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<b>
(helicopter blades beating,
growing louder)
</b>

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00:02:02,165 --> 00:02:03,865

(helicopter blades stop beating)


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00:02:04,766 --> 00:02:06,365

(wind whipping, bullet whizzing)


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00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:10,865

(gunfire)


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00:02:10,966 --> 00:02:12,599

(explosion)


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00:02:14,300 --> 00:02:16,033

(helicopter blades beating,
indistinct voices)


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00:02:18,699 --> 00:02:20,932

(gunfire, distorted screaming)


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00:02:23,500 --> 00:02:26,265

(distorted Marine Corps Hymn
playing)


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00:02:27,432 --> 00:02:28,900

(electronic hum)


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00:02:31,365 --> 00:02:39,300

(Marine Corps Hymn playing,
crowd cheering)


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00:02:40,533 --> 00:02:43,265

KARL MARLANTES:
Coming home from Vietnam


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00:02:43,365 --> 00:02:47,165

was close to as traumatic
as the war itself.


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For years, nobody talked
about Vietnam.


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(gunfire)


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00:02:53,466 --> 00:02:55,133

(marching band playing)


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00:02:55,233 --> 00:02:56,765

We were friends
with a young couple


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and it was only after 12 years
that the two wives were talking.


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00:03:01,665 --> 00:03:05,032

Found out that we both had been
Marines in Vietnam.


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Never said a word about it.


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00:03:07,733 --> 00:03:09,432

Never mentioned it.


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00:03:09,532 --> 00:03:11,599

And the whole country
was like that.


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It was so divisive.


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00:03:16,033 --> 00:03:20,966

And it's like living in a family
with an alcoholic father.


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00:03:21,066 --> 00:03:23,400

(whispering):
"Shh, we don't talk about that."


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00:03:23,500 --> 00:03:25,765

(gunfire)


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00:03:25,865 --> 00:03:27,765

Our country did that
with Vietnam.


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00:03:27,865 --> 00:03:30,599

It's only been very recently
that, I think,


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that, you know, the baby boomers
are finally starting to say,


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"What happened?


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00:03:34,832 --> 00:03:36,165

What happened?"


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00:03:36,265 --> 00:03:39,500

("A Familiar Taste" by Trent
Reznor and Atticus Ross playing)


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00:03:45,900 --> 00:03:47,865

HENRY KISSINGER:
What we need now in this country


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00:03:47,966 --> 00:03:52,265

is to heal the wounds
and to put Vietnam behind us.


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00:03:52,365 --> 00:03:55,500

("A Familiar Taste" continues)


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00:04:04,466 --> 00:04:05,733

RICHARD NIXON:
The killing


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00:04:05,832 --> 00:04:07,633

in this tragic war must stop.


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00:04:09,832 --> 00:04:11,099

("A Familiar Taste" continues)


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00:04:18,300 --> 00:04:20,932

LYNDON JOHNSON:
General Westmoreland's strategy


39
00:04:21,033 --> 00:04:22,699

is producing results.


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00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:26,966

The enemy is no longer
closer to victory.


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00:04:28,966 --> 00:04:30,966

("A Familiar Taste" continues)


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00:04:34,300 --> 00:04:36,199

ROBERT McNAMARA:
No matter how you measure it,


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00:04:36,300 --> 00:04:39,165

we're better off than we thought
we would be at this time.


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00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:47,365

REPORTER:
You have been less than candid


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00:04:47,466 --> 00:04:51,066

as to how deeply we are
involved in Vietnam.


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00:04:51,165 --> 00:04:52,766

We have increased our assistance


47
00:04:52,865 --> 00:04:54,899

to the government,
its logistics.


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00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:57,365

We have not sent
combat troops there.


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00:04:57,466 --> 00:05:01,132

DWIGHT EISENHOWER:
You have a row
of dominoes set up


50
00:05:01,233 --> 00:05:03,333

and you knock over the first one


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00:05:03,432 --> 00:05:05,266

and the last one,
certainly it will go over.


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00:05:05,365 --> 00:05:07,533

HARRY TRUMAN:
If aggression is successful
in Korea,


53
00:05:07,632 --> 00:05:10,100

we can expect it to spread
throughout Asia and Europe


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00:05:10,199 --> 00:05:11,399

and to this hemisphere.


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00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:17,533

("A Familiar Taste" continues)


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00:05:27,399 --> 00:05:30,165

("A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall"
by Bob Dylan playing)


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00:05:33,500 --> 00:05:39,966

♪ Oh where have you been,
my blue-eyed son? ♪


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00:05:40,066 --> 00:05:44,199

♪ And where have you been,
my darling young one? ♪


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00:05:46,165 --> 00:05:50,500

MAX CLELAND:
Viktor Frankl, who survived
the death camps in World War II,


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00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:53,533

wrote a book called<i>
Man's Search for Meaning.</i>


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00:05:53,632 --> 00:05:55,966

DYLAN:
♪ I've walked
and I've crawled on six... ♪


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00:05:56,066 --> 00:05:58,699

CLELAND:
You know,
"To live is to suffer.


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00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:03,266

To survive is to find meaning
in suffering."


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00:06:03,365 --> 00:06:07,800

And for those of us who suffered
because of Vietnam,


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00:06:07,899 --> 00:06:12,132

that's been our quest
ever since.


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00:06:12,233 --> 00:06:18,766

DYLAN:
♪ And it's a hard,
it's a hard, it's a hard ♪


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00:06:18,865 --> 00:06:20,832

♪ It's a hard


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00:06:20,932 --> 00:06:25,399

♪ It's a hard rain's
a-gonna fall ♪


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00:06:25,500 --> 00:06:29,533

NARRATOR:
America's involvement in Vietnam
began in secrecy.


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00:06:29,632 --> 00:06:34,533

It ended, 30 years later,
in failure,


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00:06:34,632 --> 00:06:37,865

witnessed by the entire world.


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00:06:37,966 --> 00:06:40,800

DYLAN:
♪ And what did you see,
my darling young one? ♪


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00:06:40,899 --> 00:06:44,066

NARRATOR:
It was begun in good faith
by decent people


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00:06:44,165 --> 00:06:46,733

out of fateful
misunderstandings,


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00:06:46,832 --> 00:06:51,266

American overconfidence,
and Cold War miscalculation.


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00:06:51,365 --> 00:06:56,699

And it was prolonged because it
seemed easier to muddle through


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00:06:56,800 --> 00:06:59,832

than admit that it had been
caused by tragic decisions,


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00:06:59,932 --> 00:07:02,966

made by five American
presidents,


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00:07:03,065 --> 00:07:05,899

belonging to both
political parties.


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00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:07,899

DYLAN:
♪ I saw a room full of men
with their hammers a-bleeding ♪


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00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:09,800

NARRATOR:
Before the war was over,


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00:07:09,899 --> 00:07:13,565

more than 58,000 Americans
would be dead.


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00:07:13,665 --> 00:07:18,466

At least 250,000
South Vietnamese troops died


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00:07:18,565 --> 00:07:21,065

in the conflict, as well.


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00:07:21,165 --> 00:07:25,100

So did over a million
North Vietnamese soldiers


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00:07:25,199 --> 00:07:26,665

and Viet Cong guerrillas.


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00:07:26,766 --> 00:07:29,665

DYLAN:
♪ Sharp swords in the hands
of young children ♪


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00:07:29,766 --> 00:07:31,966

♪ And it's a hard...


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00:07:32,066 --> 00:07:35,100

NARRATOR:
Two million civilians,
north and south,


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00:07:35,199 --> 00:07:37,066

are thought to have perished,


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00:07:37,165 --> 00:07:40,600

as well as tens of thousands
more in the neighboring states


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00:07:40,699 --> 00:07:42,500

of Laos and Cambodia.


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00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:45,066

(helicopter blades whirring)


94
00:07:45,165 --> 00:07:49,300

For many Vietnamese,
it was a brutal civil war;


95
00:07:49,399 --> 00:07:52,766

for others, the bloody
climactic chapter


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00:07:52,865 --> 00:07:56,365

in a century-old struggle
for independence.


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00:07:56,466 --> 00:08:01,533

DYLAN:
♪ And what'll you do now,
my blue-eyed son? ♪


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00:08:01,632 --> 00:08:03,966

NARRATOR:
For those Americans
who fought in it,


99
00:08:04,065 --> 00:08:06,932

and for those who fought against
it back home,


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00:08:07,033 --> 00:08:10,533

as well as for those who merely
glimpsed it on the nightly news,


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00:08:10,632 --> 00:08:14,333

the Vietnam War
was a decade of agony,


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00:08:14,432 --> 00:08:19,932

the most divisive period
since the Civil War.


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00:08:20,033 --> 00:08:24,899

Vietnam seemed to call
everything into question--


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00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:29,432

the value of honor
and gallantry;


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00:08:29,533 --> 00:08:34,066

the qualities of cruelty
and mercy;


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00:08:34,165 --> 00:08:38,633

the candor of the
American government;


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00:08:38,732 --> 00:08:42,500

and what it means
to be a patriot.


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DYLAN:
♪ Where hunger is ugly,
where the souls are forgotten ♪


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NARRATOR:
And those who lived through it


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00:08:51,265 --> 00:08:54,165

have never been able
to erase its memory,


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00:08:54,265 --> 00:08:57,332

have never stopped arguing
about what really happened,


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00:08:57,432 --> 00:09:03,000

why everything went so badly
wrong, who was to blame,


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00:09:03,100 --> 00:09:05,799

and whether it was all worth it.


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00:09:09,399 --> 00:09:11,466

BAO NINH:


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00:09:49,133 --> 00:09:51,000

DYLAN:
♪ And it's a hard


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00:09:51,100 --> 00:09:56,066

♪ It's a hard rain's
a-gonna fall ♪


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00:10:01,666 --> 00:10:03,133

(song ends)


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00:10:07,865 --> 00:10:12,932

(Silk Road Ensemble playing
"People and Fighters Unite")


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00:10:31,966 --> 00:10:35,265

BAO NINH:


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00:10:42,832 --> 00:10:46,265

NARRATOR:
The French conquest of Indochina
began with an attack


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00:10:46,365 --> 00:10:51,966

on the ancient Vietnamese port
of Danang in 1858.


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00:10:52,066 --> 00:10:55,500

It took 50 years to lay claim
to the whole region--


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00:10:55,600 --> 00:11:00,166

Laos and Cambodia, as well as
the 1,200-mile-long area


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00:11:00,265 --> 00:11:03,533

that would come to be called
Vietnam.


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00:11:06,299 --> 00:11:09,299

All of it was ruled
by a French governor-general


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00:11:09,399 --> 00:11:11,700

from his palace in Hanoi.


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00:11:13,399 --> 00:11:16,732

The French largely lived
on plantation estates,


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00:11:16,832 --> 00:11:21,066

and in cities, like Saigon,
made to look as much as possible


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00:11:21,166 --> 00:11:23,265

like those at home.


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00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:27,765

Most did not even bother
to learn the language


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00:11:27,865 --> 00:11:29,799

spoken by their subjects.


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00:11:29,899 --> 00:11:33,533

Instead they installed a series
of puppet emperors


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00:11:33,633 --> 00:11:35,200

and employed a network


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00:11:35,299 --> 00:11:39,100

of French-speaking Vietnamese
officials-- mandarins--


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00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:41,265

willing to carry out
their wishes.


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00:11:44,665 --> 00:11:49,033

The French put their subjects to
work building roads and canals,


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00:11:49,133 --> 00:11:51,633

railroads and bridges.


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00:11:52,966 --> 00:11:55,332

BAO NINH:


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00:12:07,932 --> 00:12:10,633

NARRATOR:
The Vietnamese people
did not take easily


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00:12:10,732 --> 00:12:12,166

to French occupation,


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00:12:12,265 --> 00:12:15,033

just as they had fought
against earlier invasions


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00:12:15,133 --> 00:12:16,732

by the Chinese.


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00:12:16,832 --> 00:12:20,932

By the early 20th century,
nationalism was on the rise.


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00:12:21,033 --> 00:12:26,332

But anyone who dared resist
colonial rule risked exile,


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00:12:26,432 --> 00:12:28,865

prison, or the guillotine.


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00:12:31,365 --> 00:12:32,899

TRAN NGOC TOAN
(speaking English):


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00:12:59,765 --> 00:13:03,533

LAM QUANG THI:


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00:13:18,399 --> 00:13:20,332

(helicopter blades whirring)


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00:13:22,765 --> 00:13:25,899

JOHN MUSGRAVE:
My hatred for them was pure.


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00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:27,832

Pure.


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00:13:27,932 --> 00:13:30,966

I hated them so much.


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00:13:31,066 --> 00:13:32,466

And I was so scared of them.


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00:13:32,566 --> 00:13:34,600

(gunfire)


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00:13:36,966 --> 00:13:39,200

Boy, I was terrified of them.


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00:13:47,765 --> 00:13:50,665

And the scareder I got,
the more I hated them.


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00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:56,832

I was an 18-year-old Marine
rifleman with the ink still wet


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00:13:56,932 --> 00:13:59,000

on my high school diploma.


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00:13:59,100 --> 00:14:01,533

I didn't want to shame myself
in front of my buddies.


159
00:14:03,666 --> 00:14:05,566

But I was so scared.


160
00:14:05,666 --> 00:14:08,466

I felt like I was hanging onto
my honor by my fingernails


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00:14:08,566 --> 00:14:10,200

the whole time I was there.


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00:14:15,332 --> 00:14:18,399

("La Marseillaise" playing)


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00:14:20,765 --> 00:14:23,066

(crowd cheering)


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00:14:24,966 --> 00:14:27,100

NARRATOR:
In the spring of 1919,


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00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:30,299

as the victorious Allied Powers
met in Paris


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00:14:30,399 --> 00:14:34,100

to rebuild a world shattered
by the Great War,


167
00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:37,899

President Woodrow Wilson
headed the American delegation


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00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:40,399

housed in the Hotel Crillon.


