Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? 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 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:53,500 (radio chatter) 36 00:01:53,599 --> 00:01:56,466 (distant helicopter blades beating) 37 00:02:05,832 --> 00:02:07,665 ROGER HARRIS: Soldiers adapt. 38 00:02:07,766 --> 00:02:09,832 You go over there with one mindset, you know, 39 00:02:09,932 --> 00:02:11,365 and then you adapt. 40 00:02:11,466 --> 00:02:13,466 You adapt to the atrocities of war. 41 00:02:13,566 --> 00:02:15,032 You adapt to... 42 00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:21,599 ...killing and dying, you know. 43 00:02:21,699 --> 00:02:23,599 After a while it doesn't bother you. 44 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:28,265 Well, I should say it doesn't bother you as much. 45 00:02:29,765 --> 00:02:33,233 When I first arrived in Vietnam, there were some... 46 00:02:33,332 --> 00:02:34,500 (sighs) 47 00:02:34,599 --> 00:02:36,033 there were some interesting things that happened 48 00:02:36,133 --> 00:02:39,365 and I questioned some of the Marines. 49 00:02:39,466 --> 00:02:44,099 I was made to realize that this is war, and this is what we do. 50 00:02:45,699 --> 00:02:47,365 And that stuck in my head. 51 00:02:47,466 --> 00:02:48,432 This is war. 52 00:02:48,533 --> 00:02:50,633 This is what we do. 53 00:02:50,733 --> 00:02:54,466 And after a while you embrace that. 54 00:02:56,233 --> 00:02:57,966 This is war. 55 00:02:58,066 --> 00:02:59,432 This is what we do. 56 00:02:59,533 --> 00:03:02,066 ("Are You Experienced?" by the Jimi Hendrix Experience playing) 57 00:03:13,665 --> 00:03:16,699 This evening I came here to speak to you about Vietnam. 58 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:19,765 There is progress in the war itself, 59 00:03:19,865 --> 00:03:23,165 rather dramatic progress considering the situation 60 00:03:23,265 --> 00:03:27,900 that actually prevailed when we sent our troops there in 1965. 61 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:32,332 The grip of the Viet Cong on the people is being broken. 62 00:03:32,432 --> 00:03:37,966 HENDRIX: ♪ If you can just get your mind together ♪ 63 00:03:38,066 --> 00:03:39,033 (rapid gunfire) 64 00:03:39,133 --> 00:03:44,199 ♪ Then come across to me 65 00:03:44,300 --> 00:03:46,966 NARRATOR: In the summer of 1967, 66 00:03:47,066 --> 00:03:49,500 the men overseeing the war in Vietnam 67 00:03:49,599 --> 00:03:51,633 remained outwardly optimistic-- 68 00:03:51,733 --> 00:03:55,432 whatever private doubts they may have held. 69 00:03:55,533 --> 00:03:58,033 HENDRIX: ♪ But first 70 00:03:58,133 --> 00:04:01,000 ♪ Are you experienced? 71 00:04:01,099 --> 00:04:02,366 (airplane flying overhead) 72 00:04:02,466 --> 00:04:03,500 (explosion) 73 00:04:03,599 --> 00:04:07,633 ♪ Have you ever been experienced? ♪ 74 00:04:07,733 --> 00:04:12,032 NARRATOR: The American military command in Vietnam, MACV, 75 00:04:12,133 --> 00:04:15,599 claimed to have killed 200,000 enemy troops 76 00:04:15,699 --> 00:04:17,466 and had told the president 77 00:04:17,565 --> 00:04:20,600 that the all-important "crossover point"-- 78 00:04:20,699 --> 00:04:23,899 the moment when U.S. and ARVN forces were killing 79 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:27,065 more Viet Cong and North Vietnamese troops 80 00:04:27,165 --> 00:04:30,665 than the enemy could replace-- appeared to have been reached 81 00:04:30,766 --> 00:04:33,733 in almost all of South Vietnam. 82 00:04:33,832 --> 00:04:36,100 But the United States had suffered 83 00:04:36,199 --> 00:04:39,899 nearly 75,000 casualties. 84 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:46,466 By July 4, 14,624 Americans had died, 85 00:04:46,566 --> 00:04:48,233 and, off the record, 86 00:04:48,332 --> 00:04:52,766 many officers were much less sanguine than their commanders. 87 00:04:52,865 --> 00:04:58,266 From Saigon, R.W. Apple of theNew York Time s summarized 88 00:04:58,365 --> 00:05:03,033 their views: "Victory is not close at hand," he wrote. 89 00:05:03,132 --> 00:05:06,932 In fact, "It may be beyond reach." 90 00:05:07,033 --> 00:05:11,932 ("Are You Experienced?" by the Jimi Hendrix Experience playing) 91 00:05:15,033 --> 00:05:16,966 (rapid gunfire) 92 00:05:17,065 --> 00:05:19,500 It was true that the enemy rarely won a battle 93 00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:22,432 in the traditional military sense that they drove 94 00:05:22,533 --> 00:05:24,466 the Americans from the field. 95 00:05:24,565 --> 00:05:27,832 But it was also true that no American victory 96 00:05:27,932 --> 00:05:29,665 seemed to matter. 97 00:05:29,766 --> 00:05:35,332 Battered enemy units were quickly reinforced and rearmed. 98 00:05:35,432 --> 00:05:39,000 Pacification-- winning the hearts and minds 99 00:05:39,100 --> 00:05:42,766 of the South Vietnamese people-- was not working. 100 00:05:42,865 --> 00:05:47,165 Saigon still controlled only a fraction of a country 101 00:05:47,266 --> 00:05:49,266 roughly the size of Florida, 102 00:05:49,365 --> 00:05:51,132 and its government remained 103 00:05:51,233 --> 00:05:55,466 unpopular and riddled with corruption. 104 00:05:55,566 --> 00:05:59,165 President Johnson had been forced to raise taxes 105 00:05:59,266 --> 00:06:02,665 to meet the war's ever-climbing cost. 106 00:06:02,766 --> 00:06:06,899 His ambitious social program-- his War on Poverty-- 107 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:09,533 was in retreat. 108 00:06:09,632 --> 00:06:14,432 HENDRIX: ♪ Trumpets and violins I can hear in the distance ♪ 109 00:06:14,533 --> 00:06:19,432 NARRATOR: That summer, racial unrest would grip American cities. 110 00:06:19,533 --> 00:06:22,932 HENDRIX: ♪ Maybe now you can't hear them ♪ 111 00:06:23,033 --> 00:06:24,966 ♪ But you will 112 00:06:25,065 --> 00:06:29,100 NARRATOR: The president would have to send the Army into Detroit 113 00:06:29,199 --> 00:06:31,399 to end five days of rioting 114 00:06:31,500 --> 00:06:35,832 that left 43 dead and hundreds of buildings razed. 115 00:06:37,066 --> 00:06:41,033 Twenty-six more died in Newark, New Jersey, 116 00:06:41,132 --> 00:06:43,733 demonstrating yet again how wide a gap 117 00:06:43,832 --> 00:06:48,365 remained between black and white Americans. 118 00:06:48,466 --> 00:06:54,266 Only a third of the country saw any sign of progress in Vietnam, 119 00:06:54,365 --> 00:06:57,399 and half of the country now disapproved 120 00:06:57,500 --> 00:07:01,766 of the president's handling of the war. 121 00:07:01,865 --> 00:07:05,000 Meanwhile, Le Duan and his comrades 122 00:07:05,100 --> 00:07:08,399 who ran things in Hanoi, were secretly planning 123 00:07:08,500 --> 00:07:13,033 a new offensive that they believed would destroy 124 00:07:13,132 --> 00:07:15,966 what they called the puppet government in Saigon 125 00:07:16,065 --> 00:07:19,832 and convince the United States the war could never be won 126 00:07:19,932 --> 00:07:22,766 on the battlefield. 127 00:07:24,632 --> 00:07:27,699 JAMES WILLBANKS: There's the old apocryphal story that, in 1967, 128 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:29,766 they went to the basement of the Pentagon 129 00:07:29,865 --> 00:07:32,066 when the mainframe computers took up the whole basement, 130 00:07:32,165 --> 00:07:34,300 and they put on the old punch cards everything 131 00:07:34,399 --> 00:07:35,899 you could quantify-- numbers of ships, 132 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:38,266 numbers of airplanes, numbers of tanks, numbers of helicopters, 133 00:07:38,365 --> 00:07:42,233 artillery, machine gun, ammo-- everything you could quantify, 134 00:07:42,332 --> 00:07:45,365 put it in the hopper and said, "When will we win in Vietnam?" 135 00:07:45,466 --> 00:07:47,100 Went away on Friday. 136 00:07:47,199 --> 00:07:49,132 The thing ground away all weekend. 137 00:07:49,233 --> 00:07:52,199 Came back on Monday and there was one card in the output tray 138 00:07:52,300 --> 00:07:55,199 and it said, "You won in 1965." 139 00:07:55,300 --> 00:07:57,132 The only problem is the enemy gets a vote 140 00:07:57,233 --> 00:07:58,865 and they weren't on the punch cards. 141 00:08:06,733 --> 00:08:11,100 NARRATOR: There were nearly half a million American soldiers in Vietnam 142 00:08:11,199 --> 00:08:13,432 by the middle of 1967, 143 00:08:13,533 --> 00:08:16,233 with thousands more on the way. 144 00:08:16,332 --> 00:08:20,632 Only 20% would ever be in combat. 145 00:08:20,733 --> 00:08:24,233 The rest served in support units. 146 00:08:24,332 --> 00:08:27,932 None of them had been taught very much about the people 147 00:08:28,033 --> 00:08:30,865 against whom-- and for whom-- they had been asked to fight. 148 00:08:32,932 --> 00:08:35,798 Troops called the Vietnamese "gooks"-- 149 00:08:35,899 --> 00:08:39,200 a term first used by U.S. Marines to refer 150 00:08:39,298 --> 00:08:41,533 to the people of Haiti and Nicaragua 151 00:08:41,633 --> 00:08:45,232 during the American occupation of those countries, 152 00:08:45,332 --> 00:08:49,100 and then applied to the Asian enemy in Korea. 153 00:08:49,200 --> 00:08:54,165 Or "slopes," an epithet for the Japanese during the Pacific War, 154 00:08:54,265 --> 00:08:59,200 or "dinks," an Australian term for the Chinese. 155 00:08:59,299 --> 00:09:01,899 And so in basic training they taught you 156 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:04,166 that you were going to be fighting gooks. 157 00:09:04,265 --> 00:09:07,166 It was part of the song that you sang 158 00:09:07,265 --> 00:09:09,466 as you jogged down the road. 159 00:09:09,566 --> 00:09:11,832 As you went through bayonet training, 160 00:09:11,932 --> 00:09:14,232 you were not talking about Vietnamese. 161 00:09:14,332 --> 00:09:17,633 You were always talking about gooks. 162 00:09:17,732 --> 00:09:21,232 Vietnamese might be people, but gooks are-are... 163 00:09:21,332 --> 00:09:22,732 are close to being animals. 164 00:09:22,832 --> 00:09:27,100 NARRATOR: GIs called Vietnamese homes "hooches"-- 165 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:30,100 a corruption of the Japanese word for dwelling places 166 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:33,466 that they had learned during the battle for Okinawa 167 00:09:33,566 --> 00:09:35,765 in the Second World War. 168 00:09:35,865 --> 00:09:41,033 Soldiers referred to older Vietnamese women as "mama sans," 169 00:09:41,133 --> 00:09:43,732 the term they used for women who ran whorehouses 170 00:09:43,832 --> 00:09:46,633 in occupied Japan. 171 00:09:46,732 --> 00:09:49,566 The Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese 172 00:09:49,665 --> 00:09:53,932 called GIs "invaders," "imperialists," 173 00:09:54,033 --> 00:09:55,765 and (speaking Vietnamese)-- 174 00:09:55,865 --> 00:09:57,765 "American bandits." 175 00:10:02,966 --> 00:10:07,732 South Vietnam had been divided into four tactical zones. 176 00:10:07,832 --> 00:10:12,166 By the summer of 1967, American troops were fighting 177 00:10:12,265 --> 00:10:13,932 in all four of them. 178 00:10:16,299 --> 00:10:19,066 In IV Corps, the "Brown Water Navy" 179 00:10:19,166 --> 00:10:21,932 patrolled the rivers and canals and marshes 180 00:10:22,033 --> 00:10:25,232 of the densely populated Mekong Delta, 181 00:10:25,332 --> 00:10:28,466 searching for the enemy. 182 00:10:28,566 --> 00:10:33,200 In III Corps, the Army continued to sweep the thick jungles 183 00:10:33,299 --> 00:10:36,765 of the Iron Triangle, the Viet Cong sanctuary 184 00:10:36,865 --> 00:10:40,432 near Saigon that was supposed to have been permanently denied 185 00:10:40,533 --> 00:10:45,966 to the enemy by big American operations earlier in the year. 186 00:10:46,066 --> 00:10:49,232 In II Corps, a series of bloody battles 187 00:10:49,332 --> 00:10:53,966 in the Central Highlands around Dak To temporarily drove 188 00:10:54,066 --> 00:10:59,200 North Vietnamese troops back into Cambodia and Laos. 189 00:10:59,299 --> 00:11:03,832 But some of the most intense combat would take place 190 00:11:03,932 --> 00:11:08,299 in I Corps-- made up of the five northernmost provinces 191 00:11:08,399 --> 00:11:11,432 of South Vietnam-- where the Marines would bear 192 00:11:11,533 --> 00:11:13,865 the brunt of the fighting. 193 00:11:13,966 --> 00:11:17,265 More than two-and-a-half million people lived there, 194 00:11:17,365 --> 00:11:19,500 all but 2% of them within 195 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:21,899 the narrow rice-growing river valleys 196 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:24,700 along the South China Sea. 197 00:11:24,799 --> 00:11:28,566 The Marines wanted to eradicate the Viet Cong there, 198 00:11:28,666 --> 00:11:30,966 and provide security to the people, 199 00:11:31,066 --> 00:11:33,932 village by village, hamlet by hamlet. 200 00:11:34,033 --> 00:11:37,700 The vast, largely empty highlands that stretched 201 00:11:37,799 --> 00:11:41,033 westward all the way to Laos, the Marines argued, 202 00:11:41,133 --> 00:11:43,899 could be left to the enemy. 203 00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:46,500 "The real war is among the people," 204 00:11:46,600 --> 00:11:49,466 said Marine lieutenant general Victor Krulak, 205 00:11:49,566 --> 00:11:52,200 "and not among the mountains." 206 00:11:52,299 --> 00:11:54,700 But General William Westmoreland, 207 00:11:54,799 --> 00:11:57,799 the American commander, feared that thousands 208 00:11:57,899 --> 00:12:01,700 of North Vietnamese Army regulars-- the NVA-- 209 00:12:01,799 --> 00:12:06,000 were planning to seize the two northernmost provinces. 