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Major support for "The Vietnam War"

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was provided by members of
The Better Angels Society,

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including Jonathan and Jeannie Lavine,

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Diane and Hal Brierley,

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Amy and David Abrams,

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John and Catherine Debs,

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the Fullerton Family Charitable Fund,

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the Montrone Ffamily,

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Lynda and Stewart Resnick,

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the Perry and Donna
Golkin Family Foundation,

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the Lynch Foundation,

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the Roger and Rosemary
Enrico Foundation,

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and by these additional funders.

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Major funding was also provided

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by David H. Koch...

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The Blavatnik Family Foundation...

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The Park Foundation,

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the National Endowment
for the Humanities,

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the Pew Charitable Trusts,

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the John S. and James
L. Knight Foundation,

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the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation,

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the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations,

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the Ford Foundation JustFilms,

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by the Corporation for
Public Broadcasting,

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and by viewers like you.

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Thank you.

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Bank of America proudly supports

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Ken Burns' and Lynn Novick's
film "The Vietnam War"

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because fostering different perspectives

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and civil discourse
around important issues

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furthers progress, equality,

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and a more connected society.

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Go to bankofamerica.com/
betterconnected to learn more.

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I was assigned a listening
post at Con Thien in the fall.

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That was like getting a
death sentence in a trial.

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Because that's just three
Marines out there with a radio.

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And that's the scariest thing I did.

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You're listening for the enemy.

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They call you on the radio every hour,

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"Delta, Lima, Papa, Three, Bravo,

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Delta, Lima, Papa, Three,
Bravo, this is Delta Three.

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If your sit rep is alpha
sierra, key your handset twice.

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"If your situation report is all secure,

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break squelch twice on the handset."

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And if it's not, they
keep thinking you're asleep

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so they keep asking you, "If
your sit rep is alpha sierra,"

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and then it finally dawns on them,

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maybe there's somebody too
close for you to say anything.

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So then they say, "If your sit
rep is negative alpha sierra,

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key your handset once,"

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and you damn near squeeze
the handle off the, you know,

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and two on the radio
because they're so close

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that you can hear them
whispering to one another.

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And that's scary stuff.

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That's real scary stuff.

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And I'm scared of the dark, still.

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I still got a night light.

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When my kids were growing up,

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that's the first time
they really found out

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that Daddy'd been in
a war when they said,

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"Well, why do we need to
outgrow our night lights?

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Daddy's still got one."

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Let the word go forth
from this time and place,

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to friend and foe alike,

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that the torch has been
passed to a new generation

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of Americans born in this
century, tempered by war,

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disciplined by a hard and bitter peace,

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- proud of our...
- I still believed, very much,

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in this concept of an heroic America,

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America being a really special country,

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the best country in the
world, the best democracy,

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all the things that we
believe about it, which...

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and I didn't really see
anything wrong with that.

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I was sure that we were
right to be in Vietnam.

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You know, because it
started under Kennedy

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and, to me, JFK was God.

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Anything that he thought was
right, I thought was right.

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At 43, John Fitzgerald
Kennedy was the youngest man

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ever elected president
of the United States.

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He had promised bold new leadership,

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and to his supporters his inauguration
seemed to signal a new day.

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To those new states whom we welcome

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to the ranks of the free,

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we pledge our word that
one form of colonial control

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shall not have passed away

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merely to be replaced by
a far more iron tyranny.

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We shall not always expect to
find them supporting our view.

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But we shall always hope to
find them strongly supporting

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their own freedom and to
remember that, in the past,

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those who foolishly sought power

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by riding the back of
the tiger ended up inside.

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The new president gathered around him

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an extraordinary set of advisors
who shared his determination

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to confront communism, including
Secretary of State Dean Rusk,

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National Security
Advisor McGeorge Bundy,

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his deputy Walt Rostow,

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special military advisor
General Maxwell Taylor,

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and Secretary of
Defense Robert McNamara,

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who had given up his post

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as president of the Ford Motor
Company to serve his country.

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He was a pioneer in the
field of systems analysis.

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Like the president who picked them,

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all of Kennedy's men had
served during World War II.

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Each had absorbed what they all believed

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was its central lesson:

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ambitious dictatorships needed
to be halted in their tracks

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before they constituted a serious danger

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to the peace of the world.

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Meanwhile, in South Vietnam,

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the National Liberation Front...

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labeled by its enemies the Viet Cong...

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was determined to
overthrow the anticommunist

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and increasingly autocratic
government of Ngo Dinh Diem.

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In North Vietnam,
unbeknownst to Washington,

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Ho Chi Minh, the father
of Vietnamese independence,

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was now sharing power with
a more aggressive leader,

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Le Duan, who was even more impatient

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to reunify his country.

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None of us knew anything about Vietnam.

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Vietnam in those days was
a piece on a chessboard,

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a strategic chessboard,

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not a place with a culture and a history

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that we would have an
impossible time changing,

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even with the mighty
force of the United States.

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Over the next three years, the
United States would struggle

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to understand the complicated
country it had come to save,

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fail to appreciate the enemy's resolve,

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and misread how the South
Vietnamese people really felt

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about their government.

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The new president would
find himself caught

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between the momentum of war
and the desire for peace,

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between humility and hubris,

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between idealism and expediency,
between the truth and a lie.

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And so, my fellow Americans,

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ask not what your
country can do for you,

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ask what you can do for your country.

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I grew up in Missouri, near Kansas City,

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a little community called Fairmount.

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I was born in 1948.

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00:09:20,899 --> 00:09:23,532
And there were lots of kids
being born in those days

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00:09:23,534 --> 00:09:25,101
from the guys who were
lucky enough to come home

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00:09:25,103 --> 00:09:25,968
from World War II.

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00:09:27,405 --> 00:09:30,839
My dad was a pilot
in the Army Air Corps.

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And all of dad's friends

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were World War II vets or Korean vets.

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And all of my male
teachers were veterans.

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00:09:39,583 --> 00:09:41,784
And even my pastor had been a chaplain.

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Well, they were my heroes,
and I wanted to be like them.

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For all of John Kennedy's
soaring rhetoric,

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00:09:58,268 --> 00:10:00,936
for all the talent he
gathered around him,

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the first months of his
presidency did not go well.

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00:10:04,274 --> 00:10:08,744
He approved a CIA-sponsored
invasion of Cuba

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00:10:08,746 --> 00:10:13,213
at the Bay of Pigs
that ended in disaster.

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He felt he'd been bullied

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by Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev

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at a summit meeting in Vienna.

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He was unable to keep the Soviets

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from building the Berlin Wall.

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And in Southeast Asia,
he refused to intervene

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against a communist
insurrection in Laos.

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00:10:32,301 --> 00:10:36,938
Critics accused him of
being immature, indecisive,

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00:10:36,940 --> 00:10:40,608
inadequate to the task of
combating what seemed to be

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a mounting communist threat.

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"There are just so many
concessions that we can make

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in one year and survive politically,"

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he confided to an aide
in the spring of 1961.

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In South Vietnam, Kennedy
felt he had to act.

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After the president received reports

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00:11:01,964 --> 00:11:04,531
that the Viet Cong might be in control

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of more than half the densely
populated Mekong Delta,

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00:11:08,570 --> 00:11:12,639
he dispatched General
Maxwell Taylor and Walt Rostow

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to Vietnam.

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They urged him to commit
American ground troops.

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00:11:18,614 --> 00:11:20,346
Kennedy refused.

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00:11:20,348 --> 00:11:24,117
It would be like taking
a first drink, he said...

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the effect would soon wear
off and there would be demands

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00:11:27,255 --> 00:11:30,723
for another and another and another.

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00:11:30,725 --> 00:11:34,193
Instead, in the midst of a cold war,

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with its constant risk
of nuclear confrontation,

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the president supported
a new "flexible" way

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to confront and contain
communism: limited war.

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This is another type of
warfare, new in its intensity,

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ancient in its origin...

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war by guerrillas, subversives,
insurgents, assassins;

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war by ambush instead of by combat;

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00:12:03,257 --> 00:12:05,590
by infiltration instead of aggression.

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To fight his "limited wars,"

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00:12:10,030 --> 00:12:12,997
Kennedy hoped to use
the elite Green Berets,

189
00:12:12,999 --> 00:12:16,535
special forces trained
in guerrilla warfare,

190
00:12:16,537 --> 00:12:19,204
counterinsurgency.

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00:12:19,206 --> 00:12:24,076
They were meant to be dispatched
to hotspots around the world.

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Khrushchev said, "We're
not going to destroy you

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00:12:26,813 --> 00:12:28,379
with nuclear weapons,

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00:12:28,381 --> 00:12:31,149
we're going to destroy you with
wars of national liberation."

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00:12:31,551 --> 00:12:33,551
Everybody talked about the fact

196
00:12:33,553 --> 00:12:38,355
that communism was spreading
and it had to be stopped.

197
00:12:38,357 --> 00:12:41,125
You went to Command and
General Staff College

198
00:12:41,127 --> 00:12:44,661
and you were playing on
maps with nuclear weapons

199
00:12:44,663 --> 00:12:46,430
and so forth.

200
00:12:46,432 --> 00:12:51,335
And I escaped from that by
getting into Special Forces.

201
00:12:51,337 --> 00:12:54,105
So that instead of planning
what we were going to do

202
00:12:54,107 --> 00:12:58,842
if World War III broke out,
we were actually doing stuff.

203
00:13:00,580 --> 00:13:03,746
And Vietnam was a place where
we were going to draw the line.

204
00:13:05,584 --> 00:13:07,383
Kennedy sent the Green Berets

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00:13:07,385 --> 00:13:09,752
to the Central Highlands of Vietnam

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00:13:09,754 --> 00:13:13,389
to organize mountain tribes
to fight the Viet Cong

207
00:13:13,391 --> 00:13:18,128
and to undertake covert missions
to sabotage their supply bases

208
00:13:18,130 --> 00:13:21,297
in Laos and Cambodia.

209
00:13:21,299 --> 00:13:25,801
But Kennedy understood
that counterinsurgency alone

210
00:13:25,803 --> 00:13:27,003
would never be enough,

211
00:13:27,005 --> 00:13:30,607
so he doubled funding
for South Vietnam's army,

212
00:13:30,609 --> 00:13:35,710
dispatched helicopters and
APCs, armored personnel carriers.

213
00:13:38,882 --> 00:13:42,751
Kennedy also authorized
the use of napalm

214
00:13:42,753 --> 00:13:47,289
and the spraying of defoliants
to deny cover to the Viet Cong

215
00:13:47,291 --> 00:13:51,160
and destroy the crops that fed them.

216
00:13:51,162 --> 00:13:54,363
A whole array of chemicals was used,

217
00:13:54,365 --> 00:13:57,832
including one named for
the color of the stripes

218
00:13:57,834 --> 00:14:03,872
on the 55-gallon drums in
which it came... "Agent Orange."

219
00:14:03,874 --> 00:14:07,509
And the president quietly
continued to increase

220
00:14:07,511 --> 00:14:10,478
the number of American
military advisors.

221
00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:19,086
Within two years, the number he
had inherited would grow to 11,300,

222
00:14:19,088 --> 00:14:21,689
empowered not only to teach

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00:14:21,691 --> 00:14:24,692
the Army of the Republic
of Vietnam... the ARVN...

224
00:14:24,694 --> 00:14:26,827
to fight a conventional war,

225
00:14:26,829 --> 00:14:29,063
but to accompany them into battle,

226
00:14:29,065 --> 00:14:33,701
a violation of the agreement that
had divided Vietnam back in 1954.

227
00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:41,509
The administration did its best
to hide from the American people

228
00:14:41,511 --> 00:14:43,911
the scale of the buildup
that was taking place

229
00:14:43,913 --> 00:14:45,813
on the other side of the world,

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00:14:45,815 --> 00:14:48,716
fearful that the
public would not support

231
00:14:48,718 --> 00:14:55,655
the more active role advisors
had begun to play in combat.

232
00:14:55,657 --> 00:14:58,325
Mr. President, a Republican
National Committee publication

233
00:14:58,327 --> 00:15:01,762
has said that you are...
have been less than candid

234
00:15:01,764 --> 00:15:05,599
with the American people as
to how deeply we are involved

235
00:15:05,601 --> 00:15:07,567
in Vietnam.

236
00:15:07,569 --> 00:15:10,137
Could you throw any more light on that?

237
00:15:10,139 --> 00:15:12,206
We have increased our
assistance to the government,

238
00:15:12,208 --> 00:15:14,108
its logistics.

239
00:15:14,110 --> 00:15:16,076
We have not sent combat troops there.

240
00:15:16,078 --> 00:15:19,312
Though the training
missions that we have there

241
00:15:19,314 --> 00:15:22,215
have been instructed if
they are fired upon to...

242
00:15:22,217 --> 00:15:25,184
they are, would of course, fire
back, to protect themselves.

243
00:15:25,186 --> 00:15:27,019
But we have not sent combat troops

244
00:15:27,021 --> 00:15:29,356
in the generally understood
sense of the word.