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00:14:43,265 --> 00:14:47,066

One day, a tall, slender,
29-nine-year-old man


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00:14:47,165 --> 00:14:49,633

appeared with a petition
for the president


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00:14:49,732 --> 00:14:53,665

he and other Vietnamese
nationalists had written.


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00:14:53,765 --> 00:14:57,232

Inspired by Wilson's declaration


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00:14:57,332 --> 00:15:00,200

that the interests of colonial
peoples should be given


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00:15:00,299 --> 00:15:03,566

equal weight with those
of their European rulers,


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00:15:03,666 --> 00:15:07,166

the man was asking that this
principle be applied


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00:15:07,265 --> 00:15:08,966

to his homeland.


177
00:15:09,066 --> 00:15:13,799

The president's secretary
promised to show it to Wilson,


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00:15:13,899 --> 00:15:17,466

but there is no
evidence that he ever did.


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00:15:17,566 --> 00:15:20,066

His name was Nguyen Tat Thanh,


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00:15:20,166 --> 00:15:24,066

but he was now living under
an alias, Nguyen Ai Quoc--


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00:15:24,166 --> 00:15:26,732

"Nguyen the Patriot."


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00:15:28,033 --> 00:15:30,200

During his long, shadowy career,


183
00:15:30,299 --> 00:15:34,000

he would adopt some
70 different pseudonyms,


184
00:15:34,100 --> 00:15:37,165

finally settling on
"the most enlightened one"--


185
00:15:37,265 --> 00:15:40,600

Ho Chi Minh.


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00:15:40,700 --> 00:15:45,899

DUONG VAN MAI:
Ho Chi Minh was a man who
succeeded in projecting an image


187
00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:50,000

of somebody who was totally
dedicated to freeing


188
00:15:50,100 --> 00:15:54,466

his country and his people
from foreign domination


189
00:15:54,566 --> 00:15:58,533

to the point that he
sacrificed his own well-being,


190
00:15:58,633 --> 00:16:02,566

his own life, not having
a family of his own.


191
00:16:03,966 --> 00:16:06,466

To Vietnamese,
that's a big sacrifice


192
00:16:06,566 --> 00:16:09,299

because to us
everybody needs a family.


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00:16:11,265 --> 00:16:14,000

NARRATOR:
Ho Chi Minh was born in 1890,


194
00:16:14,100 --> 00:16:16,966

the son of a minor official
in the French regime.


195
00:16:17,066 --> 00:16:19,966

After taking part
in a demonstration


196
00:16:20,066 --> 00:16:21,633

against the puppet emperor


197
00:16:21,732 --> 00:16:23,566

and the Frenchmen
who pulled his strings,


198
00:16:23,666 --> 00:16:27,732

Ho was expelled from school
and marked for arrest.


199
00:16:29,832 --> 00:16:35,133

He left Vietnam in 1911 and
remained in exile for 30 years.


200
00:16:36,700 --> 00:16:39,899

He served as a cook's helper
aboard a French liner,


201
00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:42,732

and visited New York and Boston,


202
00:16:42,832 --> 00:16:47,899

where he worked for a time as a
pastry chef at the Parker House.


203
00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:53,265

He shoveled snow in London,
tinted photographs in Paris.


204
00:16:54,732 --> 00:16:58,932

There, Ho Chi Minh joined
the French Socialist Party.


205
00:16:59,033 --> 00:17:02,500

But when he discovered the
anti-colonial writings of Lenin,


206
00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:04,598

he became a communist.


207
00:17:06,133 --> 00:17:08,032

He was invited
to Moscow to study,


208
00:17:08,133 --> 00:17:11,098

underwent training
as a Soviet agent,


209
00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:14,566

was sometimes criticized
for being a nationalist first,


210
00:17:14,665 --> 00:17:16,500

a communist second,


211
00:17:16,598 --> 00:17:19,532

and then was dispatched to China


212
00:17:19,633 --> 00:17:22,799

to organize a cell
of other Vietnamese exiles


213
00:17:22,900 --> 00:17:27,465

and help establish
the Indochinese Communist Party.


214
00:17:27,566 --> 00:17:31,200

Through it all,
"He was taut and quivering,"


215
00:17:31,299 --> 00:17:34,532

a friend remembered,
"with only one thought--


216
00:17:34,633 --> 00:17:37,465

his country, Vietnam."


217
00:17:38,732 --> 00:17:41,566

(air raid siren blaring)


218
00:17:41,665 --> 00:17:42,865

(bombs whistling, exploding)


219
00:17:42,965 --> 00:17:44,165

(shouting)


220
00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:51,232

(gunfire, explosions)


221
00:17:51,333 --> 00:17:57,732

NARRATOR:
By 1940, much of the world
was at war again.


222
00:18:04,133 --> 00:18:08,000

Germany had seized most
of Western Europe,


223
00:18:08,099 --> 00:18:10,000

including France.


224
00:18:13,500 --> 00:18:15,232

Imperial Japan threatened


225
00:18:15,333 --> 00:18:17,365

many of the European colonies
in Asia,


226
00:18:17,465 --> 00:18:21,299

and occupied Vietnam, where
they permitted their allies,


227
00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:22,965

the collaborationist French,


228
00:18:23,066 --> 00:18:25,766

to continue to oversee
their colony.


229
00:18:28,932 --> 00:18:32,432

To some Vietnamese,
the coming of the Japanese


230
00:18:32,532 --> 00:18:37,066

seemed to signal a welcome end
to white colonial rule.


231
00:18:37,165 --> 00:18:40,432

But Ho Chi Minh,
still in exile in China,


232
00:18:40,532 --> 00:18:43,900

saw the Japanese
as alien invaders,


233
00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:46,432

no more welcome than the French.


234
00:18:46,532 --> 00:18:49,766

They were only interested in
exploiting his country


235
00:18:49,865 --> 00:18:55,532

and seizing Vietnamese crops
to fill their own rice bowls.


236
00:18:55,633 --> 00:18:57,965

The time had come, he said,


237
00:18:58,066 --> 00:19:01,700

to rally "patriots of all ages
and all types,


238
00:19:01,799 --> 00:19:05,865

peasants, workers, merchants
and soldiers"


239
00:19:05,965 --> 00:19:09,665

to defeat the Japanese and
the collaborationist French.


240
00:19:13,432 --> 00:19:18,965

In February of 1941, after three
decades away from his homeland,


241
00:19:19,066 --> 00:19:23,099

Ho Chi Minh slipped back across
the Chinese border into Vietnam


242
00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:27,465

and set up headquarters near
the remote village of Pac Bo


243
00:19:27,566 --> 00:19:30,333

in a limestone cave
at the side of a mountain


244
00:19:30,432 --> 00:19:33,133

he named for Karl Marx,


245
00:19:33,232 --> 00:19:38,700

overlooking a jungle stream
he named for his hero, Lenin.


246
00:19:41,066 --> 00:19:43,700

There, he founded
a revolutionary movement,


247
00:19:43,799 --> 00:19:47,532

which he called the
Vietnam Independence League--


248
00:19:47,633 --> 00:19:50,266

the Viet Minh.


249
00:19:51,432 --> 00:19:53,833

TRAN NGOC TOAN
(speaking English):


250
00:20:02,932 --> 00:20:06,099

NARRATOR:
To build and lead a fighting
force for his revolution,


251
00:20:06,200 --> 00:20:08,833

Ho called upon Vo Nguyen Giap,


252
00:20:08,932 --> 00:20:11,333

a one-time teacher
of French history


253
00:20:11,432 --> 00:20:15,099

who had instructed
the children of Hanoi's elite.


254
00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:18,766

Giap was an early convert
to communism,


255
00:20:18,865 --> 00:20:22,232

whose life-long hatred
for the French intensified


256
00:20:22,333 --> 00:20:25,633

when they beat his wife to death
in prison.


257
00:20:25,732 --> 00:20:29,932

Inspired by Napoleon,
Lawrence of Arabia,


258
00:20:30,032 --> 00:20:33,599

and the communist Chinese
revolutionary Mao Zedong,


259
00:20:33,700 --> 00:20:36,000

Giap had already begun
to develop


260
00:20:36,099 --> 00:20:40,365

a distinctive theory of warfare
that relied on guerrilla tactics


261
00:20:40,465 --> 00:20:45,465

until a full-scale conventional
attack could be mounted.


262
00:20:45,566 --> 00:20:49,599

In the fight for independence
which he believed was coming,


263
00:20:49,700 --> 00:20:56,365

his armies, Giap said, would be
"everywhere and nowhere."


264
00:20:56,465 --> 00:21:00,299

DUONG VAN MAI:
The reason Vietnamese had always
resort to guerrilla warfare


265
00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:02,965

was because we were
a small country.


266
00:21:03,066 --> 00:21:08,299

And it was just a way of fight
the weak against the strong.


267
00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:11,965

Don't fight unless you're
sure you can win,


268
00:21:12,066 --> 00:21:15,400

and surprise is a big element.


269
00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:19,766

Choose your own battle.


270
00:21:25,465 --> 00:21:29,633

MIKE HEANEY:
I had about 26 guys that day
out of 45.


271
00:21:29,732 --> 00:21:32,066

We were always
somewhat understrength.


272
00:21:32,165 --> 00:21:34,465

And this day we were
quite understrength.


273
00:21:36,099 --> 00:21:38,000

My platoon's on point.


274
00:21:43,066 --> 00:21:44,732

MAN:
Go, go, go, go, go!


275
00:21:44,833 --> 00:21:47,599

HEANEY:
And all of a sudden
the very point man,


276
00:21:47,700 --> 00:21:51,165

the first guy in the column,
said, "VC on the trail.


277
00:21:51,266 --> 00:21:52,532

VC on the trail."


278
00:21:54,500 --> 00:21:56,833

Before I had a chance
to digest this...


279
00:21:56,932 --> 00:21:58,032

(gunshot)


280
00:21:58,133 --> 00:21:59,700

...he went down,
shot right through the chest.


281
00:21:59,799 --> 00:22:02,099

(gunfire)


282
00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:05,766

And what was a very
well-laid ambush erupted.


283
00:22:05,865 --> 00:22:09,232

(explosion, gunfire)


284
00:22:14,799 --> 00:22:16,799

(gunfire, shouting)


285
00:22:16,900 --> 00:22:19,099

I knew I'd lost a bunch of guys.


286
00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:23,400

I said a prayer to God saying,
basically,


287
00:22:23,500 --> 00:22:25,932

"If you need any more guys
from my platoon, take me.


288
00:22:26,032 --> 00:22:27,900

Don't take any more of my men."


289
00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:31,365

As soon as I said it,
I freaked myself out and said,


290
00:22:31,465 --> 00:22:32,865

"Holy shit.


291
00:22:32,965 --> 00:22:35,532

Can I take that prayer back?"


292
00:22:37,865 --> 00:22:40,365

(gunfire, plane engine roaring)


293
00:22:41,865 --> 00:22:45,532

(explosion, alarm ringing)


294
00:22:45,633 --> 00:22:49,066

NARRATOR:
By the spring of 1945,


295
00:22:49,165 --> 00:22:54,500

more than three years after the
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor,


296
00:22:54,599 --> 00:22:57,732

the United States government
was looking for allies


297
00:22:57,833 --> 00:22:59,900

behind the lines in Vietnam.


298
00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:02,099

The Americans were hoping
to find a way


299
00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:05,465

to undermine Japanese forces
there


300
00:23:05,566 --> 00:23:08,732

when they were contacted
by Ho Chi Minh.


301
00:23:08,833 --> 00:23:10,633

DONALD GREGG:
And so it was decided to drop


302
00:23:10,732 --> 00:23:15,732

an OSS team in to meet with
the Viet Minh leadership.


303
00:23:18,165 --> 00:23:21,400

Paul Hoagland was
the medic on the team.


304
00:23:21,500 --> 00:23:25,099

And the first thing he was told
was that he must attend


305
00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:27,032

to their leader, who was
desperately sick.


306
00:23:27,133 --> 00:23:30,099

So he was taken
to a grass shack


307
00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:34,532

where a bewhiskered, skinny man
lay on a bundle of straw,


308
00:23:34,633 --> 00:23:36,165

desperately ill.


309
00:23:36,266 --> 00:23:37,900

And that was Ho Chi Minh.


310
00:23:40,333 --> 00:23:44,965

NARRATOR:
The OSS, the secret wartime
precursor of the CIA,


311
00:23:45,066 --> 00:23:48,232

supplied Ho's ragtag guerrillas
with arms


312
00:23:48,333 --> 00:23:53,133

and marveled at how quickly
they learned to handle them.


313
00:23:53,232 --> 00:23:55,932

Ho Chi Minh began to call
his followers


314
00:23:56,032 --> 00:24:00,232

the "Viet-American Army,"
and praised the United States


315
00:24:00,333 --> 00:24:02,232

as a "champion of democracy"


316
00:24:02,333 --> 00:24:05,500

that would surely help them end
colonial rule.


317
00:24:06,766 --> 00:24:09,932

BUI DIEM (speaking English):


318
00:24:23,766 --> 00:24:28,333

NARRATOR:
Meanwhile, famine gripped the
northern part of the country.


319
00:24:28,432 --> 00:24:30,333

Hundreds of thousands
of Vietnamese


320
00:24:30,432 --> 00:24:32,400

were dying of starvation


321
00:24:32,500 --> 00:24:35,732

while Japanese storehouses
were filled with rice.


322
00:24:38,766 --> 00:24:40,766

DUONG VAN MAI:
In those days,
garbage was collected


323
00:24:40,865 --> 00:24:43,000

by people pushing carts.


324
00:24:43,099 --> 00:24:47,700

And my mother remembers that
every morning she would see


325
00:24:47,799 --> 00:24:49,700

these garbage carts going around


326
00:24:49,799 --> 00:24:52,165

and people picking up dead
bodies and throwing them


327
00:24:52,266 --> 00:24:53,766

on the cart.


328
00:24:53,865 --> 00:24:55,400

It was incredible.


329
00:24:55,500 --> 00:24:59,032

And people who lived through it
never, never forgot.