210 00:12:06,100 --> 00:12:11,265 Finding and destroying them remained his first goal. 211 00:12:11,365 --> 00:12:12,932 (helicopter blades beating) 212 00:12:13,033 --> 00:12:15,832 He insisted the Third Marine Division 213 00:12:15,932 --> 00:12:18,166 move north to meet that challenge, 214 00:12:18,265 --> 00:12:23,666 establish a base at Dong Ha and man strongpoints at Gio Linh, 215 00:12:23,765 --> 00:12:31,166 Con Thien, Cam Lo, Camp Carroll, the Rockpile and Khe Sanh. 216 00:12:31,265 --> 00:12:34,865 Khe Sanh overlooked Route 9, the East-West highway 217 00:12:34,966 --> 00:12:38,600 that Westmoreland hoped would one day carry American troops 218 00:12:38,700 --> 00:12:42,700 across the border into Laos, where North Vietnamese men 219 00:12:42,799 --> 00:12:46,633 and supplies were streaming south on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. 220 00:12:50,033 --> 00:12:53,033 But the thousands of Marines monitoring the border 221 00:12:53,133 --> 00:12:56,232 would find themselves within range of highly accurate 222 00:12:56,332 --> 00:12:59,966 North Vietnamese artillery and rocket launchers 223 00:13:00,066 --> 00:13:01,932 hidden within the DMZ. 224 00:13:02,033 --> 00:13:03,799 ("I'm a Man" by The Spencer Davis Group playing" 225 00:13:03,899 --> 00:13:09,033 (explosions) 226 00:13:10,966 --> 00:13:11,865 JOHN LAURENCE: Tell me... 227 00:13:11,966 --> 00:13:13,000 You came here at full strength? 228 00:13:13,100 --> 00:13:14,765 I had 13 men when I came. 229 00:13:14,865 --> 00:13:17,432 And it's four days later now and how many are still here? 230 00:13:17,533 --> 00:13:18,432 Six. 231 00:13:18,533 --> 00:13:21,966 ("I'm a Man" continues) 232 00:13:23,832 --> 00:13:27,533 The rifles have been jamming, the mud's been... 233 00:13:27,633 --> 00:13:29,133 it slowed everything down. 234 00:13:29,232 --> 00:13:30,765 And the artillery comes in everywhere. 235 00:13:30,865 --> 00:13:33,299 And, ah, it just gets pretty futile 236 00:13:33,399 --> 00:13:34,665 and frustrating sometimes. 237 00:13:34,765 --> 00:13:36,765 ("I'm a Man" continues) 238 00:13:38,765 --> 00:13:41,533 I can't say that I'm scared stiff, but I'm scared. 239 00:13:41,633 --> 00:13:44,732 I mean, after a while, you know it's going to come. 240 00:13:44,832 --> 00:13:46,133 And you can't do nothing about it. 241 00:13:46,232 --> 00:13:47,533 And you just look to God. 242 00:13:47,633 --> 00:13:49,265 SPENCER DAVIS GROUP: ♪ Well, my pad is very messy 243 00:13:49,365 --> 00:13:50,966 ♪ And there's whiskers on my chin. ♪ 244 00:13:51,066 --> 00:13:54,033 NARRATOR: Private First Class John Musgrave 245 00:13:54,133 --> 00:13:56,799 of Fairmount, Missouri, who had volunteered to join 246 00:13:56,899 --> 00:13:58,700 the 3rd Marine Division, 247 00:13:58,799 --> 00:14:02,700 was sent to the battle-scarred countryside around Con Thien, 248 00:14:02,799 --> 00:14:06,200 a few kilometers south of the DMZ. 249 00:14:06,299 --> 00:14:08,832 (explosion) 250 00:14:08,932 --> 00:14:12,600 JOHN MUSGRAVE: For the Marines in northern I Corps in the 3rd Marine Division 251 00:14:12,700 --> 00:14:16,332 in the spring and summer of 1967 we called the DMZ 252 00:14:16,432 --> 00:14:17,865 the "Dead Marine Zone." 253 00:14:17,966 --> 00:14:21,765 NARRATOR: Musgrave's 1st Battalion had already suffered 254 00:14:21,865 --> 00:14:25,399 so many casualties in a series of bloody sweeps 255 00:14:25,500 --> 00:14:29,133 that it was believed to be a hard-luck outfit. 256 00:14:29,232 --> 00:14:32,700 They were called the "Walking Dead." 257 00:14:32,799 --> 00:14:35,700 SPENCER DAVIS GROUP: ♪ I'm a man, yes I am, and I can't... ♪ 258 00:14:35,799 --> 00:14:39,500 MUSGRAVE: I joined the Marine Corps to be in the varsity. 259 00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:43,066 And I felt like I wasn't varsity unless I was up north 260 00:14:43,165 --> 00:14:44,466 fighting the NVA. 261 00:14:44,566 --> 00:14:47,700 I have never regretted that decision. 262 00:14:47,799 --> 00:14:52,200 There were times when we were under artillery fire, 263 00:14:52,299 --> 00:14:55,865 where I thought, you know, "What-what were you thinking?" 264 00:14:55,966 --> 00:15:01,666 Here it is in a nutshell: if I lived to be 63 years old, 265 00:15:01,765 --> 00:15:03,865 I didn't want to look in the mirror some morning 266 00:15:03,966 --> 00:15:06,332 and have a guy looking back at me that hadn't done everything 267 00:15:06,432 --> 00:15:08,232 for what he believed, 268 00:15:08,332 --> 00:15:12,100 that let somebody else do the harder part. 269 00:15:16,799 --> 00:15:19,765 Every major contact I remember with the NVA was initiated 270 00:15:19,865 --> 00:15:21,399 by them ambushing us. 271 00:15:21,500 --> 00:15:24,832 They wouldn't hit us unless they outnumbered us. 272 00:15:24,932 --> 00:15:26,832 And we were fighting in their yard. 273 00:15:29,832 --> 00:15:31,166 They knew the ground; we didn't. 274 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:36,932 They were just really good. 275 00:15:47,265 --> 00:15:49,232 LE VAN CHO: 276 00:15:55,633 --> 00:15:58,566 NARRATOR: The North Vietnamese carried Soviet-made, 277 00:15:58,665 --> 00:16:01,633 seemingly indestructible AK-47s. 278 00:16:03,033 --> 00:16:07,932 The Marines had to fight with newly issued M-16 rifles 279 00:16:08,033 --> 00:16:12,232 that had for a time a potentially fatal design flaw: 280 00:16:12,332 --> 00:16:15,066 they needed constant cleaning 281 00:16:15,166 --> 00:16:18,299 and often jammed in the middle of firefights. 282 00:16:18,399 --> 00:16:21,466 MUSGRAVE: Their rifles worked; ours didn't. 283 00:16:21,566 --> 00:16:24,966 The M-16 was a piece of shit. 284 00:16:25,066 --> 00:16:26,666 You can't throw your bullets at the enemy 285 00:16:26,765 --> 00:16:28,066 and have them be effective. 286 00:16:28,166 --> 00:16:32,600 And that rifle malfunctioned on us repeatedly. 287 00:16:38,700 --> 00:16:41,600 (gunfire) 288 00:16:44,665 --> 00:16:47,133 HO HUU LAN: 289 00:16:58,232 --> 00:17:01,332 My hatred for them was pure. 290 00:17:01,432 --> 00:17:03,033 Pure. 291 00:17:03,133 --> 00:17:05,032 I hated them so much. 292 00:17:06,365 --> 00:17:07,732 And I was so scared of them. 293 00:17:08,833 --> 00:17:11,133 Boy, I was terrified of them. 294 00:17:11,232 --> 00:17:13,566 And the scareder I got, the more I hated them. 295 00:17:40,500 --> 00:17:43,799 MUSGRAVE: I only killed one human being in Vietnam. 296 00:17:43,900 --> 00:17:47,165 And that was the first man that I ever killed. 297 00:17:47,266 --> 00:17:51,299 And I was sick with guilt about killing that guy 298 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:53,432 and thinking I'm going to have to do this 299 00:17:53,532 --> 00:17:54,700 for the next 13 months. 300 00:17:54,799 --> 00:17:57,266 I'm-I'm going to go crazy. 301 00:17:57,365 --> 00:18:00,165 And I saw a Marine step on a bouncing Betty mine, 302 00:18:00,266 --> 00:18:03,465 and that's when I made my deal with the devil 303 00:18:03,566 --> 00:18:07,299 and that I said, "I will never kill another human being 304 00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:09,633 "as long as I'm in Vietnam. 305 00:18:09,732 --> 00:18:14,833 "However, I will waste as many gooks as I can find. 306 00:18:14,932 --> 00:18:18,299 "I'll wax as many dinks as I can find. 307 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:21,432 "I'll smoke as many zips as I can find. 308 00:18:21,532 --> 00:18:24,599 But I ain't gonna kill anybody," you know? 309 00:18:24,700 --> 00:18:28,032 Turn the subject into an object. 310 00:18:28,133 --> 00:18:30,133 It's Racism 101. 311 00:18:30,232 --> 00:18:32,333 It turns out to be a very necessary tool 312 00:18:32,432 --> 00:18:35,000 when you have children fighting your wars, 313 00:18:35,099 --> 00:18:37,833 for them to stay sane doing their work. 314 00:18:44,232 --> 00:18:46,799 NARRATOR: On one early patrol, Musgrave watched 315 00:18:46,900 --> 00:18:51,566 an American fighter swoop down to drop napalm on enemy troops 316 00:18:51,665 --> 00:18:54,000 hidden behind a hedgerow. 317 00:18:54,099 --> 00:18:57,799 He could hear their AK-47s firing at the plane 318 00:18:57,900 --> 00:19:01,566 until the instant they were engulfed in flames. 319 00:19:01,665 --> 00:19:05,400 "If the enemy is willing to die like that," he thought, 320 00:19:05,500 --> 00:19:08,400 "this is going to be one very long war." 321 00:19:10,900 --> 00:19:13,133 MUSGRAVE: They knew if they would pop the ambush close 322 00:19:13,232 --> 00:19:14,833 and then get amongst you, 323 00:19:14,932 --> 00:19:18,465 we couldn't or would hesitate to call in air on ourselves. 324 00:19:21,566 --> 00:19:25,732 So that... firefights like that we called brawls. 325 00:19:25,833 --> 00:19:27,700 They were very intimate. 326 00:19:27,799 --> 00:19:29,299 And they were very deadly. 327 00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:32,232 And they were absolutely terrifying. 328 00:19:36,266 --> 00:19:40,465 NARRATOR: The Marines were spread too thin to hold any of the territory 329 00:19:40,566 --> 00:19:43,032 they fought so hard to take. 330 00:19:43,133 --> 00:19:47,633 Again and again, they were sent out from one stronghold 331 00:19:47,732 --> 00:19:51,833 or another along the DMZ, looking for enemy soldiers. 332 00:19:51,932 --> 00:19:55,566 MUSGRAVE: The disillusionment for me began when I was going back 333 00:19:55,665 --> 00:19:58,732 to fight at places we'd already fought before. 334 00:19:58,833 --> 00:20:02,365 We had fought, captured, and then left 335 00:20:02,465 --> 00:20:04,532 and the NVA came right back. 336 00:20:04,633 --> 00:20:06,799 You don't like getting wounded 337 00:20:06,900 --> 00:20:08,633 in places you've already been before. 338 00:20:10,900 --> 00:20:13,232 War is a real estate business. 339 00:20:13,333 --> 00:20:16,200 We're supposed to take real estate away from the enemy 340 00:20:16,299 --> 00:20:20,165 and then deny the enemy access to that real estate. 341 00:20:20,266 --> 00:20:26,465 NARRATOR: On the morning of July 2, 1967, the 1st Battalion launched 342 00:20:26,566 --> 00:20:30,865 yet another sweep of the area northeast of Con Thien. 343 00:20:30,965 --> 00:20:34,732 When they reached a crossroads called "The Marketplace," 344 00:20:34,833 --> 00:20:39,200 barely a mile and quarter from their base, they were ambushed. 345 00:20:39,299 --> 00:20:42,700 One company was virtually annihilated. 346 00:20:46,365 --> 00:20:51,232 John Musgrave's company rushed to rescue the survivors, 347 00:20:51,333 --> 00:20:54,232 only to be pinned down there as well. 348 00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:01,833 It was one of the worst days the Marine Corps endured in Vietnam: 349 00:21:01,932 --> 00:21:08,133 53 dead and 190 wounded were carried off the battlefield. 350 00:21:08,232 --> 00:21:12,299 Thirty-four more dead had to be left behind, 351 00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:16,133 and when Marines fought their way back two days later 352 00:21:16,232 --> 00:21:19,066 to retrieve their bodies, they found that a number 353 00:21:19,165 --> 00:21:25,232 had died because their M-16s had jammed as the enemy closed in. 354 00:21:25,333 --> 00:21:28,532 Many had been executed, shot in the face 355 00:21:28,633 --> 00:21:31,432 or back of the head at close range. 356 00:21:31,532 --> 00:21:34,465 Some bodies had been booby-trapped, 357 00:21:34,566 --> 00:21:37,432 others mutilated. 358 00:21:37,532 --> 00:21:40,766 MUSGRAVE: Marine amphibious force headquarters 359 00:21:40,865 --> 00:21:44,633 was so desperate to get North Vietnamese prisoners, 360 00:21:44,732 --> 00:21:47,932 that they offered us three day in-country R&R 361 00:21:48,032 --> 00:21:50,133 if we'd bring a prisoner in. 362 00:21:50,232 --> 00:21:51,599 Yeah, good luck. 363 00:21:51,700 --> 00:21:53,099 You know? 364 00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:55,500 Don't you know who... what we're doing up here? 365 00:21:55,599 --> 00:21:57,299 Do you know who we're fighting? 366 00:21:59,066 --> 00:22:01,665 I want to make this clear, we did not torture prisoners 367 00:22:01,766 --> 00:22:04,665 and we did not mutilate them. 368 00:22:11,133 --> 00:22:14,700 But to be a prisoner you had to make it to the rear, you know. 369 00:22:14,799 --> 00:22:18,133 If he was with... fell into our hands 370 00:22:18,232 --> 00:22:20,133 he was just one sorry fucker. 371 00:22:30,932 --> 00:22:33,266 I don't know how to explain it that it would make sense. 372 00:22:34,865 --> 00:22:38,165 ("Green Onions" by Booker T. & the M.G.s playing) 373 00:22:41,365 --> 00:22:42,500 HARRIS: Roxbury, where I grew up, 374 00:22:42,599 --> 00:22:44,333 was the African-American neighborhood, 375 00:22:44,432 --> 00:22:48,266 and South Boston was the Irish-Catholic bastion. 376 00:22:48,365 --> 00:22:50,165 You know, there was a lot of hate. 377 00:22:50,266 --> 00:22:53,900 South Boston folks hated us, we hated them. 378 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:55,266 And ironically, um... 379 00:22:55,365 --> 00:22:57,833 (sighs) 380 00:22:57,932 --> 00:22:59,665 You know, you end up in a war. 381 00:23:01,500 --> 00:23:03,732 And the Vietnamese didn't care 382 00:23:03,833 --> 00:23:05,566 whether you were from Roxbury or South Boston. 383 00:23:05,665 --> 00:23:07,665 They saw you as American. 384 00:23:07,766 --> 00:23:11,000 And they wanted to kill you because you're American. 385 00:23:11,099 --> 00:23:15,400 NARRATOR: Private Roger Harris had joined the Marines in part, he said, 386 00:23:15,500 --> 00:23:17,865 because he wanted to be "a gladiator," 387 00:23:17,965 --> 00:23:21,099 a killer of his country's enemies. 388 00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:24,432 On July 28, two weeks after 389 00:23:24,532 --> 00:23:28,599 John Musgrave's badly mangled 1st Battalion was pulled back 390 00:23:28,700 --> 00:23:30,432 to rest and recover, 391 00:23:30,532 --> 00:23:34,566 Roger Harris and the 2nd Battalion moved out of Con Thien 392 00:23:34,665 --> 00:23:38,432 and into the southern half of the Demilitarized Zone itself. 393 00:23:40,599 --> 00:23:42,133 HARRIS: We wanted the North Vietnamese Army 394 00:23:42,232 --> 00:23:44,566 to expose themselves. 