245
00:15:29,358 --> 00:15:35,094
So that I... I feel that we
are being as frank as the...

246
00:15:35,096 --> 00:15:36,463
as we can be.

247
00:15:36,465 --> 00:15:38,064
I think we... what I have said to you

248
00:15:38,066 --> 00:15:40,967
is a description of our activity there.

249
00:15:45,741 --> 00:15:49,175
I was a child of the Cold War.

250
00:15:49,177 --> 00:15:54,680
When I got off the plane in Saigon
on a humid evening in April 1962,

251
00:15:54,682 --> 00:15:58,617
I really believed in all
the ideology of the Cold War.

252
00:15:58,619 --> 00:15:59,752
On...

253
00:15:59,754 --> 00:16:02,421
That if we lost South Vietnam,

254
00:16:02,423 --> 00:16:04,891
that the rest of Southeast Asia
would fall to the communists.

255
00:16:04,893 --> 00:16:08,795
There was an international
communist conspiracy.

256
00:16:08,797 --> 00:16:11,363
We believed fervently in this stuff.

257
00:16:12,265 --> 00:16:15,334
Neil Sheehan was a
25-year-old reporter

258
00:16:15,336 --> 00:16:18,704
for United Press International, UPI.

259
00:16:18,706 --> 00:16:22,874
He had served three years in
the Army in Korea and Japan

260
00:16:22,876 --> 00:16:25,743
before deciding to
become a newspaperman.

261
00:16:25,745 --> 00:16:30,048
Vietnam was his first
full-time overseas assignment,

262
00:16:30,050 --> 00:16:32,050
and his only worry, he remembered,

263
00:16:32,052 --> 00:16:36,822
was that he would get there too
late and miss out on the big story.

264
00:16:36,824 --> 00:16:41,126
Sheehan and other reporters
rode along as the ARVN mounted

265
00:16:41,128 --> 00:16:44,762
a series of helicopter
assaults on enemy strongholds

266
00:16:44,764 --> 00:16:47,165
in the Mekong Delta and elsewhere

267
00:16:47,167 --> 00:16:50,635
and brought terror to the Viet Cong.

268
00:16:50,637 --> 00:16:53,771
American pilots were at the controls.

269
00:16:54,973 --> 00:16:58,575
It was a crusade and it was thrilling.

270
00:16:58,577 --> 00:17:01,145
And you'd climb aboard the helicopters

271
00:17:01,147 --> 00:17:04,481
with the Vietnamese soldiers who
were being taken out to battle.

272
00:17:04,483 --> 00:17:06,216
And they'd take off.

273
00:17:06,218 --> 00:17:08,952
And they'd contour-fly, they'd
skim across the rice paddies

274
00:17:08,954 --> 00:17:11,221
at about three or four
feet above the paddies,

275
00:17:11,223 --> 00:17:15,091
and then pop up over the tree
lines that lined the fields.

276
00:17:15,093 --> 00:17:16,460
It was thrilling.

277
00:17:16,462 --> 00:17:17,794
I mean it was absolutely thrilling.

278
00:17:17,796 --> 00:17:20,864
And you believed in what was happening.

279
00:17:20,866 --> 00:17:23,099
I mean you had the sense
that we're fighting here

280
00:17:23,101 --> 00:17:26,936
and some day we'll win, and
this country will be a better,

281
00:17:26,938 --> 00:17:27,837
better country for our coming.

282
00:17:29,842 --> 00:17:32,775
The new M-113 armored
personnel carriers

283
00:17:32,777 --> 00:17:36,479
were capable of churning
across rivers and rice paddies

284
00:17:36,481 --> 00:17:38,381
and right through the earthen dikes

285
00:17:38,383 --> 00:17:40,516
that separated one field from the next.

286
00:17:42,087 --> 00:17:47,323
The Viet Cong had nothing
with which to stop them.

287
00:17:47,325 --> 00:17:50,717
We were just overwhelming
them with force,

288
00:17:51,218 --> 00:17:52,500
with firepower.

289
00:17:53,031 --> 00:17:56,499
And the firefights would be
over in a pretty short time.

290
00:17:56,501 --> 00:17:59,202
We have some people
running along the dikes.

291
00:17:59,204 --> 00:18:02,105
Actually, the canal is perpendicular

292
00:18:02,107 --> 00:18:03,672
to the one you're attacking now.

293
00:18:03,674 --> 00:18:07,676
They have on black uniforms,
and I estimate approximately 3-0.

294
00:18:07,678 --> 00:18:10,379
Do you have them in sight? Over.

295
00:18:10,381 --> 00:18:12,648
That's what was causing us to win, see.

296
00:18:12,650 --> 00:18:15,885
And we were winning one after the other.

297
00:18:15,887 --> 00:18:19,555
And we were not meeting a
heck of a lot of resistance.

298
00:18:19,557 --> 00:18:23,358
Captain James Scanlon had
been stationed in West Germany

299
00:18:23,360 --> 00:18:26,595
and had seen for himself
the brutality with which

300
00:18:26,597 --> 00:18:29,264
the communist East
Germans dealt with anyone

301
00:18:29,266 --> 00:18:32,768
who dared try to escape to the West.

302
00:18:32,770 --> 00:18:35,170
He was now in the Mekong Delta,

303
00:18:35,172 --> 00:18:38,240
an advisor to the 7th
Division of the ARVN,

304
00:18:38,242 --> 00:18:42,744
and had begun to see evidence
of Viet Cong brutality as well.

305
00:18:46,215 --> 00:18:49,851
Those of us who talked to the
people who fled East Germany,

306
00:18:49,853 --> 00:18:53,988
we saw the need to stop
the growth of communism,

307
00:18:53,990 --> 00:18:57,425
to stop the dominoes from being tumbled.

308
00:18:57,427 --> 00:18:59,861
That was a worthy cause.

309
00:19:01,598 --> 00:19:05,366
As the ARVN and their
advisors pursued the Viet Cong,

310
00:19:05,368 --> 00:19:08,102
the government of Ngo
Dinh Diem had launched

311
00:19:08,104 --> 00:19:12,473
an ambitious program meant to
gain control of the countryside

312
00:19:12,475 --> 00:19:15,275
by concentrating the rural population

313
00:19:15,277 --> 00:19:17,945
into thousands of fortified settlements,

314
00:19:17,947 --> 00:19:22,282
ringed with barbed wire
and moats and bamboo spikes

315
00:19:22,284 --> 00:19:25,151
meant to keep out the Viet Cong.

316
00:19:25,153 --> 00:19:29,623
They were called strategic
hamlets, part of the effort

317
00:19:29,625 --> 00:19:32,759
to win the hearts and
minds, and loyalty,

318
00:19:32,761 --> 00:19:34,327
of the Vietnamese people.

319
00:19:34,329 --> 00:19:38,966
The French had tried something
like it a decade before.

320
00:19:38,968 --> 00:19:43,136
They had called it pacification.

321
00:19:43,138 --> 00:19:45,706
President Diem's
strategic hamlet program

322
00:19:45,708 --> 00:19:48,240
is making substantial progress.

323
00:19:48,242 --> 00:19:52,912
About 1,600 of the some 14,000 hamlets

324
00:19:52,914 --> 00:19:56,616
have been fortified to date.

325
00:19:56,618 --> 00:19:58,951
By the summer of 1962,

326
00:19:58,953 --> 00:20:02,354
news from South Vietnam
seemed so promising

327
00:20:02,356 --> 00:20:06,225
that Defense Secretary
Robert McNamara made sure

328
00:20:06,227 --> 00:20:09,394
the Pentagon was prepared
to implement a plan

329
00:20:09,396 --> 00:20:12,898
for a gradual withdrawal
of American advisors

330
00:20:12,900 --> 00:20:15,601
to be completed by 1965.

331
00:20:15,603 --> 00:20:19,271
So far as most Americans knew,

332
00:20:19,273 --> 00:20:22,241
the United States was
achieving its goal:

333
00:20:22,243 --> 00:20:27,812
a stable, independent,
anticommunist state in South Vietnam.

334
00:20:29,014 --> 00:20:32,317
It was "a struggle this
country cannot shirk,"

335
00:20:32,319 --> 00:20:34,186
the<i> New York Times</i> said,

336
00:20:34,188 --> 00:20:38,423
and the United States
seemed to be winning it.

337
00:20:40,327 --> 00:20:44,263
But that same summer, Ho
Chi Minh traveled to Beijing

338
00:20:44,265 --> 00:20:47,899
in search of more help from the Chinese.

339
00:20:47,901 --> 00:20:51,203
The American buildup in
South Vietnam had alarmed him

340
00:20:51,205 --> 00:20:53,572
and the other leaders in Hanoi.

341
00:20:53,574 --> 00:20:56,940
Ho told the Chinese
that American attacks

342
00:20:56,942 --> 00:21:02,813
on North Vietnam itself now
seemed only a matter of time.

343
00:21:02,815 --> 00:21:06,884
The Chinese promised to equip
and arm tens of thousands

344
00:21:06,886 --> 00:21:10,020
of Vietnamese soldiers.

345
00:21:10,022 --> 00:21:13,658
Meanwhile, the Politburo
in Hanoi had directed

346
00:21:13,660 --> 00:21:17,027
that every able-bodied
North Vietnamese man

347
00:21:17,029 --> 00:21:21,932
be required to serve
in the armed forces.

348
00:21:28,808 --> 00:21:31,175
Inspired by their president's call,

349
00:21:31,177 --> 00:21:34,477
thousands of young Americans
would join the Peace Corps

350
00:21:34,479 --> 00:21:38,348
and other organizations to
help project American ideals

351
00:21:38,350 --> 00:21:40,584
and goodwill around the world.

352
00:21:52,765 --> 00:21:57,534
We were not only there in
Vietnam to stop communism,

353
00:21:57,536 --> 00:22:01,404
but there had to be something positive.

354
00:22:01,406 --> 00:22:04,641
We're trying to find out what
the Vietnamese people want

355
00:22:04,643 --> 00:22:07,344
and to help them get it.

356
00:22:07,346 --> 00:22:08,778
And that was very simple

357
00:22:08,780 --> 00:22:10,880
but, if you think about
it, also very complex.

358
00:22:10,882 --> 00:22:13,316
But it went to the heart, I thought,

359
00:22:13,318 --> 00:22:15,785
of what we were trying to do.

360
00:22:17,322 --> 00:22:21,124
Pete Hunting, a 22-year-old
from Oklahoma City,

361
00:22:21,126 --> 00:22:24,794
would go to Vietnam right after
college to do what he could

362
00:22:24,796 --> 00:22:28,164
to help poor villagers
in the countryside.

363
00:22:37,175 --> 00:22:39,075
Dear Margo,

364
00:22:39,077 --> 00:22:41,543
I finally finished up my
work in Phan Rang last week.

365
00:22:41,545 --> 00:22:43,545
Had spent a month working on a windmill

366
00:22:43,547 --> 00:22:45,648
I'd promised the people of one hamlet.

367
00:22:45,650 --> 00:22:50,352
Cost a lot of money, too, which
I paid out of my own pocket.

368
00:22:54,159 --> 00:22:56,358
I'm in soaring spirits today

369
00:22:56,360 --> 00:22:59,561
despite all the natural
disasters, political intrigues,

370
00:22:59,563 --> 00:23:01,697
and subversive activities.

371
00:23:01,699 --> 00:23:04,233
Pete Hunting worked

372
00:23:04,235 --> 00:23:07,103
for the International
Voluntary Services,

373
00:23:07,105 --> 00:23:10,973
a nonprofit organization
committed to improving

374
00:23:10,975 --> 00:23:14,142
agriculture, education,
and public health.

375
00:23:14,144 --> 00:23:17,345
He was one of hundreds
of dedicated aid workers

376
00:23:17,347 --> 00:23:20,115
in South Vietnam.

377
00:23:23,987 --> 00:23:26,221
Latest news on this side of the world

378
00:23:26,223 --> 00:23:28,256
is that I'll almost definitely
be extending over here

379
00:23:28,258 --> 00:23:30,292
for another two years,

380
00:23:30,294 --> 00:23:32,294
providing the country stays
in one piece that long.

381
00:23:35,532 --> 00:23:37,765
Two years after he arrived,

382
00:23:37,767 --> 00:23:40,268
Pete Hunting was driving
in the Mekong Delta

383
00:23:40,270 --> 00:23:43,205
when he ran into a Viet Cong ambush.

384
00:23:43,207 --> 00:23:46,674
He was shot five times in the head...

385
00:23:48,411 --> 00:23:50,378
the first American civilian volunteer

386
00:23:50,380 --> 00:23:52,947
to be killed in Vietnam.

387
00:24:21,577 --> 00:24:24,011
People used to joke in Vietnam

388
00:24:24,013 --> 00:24:25,779
about winning the hearts and minds.

389
00:24:25,781 --> 00:24:29,316
And you hear that expression,
but that should not be a joke.

390
00:24:29,318 --> 00:24:31,718
It's a serious, serious problem.