330
00:24:59,133 --> 00:25:03,599

NARRATOR:
Duong Van Mai's father
was the deputy governor


331
00:25:03,700 --> 00:25:05,865

of a province east of Hanoi,


332
00:25:05,965 --> 00:25:08,400

the son and grandson
of mandarins


333
00:25:08,500 --> 00:25:11,133

who had all served the French.


334
00:25:11,232 --> 00:25:14,566

He and his wife had 17 children.


335
00:25:14,665 --> 00:25:19,400

DUONG VAN MAI:
Parents who had children
who were, you know, plump,


336
00:25:19,500 --> 00:25:21,932

were very afraid of their
children being stolen


337
00:25:22,032 --> 00:25:24,465

and killed.


338
00:25:24,566 --> 00:25:27,665

And it was really like
hell on earth.


339
00:25:27,766 --> 00:25:31,232

The government didn't have
a clue on how to deal


340
00:25:31,333 --> 00:25:33,432

with this calamity.


341
00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:36,299

NARRATOR:
But Ho Chi Minh did.


342
00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:38,633

He directed the Viet Minh


343
00:25:38,732 --> 00:25:42,000

to break into the Japanese
storehouses wherever they could


344
00:25:42,099 --> 00:25:46,232

and distribute the rice
to the people.


345
00:25:46,333 --> 00:25:48,900

They were hailed as saviors.


346
00:25:51,432 --> 00:25:53,032

(engine starts)


347
00:26:00,066 --> 00:26:01,200

(explosion)


348
00:26:03,766 --> 00:26:06,932

NARRATOR:
When an atomic bomb
destroyed Hiroshima,


349
00:26:07,032 --> 00:26:10,566

and three days later a second
one destroyed Nagasaki,


350
00:26:10,665 --> 00:26:13,700

Japanese surrender
seemed imminent.


351
00:26:15,732 --> 00:26:19,299

Ho Chi Minh called upon
all Vietnamese to rise up


352
00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:21,333

and take over
their own country


353
00:26:21,432 --> 00:26:23,799

before the Free French
could reestablish


354
00:26:23,900 --> 00:26:26,400

their old colonial regime.


355
00:26:26,500 --> 00:26:31,599

They did, in cities and towns
across the country.


356
00:26:35,133 --> 00:26:38,032

On September 2, 1945,


357
00:26:38,133 --> 00:26:40,900

the same day the Japanese
formally surrendered,


358
00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:43,900

hundreds of thousands
of Vietnamese


359
00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:48,799

streamed into Ba Dinh Square in
Hanoi to see for the first time


360
00:26:48,900 --> 00:26:52,133

the mysterious leader
of the Viet Minh


361
00:26:52,232 --> 00:26:56,865

and hear him proclaim
Vietnam's independence.


362
00:26:56,965 --> 00:27:00,400

(Ho Chi Minh speaking
Vietnamese)


363
00:27:00,500 --> 00:27:05,099

NARRATOR:
With an OSS officer
standing nearby,


364
00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:09,165

Ho Chi Minh began with the words
of Thomas Jefferson:


365
00:27:09,266 --> 00:27:11,799

"All men are created equal.


366
00:27:11,900 --> 00:27:14,700

"They are endowed
by their creator


367
00:27:14,799 --> 00:27:17,900

"with certain
unalienable rights;


368
00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:20,665

"that among these are life,
liberty


369
00:27:20,766 --> 00:27:22,965

and the pursuit of happiness."


370
00:27:25,665 --> 00:27:28,532

DONG SI NGUYEN:


371
00:27:45,432 --> 00:27:47,732

GEORGE WICKES:
Ho Chi Minh had great hopes


372
00:27:47,833 --> 00:27:53,200

that the U.S. would support the
Vietnam desire for independence,


373
00:27:53,299 --> 00:27:55,066

not necessarily by intervening


374
00:27:55,165 --> 00:27:58,932

but by doing what it could


375
00:27:59,032 --> 00:28:02,665

to support an
independence movement.


376
00:28:02,766 --> 00:28:06,465

NARRATOR:
Ho Chi Minh's hopes for American
support were calculated


377
00:28:06,566 --> 00:28:09,465

but understandable.


378
00:28:09,566 --> 00:28:13,465

President Franklin Roosevelt had
promised a postwar world


379
00:28:13,566 --> 00:28:16,633

that would "respect the rights
of all peoples


380
00:28:16,732 --> 00:28:19,700

to choose the form of government
under which they live."


381
00:28:22,532 --> 00:28:26,365

But Roosevelt was dead now,
and his successor, Harry Truman,


382
00:28:26,465 --> 00:28:30,232

had inherited
a very different world.


383
00:28:30,333 --> 00:28:32,665

The alliance
with the Soviet Union


384
00:28:32,766 --> 00:28:36,566

that had won the
Second World War had collapsed.


385
00:28:36,665 --> 00:28:40,299

The Soviets now occupied
the Eastern European countries


386
00:28:40,400 --> 00:28:44,965

they had overrun, and hoped to
spread their influence farther,


387
00:28:45,066 --> 00:28:49,766

into Iran, Turkey,
and the Mediterranean.


388
00:28:49,865 --> 00:28:54,165

A new cold war had begun.


389
00:28:54,266 --> 00:28:56,833

French president
Charles De Gaulle warned


390
00:28:56,932 --> 00:29:00,000

that if the United States
insisted on independence


391
00:29:00,099 --> 00:29:03,766

for her colonies,
France might have no choice


392
00:29:03,865 --> 00:29:07,200

but to "fall into
the Russian orbit."


393
00:29:07,299 --> 00:29:10,700

The United States must do
nothing to undercut


394
00:29:10,799 --> 00:29:16,200

the restoration of France's
empire, including Vietnam.


395
00:29:20,266 --> 00:29:23,766

WICKES:
There were hardly any Americans
in Vietnam, you know--


396
00:29:23,865 --> 00:29:26,799

State Department people,
consular officials,


397
00:29:26,900 --> 00:29:29,099

a few businessmen.


398
00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:31,165

Hardly anyone from this country


399
00:29:31,266 --> 00:29:33,032

knew where Vietnam
was located.


400
00:29:33,133 --> 00:29:37,833

NARRATOR:
George Wickes was part
of a seven-man OSS mission


401
00:29:37,932 --> 00:29:41,266

sent to Saigon,
the largest city in the south.


402
00:29:41,365 --> 00:29:44,833

The United States
was officially neutral,


403
00:29:44,932 --> 00:29:47,700

hoping the French
and Viet Minh could reach


404
00:29:47,799 --> 00:29:51,333

some peaceful solution
on their own.


405
00:29:51,432 --> 00:29:54,932

Allied leaders had agreed
temporarily to divide Vietnam


406
00:29:55,032 --> 00:29:57,500

into two separate zones.


407
00:29:57,599 --> 00:30:01,766

Nationalist Chinese troops were
to handle things in the north.


408
00:30:01,865 --> 00:30:05,333

British colonial troops would
try to perform the same task


409
00:30:05,432 --> 00:30:08,232

in the south,
where rival factions,


410
00:30:08,333 --> 00:30:12,432

including the French and Viet
Minh, were already fighting


411
00:30:12,532 --> 00:30:15,432

in the streets of Saigon.


412
00:30:15,532 --> 00:30:17,900

WICKES:
No one was in charge.


413
00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:22,165

On both sides, there was
brutality and atrocity


414
00:30:22,266 --> 00:30:23,766

and violence.


415
00:30:23,865 --> 00:30:26,400

It wasn't quite a civil war


416
00:30:26,500 --> 00:30:28,365

but it was getting very
close to civil war


417
00:30:28,465 --> 00:30:30,700

in the streets of Saigon.


418
00:30:30,799 --> 00:30:33,766

NARRATOR:
Lieutenant Colonel Peter Dewey,


419
00:30:33,865 --> 00:30:37,232

the 28-year-old commander
of the OSS in Saigon,


420
00:30:37,333 --> 00:30:39,932

tried to make sense of it all.


421
00:30:40,032 --> 00:30:42,766

WICKES:
Right from the start he was
in touch with everybody--


422
00:30:42,865 --> 00:30:45,599

not only the French,
but very soon he established


423
00:30:45,700 --> 00:30:49,865

a connection with various
Vietnamese groups.


424
00:30:49,965 --> 00:30:52,965

The Viet Minh soon
established themselves


425
00:30:53,066 --> 00:30:55,500

as the most successful.


426
00:30:55,599 --> 00:30:58,400

NARRATOR:
Dewey, who spoke fluent French,


427
00:30:58,500 --> 00:31:01,432

brokered talks between
a Viet Minh spokesman


428
00:31:01,532 --> 00:31:05,232

and the senior French
representative in the city.


429
00:31:05,333 --> 00:31:10,099

His efforts infuriated
British general Douglas Gracey,


430
00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:13,133

who commanded
Allied forces in the south.


431
00:31:13,232 --> 00:31:16,099

Gracey was convinced
that French control


432
00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:19,032

should be reimposed
as soon as possible.


433
00:31:19,133 --> 00:31:22,465

By conferring with
the Viet Minh, Gracey said,


434
00:31:22,566 --> 00:31:27,032

Colonel Dewey had become
a "subversive" force.


435
00:31:27,133 --> 00:31:28,465

(gunfire)


436
00:31:28,566 --> 00:31:32,066

The violence in and around
Saigon escalated.


437
00:31:34,066 --> 00:31:36,799

Colonel Dewey urgently
cabled his superiors:


438
00:31:36,900 --> 00:31:40,400

Vietnam "is burning," he wrote.


439
00:31:40,500 --> 00:31:43,000

"The French and British
are finished here


440
00:31:43,099 --> 00:31:45,633

and the United States,"
he concluded,


441
00:31:45,732 --> 00:31:47,900

"ought to clear out
of Southeast Asia."


442
00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:49,599

(gunfire)


443
00:31:52,232 --> 00:31:56,665

Two days later,
September 26, 1945,


444
00:31:56,766 --> 00:31:58,266

he set out for the airport,


445
00:31:58,365 --> 00:32:03,266

prepared to fly
to OSS headquarters.


446
00:32:03,365 --> 00:32:08,365

At a roadblock, the Viet Minh
mistook Dewey for a Frenchman


447
00:32:08,465 --> 00:32:10,500

and opened fire.


448
00:32:10,599 --> 00:32:12,000

(gunfire)


449
00:32:12,099 --> 00:32:15,299

He was killed instantly.


450
00:32:15,400 --> 00:32:19,200

WICKES:
Ho Chi Minh wrote
to the United States


451
00:32:19,299 --> 00:32:23,299

lamenting the death of Dewey,
whom he recognized


452
00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:27,266

as a person sympathetic
to his cause.


453
00:32:27,365 --> 00:32:30,099

It seemed a terrible irony
that Dewey,


454
00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:32,766

who was doing what he could
to help


455
00:32:32,865 --> 00:32:36,532

the Vietnamese independence
movement should have been killed


456
00:32:36,633 --> 00:32:38,900

by the Vietnamese by a mistake.


457
00:32:44,333 --> 00:32:46,833

(electronic buzzing,
muted helicopter blades beating)


458
00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:55,165

An elderly African-American
woman answered the door.


459
00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:04,200

I think she knew the instant
she saw us why we were there.


460
00:33:07,165 --> 00:33:09,299

And the padre said, uh,


461
00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:14,000

"I'm... I'm terribly sorry
to inform you,


462
00:33:14,099 --> 00:33:19,266

but your son was killed
in Vietnam."


463
00:33:19,365 --> 00:33:20,299

And she just sat down.


464
00:33:20,400 --> 00:33:22,032

Didn't say a word.


465
00:33:24,365 --> 00:33:28,099

Then the... her husband says,
"No, there's a mistake."


466
00:33:28,200 --> 00:33:29,900

He comes back with this letter.


467
00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:32,266

And he said, "Look, see?


468
00:33:32,365 --> 00:33:37,266

We got it yesterday, my... our
son was still alive yesterday."


469
00:33:37,365 --> 00:33:40,333

And the chaplain looked
at the letter


470
00:33:40,432 --> 00:33:42,633

and he said, "It's a week old.


471
00:33:42,732 --> 00:33:47,165

I think your son was killed on
the day he wrote this letter."


472
00:33:49,200 --> 00:33:53,099

("La Marseillaise" playing)


473
00:33:54,965 --> 00:33:59,165

NARRATOR:
In the fall of 1945, a week
after Colonel Dewey's death,


474
00:33:59,266 --> 00:34:02,232

fresh French troops
began arriving in Saigon,


475
00:34:02,333 --> 00:34:06,200

taking over from the British.


476
00:34:06,299 --> 00:34:07,465

They quickly established


477
00:34:07,566 --> 00:34:09,365

control of the city


478
00:34:09,465 --> 00:34:10,766

and set out to reoccupy


479
00:34:10,865 --> 00:34:12,666

the entire country.


480
00:34:14,565 --> 00:34:18,300

Ho Chi Minh hoped somehow
to achieve independence


481
00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:20,400

without a war with France,


482
00:34:20,500 --> 00:34:23,900

and he still hoped the
United States would intervene.


483
00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:27,900

"You never had an empire, never
exploited the Asian peoples,"


484
00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:31,032

he would tell a visiting
American journalist.


485
00:34:31,132 --> 00:34:35,199

"Do not be blinded by this issue
of communism."


486
00:34:35,300 --> 00:34:40,432

LESLIE GELB:
He did not want to fight the
French as an enemy of America.


487
00:34:40,532 --> 00:34:46,733

And, in fact, I saw the letters
he wrote to President Truman


488
00:34:46,833 --> 00:34:51,266

saying, "We believe in the same
things you believe."


489
00:34:51,365 --> 00:34:54,632

Those letters I saw
in the CIA files,


490
00:34:54,733 --> 00:34:58,599

they had never been given
to President Truman.


491
00:35:00,065 --> 00:35:02,766

(children shouting)


492
00:35:02,865 --> 00:35:07,465

NARRATOR:
In June of 1946,
Ho Chi Minh returned to Paris


493
00:35:07,565 --> 00:35:10,500

in a fruitless attempt to get
the French to live up


494
00:35:10,599 --> 00:35:13,800

to a promise they had made
of increased autonomy


495
00:35:13,900 --> 00:35:16,132

for his country.


