Original subtitles

[Music]

Don't go.

They just want to talk with me and then I can go home.

I promise you Cam I will come home to you,

I promise you.

My Cam,

I dream

sometimes at night,

I dream that we are still fighting the war,

and that my friends are still alive.

I dream that the Americans haven't left and at my side

was my friend, my brother, Ripley

[Laughing]

What do you think about the great American General

Bob Hope?

What is the one thing you said that you would

never do while you're in Vietnam?

This is rat, isn't it?

[Laughing]

I just don't understand how our many victories on the

battlefield could end like this?

[Music]

Vietnam was a country of such great promise.

For many years, the western world would call it the pearl

of the orient for its beauty and for its people.

The Vietnamese were not the only ones who knew of the

treasures of their land, for a thousand years,

they fought the Chinese, then the Mongols came,

then the French and then the Japanese.

When the Second World War ended,

the people believed that their journey for freedom was

finally over, but no,

their greatest suffering was yet to come.

Ladies and gentleman, tonight I have the distinct pleasure

of introducing a true American hero,

Major John Ripley served two tours in Vietnam and earned

the Navy Cross, to you I present,

Major John Ripley.

Well, thank you for that kind introduction,

I appreciate it.

I'd like to start off by thanking you all for inviting

me here today to speak.

America is out of Vietnam, we lost a lot of men over there.

Is it worth supporting the Vietnamese in their fight

against communism?

Let me tell you, it is.

I want to tell you about my personal Vietnamese friend

that I fought with, Major Le Ba Binh.

This is the bravest man I ever fought with.

He's been fighting the communist for 12 years

straight and he's still fighting.

Are they worth it?

Let me tell you, they are worth it.

Wake up, hey, wake up.

Get up.

It's time to get up friend.

Let's go.

Come on, let's go,

let's go.

He got lucky, huh, Binh..

New prisoners arrived today, but they are not soldiers,

they are school teachers, old government workers,

musicians, priest, monks.

The communist tells us that we are being reeducated

but we all know it is a prison.

They told us all would be forgotten but it is not.

The communist promise there would be freedom for us one

day, but we are all losing hope that day will ever come.

The communist try very hard to act civilized but they are

far from it.

I do not see intelligence in the communist,

but I do see shrewdness in them.

They are not good at many things except in dividing us

against each other.

They know there's little trust between starving men.

Hey, one scoop only.

Yeah.

yeah, old man, one scoop only.

That is exactly what they want us to do,

fighting among each other.

You calm down, brother.

The NVA will be coming down right through here,

they're going to be looking to take the bridge at Dong Ha.

Let's put first Rifle Company on the east side of the bridge,

let's put second company on the west side of

the river.

What are your thoughts on where to put Third company?

Here were go again.

What?

I'm sorry Ripley, I was just saying "Here we go again."

We always have to wait for the communist to attack then

we can fight.

Let us invade the north and free our people.

Let us chase the communist leaders.

They will go back home to China,

to Russia, the war will be ended in a couple of weeks.

It's simple, just let us fight.

Major, I agree.

Every single American I ever fought with would agree,

Let us invade the north, I mean let's--and let's kill

every single last one of the communists,

let's get this war over with.

Instead they dump us into jungle where we could try and

make us fight an enemy we can't even see.

I don't even know what kind of war we're fighting.

It's the unwinnable war Ripley.

Even when we win, we lose.

Fighting a defensive war for the South Vietnamese was

incredibly demoralizing.

Because many of them wanted to take the war to the north

to free what they saw as their enslaved cousins who still

remain in the north.

For the Americans, fighting a defensive war kept them from

pursuing the enemy into their sanctuaries in Laos,

in North Vietnam and in Cambodia.

In World War II our fighting men had clear-cut goals,

it was on to Berlin, get Hitler,

on to Tokyo, get Tojo.

In Vietnam, we had no clear-cut goals,

it wasn't on to Hanoi to get Ho Chi Minh.