391
00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:34,221
If you pull off a military operation,

392
00:24:34,223 --> 00:24:37,892
and it may be successful
on the military basis,

393
00:24:37,894 --> 00:24:40,895
but you destroy a village,

394
00:24:40,897 --> 00:24:44,798
then you've created a
village of resistance.

395
00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:48,635
Few advisors understood
the unique challenges

396
00:24:48,637 --> 00:24:51,505
of fighting an insurgency in Vietnam

397
00:24:51,507 --> 00:24:55,442
better than Lieutenant
Colonel John Paul Vann.

398
00:24:55,444 --> 00:24:58,177
A career soldier from Virginia,

399
00:24:58,179 --> 00:25:00,479
he was the senior American advisor

400
00:25:00,481 --> 00:25:04,550
to the 7th ARVN Division
in the Mekong Delta.

401
00:25:04,552 --> 00:25:09,155
Small, wiry and abrasive,
John Paul Vann was convinced

402
00:25:09,157 --> 00:25:13,393
he knew how to defeat the Viet Cong.

403
00:25:13,395 --> 00:25:17,931
John Paul Vann was simply
the most remarkable soldier

404
00:25:17,933 --> 00:25:19,098
I ever met.

405
00:25:19,100 --> 00:25:21,100
Period.

406
00:25:21,102 --> 00:25:25,939
The biggest challenge
of John Paul Vann's life

407
00:25:25,941 --> 00:25:31,978
was somehow saving Vietnam, winning.

408
00:25:31,980 --> 00:25:34,913
That, to him, was the
ultimate challenge.

409
00:25:37,451 --> 00:25:39,151
When it became clear to Vann

410
00:25:39,153 --> 00:25:42,120
that the tactics the
Americans had taught the ARVN

411
00:25:42,122 --> 00:25:45,324
were beginning to make
more enemies than friends,

412
00:25:45,326 --> 00:25:50,095
he sought out newspapermen
to spread the word.

413
00:25:50,097 --> 00:25:53,999
He was able to explain
to us what was going on.

414
00:25:54,001 --> 00:25:57,402
The important thing was not
to alienate the population.

415
00:25:57,404 --> 00:26:00,372
That if you got sniper
fire from a hamlet,

416
00:26:00,374 --> 00:26:02,774
you sent in riflemen
to take out the sniper.

417
00:26:02,776 --> 00:26:05,143
You didn't shell the place,
because you were going to kill

418
00:26:05,145 --> 00:26:07,544
women and kids and destroy houses

419
00:26:07,546 --> 00:26:09,813
and you were going to turn
the population against you.

420
00:26:12,318 --> 00:26:15,586
Most press coverage
of Vietnam was upbeat

421
00:26:15,588 --> 00:26:18,389
in the tradition of previous wars.

422
00:26:18,391 --> 00:26:23,327
But a handful of young
reporters including Neil Sheehan,

423
00:26:23,329 --> 00:26:25,863
David Halberstam of
the<i> New York Times,</i>

424
00:26:25,865 --> 00:26:28,499
and Malcolm Browne of
the Associated Press,

425
00:26:28,501 --> 00:26:32,370
who spent time in the field
with officers like Vann,

426
00:26:32,372 --> 00:26:36,540
were beginning to see that
from the Vietnamese countryside,

427
00:26:36,542 --> 00:26:38,775
things looked very
different than they did

428
00:26:38,777 --> 00:26:42,745
from the press offices
in Washington or Saigon.

429
00:26:42,747 --> 00:26:46,983
So it was terribly important
that we not only win the war

430
00:26:46,985 --> 00:26:49,819
but that we as reporters
report the truth

431
00:26:49,821 --> 00:26:52,822
that would help to win the war.

432
00:26:52,824 --> 00:26:55,958
We were very fervent in
wanting to report the truth

433
00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:59,029
because it was very important
to the welfare of our country

434
00:26:59,031 --> 00:27:00,263
and to the welfare of the world.

435
00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:06,102
Sheehan and his colleagues
began asking tough questions

436
00:27:06,104 --> 00:27:11,141
about what constituted progress,
what victory would look like,

437
00:27:11,143 --> 00:27:13,543
and if the people in the countryside,

438
00:27:13,545 --> 00:27:17,312
where 80% of South
Vietnam's population lived,

439
00:27:17,314 --> 00:27:22,217
could ever trust the
government in Saigon.

440
00:27:22,219 --> 00:27:25,220
I remember going, during one
of Robert McNamara's visits,

441
00:27:25,222 --> 00:27:28,357
out to one of these hamlets.

442
00:27:28,359 --> 00:27:29,859
The Vietnamese general
who commanded the area

443
00:27:29,861 --> 00:27:31,460
was telling McNamara what
a wonderful thing this was.

444
00:27:31,462 --> 00:27:34,096
And the... the... some
of these farmers were down

445
00:27:34,098 --> 00:27:37,833
digging a ditch around
the... around the hamlet.

446
00:27:37,835 --> 00:27:40,970
And I looked at their faces
and they were really angry.

447
00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:44,607
I mean it was very obvious to me

448
00:27:44,609 --> 00:27:47,176
that if these people could,
they'd cut our throats.

449
00:27:51,782 --> 00:27:55,750
Farmers resented being
forced to abandon their homes

450
00:27:55,752 --> 00:27:58,320
and move to strategic hamlets.

451
00:27:58,322 --> 00:28:02,458
Corrupt officials siphoned off funds.

452
00:28:02,460 --> 00:28:04,960
And villagers blamed the Diem regime

453
00:28:04,962 --> 00:28:08,930
for failing to protect
them from guerrilla attacks.

454
00:28:08,932 --> 00:28:14,203
As the people's anger grew, so
did the ranks of the Viet Cong.

455
00:28:14,205 --> 00:28:18,607
It turned out that the Viet
Cong were recruiting men

456
00:28:18,609 --> 00:28:22,144
right out of those strategic...
so-called strategic hamlets.

457
00:28:22,146 --> 00:28:23,945
And then the whole program fell apart.

458
00:28:48,038 --> 00:28:51,940
Nguyen Ngoc's father was a
postal clerk south of Danang.

459
00:28:51,942 --> 00:28:56,544
His brothers and sisters taught
in South Vietnamese schools.

460
00:28:56,546 --> 00:29:00,313
But he joined the revolution,
and as a political officer,

461
00:29:00,315 --> 00:29:04,251
wrote poems, songs, and
slogans to inspire the people

462
00:29:04,253 --> 00:29:08,956
in the countryside to
support the Viet Cong.

463
00:29:08,958 --> 00:29:13,527
The Viet Cong cadre would
come in and talk to them

464
00:29:13,529 --> 00:29:18,398
and their message is usually ,

465
00:29:18,400 --> 00:29:20,934
which means "turn
your grief into action.

466
00:29:20,936 --> 00:29:23,403
"Do something about it.

467
00:29:23,405 --> 00:29:25,472
"Join us.

468
00:29:25,474 --> 00:29:26,940
"We'll fight together.

469
00:29:26,942 --> 00:29:31,510
"We'll liberate the country from
this corrupt, unjust government.

470
00:29:31,512 --> 00:29:33,546
"We'll throw out the foreigners.

471
00:29:33,548 --> 00:29:35,381
"We'll reunify the country.

472
00:29:35,383 --> 00:29:38,517
"And we'll bring in this great regime

473
00:29:38,519 --> 00:29:40,219
"that will take care of you

474
00:29:40,221 --> 00:29:41,821
and bring economic and social justice."

475
00:29:44,159 --> 00:29:47,326
The Viet Cong ran
rival local governments,

476
00:29:47,328 --> 00:29:51,130
complete with their own tax
collectors and school teachers,

477
00:29:51,132 --> 00:29:55,367
spies and propagandists,
and province chiefs.

478
00:29:58,106 --> 00:30:00,439
To make matters worse,

479
00:30:00,441 --> 00:30:04,275
ARVN troops and American
advisors now found themselves

480
00:30:04,277 --> 00:30:07,312
confronted by a new threat:

481
00:30:07,314 --> 00:30:10,548
battalions of well-armed
Viet Cong soldiers,

482
00:30:10,550 --> 00:30:13,819
as well as by local guerrillas.

483
00:30:13,821 --> 00:30:16,121
We'd armed them.

484
00:30:16,123 --> 00:30:19,591
You could hear the
arming of the Viet Cong.

485
00:30:19,593 --> 00:30:23,095
Back in early '62, they only had
one machine gun per battalion.

486
00:30:24,264 --> 00:30:25,897
It was sporadic fire.

487
00:30:25,899 --> 00:30:29,835
Then, as they captured more
and more of these American arms,

488
00:30:29,837 --> 00:30:31,803
when you made contact, it fi...

489
00:30:31,805 --> 00:30:34,072
it would build up into
a drumfire of automatic

490
00:30:34,074 --> 00:30:35,607
and semi-automatic weapons.

491
00:30:42,414 --> 00:30:45,549
Secretary McNamara decided
that he would draw up

492
00:30:45,551 --> 00:30:48,352
some kind of a chart to determine

493
00:30:48,354 --> 00:30:51,288
whether we were winning or not.

494
00:30:51,290 --> 00:30:54,058
And he was putting things in

495
00:30:54,060 --> 00:30:56,861
like numbers of weapons recovered,

496
00:30:56,863 --> 00:30:59,196
numbers of Viet Cong killed.

497
00:30:59,198 --> 00:31:01,431
Very statistical.

498
00:31:04,137 --> 00:31:06,703
And he asked Edward Lansdale,

499
00:31:06,705 --> 00:31:10,474
who was then in the Pentagon
as head of Special Operations,

500
00:31:10,476 --> 00:31:12,609
to come down and look at this.

501
00:31:12,611 --> 00:31:16,813
And so Lansdale did and he said,
"There's something missing."

502
00:31:16,815 --> 00:31:20,150
And McNamara said, "What?"

503
00:31:20,152 --> 00:31:23,787
And Lansdale said, "The feelings
of the Vietnamese people."

504
00:31:23,789 --> 00:31:27,758
You couldn't reduce this to a statistic.

505
00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:32,329
Robert McNamara had vowed
to make America's military

506
00:31:32,331 --> 00:31:33,897
"cost-effective."

507
00:31:33,899 --> 00:31:37,668
He demanded that
everything be quantified.

508
00:31:37,670 --> 00:31:41,571
In Saigon, General Paul D. Harkins,

509
00:31:41,573 --> 00:31:45,007
head of the Military
Assistance Command, Vietnam,

510
00:31:45,009 --> 00:31:48,344
known as MACV, dutifully complied.

511
00:31:48,346 --> 00:31:52,981
He and his staff generated
mountains of daily, weekly,

512
00:31:52,983 --> 00:31:55,318
monthly, and quarterly data

513
00:31:55,320 --> 00:31:58,387
on more than a hundred
separate indicators,

514
00:31:58,389 --> 00:32:02,891
far more data than could
ever be adequately analyzed.

515
00:32:06,331 --> 00:32:09,164
General Harkins had little
use for skeptical reporters

516
00:32:09,166 --> 00:32:10,800
like Neil Sheehan.

517
00:32:10,802 --> 00:32:13,436
Bad news was to be buried.

518
00:32:13,438 --> 00:32:17,605
Harkins ignored the
alarming after action reports

519
00:32:17,607 --> 00:32:21,276
John Paul Vann and other
officers were sending in

520
00:32:21,278 --> 00:32:23,478
from the field.

521
00:32:23,480 --> 00:32:26,414
I was going to be made
head of the Vietnam desk

522
00:32:26,416 --> 00:32:28,550
at CIA headquarters.

523
00:32:28,552 --> 00:32:31,887
And the first person
of importance that I met

524
00:32:31,889 --> 00:32:34,189
was General Harkins.

525
00:32:34,191 --> 00:32:36,791
And he started out by saying,

526
00:32:36,793 --> 00:32:39,661
"Mr. Gregg, I don't care what
you hear from anybody else,

527
00:32:39,663 --> 00:32:42,064
"I can tell you without a doubt
we're going to be out of here

528
00:32:42,066 --> 00:32:43,665
with a military victory in six months."

529
00:32:45,369 --> 00:32:47,402
The country's 12 million peasants

530
00:32:47,404 --> 00:32:50,038
can scarcely remember
what peace was like.

531
00:32:50,040 --> 00:32:52,006
They're caught between
the predatory guerrillas

532
00:32:52,008 --> 00:32:54,541
and the almost equally
demanding soldiery.

533
00:32:54,543 --> 00:32:56,944
Their lives are lived in a
state of permanent uncertainty,

534
00:32:56,946 --> 00:32:59,646
punctuated by bouts of violence

535
00:32:59,648 --> 00:33:01,182
as government forces come to grips

536
00:33:01,184 --> 00:33:03,450
with the black-clad
communist rebel forces

537
00:33:03,452 --> 00:33:04,651
called the Viet Cong.

538
00:35:02,870 --> 00:35:07,205
On our side we were not as committed

539
00:35:07,207 --> 00:35:09,140
and we were...