496
00:35:16,233 --> 00:35:18,032

While Ho was away,


497
00:35:18,132 --> 00:35:21,500

General Giap began consolidating
communist control


498
00:35:21,599 --> 00:35:22,965

of the revolution.


499
00:35:23,065 --> 00:35:25,833

He conducted a merciless purge


500
00:35:25,932 --> 00:35:28,865

of members of rival
nationalist parties


501
00:35:28,965 --> 00:35:32,233

and people he called
"reactionary saboteurs"--


502
00:35:32,333 --> 00:35:37,599

landlords and moneylenders,
Trotskyites and Catholics,


503
00:35:37,699 --> 00:35:42,065

men and women accused of
collaborating with the French.


504
00:35:42,166 --> 00:35:46,500

Hundreds were shot,
drowned, buried alive.


505
00:35:46,599 --> 00:35:48,500

LAM QUANG THI:


506
00:35:59,632 --> 00:36:04,532

NARRATOR:
On December 19, 1946, after
months of building tension,


507
00:36:04,632 --> 00:36:06,833

fighting broke out in Hanoi


508
00:36:06,932 --> 00:36:09,833

between the Viet Minh
and the French.


509
00:36:09,932 --> 00:36:11,699

(gunfire)


510
00:36:14,099 --> 00:36:17,266

The Viet Minh proved no match
for French firepower.


511
00:36:21,833 --> 00:36:27,699

Ho, Giap, and their comrades
slipped out of the city


512
00:36:27,800 --> 00:36:31,733

and returned to their mountain
stronghold far to the north.


513
00:36:33,965 --> 00:36:37,099

"Those who have rifles will use
their rifles,"


514
00:36:37,199 --> 00:36:39,199

Ho declared in a radio address


515
00:36:39,300 --> 00:36:42,132

calling for a nationwide
guerrilla war.


516
00:36:42,233 --> 00:36:46,099

"Those who have swords
will use swords;


517
00:36:46,199 --> 00:36:51,432

those who have no swords
will use spades or sticks."


518
00:36:55,166 --> 00:37:00,166

NGUYEN NGOC:


519
00:37:21,833 --> 00:37:24,432

NARRATOR:
But the country Ho Chi Minh
hoped to unite


520
00:37:24,532 --> 00:37:27,766

was itself bitterly divided.


521
00:37:27,865 --> 00:37:30,166

Families were being torn apart.


522
00:37:30,266 --> 00:37:34,032

Despite her father's position
in the French government,


523
00:37:34,132 --> 00:37:39,065

Duong Van Mai's sister felt
compelled to answer Ho's call.


524
00:37:40,733 --> 00:37:44,333

DUONG VAN MAI:
My older sister Thang
was married


525
00:37:44,432 --> 00:37:49,465

to a man who had great sympathy
for the Viet Minh.


526
00:37:49,565 --> 00:37:52,565

And by that time Ho Chi Minh
had evacuated his government


527
00:37:52,666 --> 00:37:53,965

to the mountain base.


528
00:37:54,065 --> 00:37:57,699

So my sister and her husband
trekked all the way


529
00:37:57,800 --> 00:38:00,032

from Hanoi toward the base


530
00:38:00,132 --> 00:38:03,733

in order to join the resistance
against the French.


531
00:38:06,432 --> 00:38:08,900

So the Vietnam War
was really a civil war


532
00:38:09,000 --> 00:38:10,632

down to the family level.


533
00:38:18,965 --> 00:38:22,565

NARRATOR:
France poured thousands of men
into Vietnam--


534
00:38:22,666 --> 00:38:27,000

French regulars, European
mercenaries, and colonial troops


535
00:38:27,099 --> 00:38:30,965

from Morocco, Algeria,
Tunisia, and Senegal--


536
00:38:31,065 --> 00:38:35,932

who fought alongside an army
of Cambodians, Laotians,


537
00:38:36,032 --> 00:38:38,932

and anti-communist Vietnamese.


538
00:38:42,766 --> 00:38:47,065

French forces managed to occupy
most of the large towns


539
00:38:47,166 --> 00:38:48,565

and province capitals


540
00:38:48,666 --> 00:38:53,632

and established hundreds
of isolated outposts.


541
00:38:53,733 --> 00:38:58,400

The French also set out to try
to win over rural Vietnamese


542
00:38:58,500 --> 00:39:01,865

through a program
they called<i>pacification--</i>


543
00:39:01,965 --> 00:39:04,065

pacification--


544
00:39:04,166 --> 00:39:08,800

building dikes, schools and
roads, and vaccinating children.


545
00:39:11,632 --> 00:39:14,032

DUONG VAN MAI:
The French would pacify
a village


546
00:39:14,132 --> 00:39:18,300

and during the daytime
they could control it.


547
00:39:18,400 --> 00:39:21,900

But at night the Viet Minh
would come back.


548
00:39:22,000 --> 00:39:26,132

And so it was never
completely secure.


549
00:39:26,233 --> 00:39:29,666

My father would shake his head
and said, you know,


550
00:39:29,766 --> 00:39:31,233

"Pacification is
really futile


551
00:39:31,333 --> 00:39:35,565

because it's like trying to hold
sand in your fingers."


552
00:39:39,032 --> 00:39:44,132

NARRATOR:
The Viet Minh mined roads,
blew up bridges and railroads,


553
00:39:44,233 --> 00:39:49,400

ambushed French patrols,
and then disappeared.


554
00:39:51,733 --> 00:39:55,932

French soldiers sometimes took
revenge on the nearest village,


555
00:39:56,032 --> 00:39:58,432

burning homes, raping women,


556
00:39:58,532 --> 00:40:02,733

executing men suspected
of aiding the Viet Minh.


557
00:40:07,599 --> 00:40:09,766

LE CONG HUAN:


558
00:40:41,532 --> 00:40:46,333

NARRATOR:
But the communists proved every
bit as ruthless as the French.


559
00:40:46,432 --> 00:40:49,599

"It is better to kill even
those who might be innocent,"


560
00:40:49,699 --> 00:40:55,432

one commander said, "than to let
a guilty person go."


561
00:40:55,532 --> 00:40:57,800

And they specifically targeted


562
00:40:57,900 --> 00:41:01,166

anyone who had links
to the French.


563
00:41:01,266 --> 00:41:05,000

DUONG VAN MAI:
Once my father started working
for the French, then he was


564
00:41:05,099 --> 00:41:07,733

a target, especially
the higher he rose,


565
00:41:07,833 --> 00:41:09,699

the bigger target he became.


566
00:41:09,800 --> 00:41:15,865

A Viet Minh agent actually came
in with a pistol to shoot him


567
00:41:15,965 --> 00:41:19,532

but at the last moment
decided not to.


568
00:41:21,900 --> 00:41:24,532

TRANG NGOC ("HARRY") HUE:


569
00:41:54,065 --> 00:41:55,632

(gunfire)


570
00:41:58,500 --> 00:42:01,865

NARRATOR:
French casualties
continued to mount.


571
00:42:01,965 --> 00:42:04,800

"There are days
when we are so discouraged


572
00:42:04,900 --> 00:42:07,500

that we would like
to give it all up,"


573
00:42:07,599 --> 00:42:09,699

a French soldier
wrote his mother.


574
00:42:09,800 --> 00:42:12,965

"Convoys under attack,
roads cut,


575
00:42:13,065 --> 00:42:16,166

"firing in all directions
every night,


576
00:42:16,266 --> 00:42:18,199

the indifference at home."


577
00:42:27,865 --> 00:42:30,465

ROGER HARRIS:
While I was there I had the
opportunity to call my mother,


578
00:42:30,565 --> 00:42:32,699

you know.


579
00:42:32,800 --> 00:42:35,833

And I was telling my mother
what was happening over there,


580
00:42:35,932 --> 00:42:39,032

and I was telling her how
she shouldn't believe


581
00:42:39,132 --> 00:42:42,000

what she sees in the newspaper
and sees on television


582
00:42:42,099 --> 00:42:44,733

because we're losing the war.


583
00:42:44,833 --> 00:42:47,599

I said, "And you'll probably
never see me again


584
00:42:47,699 --> 00:42:51,300

"because we're the most northern
outpost that the Marines have,


585
00:42:51,400 --> 00:42:52,699

you know."


586
00:42:52,800 --> 00:42:54,733

We could literally... could look
right into North Vietnam.


587
00:42:54,833 --> 00:42:56,766

We could see the sparks
when the guns fired on us.


588
00:42:56,865 --> 00:42:59,032

And I said, "And everybody
in my unit is dying.


589
00:42:59,132 --> 00:43:01,800

I probably won't be
coming back."


590
00:43:01,900 --> 00:43:03,932

And my mother said,
"No, you're coming back."


591
00:43:04,032 --> 00:43:07,766

She said, "I talk to God
every day and you're special.


592
00:43:07,865 --> 00:43:09,699

You're coming back."


593
00:43:09,800 --> 00:43:12,032

And I said, "Ma, everybody's
mother thinks


594
00:43:12,132 --> 00:43:14,333

"that they're special.


595
00:43:14,432 --> 00:43:18,465

You know, I'm putting pieces
of special people in bags."


596
00:43:19,833 --> 00:43:21,500

(explosion)


597
00:43:23,900 --> 00:43:25,532

ED HERLIHY:
President Truman's dramatic
announcement


598
00:43:25,632 --> 00:43:27,065

that Russia had the atom secret


599
00:43:27,166 --> 00:43:28,733

caused state departments
all over the world


600
00:43:28,833 --> 00:43:31,500

to stir uneasily.


601
00:43:31,599 --> 00:43:35,632

HAL KUSHNER:
We were very aware
that there was a Cold War


602
00:43:35,733 --> 00:43:37,599

and that we had an enemy,


603
00:43:37,699 --> 00:43:41,733

and that enemy was
the Soviet Union.


604
00:43:41,833 --> 00:43:44,900

The United States stood
at one pole


605
00:43:45,000 --> 00:43:47,199

and the Soviet Union stood
at the other pole.


606
00:43:47,300 --> 00:43:50,266

It was kind of a
Manichean dynamic


607
00:43:50,365 --> 00:43:52,132

that there was evil
and there was good.


608
00:43:52,233 --> 00:43:54,166

And we were good,
and the other side was evil.


609
00:43:54,266 --> 00:43:57,333

It wasn't morally ambiguous.


610
00:44:00,132 --> 00:44:04,365

NARRATOR:
Just a few weeks after Russia
became a nuclear power,


611
00:44:04,465 --> 00:44:06,300

there was more stunning news--


612
00:44:06,400 --> 00:44:10,000

communist forces under
Mao Zedong seized control


613
00:44:10,099 --> 00:44:12,699

of China.


614
00:44:12,800 --> 00:44:16,666

Separate communist insurrections
were also underway


615
00:44:16,766 --> 00:44:22,300

in the British colonies
of Burma and Malaya.


616
00:44:22,400 --> 00:44:26,065

In January 1950,
Mao formally recognized


617
00:44:26,166 --> 00:44:30,199

Ho Chi Minh's insurgency and
agreed to provide the arms,


618
00:44:30,300 --> 00:44:34,199

equipment, and military training
he had been seeking.


619
00:44:34,300 --> 00:44:38,300

The Soviets recognized
the Viet Minh as well,


620
00:44:38,400 --> 00:44:40,199

and also offered help.


621
00:44:40,300 --> 00:44:43,865

President Truman,
who was being blamed


622
00:44:43,965 --> 00:44:47,800

by his political opponents
for having "lost" China,


623
00:44:47,900 --> 00:44:50,233

and having failed to "contain"
communism,


624
00:44:50,333 --> 00:44:53,766

approved a $23 million
aid program


625
00:44:53,865 --> 00:44:56,599

for the French in Vietnam.


626
00:44:56,699 --> 00:45:01,532

The United States
was no longer neutral.


627
00:45:01,632 --> 00:45:04,465

SAM WILSON:
We were caught on the horns
of a dilemma


628
00:45:04,565 --> 00:45:07,199

of how can we maintain
our friendship


629
00:45:07,300 --> 00:45:11,032

and our alliance with the French
and support them in Indochina


630
00:45:11,132 --> 00:45:14,766

while we, as a former
colony ourselves,


631
00:45:14,865 --> 00:45:17,833

sympathized with the Vietnamese
and their aspirations


632
00:45:17,932 --> 00:45:19,865

for freedom and independence?


633
00:45:24,699 --> 00:45:27,032

ED HERLIHY:
A highly trained and
well-equipped North Korean Army


634
00:45:27,132 --> 00:45:29,266

swarmed across the 38th parallel


635
00:45:29,365 --> 00:45:31,333

to attack unprepared
South Korean defenders.


636
00:45:31,432 --> 00:45:33,000

(explosion)


637
00:45:33,099 --> 00:45:36,733

NARRATOR:
In June of 1950, China's ally,


638
00:45:36,833 --> 00:45:40,333

communist North Korea,
invaded South Korea.


639
00:45:40,432 --> 00:45:41,865

(gunfire)


640
00:45:41,965 --> 00:45:43,865

President Truman ordered


641
00:45:43,965 --> 00:45:46,233

tens of thousands
of American ground troops


642
00:45:46,333 --> 00:45:48,199

onto the Korean Peninsula.


643
00:45:55,166 --> 00:45:57,065

The United States and its allies


644
00:45:57,166 --> 00:46:01,532

eventually pushed the invaders
back north.


645
00:46:01,632 --> 00:46:03,932

Meanwhile in southern China,


646
00:46:04,032 --> 00:46:06,400

Mao's military was beginning
to turn the Viet Minh


647
00:46:06,500 --> 00:46:10,300

into a modern fighting force,


648
00:46:10,400 --> 00:46:14,465

capable of inflicting a heavy
toll on the French occupiers.


649
00:46:21,833 --> 00:46:23,599

In July, the Truman
administration


650
00:46:23,699 --> 00:46:26,565

quietly dispatched
transport planes


651
00:46:26,666 --> 00:46:29,233

and a shipload of jeeps
to Vietnam.


