966. 1731 01:50:50,500 --> 01:50:54,000 Meanwhile, hoping the Soviets might help bring Hanoi 1732 01:50:54,100 --> 01:50:57,966 to the bargaining table, McNamara urged the president 1733 01:50:58,065 --> 01:51:02,300 to declare a halt to the bombing of North Vietnam. 1734 01:51:02,399 --> 01:51:04,932 Over the objections of the military, 1735 01:51:05,033 --> 01:51:07,699 who worried it would give the enemy time to rebuild 1736 01:51:07,800 --> 01:51:12,065 its defenses, Johnson agreed to stop the bombing 1737 01:51:12,166 --> 01:51:14,899 on Christmas Eve. 1738 01:51:15,000 --> 01:51:17,132 If it achieved nothing else, he said, 1739 01:51:17,233 --> 01:51:19,432 it would show the American people 1740 01:51:19,533 --> 01:51:22,865 that before he committed more of their sons to battle, 1741 01:51:22,966 --> 01:51:26,000 "We have gone the last mile." 1742 01:51:26,100 --> 01:51:31,265 ("Little Drummer Boy" by Burl Ives playing) 1743 01:51:31,365 --> 01:51:36,832 JEAN-MARIE CROCKER: Well, Christmas always meant a great deal in our family. 1744 01:51:36,932 --> 01:51:41,332 We sent packages to Denton, of course. 1745 01:51:41,432 --> 01:51:43,500 Then a neighbor mentioned to me 1746 01:51:43,600 --> 01:51:48,033 that she heard a local television station was offering 1747 01:51:48,132 --> 01:51:51,932 free tapes to be made to send to a soldier overseas. 1748 01:51:52,033 --> 01:51:56,699 We dressed up for the cameras. 1749 01:51:56,800 --> 01:51:59,533 The idea was that we would each just say something 1750 01:51:59,632 --> 01:52:02,865 about what we were doing and wish him well. 1751 01:52:05,033 --> 01:52:07,533 It was a horrible day for me. 1752 01:52:07,632 --> 01:52:12,565 It made it so real that he was far away. 1753 01:52:12,666 --> 01:52:15,932 Well, Mogie, here we are. 1754 01:52:16,033 --> 01:52:19,733 It's... let's see what day is today. 1755 01:52:19,832 --> 01:52:21,033 Here it is, Saturday... 1756 01:52:21,132 --> 01:52:22,100 November 13. 1757 01:52:22,199 --> 01:52:24,300 November 13, 1758 01:52:24,399 --> 01:52:29,466 and station WTEN has given us a chance to talk to you. 1759 01:52:29,565 --> 01:52:32,000 We all wish you a Merry Christmas 1760 01:52:32,100 --> 01:52:33,332 to start out with. 1761 01:52:34,765 --> 01:52:37,100 Rand, what do you got to say to Mogie? 1762 01:52:37,199 --> 01:52:38,466 Merry Christmas. 1763 01:52:38,565 --> 01:52:39,600 Merry Christmas. 1764 01:52:41,500 --> 01:52:42,733 Merry Christmas, darling. 1765 01:52:42,832 --> 01:52:44,100 We sent your packages 1766 01:52:44,199 --> 01:52:45,966 and there's one that's waiting for you at home. 1767 01:52:46,065 --> 01:52:47,666 It's a record of fife and drum music 1768 01:52:47,765 --> 01:52:50,365 that we got for you at Williamsburg. 