540
00:35:09,142 --> 00:35:12,510
our leaders were
corrupt and incompetent.

541
00:35:12,512 --> 00:35:17,581
And so deep down we'll
always have this fear,

542
00:35:17,583 --> 00:35:23,287
this suspicion that in the end
it'll be the communists who won.

543
00:35:23,289 --> 00:35:26,857
When John Kennedy assembled

544
00:35:26,859 --> 00:35:28,993
what he thinks is the
best and the brightest,

545
00:35:28,995 --> 00:35:35,299
20 years before that in a
cave in the northern part

546
00:35:35,301 --> 00:35:37,968
of Vietnam, Ho Chi
Minh also put together

547
00:35:37,970 --> 00:35:39,504
his best and the brightest.

548
00:35:39,506 --> 00:35:42,706
And these guys are at it for a while.

549
00:35:42,708 --> 00:35:46,343
And when we show up, they were far along

550
00:35:46,345 --> 00:35:52,249
to consolidating their victory
over this inevitable conflict

551
00:35:52,251 --> 00:35:56,854
between Ho Chi Minh and
John F. Kennedy's vision.

552
00:35:56,856 --> 00:36:01,892
The more you think about
the American strategy,

553
00:36:01,894 --> 00:36:05,696
the more you know

554
00:36:05,698 --> 00:36:08,265
that it was never going to
work out particularly well.

555
00:36:23,415 --> 00:36:28,851
I was at my top of my
game when I was in combat.

556
00:36:34,059 --> 00:36:37,260
You don't have the luxury
to indulge your fear

557
00:36:37,262 --> 00:36:39,262
because other people's lives depend upon

558
00:36:39,264 --> 00:36:40,430
you keeping your head cold.

559
00:36:49,340 --> 00:36:52,374
You know, when something goes wrong,

560
00:36:52,376 --> 00:36:53,809
they call it emotional numbing.

561
00:36:53,811 --> 00:36:56,212
It's not very good in civilian life,

562
00:36:56,214 --> 00:36:58,214
but it's pretty useful in combat.

563
00:37:10,027 --> 00:37:12,761
To be able to get absolutely very cold

564
00:37:12,763 --> 00:37:17,733
about what needs to be
done and to stick with it.

565
00:37:23,806 --> 00:37:26,774
To me it's, it's a little
bit distressing to realize

566
00:37:26,776 --> 00:37:28,610
that I was at my best

567
00:37:28,612 --> 00:37:31,078
doing something as terrible as war.

568
00:37:40,790 --> 00:37:43,391
President Kennedy has
staked his reputation in Asia

569
00:37:43,393 --> 00:37:46,327
on saving South Vietnam from communism.

570
00:37:46,329 --> 00:37:48,763
As the army makes the
sweep towards the village

571
00:37:48,765 --> 00:37:50,665
suspected of harboring Viet Cong,

572
00:37:50,667 --> 00:37:53,601
it can't tell whether
it will meet resistance.

573
00:38:00,009 --> 00:38:02,276
The troops round up all
the young men they can find,

574
00:38:02,278 --> 00:38:05,146
since they can't tell who is
a communist just by looking.

575
00:38:07,817 --> 00:38:10,584
Those who try to run for it are shot

576
00:38:10,586 --> 00:38:12,352
on the assumption they
have something to hide.

577
00:39:04,306 --> 00:39:09,242
Each of South Vietnam's 44
provinces had its own chief.

578
00:39:09,244 --> 00:39:12,111
Some were simply political appointees,

579
00:39:12,113 --> 00:39:15,013
corrupt allies of President Diem.

580
00:39:15,015 --> 00:39:20,753
Tran Ngoc Chau, province chief
of Kien Hoa, was different.

581
00:39:20,755 --> 00:39:25,691
A privileged judge's son from
the old imperial city of Hue,

582
00:39:25,693 --> 00:39:28,694
he and two of his brothers
had fought against the French

583
00:39:28,696 --> 00:39:30,263
with the Viet Minh.

584
00:39:30,265 --> 00:39:34,433
But he had refused to
join the Communist Party;

585
00:39:34,435 --> 00:39:37,436
he admired their dedication,
but disliked the way

586
00:39:37,438 --> 00:39:40,640
they punished those who
dared differ with them.

587
00:39:40,642 --> 00:39:43,775
Instead, he left the Viet Minh,

588
00:39:43,777 --> 00:39:46,978
became a major in the
army fighting against them,

589
00:39:46,980 --> 00:39:50,882
and eventually so impressed
Diem with his insider's knowledge

590
00:39:50,884 --> 00:39:54,852
of communist tactics that
he was promoted to colonel

591
00:39:54,854 --> 00:40:00,725
and made chief of Kien
Hoa, a Viet Cong stronghold.

592
00:40:00,727 --> 00:40:04,562
He was absolutely incorruptible.

593
00:40:04,564 --> 00:40:09,701
And people came to really
understand that here's a guy

594
00:40:09,703 --> 00:40:12,771
who's, even though it's
not an elected system,

595
00:40:12,773 --> 00:40:15,440
who never... nevertheless
really represents us.

596
00:40:17,344 --> 00:40:19,343
"Give me a budget that equals the cost

597
00:40:19,345 --> 00:40:23,647
of one American helicopter,"
Chau liked to say,

598
00:40:23,649 --> 00:40:26,383
"and I'll give you a pacified province.

599
00:40:26,385 --> 00:40:30,487
"With that much money, I can
raise the standard of living

600
00:40:30,489 --> 00:40:32,190
"of the rice farmers,

601
00:40:32,192 --> 00:40:33,991
"and government officials
can be paid enough

602
00:40:33,993 --> 00:40:38,863
so they won't think
it necessary to steal."

603
00:40:38,865 --> 00:40:41,365
Rather than hunt down the Viet Cong,

604
00:40:41,367 --> 00:40:43,901
he sought to persuade them.

605
00:41:39,424 --> 00:41:43,158
Back home, Americans were
paying little attention

606
00:41:43,160 --> 00:41:45,461
to what was happening in Vietnam.

607
00:41:45,463 --> 00:41:48,297
They were watching <i>The
Beverly Hillbillies</i>

608
00:41:48,299 --> 00:41:50,500
and<i> Gunsmoke</i> on TV,

609
00:41:50,502 --> 00:41:53,469
were interested in whether
the Yankees would win

610
00:41:53,471 --> 00:41:55,037
the World Series again

611
00:41:55,039 --> 00:41:59,274
and in the recent
death of Marilyn Monroe.

612
00:42:02,379 --> 00:42:04,880
But some Americans had
been growing impatient

613
00:42:04,882 --> 00:42:08,249
with the slow pace of social change.

614
00:42:08,251 --> 00:42:09,984
We were told in the '50s

615
00:42:09,986 --> 00:42:12,821
that we lived in the
best country in the world.

616
00:42:12,823 --> 00:42:16,291
In the middle of, you
know, trying to figure out

617
00:42:16,293 --> 00:42:18,693
what it meant to be a citizen of the...

618
00:42:18,695 --> 00:42:21,062
of this best country in the world,

619
00:42:21,064 --> 00:42:22,964
suddenly the civil
rights movement exploded

620
00:42:22,966 --> 00:42:25,133
into our consciousness.

621
00:42:31,341 --> 00:42:33,307
We didn't think we had any power.

622
00:42:33,309 --> 00:42:36,477
We didn't think we could
be actors in history,

623
00:42:36,479 --> 00:42:38,946
that we could affect things.

624
00:42:46,489 --> 00:42:48,255
And suddenly, you know,

625
00:42:48,257 --> 00:42:50,190
these young black students in the South

626
00:42:50,192 --> 00:42:51,926
were doing exactly that.

627
00:42:51,928 --> 00:42:55,295
And it just blew the
tops of our heads off.

628
00:43:16,218 --> 00:43:19,586
Other Americans were concerned
about the proliferation

629
00:43:19,588 --> 00:43:22,990
of nuclear weapons in the world.

630
00:43:22,992 --> 00:43:27,027
Perhaps it would be a good thing
to put Khrushchev and Kennedy

631
00:43:27,029 --> 00:43:30,864
on an island and not let
either one of them off

632
00:43:30,866 --> 00:43:33,467
until they came to an agreement.

633
00:43:56,024 --> 00:43:59,291
And if you were in a café
when Diem was giving a speech,

634
00:43:59,293 --> 00:44:01,160
somebody would get up
and shut the radio off,

635
00:44:01,162 --> 00:44:02,928
it would be coming in over the radio.

636
00:44:02,930 --> 00:44:05,364
Somebody would get up and
they'd just shut the radio off.

637
00:44:05,366 --> 00:44:09,334
I mean, he was not connected
with... to his own population.

638
00:44:12,573 --> 00:44:17,509
Diem was simply the opposite
of what democracy was.

639
00:44:17,511 --> 00:44:21,346
South Vietnam, in the
competition against the North,

640
00:44:21,348 --> 00:44:26,518
that should been, should
have been a golden opportunity

641
00:44:26,520 --> 00:44:31,957
to have that society
open with the free press,

642
00:44:31,959 --> 00:44:34,092
free expression.

643
00:44:34,094 --> 00:44:36,995
But there was not much choice

644
00:44:36,997 --> 00:44:41,399
if the two system are
structurally dictator

645
00:44:41,401 --> 00:44:42,900
and oppressive systems...

646
00:44:42,902 --> 00:44:48,973
one under the Communist
Party, one under a family.

647
00:45:06,126 --> 00:45:09,694
Diem's brother, Ngo Dinh
Nhu, had been the architect

648
00:45:09,696 --> 00:45:12,297
of the strategic hamlet program,

649
00:45:12,299 --> 00:45:16,533
ran a personal political party
that mirrored the techniques

650
00:45:16,535 --> 00:45:19,069
and the ruthlessness of the communists,

651
00:45:19,071 --> 00:45:23,340
and supervised a host of
internal security units

652
00:45:23,342 --> 00:45:27,277
that spied on and seized
enemies of the regime.

653
00:45:29,381 --> 00:45:31,582
Some reporters who probed too deeply

654
00:45:31,584 --> 00:45:34,050
into what Diem and Nhu were doing

655
00:45:34,052 --> 00:45:36,320
were ordered out of the country.

656
00:45:37,456 --> 00:45:39,990
When an American journalist objected,

657
00:45:39,992 --> 00:45:44,094
Nhu's sharp-tongued wife
told him Vietnam had no use

658
00:45:44,096 --> 00:45:46,597
for "your crazy freedoms."

659
00:45:48,200 --> 00:45:50,134
Meanwhile, out in the countryside,

660
00:45:50,136 --> 00:45:54,437
John Paul Vann and other
advisors had begun to notice

661
00:45:54,439 --> 00:45:58,207
that the corruption within
Diem's regime had filtered down

662
00:45:58,209 --> 00:46:00,276
to the commanders in the field.

663
00:46:00,278 --> 00:46:05,281
Troops, who had once been
willing to engage the enemy,

664
00:46:05,283 --> 00:46:09,485
now seemed strangely reluctant.

665
00:46:09,487 --> 00:46:14,423
God, I was told so many times...

666
00:46:14,425 --> 00:46:16,359
You know, "Scanlon... "

667
00:46:16,361 --> 00:46:17,560
Um...

668
00:46:17,562 --> 00:46:22,998
very dangerous, you
know, going out there.

669
00:46:23,000 --> 00:46:25,768
John Vann would go
out with them at night.

670
00:46:25,770 --> 00:46:29,971
And he noticed that
somebody would always cough

671
00:46:29,973 --> 00:46:33,475
or make some other slight
noise when it turned out

672
00:46:33,477 --> 00:46:35,943
that the Viet Cong were
heading into the ambush site.

673
00:46:35,945 --> 00:46:37,812
They did not want to get in a fight.

674
00:46:37,814 --> 00:46:41,115
South Vietnamese officers were chosen

675
00:46:41,117 --> 00:46:44,719
less for their combat
skill than for their loyalty

676
00:46:44,721 --> 00:46:48,423
to President Diem,
and their men knew it.

677
00:46:49,893 --> 00:46:51,359
What we should have done is

678
00:46:51,361 --> 00:46:55,963
either forced the Vietnamese...
I mean really forced them...

679
00:46:55,965 --> 00:46:58,200
to clean up their act.

680
00:46:58,202 --> 00:47:00,302
And if they wouldn't
clean up their act to say,

681
00:47:00,304 --> 00:47:02,770
"We're out of here.

682
00:47:02,772 --> 00:47:05,606
"Because we don't bet on losing horses.

683
00:47:05,608 --> 00:47:08,142
"This is a losing horse.

684
00:47:08,144 --> 00:47:10,578
You are not going to
win this insurgency."

685
00:47:10,580 --> 00:47:13,380
We, as Americans, should
have understood the desire

686
00:47:13,382 --> 00:47:17,018
of the Vietnamese people
to have their own country.

687
00:47:17,020 --> 00:47:19,821
I mean we did the same
thing to the Brits.