652
00:46:29,333 --> 00:46:35,000

Thirty-five military advisors
went along to oversee their use.


653
00:46:36,833 --> 00:46:39,733

None of them, and no one
in the American embassy,


654
00:46:39,833 --> 00:46:43,833

spoke a word of Vietnamese.


655
00:46:43,932 --> 00:46:48,233

But the United States was now
officially in Vietnam.


656
00:46:50,465 --> 00:46:52,632

In October of 1950,


657
00:46:52,733 --> 00:46:55,800

hundreds of thousands
of Chinese troops


658
00:46:55,900 --> 00:46:58,065

began pouring into North Korea,


659
00:46:58,166 --> 00:47:02,199

driving the allies
back down the peninsula.


660
00:47:02,300 --> 00:47:03,932

As that fighting raged,


661
00:47:04,032 --> 00:47:07,233

Truman continued to increase
military aid


662
00:47:07,333 --> 00:47:10,132

for the French war in Vietnam.


663
00:47:13,865 --> 00:47:15,500

HARRY TRUMAN:
If aggression is successful
in Korea,


664
00:47:15,599 --> 00:47:18,833

we can expect it to spread
throughout Asia and Europe


665
00:47:18,932 --> 00:47:20,166

and to this hemisphere.


666
00:47:20,266 --> 00:47:22,699

(mortar fire)


667
00:47:22,800 --> 00:47:25,266

We are fighting in Korea


668
00:47:25,365 --> 00:47:27,965

for our own national security
and survival.


669
00:47:31,400 --> 00:47:34,632

("Mean Old World"
by T-Bone Walker playing)


670
00:47:34,733 --> 00:47:36,833

NARRATOR:
In the autumn of 1951,


671
00:47:36,932 --> 00:47:39,065

a young Massachusetts
congressman


672
00:47:39,166 --> 00:47:43,032

named John F. Kennedy dined
at the rooftop bar


673
00:47:43,132 --> 00:47:45,766

of the Hotel Majestic
overlooking Saigon.


674
00:47:45,865 --> 00:47:47,065

(distant gun fire)


675
00:47:47,166 --> 00:47:49,166

As he and his party ate,


676
00:47:49,266 --> 00:47:53,599

they could hear the thunder of
guns across the Saigon River.


677
00:47:53,699 --> 00:47:56,733

French commanders
assured Kennedy


678
00:47:56,833 --> 00:47:59,333

that with more American support,


679
00:47:59,432 --> 00:48:02,599

French rule would be
re-established.


680
00:48:02,699 --> 00:48:06,266

But Kennedy spent two hours
with Seymour Topping,


681
00:48:06,365 --> 00:48:08,465

a seasoned American reporter,


682
00:48:08,565 --> 00:48:11,166

who gave him a very
different perspective:


683
00:48:11,266 --> 00:48:13,965

the French were losing, he said,


684
00:48:14,065 --> 00:48:17,833

and many Vietnamese, who had
once admired the Americans,


685
00:48:17,932 --> 00:48:22,065

were beginning to despise them
for backing the French.


686
00:48:22,166 --> 00:48:25,400

Kennedy believed the reporter.


687
00:48:25,500 --> 00:48:28,766

Unless the United States could
persuade the Vietnamese


688
00:48:28,865 --> 00:48:32,432

that it was as opposed to
"injustice and inequality"


689
00:48:32,532 --> 00:48:34,032

as it was to communism,


690
00:48:34,132 --> 00:48:37,099

he told his constituents
when he got home,


691
00:48:37,199 --> 00:48:42,465

the current effort would result
in "foredoomed failure."


692
00:48:42,565 --> 00:48:45,400

(Rosemary Clooney singing
"Come On-a My House")


693
00:48:45,500 --> 00:48:50,900

♪ Come on-a my house, my house,
I'm gonna give you candy ♪


694
00:48:51,000 --> 00:48:52,865

NARRATOR:
In 1952,


695
00:48:52,965 --> 00:48:56,233

General Dwight Eisenhower
was elected president,


696
00:48:56,333 --> 00:48:59,132

in part because he promised
to take a tougher stance


697
00:48:59,233 --> 00:49:01,266

on communism.


698
00:49:01,365 --> 00:49:04,666

That year, American taxpayers


699
00:49:04,766 --> 00:49:07,199

were footing more than
30% of the bill


700
00:49:07,300 --> 00:49:10,233

for the French war in Vietnam.


701
00:49:10,333 --> 00:49:12,432

Within two years,


702
00:49:12,532 --> 00:49:15,865

that number would rise
to nearly 80%.


703
00:49:15,965 --> 00:49:19,199

CLOONEY:
♪ Everything, everything,
everything ♪


704
00:49:19,300 --> 00:49:21,565

RICHARD NIXON:
And many of you ask this
question:


705
00:49:21,666 --> 00:49:23,932

Why is the United States
spending


706
00:49:24,032 --> 00:49:25,833

hundreds of millions of dollars


707
00:49:25,932 --> 00:49:30,032

supporting the forces
of the French Union


708
00:49:30,132 --> 00:49:33,632

in the fight against communism
in Indochina?


709
00:49:33,733 --> 00:49:35,965

I think perhaps if we go over
to the map here,


710
00:49:36,065 --> 00:49:40,400

I can indicate to you why
it is so vitally important.


711
00:49:40,500 --> 00:49:42,833

Here's Indochina.


712
00:49:42,932 --> 00:49:44,266

If Indochina falls,


713
00:49:44,365 --> 00:49:47,599

Thailand is put in almost
impossible position.


714
00:49:47,699 --> 00:49:50,766

The same is true of Malaya
with its rubber and tin.


715
00:49:50,865 --> 00:49:55,900

Now may I say that as far as the
war in Indochina is concerned,


716
00:49:56,000 --> 00:50:00,565

that I was there, right on the
battlefield, or close to it,


717
00:50:00,666 --> 00:50:03,266

and it's a bloody war,
and it's a bitter one.


718
00:50:03,365 --> 00:50:08,565

(explosions)


719
00:50:08,666 --> 00:50:13,400

NARRATOR:
By 1953, the French had been
fighting for seven years.


720
00:50:13,500 --> 00:50:16,733

They had suffered over
100,000 casualties


721
00:50:16,833 --> 00:50:19,965

and failed to pacify
the countryside.


722
00:50:20,065 --> 00:50:23,733

Six commanders had come
and gone.


723
00:50:23,833 --> 00:50:26,000

Nevertheless,
the seventh commander,


724
00:50:26,099 --> 00:50:29,132

General Henri Navarre,
assured his countrymen


725
00:50:29,233 --> 00:50:30,666

that victory was near.


726
00:50:30,766 --> 00:50:33,800

"Now we can see it clearly,"
he said,


727
00:50:33,900 --> 00:50:37,733

"like the light at the end
of the tunnel."


728
00:50:39,733 --> 00:50:43,632

Meanwhile, large parts of the
French population were horrified


729
00:50:43,733 --> 00:50:46,333

by reports
of French brutality


730
00:50:46,432 --> 00:50:49,132

and the widespread
use of napalm--


731
00:50:49,233 --> 00:50:53,900

gelatinized petroleum
that burned foliage,


732
00:50:54,000 --> 00:50:56,465

homes, and human flesh.


733
00:50:59,400 --> 00:51:02,800

When returning French troops
disembarked at Marseilles,


734
00:51:02,900 --> 00:51:07,266

members of the longshoremen's
union pelted them with rocks.


735
00:51:07,365 --> 00:51:10,432

Parisian leftists began to call
the conflict


736
00:51:10,532 --> 00:51:13,666

"La Sale Guerre"--
"The Dirty War."


737
00:51:17,365 --> 00:51:20,800

(police sirens wailing,
people chanting)


738
00:51:22,032 --> 00:51:24,333

RON FERRIZZI:
The camera was a close-up,


739
00:51:24,432 --> 00:51:27,500

was over the shoulder
of this storm trooper


740
00:51:27,599 --> 00:51:31,132

who had a kid by the scruff
of his shirt and he smacks him.


741
00:51:31,233 --> 00:51:32,333

REPORTER:
People screaming...


742
00:51:32,432 --> 00:51:34,500

FERRIZZI:
At that moment in time,


743
00:51:34,599 --> 00:51:37,199

I realized that anybody who
really cared for America


744
00:51:37,300 --> 00:51:38,766

was sent halfway
around the world


745
00:51:38,865 --> 00:51:42,266

chasing some ghost in a jungle.


746
00:51:42,365 --> 00:51:45,400

In the meantime,
my country's being torn apart.


747
00:51:45,500 --> 00:51:47,699

So I saw somebody
who looked like my dad


748
00:51:47,800 --> 00:51:49,300

hitting somebody
who looked like me.


749
00:51:49,400 --> 00:51:51,233

Whose side would I be on?


750
00:51:59,333 --> 00:52:01,833

ED HERLIHY:
In Korea, three years
of combat end


751
00:52:01,932 --> 00:52:04,800

as United Nations and communist
negotiators at Panmunjom


752
00:52:04,900 --> 00:52:05,932

sign a truce.


753
00:52:06,032 --> 00:52:09,000

NARRATOR:
In July of 1953,


754
00:52:09,099 --> 00:52:12,465

the Korean War ended
in a negotiated settlement


755
00:52:12,565 --> 00:52:14,500

and a still-divided peninsula.


756
00:52:14,599 --> 00:52:17,900

American policymakers
saw it as proof


757
00:52:18,000 --> 00:52:21,300

that communism in Asia
could be contained.


758
00:52:21,400 --> 00:52:23,132

HERLIHY:
And in Washington, a dramatic
evening press conference...


759
00:52:23,233 --> 00:52:26,266

NARRATOR:
That fall, the French indicated
their willingness


760
00:52:26,365 --> 00:52:30,333

to begin talks to end
the fighting in Vietnam.


761
00:52:30,432 --> 00:52:33,865

Ho Chi Minh agreed to meet.


762
00:52:33,965 --> 00:52:37,833

But before the negotiators
were to convene in Geneva,


763
00:52:37,932 --> 00:52:42,932

each side sought to improve
its position on the battlefield.


764
00:52:44,532 --> 00:52:47,099

General Navarre set up
a fortified base


765
00:52:47,199 --> 00:52:50,065

in a remote valley
in northwestern Vietnam


766
00:52:50,166 --> 00:52:54,632

called Dien Bien Phu, where
he hoped to lure the Viet Minh


767
00:52:54,733 --> 00:52:56,733

into a decisive battle.


768
00:52:58,833 --> 00:53:02,032

Navarre was certain that
superior French firepower


769
00:53:02,132 --> 00:53:07,132

and air support would crush
any attack by the Viet Minh.


770
00:53:07,233 --> 00:53:09,800

He and his commanders
saw no need to worry


771
00:53:09,900 --> 00:53:14,333

about the jungle-covered hills
that overlooked his 11,000 men,


772
00:53:14,432 --> 00:53:17,333

dug in on the valley floor.


773
00:53:17,432 --> 00:53:21,666

The artillery commander
was so confident of victory,


774
00:53:21,766 --> 00:53:25,800

he complained, "I have more guns
than I need."


775
00:53:28,865 --> 00:53:31,500

General Giap saw his chance.


776
00:53:31,599 --> 00:53:36,065

"We decided to wipe out at all
costs the whole enemy force


777
00:53:36,166 --> 00:53:39,099

at Dien Bien Phu,"
he remembered.


778
00:53:41,166 --> 00:53:44,900

To do it, he pulled off one
of the greatest logistical feats


779
00:53:45,000 --> 00:53:46,932

in military history--


780
00:53:47,032 --> 00:53:50,132

a feat that would be restaged
in propaganda films


781
00:53:50,233 --> 00:53:53,432

and celebrated for decades.


782
00:53:53,532 --> 00:53:57,400

A quarter of a million
civilian porters--


783
00:53:57,500 --> 00:53:58,833

nearly half of them women--


784
00:53:58,932 --> 00:54:03,733

moved everything he needed
for a siege, from sacks of rice


785
00:54:03,833 --> 00:54:06,000

to disassembled
artillery pieces,


786
00:54:06,099 --> 00:54:09,132

on foot through the jungle.


787
00:54:09,233 --> 00:54:14,000

Giap surrounded the valley
with 50,000 soldiers


788
00:54:14,099 --> 00:54:19,233

and 200 big guns, dug-in
and camouflaged so well


789
00:54:19,333 --> 00:54:23,900

they could not be spotted
from the air.


790
00:54:25,599 --> 00:54:29,432

On March 13, 1954,


791
00:54:29,532 --> 00:54:31,766

Viet Minh artillery
on the hillsides


792
00:54:31,865 --> 00:54:35,132

began raining down 50 shells
a minute


793
00:54:35,233 --> 00:54:38,199

on the French troops
huddled below.


794
00:54:38,300 --> 00:54:40,465

(explosions)


795
00:54:40,565 --> 00:54:42,300

The airstrip was destroyed.


796
00:54:45,365 --> 00:54:48,432

The besieged troops could only
be reinforced


797
00:54:48,532 --> 00:54:51,365

and resupplied by airdrop.


798
00:54:54,965 --> 00:54:56,666

The French artillery commander,


799
00:54:56,766 --> 00:55:01,733

who had underestimated
his enemy, committed suicide.


800
00:55:01,833 --> 00:55:04,833

NEWSREEL NARRATOR:
The airlift to Dien Bien Phu
continues--


801
00:55:04,932 --> 00:55:07,365

vital men and supplies
for the heroic garrison


802
00:55:07,465 --> 00:55:09,032

that has defied the massed
Viet Minh onslaughts


803
00:55:09,132 --> 00:55:10,199

for over six weeks.


804
00:55:10,300 --> 00:55:13,300

Today, Dien Bien Phu
is a human dam


805
00:55:13,400 --> 00:55:15,300

trying to stem the red tide


806
00:55:15,400 --> 00:55:17,500

that threatens to engulf
Southeast Asia.


807
00:55:19,166 --> 00:55:21,900

NARRATOR:
The French government begged
President Eisenhower


808
00:55:22,000 --> 00:55:23,500

to intervene.