395 00:23:44,665 --> 00:23:47,599 So, basically, you put the bait out there, 396 00:23:47,700 --> 00:23:52,032 and then we could call in and rain hell on them. 397 00:23:52,133 --> 00:23:56,465 NARRATOR: Roger Harris's battalion advanced into the DMZ 398 00:23:56,566 --> 00:24:01,066 along a rough cart track that led to the Ben Hai River. 399 00:24:01,165 --> 00:24:05,400 But planners had failed to see that a concrete bridge 400 00:24:05,500 --> 00:24:07,400 over an impassable stream 401 00:24:07,500 --> 00:24:11,900 was too narrow and too weak to carry armored vehicles. 402 00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:16,766 Now the Marines had no choice but to violate a cardinal rule 403 00:24:16,865 --> 00:24:18,400 of infantry tactics-- 404 00:24:18,500 --> 00:24:23,532 turn around and try to go back the way they had come. 405 00:24:23,633 --> 00:24:26,766 The enemy was waiting. 406 00:24:26,865 --> 00:24:29,566 (explosion, rapid gunfire) 407 00:24:32,833 --> 00:24:35,665 Massive ambushes and... 408 00:24:35,766 --> 00:24:37,232 (gunfire, shouting) 409 00:24:37,333 --> 00:24:41,299 ...and, um, a lot of death. 410 00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:43,299 And... 411 00:24:44,799 --> 00:24:46,465 ...craziness. 412 00:24:46,566 --> 00:24:51,465 NARRATOR: The Marines were forced to run a bloody gauntlet of mortars, 413 00:24:51,566 --> 00:24:55,400 machine gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades. 414 00:24:55,500 --> 00:25:00,200 HARRIS: I had the utmost respect for the North Vietnamese Army soldiers. 415 00:25:00,299 --> 00:25:06,566 When you see someone jump out and confront a tank, you know, 416 00:25:06,665 --> 00:25:08,799 with a big 50-caliber machine gun on it 417 00:25:08,900 --> 00:25:11,833 and a 90-millimeter cannon on it, 418 00:25:11,932 --> 00:25:16,133 and an individual takes on the tank, 419 00:25:16,232 --> 00:25:17,865 I think that says something. 420 00:25:19,500 --> 00:25:22,299 NARRATOR: Roger Harris's company held up the rear, 421 00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:26,266 hounded by enemy soldiers on all sides. 422 00:25:28,566 --> 00:25:31,865 The Marines staggered back out of the DMZ 423 00:25:31,965 --> 00:25:35,066 alongside the battered armored vehicles 424 00:25:35,165 --> 00:25:38,965 heaped with dead and wounded Americans. 425 00:25:39,066 --> 00:25:41,965 The battalion suffered 214 casualties. 426 00:25:45,099 --> 00:25:48,566 HARRIS: Wasn't a good day for Marines at all. 427 00:25:48,665 --> 00:25:49,932 A lot of people died. 428 00:25:50,032 --> 00:25:51,232 People got their legs shot off. 429 00:25:51,333 --> 00:25:53,232 People got run over by tanks. 430 00:25:55,865 --> 00:25:58,766 I don't want to talk about it because it's... 431 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:04,500 it's not a good day, wasn't a good day. 432 00:26:12,099 --> 00:26:14,000 LO KHAC TAM: 433 00:27:13,299 --> 00:27:16,665 This is "bau cu", the day of voting in Vietnam, 434 00:27:16,766 --> 00:27:19,665 and it's a solemn day in the village of Hung Thao Phu 435 00:27:19,766 --> 00:27:22,400 and in other villages throughout the country. 436 00:27:22,500 --> 00:27:24,965 And these people have dressed up in their Sunday best for it. 437 00:27:27,833 --> 00:27:30,833 NARRATOR: South Vietnamese prime minister Nguyen Cao Ky 438 00:27:30,932 --> 00:27:34,833 had crushed his Buddhist opponents in 1966, 439 00:27:34,932 --> 00:27:37,333 but he had been forced by the Americans 440 00:27:37,432 --> 00:27:40,766 and his political rivals to make at least tentative moves 441 00:27:40,865 --> 00:27:44,532 toward democracy-- election of a national assembly, 442 00:27:44,633 --> 00:27:47,799 a new constitution, and a promise of elections 443 00:27:47,900 --> 00:27:51,099 for president and vice president. 444 00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:56,000 But when Ky's old adversary Nguyen Van Thieu declared 445 00:27:56,099 --> 00:27:58,900 he wanted to challenge Ky for the top spot, 446 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:02,165 things in Saigon had threatened to come apart again. 447 00:28:04,599 --> 00:28:07,165 PHAN QUANG TUE: We were watching the rivalry between Thieu and Ky. 448 00:28:07,266 --> 00:28:09,333 And that was a game. 449 00:28:09,432 --> 00:28:12,333 In Vietnam, the country was watching like a... 450 00:28:12,432 --> 00:28:15,200 we were watch... watching a movie. 451 00:28:15,299 --> 00:28:17,500 And Thieu and Ky was watching as to, 452 00:28:17,599 --> 00:28:20,400 not whoever had the support of the people, 453 00:28:20,500 --> 00:28:24,833 but who had the support of the Americans and the White House. 454 00:28:24,932 --> 00:28:28,266 NARRATOR: Ellsworth Bunker, the American ambassador, 455 00:28:28,365 --> 00:28:31,833 called both men to his residence and warned that 456 00:28:31,932 --> 00:28:35,700 the United States would not tolerate another power struggle: 457 00:28:35,799 --> 00:28:39,365 Thieu and Ky needed to meet with their fellow generals 458 00:28:39,465 --> 00:28:41,965 and decide who would run for president 459 00:28:42,066 --> 00:28:44,599 and who would be his running mate. 460 00:28:44,700 --> 00:28:47,133 Thieu emerged on top. 461 00:28:47,232 --> 00:28:50,200 He was unassuming and unflappable, 462 00:28:50,299 --> 00:28:52,865 interested largely in accumulating power 463 00:28:52,965 --> 00:28:56,099 and personal wealth and was thought unlikely 464 00:28:56,200 --> 00:28:58,932 ever to embarrass Washington. 465 00:28:59,032 --> 00:29:02,500 Ky would be his vice president. 466 00:29:02,599 --> 00:29:07,566 Together, they won with only 35% of the vote. 467 00:29:07,665 --> 00:29:10,766 No one who had called for an end to the war 468 00:29:10,865 --> 00:29:13,099 had been allowed to run. 469 00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:15,732 Many Buddhists had boycotted the election, 470 00:29:15,833 --> 00:29:20,932 and Viet Cong intimidation had kept many more from the polls. 471 00:29:21,032 --> 00:29:24,000 But the State Department immediately declared 472 00:29:24,099 --> 00:29:27,000 the election an important "step forward." 473 00:29:28,900 --> 00:29:32,333 Some South Vietnamese did believe that a measure 474 00:29:32,432 --> 00:29:35,566 of stability had finally been achieved. 475 00:29:35,665 --> 00:29:38,700 Others were not so sure. 476 00:29:40,266 --> 00:29:44,500 TUE: In terms of corruption, yes, they were corrupt. 477 00:29:44,599 --> 00:29:49,266 Both Thieu and Ky, they abused their position. 478 00:29:49,365 --> 00:29:53,232 We pay a very high price for having leaders 479 00:29:53,333 --> 00:29:56,000 like a Ky and Thieu. 480 00:29:56,099 --> 00:29:58,500 And we continue to pay the price. 481 00:30:00,266 --> 00:30:03,732 ("Soul Dressing" by Booker T. & The M.G.s playing) 482 00:30:03,833 --> 00:30:06,665 EVA JEFFERSON PATERSON: My father was in the United States Army. 483 00:30:06,766 --> 00:30:09,400 And then when the Air Force came about he switched over 484 00:30:09,500 --> 00:30:11,833 to the Air Force. 485 00:30:11,932 --> 00:30:16,732 I grew up out of the country in desegregated settings. 486 00:30:16,833 --> 00:30:19,700 I was usually the only little black girl in the class. 487 00:30:19,799 --> 00:30:21,799 If you look at my class pictures I look 488 00:30:21,900 --> 00:30:25,500 like the little chocolate chip in the vanilla ice cream. 489 00:30:25,599 --> 00:30:28,500 I was always a good student. 490 00:30:28,599 --> 00:30:31,333 I remember people saying, "Oh, you speak so well." 491 00:30:31,432 --> 00:30:33,299 And the unstated part is "for a black girl," 492 00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:36,099 probably a Negro girl or colored girl, at that point. 493 00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:40,833 NARRATOR: Eva Jefferson's father had served a year on airbases 494 00:30:40,932 --> 00:30:44,532 in Vietnam and returned home convinced the United States 495 00:30:44,633 --> 00:30:47,165 had no business being there. 496 00:30:47,266 --> 00:30:50,865 But when his daughter entered Northwestern University 497 00:30:50,965 --> 00:30:56,032 in the Chicago suburb of Evanston in September 1967, 498 00:30:56,133 --> 00:31:00,432 the war was not uppermost in students' minds. 499 00:31:00,532 --> 00:31:03,833 PATERSON: The war was not really an issue. 500 00:31:03,932 --> 00:31:05,766 It's like, "Well, no, the president has 501 00:31:05,865 --> 00:31:07,833 "our best interests at heart. 502 00:31:07,932 --> 00:31:09,732 "He, of course, would only prosecute a war 503 00:31:09,833 --> 00:31:11,200 that made sense." 504 00:31:11,299 --> 00:31:14,066 And I think most of America felt that way. 505 00:31:14,165 --> 00:31:16,133 ("Strange Brew" by Cream playing) 506 00:31:16,232 --> 00:31:18,266 NARRATOR: At the University of Nebraska, 507 00:31:18,365 --> 00:31:21,299 Jack Todd also supported the war. 508 00:31:21,400 --> 00:31:25,766 He had felt so strongly about it in 1966 that he had signed up 509 00:31:25,865 --> 00:31:28,833 for Marine officer training. 510 00:31:28,932 --> 00:31:31,532 I went into the Marine Corps 511 00:31:31,633 --> 00:31:33,932 thinking this was all I wanted to do. 512 00:31:34,032 --> 00:31:35,965 I mean my... my goal was to be commander, 513 00:31:36,066 --> 00:31:37,365 a platoon commander in Vietnam. 514 00:31:38,900 --> 00:31:42,232 NARRATOR: But as time went by and the war went on, 515 00:31:42,333 --> 00:31:44,700 Todd and many of his fellow students 516 00:31:44,799 --> 00:31:46,465 began to change their minds. 517 00:31:47,799 --> 00:31:50,232 TODD: All young people go through changes. 518 00:31:50,333 --> 00:31:53,165 But we were going through astronomical changes 519 00:31:53,266 --> 00:31:55,500 at such a rapid rate. 520 00:31:57,400 --> 00:32:01,066 All the music, the culture, everything that we listened to, 521 00:32:01,165 --> 00:32:03,266 everything that we thought was transforming 522 00:32:03,365 --> 00:32:07,165 and the core of it all was Vietnam, Vietnam, Vietnam. 523 00:32:07,266 --> 00:32:09,099 It just kept going in the background. 524 00:32:09,200 --> 00:32:10,900 First, it was kind of like a background noise 525 00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:12,865 and then it got to be the elephant in the room. 526 00:32:12,965 --> 00:32:14,932 And then it was the elephant sitting on your head 527 00:32:15,032 --> 00:32:16,665 and we... we couldn't escape this. 528 00:32:16,766 --> 00:32:20,099 NARRATOR: Todd attended officer training school 529 00:32:20,200 --> 00:32:22,900 at Camp Upshur in Quantico, Virginia. 530 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:25,900 But doubts about the war followed him there, too. 531 00:32:28,965 --> 00:32:30,732 TODD: I guess the emotional things that were happening 532 00:32:30,833 --> 00:32:33,333 on the ground, the photographs that we saw, the news images, 533 00:32:33,432 --> 00:32:36,400 and the fact that there was no discernible progress, 534 00:32:36,500 --> 00:32:39,833 that really started to eat away at what we thought. 535 00:32:39,932 --> 00:32:43,032 In the summer of '67, I was at Camp Upshur, you know, 536 00:32:43,133 --> 00:32:45,532 wanting to go kill Vietnamese people. 537 00:32:45,633 --> 00:32:50,000 And in October, I was completely against the war. 538 00:32:53,299 --> 00:32:55,865 JOHNSON: Westmoreland came in last night to me... 539 00:32:55,965 --> 00:33:00,000 And he says that he has concentrated more firepower 540 00:33:00,099 --> 00:33:03,665 and bombing in the last week on the DMZ 541 00:33:03,766 --> 00:33:07,599 and they've concentrated more on us than has ever been 542 00:33:07,700 --> 00:33:09,799 concentrated in any equivalent period 543 00:33:09,900 --> 00:33:11,432 in the history of warfare... 544 00:33:11,532 --> 00:33:12,700 EVERETT DIRKSEN: Yeah. 545 00:33:12,799 --> 00:33:13,965 JOHNSON: ...much more than was ever poured on 546 00:33:14,066 --> 00:33:15,400 Berlin or Tokyo, 547 00:33:15,500 --> 00:33:19,900 and that his only defense of the DMZ to stop 548 00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:22,900 this aggression up there with the North Vietnamese 549 00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:26,665 trying to come in is bombing their gun positions. 550 00:33:26,766 --> 00:33:28,232 DIRKSEN: Yeah. 551 00:33:28,333 --> 00:33:30,133 JOHNSON: And it would just be suicide if we stopped the bombing 552 00:33:30,232 --> 00:33:32,465 as these idiots talking about. 553 00:33:32,566 --> 00:33:34,232 When you say stop the bombing 554 00:33:34,333 --> 00:33:37,099 you say, "Kill more American Marines." 555 00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:38,099 That's all it means. 556 00:33:38,200 --> 00:33:39,465 DIRKSEN: Yeah. 557 00:33:39,566 --> 00:33:42,799 JOHNSON: Now if we stop bombing, without their talking 558 00:33:42,900 --> 00:33:45,665 and without any reciprocity on their part, 559 00:33:45,766 --> 00:33:47,833 it just means we kill more Americans, that's all 560 00:33:47,932 --> 00:33:48,865 DIRKSEN: Yeah. 561 00:33:55,965 --> 00:33:59,532 NARRATOR: Neither the ongoing bombing of the North, 562 00:33:59,633 --> 00:34:03,066 nor the concentrated bombing around the DMZ, 563 00:34:03,165 --> 00:34:05,099 nor the behind-the-scenes offers 564 00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:07,799 made by President Johnson to stop it 565 00:34:07,900 --> 00:34:10,833 had any discernible effect on Le Duan 566 00:34:10,932 --> 00:34:14,300 and the other men who ran North Vietnam. 567 00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:17,365 But Le Duan, like Lyndon Johnson, 568 00:34:17,465 --> 00:34:19,432 was in trouble that summer. 569 00:34:19,532 --> 00:34:22,400 The war with the Americans had produced little more 570 00:34:22,500 --> 00:34:24,432 than a bloody stalemate. 571 00:34:24,532 --> 00:34:27,500 Some Viet Cong commanders in the South 572 00:34:27,599 --> 00:34:31,865 resented Hanoi's insistence on directing their tactics. 