When a man arrived in Vietnam,

his main concern was survival, there was no definition of

victory, no clear-cut goals for ending the war in

a favorable way.

Another lucky one huh, Binh.

My father had such wonderful dreams for the future

of Vietnam.

But I know, his dreams were not this.

They say we are here for the crimes that we have committed,

but none of us know what these crimes are.

They say that we are all equal,

but that is the big communist lie.

Our fellow prisoners are taken away but we do not know

where they go.

They tell us that they are freed,

but we do not believe them.

I wish I could say it was a good morning,

but it isn't.

We caught two of your criminal brothers trying to

escape last night.

They were so ashamed by their cowardly act

that they killed themselves.

But I don't understand you, we have given you an

opportunity to redeem yourselves for your criminal

action against the people revolution.

We bring teachers here to teach you the proper communist

way to live, but it's your dishonorable behavior

that insults us.

We will discover which of you criminals knew about the

plan of escape.

Does anyone want to tell me about the escape last night?

Come on now, be my friend, think about it.

Be my friend, you can eat like the guards,

maybe go home early, that would be nice wouldn't it?

Imagine sitting at home with your families,

your wife cooking your favorite dinner,

can't you just smell that food?

I can smell it, it's good.

Close your eyes and imagine, your daughter is next to you,

what would you say to her?

Pretend I'm your daughter, what would you say?

Nothing?

Heard a lot of families are suffering in the South,

their fathers are gone, they have no food,

no place to stay.

Did you know that many of our communist brothers have shown

mercy on these families and married their mothers,

doesn't anybody want to go home early?

I think he means home of our ancestors.

Crazy one, I don't like you.

Criminal, you look strong today,

you look well-fed.

Tell me why that is.

Wait a minute, I know, you're stealing rice.

Confess criminal, confess.

Are you listening to me?

Listen to me criminal.

Look at me, I'm not going to tell you again criminal.

I know things have been difficult since mother died

but she's still here, inside your heart.

Live as though she's always with you,

live as she would want you to live,

with loyalty and honor to your family and to you country.

The Japanese are gone now, and the French too will be

gone soon.

You are lucky you're young, because one day you will live

in a free Vietnam where we are own masters.

Do you hear me criminal?

Get up criminal, get up.

We give you everything, everything.

We forgive you for your criminal activities,

we give you the privilege to work so you can repay the

party for your criminal acts.

Yet you still do not cooperate,

incredible, you still show no gratitude.

Think about this hero, of all of those that we had to

reeducate, the teachers, the doctors,

the priest, the monks, you are the lowest.

Go to work.

Ripley.

Yeah.

How are you doing?

Doing okay Major, I'm doing okay.

There are probably 20,000 communists over the river,

they will attack us soon.

There are 700 of us Ripley.

They have artilleries, we have none.

I know.

But if we can hold the bridge,

we can defend Dong Ha..

But for how long?

There are no more American troops,

no more reinforcements, nobody is coming.

I understand.

We have to stop them here Ripley.

If we can't stop them here, our dying means nothing.

Once they pass us, they go right into Saigon.

You know I know this, if there is something you want to tell me?

Then just tell me.

We need air support, we need it now.

You know we will hold the position until the very last

man, but we are tremendously outgunned,

outmanned.

When are the US bombers coming?

They're not coming.

We need to hold the bridge ourselves.

I understand, I will tell my men.

Captain Ripley, we will hold the bridge.

This is Major Binh, Third battalion.

It has rumoured that Dong Ha has fallen.

There are marines in Dong Ha.

My order is to hold Dong Ha.

We will fight in Dong Ha and we will die in Dong Ha.

As long as there's a marine drawing breath in Dong Ha,

Dong Ha will belong to us.

It's late March, March 30th 1972.

Up until this point, there had been a major lull in

the combat up in Northern South Vietnam.