688
00:47:25,695 --> 00:47:30,598
In October of 1962, the United
States and the Soviet Union

689
00:47:30,600 --> 00:47:33,434
came closer than they
would ever come again

690
00:47:33,436 --> 00:47:36,303
to mutually assured destruction.

691
00:47:36,305 --> 00:47:39,373
Good evening, my fellow citizens.

692
00:47:39,375 --> 00:47:43,477
This government, as
promised, has maintained

693
00:47:43,479 --> 00:47:47,348
the closest surveillance of
the Soviet military buildup

694
00:47:47,350 --> 00:47:48,949
on the island of Cuba.

695
00:47:50,185 --> 00:47:52,286
Within the past week,

696
00:47:52,288 --> 00:47:55,723
unmistakable evidence
has established the fact

697
00:47:55,725 --> 00:47:59,226
that a series of offensive missile sites

698
00:47:59,228 --> 00:48:04,298
is now in preparation on
that imprisoned island.

699
00:48:04,300 --> 00:48:07,567
The Soviets had secretly
placed nuclear missiles

700
00:48:07,569 --> 00:48:10,737
90 miles from the United States.

701
00:48:10,739 --> 00:48:15,708
The Joint Chiefs of Staff urged
President Kennedy to bomb Cuba.

702
00:48:15,710 --> 00:48:19,979
He resisted and instead
ordered a naval blockade

703
00:48:19,981 --> 00:48:24,183
to stop Soviet ships from
resupplying the island.

704
00:48:25,953 --> 00:48:31,190
For 13 excruciating days,
the world held its breath.

705
00:48:34,862 --> 00:48:38,197
Finally, in exchange
for a private pledge

706
00:48:38,199 --> 00:48:41,000
to remove American missiles from Turkey,

707
00:48:41,002 --> 00:48:44,403
Khrushchev agreed to remove
his missiles from Cuba.

708
00:48:47,408 --> 00:48:50,442
Neither the United States
nor the Soviet Union

709
00:48:50,444 --> 00:48:54,546
wanted so direct a
confrontation ever again.

710
00:48:54,548 --> 00:48:57,115
From now on, limited wars,

711
00:48:57,117 --> 00:48:59,718
like the growing conflict in Vietnam,

712
00:48:59,720 --> 00:49:02,987
would assume still greater importance.

713
00:49:06,527 --> 00:49:11,062
I'd grown up in the shadow
of the mushroom cloud.

714
00:49:11,064 --> 00:49:15,166
And I remember the... watching
President Kennedy speak

715
00:49:15,168 --> 00:49:16,901
during the Cuban Missile Crisis

716
00:49:16,903 --> 00:49:19,204
and wondering if I was
ever gonna kiss a girl.

717
00:49:19,206 --> 00:49:22,106
And so this was just
continuing that battle

718
00:49:22,108 --> 00:49:24,042
against the Russians.

719
00:49:24,044 --> 00:49:27,645
Only we were fighting, you
know, their, their proxies,

720
00:49:27,647 --> 00:49:30,915
the Vietnamese there... but
it was monolithic communism.

721
00:49:32,585 --> 00:49:35,553
It didn't matter to me where
it was, I was going to go

722
00:49:35,555 --> 00:49:39,690
if my government said
we needed to be there.

723
00:49:39,692 --> 00:49:42,693
We were probably the last
kids of any generation

724
00:49:42,695 --> 00:49:44,095
that actually believed

725
00:49:44,097 --> 00:49:45,629
our government would never lie to us.

726
00:49:51,136 --> 00:49:53,503
We had been writing
stories about all the flaws

727
00:49:53,505 --> 00:49:56,439
on the Saigon side... about
how they wouldn't fight,

728
00:49:56,441 --> 00:49:59,209
about the corruption,
they wouldn't obey orders,

729
00:49:59,211 --> 00:50:00,610
the disorganization.

730
00:50:02,748 --> 00:50:07,351
And then all of a sudden the
Viet Cong, for the first time,

731
00:50:07,353 --> 00:50:08,886
the "raggedy-ass little bastards"

732
00:50:08,888 --> 00:50:11,688
as the Harkins's people
in Saigon called them,

733
00:50:11,690 --> 00:50:13,423
stood and fought.

734
00:50:13,425 --> 00:50:15,692
And suddenly all the
flaws on the Saigon side

735
00:50:15,694 --> 00:50:18,195
were illuminated by this.

736
00:50:18,197 --> 00:50:21,431
Like a star shell, it
illuminated the battlefield.

737
00:50:21,433 --> 00:50:22,766
Everything came out.

738
00:50:24,169 --> 00:50:27,570
A few days after Christmas 1962,

739
00:50:27,572 --> 00:50:31,140
the 7th ARVN Division
got orders to capture

740
00:50:31,142 --> 00:50:33,476
a Viet Cong radio transmitter

741
00:50:33,478 --> 00:50:38,180
broadcasting from a spot some
40 miles southwest of Saigon

742
00:50:38,182 --> 00:50:41,284
in a village called Tan Thoi.

743
00:50:41,286 --> 00:50:44,153
The village was
surrounded by rice paddies.

744
00:50:44,155 --> 00:50:50,192
An irrigation dike linked it to
a neighboring hamlet... Ap Bac.

745
00:50:50,194 --> 00:50:54,564
Intelligence suggested no
more than 120 guerrillas

746
00:50:54,566 --> 00:50:57,033
were guarding the transmitter.

747
00:50:57,035 --> 00:51:00,436
John Paul Vann helped
draw up what seemed to be

748
00:51:00,438 --> 00:51:02,971
a foolproof plan of attack.

749
00:51:02,973 --> 00:51:07,309
Supported by helicopters and
armored personnel carriers,

750
00:51:07,311 --> 00:51:11,212
some 1,200 South Vietnamese
troops would attack the village

751
00:51:11,214 --> 00:51:13,248
from three sides.

752
00:51:13,250 --> 00:51:16,217
When the surviving Viet Cong
tried to flee through the gap

753
00:51:16,219 --> 00:51:20,255
left open for them, as they
always had whenever outnumbered

754
00:51:20,257 --> 00:51:22,524
and confronted by modern weapons,

755
00:51:22,526 --> 00:51:26,161
artillery and airstrikes
would destroy them.

756
00:51:26,163 --> 00:51:30,732
Vann would observe the
fighting from a spotter plane.

757
00:51:30,734 --> 00:51:36,438
But the intelligence underlying
it all turned out to be wrong.

758
00:51:36,440 --> 00:51:42,077
There were more than 340 Viet
Cong, not 120, in the area.

759
00:51:42,079 --> 00:51:45,080
Communist spies had tipped them off

760
00:51:45,082 --> 00:51:47,349
that they were soon to be attacked.

761
00:51:47,351 --> 00:51:51,219
And this time they would
not flee without a fight.

762
00:51:52,822 --> 00:51:55,690
Among them was Le Quan Cong,

763
00:51:55,692 --> 00:51:59,894
who had been a guerrilla fighter
since 1951, when he was 12.

764
00:52:14,610 --> 00:52:19,746
At 6:35 in the morning
on January 2, 1963,

765
00:52:19,748 --> 00:52:23,183
ten American helicopters
ferried an ARVN company

766
00:52:23,185 --> 00:52:26,353
to a spot just north of Tan Thoi.

767
00:52:29,392 --> 00:52:32,626
They met no resistance.

768
00:52:32,628 --> 00:52:36,263
Meanwhile, two South Vietnamese
Civil Guard battalions

769
00:52:36,265 --> 00:52:39,400
approached Ap Bac
from the South on foot.

770
00:52:42,571 --> 00:52:46,272
The Viet Cong commander let the
Civil Guards get within 100 feet

771
00:52:46,274 --> 00:52:48,675
before giving the order to fire.

772
00:52:51,379 --> 00:52:53,980
Several South Vietnamese
soldiers were killed.

773
00:52:58,086 --> 00:53:01,154
Survivors hid behind a dike.

774
00:53:04,026 --> 00:53:06,026
Ten more helicopters,

775
00:53:06,028 --> 00:53:09,763
filled with troops and escorted
by five helicopter gunships,

776
00:53:09,765 --> 00:53:10,897
roared in to help.

777
00:53:38,092 --> 00:53:42,427
Viet Cong machine guns
hit 14 of the 15 aircraft.

778
00:53:42,429 --> 00:53:47,566
Five would be destroyed, killing
and wounding American crewmen.

779
00:53:57,544 --> 00:53:59,978
The enemy concentrated
their fire on the ARVN

780
00:53:59,980 --> 00:54:03,081
struggling to get out of
the downed helicopters.

781
00:54:03,083 --> 00:54:06,084
"It was like shooting
ducks for the Viet Cong,"

782
00:54:06,086 --> 00:54:07,885
an American crewman remembered.

783
00:54:10,424 --> 00:54:13,458
Colonel Vann circled
helplessly overhead.

784
00:54:13,460 --> 00:54:16,027
He radioed the ARVN commander,

785
00:54:16,029 --> 00:54:19,931
urging him to send an APC
unit to rescue the men.

786
00:54:21,435 --> 00:54:24,101
I got the word from John Vann

787
00:54:24,103 --> 00:54:27,004
that American helicopters were down.

788
00:54:27,006 --> 00:54:29,507
They were right in front
of the Viet Cong positions.

789
00:54:29,509 --> 00:54:33,010
We had Americans killed and wounded

790
00:54:33,012 --> 00:54:35,212
and we had to get over there right away.

791
00:54:35,214 --> 00:54:39,183
Like Vann, Captain Scanlon
was only an advisor.

792
00:54:39,185 --> 00:54:42,719
Captain Ly Tong Ba,
his ARVN counterpart,

793
00:54:42,721 --> 00:54:45,456
would have to give the order to advance.

794
00:54:45,458 --> 00:54:48,725
Scanlon liked and admired him.

795
00:54:48,727 --> 00:54:51,328
I turned to Ba and said,

796
00:54:51,330 --> 00:54:54,064
"Hey, you know, you got to
get over there right away."

797
00:54:54,066 --> 00:54:58,702
And Ba said to me, "I'm not going."

798
00:54:58,704 --> 00:55:02,005
Ba's superiors within the
ARVN, far from the battlefield,

799
00:55:02,007 --> 00:55:05,308
had told him to stay put.

800
00:55:05,310 --> 00:55:09,345
And John Vann, my boss, was,
uh, screaming at me over the...

801
00:55:09,347 --> 00:55:12,783
over the radio to get them over there.

802
00:55:12,785 --> 00:55:17,120
It took Scanlon an hour to
convince Captain Ba to move.

803
00:55:17,122 --> 00:55:19,690
Another two hours were lost

804
00:55:19,692 --> 00:55:22,726
before the APCs could make
their way through the paddies

805
00:55:22,728 --> 00:55:24,795
toward the trapped men.

806
00:55:26,865 --> 00:55:29,299
The firing had died down.

807
00:55:29,301 --> 00:55:31,334
Everything was quiet.

808
00:55:31,336 --> 00:55:34,203
You could see the open
expanse of rice fields.

809
00:55:34,205 --> 00:55:37,707
And my reaction was,
hey, it was all over.

810
00:55:37,709 --> 00:55:40,910
The first two APCs dropped their ramps.

811
00:55:40,912 --> 00:55:43,445
Infantry squads stepped out,

812
00:55:43,447 --> 00:55:46,415
prepared to spray the tree
line with automatic fire

813
00:55:46,417 --> 00:55:47,817
as they advanced.

814
00:55:47,819 --> 00:55:50,552
In the past, that had been enough

815
00:55:50,554 --> 00:55:53,889
to make the Viet Cong scurry away.

816
00:55:53,891 --> 00:55:56,058
This time was different.

817
00:55:59,931 --> 00:56:01,964
Eight of the APCs came under attack.

818
00:56:01,966 --> 00:56:05,399
Within minutes, six of their
gunners had been killed,

819
00:56:05,401 --> 00:56:06,500
shot through the head.

820
00:56:08,071 --> 00:56:10,238
And boy, we got raked.

821
00:56:10,240 --> 00:56:12,107
So it was like a pool table.

822
00:56:12,109 --> 00:56:13,641
We were on the green

823
00:56:13,643 --> 00:56:16,010
and they were in the
pockets shooting at us.

824
00:56:16,012 --> 00:56:18,780
When Captain Ba managed to convince

825
00:56:18,782 --> 00:56:21,482
a few more APCs to advance,

826
00:56:21,484 --> 00:56:24,518
guerrillas leapt from their foxholes

827
00:56:24,520 --> 00:56:26,420
and hurled hand grenades at them.

828
00:56:31,527 --> 00:56:34,195
None did any real damage,

829
00:56:34,197 --> 00:56:37,865
but the drivers were so
demoralized that they halted,

830
00:56:37,867 --> 00:56:42,836
turned around, and withdrew
behind the wrecked helicopters.

831
00:56:42,838 --> 00:56:44,938
From his spotter plane,

832
00:56:44,940 --> 00:56:49,076
Vann begged the ARVN to
make a simultaneous assault

833
00:56:49,078 --> 00:56:52,280
on the enemy by all the
remaining ground forces.