573 00:34:31,965 --> 00:34:36,166 Many North Vietnamese civilians were weary of the war 574 00:34:36,266 --> 00:34:39,166 and of the bombing that had disrupted their lives 575 00:34:39,266 --> 00:34:42,800 and destroyed so much of their infrastructure. 576 00:34:42,900 --> 00:34:45,465 The country's most revered figures, 577 00:34:45,565 --> 00:34:50,065 Ho Chi Minh and Vo Nguyen Giap, were urging patience, 578 00:34:50,166 --> 00:34:54,233 continuing to wage a war of attrition, they still believed, 579 00:34:54,333 --> 00:34:57,432 would pay off in the end. 580 00:34:57,532 --> 00:35:01,065 Hanoi's Soviet and Chinese patrons offered 581 00:35:01,166 --> 00:35:04,065 conflicting advice, as well. 582 00:35:04,166 --> 00:35:08,400 To silence his critics and break the stalemate, 583 00:35:08,500 --> 00:35:10,965 Le Duan began to devise and promote 584 00:35:11,065 --> 00:35:14,432 a new and riskier version of the plan for victory 585 00:35:14,532 --> 00:35:18,000 he had tried in 1964. 586 00:35:18,099 --> 00:35:23,565 He called it the "General Offensive, General Uprising." 587 00:35:23,666 --> 00:35:27,400 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong units would launch 588 00:35:27,500 --> 00:35:31,733 scores of coordinated attacks on South Vietnamese cities 589 00:35:31,833 --> 00:35:34,965 and towns and military bases. 590 00:35:35,065 --> 00:35:37,300 That offensive, Le Duan believed, 591 00:35:37,400 --> 00:35:40,932 would ignite a mass civilian uprising. 592 00:35:41,032 --> 00:35:45,500 These simultaneous blows would destroy the Saigon regime 593 00:35:45,599 --> 00:35:49,532 and leave Washington with no choice but to withdraw. 594 00:36:40,632 --> 00:36:42,166 WILLBANKS: We talk about our own hubris. 595 00:36:42,266 --> 00:36:44,400 There's some hubris on their side as well. 596 00:36:44,500 --> 00:36:46,365 And once they had convinced themselves 597 00:36:46,465 --> 00:36:49,199 that this was going to be a great success, 598 00:36:49,300 --> 00:36:52,300 it is what some wags have called drinking your own bathwater. 599 00:36:53,733 --> 00:36:55,032 They decided it's going to be a victory, 600 00:36:55,132 --> 00:36:57,132 even though there are people in the South saying, 601 00:36:57,233 --> 00:36:58,666 "Hey, this is not a great idea." 602 00:36:58,766 --> 00:37:02,532 But these people are charged with subjectivism 603 00:37:02,632 --> 00:37:05,266 and basically are told to shut up and keep rolling. 604 00:37:05,365 --> 00:37:09,666 NARRATOR: Le Duan neutralized those who opposed his plan. 605 00:37:09,766 --> 00:37:12,900 Members of General Giap's staff were arrested. 606 00:37:13,000 --> 00:37:15,565 So was Ho Chi Minh's secretary. 607 00:37:17,333 --> 00:37:19,333 HUY DUC: 608 00:37:32,233 --> 00:37:36,932 NARRATOR: Hundreds of less prominent figures-- journalists, students, 609 00:37:37,032 --> 00:37:40,266 even highly decorated heroes of the French War-- 610 00:37:40,365 --> 00:37:42,500 were also rounded up. 611 00:37:42,599 --> 00:37:45,432 Many were locked up in the old French prison 612 00:37:45,532 --> 00:37:49,233 that the American POWs also confined there called 613 00:37:49,333 --> 00:37:51,800 the "Hanoi Hilton." 614 00:37:51,900 --> 00:37:55,632 The date eventually chosen for the attack would be 615 00:37:55,733 --> 00:37:59,300 January 31, 1968, 616 00:37:59,400 --> 00:38:03,432 the first day of the Vietnamese Lunar New Year celebration, 617 00:38:03,532 --> 00:38:06,400 known as Tet. 618 00:38:06,500 --> 00:38:10,465 Hundreds, then thousands, of North Vietnamese regulars 619 00:38:10,565 --> 00:38:13,666 in civilian clothes began slipping southward 620 00:38:13,766 --> 00:38:18,400 to join tens of thousands of Viet Cong already in place. 621 00:38:20,099 --> 00:38:21,532 HO HUU LAN: 622 00:38:43,199 --> 00:38:46,865 HUY DUC: 623 00:39:29,365 --> 00:39:31,632 NARRATOR: In preparation for the coming offensive, 624 00:39:31,733 --> 00:39:34,432 the North Vietnamese hoped to lure American 625 00:39:34,532 --> 00:39:37,699 and South Vietnamese forces away from cities 626 00:39:37,800 --> 00:39:40,065 and big military bases. 627 00:39:40,166 --> 00:39:43,599 To do that, they would mount a series of assaults 628 00:39:43,699 --> 00:39:49,233 on remote outposts near Cambodia, Laos, and the DMZ. 629 00:39:49,333 --> 00:39:54,300 These preliminary attacks became known as the "Border Battles." 630 00:39:54,400 --> 00:39:57,733 Con Thien would be the first. 631 00:40:01,000 --> 00:40:03,199 In September and October, 632 00:40:03,300 --> 00:40:06,300 John Musgrave's and Roger Harris's outfits 633 00:40:06,400 --> 00:40:08,865 took turns defending Con Thien 634 00:40:08,965 --> 00:40:12,865 as the North Vietnamese tightened the noose around them. 635 00:40:12,965 --> 00:40:16,599 The only way in or out was by helicopter. 636 00:40:18,900 --> 00:40:23,233 Con Thien in Vietnamese means "Hill of Angels." 637 00:40:23,333 --> 00:40:25,300 (explosion) 638 00:40:25,400 --> 00:40:28,865 MUSGRAVE: Time at Con Thien was time in the barrel. 639 00:40:28,965 --> 00:40:33,099 (multiple explosions) 640 00:40:33,199 --> 00:40:36,233 We were the fish, they had the shotguns, 641 00:40:36,333 --> 00:40:38,400 they stuck in the barrel and blasted away. 642 00:40:38,500 --> 00:40:41,199 And they were gonna hit something every shot. 643 00:40:41,300 --> 00:40:44,300 Because Con Thien was such a small area, 644 00:40:44,400 --> 00:40:46,333 and they pounded it with that artillery 645 00:40:46,432 --> 00:40:48,432 from North Vietnam, they couldn't miss. 646 00:40:49,565 --> 00:40:51,400 HO HUU LAN: 647 00:40:55,400 --> 00:40:59,599 I've never been, uh, as afraid. 648 00:40:59,699 --> 00:41:01,965 In fact that's why I'm not afraid of anything now. 649 00:41:02,065 --> 00:41:04,432 I mean... 650 00:41:04,532 --> 00:41:05,865 there's nothing you can do. 651 00:41:05,965 --> 00:41:09,632 You just listen to the sounds of the rockets coming over. 652 00:41:09,733 --> 00:41:13,266 And you just pray that they don't land on you. 653 00:41:13,365 --> 00:41:16,000 The big question really seems to be whether or not 654 00:41:16,099 --> 00:41:19,365 the North Vietnamese intend to overrun Con Thien. 655 00:41:19,465 --> 00:41:22,300 The Marines have tripled the number of troops 656 00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:23,733 guarding the outpost, 657 00:41:23,833 --> 00:41:25,333 and they've moved up more battalions to be ready 658 00:41:25,432 --> 00:41:27,000 to reinforce. 659 00:41:27,099 --> 00:41:29,032 MUSGRAVE: I sat in water. 660 00:41:29,132 --> 00:41:30,932 I slept in water. 661 00:41:31,032 --> 00:41:34,699 I ate in water, because our holes were full. 662 00:41:34,800 --> 00:41:36,965 I mean a flooded foxhole could drown a wounded man. 663 00:41:37,065 --> 00:41:39,666 HARRIS: Spend your day filling up sand bags, 664 00:41:39,766 --> 00:41:43,432 trying to create barriers that you just put another layer on, 665 00:41:43,532 --> 00:41:45,199 put another layer on. 666 00:41:45,300 --> 00:41:49,766 A lot of mud, blood, uh... 667 00:41:49,865 --> 00:41:51,065 and artillery. 668 00:41:52,233 --> 00:41:53,532 MUSGRAVE: It's red clay up there. 669 00:41:53,632 --> 00:41:56,266 And it's real sticky and it could just grab onto you 670 00:41:56,365 --> 00:41:58,166 and pull your boots off. 671 00:41:58,266 --> 00:41:59,632 It's hard to run in that stuff. 672 00:41:59,733 --> 00:42:01,432 And running, when you're at a place 673 00:42:01,532 --> 00:42:03,065 where they're firing heavy artillery at you, 674 00:42:03,166 --> 00:42:04,365 running's pretty important. 675 00:42:07,132 --> 00:42:09,199 During the siege in the fall of 1967, 676 00:42:09,300 --> 00:42:11,432 we were getting newspaper articles in the mail 677 00:42:11,532 --> 00:42:14,865 from our families and we were being called the Alamo. 678 00:42:14,965 --> 00:42:17,833 You know, hey, we knew what the Alamo was. 679 00:42:17,932 --> 00:42:20,000 We knew what happened there. 680 00:42:20,099 --> 00:42:23,699 (explosions) 681 00:42:23,800 --> 00:42:25,699 (men shouting) 682 00:42:25,800 --> 00:42:27,900 (explosions continue) 683 00:42:28,000 --> 00:42:30,900 HARRIS: Like almost like every hour there'd be a barrage. 684 00:42:32,965 --> 00:42:36,632 People get blown to bits, literally blown to bits. 685 00:42:36,733 --> 00:42:40,432 You find a... a boot with a leg in it, right. 686 00:42:40,532 --> 00:42:42,932 And so is the leg white or black? 687 00:42:43,032 --> 00:42:44,965 So who... who was the white Marine that was here? 688 00:42:45,065 --> 00:42:46,132 Who was the black? 689 00:42:46,233 --> 00:42:48,333 So then you try to remember and you tag it 690 00:42:48,432 --> 00:42:49,800 and put that in the green bag. 691 00:42:49,900 --> 00:42:52,565 And that's what goes back, you know, 692 00:42:52,666 --> 00:42:54,932 as Marine Lance Corporal so and so. 693 00:42:55,032 --> 00:42:58,065 And so, but sometimes you're not even sure because the body 694 00:42:58,166 --> 00:43:00,166 has literally been blown to bits, and the only thing 695 00:43:00,266 --> 00:43:02,833 that's left is a foot or a piece of an arm. 696 00:43:02,932 --> 00:43:07,500 MUSGRAVE: I carried a wallet calendar from Clifford Forlow Insurance. 697 00:43:07,599 --> 00:43:09,733 He was my dad's insurance agent. 698 00:43:09,833 --> 00:43:13,365 And I marked off each of the days religiously. 699 00:43:13,465 --> 00:43:18,032 And then in October, we went up to Con Thien again. 700 00:43:18,132 --> 00:43:23,000 I just stopped, because I thought, "This is pointless. 701 00:43:23,099 --> 00:43:25,233 "I'm not getting... I'm not gonna go home. 702 00:43:25,333 --> 00:43:26,733 "I'm not gonna make it home. 703 00:43:26,833 --> 00:43:28,766 What... you know, what's the point?" 704 00:43:28,865 --> 00:43:30,766 So I just quit marking them off. 705 00:43:32,365 --> 00:43:34,565 HARRIS: I had the opportunity to call my mother, you know. 706 00:43:34,666 --> 00:43:37,233 And I was telling my mother what was happening over there 707 00:43:37,333 --> 00:43:39,465 and I was telling her how she shouldn't believe 708 00:43:39,565 --> 00:43:43,365 what she sees in the newspaper and-and sees on television 709 00:43:43,465 --> 00:43:45,666 because we're losing the war. 710 00:43:45,766 --> 00:43:48,266 And I said, "You'll probably never see me again 711 00:43:48,365 --> 00:43:51,632 "because we're the most northern outpost that the Marines have, 712 00:43:51,733 --> 00:43:53,132 "you know. 713 00:43:53,233 --> 00:43:55,365 "We could literally could look right into North Vietnam. 714 00:43:55,465 --> 00:43:57,932 We could see the sparks when the guns fired on us." 715 00:43:58,032 --> 00:44:01,300 And I said, "And everybody in my unit is dying, you know. 716 00:44:01,400 --> 00:44:03,266 And I probably won't be coming back." 717 00:44:03,365 --> 00:44:05,465 And my mother said, "No, you're coming back." 718 00:44:05,565 --> 00:44:08,400 She said, "I talk to God every day and you're special. 719 00:44:08,500 --> 00:44:10,733 You're coming back." 720 00:44:10,833 --> 00:44:13,199 And I said, "Ma, everybody's mother thinks that 721 00:44:13,300 --> 00:44:14,900 "they're special, you know. 722 00:44:15,000 --> 00:44:16,965 I'm putting pieces of special people in bags." 723 00:44:19,065 --> 00:44:20,865 And I was feeling that my mother's in denial. 724 00:44:20,965 --> 00:44:23,233 She just doesn't want to face the fact that her only son 725 00:44:23,333 --> 00:44:25,266 is gonna die in Vietnam. 726 00:44:25,365 --> 00:44:26,865 And I said, "Ma, this isn't a joke." 727 00:44:26,965 --> 00:44:28,565 I said, "Everybody's dying over here, you know. 728 00:44:28,666 --> 00:44:29,733 Everybody's dying." 729 00:44:29,833 --> 00:44:31,365 And she said, "You're not gonna die. 730 00:44:31,465 --> 00:44:32,865 You're not gonna die." 731 00:44:32,965 --> 00:44:35,199 And, uh, the last thing she said to me was, 732 00:44:35,300 --> 00:44:37,365 "God has a plan for you." 733 00:44:37,465 --> 00:44:38,599 And I said, "Yeah, right." 734 00:44:38,699 --> 00:44:39,699 And I hung up. 735 00:44:40,632 --> 00:44:42,300 (explosion) 736 00:44:44,565 --> 00:44:47,300 Mr. Stout, during what period of time were you in Vietnam? 737 00:44:47,400 --> 00:44:50,565 I was in Vietnam from September of 1966 738 00:44:50,666 --> 00:44:52,865 to September of 1967, one year. 739 00:44:52,965 --> 00:44:54,333 And with what unit? 740 00:44:54,432 --> 00:44:56,199 With the 1st Brigade of the 101st Airborne. 741 00:44:56,300 --> 00:44:58,666 During the time that you were in Vietnam, 742 00:44:58,766 --> 00:45:00,800 did you personally witness any atrocities 743 00:45:00,900 --> 00:45:02,833 on the part of American troops? 744 00:45:02,932 --> 00:45:03,833 Yes, I did. 745 00:45:05,500 --> 00:45:08,900 NARRATOR: Dennis Stout from Phoenix, Arizona, had enlisted 746 00:45:09,000 --> 00:45:13,800 in the Army at 20, and served nine months in combat. 747 00:45:13,900 --> 00:45:17,400 Wounded three times, he became an Army reporter 748 00:45:17,500 --> 00:45:23,266 covering the 327th Regiment of the 101st Airborne. 749 00:45:23,365 --> 00:45:27,699 He would spend most of his time with a unique commando platoon 750 00:45:27,800 --> 00:45:29,199 called "Tiger Force"-- 751 00:45:29,300 --> 00:45:32,532 small, handpicked teams, capable of remaining 752 00:45:32,632 --> 00:45:35,365 in the jungle for weeks at a time, 753 00:45:35,465 --> 00:45:38,099 fast-moving and deadly, 754 00:45:38,199 --> 00:45:41,965 intended to "out-guerrilla the guerrillas." 755 00:45:43,300 --> 00:45:46,000 Tiger Force fought in six different provinces, 756 00:45:46,099 --> 00:45:49,199 repeatedly suffering heavy losses. 757 00:45:49,300 --> 00:45:50,632 (rapid gunfire) 758 00:45:52,432 --> 00:45:55,699 RION CAUSEY: If you've lost your best friend and you want revenge, 759 00:45:55,800 --> 00:45:59,032 it's the officers who say, "No, you can't do that." 760 00:45:59,132 --> 00:46:02,233 And if you do it, then there's consequences. 