1769 01:52:50,466 --> 01:52:51,265 Candy? 1770 01:52:53,265 --> 01:52:59,000 My teacher isn't very nice, and she always is crabby, 1771 01:52:59,100 --> 01:53:01,565 and I don't like school at all. 1772 01:53:01,666 --> 01:53:03,600 Now I'm a brownie. 1773 01:53:03,699 --> 01:53:05,265 Merry Christmas. 1774 01:53:06,765 --> 01:53:08,033 Happy Christmas, Mogie. 1775 01:53:08,132 --> 01:53:09,899 I think I'm getting new skis for Christmas. 1776 01:53:10,000 --> 01:53:12,033 So when you get home, we can get together sometime. 1777 01:53:12,132 --> 01:53:15,600 We do all wish you a very Merry Christmas, 1778 01:53:15,699 --> 01:53:17,899 and we'll be thinking of you on Christmas Day. 1779 01:53:20,800 --> 01:53:22,500 JEAN-MARIE CROCKER: We miss you, sweetheart. 1780 01:53:24,600 --> 01:53:28,666 IVES: ♪ Me and my drum. 1781 01:53:33,966 --> 01:53:35,399 ("Turn! Turn! Turn!" by the Byrds playing) 1782 01:53:48,000 --> 01:53:52,632 ♪ To everything, turn, turn, turn ♪ 1783 01:53:52,733 --> 01:53:57,399 ♪ There is a season, turn, turn, turn ♪ 1784 01:53:57,500 --> 01:54:03,565 ♪ And a time to every purpose under heaven ♪ 1785 01:54:05,399 --> 01:54:10,233 ♪ A time to be born, a time to die ♪ 1786 01:54:10,332 --> 01:54:12,800 ♪ A time to plant, a time to reap ♪ 1787 01:54:12,899 --> 01:54:16,666 ♪ A time to kill, a time to heal ♪ 1788 01:54:16,765 --> 01:54:24,100 ♪ A time to laugh, a time to weep ♪ 1789 01:54:24,199 --> 01:54:29,399 ♪ To everything, turn, turn, turn ♪ 1790 01:54:29,500 --> 01:54:34,666 ♪ There is a season, turn, turn, turn ♪ 1791 01:54:34,765 --> 01:54:40,300 ♪ And a time to every purpose under heaven ♪ 1792 01:54:42,100 --> 01:54:45,800 ♪ A time to build up, a time to break down ♪ 1793 01:54:45,899 --> 01:54:50,432 ♪ A time to dance, a time to mourn ♪ 1794 01:54:50,533 --> 01:54:53,899 ♪ A time to cast away stones 1795 01:54:54,000 --> 01:54:59,832 ♪ A time to gather stones together ♪ 1796 01:55:01,632 --> 01:55:06,832 ♪ To everything, turn, turn, turn ♪ 1797 01:55:06,932 --> 01:55:12,033 ♪ There is a season, turn, turn, turn ♪ 1798 01:55:12,132 --> 01:55:17,632 ♪ And a time to every purpose under heaven ♪ 1799 01:55:19,632 --> 01:55:23,233 ♪ A time of love, a time of hate ♪ 1800 01:55:23,332 --> 01:55:28,466 ♪ A time of war, a time of peace ♪ 1801 01:55:28,565 --> 01:55:31,265 ♪ A time you may embrace 1802 01:55:31,365 --> 01:55:37,600 ♪ A time to refrain from embracing ♪ 1803 01:55:39,132 --> 01:55:43,899 ♪ To everything, turn, turn, turn ♪ 1804 01:55:44,000 --> 01:55:49,065 ♪ There is a season, turn, turn, turn ♪ 1805 01:55:49,166 --> 01:55:55,065 ♪ And a time to every purpose under heaven ♪ 1806 01:55:57,233 --> 01:56:00,733 ♪ A time to gain, a time to lose ♪ 