834
00:56:53,516 --> 00:56:56,417
ARVN commanders refused.

835
00:56:59,021 --> 00:57:02,022
That night, the Viet Cong melted away,

836
00:57:02,024 --> 00:57:05,225
carrying most of their
dead and wounded with them.

837
00:57:07,530 --> 00:57:11,731
At least 80 South Vietnamese
soldiers had been killed.

838
00:57:11,733 --> 00:57:17,171
So had three American advisors,
including Captain Ken Good,

839
00:57:17,173 --> 00:57:18,172
a friend of Scanlon's.

840
00:57:22,278 --> 00:57:26,280
We stacked the armored
personnel carriers with bodies,

841
00:57:26,282 --> 00:57:28,015
stacked them up on top till they...

842
00:57:28,017 --> 00:57:30,017
we couldn't stack any more.

843
00:57:30,019 --> 00:57:36,223
And, um, I wouldn't let the
Vietnamese touch the Americans.

844
00:57:36,225 --> 00:57:39,092
So I carried the Americans out.

845
00:57:39,094 --> 00:57:41,461
And, um...

846
00:57:41,463 --> 00:57:43,797
And I was... I was exhausted.

847
00:57:43,799 --> 00:57:49,669
They told me about Ken
Good getting killed.

848
00:57:49,671 --> 00:57:54,106
And Ken and I had worked so
hard with our two battalions.

849
00:57:54,108 --> 00:57:59,979
And to hear that... he got killed hurt.

850
00:57:59,981 --> 00:58:01,381
Great guy.

851
00:58:02,984 --> 00:58:05,284
Reporters arrived from Saigon

852
00:58:05,286 --> 00:58:09,288
before all of the ARVN
dead could be removed.

853
00:58:09,290 --> 00:58:13,560
They were horrified at what
they saw and tried to find out

854
00:58:13,562 --> 00:58:16,396
what had really happened.

855
00:58:16,398 --> 00:58:20,900
John Paul Vann took Neil Sheehan
and David Halberstam aside

856
00:58:20,902 --> 00:58:22,935
and told them.

857
00:58:22,937 --> 00:58:24,904
The Battle of Ap Bac had been

858
00:58:24,906 --> 00:58:27,673
"a miserable goddamn performance."

859
00:58:27,675 --> 00:58:29,976
"The ARVN won't listen," he said.

860
00:58:29,978 --> 00:58:32,979
"They make the same
mistakes over and over again

861
00:58:32,981 --> 00:58:34,914
in the same way."

862
00:58:36,717 --> 00:58:38,351
But back in Saigon,

863
00:58:38,353 --> 00:58:42,188
General Harkins immediately
declared victory.

864
00:58:42,190 --> 00:58:45,191
"The ARVN forces had
an objective," he said.

865
00:58:45,193 --> 00:58:46,825
"We took that objective.

866
00:58:46,827 --> 00:58:50,363
"The VC left and their
casualties were greater

867
00:58:50,365 --> 00:58:52,965
"than those of the government forces.

868
00:58:52,967 --> 00:58:54,466
What more do you want?"

869
00:58:56,104 --> 00:58:58,604
When Halberstam and Sheehan reported

870
00:58:58,606 --> 00:59:01,540
that Ap Bac had in fact been a defeat,

871
00:59:01,542 --> 00:59:05,711
the U.S. Commander in
the Pacific denied it all

872
00:59:05,713 --> 00:59:08,847
and urged the reporters
to "get on the team."

873
00:59:11,318 --> 00:59:13,452
Ap Bac was terribly important.

874
00:59:13,454 --> 00:59:15,754
They had shot down five helicopters,

875
00:59:15,756 --> 00:59:18,256
which they previously
had been terrified of.

876
00:59:18,258 --> 00:59:22,394
They'd stopped the
armored personnel carriers.

877
00:59:22,396 --> 00:59:24,530
They demonstrated to their own people

878
00:59:24,532 --> 00:59:27,399
that you could resist
the Americans and win.

879
00:59:47,386 --> 00:59:51,121
In Hanoi, the Battle of Ap Bac was seen

880
00:59:51,123 --> 00:59:55,860
by Party First Secretary Le
Duan and his Politburo allies

881
00:59:55,862 --> 00:59:58,128
as evidence of the inherent weakness

882
00:59:58,130 --> 01:00:01,265
of the South Vietnamese regime.

883
01:00:01,267 --> 01:00:05,101
Even when faced with American
advisors and weaponry,

884
01:00:05,103 --> 01:00:09,005
the Viet Cong had learned how
to inflict heavy casualties

885
01:00:09,007 --> 01:00:12,609
on Saigon's forces, and get away again.

886
01:00:14,279 --> 01:00:18,147
In Saigon, President Diem
claimed the ARVN were winning,

887
01:00:18,149 --> 01:00:19,549
not losing.

888
01:00:19,551 --> 01:00:22,886
Ap Bac had only been
a momentary setback.

889
01:00:22,888 --> 01:00:24,788
And he resented Americans telling him

890
01:00:24,790 --> 01:00:28,492
how to fight his battles
or run his country.

891
01:00:28,494 --> 01:00:33,697
The president's sister-in-law,
Madame Nhu, went further.

892
01:00:33,699 --> 01:00:37,901
She denounced the Americans
as "false brothers."

893
01:00:39,604 --> 01:00:42,471
"We don't have a prayer
of staying in Vietnam,"

894
01:00:42,473 --> 01:00:46,609
President Kennedy privately
told a friend that spring.

895
01:00:46,611 --> 01:00:48,777
"These people hate us.

896
01:00:48,779 --> 01:00:52,214
"But I can't give up a
piece of territory like that

897
01:00:52,216 --> 01:00:56,519
to the communists and then
get the people to reelect me."

898
01:01:03,460 --> 01:01:04,960
Buddhist monks and nuns are joined

899
01:01:04,962 --> 01:01:06,529
by thousands of sympathizers

900
01:01:06,531 --> 01:01:08,263
to protest the government's restrictions

901
01:01:08,265 --> 01:01:11,033
on the practice of their
religion in South Vietnam.

902
01:01:12,870 --> 01:01:16,470
Diem began by alienating
the rural population.

903
01:01:16,472 --> 01:01:19,206
And that started the Viet Cong.

904
01:01:19,208 --> 01:01:22,176
Now he was alienating
the urban population.

905
01:01:22,178 --> 01:01:24,779
Seventy percent of the
population is Buddhist

906
01:01:24,781 --> 01:01:26,380
and the demonstrators
clashed with the police

907
01:01:26,382 --> 01:01:30,685
during the week-long series
of incidents like this.

908
01:01:30,687 --> 01:01:34,121
In the months that followed
the Battle of Ap Bac,

909
01:01:34,123 --> 01:01:38,860
South Vietnam plunged into civil
strife that had little to do

910
01:01:38,862 --> 01:01:41,796
with the Viet Cong.

911
01:01:41,798 --> 01:01:45,933
Religion and nationalism
were at its heart.

912
01:01:45,935 --> 01:01:49,736
A Catholic minority had for
years dominated the government

913
01:01:49,738 --> 01:01:52,406
of an overwhelmingly Buddhist country.

914
01:01:54,143 --> 01:01:56,677
That spring in the city of Hue,

915
01:01:56,679 --> 01:01:59,713
Christian flags had
been flown to celebrate

916
01:01:59,715 --> 01:02:02,916
the 25th anniversary of the ordination

917
01:02:02,918 --> 01:02:05,519
of Diem's older brother
as a Catholic bishop.

918
01:02:08,857 --> 01:02:12,226
But when the Buddhists of
the city flew their flags

919
01:02:12,228 --> 01:02:17,697
to celebrate the 2,527th
birthday of Lord Buddha,

920
01:02:17,699 --> 01:02:20,633
police tore them down.

921
01:02:20,635 --> 01:02:23,136
Protesters took to the streets.

922
01:02:25,440 --> 01:02:29,275
The Catholic deputy province
chief sent security forces

923
01:02:29,277 --> 01:02:32,145
to suppress the demonstration.

924
01:02:32,147 --> 01:02:33,913
The soldiers opened fire.

925
01:02:34,916 --> 01:02:38,017
Eight protesters died.

926
01:02:38,019 --> 01:02:43,990
The youngest was 12; the oldest was 20.

927
01:02:43,992 --> 01:02:47,594
The Diem regime blamed the Viet Cong.

928
01:02:49,397 --> 01:02:52,998
Monks throughout the
country demanded an apology.

929
01:03:02,009 --> 01:03:04,376
They also called for
an end to discrimination

930
01:03:04,378 --> 01:03:06,811
by Catholic officials.

931
01:03:06,813 --> 01:03:10,081
Many Buddhists had come
to see Diem's policies

932
01:03:10,083 --> 01:03:13,152
as a direct threat to
their religious beliefs.

933
01:03:16,223 --> 01:03:19,824
My family was against
what Diem was doing.

934
01:03:19,826 --> 01:03:22,528
My mother was convinced

935
01:03:22,530 --> 01:03:26,631
that Diem was destroying
the Buddhist faith.

936
01:03:26,633 --> 01:03:30,835
She would go to the pagodas and
listen to the monks' speeches.

937
01:03:30,837 --> 01:03:34,139
And she was just extremely upset.

938
01:03:35,642 --> 01:03:36,941
She was not alone.

939
01:03:36,943 --> 01:03:39,944
There was a lot of people like her.

940
01:03:39,946 --> 01:03:43,915
American officials urged
Diem and his brother Nhu

941
01:03:43,917 --> 01:03:47,351
to make meaningful
concessions to the Buddhists,

942
01:03:47,353 --> 01:03:49,420
for the sake of maintaining unity

943
01:03:49,422 --> 01:03:51,990
in the struggle against communism.

944
01:03:51,992 --> 01:03:53,491
They refused.

945
01:03:56,196 --> 01:04:01,264
On June 10, 1963, Malcolm
Browne of the Associated Press

946
01:04:01,266 --> 01:04:04,234
received an anonymous tip:

947
01:04:04,236 --> 01:04:07,504
something important was
going to happen the next day

948
01:04:07,506 --> 01:04:10,941
at a major intersection in Saigon.

949
01:04:10,943 --> 01:04:12,743
He took his camera.

950
01:04:20,485 --> 01:04:23,921
To protest the Diem regime's repression,

951
01:04:23,923 --> 01:04:30,160
a 73-year-old monk named
Quang Duc set himself on fire.

952
01:04:48,046 --> 01:04:53,250
As a large, hushed crowd
watched him burn to death,

953
01:04:53,252 --> 01:04:56,720
another monk repeated
over and over again

954
01:04:56,722 --> 01:04:59,756
in English and Vietnamese,

955
01:04:59,758 --> 01:05:02,792
"A Buddhist monk becomes a martyr.

956
01:05:02,794 --> 01:05:05,228
A Buddhist monk becomes a martyr."

957
01:05:12,237 --> 01:05:15,204
I remember they held the ashes

958
01:05:15,206 --> 01:05:17,807
of the monk who burned himself to death

959
01:05:17,809 --> 01:05:20,910
where it was kept in
one of the main pagodas.

960
01:05:20,912 --> 01:05:27,083
And lines of people came to
pass by, and I saw these women,

961
01:05:27,085 --> 01:05:30,186
not rich women, ordinary
Vietnamese women,

962
01:05:30,188 --> 01:05:33,322
take off the one piece of gold
they had on, their wedding ring,

963
01:05:33,324 --> 01:05:38,360
and drop it in the bottle to
contribute to the struggle.

964
01:05:38,362 --> 01:05:42,264
And I thought to myself,
"This regime is over.

965
01:05:42,266 --> 01:05:43,198
It's the end."

966
01:05:47,505 --> 01:05:49,838
Soon other monks would become martyrs.

967
01:05:53,311 --> 01:05:58,947
Fresh outbursts by Madame
Nhu only made things worse.

968
01:05:58,949 --> 01:06:02,451
Burning monks made her
clap her hands, she said.

969
01:06:02,453 --> 01:06:05,053
If more monks wanted to burn themselves,

970
01:06:05,055 --> 01:06:08,256
she would provide the matches.

971
01:06:08,258 --> 01:06:10,292
The only thing they have done,

972
01:06:10,294 --> 01:06:16,064
they have barbecued one of their monks,

973
01:06:16,066 --> 01:06:21,703
whom they have intoxicated, whom
they have abused the confidence.

974
01:06:21,705 --> 01:06:26,173
And even that barbecuing was done

975
01:06:26,175 --> 01:06:28,509
not even with self-sufficient means

976
01:06:28,511 --> 01:06:31,346
because they... they
used imported gasoline.

977
01:06:33,282 --> 01:06:35,983
They thought she was arrogant,

978
01:06:35,985 --> 01:06:37,585
she was power hungry.

979
01:06:37,587 --> 01:06:40,955
They suspected her and her
husband of being corrupt.

980
01:06:40,957 --> 01:06:47,328
Nhu ran the secret police, which
arrested and tortured people.