761 00:46:02,333 --> 00:46:05,065 But when the officers, and it includes the platoon leader 762 00:46:05,166 --> 00:46:08,099 and the battalion commander, are telling you that this is 763 00:46:08,199 --> 00:46:12,833 what you're supposed to do, then it gets completely out of hand. 764 00:46:12,932 --> 00:46:16,932 NARRATOR: Some at MACV worried that such a freewheeling outfit, 765 00:46:17,032 --> 00:46:20,800 operating on its own, would be difficult to control. 766 00:46:20,900 --> 00:46:22,500 (gunfire) 767 00:46:22,599 --> 00:46:26,132 But General Westmoreland and commanders in the field 768 00:46:26,233 --> 00:46:30,766 admired Tiger Force for its reliable ferocity. 769 00:46:30,865 --> 00:46:34,900 In the summer of 1967, Tiger Force was sent 770 00:46:35,000 --> 00:46:37,500 to the fertile Song Ve Valley. 771 00:46:37,599 --> 00:46:40,532 The entire population had already been herded 772 00:46:40,632 --> 00:46:45,199 from their homes and crowded into a refugee camp. 773 00:46:45,300 --> 00:46:48,532 But some had come back to resume the farming 774 00:46:48,632 --> 00:46:50,900 they had always done. 775 00:46:52,400 --> 00:46:55,565 The valley had officially been declared a free-fire zone, 776 00:46:55,666 --> 00:46:59,766 and Tiger Force's officers took that literally. 777 00:46:59,865 --> 00:47:03,733 "There are no friendlies," one lieutenant told his men. 778 00:47:03,833 --> 00:47:06,666 "Shoot anything that moves." 779 00:47:10,166 --> 00:47:13,132 Over a seven-month period, they killed scores 780 00:47:13,233 --> 00:47:15,733 of unarmed civilians. 781 00:47:15,833 --> 00:47:19,333 Among their victims were two blind brothers; 782 00:47:19,432 --> 00:47:23,932 an elderly Buddhist monk; women, children, and old people 783 00:47:24,032 --> 00:47:26,199 hiding in underground shelters; 784 00:47:26,300 --> 00:47:29,565 and three farmers trying to plant rice. 785 00:47:29,666 --> 00:47:34,065 All were reported as "enemy-- killed in action." 786 00:47:36,932 --> 00:47:40,865 STOUT: These atrocities were committed by soldiers 787 00:47:40,965 --> 00:47:43,199 of units I was assigned to as a reporter 788 00:47:43,300 --> 00:47:45,132 for the Army newspapers, such as... 789 00:47:45,233 --> 00:47:48,699 NARRATOR: Tiger Force was not the only platoon 790 00:47:48,800 --> 00:47:52,365 Dennis Stout covered that crossed the line. 791 00:47:52,465 --> 00:47:55,532 One such incident was the rape and killing 792 00:47:55,632 --> 00:47:57,432 of a Vietnamese girl. 793 00:47:57,532 --> 00:48:02,333 She was captured, kept for interrogation. 794 00:48:02,432 --> 00:48:05,300 Over a two-day period, she was raped, then, 795 00:48:05,400 --> 00:48:07,132 on the morning of the third day, she was killed. 796 00:48:07,233 --> 00:48:10,632 Was she raped by more than one person? 797 00:48:10,733 --> 00:48:14,300 Yes, all but the medic and myself, 798 00:48:14,400 --> 00:48:16,132 and possibly one other man from the platoon. 799 00:48:16,233 --> 00:48:17,233 Did you protest? 800 00:48:17,333 --> 00:48:19,400 Did you try in any way to have them stopped? 801 00:48:19,500 --> 00:48:22,766 Yes. After the rape incident, I complained 802 00:48:22,865 --> 00:48:27,266 to the battalion sergeant major, and his response was that 803 00:48:27,365 --> 00:48:29,632 this type of thing happens in all wars, 804 00:48:29,733 --> 00:48:33,032 and that I was not to mention it; it was a common occurrence. 805 00:48:33,132 --> 00:48:37,432 Then later, I went to the chaplain, told him about it, 806 00:48:37,532 --> 00:48:39,766 he made an investigation himself, 807 00:48:39,865 --> 00:48:42,132 found that this was true, went with me 808 00:48:42,233 --> 00:48:43,666 to the sergeant major. 809 00:48:43,766 --> 00:48:47,833 The sergeant major then said that... 810 00:48:47,932 --> 00:48:49,800 well, he told the chaplain to stick to religion, 811 00:48:49,900 --> 00:48:53,432 sent him away, and then he told me to keep quiet, 812 00:48:53,532 --> 00:48:57,199 that I did nothave t o return from the next operation. 813 00:48:58,733 --> 00:49:01,800 NARRATOR: Years later, another soldier came forward 814 00:49:01,900 --> 00:49:04,599 with more allegations of war crimes, 815 00:49:04,699 --> 00:49:08,166 and an Army investigation would find probable cause 816 00:49:08,266 --> 00:49:13,166 to try 18 members of Tiger Force for murder or assault. 817 00:49:14,266 --> 00:49:16,766 But no charges were ever brought. 818 00:49:16,865 --> 00:49:20,000 The official records were buried in the archives. 819 00:49:21,900 --> 00:49:23,800 WILLBANKS: They should have all gone to jail. 820 00:49:23,900 --> 00:49:25,365 They were guilty of murder. 821 00:49:25,465 --> 00:49:26,833 Period. 822 00:49:26,932 --> 00:49:30,365 At the same time, I felt like that incident, 823 00:49:30,465 --> 00:49:33,632 which I think was an aberration, not the norm, 824 00:49:33,733 --> 00:49:36,333 tarred all veterans, and there are hundreds of thousands 825 00:49:36,432 --> 00:49:38,199 of veterans who went and did their duty, 826 00:49:38,300 --> 00:49:40,733 and as honorable as they possibly could, 827 00:49:40,833 --> 00:49:42,599 and they're tarred with the same brush. 828 00:49:44,699 --> 00:49:47,965 KARL MARLANTES: One of the things that I learned in the war is that 829 00:49:48,065 --> 00:49:52,699 we're not the top species on the planet because we're nice. 830 00:49:52,800 --> 00:49:55,965 We are a very aggressive species. 831 00:49:56,065 --> 00:49:57,733 It is in us. 832 00:49:57,833 --> 00:50:01,166 And people talk a lot about how, "Well, the military turns 833 00:50:01,266 --> 00:50:04,233 kids into killing machines" and stuff. 834 00:50:05,833 --> 00:50:08,565 And I'll always argue that it's just finishing school. 835 00:50:08,666 --> 00:50:13,300 What we do with civilization is that we learn to inhibit 836 00:50:13,400 --> 00:50:16,733 and rope in these aggressive tendencies. 837 00:50:16,833 --> 00:50:19,166 And we have to recognize them. 838 00:50:19,266 --> 00:50:23,065 I worry about a whole country that doesn't recognize it. 839 00:50:23,166 --> 00:50:25,032 'Cause you think of how many times we get ourselves 840 00:50:25,132 --> 00:50:28,465 in scrapes as a nation because we're always the good guys. 841 00:50:28,565 --> 00:50:31,432 Sometimes, I think if we thought that we weren't always 842 00:50:31,532 --> 00:50:33,865 the good guys, we might actually get in less wars. 843 00:50:37,199 --> 00:50:38,199 (static humming) 844 00:50:38,300 --> 00:50:39,565 REPORTER: Mr. Rubin, 845 00:50:39,666 --> 00:50:42,400 how do you realistically expect to shut down the Pentagon? 846 00:50:42,500 --> 00:50:45,599 The Pentagon represents the murder of people 847 00:50:45,699 --> 00:50:46,965 throughout the world. 848 00:50:47,065 --> 00:50:49,199 And the American people have no control 849 00:50:49,300 --> 00:50:50,699 of what their government's doing. 850 00:50:50,800 --> 00:50:54,266 And so we're going to go there in the scores of thousands, 851 00:50:54,365 --> 00:50:57,432 and block doors and fill hallways, 852 00:50:57,532 --> 00:50:59,565 so the work of the Pentagon stops. 853 00:50:59,666 --> 00:51:01,800 Because the work of the Pentagon should stop. 854 00:51:01,900 --> 00:51:04,099 The only thing to do with the Pentagon is to shut it down. 855 00:51:04,199 --> 00:51:06,800 ("Waist Deep in the Big Muddy" by Pete Seeger playing) 856 00:51:06,900 --> 00:51:09,565 ♪ It was back in 1942 857 00:51:09,666 --> 00:51:11,932 ♪ I was a member of a good platoon ♪ 858 00:51:12,032 --> 00:51:15,266 ♪ We were on maneuvers in Louisiana ♪ 859 00:51:15,365 --> 00:51:17,266 ♪ One night by the light of the moon ♪ 860 00:51:17,365 --> 00:51:20,932 ♪ The captain told us to ford a river ♪ 861 00:51:21,032 --> 00:51:23,632 ♪ That's how it all begun 862 00:51:23,733 --> 00:51:26,166 ♪ We were knee deep in the Big Muddy ♪ 863 00:51:26,266 --> 00:51:29,032 ♪ The big fool says to push on 864 00:51:29,132 --> 00:51:32,800 BILL ZIMMERMAN: There was a major demonstration either in New York 865 00:51:32,900 --> 00:51:37,465 or in Washington every fall and every spring. 866 00:51:37,565 --> 00:51:40,599 We decided that we would go to the demonstration 867 00:51:40,699 --> 00:51:44,266 in Washington at the Lincoln Memorial in the fall of '67, 868 00:51:44,365 --> 00:51:46,965 but we would take as many people out of that demonstration 869 00:51:47,065 --> 00:51:50,865 as we could and lead them to the Pentagon. 870 00:51:50,965 --> 00:51:55,432 And at the Pentagon, try to do something more militant 871 00:51:55,532 --> 00:51:59,166 than simply stand around and make speeches opposing the war, 872 00:51:59,266 --> 00:52:02,233 which is what these demonstrations had become. 873 00:52:02,333 --> 00:52:03,733 SEEGER: ♪ No man will be able to swim. 874 00:52:03,833 --> 00:52:07,132 ZIMMERMAN: And when the time came to lead people away 875 00:52:07,233 --> 00:52:09,400 from the Lincoln Memorial toward the Pentagon, 876 00:52:09,500 --> 00:52:12,065 50,000 people marched. 877 00:52:12,166 --> 00:52:14,465 SEEGER: ♪ Men, follow me, I'll lead on 878 00:52:14,565 --> 00:52:17,500 ♪ We were neck deep in the Big Muddy ♪ 879 00:52:17,599 --> 00:52:20,599 ♪ The big fool says to push on. ♪ 880 00:52:20,699 --> 00:52:24,500 NARRATOR: Bill Zimmerman, now an assistant professor of psychology 881 00:52:24,599 --> 00:52:27,233 at Brooklyn College, had been against the war 882 00:52:27,333 --> 00:52:29,166 since the beginning. 883 00:52:29,266 --> 00:52:33,699 ZIMMERMAN: Then we found when we got there concentric defense perimeters 884 00:52:33,800 --> 00:52:36,900 that had been set up around the Pentagon to keep us 885 00:52:37,000 --> 00:52:38,599 at a distance from the building. 886 00:52:38,699 --> 00:52:43,099 We pushed against them, we tore down their fences. 887 00:52:43,199 --> 00:52:45,065 SEEGER: ♪ With the captain dead and gone ♪ 888 00:52:45,166 --> 00:52:46,766 ♪ We stripped and dived and found his body. ♪ 889 00:52:46,865 --> 00:52:49,666 LESLIE GELB: I was working that weekend day. 890 00:52:49,766 --> 00:52:54,032 The secretaries who were working in my area were frightened 891 00:52:54,132 --> 00:52:58,666 to hell what these Vietnam protesters would do. 892 00:52:58,766 --> 00:53:00,099 They thought they were going to come into the building 893 00:53:00,199 --> 00:53:01,333 and rape them. 894 00:53:01,432 --> 00:53:03,800 Some of them actually came over the walls. 895 00:53:03,900 --> 00:53:05,833 SEEGER: ♪ The big fool said to push on. ♪ 896 00:53:05,932 --> 00:53:09,333 GELB: It was a sense of revolution. 897 00:53:09,432 --> 00:53:10,432 (crowd yelling) 898 00:53:10,532 --> 00:53:12,365 SEEGER: ♪ Waist deep in the Big Muddy 899 00:53:12,465 --> 00:53:14,333 ♪ The big fool says to push on 900 00:53:14,432 --> 00:53:17,266 ♪ Waist deep in the Big Muddy 901 00:53:17,365 --> 00:53:19,400 ♪ The big fool says to push on. ♪ 902 00:53:19,500 --> 00:53:23,733 ZIMMERMAN: God knows what we were going to do when we got in the building. 903 00:53:23,833 --> 00:53:25,766 Some people, the hippies, 904 00:53:25,865 --> 00:53:27,699 said they were going to levitate the building. 905 00:53:27,800 --> 00:53:31,166 Other people wanted to commit vandalism in the building. 906 00:53:31,266 --> 00:53:33,632 Other people wanted to distribute antiwar literature 907 00:53:33,733 --> 00:53:36,000 in the building, talk to people. 908 00:53:36,099 --> 00:53:39,500 Just the idea of getting into the headquarters 909 00:53:39,599 --> 00:53:41,666 of the United States military... 910 00:53:43,465 --> 00:53:46,766 It was the first time that antiwar demonstrators 911 00:53:46,865 --> 00:53:51,266 had confronted active-duty military personnel. 912 00:53:51,365 --> 00:53:53,965 We didn't consider them the enemy. 913 00:53:54,065 --> 00:53:57,532 We considered them victims of the war. 914 00:53:57,632 --> 00:54:02,733 But we began to see our own government as the enemy. 915 00:54:02,833 --> 00:54:07,099 NARRATOR: President Johnson believed that international communism 916 00:54:07,199 --> 00:54:09,699 was somehow behind the demonstration. 917 00:54:09,800 --> 00:54:13,166 He had directed the CIA to come up with the evidence, 918 00:54:13,266 --> 00:54:17,032 and was furious when it found none. 919 00:54:19,300 --> 00:54:20,199 DWIGHT EISENHOWER: Mr. President? 920 00:54:20,300 --> 00:54:21,166 LYNDON JOHNSON: Yes. 921 00:54:21,266 --> 00:54:22,166 This is General Eisenhower. 922 00:54:22,266 --> 00:54:23,400 How've you been, Mr. President? 923 00:54:23,500 --> 00:54:26,432 I'm doing fine under the circumstances. 924 00:54:26,532 --> 00:54:29,166 But we just had hell, and these college students, 925 00:54:29,266 --> 00:54:31,132 I've had Hoover in after them. 926 00:54:31,233 --> 00:54:34,666 They came marched here, and we arrested 600 of them, 927 00:54:34,766 --> 00:54:37,865 and we gave 29 of them pretty tough times. 928 00:54:37,965 --> 00:54:41,300 We found most of them really were mentally diseased. 929 00:54:41,400 --> 00:54:45,465 Hoover's taken 256 that turned in supposedly their draft cards. 930 00:54:45,565 --> 00:54:47,932 So, you're dealing with mental problems, 931 00:54:48,032 --> 00:54:50,166 I think that we talk too damn much 932 00:54:50,266 --> 00:54:52,465 about civil liberties and constitutional rights 933 00:54:52,565 --> 00:54:54,032 of the individual and not enough 934 00:54:54,132 --> 00:54:55,565 about the rights of the masses. 935 00:54:55,666 --> 00:54:56,932 EISENHOWER: That's why we have it. 936 00:54:57,032 --> 00:54:59,000 We have freely elected people and we've got to 937 00:54:59,099 --> 00:55:00,500 stand behind them. 938 00:55:00,599 --> 00:55:03,065 JOHNSON: I think your government's in trouble, General. 939 00:55:03,166 --> 00:55:05,032 I think it's in... I don't want to say this. 940 00:55:05,132 --> 00:55:06,833 But I think we're in more danger 941 00:55:06,932 --> 00:55:08,833 from these left-wing influences now 942 00:55:08,932 --> 00:55:11,800 than we've ever been in 37 years I've been here. 943 00:55:11,900 --> 00:55:14,932 And they're working in my party from within. 