809
00:55:23,599 --> 00:55:26,900

He refused to act without
Congressional approval


810
00:55:27,000 --> 00:55:29,865

and support from
European allies.


811
00:55:29,965 --> 00:55:32,000

Britain said no


812
00:55:32,099 --> 00:55:35,865

and the Congress would not
support unilateral action.


813
00:55:35,965 --> 00:55:37,233

JOHN F. KENNEDY:
The communists


814
00:55:37,333 --> 00:55:39,900

under Ho Chi Minh are able
to claim that they are fighting


815
00:55:40,000 --> 00:55:42,532

for independence and the French
appear to be fighting


816
00:55:42,632 --> 00:55:44,900

for a maintain...
maintenance of colonial rule.


817
00:55:45,000 --> 00:55:46,333

I therefore believe


818
00:55:46,432 --> 00:55:49,632

that before the United States
moves in, in any degree,


819
00:55:49,733 --> 00:55:52,266

that independence must be
granted to the people,


820
00:55:52,365 --> 00:55:54,032

that the people must support
the struggle.


821
00:55:55,833 --> 00:55:59,766

NARRATOR:
"I am convinced," Eisenhower
confided to his diary,


822
00:55:59,865 --> 00:56:04,699

"that no military victory is
possible in this theater."


823
00:56:04,800 --> 00:56:07,432

Still, without
consulting Congress,


824
00:56:07,532 --> 00:56:11,365

the president had secretly sent
more American transport planes,


825
00:56:11,465 --> 00:56:17,132

their markings painted over and
flown by civilian contractors,


826
00:56:17,233 --> 00:56:21,800

to help resupply the desperate
French troops at Dien Bien Phu.


827
00:56:25,565 --> 00:56:27,733

GELB:
Everyone understood
that in and of itself,


828
00:56:27,833 --> 00:56:31,365

Vietnam didn't mean very much.


829
00:56:31,465 --> 00:56:35,599

But they believed, I believed,
if we lost it,


830
00:56:35,699 --> 00:56:38,532

that the rest of Asia
would tumble to communism.


831
00:56:38,632 --> 00:56:43,432

EISENHOWER:
You have broader considerations
that might follow


832
00:56:43,532 --> 00:56:48,300

what you would call the
falling domino principle.


833
00:56:48,400 --> 00:56:50,932

You have a row of dominoes
set up,


834
00:56:51,032 --> 00:56:52,800

and you knock over
the first one,


835
00:56:52,900 --> 00:56:56,766

and what will happen to the
last one is the certainty


836
00:56:56,865 --> 00:56:59,766

that it will go over
very quickly.


837
00:57:01,632 --> 00:57:03,699

(explosion)


838
00:57:07,733 --> 00:57:10,666

(muted gunfire)


839
00:57:20,965 --> 00:57:27,000

NARRATOR:
On the afternoon of May 7, 1954,
after 55 days of siege,


840
00:57:27,099 --> 00:57:32,233

the exhausted French forces
at Dien Bien Phu surrendered.


841
00:57:34,833 --> 00:57:39,565

They had lost 8,000 men,
killed, wounded, or missing.


842
00:57:42,432 --> 00:57:46,800

General Giap had lost
three times as many,


843
00:57:46,900 --> 00:57:50,032

but he had won a great victory.


844
00:57:51,065 --> 00:57:54,900

NGUYEN THOI BUNG:


845
00:58:07,166 --> 00:58:12,032

NARRATOR:
Even Duong Van Mai's parents
could not help but be impressed.


846
00:58:12,132 --> 00:58:14,166

DUONG VAN MAI:
They were very proud


847
00:58:14,266 --> 00:58:16,900

that the Viet Minh had defeated
the French,


848
00:58:17,000 --> 00:58:18,900

this great Western power.


849
00:58:19,000 --> 00:58:22,833

Admiration and respect
on the one hand,


850
00:58:22,932 --> 00:58:25,166

but fear on the other hand.


851
00:58:25,266 --> 00:58:27,965

And fear was the
stronger emotion.


852
00:58:29,666 --> 00:58:32,333

NARRATOR:
"We have been caught
bluffing by our enemies,"


853
00:58:32,432 --> 00:58:36,132

Senate Minority Leader
Lyndon Johnson said.


854
00:58:36,233 --> 00:58:41,233

"Today it is Indochina,
tomorrow Asia may be in flames.


855
00:58:41,333 --> 00:58:47,432

And the day after, the Western
Alliance will lie in ruins."


856
00:58:47,532 --> 00:58:50,500

DONALD GREGG:
We should have seen it as
the end of the colonial era


857
00:58:50,599 --> 00:58:53,699

in Southeast Asia,
which it really was.


858
00:58:53,800 --> 00:58:56,166

But instead we saw it
in Cold War terms,


859
00:58:56,266 --> 00:59:00,932

and we saw it as a defeat
for the free world


860
00:59:01,032 --> 00:59:02,800

that was related to the rise
of China.


861
00:59:02,900 --> 00:59:07,900

And it was a total misreading
of a pivotal event,


862
00:59:08,000 --> 00:59:10,599

which cost us very dearly.


863
00:59:10,699 --> 00:59:12,699

(chanting)


864
00:59:12,800 --> 00:59:16,532

(newsreel music playing)


865
00:59:16,632 --> 00:59:18,599

JACK TOBIN:
The former home of
the League of Nations,


866
00:59:18,699 --> 00:59:20,865

Geneva, Switzerland,
where East is meeting West


867
00:59:20,965 --> 00:59:22,266

in the international conference


868
00:59:22,365 --> 00:59:26,833

that may decisively affect
the political future of Asia.


869
00:59:26,932 --> 00:59:30,199

NARRATOR:
The day after the fall
of Dien Bien Phu,


870
00:59:30,300 --> 00:59:33,965

diplomats from nine nations
gathered in Geneva


871
00:59:34,065 --> 00:59:36,833

to settle the future of Vietnam.


872
00:59:36,932 --> 00:59:40,965

The talks dragged on for nearly
two-and-a-half months.


873
00:59:44,000 --> 00:59:45,766

Despite their victory,


874
00:59:45,865 --> 00:59:49,532

Ho Chi Minh and General Giap
could not keep fighting


875
00:59:49,632 --> 00:59:54,766

without more support from China
and the Soviet Union.


876
00:59:54,865 --> 00:59:58,266

But China had lost a million men
in Korea


877
00:59:58,365 --> 01:00:01,333

and did not want to become
involved in another war


878
01:00:01,432 --> 01:00:03,000

along its border.


879
01:00:03,099 --> 01:00:08,833

The Soviet Union was hoping
to ease tensions with the West.


880
01:00:08,932 --> 01:00:13,800

Both of Ho Chi Minh's communist
patrons urged him to agree


881
01:00:13,900 --> 01:00:15,766

to a negotiated settlement,


882
01:00:15,865 --> 01:00:20,166

a partition like the one
that had ended the Korean War.


883
01:00:20,266 --> 01:00:23,599

Ho had no option but to give in.


884
01:00:27,532 --> 01:00:30,300

In the end,
no one was satisfied.


885
01:00:32,333 --> 01:00:37,300

Vietnam was temporarily to be
divided at the 17th parallel.


886
01:00:37,400 --> 01:00:41,833

The 130,000 French-led troops
stationed in the North


887
01:00:41,932 --> 01:00:44,000

were to withdraw to the South,


888
01:00:44,099 --> 01:00:48,000

and somewhere between
50,000 and 90,000 Viet Minh


889
01:00:48,099 --> 01:00:50,766

were to "re-group" to the North.


890
01:00:50,865 --> 01:00:52,632

The two halves
would be separated


891
01:00:52,733 --> 01:00:57,032

by a demilitarized zone
until an election could be held


892
01:00:57,132 --> 01:01:00,333

to reunify
North and South Vietnam,


893
01:01:00,432 --> 01:01:05,565

an election everyone knew
Ho Chi Minh would win.


894
01:01:08,032 --> 01:01:12,500

NGUYEN VAN TONG:


895
01:01:21,032 --> 01:01:22,400

(cheering)


896
01:01:22,500 --> 01:01:25,032

NGUYEN THOI BUNG:


897
01:01:40,565 --> 01:01:42,099

KARL MARLANTES:
We had started walking up


898
01:01:42,199 --> 01:01:44,065

and we had probably gotten about
a third of the way up the hill


899
01:01:44,166 --> 01:01:45,666

and then they unleashed on us.


900
01:01:45,766 --> 01:01:48,432

(explosion, gunfire)


901
01:01:48,532 --> 01:01:50,666

We were in the middle of this
horrible shit sandwich.


902
01:01:50,766 --> 01:01:52,766

That's what we called it.


903
01:01:54,500 --> 01:01:57,766

(explosion, gunfire)


904
01:01:57,865 --> 01:02:01,733

One of the things that I learned
in the war is that


905
01:02:01,833 --> 01:02:05,432

we're not the top species on
the planet because we're nice.


906
01:02:08,300 --> 01:02:11,432

People talk a lot about how well
the military turns, you know,


907
01:02:11,532 --> 01:02:14,233

kids into, you know,
killing machines and stuff.


908
01:02:14,333 --> 01:02:16,833

And I'll always argue that
it's just finishing school.


909
01:02:16,932 --> 01:02:18,699

(gunfire)


910
01:02:18,800 --> 01:02:22,932

(shouting)


911
01:02:25,500 --> 01:02:29,166

NEWSREEL NARRATOR:
Braving the dangers of the open
sea in tiny, rickety craft,


912
01:02:29,266 --> 01:02:31,666

thousands of Roman Catholic
and Buddhist faith


913
01:02:31,766 --> 01:02:34,032

have found life impossible
under the communists.


914
01:02:34,132 --> 01:02:37,599

For them, it's freedom
or nothing.


915
01:02:40,766 --> 01:02:42,733

NARRATOR:
Under the Geneva Accords,


916
01:02:42,833 --> 01:02:45,666

civilians living in either
half of Vietnam


917
01:02:45,766 --> 01:02:48,000

who wanted to relocate
to the other


918
01:02:48,099 --> 01:02:51,099

would have 300 days to do so.


919
01:02:51,199 --> 01:02:55,099

DUONG VAN MAI:
My mother and father
wanted to stay


920
01:02:55,199 --> 01:02:57,199

and meet my sister Thang again


921
01:02:57,300 --> 01:02:59,632

because they knew
Thang would come back.


922
01:02:59,733 --> 01:03:01,965

But on the other hand
they couldn't risk that.


923
01:03:02,065 --> 01:03:06,932

They were convinced that when
Ho Chi Minh and his government


924
01:03:07,032 --> 01:03:09,166

arrived in Hanoi,


925
01:03:09,266 --> 01:03:12,800

my father would be the first one
to be killed


926
01:03:12,900 --> 01:03:14,766

and all of us would be
persecuted.


927
01:03:17,500 --> 01:03:19,532

And I remember the day we left.


928
01:03:19,632 --> 01:03:22,900

I looked around and I thought,
"I never come back here again."


929
01:03:25,266 --> 01:03:27,166

It was extremely traumatic.


930
01:03:27,266 --> 01:03:31,865

It was like the ground was
suddenly cut from under you.


931
01:03:31,965 --> 01:03:37,432

NARRATOR:
In the end,
some 900,000 refugees,


932
01:03:37,532 --> 01:03:39,766

including more than half
of all the Catholics


933
01:03:39,865 --> 01:03:41,132

living in the North,


934
01:03:41,233 --> 01:03:46,400

fled to the South, many of them
aboard American ships.


935
01:03:50,766 --> 01:03:54,333

The United States hoped somehow
to encourage the building


936
01:03:54,432 --> 01:03:56,666

of a legitimate government
in the South.


937
01:03:58,800 --> 01:04:03,500

That government was now headed
by Ngo Dinh Diem.


938
01:04:03,599 --> 01:04:06,266

Both a Roman Catholic
and a Confucian


939
01:04:06,365 --> 01:04:08,465

in a largely Buddhist country,


940
01:04:08,565 --> 01:04:13,465

he was a celibate bachelor who
had once planned to be a priest.


941
01:04:13,565 --> 01:04:19,666

GELB:
The war for us really started
when we became the partner,


942
01:04:19,766 --> 01:04:24,800

or I would say the victim,
of President Diem.


943
01:04:24,900 --> 01:04:29,833

We were going to help him turn
South Vietnam into a democracy.


944
01:04:29,932 --> 01:04:31,432

That's what he said
he wanted to do.


945
01:04:31,532 --> 01:04:32,500

And we believed him.


946
01:04:32,599 --> 01:04:34,932

NARRATOR:
Like Ho Chi Minh,


947
01:04:35,032 --> 01:04:38,599

Diem had spent years abroad
seeking support


948
01:04:38,699 --> 01:04:42,365

for his own brand
of Vietnamese nationalism.


949
01:04:42,465 --> 01:04:45,865

He was a veteran politician
whose loathing for the French


950
01:04:45,965 --> 01:04:49,733

was matched only by his hatred
for the communists,


951
01:04:49,833 --> 01:04:53,500

who had imprisoned him and
buried alive his eldest brother


952
01:04:53,599 --> 01:04:55,965

and his nephew.


953
01:04:56,065 --> 01:04:59,400

Diem was aloof, autocratic,


954
01:04:59,500 --> 01:05:02,766

mistrustful of anyone much
beyond his own family.


955
01:05:02,865 --> 01:05:06,766

He also proved to be shrewd,
resourceful,


956
01:05:06,865 --> 01:05:10,900

and skilled at exploiting
the weaknesses of his opponents.


957
01:05:11,000 --> 01:05:16,932

But he faced a daunting task
in creating a new country.


958
01:05:17,032 --> 01:05:20,032

The French, who still had
thousands of troops


959
01:05:20,132 --> 01:05:23,599

stationed in the South,
detested Diem.


960
01:05:23,699 --> 01:05:27,465

Several provinces were under
the sway of religious sects


961
01:05:27,565 --> 01:05:29,932

with armies of their own.