981
01:06:47,330 --> 01:06:50,598
People feared the Diem regime.

982
01:06:50,600 --> 01:06:54,000
Perhaps more than they feared
it, they really hated it.

983
01:06:56,505 --> 01:06:59,138
Students, including many Catholics,

984
01:06:59,140 --> 01:07:01,641
rallied to the Buddhist cause.

985
01:07:01,643 --> 01:07:04,944
So did some army officers.

986
01:07:04,946 --> 01:07:09,383
People among the military
had to ask the question,

987
01:07:09,385 --> 01:07:12,753
"Can we continue this
kind of situation like that

988
01:07:12,755 --> 01:07:16,256
"when the whole country,
country was almost burning

989
01:07:16,258 --> 01:07:17,957
with the kind of protest
from the Buddhists?"

990
01:07:17,959 --> 01:07:18,859
You see?

991
01:07:22,731 --> 01:07:26,399
I first became aware of Vietnam
because of a burning monk.

992
01:07:29,137 --> 01:07:34,107
We had watched the civil
rights movement in the South

993
01:07:34,109 --> 01:07:37,110
and it had set the standard for us

994
01:07:37,112 --> 01:07:43,516
to stand up against injustice,
allow yourself to be beaten up,

995
01:07:43,518 --> 01:07:45,885
allow yourself to be attacked by a dog

996
01:07:45,887 --> 01:07:48,254
or hit by a police truncheon.

997
01:07:48,256 --> 01:07:50,290
And we had enormous respect

998
01:07:50,292 --> 01:07:53,226
for people who were
willing to go that far.

999
01:07:57,765 --> 01:08:00,866
And then one day in 1963,

1000
01:08:00,868 --> 01:08:05,037
we saw on television a
picture of a monk in Saigon.

1001
01:08:06,607 --> 01:08:08,607
This was an extraordinary act.

1002
01:08:11,211 --> 01:08:14,012
Why was a Buddhist monk burning himself

1003
01:08:14,014 --> 01:08:16,649
on the streets of Saigon?

1004
01:08:19,554 --> 01:08:22,087
The protests continued.

1005
01:08:22,089 --> 01:08:27,059
Tensions between Washington
and Saigon steadily worsened.

1006
01:08:27,061 --> 01:08:31,063
The more the Kennedy
Administration demanded change,

1007
01:08:31,065 --> 01:08:34,899
the more Diem and his
brother Nhu seemed to resist.

1008
01:08:36,770 --> 01:08:39,571
The White House announced
that a new American ambassador,

1009
01:08:39,573 --> 01:08:44,843
former senator Henry Cabot
Lodge, was being sent to Saigon,

1010
01:08:44,845 --> 01:08:47,378
a man eminent enough,
the president hoped,

1011
01:08:47,380 --> 01:08:52,517
to make Diem listen more
closely to American advice.

1012
01:08:52,519 --> 01:08:56,354
Diem professed to be unimpressed.

1013
01:08:56,356 --> 01:08:59,156
"They can send ten Lodges," he said,

1014
01:08:59,158 --> 01:09:03,127
"but I will not let myself
or my country be humiliated,

1015
01:09:03,129 --> 01:09:06,998
not if they train their
artillery on this palace."

1016
01:09:07,000 --> 01:09:11,635
He did promise the outgoing
ambassador, Frederick Nolting,

1017
01:09:11,637 --> 01:09:14,438
that he would take no
further repressive steps

1018
01:09:14,440 --> 01:09:15,873
against the Buddhists.

1019
01:09:17,810 --> 01:09:23,180
Then, a few minutes after
midnight on August 21, 1963,

1020
01:09:23,182 --> 01:09:26,717
with Nolting gone and
Henry Cabot Lodge's arrival

1021
01:09:26,719 --> 01:09:30,388
still one day away,
Diem cut the phone lines

1022
01:09:30,390 --> 01:09:33,891
of all the senior American
officials in Saigon

1023
01:09:33,893 --> 01:09:37,561
and sent hundreds of his Special Forces

1024
01:09:37,563 --> 01:09:41,399
storming into Buddhist
pagodas in Saigon, Hue,

1025
01:09:41,401 --> 01:09:44,700
and several other
South Vietnamese cities.

1026
01:09:44,702 --> 01:09:47,637
Some 1,400 monks and nuns,

1027
01:09:47,639 --> 01:09:53,209
students and ordinary citizens
were rounded up and taken away.

1028
01:10:00,985 --> 01:10:05,588
Martial law was imposed,
public meetings were forbidden,

1029
01:10:05,590 --> 01:10:10,026
troops were authorized to shoot
anyone found on the streets

1030
01:10:10,028 --> 01:10:11,827
after 9:00.

1031
01:10:11,829 --> 01:10:15,230
Tanks guard a pagoda in Saigon

1032
01:10:15,232 --> 01:10:18,000
during South Vietnam's
bafflingly complicated crisis

1033
01:10:18,002 --> 01:10:21,037
that has the government
of President Ngo Dinh Diem,

1034
01:10:21,039 --> 01:10:24,907
students, and Buddhists, and
the United States government

1035
01:10:24,909 --> 01:10:28,644
all trying to guess
one another's next move.

1036
01:10:28,646 --> 01:10:32,548
When college students protested
in support of the monks,

1037
01:10:32,550 --> 01:10:36,251
Diem closed Vietnam's universities.

1038
01:10:36,253 --> 01:10:40,155
High school students then
poured into the streets.

1039
01:10:40,157 --> 01:10:42,758
He shut down all the high schools

1040
01:10:42,760 --> 01:10:44,093
and the grammar schools, too,

1041
01:10:44,095 --> 01:10:47,396
and arrested thousands
of school children,

1042
01:10:47,398 --> 01:10:50,265
including the sons and
daughters of officials

1043
01:10:50,267 --> 01:10:52,468
in his own government.

1044
01:10:52,470 --> 01:10:55,571
I participated in the demonstrations.

1045
01:10:55,573 --> 01:11:02,478
I strongly believed that that
government has to be overthrown

1046
01:11:02,480 --> 01:11:04,613
because it's a dictator government.

1047
01:11:04,615 --> 01:11:06,748
We couldn't stand it anymore

1048
01:11:06,750 --> 01:11:10,552
and this is an opportunity
to rise against it.

1049
01:11:10,554 --> 01:11:14,590
Phan Quang Tue was a
law student that summer.

1050
01:11:14,592 --> 01:11:18,627
His father was a prominent
nationalist whom Diem had jailed

1051
01:11:18,629 --> 01:11:21,962
for calling for greater democracy.

1052
01:11:21,964 --> 01:11:25,466
I was and I'm still a Catholic,

1053
01:11:25,468 --> 01:11:27,835
not a very good Catholic.

1054
01:11:27,837 --> 01:11:29,770
I don't practice religiously.

1055
01:11:29,772 --> 01:11:31,539
But I'm a Catholic.

1056
01:11:33,176 --> 01:11:34,708
I was rightly arrested

1057
01:11:34,710 --> 01:11:37,878
because I did participate
in demonstration.

1058
01:11:37,880 --> 01:11:40,981
And I was interrogated

1059
01:11:40,983 --> 01:11:43,851
and briefly tortured,
beaten a little bit.

1060
01:11:47,423 --> 01:11:50,224
Henry Cabot Lodge took
over as U.S. ambassador

1061
01:11:50,226 --> 01:11:51,825
in the midst of the turmoil.

1062
01:11:51,827 --> 01:11:53,294
And he has reported to have demanded

1063
01:11:53,296 --> 01:11:55,562
that President Diem's
brother Nhu be ousted

1064
01:11:55,564 --> 01:11:57,730
or U.S. aid to Vietnam will be cut.

1065
01:12:01,170 --> 01:12:03,236
In the wake of the pagoda raids,

1066
01:12:03,238 --> 01:12:05,639
a small group of South
Vietnamese generals

1067
01:12:05,641 --> 01:12:09,376
contacted the CIA in Saigon.

1068
01:12:09,378 --> 01:12:12,845
Diem's brother Nhu was
now largely in control

1069
01:12:12,847 --> 01:12:14,947
of the government, they said.

1070
01:12:14,949 --> 01:12:19,719
What would Washington's reaction
be if they mounted a coup?

1071
01:12:19,721 --> 01:12:22,855
President Kennedy and
his senior advisors

1072
01:12:22,857 --> 01:12:27,760
happened to be out of
town, so Roger Hilsman, Jr.,

1073
01:12:27,762 --> 01:12:31,230
assistant secretary of
state for Far Eastern affairs

1074
01:12:31,232 --> 01:12:33,799
and a critic of the Diem regime,

1075
01:12:33,801 --> 01:12:37,869
took it upon himself to draft
a cable with new instructions

1076
01:12:37,871 --> 01:12:40,839
for Ambassador Lodge.

1077
01:12:40,841 --> 01:12:44,810
The U.S. government could no
longer tolerate a situation

1078
01:12:44,812 --> 01:12:49,047
in which power lay in
Nhu's hands, it said.

1079
01:12:49,049 --> 01:12:52,084
Diem should be given a chance
to rid himself of his brother.

1080
01:12:53,721 --> 01:12:57,389
If he refused, Lodge
was to tell the generals,

1081
01:12:57,391 --> 01:13:00,859
"then we must face the
possibility that Diem himself

1082
01:13:00,861 --> 01:13:04,795
cannot be preserved."

1083
01:13:04,797 --> 01:13:08,533
The president was vacationing
at Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.

1084
01:13:08,535 --> 01:13:12,437
Undersecretary of State George
Ball read part of the cable

1085
01:13:12,439 --> 01:13:15,607
to him over the phone.

1086
01:13:15,609 --> 01:13:17,942
Since the early 1950s,

1087
01:13:17,944 --> 01:13:20,478
the United States
government had encouraged

1088
01:13:20,480 --> 01:13:25,883
and even orchestrated other Cold
War coups in Iran, Guatemala,

1089
01:13:25,885 --> 01:13:30,488
the Congo, and elsewhere.

1090
01:13:30,490 --> 01:13:34,459
Kennedy decided to
approve Hilsman's cable

1091
01:13:34,461 --> 01:13:37,628
in part because he
thought his top advisors

1092
01:13:37,630 --> 01:13:39,797
had already endorsed it.

1093
01:13:39,799 --> 01:13:42,767
They had not.

1094
01:13:42,769 --> 01:13:47,972
And somehow, because of a cable
that came out from Washington,

1095
01:13:47,974 --> 01:13:51,242
Lodge decided that the
only solution was to get rid

1096
01:13:51,244 --> 01:13:55,012
of not just Ngo Dinh
Nhu, the bad brother,

1097
01:13:55,014 --> 01:13:57,681
but also of Diem himself.

1098
01:13:57,683 --> 01:13:59,784
And that started us
on this whole business

1099
01:13:59,786 --> 01:14:02,586
of promoting a coup.

1100
01:14:02,588 --> 01:14:06,123
And it was not a good idea.

1101
01:14:06,125 --> 01:14:08,692
I just had a feeling
of impending disaster.

1102
01:14:10,062 --> 01:14:12,796
On September 2, 1963,

1103
01:14:12,798 --> 01:14:16,466
Labor Day, Walter Cronkite of CBS News

1104
01:14:16,468 --> 01:14:19,102
interviewed President Kennedy.

1105
01:14:19,104 --> 01:14:23,173
The president used the
opportunity to deliver a message

1106
01:14:23,175 --> 01:14:25,108
to President Diem.

1107
01:14:25,110 --> 01:14:28,845
Mr. President, the only hot war
we've got running at the moment

1108
01:14:28,847 --> 01:14:31,548
is of course the one in Vietnam,

1109
01:14:31,550 --> 01:14:34,484
and we've got our difficulties
there, quite obviously.

1110
01:14:34,486 --> 01:14:39,122
I don't think that unless
a greater effort is made

1111
01:14:39,124 --> 01:14:41,124
by the government to win popular support

1112
01:14:41,126 --> 01:14:42,592
that the war can be won out there.

1113
01:14:42,594 --> 01:14:44,494
In the final analysis, it's their war.

1114
01:14:44,496 --> 01:14:48,397
Hasn't every indication from Saigon been

1115
01:14:48,399 --> 01:14:50,499
that President Diem has no intention

1116
01:14:50,501 --> 01:14:51,500
of changing his pattern?

1117
01:14:51,502 --> 01:14:52,535
If he doesn't change it,

1118
01:14:52,537 --> 01:14:54,537
of course, that's his decision.

1119
01:14:54,539 --> 01:14:56,572
He has been there ten
years and, as I say,

1120
01:14:56,574 --> 01:14:57,974
he has carried this burden

1121
01:14:57,976 --> 01:14:59,375
when he has been counted
out on a number of occasions.

1122
01:14:59,377 --> 01:15:00,509
Our best judgment is

1123
01:15:00,511 --> 01:15:03,046
that he can't be
successful in this basis.

1124
01:15:03,048 --> 01:15:05,715
But I don't agree with those
who say we should withdraw.

1125
01:15:05,717 --> 01:15:06,983
That would be a great mistake.