944 00:55:15,032 --> 00:55:17,599 And Bobby thinks he's going to get the nomination. 945 00:55:17,699 --> 00:55:21,932 NARRATOR: Allard Lowenstein, a 38-year-old attorney from New York, 946 00:55:22,032 --> 00:55:25,065 shared the antiwar fervor of the protestors, 947 00:55:25,166 --> 00:55:26,965 but he believed the most effective way 948 00:55:27,065 --> 00:55:30,766 to end the fighting was to work within the political system, 949 00:55:30,865 --> 00:55:32,666 not outside it. 950 00:55:32,766 --> 00:55:35,500 The answer, he said, was to stop Lyndon Johnson 951 00:55:35,599 --> 00:55:39,166 from getting a second full term as president. 952 00:55:39,266 --> 00:55:43,432 He had traveled the country all year in search of someone 953 00:55:43,532 --> 00:55:46,166 willing to challenge the president in the upcoming 954 00:55:46,266 --> 00:55:48,199 Democratic primaries. 955 00:55:48,300 --> 00:55:51,500 He asked Senator Robert Kennedy of New York, 956 00:55:51,599 --> 00:55:54,599 who had begun to criticize the Johnson administration 957 00:55:54,699 --> 00:55:56,099 over the war. 958 00:55:56,199 --> 00:55:59,500 He asked Lieutenant General James Gavin. 959 00:55:59,599 --> 00:56:03,565 He asked Senator George McGovern of South Dakota. 960 00:56:03,666 --> 00:56:05,800 They all turned him down. 961 00:56:05,900 --> 00:56:09,532 Lowenstein kept looking. 962 00:56:14,532 --> 00:56:19,632 At Fort Sill, Oklahoma, on November 17, 1967, 963 00:56:19,733 --> 00:56:22,965 friends and family of a fallen soldier gathered 964 00:56:23,065 --> 00:56:26,532 for a funeral, one of five military funerals 965 00:56:26,632 --> 00:56:29,032 held there that month. 966 00:56:29,132 --> 00:56:33,865 First Sergeant Pascal Cleatus Poolaw had been killed 967 00:56:33,965 --> 00:56:36,465 as he tried to drag one of his wounded men 968 00:56:36,565 --> 00:56:41,333 off the battlefield near the village of Loc Ninh. 969 00:56:41,432 --> 00:56:46,565 He was a remarkable soldier, had been awarded one Silver Star 970 00:56:46,666 --> 00:56:52,132 in World War II, two more in Korea, and was awarded a fourth, 971 00:56:52,233 --> 00:56:56,465 posthumously, for his gallantry in Vietnam. 972 00:56:56,565 --> 00:56:59,632 He was a Kiowa Indian. 973 00:56:59,733 --> 00:57:02,599 He and three of his sons were among 974 00:57:02,699 --> 00:57:07,699 the 42,000 Native Americans who would serve in Vietnam, 975 00:57:07,800 --> 00:57:11,500 the highest per capita service rate of any ethnic group 976 00:57:11,599 --> 00:57:13,766 in the United States. 977 00:57:13,865 --> 00:57:18,800 Pascal Poolaw's widow spoke at the ceremony. 978 00:57:18,900 --> 00:57:22,532 "He has followed the trail of the great chiefs," she said. 979 00:57:22,632 --> 00:57:27,833 "His people hold him in honor and highest esteem. 980 00:57:27,932 --> 00:57:32,132 "He has given his life for the people and the country 981 00:57:32,233 --> 00:57:36,400 he loved so much." 982 00:57:39,766 --> 00:57:41,032 ("Somebody to Love" by Jefferson Airplane playing) 983 00:57:41,132 --> 00:57:42,432 ♪ When the truth is found 984 00:57:42,532 --> 00:57:46,565 ♪ To be lies 985 00:57:46,666 --> 00:57:49,500 ♪ And all the joy 986 00:57:49,599 --> 00:57:53,932 ♪ Within you dies 987 00:57:54,032 --> 00:57:56,400 ♪ Don't you want somebody to love? ♪ 988 00:57:56,500 --> 00:58:00,000 ♪ Don't you need somebody to love? ♪ 989 00:58:00,099 --> 00:58:03,766 ♪ Wouldn't you love somebody to love? ♪ 990 00:58:03,865 --> 00:58:08,233 ♪ You better find somebody to love ♪ 991 00:58:08,333 --> 00:58:10,166 ♪ Love. 992 00:58:14,900 --> 00:58:17,833 MUSGRAVE: I didn't hear the word "hippie" until I was at Con Thien 993 00:58:17,932 --> 00:58:19,266 and we got aPlaybo y, somebody got aPlayboy in the mail, 994 00:58:19,365 --> 00:58:22,266 which was obviously very important to us. 995 00:58:22,365 --> 00:58:24,465 And there was an article on Haight-Ashbury 996 00:58:24,565 --> 00:58:26,132 and pictures of the girls running around 997 00:58:26,233 --> 00:58:27,865 without their tops, you know, free love. 998 00:58:27,965 --> 00:58:29,365 And they were hippies. 999 00:58:29,465 --> 00:58:31,965 And we thought it was "hip pie" cause it had two Ps. 1000 00:58:32,065 --> 00:58:33,833 You know, "Hey, I'm gonna go home 1001 00:58:33,932 --> 00:58:35,266 "and be one of these hip pies 1002 00:58:35,365 --> 00:58:36,865 "because the girls don't wear no clothes. 1003 00:58:36,965 --> 00:58:39,365 You know, and they'll go to bed with anybody." 1004 00:58:39,465 --> 00:58:40,733 You know, even I could score. 1005 00:58:40,833 --> 00:58:44,766 But the only information I had of the peace movement 1006 00:58:44,865 --> 00:58:46,500 came fromStars and Stripes. 1007 00:58:46,599 --> 00:58:50,132 And that wasn't a real objective newspaper. 1008 00:58:50,233 --> 00:58:52,565 And so I hated them 1009 00:58:52,666 --> 00:58:54,565 before I ever even knew anything about them. 1010 00:58:54,666 --> 00:58:57,233 ("Somebody to Love" continues) 1011 00:59:00,865 --> 00:59:04,965 NARRATOR: The monsoon rains continued to make life miserable 1012 00:59:05,065 --> 00:59:08,465 for John Musgrave and the other Marines at Con Thien. 1013 00:59:08,565 --> 00:59:12,565 But by early November, the worst of the shelling had ended. 1014 00:59:12,666 --> 00:59:16,166 American airstrikes, artillery, and Navy fire 1015 00:59:16,266 --> 00:59:19,565 had taken a fearful toll on the besieging enemy. 1016 00:59:21,365 --> 00:59:26,833 Before dawn on November 7, two companies of Musgrave's outfit 1017 00:59:26,932 --> 00:59:29,666 were sent half a mile into the countryside 1018 00:59:29,766 --> 00:59:33,065 northwest of the base to sweep the area again. 1019 00:59:34,932 --> 00:59:38,565 MUSGRAVE: We got into an area that was old hedgerows 1020 00:59:38,666 --> 00:59:40,766 that's grown over with jungle. 1021 00:59:40,865 --> 00:59:43,233 Very difficult to see very far. 1022 00:59:43,333 --> 00:59:46,400 In the clear area, we had three NVA show themselves 1023 00:59:46,500 --> 00:59:50,000 and start just spraying 30 rounds out of their AKs 1024 00:59:50,099 --> 00:59:51,099 and then booking. 1025 00:59:51,199 --> 00:59:52,400 (gunfire) 1026 00:59:52,500 --> 00:59:56,365 The company commander himself said, "I want their bodies. 1027 00:59:56,465 --> 00:59:57,900 Bring me their bodies." 1028 00:59:58,000 --> 01:00:01,266 Everything's about body count, right? 1029 01:00:01,365 --> 01:00:04,365 We said, "Man, this is as old as Custer. 1030 01:00:04,465 --> 01:00:06,865 "These guys are showing themselves to draw us 1031 01:00:06,965 --> 01:00:08,099 "into an ambush. 1032 01:00:08,199 --> 01:00:10,733 "Lieutenant, don't do this," you know. 1033 01:00:10,833 --> 01:00:14,432 "Please, these guys are bait." 1034 01:00:14,532 --> 01:00:16,733 Well, the skipper says, "We got to go. 1035 01:00:16,833 --> 01:00:18,865 We got to go." 1036 01:00:18,965 --> 01:00:22,266 And... we went. 1037 01:00:23,400 --> 01:00:25,099 (gunfire) 1038 01:00:25,199 --> 01:00:27,565 And I can't tell you a whole lot about the ambush. 1039 01:00:27,666 --> 01:00:29,699 I was one of the first people to be shot. 1040 01:00:29,800 --> 01:00:31,599 One round put me down. 1041 01:00:31,699 --> 01:00:33,233 (gunfire) 1042 01:00:33,333 --> 01:00:36,800 And my grenadier was down, and we were trying to get him back. 1043 01:00:36,900 --> 01:00:41,000 And Marines, from the first day in boot camp, 1044 01:00:41,099 --> 01:00:43,599 you learn that Marines don't leave their dead, 1045 01:00:43,699 --> 01:00:47,233 and they never, never leave their wounded. 1046 01:00:48,666 --> 01:00:51,365 And that's why I'm alive today. 1047 01:00:51,465 --> 01:00:55,733 First guy that came for me-- I was lying on my face... 1048 01:00:55,833 --> 01:00:57,233 (gunfire) 1049 01:00:57,333 --> 01:00:59,766 he reached down and stuck his arms under my shoulders 1050 01:00:59,865 --> 01:01:04,233 and lifted me up and the machine gun wasn't any far, 1051 01:01:04,333 --> 01:01:09,932 was maybe nine feet, ten feet at the most, away from me. 1052 01:01:10,032 --> 01:01:11,565 This is a very intimate ambush. 1053 01:01:11,666 --> 01:01:12,666 It's a brawl. 1054 01:01:12,766 --> 01:01:14,166 (gunfire) 1055 01:01:14,266 --> 01:01:18,333 And he fired a burst into my chest that blew me out 1056 01:01:18,432 --> 01:01:21,965 of the Marine's arms that was holding me and then he was shot. 1057 01:01:22,065 --> 01:01:24,532 (gunfire) 1058 01:01:24,632 --> 01:01:30,865 Another very brave young Marine, this 18-year-old from Louisiana, 1059 01:01:30,965 --> 01:01:34,000 his first firefight, had seen what happened 1060 01:01:34,099 --> 01:01:37,266 and still came for me. 1061 01:01:37,365 --> 01:01:42,032 And he reached for me, and he was shot I think in the forearm. 1062 01:01:42,132 --> 01:01:44,932 And he was laying beside me. 1063 01:01:45,032 --> 01:01:46,800 Now, I've got a hole through my chest big enough 1064 01:01:46,900 --> 01:01:48,465 to stick your fist through. 1065 01:01:49,432 --> 01:01:50,632 I'm dying and I know it. 1066 01:01:50,733 --> 01:01:51,865 (gunfire) 1067 01:01:51,965 --> 01:01:54,565 And I heard this horrible screaming going on, 1068 01:01:54,666 --> 01:01:58,333 and I was trying to figure out who was screaming like that, 1069 01:01:58,432 --> 01:01:59,699 because it sounded so... 1070 01:01:59,800 --> 01:02:02,766 (distant gunfire) 1071 01:02:06,666 --> 01:02:08,333 And then I realized it was me. 1072 01:02:11,065 --> 01:02:13,500 When they began to drag us out, they were being pursued 1073 01:02:13,599 --> 01:02:17,400 by the North Vietnamese, and they would drop us 1074 01:02:17,500 --> 01:02:19,166 and lay on top of us. 1075 01:02:19,266 --> 01:02:20,599 They knew... we were both dying. 1076 01:02:20,699 --> 01:02:24,032 The grenadier had been shot in the right side of his chest. 1077 01:02:24,132 --> 01:02:26,233 They knew... we were both dead. 1078 01:02:26,333 --> 01:02:29,000 But we were still alive. 1079 01:02:29,099 --> 01:02:30,632 So, they weren't gonna leave us. 1080 01:02:30,733 --> 01:02:32,833 They would die before they would leave us. 1081 01:02:32,932 --> 01:02:34,900 And they covered us with their bodies and fired back 1082 01:02:35,000 --> 01:02:38,233 at the NVA and then they'd jump up and drag us a little farther 1083 01:02:38,333 --> 01:02:40,666 and then drop us and lay back on top of us. 1084 01:02:40,766 --> 01:02:43,632 And I kept telling them to leave me. 1085 01:02:43,733 --> 01:02:45,365 And I meant it. I meant it. 1086 01:02:45,465 --> 01:02:49,599 But all of a sudden I got scared that they might really leave me. 1087 01:02:50,965 --> 01:02:51,965 (distant gunfire) 1088 01:02:52,065 --> 01:02:54,532 I was triaged three times. 1089 01:02:54,632 --> 01:02:57,465 And the senior corpsman said, 1090 01:02:57,565 --> 01:02:59,199 "He's either shot through the heart or the lungs. 1091 01:02:59,300 --> 01:03:00,432 There's nothing I can do for him." 1092 01:03:00,532 --> 01:03:02,199 And he just turned away. 1093 01:03:02,300 --> 01:03:04,400 I went, "Well, okay." 1094 01:03:05,365 --> 01:03:09,032 And then, a helicopter came in. 1095 01:03:09,132 --> 01:03:10,699 And they threw me into the bird. 1096 01:03:10,800 --> 01:03:13,099 (distant helicopter blades humming) 1097 01:03:13,199 --> 01:03:16,432 And the corpsman on the bird straddled me, stood over me, 1098 01:03:16,532 --> 01:03:19,532 and looked down at me, and then looked up at the door gunner 1099 01:03:19,632 --> 01:03:23,432 and went... get me out of the way 1100 01:03:23,532 --> 01:03:24,532 because he couldn't work on me. 1101 01:03:24,632 --> 01:03:26,166 I was a dead man. 1102 01:03:26,266 --> 01:03:28,132 (muted helicopter blades beating) 1103 01:03:28,233 --> 01:03:30,132 And they flew me to Delta Med at Dong Ha. 1104 01:03:30,233 --> 01:03:34,266 And I thought, "Okay, I made it this far." 1105 01:03:34,365 --> 01:03:36,000 And this doctor comes over and looks at me 1106 01:03:36,099 --> 01:03:37,666 and I'm conscious. 1107 01:03:37,766 --> 01:03:40,000 I'm lucid. 1108 01:03:40,099 --> 01:03:41,500 And he checks a couple of things. 1109 01:03:41,599 --> 01:03:42,800 And I've got this huge hole in me. 1110 01:03:42,900 --> 01:03:44,365 And he looks at me right in the eye, and he says, 1111 01:03:44,465 --> 01:03:46,233 "What's your religion, Marine?" 1112 01:03:46,333 --> 01:03:48,400 And I said, "Well, I'm a Protestant." 1113 01:03:48,500 --> 01:03:49,565 And he says, "Get a chaplain over here. 1114 01:03:49,666 --> 01:03:51,266 I can't help this man." 1115 01:03:51,365 --> 01:03:52,266 And then he walked away. 1116 01:03:53,733 --> 01:03:59,000 Another surgeon walks by, and he looked at me, 1117 01:03:59,099 --> 01:04:03,199 and I was raised to always be nice to people. 1118 01:04:03,300 --> 01:04:07,099 And when he looked at me, I smiled at him and nodded. 1119 01:04:07,199 --> 01:04:11,365 And he said, "Why isn't somebody helping this man?" 1120 01:04:11,465 --> 01:04:12,766 And inside I'm going, 1121 01:04:12,865 --> 01:04:14,500 "Yeah, why isn't somebody helping this man?" 1122 01:04:15,699 --> 01:04:18,632 When they put me to sleep, I thought, 1123 01:04:18,733 --> 01:04:21,766 "Boy, this is really it," you know. 1124 01:04:21,865 --> 01:04:24,465 And it was kind of, "Okay, God, 1125 01:04:24,565 --> 01:04:27,166 into your hands, I deliver my spirit." 1126 01:04:28,365 --> 01:04:30,233 And I thought that was it. 1127 01:04:32,233 --> 01:04:34,432 And when I woke up in the surgical intensive care ward, 1128 01:04:34,532 --> 01:04:36,932 which was a Quonset hut, 1129 01:04:37,032 --> 01:04:39,565 I thought, "Holy mackerel." 1130 01:04:39,666 --> 01:04:43,699 I just couldn't... I couldn't believe it. 1131 01:04:47,400 --> 01:04:48,900 Yesterday over Hanoi, 1132 01:04:49,000 --> 01:04:50,766 three American planes were shot down 1133 01:04:50,865 --> 01:04:53,500 and at least two of their pilots captured. 