962
01:05:30,032 --> 01:05:34,132

Tens of thousands of Viet Minh
soldiers had gone north,


963
01:05:34,233 --> 01:05:36,333

but several thousand cadre--


964
01:05:36,432 --> 01:05:39,766

trained and dedicated Communist
Party workers--


965
01:05:39,865 --> 01:05:45,800

had stayed behind to organize
resistance in the countryside.


966
01:05:45,900 --> 01:05:49,965

And Saigon itself was ruled
by the Binh Xuyen,


967
01:05:50,065 --> 01:05:53,465

a crime syndicate
backed by the French.


968
01:05:53,565 --> 01:05:55,766

RUFUS PHILLIPS:
And the French were behind
the Binh Xuyen,


969
01:05:55,865 --> 01:05:57,266

sort of supporting them


970
01:05:57,365 --> 01:06:00,432

because they didn't want
Diem to succeed.


971
01:06:00,532 --> 01:06:02,465

And that became
the central contest.


972
01:06:04,500 --> 01:06:08,365

NARRATOR:
Some in the CIA believed that
Diem could be the savior


973
01:06:08,465 --> 01:06:10,465

of South Vietnam.


974
01:06:10,565 --> 01:06:12,500

Others were not so sure.


975
01:06:12,599 --> 01:06:14,733

"He is a messiah
without a message,"


976
01:06:14,833 --> 01:06:17,766

one diplomat reported
to Washington.


977
01:06:17,865 --> 01:06:21,333

The U.S. ambassador agreed.


978
01:06:21,432 --> 01:06:24,733

On April 27, 1955,


979
01:06:24,833 --> 01:06:28,900

President Eisenhower decided
to end American support


980
01:06:29,000 --> 01:06:31,565

for Diem's regime.


981
01:06:31,666 --> 01:06:32,632

(gunfire)


982
01:06:32,733 --> 01:06:35,932

But then Diem made
an all-out assault


983
01:06:36,032 --> 01:06:38,333

on the Binh Xuyen syndicate.


984
01:06:38,432 --> 01:06:40,632

(sirens blaring, gunfire)


985
01:06:40,733 --> 01:06:42,532

DUONG VAN MAI:
Suddenly in the middle
of the day


986
01:06:42,632 --> 01:06:47,132

we heard gunfire
and then we saw flames


987
01:06:47,233 --> 01:06:49,565

and the neighborhood
was burning.


988
01:06:49,666 --> 01:06:52,465

MICHAEL FITZMAURICE:
There are hundreds of dead
and wounded on both sides


989
01:06:52,565 --> 01:06:55,465

as the street fighting continues
for an entire week.


990
01:06:55,565 --> 01:06:57,532

For the United States,
the situation presents


991
01:06:57,632 --> 01:06:58,800

a grave problem.


992
01:07:00,733 --> 01:07:03,699

Diem finally regains control
of Saigon.


993
01:07:05,432 --> 01:07:09,699

NARRATOR:
In the end,
Diem's forces prevailed.


994
01:07:09,800 --> 01:07:15,666

Eisenhower now saw no option
but to stick with Diem.


995
01:07:15,766 --> 01:07:21,132

The French then announced their
intention to withdraw completely


996
01:07:21,233 --> 01:07:27,365

from South Vietnam, ending
nearly a century of occupation.


997
01:07:27,465 --> 01:07:32,432

PHILLIPS:
Diem became wildly popular
because he seemed to embody


998
01:07:32,532 --> 01:07:35,032

the nationalist cause
in the South.


999
01:07:35,132 --> 01:07:37,032

He succeeded in getting
the French


1000
01:07:37,132 --> 01:07:39,065

out of Vietnam all the way.


1001
01:07:39,166 --> 01:07:42,632

And Ho Chi Minh had only got
them out of the northern half.


1002
01:07:42,733 --> 01:07:48,532

NARRATOR:
Flush with victory, Diem called
for a referendum in the South.


1003
01:07:48,632 --> 01:07:54,032

The CIA warned him not to meddle
too much with the returns.


1004
01:07:55,233 --> 01:07:57,032

But when the ballots
were counted,


1005
01:07:57,132 --> 01:08:02,900

Diem claimed to have won
98.2% of the vote.


1006
01:08:04,800 --> 01:08:10,333

On October 26, 1955,
Ngo Dinh Diem named himself


1007
01:08:10,432 --> 01:08:16,065

the first president of the
brand-new Republic of Vietnam.


1008
01:08:16,166 --> 01:08:19,966

The election to reunify
the North and South


1009
01:08:20,065 --> 01:08:23,632

that had been promised at Geneva
would never be held.


1010
01:08:23,733 --> 01:08:29,765

GELB:
He became our ally,
or rather our master,


1011
01:08:29,865 --> 01:08:32,365

because the goal of preventing


1012
01:08:32,466 --> 01:08:34,565

the communists from taking
over the South


1013
01:08:34,666 --> 01:08:41,199

was so strong that we couldn't
afford for him to lose.


1014
01:08:41,300 --> 01:08:44,033

So Diem started
to boss us around.


1015
01:08:44,132 --> 01:08:46,132

And this was a typical
relationship.


1016
01:08:46,233 --> 01:08:48,600

You need any ally you believe


1017
01:08:48,699 --> 01:08:51,632

to be the centerpiece
of your foreign policy.


1018
01:08:51,733 --> 01:08:53,233

They understand
that right away.


1019
01:08:53,332 --> 01:08:56,000

And the tail wags the dog.


1020
01:09:00,466 --> 01:09:02,733

ED HERLIHY:
From the Far East comes
a distinguished visitor.


1021
01:09:02,832 --> 01:09:05,500

President Ngo Dinh Diem
of Vietnam is accorded


1022
01:09:05,600 --> 01:09:08,533

one of President Eisenhower's
rare airport greetings,


1023
01:09:08,632 --> 01:09:11,033

as he arrives for a four-day
state visit.


1024
01:09:11,132 --> 01:09:13,565

President Diem, one of America's
staunchest allies


1025
01:09:13,666 --> 01:09:14,865

in Southeast Asia,


1026
01:09:14,966 --> 01:09:17,600

will seek an increase in aid
to shore up his country


1027
01:09:17,699 --> 01:09:19,500

against increasing
communist pressure,


1028
01:09:19,600 --> 01:09:25,065

a request to which the president
lends a sympathetic ear.


1029
01:09:25,166 --> 01:09:29,100

NARRATOR:
Most politicians, Democrats
as well as Republicans,


1030
01:09:29,199 --> 01:09:31,100

now seemed to share
the changing views


1031
01:09:31,199 --> 01:09:33,033

of Senator John F. Kennedy.


1032
01:09:33,132 --> 01:09:36,699

South Vietnam is
"our offspring," he said.


1033
01:09:36,800 --> 01:09:38,399

"We cannot abandon it."


1034
01:09:38,500 --> 01:09:42,765

If it fell, the United States
would be "held responsible


1035
01:09:42,865 --> 01:09:47,166

and our prestige in Asia
will sink to a new low."


1036
01:09:47,265 --> 01:09:52,600

There had never before been
a South Vietnamese nation,


1037
01:09:52,699 --> 01:09:55,932

but Americans, who had rebuilt
much of their own country


1038
01:09:56,033 --> 01:09:59,632

during the New Deal and had
helped rebuild Western Europe


1039
01:09:59,733 --> 01:10:00,966

through the Marshall Plan,


1040
01:10:01,065 --> 01:10:05,733

were convinced they
could build one nonetheless.


1041
01:10:05,832 --> 01:10:07,800

(blows whistle)


1042
01:10:07,899 --> 01:10:11,800

Eisenhower ordered scores
of American civilians


1043
01:10:11,899 --> 01:10:15,600

to South Vietnam, full of
plans for economic development


1044
01:10:15,699 --> 01:10:19,432

meant to win, he hoped,
the hearts and minds


1045
01:10:19,533 --> 01:10:21,233

of the Vietnamese people.


1046
01:10:24,199 --> 01:10:27,300

But those civilians would always
be outnumbered


1047
01:10:27,399 --> 01:10:28,899

by military advisors,


1048
01:10:29,000 --> 01:10:33,399

with orders to modernize, train,
and equip Diem's forces,


1049
01:10:33,500 --> 01:10:39,265

now called the Army of the
Republic of Vietnam-- the ARVN.


1050
01:10:39,365 --> 01:10:44,800

Some ARVN officers found
American methods unsuited


1051
01:10:44,899 --> 01:10:47,533

to the guerrilla war they
expected to wage


1052
01:10:47,632 --> 01:10:49,765

against the communists.


1053
01:10:49,865 --> 01:10:52,533

Most American military advisors
were veterans


1054
01:10:52,632 --> 01:10:53,932

of the war in Korea,


1055
01:10:54,033 --> 01:10:57,699

determined to prepare
South Vietnamese forces


1056
01:10:57,800 --> 01:11:03,233

to slow a conventional invasion
from the North.


1057
01:11:03,332 --> 01:11:06,932

But no one in North Vietnam


1058
01:11:07,033 --> 01:11:10,565

was planning
a conventional invasion.


1059
01:11:10,666 --> 01:11:14,565

Ho Chi Minh was focused
on rebuilding his country,


1060
01:11:14,666 --> 01:11:18,533

devastated by more
than a decade of war.


1061
01:11:21,065 --> 01:11:24,600

The communists imposed
brutal land reforms


1062
01:11:24,699 --> 01:11:26,865

modeled on those underway
in China


1063
01:11:26,966 --> 01:11:31,632

with a ruthlessness that left
thousands of people dead,


1064
01:11:31,733 --> 01:11:35,100

including not only landlords
who had sided with the French,


1065
01:11:35,199 --> 01:11:39,466

but also many villagers who had
fought with the Viet Minh.


1066
01:11:42,132 --> 01:11:45,865

Ho Chi Minh was still determined
to reunite Vietnam.


1067
01:11:45,966 --> 01:11:48,565

But he worried that if he took
direct military action


1068
01:11:48,666 --> 01:11:50,166

against the South,


1069
01:11:50,265 --> 01:11:54,332

the United States would be drawn
more deeply into the struggle.


1070
01:11:54,432 --> 01:11:57,865

He cautioned his comrades
in the South to put their faith


1071
01:11:57,966 --> 01:12:01,733

in political agitation
and avoid violence.


1072
01:12:04,166 --> 01:12:06,132

But that message rang hollow


1073
01:12:06,233 --> 01:12:09,000

among embattled Southern
revolutionaries


1074
01:12:09,100 --> 01:12:10,800

struggling to survive


1075
01:12:10,899 --> 01:12:15,800

under Diem's increasingly
harsh regime.


1076
01:12:15,899 --> 01:12:20,432

In a campaign he called
"Denounce the Communists,"


1077
01:12:20,533 --> 01:12:23,832

Diem had imprisoned tens of
thousands of citizens


1078
01:12:23,932 --> 01:12:30,065

without trial and ordered
the executions of hundreds more.


1079
01:12:30,166 --> 01:12:34,065

Now, the communists took matters
into their own hands


1080
01:12:34,166 --> 01:12:37,832

and began attacking
South Vietnamese officials.


1081
01:12:39,265 --> 01:12:44,199

LE QUAN CONG:


1082
01:13:17,533 --> 01:13:21,600

NARRATOR:
As violence in South Vietnam
intensified,


1083
01:13:21,699 --> 01:13:24,332

new leaders emerged in Hanoi.


1084
01:13:24,432 --> 01:13:27,800

Ho Chi Minh would remain
the face of the revolution


1085
01:13:27,899 --> 01:13:31,765

around the world,
but he now began to share power


1086
01:13:31,865 --> 01:13:35,033

with men who were growing
impatient with his caution,


1087
01:13:35,132 --> 01:13:39,666

men about whom Americans
knew almost nothing.


1088
01:13:41,800 --> 01:13:44,733

The most important proved to be
a carpenter's son


1089
01:13:44,832 --> 01:13:50,932

from Quang Tri province
in the South named Le Duan.


1090
01:13:51,033 --> 01:13:54,500

He had helped found the
Indochinese Communist Party,


1091
01:13:54,600 --> 01:13:58,065

survived nearly ten years
in a French prison,


1092
01:13:58,166 --> 01:14:01,265

and proved himself a shrewd
political infighter


1093
01:14:01,365 --> 01:14:04,800

as he rose to become
First Secretary of the party.


1094
01:14:06,699 --> 01:14:10,699

NGUYEN NGOC:


1095
01:14:39,565 --> 01:14:43,632

NARRATOR:
By 1959, Le Duan
and his hardline allies


1096
01:14:43,733 --> 01:14:47,666

were gaining influence within
the North Vietnamese Politburo


1097
01:14:47,765 --> 01:14:50,365

and beginning to
change its policy.


1098
01:14:50,466 --> 01:14:54,233

They now argued that Hanoi
should do everything


1099
01:14:54,332 --> 01:14:57,432

within its power to help
Southern revolutionaries


1100
01:14:57,533 --> 01:14:59,832

remove Diem by force.


1101
01:15:01,932 --> 01:15:06,166

BUI DIEM (speaking English):


1102
01:15:21,466 --> 01:15:25,000

NARRATOR:
Now, bands of 40 to 50
armed Viet Minh


1103
01:15:25,100 --> 01:15:28,399

began slipping back home
into South Vietnam,


1104
01:15:28,500 --> 01:15:32,265

following jungle paths hacked
through the Laotian mountains


1105
01:15:32,365 --> 01:15:36,865

that the Americans would soon
call the Ho Chi Minh Trail.


1106
01:15:42,865 --> 01:15:46,065

Violence against the Diem regime
steadily accelerated.


1107
01:15:46,166 --> 01:15:47,800

(gunfire)


1108
01:15:47,899 --> 01:15:49,865

(siren blaring)


1109
01:15:56,000 --> 01:16:01,132

On the evening of July 8, 1959,
at Bien Hoa,


1110
01:16:01,233 --> 01:16:03,065

20 miles northeast of Saigon,


1111
01:16:03,166 --> 01:16:07,300

six American military advisors
were watching a movie


1112
01:16:07,399 --> 01:16:08,932

in their mess hall.