1126
01:15:06,985 --> 01:15:08,384
That'd be a great mistake.

1127
01:15:08,386 --> 01:15:10,320
I know people don't like
Americans to be engaged

1128
01:15:10,322 --> 01:15:11,420
in this kind of an effort.

1129
01:15:11,422 --> 01:15:13,890
47 Americans have been killed.

1130
01:15:13,892 --> 01:15:15,959
We're in a very

1131
01:15:15,961 --> 01:15:18,794
desperate struggle against
the communist system.

1132
01:15:18,796 --> 01:15:22,097
And I don't want Asia to pass
into the control of the Chinese.

1133
01:15:22,099 --> 01:15:24,333
Do you think that this
government still has time

1134
01:15:24,335 --> 01:15:26,869
to... to regain the
support of the people?

1135
01:15:26,871 --> 01:15:28,904
I do, I do.

1136
01:15:28,906 --> 01:15:32,207
With changes in policy
and perhaps in personnel,

1137
01:15:32,209 --> 01:15:33,876
I think it can.

1138
01:15:33,878 --> 01:15:37,445
If it doesn't make those changes,

1139
01:15:37,447 --> 01:15:39,514
I would think that the
chances of winning it

1140
01:15:39,516 --> 01:15:41,049
would not be very good.

1141
01:15:42,987 --> 01:15:45,888
Despite the cable,
Kennedy and his advisors

1142
01:15:45,890 --> 01:15:49,224
were sharply divided about a coup.

1143
01:15:49,226 --> 01:15:54,596
Robert McNamara, Maxwell Taylor,
Vice President Lyndon Johnson,

1144
01:15:54,598 --> 01:15:59,033
and the head of the CIA
all cautioned against it,

1145
01:15:59,035 --> 01:16:02,504
because, while none of them
especially admired Diem,

1146
01:16:02,506 --> 01:16:07,174
they did not believe there
was any viable alternative.

1147
01:16:07,176 --> 01:16:10,211
Fritz Nolting was called in.

1148
01:16:10,213 --> 01:16:12,781
And he said, "As difficult
as they are to deal with,

1149
01:16:12,783 --> 01:16:17,786
"there is nobody with the
guts and sangfroid in Vietnam

1150
01:16:17,788 --> 01:16:19,654
"of Diem and his brother Nhu.

1151
01:16:19,656 --> 01:16:23,124
"And if we let them
go, we will be saddled

1152
01:16:23,126 --> 01:16:27,028
by a descending cycle
of mediocre generals."

1153
01:16:27,030 --> 01:16:28,863
And he was absolutely correct.

1154
01:16:30,767 --> 01:16:33,634
But several State
Department officials believed

1155
01:16:33,636 --> 01:16:38,505
that without fresh leadership,
South Vietnam could not survive.

1156
01:16:38,507 --> 01:16:41,642
The debate intensified.

1157
01:16:42,945 --> 01:16:44,978
"My God," the president said,

1158
01:16:44,980 --> 01:16:48,348
"my administration is coming apart."

1159
01:16:48,350 --> 01:16:51,752
In the end, Kennedy instructed Lodge

1160
01:16:51,754 --> 01:16:54,220
to tell the renegade generals

1161
01:16:54,222 --> 01:16:56,623
that while the United
States does not wish

1162
01:16:56,625 --> 01:17:00,427
to stimulate a coup, it
would not thwart one either.

1163
01:17:02,064 --> 01:17:05,165
The generals laid their plans.

1164
01:17:11,506 --> 01:17:17,143
On November 1, 1963,
troops loyal to the plotters

1165
01:17:17,145 --> 01:17:19,412
seized key installations in Saigon

1166
01:17:19,414 --> 01:17:22,715
and demanded Diem and Nhu surrender.

1167
01:17:25,487 --> 01:17:27,988
The battle for the city
went on for 18 hours

1168
01:17:27,990 --> 01:17:31,324
and most of it was centered
on the presidential palace.

1169
01:17:31,326 --> 01:17:34,660
Just after 6:30 in the morning
Saturday, the shooting ceased.

1170
01:17:43,837 --> 01:17:49,108
Diem and Nhu escaped,
took sanctuary in a church,

1171
01:17:49,110 --> 01:17:52,244
and agreed to surrender
to the rebels in exchange

1172
01:17:52,246 --> 01:17:56,048
for the promise of safe
passage out of the country.

1173
01:17:56,050 --> 01:17:59,551
They were picked up in an
armored personnel carrier...

1174
01:18:01,555 --> 01:18:05,690
And murdered soon after
they climbed inside.

1175
01:18:10,431 --> 01:18:13,965
Madame Nhu survived the coup.

1176
01:18:13,967 --> 01:18:17,036
She was on a goodwill
tour in the United States.

1177
01:18:22,509 --> 01:18:25,076
The system was overthrown on November 1.

1178
01:18:25,078 --> 01:18:27,846
I was released November 4.

1179
01:18:27,848 --> 01:18:33,818
And it was the most exciting
moment in the life of Saigon.

1180
01:18:35,856 --> 01:18:41,259
The excitement, you
could feel it in the air.

1181
01:18:41,261 --> 01:18:45,764
I was thinking that,
yeah, it's a good thing.

1182
01:18:45,766 --> 01:18:49,433
Diem was making it
impossible to win the war

1183
01:18:49,435 --> 01:18:53,003
because people were so against him

1184
01:18:53,005 --> 01:18:57,307
that the war would be
lost if he stayed in power.

1185
01:18:59,111 --> 01:19:01,344
My father was a bit worried

1186
01:19:01,346 --> 01:19:03,180
because he didn't know who
was going to replace Diem.

1187
01:19:06,185 --> 01:19:08,819
Ambassador Lodge reported to Washington

1188
01:19:08,821 --> 01:19:13,423
that "every Vietnamese has
a smile on his face today."

1189
01:19:13,425 --> 01:19:17,160
"The prospects are now for
a shorter war," he said,

1190
01:19:17,162 --> 01:19:20,130
"provided the generals stay together.

1191
01:19:20,132 --> 01:19:22,933
"Certainly officers and soldiers

1192
01:19:22,935 --> 01:19:26,169
who can pull off an operation
like this," he continued,

1193
01:19:26,171 --> 01:19:29,539
"should be able to do very
well on the battlefield

1194
01:19:29,541 --> 01:19:31,874
if their hearts are in it."

1195
01:19:34,946 --> 01:19:38,115
President Kennedy was not so sure.

1196
01:19:38,117 --> 01:19:42,519
He was appalled that Diem
and Nhu had been killed.

1197
01:19:42,521 --> 01:19:46,189
Three days later, he dictated
his own rueful account

1198
01:19:46,191 --> 01:19:50,093
of the coup and his
concerns for the future.

1199
01:19:51,830 --> 01:19:55,798
Monday, November 4, 1963.

1200
01:19:55,800 --> 01:19:58,800
Over the weekend the
coup in Saigon took place.

1201
01:19:58,802 --> 01:20:01,703
It culminated three
months of conversation,

1202
01:20:01,705 --> 01:20:07,009
which divided the government
here and in Saigon.

1203
01:20:07,011 --> 01:20:12,148
I feel that we must bear a good
deal of responsibility for it,

1204
01:20:12,150 --> 01:20:15,184
beginning with our cable of August

1205
01:20:15,186 --> 01:20:17,919
in which we suggested the coup.

1206
01:20:17,921 --> 01:20:20,756
I should not have given my consent to it

1207
01:20:20,758 --> 01:20:22,924
without a roundtable conference.

1208
01:20:25,129 --> 01:20:30,633
I was shocked by the
death of Diem and Nhu.

1209
01:20:30,635 --> 01:20:34,835
The way he was killed made
it particularly abhorrent.

1210
01:20:34,837 --> 01:20:37,405
The question now is whether
the generals can stay together

1211
01:20:37,407 --> 01:20:41,376
and build a stable government or
whether public opinion in Saigon

1212
01:20:41,378 --> 01:20:45,079
will turn on this government
as repressive and undemocratic

1213
01:20:45,081 --> 01:20:46,881
in the not-too-distant future.

1214
01:20:52,055 --> 01:20:54,389
Kennedy would not live to see the answer

1215
01:20:54,391 --> 01:20:57,024
to the question he had asked.

1216
01:20:57,026 --> 01:21:01,563
He was murdered in Dallas 18 days later.

1217
01:21:01,565 --> 01:21:06,568
There were now 16,000 American
advisors in South Vietnam.

1218
01:21:06,570 --> 01:21:12,006
Their fate and the fate of
that embattled country rested

1219
01:21:12,008 --> 01:21:17,244
with another American
president, Lyndon Baines Johnson.

1220
01:21:34,764 --> 01:21:36,897
We thought we were the
exceptions to history,

1221
01:21:36,899 --> 01:21:38,465
we Americans.

1222
01:21:38,467 --> 01:21:41,202
History didn't apply to us.

1223
01:21:41,204 --> 01:21:43,436
We could never fight a bad war.

1224
01:21:43,438 --> 01:21:45,438
We could never represent
the wrong cause.

1225
01:21:45,440 --> 01:21:46,439
We were Americans.

1226
01:21:47,776 --> 01:21:49,109
Well, in Vietnam it proved

1227
01:21:49,111 --> 01:21:51,477
that we were not an
exception to history.

1228
01:24:47,886 --> 01:24:52,886
- Synced and corrected by chamallow -
- www.addic7ed.com -

1229
01:24:53,306 --> 01:24:54,533
Learn more about the film

1230
01:24:54,606 --> 01:24:58,633
and find additional resources
at PBS.org/vietnamwar

1231
01:24:58,673 --> 01:25:02,606
and join the conversation
using

1232
01:25:02,606 --> 01:25:05,739
"The Vietnam War" is
available on Blu-ray and DVD.

1233
01:25:05,739 --> 01:25:07,405
The companion book, soundtrack,

1234
01:25:07,405 --> 01:25:10,005
and original score from
the film are also available.

1235
01:25:10,005 --> 01:25:12,106
To order, visit shoppbs.org

1236
01:25:12,106 --> 01:25:14,573
or call
1-800-play-PBS.

1237
01:25:14,573 --> 01:25:18,205
Episodes of this series also
available for download from iTunes.

1238
01:25:21,472 --> 01:25:23,606
Bank of America proudly supports

1239
01:25:23,606 --> 01:25:28,505
Ken Burns' and Lynn Novick's
film "The Vietnam War"

1240
01:25:28,505 --> 01:25:30,905
because fostering different perspectives

1241
01:25:30,905 --> 01:25:33,505
and civil discourse
around important issues

1242
01:25:33,505 --> 01:25:35,806
furthers progress, equality,

1243
01:25:35,806 --> 01:25:37,806
and a more connected society.

1244
01:25:42,272 --> 01:25:46,306
Go to bankofamerica.com/
betterconnected to learn more.

1245
01:25:49,772 --> 01:25:51,205
Major support for "The Vietnam War"

1246
01:25:51,205 --> 01:25:54,705
was provided by members of
the Better Angels Society,

1247
01:25:54,705 --> 01:25:58,673
including Jonathan and Jeannie Lavine,

1248
01:25:58,673 --> 01:26:01,573
Diane and Hal Brierley,

1249
01:26:01,573 --> 01:26:03,972
Amy and David Abrams,

1250
01:26:03,972 --> 01:26:06,472
John and Catherine Debs,

1251
01:26:06,472 --> 01:26:09,438
the Fullerton Family Charitable Fund,

1252
01:26:09,438 --> 01:26:11,505
the Montrone Family,

1253
01:26:11,505 --> 01:26:13,838
Lynda and Stewart Resnick,

1254
01:26:13,838 --> 01:26:16,606
the Perry and Donna
Golkin Family Foundation,

1255
01:26:16,606 --> 01:26:17,606
the Lynch Foundation,

1256
01:26:17,606 --> 01:26:20,472
the Roger and Rosemary
Enrico Foundation,

1257
01:26:20,472 --> 01:26:23,905
and by these additional funders.

1258
01:26:23,905 --> 01:26:27,539
Major funding was also
provided by David H. Koch...

1259
01:26:29,838 --> 01:26:32,039
The Blavatnik Family Foundation...

1260
01:26:34,373 --> 01:26:36,806
The Park Foundation,

1261
01:26:36,806 --> 01:26:38,972
the National Endowment
for the Humanities,

1262
01:26:38,972 --> 01:26:41,173
the Pew Charitable Trusts,

1263
01:26:41,173 --> 01:26:43,838
the John S. and James
L. Knight Foundation,

1264
01:26:43,838 --> 01:26:46,606
the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation,

1265
01:26:46,606 --> 01:26:49,205
the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations,

1266
01:26:49,205 --> 01:26:51,405
the Ford Foundation JustFilms,

1267
01:26:51,405 --> 01:26:53,838
by the Corporation for
Public Broadcasting,

1268
01:26:53,838 --> 01:26:55,806
and by viewers like you.

1269
01:26:55,806 --> 01:26:56,938
Thank you.