1134 01:04:53,599 --> 01:04:57,132 One of them was Lieutenant Commander John McCain III, 1135 01:04:57,233 --> 01:05:00,400 the son of the U.S. Naval commander in Europe. 1136 01:05:01,733 --> 01:05:04,166 BAO NINH: 1137 01:05:37,932 --> 01:05:41,500 NARRATOR: Hanoi was so pleased to have captured the son 1138 01:05:41,599 --> 01:05:45,000 of an American admiral that they allowed a French journalist 1139 01:05:45,099 --> 01:05:47,632 to interview McCain in the hospital. 1140 01:05:47,733 --> 01:05:52,032 He had just had his broken bones set without even an aspirin 1141 01:05:52,132 --> 01:05:53,565 for the pain. 1142 01:05:53,666 --> 01:05:54,865 INTERVIEWER: What is your name? 1143 01:05:54,965 --> 01:05:58,032 Lieutenant Commander John McCain. 1144 01:05:58,132 --> 01:06:01,199 How many raids have you done until the last one? 1145 01:06:01,300 --> 01:06:03,065 About 23. 1146 01:06:03,166 --> 01:06:07,865 In which circumstances have you been shot down? 1147 01:06:07,965 --> 01:06:12,733 I was on a flight over the city of Hanoi, 1148 01:06:12,833 --> 01:06:19,932 and I was bombing and I was hit by either a missile 1149 01:06:20,032 --> 01:06:21,733 or anti-aircraft fire. 1150 01:06:21,833 --> 01:06:28,833 I'm not sure which, and the plane continued straight down, 1151 01:06:28,932 --> 01:06:37,500 and I ejected and broke my leg and both arms 1152 01:06:37,599 --> 01:06:44,365 and went into a lake; parachuted into a lake. 1153 01:06:44,465 --> 01:06:49,333 And I was picked up by some North Vietnamese 1154 01:06:49,432 --> 01:06:55,500 and taken to the hospital, where I almost died. 1155 01:06:55,599 --> 01:06:57,865 I would just like to tell... 1156 01:07:02,233 --> 01:07:04,666 ...my wife... 1157 01:07:05,465 --> 01:07:08,032 ...I will get well... 1158 01:07:10,565 --> 01:07:17,300 ...and I love her and I hope to see her soon. 1159 01:07:18,800 --> 01:07:21,400 NARRATOR: After the interview, McCain was beaten 1160 01:07:21,500 --> 01:07:25,565 for not expressing sufficient gratitude to his captors. 1161 01:07:31,599 --> 01:07:33,266 (soldiers conversing) 1162 01:07:33,365 --> 01:07:37,800 NARRATOR: All through the fall of 1967, the North Vietnamese 1163 01:07:37,900 --> 01:07:41,632 and the Viet Cong continued their series of "Border Battles" 1164 01:07:41,733 --> 01:07:44,266 in preparation for their surprise offensive, 1165 01:07:44,365 --> 01:07:46,300 still months away. 1166 01:07:46,400 --> 01:07:50,199 Con Thien, where John Musgrave was wounded, 1167 01:07:50,300 --> 01:07:51,766 had been the first. 1168 01:07:51,865 --> 01:07:55,599 Then came the ARVN base at Song Be. 1169 01:07:55,699 --> 01:07:58,166 The South Vietnamese outpost adjacent to 1170 01:07:58,266 --> 01:08:01,400 the provincial capital of Loc Ninh was next. 1171 01:08:01,500 --> 01:08:04,432 There, large units of North Vietnamese 1172 01:08:04,532 --> 01:08:08,333 and Viet Cong regulars mounted a coordinated attack, 1173 01:08:08,432 --> 01:08:11,800 and then fought for five days to hold on to the ground 1174 01:08:11,900 --> 01:08:15,766 they'd gained, something they had never done before. 1175 01:08:15,865 --> 01:08:19,466 American commanders were puzzled. 1176 01:08:19,565 --> 01:08:24,199 Then, in early November, reports reached MACV 1177 01:08:24,300 --> 01:08:26,565 that five North Vietnamese regiments 1178 01:08:26,666 --> 01:08:30,966 and a Viet Cong battalion-- some 7,000 men in all-- 1179 01:08:31,065 --> 01:08:33,666 had begun massing in the Central Highlands 1180 01:08:33,765 --> 01:08:38,432 around the U.S. Special Forces camp at Dak To again. 1181 01:08:38,533 --> 01:08:43,166 Among the North Vietnamese regulars was Nguyen Thanh Son, 1182 01:08:43,265 --> 01:08:46,565 who had been so eager to fight that he too had filled 1183 01:08:46,666 --> 01:08:50,765 his pockets with rocks to pass his physical. 1184 01:08:51,932 --> 01:08:54,666 NGUYEN THANH SON: 1185 01:09:04,899 --> 01:09:08,365 NARRATOR: As the NVA deployed their troops, 1186 01:09:08,466 --> 01:09:11,399 Westmoreland sent his to Dak To, 1187 01:09:11,500 --> 01:09:15,065 exactly what the enemy wanted him to do. 1188 01:09:15,166 --> 01:09:20,399 Among the Americans were the men of the elite 173rd Airborne, 1189 01:09:20,500 --> 01:09:24,100 Westmoreland's Fire Brigade. 1190 01:09:28,500 --> 01:09:32,699 MATT HARRISON: We all knew in a general sense that we wouldn't be brought back 1191 01:09:32,800 --> 01:09:35,733 if there wasn't something big going on. 1192 01:09:35,832 --> 01:09:41,265 You just knew that the area was crawling with North Vietnamese, 1193 01:09:41,365 --> 01:09:45,899 and that they were there not to avoid contact with us, 1194 01:09:46,000 --> 01:09:48,733 but they were there to have contact with us. 1195 01:09:50,132 --> 01:09:52,399 NARRATOR: First Lieutenant Matthew Harrison was now 1196 01:09:52,500 --> 01:09:55,265 with Alpha Company of the 2nd Battalion, 1197 01:09:55,365 --> 01:09:57,899 the same rifle company that had been ambushed 1198 01:09:58,000 --> 01:10:03,233 and so badly shattered back in June on the slopes of Hill 1338, 1199 01:10:03,332 --> 01:10:06,000 just 14 miles to the east. 1200 01:10:06,100 --> 01:10:09,733 HARRISON: This wasn't like the Viet Cong where if you could find them, 1201 01:10:09,832 --> 01:10:11,100 you could kill them. 1202 01:10:11,199 --> 01:10:12,500 Our problem wasn't finding them. 1203 01:10:12,600 --> 01:10:14,832 Our problem was what to do with them once you found them. 1204 01:10:14,932 --> 01:10:20,100 NARRATOR: The 174th NVA Regiment was waiting. 1205 01:10:20,199 --> 01:10:24,000 Nguyen Thanh Son and his men were already dug in 1206 01:10:24,100 --> 01:10:27,166 on the high ground they knew the Americans would want 1207 01:10:27,265 --> 01:10:32,000 to command: Hill 875. 1208 01:10:32,100 --> 01:10:34,199 NGUYEN THANH SON: 1209 01:10:53,166 --> 01:10:58,399 NARRATOR: On Sunday morning, November 19, 1967, 1210 01:10:58,500 --> 01:11:02,000 Alpha, Charlie, and Delta Companies were ordered 1211 01:11:02,100 --> 01:11:05,000 to take Hill 875. 1212 01:11:05,100 --> 01:11:08,565 Matt Harrison had been wounded in an earlier fight 1213 01:11:08,666 --> 01:11:11,500 and was not permitted to accompany his men. 1214 01:11:11,600 --> 01:11:15,899 He anxiously followed their progress over the radio. 1215 01:11:16,000 --> 01:11:20,699 Heavy artillery and flights of F-100s blasted the hillside 1216 01:11:20,800 --> 01:11:24,632 ahead of them, meant to knock out enemy positions 1217 01:11:24,733 --> 01:11:27,932 before the paratroopers ever got within range. 1218 01:11:29,565 --> 01:11:31,733 NGUYEN THANH SON: 1219 01:11:44,800 --> 01:11:47,199 NARRATOR: The three companies moved up the slope, 1220 01:11:47,300 --> 01:11:49,733 Charlie and Delta in the lead, 1221 01:11:49,832 --> 01:11:53,033 Alpha bringing up the rear. 1222 01:11:53,132 --> 01:11:56,600 The paratroopers stepped warily into a clearing 1223 01:11:56,699 --> 01:11:59,932 filled with fallen trees from the morning's bombardment 1224 01:12:00,033 --> 01:12:04,832 and only a little over 300 yards from the summit. 1225 01:12:05,600 --> 01:12:08,800 NGUYEN THANH SON: 1226 01:12:18,265 --> 01:12:19,932 (gunfire) 1227 01:12:20,033 --> 01:12:23,033 NARRATOR: Thousands of automatic weapon rounds ripped through the air. 1228 01:12:23,132 --> 01:12:26,199 Chinese-made grenades came rolling and bumping 1229 01:12:26,300 --> 01:12:27,699 down the slopes. 1230 01:12:27,800 --> 01:12:32,033 The Americans sought cover where they could behind fallen trees, 1231 01:12:32,132 --> 01:12:34,733 scrabbled at the earth with their helmets, 1232 01:12:34,832 --> 01:12:37,033 trying to dig fighting holes. 1233 01:12:37,132 --> 01:12:39,865 (gunfire) 1234 01:12:39,966 --> 01:12:41,332 (soldiers yelling) 1235 01:12:41,432 --> 01:12:43,733 (rapid gunfire) 1236 01:12:43,832 --> 01:12:46,733 Charlie and Delta companies were pinned down 1237 01:12:46,832 --> 01:12:49,733 and being torn to pieces. 1238 01:12:49,832 --> 01:12:51,065 (gunfire) 1239 01:12:51,166 --> 01:12:53,000 Meanwhile, near the foot of the hill, 1240 01:12:53,100 --> 01:12:56,199 other North Vietnamese troops surprised Alpha Company 1241 01:12:56,300 --> 01:12:57,632 from behind. 1242 01:12:57,733 --> 01:13:00,800 They were first spotted moving up through the trees 1243 01:13:00,899 --> 01:13:04,600 by a private from the Bronx named Carlos Lozada. 1244 01:13:04,699 --> 01:13:07,865 As the men of his company scrambled up the slope, 1245 01:13:07,966 --> 01:13:09,765 dragging their wounded with them, 1246 01:13:09,865 --> 01:13:12,432 Lozada provided what cover he could, 1247 01:13:12,533 --> 01:13:15,300 firing his M-60 machine gun from his hip-- 1248 01:13:15,399 --> 01:13:18,132 before a bullet hit him in the head. 1249 01:13:19,500 --> 01:13:24,332 He would be awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor. 1250 01:13:24,432 --> 01:13:28,332 Back home, the battle led the nightly news. 1251 01:13:28,432 --> 01:13:30,033 (helicopter humming) 1252 01:13:30,132 --> 01:13:33,033 WALTER CRONKITE: The Battle of Dak To is now on its 19th day, 1253 01:13:33,132 --> 01:13:35,432 and already ranks among the bloodiest campaigns 1254 01:13:35,533 --> 01:13:36,966 of the Vietnam War. 1255 01:13:37,065 --> 01:13:38,699 There's no sign yet of any let-up. 1256 01:13:38,800 --> 01:13:40,332 Over the weekend, three companies 1257 01:13:40,432 --> 01:13:44,432 of the 173rd Airborne Brigade moved down this river valley, 1258 01:13:44,533 --> 01:13:47,432 up which North Vietnamese normally infiltrate, 1259 01:13:47,533 --> 01:13:50,600 until they got down here by Hill 875. 1260 01:13:50,699 --> 01:13:53,033 Then, they came under heavy fire from the hill. 1261 01:13:53,132 --> 01:13:55,233 Two of the three companies charged the hill, 1262 01:13:55,332 --> 01:13:57,199 the other stayed back as a rear guard. 1263 01:13:57,300 --> 01:13:58,632 They found a... 1264 01:13:58,733 --> 01:14:01,865 HARRISON: By early afternoon, the three companies 1265 01:14:01,966 --> 01:14:04,233 had basically been decapitated. 1266 01:14:04,332 --> 01:14:06,132 The company commanders were dead; 1267 01:14:06,233 --> 01:14:09,300 most of the officers and most of the NCOs were dead. 1268 01:14:09,399 --> 01:14:11,100 (soldiers yelling) 1269 01:14:11,199 --> 01:14:13,899 NARRATOR: The survivors from all three companies clustered 1270 01:14:14,000 --> 01:14:16,699 in the clearing and did their best to set up 1271 01:14:16,800 --> 01:14:18,466 a defensive circle. 1272 01:14:18,565 --> 01:14:23,199 American bombs and napalm pounded enemy positions 1273 01:14:23,300 --> 01:14:26,800 until it grew almost too dark to see. 1274 01:14:27,765 --> 01:14:29,666 NGUYEN THANH SON: 1275 01:14:55,065 --> 01:14:59,899 NARRATOR: Then, another American plane roared in and dropped two bombs. 1276 01:15:00,000 --> 01:15:03,000 One landed among the hidden enemy troops. 1277 01:15:04,233 --> 01:15:08,800 The other fell directly on the Americans. 1278 01:15:08,899 --> 01:15:13,699 In a fraction of a second, 42 were killed. 1279 01:15:13,800 --> 01:15:17,733 A badly hit lieutenant managed to find a working radio. 1280 01:15:17,832 --> 01:15:21,265 "No more fucking planes," he shouted into it. 1281 01:15:21,365 --> 01:15:24,100 "You're killingus up here." 1282 01:15:24,199 --> 01:15:25,565 (explosion) 1283 01:15:25,666 --> 01:15:27,932 The fighting on the hillside continued. 1284 01:15:28,033 --> 01:15:32,466 The men ran out of water, began to run out of ammunition. 1285 01:15:32,565 --> 01:15:37,300 Helicopters that tried to ferry in supplies were shot down. 1286 01:15:38,666 --> 01:15:45,765 The following day, Matt Harrison was able to chopper in. 1287 01:15:45,865 --> 01:15:47,466 HARRISON: It was chaos. 1288 01:15:47,565 --> 01:15:50,365 It was collections of guys who had who had tunneled 1289 01:15:50,466 --> 01:15:52,666 and dug down behind trees. 1290 01:15:52,765 --> 01:15:56,199 These were guys who had gone without water in that heat 1291 01:15:56,300 --> 01:15:57,800 for two days. 1292 01:15:57,899 --> 01:16:01,899 And almost every one of them was wounded. 1293 01:16:02,000 --> 01:16:06,033 And then all around were bodies, 1294 01:16:06,132 --> 01:16:10,432 guys who had been shot and blown up. 1295 01:16:10,533 --> 01:16:12,166 It was the third circle of hell. 1296 01:16:14,932 --> 01:16:19,399 NARRATOR: On November 23, two fresh battalions of the 173rd 1297 01:16:19,500 --> 01:16:22,033 finally made it to the top of the hill, 1298 01:16:22,132 --> 01:16:24,966 for which so many had died. 1299 01:16:25,065 --> 01:16:26,832 But the night before, 1300 01:16:26,932 --> 01:16:29,832 the surviving North Vietnamese troops had slipped down 1301 01:16:29,932 --> 01:16:36,166 the other side and disappeared into Cambodia and Laos. 1302 01:16:36,265 --> 01:16:38,899 The powers that be decided it would be important 1303 01:16:39,000 --> 01:16:43,466 to our morale for us to be in on the taking the top of the hill. 1304 01:16:43,565 --> 01:16:48,800 I had 26 guys left out of a company that started out of 140, 1305 01:16:48,899 --> 01:16:51,565 and all 26 had been wounded. 1306 01:16:51,666 --> 01:16:55,966 NARRATOR: Then Harrison and his exhausted men were helicoptered 1307 01:16:56,065 --> 01:16:57,832 to the top of yet another hill. 1308 01:16:57,932 --> 01:16:59,632 (helicopter blades whirring) 1309 01:17:03,565 --> 01:17:05,800 It was Thanksgiving. 1310 01:17:05,899 --> 01:17:09,166 Chinook helicopters clattered down out of the sky, 1311 01:17:09,265 --> 01:17:12,899 carrying huge containers of hot turkey and mashed potatoes 1312 01:17:13,000 --> 01:17:17,500 and cranberry sauce so that the 173rd could have 1313 01:17:17,600 --> 01:17:19,533 their Thanksgiving dinner. 1314 01:17:19,632 --> 01:17:22,199 If there are any more remote or dangerous spots 1315 01:17:22,300 --> 01:17:24,265 to spend Thanksgiving Day in Vietnam than this one, 1316 01:17:24,365 --> 01:17:26,500 then most of these men have never seen them. 1317 01:17:26,600 --> 01:17:30,000 HARRISON: There was a TV cameraman and reporter off to the side 1318 01:17:30,100 --> 01:17:31,699 using us as a backdrop. 