1113
01:16:10,632 --> 01:16:12,666

Viet Minh guerrillas,
who had crept silently


1114
01:16:12,765 --> 01:16:16,332

into the compound,
opened fire through the windows.


1115
01:16:16,432 --> 01:16:19,033

(rapid gunfire)


1116
01:16:22,000 --> 01:16:24,899

Major Dale Buis
from Pender, Nebraska,


1117
01:16:25,000 --> 01:16:27,100

and Master Sergeant
Chester Ovnand


1118
01:16:27,199 --> 01:16:30,600

from Copperas Cove, Texas,
were killed.


1119
01:16:32,800 --> 01:16:37,100

They were the first American
soldiers to die from enemy fire


1120
01:16:37,199 --> 01:16:39,100

in the Vietnam War.


1121
01:16:40,632 --> 01:16:43,199

JOHN KENNEDY:
We must prove all over again,


1122
01:16:43,300 --> 01:16:49,033

to a watching world, as we sit
on a most conspicuous stage,


1123
01:16:49,132 --> 01:16:50,733

whether this nation,


1124
01:16:50,832 --> 01:16:54,932

conceived as it is
with its freedom of choice,


1125
01:16:55,033 --> 01:16:59,600

its breadth of opportunity,
its range of alternatives,


1126
01:16:59,699 --> 01:17:02,065

can compete with the
single-minded advance


1127
01:17:02,166 --> 01:17:03,832

of the communist system.


1128
01:17:03,932 --> 01:17:09,565

NARRATOR:
On November 8, 1960, John
Fitzgerald Kennedy was elected


1129
01:17:09,666 --> 01:17:12,300

president of the United States.


1130
01:17:12,399 --> 01:17:16,132

His vice president
was Senator Lyndon Johnson.


1131
01:17:16,233 --> 01:17:20,199

They had narrowly beaten
Vice President Richard Nixon


1132
01:17:20,300 --> 01:17:23,533

and his running mate,
Senator Henry Cabot Lodge.


1133
01:17:25,000 --> 01:17:27,932

During the campaign,
both Kennedy and Nixon


1134
01:17:28,033 --> 01:17:32,466

had pledged to hold the line
against international communism


1135
01:17:32,565 --> 01:17:35,166

wherever it seemed to be
a threat.


1136
01:17:35,265 --> 01:17:39,166

But very few Americans knew
or cared about


1137
01:17:39,265 --> 01:17:41,600

what was going on in Vietnam.


1138
01:17:43,365 --> 01:17:45,565

Six weeks after
Kennedy's election,


1139
01:17:45,666 --> 01:17:48,632

at a remote jungle village
called Tan Lap


1140
01:17:48,733 --> 01:17:50,565

near the Cambodian border,


1141
01:17:50,666 --> 01:17:54,500

representatives of southern
revolutionary groups


1142
01:17:54,600 --> 01:17:58,699

met to form a new organization
to replace the Viet Minh,


1143
01:17:58,800 --> 01:18:01,666

dedicated to overthrowing
Ngo Dinh Diem


1144
01:18:01,765 --> 01:18:05,666

and ousting the
foreigners supporting him.


1145
01:18:05,765 --> 01:18:11,265

Behind the scenes, Le Duan and
his communist comrades in Hanoi


1146
01:18:11,365 --> 01:18:15,365

were orchestrating everything.


1147
01:18:15,466 --> 01:18:17,166

The new organization
would be called


1148
01:18:17,265 --> 01:18:21,500

the National Liberation Front--
the NLF.


1149
01:18:23,100 --> 01:18:26,166

The armed wing
of the NLF was called


1150
01:18:26,265 --> 01:18:28,932

the People's Liberation
Armed Forces,


1151
01:18:29,033 --> 01:18:32,466

but its enemies in Saigon
and Washington preferred


1152
01:18:32,565 --> 01:18:34,600

a more disparaging term.


1153
01:18:34,699 --> 01:18:38,065

In their eyes,
the revolutionaries were


1154
01:18:38,166 --> 01:18:41,565

Communist Traitors
to the Vietnamese Nation--


1155
01:18:41,666 --> 01:18:43,166

the Viet Cong.


1156
01:18:49,132 --> 01:18:53,899

(muted shouting)


1157
01:18:56,332 --> 01:19:01,065

HUY DUC:


1158
01:19:33,300 --> 01:19:35,699

JOHN KENNEDY:
Let every nation know,


1159
01:19:35,800 --> 01:19:41,399

whether it wishes us well
or ill,


1160
01:19:41,500 --> 01:19:47,533

that we shall pay any price,
bear any burden,


1161
01:19:47,632 --> 01:19:52,500

meet any hardship,
support any friend,


1162
01:19:52,600 --> 01:19:57,600

oppose any foe,
to assure the survival


1163
01:19:57,699 --> 01:19:59,065

and the success of liberty.


1164
01:20:11,432 --> 01:20:13,899

TIM O'BRIEN:
For me, I'd always
thought of courage


1165
01:20:14,000 --> 01:20:18,500

as charging enemy bunkers
or standing up under fire.


1166
01:20:18,600 --> 01:20:24,533

But just to walk, day after day
from village to village


1167
01:20:24,632 --> 01:20:29,166

and through the paddies
and up into the mountains,


1168
01:20:29,265 --> 01:20:33,432

just to get up in the morning
and look out at the land


1169
01:20:33,533 --> 01:20:37,132

and think, "In a few minutes
I'll be walking out there


1170
01:20:37,233 --> 01:20:40,365

"and will my corpse be there,
over there?


1171
01:20:40,466 --> 01:20:41,899

Will I lose a leg out there?"


1172
01:20:43,699 --> 01:20:47,466

Just to walk felt
incredibly brave.


1173
01:20:47,565 --> 01:20:50,332

I would sometimes look
at my legs as I walked,


1174
01:20:50,432 --> 01:20:52,832

thinking, how am I doing this?


1175
01:20:56,865 --> 01:21:03,000

("A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall"
by Bob Dylan playing)


1176
01:21:03,100 --> 01:21:06,832

♪ Oh, where have you been,
my blue-eyed son? ♪


1177
01:21:09,332 --> 01:21:13,533

♪ And where have you been,
my darling young one? ♪


1178
01:21:16,332 --> 01:21:20,100

♪ I've stumbled on the side
of 12 misty mountains ♪


1179
01:21:23,132 --> 01:21:27,265

♪ I've walked and I've crawled
on six crooked highways ♪


1180
01:21:29,699 --> 01:21:33,733

♪ I've stepped in the middle
of seven sad forests ♪


1181
01:21:36,132 --> 01:21:40,600

♪ I've been out in front
of a dozen dead oceans ♪


1182
01:21:42,699 --> 01:21:47,233

♪ I've been ten thousand miles
in the mouth of a graveyard ♪


1183
01:21:49,432 --> 01:21:52,666

♪ And it's a hard,
it's a hard ♪


1184
01:21:52,765 --> 01:21:56,800

♪ It's a hard,
it's a hard ♪


1185
01:21:56,899 --> 01:22:02,132

♪ It's a hard rain's
a-gonna fall ♪


1186
01:22:07,500 --> 01:22:11,632

♪ Oh, what did you see,
my blue-eyed son? ♪


1187
01:22:14,233 --> 01:22:18,000

♪ And what did you see,
my darling young one? ♪


1188
01:22:20,865 --> 01:22:25,300

♪ I saw a newborn baby
with wild wolves all around it ♪


1189
01:22:27,565 --> 01:22:31,300

♪ I saw a highway of diamonds
with nobody on it ♪


1190
01:22:34,265 --> 01:22:38,233

♪ I saw a black branch with
blood that kept drippin' ♪


1191
01:22:40,865 --> 01:22:44,865

♪ I saw a room full of men
with their hammers a-bleedin' ♪


1192
01:22:47,666 --> 01:22:51,265

♪ I saw a white ladder
all covered with water ♪


1193
01:22:54,199 --> 01:22:58,065

♪ I saw 10,000 talkers whose
tongues were all broken ♪


1194
01:23:00,932 --> 01:23:05,765

♪ I saw guns with sharp swords
in the hands of young children ♪


1195
01:23:05,865 --> 01:23:09,100

♪ And it's a hard,
it's a hard ♪


1196
01:23:09,199 --> 01:23:13,065

♪ It's a hard,
and it's a hard ♪


1197
01:23:13,166 --> 01:23:18,632

♪ It's a hard rain's
a-gonna fall ♪


1198
01:23:21,000 --> 01:23:24,432

♪ And it's a hard,
it's a hard ♪


1199
01:23:24,533 --> 01:23:28,000

♪ It's a hard,
and it's a hard ♪


1200
01:23:28,100 --> 01:23:33,265

♪ It's a hard rain's
a-gonna fall. ♪


1201
01:23:39,500 --> 01:23:45,466

Captioned by Media Access Group
at WGBH, access.wgbh.org


1202
01:23:46,533 --> 01:23:47,733

ANNOUNCER: LEARN MORE
ABOUT THE FILM


1203
01:23:47,733 --> 01:23:50,600

AND FIND ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
AT PBS.ORG/VIETNAMWAR


1204
01:23:50,600 --> 01:23:54,533

AND JOIN THE CONVERSATION
USING HASHTAG VIETNAMWARPBS.


1205
01:23:54,533 --> 01:23:56,000

"THE VIETNAM WAR" IS AVAILABLE


1206
01:23:56,000 --> 01:23:57,666

ON BLU-RAY
AND DVD.


1207
01:23:57,666 --> 01:23:59,332

THE COMPANION BOOK,
SOUNDTRACK,


1208
01:23:59,332 --> 01:24:00,800

AND ORIGINAL SCORE
FROM THE FILM


1209
01:24:00,800 --> 01:24:01,932

ARE ALSO
AVAILABLE.


1210
01:24:01,932 --> 01:24:04,033

TO ORDER, VISIT
SHOPPBS.ORG


1211
01:24:04,033 --> 01:24:06,500

OR CALL
1-800-PLAY-PBS.


1212
01:24:06,500 --> 01:24:07,932

EPISODES OF
THIS SERIES ALSO


1213
01:24:07,932 --> 01:24:09,033

AVAILABLE
FOR DOWNLOAD


1214
01:24:09,033 --> 01:24:10,132

FROM iTUNES.


1215
01:24:13,399 --> 01:24:15,533

ANNOUNCER: BANK OF AMERICA
PROUDLY SUPPORTS


1216
01:24:15,533 --> 01:24:20,432

KEN BURNS' AND LYNN NOVICK'S
FILM "THE VIETNAM WAR"


1217
01:24:20,432 --> 01:24:22,832

BECAUSE FOSTERING
DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES


1218
01:24:22,832 --> 01:24:25,432

AND CIVIL DISCOURSE
AROUND IMPORTANT ISSUES


1219
01:24:25,432 --> 01:24:27,733

FURTHERS PROGRESS, EQUALITY,


1220
01:24:27,733 --> 01:24:29,733

AND A MORE CONNECTED SOCIETY.


1221
01:24:34,199 --> 01:24:38,233

GO TO BANKOFAMERICA.COM/
BETTERCONNECTED TO LEARN MORE.


1222
01:24:41,699 --> 01:24:43,132

ANNOUNCER: MAJOR SUPPORT
FOR "THE VIETNAM WAR"


1223
01:24:43,132 --> 01:24:46,632

WAS PROVIDED BY MEMBERS
OF THE BETTER ANGELS SOCIETY,


1224
01:24:46,632 --> 01:24:50,600

INCLUDING JONATHAN
AND JEANNIE LAVINE,


1225
01:24:50,600 --> 01:24:53,500

DIANE AND HAL BRIERLEY,


1226
01:24:53,500 --> 01:24:55,899

AMY AND DAVID ABRAMS,


1227
01:24:55,899 --> 01:24:58,399

JOHN AND CATHERINE DEBS,


1228
01:24:58,399 --> 01:25:01,365

THE FULLERTON FAMILY
CHARITABLE FUND,


1229
01:25:01,365 --> 01:25:03,432

THE MONTRONE FAMILY,


1230
01:25:03,432 --> 01:25:05,765

LYNDA AND STEWART RESNICK,


1231
01:25:05,765 --> 01:25:08,533

THE PERRY AND DONNA GOLKIN
FAMILY FOUNDATION,


1232
01:25:08,533 --> 01:25:09,533

THE LYNCH FOUNDATION,


1233
01:25:09,533 --> 01:25:12,399

THE ROGER AND ROSEMARY
ENRICO FOUNDATION,


1234
01:25:12,399 --> 01:25:15,832

AND BY THESE ADDITIONAL FUNDERS.


1235
01:25:15,832 --> 01:25:17,733

MAJOR FUNDING WAS ALSO PROVIDED


1236
01:25:17,733 --> 01:25:19,466

BY DAVID H. KOCH...


1237
01:25:21,765 --> 01:25:23,966

THE BLAVATNIK
FAMILY FOUNDATION...


1238
01:25:26,300 --> 01:25:28,733

THE PARK FOUNDATION,


1239
01:25:28,733 --> 01:25:30,899

THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT
FOR THE HUMANITIES,


1240
01:25:30,899 --> 01:25:33,100

THE PEW CHARITABLE TRUSTS,


1241
01:25:33,100 --> 01:25:35,765

THE JOHN S. AND JAMES L.
KNIGHT FOUNDATION,


1242
01:25:35,765 --> 01:25:38,533

THE ANDREW W. MELLON FOUNDATION,


1243
01:25:38,533 --> 01:25:41,132

THE ARTHUR VINING DAVIS
FOUNDATIONS,


1244
01:25:41,132 --> 01:25:43,332

THE FORD FOUNDATION JUSTFILMS,


1245
01:25:43,332 --> 01:25:44,533

BY THE CORPORATION


1246
01:25:44,533 --> 01:25:45,765

FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING,


1247
01:25:45,765 --> 01:25:47,733

AND BY VIEWERS LIKE YOU.


1248
01:25:47,733 --> 01:25:48,865

THANK YOU.