1807 01:56:00,832 --> 01:56:04,800 ♪ A time to rend, a time to sew ♪ 1808 01:56:04,899 --> 01:56:08,832 ♪ A time for love, a time for hate ♪ 1809 01:56:08,932 --> 01:56:22,466 ♪ A time for peace, I swear it's not too late. ♪ 1810 01:56:23,533 --> 01:56:24,733 ANNOUNCER: LEARN MORE ABOUT THE FILM 1811 01:56:24,733 --> 01:56:27,600 AND FIND ADDITIONAL RESOURCES AT PBS.ORG/VIETNAMWAR 1812 01:56:27,600 --> 01:56:31,533 AND JOIN THE CONVERSATION USING HASHTAG VIETNAMWARPBS. 1813 01:56:31,533 --> 01:56:33,000 "THE VIETNAM WAR" IS AVAILABLE 1814 01:56:33,000 --> 01:56:34,666 ON BLU-RAY AND DVD. 1815 01:56:34,666 --> 01:56:36,332 THE COMPANION BOOK, SOUNDTRACK, 1816 01:56:36,332 --> 01:56:37,733 AND ORIGINAL SCORE FROM THE FILM 1817 01:56:37,733 --> 01:56:38,865 ARE ALSO AVAILABLE. 1818 01:56:38,865 --> 01:56:40,966 TO ORDER, VISIT SHOPPBS.ORG 1819 01:56:40,966 --> 01:56:43,432 OR CALL 1-800-PLAY-PBS. 1820 01:56:43,432 --> 01:56:44,865 EPISODES OF THIS SERIES ALSO 1821 01:56:44,865 --> 01:56:45,966 AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD 1822 01:56:45,966 --> 01:56:47,065 FROM iTUNES. 1823 01:56:50,332 --> 01:56:52,466 ANNOUNCER: BANK OF AMERICA PROUDLY SUPPORTS 1824 01:56:52,466 --> 01:56:57,365 KEN BURNS' AND LYNN NOVICK'S FILM "THE VIETNAM WAR" 1825 01:56:57,365 --> 01:56:59,765 BECAUSE FOSTERING DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES 1826 01:56:59,765 --> 01:57:02,432 AND CIVIL DISCOURSE AROUND IMPORTANT ISSUES 1827 01:57:02,432 --> 01:57:04,733 FURTHERS PROGRESS, EQUALITY, 1828 01:57:04,733 --> 01:57:06,733 AND A MORE CONNECTED SOCIETY. 1829 01:57:11,199 --> 01:57:15,233 GO TO BANKOFAMERICA.COM/ BETTERCONNECTED TO LEARN MORE. 1830 01:57:18,699 --> 01:57:20,132 ANNOUNCER: MAJOR SUPPORT FOR "THE VIETNAM WAR" 1831 01:57:20,132 --> 01:57:23,632 WAS PROVIDED BY MEMBERS OF THE BETTER ANGELS SOCIETY, 1832 01:57:23,632 --> 01:57:27,600 INCLUDING JONATHAN AND JEANNIE LAVINE, 1833 01:57:27,600 --> 01:57:30,500 DIANE AND HAL BRIERLEY, 1834 01:57:30,500 --> 01:57:32,899 AMY AND DAVID ABRAMS, 1835 01:57:32,899 --> 01:57:35,399 JOHN AND CATHERINE DEBS, 1836 01:57:35,399 --> 01:57:38,300 THE FULLERTON FAMILY CHARITABLE FUND, 1837 01:57:38,300 --> 01:57:40,365 THE MONTRONE FAMILY, 1838 01:57:40,365 --> 01:57:42,699 LYNDA AND STEWART RESNICK, 1839 01:57:42,699 --> 01:57:45,466 THE PERRY AND DONNA GOLKIN FAMILY FOUNDATION, 1840 01:57:45,466 --> 01:57:46,466 THE LYNCH FOUNDATION, 1841 01:57:46,466 --> 01:57:49,332 THE ROGER AND ROSEMARY ENRICO FOUNDATION, 1842 01:57:49,332 --> 01:57:52,765 AND BY THESE ADDITIONAL FUNDERS. 1843 01:57:52,765 --> 01:57:54,666 MAJOR FUNDING WAS ALSO PROVIDED 1844 01:57:54,666 --> 01:57:56,399 BY DAVID H. 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