1319 01:17:31,800 --> 01:17:34,500 And I remember hearing the reporter intone, 1320 01:17:34,600 --> 01:17:37,666 "Today is November 23, Thanksgiving Day," 1321 01:17:37,765 --> 01:17:41,533 and I was really angry. 1322 01:17:41,632 --> 01:17:45,533 It's as though we were entertainers. 1323 01:17:47,033 --> 01:17:52,832 NARRATOR: 107 Americans had died taking Hill 875; 1324 01:17:52,932 --> 01:17:55,800 another 282 were wounded. 1325 01:17:55,899 --> 01:17:57,632 Ten more were missing. 1326 01:17:57,733 --> 01:18:01,565 The number of North Vietnamese casualties is unknown, 1327 01:18:01,666 --> 01:18:05,632 but their losses are thought to have been staggering. 1328 01:18:07,199 --> 01:18:11,565 Back in June, Matt Harrison had lost two West Point classmates 1329 01:18:11,666 --> 01:18:14,300 on Hill 1338. 1330 01:18:14,399 --> 01:18:17,432 He lost two more on Hill 875. 1331 01:18:17,533 --> 01:18:21,166 Of the eight with whom he had served in the 2nd Battalion, 1332 01:18:21,265 --> 01:18:25,565 four were now dead and two had been wounded. 1333 01:18:28,132 --> 01:18:31,600 HARRISON: To take tops of mountains in a triple canopy jungle 1334 01:18:31,699 --> 01:18:34,832 along the Cambodian-Laotian border accomplished nothing 1335 01:18:34,932 --> 01:18:37,100 of any importance. 1336 01:18:38,832 --> 01:18:43,399 The Battle for Hill 875 was, in my thinking today, 1337 01:18:43,500 --> 01:18:46,865 a microcosm of what we were doing and what went wrong 1338 01:18:46,966 --> 01:18:48,399 in Vietnam. 1339 01:18:48,500 --> 01:18:52,233 There was no reason to take that hill. 1340 01:18:52,332 --> 01:18:56,033 We literally got to the top of the hill 1341 01:18:56,132 --> 01:19:02,899 about mid-day on November 23 and sat there for, 1342 01:19:03,000 --> 01:19:04,832 I don't know, half an hour, an hour, 1343 01:19:04,932 --> 01:19:08,899 just kind of gathering ourselves and everything together. 1344 01:19:09,000 --> 01:19:12,265 Chinooks came in, took us off the hill. 1345 01:19:12,365 --> 01:19:16,233 And I doubt that there's been an American on Hill 875 1346 01:19:16,332 --> 01:19:18,399 since November 23. 1347 01:19:18,500 --> 01:19:20,765 We accomplished nothing. 1348 01:19:20,865 --> 01:19:24,399 WILLIAM WESTMORELAND: A new phase is now starting. 1349 01:19:24,500 --> 01:19:27,432 We have reached an important point when the end 1350 01:19:27,533 --> 01:19:29,800 begins to come into view. 1351 01:19:31,500 --> 01:19:35,065 NARRATOR: As Matt Harrison and his men fought for Hill 875, 1352 01:19:35,166 --> 01:19:37,800 the Johnson administration was in the midst 1353 01:19:37,899 --> 01:19:39,699 of a "Success Offensive," 1354 01:19:39,800 --> 01:19:44,666 a PR campaign aimed at shoring up support for the war 1355 01:19:44,765 --> 01:19:47,265 and the way it was being waged. 1356 01:19:47,365 --> 01:19:51,666 MACV released a new and surprisingly low estimate 1357 01:19:51,765 --> 01:19:55,699 of enemy forces to show how much damage the United States 1358 01:19:55,800 --> 01:19:57,166 had done to them. 1359 01:19:57,265 --> 01:20:01,632 It was only two-thirds of the total suggested by the CIA, 1360 01:20:01,733 --> 01:20:04,166 because, after a bitter and prolonged debate 1361 01:20:04,265 --> 01:20:07,132 behind the scenes, Westmoreland had chosen 1362 01:20:07,233 --> 01:20:10,300 to exclude from it the part-time guerrillas-- 1363 01:20:10,399 --> 01:20:14,432 farmers, old men, women, even children-- 1364 01:20:14,533 --> 01:20:18,265 who helped place the mines, grenades, and booby traps 1365 01:20:18,365 --> 01:20:20,432 that accounted for more than a third 1366 01:20:20,533 --> 01:20:23,065 of all American casualties. 1367 01:20:23,166 --> 01:20:26,199 General Westmoreland also told the press 1368 01:20:26,300 --> 01:20:29,832 that the impressive body counts his commanders reported 1369 01:20:29,932 --> 01:20:32,533 were "very, very conservative." 1370 01:20:32,632 --> 01:20:35,100 It probably represented, he said, 1371 01:20:35,199 --> 01:20:39,765 "50 percent or even less of the enemy that has been killed." 1372 01:20:39,865 --> 01:20:43,565 Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker joined the chorus, 1373 01:20:43,666 --> 01:20:47,365 using a metaphor first used 13 years earlier 1374 01:20:47,466 --> 01:20:50,000 by the French commander in Vietnam, 1375 01:20:50,100 --> 01:20:54,666 not long before their great defeat at Dien Bien Phu. 1376 01:20:54,765 --> 01:20:58,000 And I think we're now beginning to see light 1377 01:20:58,100 --> 01:20:59,466 at the end of the tunnel. 1378 01:20:59,565 --> 01:21:02,699 Mr. Ambassador, you talk about light at the end of the tunnel. 1379 01:21:02,800 --> 01:21:04,332 How long is this tunnel? 1380 01:21:04,432 --> 01:21:07,000 Well, I don't think that you can put it 1381 01:21:07,100 --> 01:21:12,899 into any particular timeframe, a situation like this. 1382 01:21:14,432 --> 01:21:18,765 NARRATOR: LBJ's Success Offensive succeeded. 1383 01:21:18,865 --> 01:21:22,199 The number of Americans who believed the United States 1384 01:21:22,300 --> 01:21:26,966 was making real progress in the war grew. 1385 01:21:27,065 --> 01:21:30,399 Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara 1386 01:21:30,500 --> 01:21:34,565 did not take part in the public relations campaign. 1387 01:21:34,666 --> 01:21:38,300 He had become so disillusioned with the war he'd done so much 1388 01:21:38,399 --> 01:21:40,899 to plan and prosecute that he wrote 1389 01:21:41,000 --> 01:21:43,332 another secret memo to the president, 1390 01:21:43,432 --> 01:21:47,365 advising Johnson to freeze American troop levels, 1391 01:21:47,466 --> 01:21:51,100 turn over ground operations to the South Vietnamese, 1392 01:21:51,199 --> 01:21:53,600 and halt the bombing of North Vietnam 1393 01:21:53,699 --> 01:21:56,699 "in order to bring about negotiations." 1394 01:21:56,800 --> 01:22:00,432 There was no reason to believe, McNamara wrote, 1395 01:22:00,533 --> 01:22:04,233 that the prolonged "infliction of grievous casualties, 1396 01:22:04,332 --> 01:22:07,000 "or the heavy punishment of air bombardment, 1397 01:22:07,100 --> 01:22:10,065 "will suffice to break the will of the North Vietnamese 1398 01:22:10,166 --> 01:22:11,600 "and Viet Cong. 1399 01:22:11,699 --> 01:22:14,832 "The continuation of our present course of action 1400 01:22:14,932 --> 01:22:19,800 "in Southeast Asia would be dangerous, costly in lives, 1401 01:22:19,899 --> 01:22:23,132 and unsatisfactory to the American people." 1402 01:22:23,233 --> 01:22:26,432 Johnson never responded. 1403 01:22:26,533 --> 01:22:29,565 Instead, he arranged for McNamara to become 1404 01:22:29,666 --> 01:22:32,600 the president of the World Bank. 1405 01:22:32,699 --> 01:22:36,533 McNamara would keep silent about the doubts he had harbored 1406 01:22:36,632 --> 01:22:38,733 since the beginning of the ground war 1407 01:22:38,832 --> 01:22:42,332 for the next 28 years. 1408 01:22:42,432 --> 01:22:45,432 His successor as defense secretary would be 1409 01:22:45,533 --> 01:22:46,765 Clark Clifford, 1410 01:22:46,865 --> 01:22:50,432 a prominent Washington lawyer and trusted counselor 1411 01:22:50,533 --> 01:22:54,000 to Democratic presidents, whom Johnson was sure would be 1412 01:22:54,100 --> 01:22:55,832 supportive of the war. 1413 01:22:55,932 --> 01:22:58,000 Students of Harvard... 1414 01:22:58,100 --> 01:23:01,399 NARRATOR: Meanwhile, Allard Lowenstein's yearlong search 1415 01:23:01,500 --> 01:23:03,932 for a Democratic challenger to the president 1416 01:23:04,033 --> 01:23:06,065 had finally succeeded. 1417 01:23:06,166 --> 01:23:12,132 On November 30, 1967, Minnesota senator Eugene McCarthy 1418 01:23:12,233 --> 01:23:14,100 announced that he would run. 1419 01:23:14,199 --> 01:23:16,832 This is an issue which has to be taken 1420 01:23:16,932 --> 01:23:20,365 to the people of the country in the campaign of 1968. 1421 01:23:20,466 --> 01:23:21,500 (crowd cheers) 1422 01:23:23,565 --> 01:23:26,565 NARRATOR: By the end of 1967, 1423 01:23:26,666 --> 01:23:32,132 20,057 Americans had died in Vietnam. 1424 01:23:32,233 --> 01:23:35,500 The time had come, General Westmoreland said, 1425 01:23:35,600 --> 01:23:39,466 for an "all-out offensive on all fronts." 1426 01:23:43,100 --> 01:23:46,733 But the enemy was just a month away from launching 1427 01:23:46,832 --> 01:23:49,865 an all-out offensive of its own. 1428 01:23:51,300 --> 01:23:53,199 ("Paint in Black" by the Rolling Stones playing) 1429 01:24:04,966 --> 01:24:10,865 ♪ I see a red door and I want it painted black ♪ 1430 01:24:10,966 --> 01:24:16,865 ♪ No colors anymore, I want them to turn black ♪ 1431 01:24:16,966 --> 01:24:19,166 ♪ I see the girls walk by 1432 01:24:19,265 --> 01:24:22,966 ♪ Dressed in their summer clothes ♪ 1433 01:24:23,065 --> 01:24:29,166 ♪ I have to turn my head until my darkness goes ♪ 1434 01:24:29,265 --> 01:24:34,966 ♪ I see a line of cars and they're all painted black ♪ 1435 01:24:35,065 --> 01:24:40,966 ♪ With flowers and my love, both never to come back ♪ 1436 01:24:41,065 --> 01:24:47,033 ♪ I see people turn their heads and quickly look away ♪ 1437 01:24:47,132 --> 01:24:53,199 ♪ Like a newborn baby, it just happens every day ♪ 1438 01:24:53,300 --> 01:24:59,199 ♪ I look inside myself and see my heart is black ♪ 1439 01:24:59,300 --> 01:25:05,199 ♪ I see my red door and must have it painted black ♪ 1440 01:25:05,300 --> 01:25:11,233 ♪ Maybe then I'll fade away and not have to face the facts ♪ 1441 01:25:11,332 --> 01:25:17,432 ♪ It's not easy facing up when your whole world is black ♪ 1442 01:25:17,533 --> 01:25:23,666 ♪ No more will my green sea go turn a deeper blue ♪ 1443 01:25:23,765 --> 01:25:29,899 ♪ I could not foresee this thing happening to you ♪ 1444 01:25:30,000 --> 01:25:35,800 ♪ If I look hard enough into the setting sun ♪ 1445 01:25:35,899 --> 01:25:41,865 ♪ My love will laugh with me before the morning comes ♪ 1446 01:25:41,966 --> 01:25:47,932 ♪ I see a red door and I want it painted black ♪ 1447 01:25:48,033 --> 01:25:53,966 ♪ No colors anymore, I want them to turn black ♪ 1448 01:25:54,065 --> 01:25:56,100 ♪ I see the girls walk by 1449 01:25:56,199 --> 01:26:00,033 ♪ Dressed in their summer clothes ♪ 1450 01:26:00,132 --> 01:26:06,132 ♪ I have to turn my head until my darkness goes ♪ 1451 01:26:06,233 --> 01:26:10,966 (humming) 1452 01:26:11,065 --> 01:26:12,432 ♪ I wanna see it painted 1453 01:26:12,533 --> 01:26:16,233 ♪ Painted, painted, painted black ♪ 1454 01:26:16,332 --> 01:26:18,233 ♪ Yeah. 1455 01:26:18,332 --> 01:26:42,533 (humming) 1456 01:26:43,600 --> 01:26:44,800 ANNOUNCER: LEARN MORE ABOUT THE FILM 1457 01:26:44,800 --> 01:26:47,666 AND FIND ADDITIONAL RESOURCES AT PBS.ORG/VIETNAMWAR 1458 01:26:47,666 --> 01:26:51,600 AND JOIN THE CONVERSATION USING HASHTAG VIETNAMWARPBS. 1459 01:26:51,600 --> 01:26:53,065 "THE VIETNAM WAR" IS AVAILABLE 1460 01:26:53,065 --> 01:26:54,733 ON BLU-RAY AND DVD. 1461 01:26:54,733 --> 01:26:56,399 THE COMPANION BOOK, SOUNDTRACK, 1462 01:26:56,399 --> 01:26:57,800 AND ORIGINAL SCORE FROM THE FILM 1463 01:26:57,800 --> 01:26:58,932 ARE ALSO AVAILABLE. 1464 01:26:58,932 --> 01:27:01,100 TO ORDER, VISIT SHOPPBS.ORG 1465 01:27:01,100 --> 01:27:03,565 OR CALL 1-800-PLAY-PBS. 1466 01:27:03,565 --> 01:27:05,000 EPISODES OF THIS SERIES ALSO 1467 01:27:05,000 --> 01:27:06,100 AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD 1468 01:27:06,100 --> 01:27:07,199 FROM iTUNES. 1469 01:27:10,466 --> 01:27:12,600 ANNOUNCER: BANK OF AMERICA PROUDLY SUPPORTS 1470 01:27:12,600 --> 01:27:17,500 KEN BURNS' AND LYNN NOVICK'S FILM "THE VIETNAM WAR" 1471 01:27:17,500 --> 01:27:19,899 BECAUSE FOSTERING DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES 1472 01:27:19,899 --> 01:27:22,500 AND CIVIL DISCOURSE AROUND IMPORTANT ISSUES 1473 01:27:22,500 --> 01:27:24,800 FURTHERS PROGRESS, EQUALITY, 1474 01:27:24,800 --> 01:27:26,800 AND A MORE CONNECTED SOCIETY. 1475 01:27:31,265 --> 01:27:35,300 GO TO BANKOFAMERICA.COM/ BETTERCONNECTED TO LEARN MORE. 1476 01:27:38,765 --> 01:27:40,199 ANNOUNCER: MAJOR SUPPORT FOR "THE VIETNAM WAR" 1477 01:27:40,199 --> 01:27:43,699 WAS PROVIDED BY MEMBERS OF THE BETTER ANGELS SOCIETY, 1478 01:27:43,699 --> 01:27:47,666 INCLUDING JONATHAN AND JEANNIE LAVINE, 1479 01:27:47,666 --> 01:27:50,565 DIANE AND HAL BRIERLEY, 1480 01:27:50,565 --> 01:27:52,966 AMY AND DAVID ABRAMS, 1481 01:27:52,966 --> 01:27:55,466 JOHN AND CATHERINE DEBS, 1482 01:27:55,466 --> 01:27:58,365 THE FULLERTON FAMILY CHARITABLE FUND, 1483 01:27:58,365 --> 01:28:00,432 THE MONTRONE FAMILY, 1484 01:28:00,432 --> 01:28:02,832 LYNDA AND STEWART RESNICK, 1485 01:28:02,832 --> 01:28:05,600 THE PERRY AND DONNA GOLKIN FAMILY FOUNDATION, 1486 01:28:05,600 --> 01:28:06,600 THE LYNCH FOUNDATION, 1487 01:28:06,600 --> 01:28:09,466 THE ROGER AND ROSEMARY ENRICO FOUNDATION, 1488 01:28:09,466 --> 01:28:12,899 AND BY THESE ADDITIONAL FUNDERS. 1489 01:28:12,899 --> 01:28:14,800 MAJOR FUNDING WAS ALSO PROVIDED 1490 01:28:14,800 --> 01:28:16,533 BY DAVID H. KOCH... 1491 01:28:18,832 --> 01:28:21,033 THE BLAVATNIK FAMILY FOUNDATION... 1492 01:28:23,365 --> 01:28:25,800 THE PARK FOUNDATION, 1493 01:28:25,800 --> 01:28:27,966 THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES, 1494 01:28:27,966 --> 01:28:30,166 THE PEW CHARITABLE TRUSTS, 1495 01:28:30,166 --> 01:28:32,832 THE JOHN S. AND JAMES L. KNIGHT FOUNDATION, 1496 01:28:32,832 --> 01:28:35,600 THE ANDREW W. MELLON FOUNDATION, 1497 01:28:35,600 --> 01:28:38,199 THE ARTHUR VINING DAVIS FOUNDATIONS, 1498 01:28:38,199 --> 01:28:40,399 THE FORD FOUNDATION JUSTFILMS, 1499 01:28:40,399 --> 01:28:41,600 BY THE CORPORATION 1500 01:28:41,600 --> 01:28:42,832 FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING, 1501 01:28:42,832 --> 01:28:44,800 AND BY VIEWERS LIKE YOU. 1502 01:28:44,800 --> 01:28:45,932 THANK YOU. 199349