Things have been relatively quiet in many areas,

life had almost returned to normal for the South Vietnamese

citizens there and all of a sudden,

things start to happen in a rather dramatic fashion and up

near the demilitarized zone and out east,

out of Laos, comes this major communist invasion that

materializes into tens of thousands,

maybe upwards of a hundred thousand North Vietnamese

troops, hundreds of tanks, regiments of artillery and

the very finest and most up-to-date Soviet

anti-aircraft artillery, all coming down.

Lieutenant Colonel Gerry Turley was the senior American

advisor in the area at that time.

They're coming at us with masses of regiments,

divisions, four divisions are coming at us and we're just

one division here.

They come in at 12 o'clock, the artillery begins,

and the for the next four days,

in the bunker that I was in, there was never a time when

one or two minutes that wasn't--the interruptions of

artillery coming in on us.

What's important to know-to appreciate is that the North,

it's forces on the north, also had their Russian advisors

with them.

We were aware of them and they were certainly aware that

we Americans were with the South Vietnamese

on the back side.

One of the-- one of the integral parts of the-- of the

North Vietnamese attack, that they begin to shell the cities,

the villages, Dong Ha, the other little villages there,

which were actually no military value whatsoever.

The bridge was important, the city wasn't.

But in attacking the cities, they drove the people out on

to the highways.

Thousands of people were pushed on to the roads and the

North Vietnamese guns had those roads zeroed in and they

will simply lob five or six rounds into the road.

They would just blow them apart and like water,

they would just come back in, the people who survived

and--the shelling of the people was probably the

hardest thing to take, whether it was kids or cows or

buffalos or old people in wagons,

there was no excuse for it.

[Music]

Look, our hero has some life in him.

[Music]

TOC, TOC, this is Co-van three, over.

TOC, I have tanks on the north side

of the Dong Ha bridge, I say again,

I have tanks on the north side of the Dong Ha bridge, over.

T-54s and PT-76s, over.

Roger, understand,

blow the bridge, out.

[Music]

I always wanted to blow up a bridge.

Guess I'm finally getting my wish.

Major, I'm going to need some explosives.

Ripley, you probably won't even make it across the field

to get to the bridge.

And if you do make it, every one of the snipers will be on you,

their tanks will be on you.

Ripley, it's a suicidal mission.

Ripley called me on the phone--radio and said,

I hear tanks, I see tanks.

The artillery is coming in, just the third day of the

battle, I'm getting tired and I said,

what kind?

And he came back and said T-54s,

PT-76s, those are Soviet-made tanks and their coming right

down the road.

There was a bridge at Dong Ha that the communist need to

capture intact.

It was the only way they could get their hundreds of

tanks and 20,000 troops across the Cua Viet River.

At Dong Ha, were 700 marines of Binh's Third Battalion and

John Ripley.

It was 700 marines against at least 20,000,

a classic David and Goliath experience shaping up.

The headquarters--my senior headquarters in Da Nang,

80 miles away, said "Do not blow the bridge."

I said, "But sir, I have to, I got to blow the bridge

otherwise they're going to be on top of us.

"Just getting to the bridge-- for Ripley and Binh,

it was only the beginning of an awesome task.

For Ripley, for three hours, he's under bridge.

There was a hundred reasons why he could have called me on

the radio and said, "I can't do this."

He didn't.

The process of Ripley in placing these explosives is he

has to take a box--12 boxes of explosives out and place them

in between these I-beams.

And each time he goes out, he's holding on to these

I-beams--these big steel I-beams--and he's praying his

way out, saying, "Jesus, Mary, get me there.

Jesus, Mary, get me there," all the while.

He is under sniper fire and occasionally tank fire--a tank

would fire a round into one of these I-beam stringers.

And while it didn't hit him, it would certainly rock his

world with sound and clear his ears.

Each time out and back requires incredible physical

strength that the average human being in his or her best

time probably couldn't do.

Ripley does it and continues to do it until he gets the

last box of explosives where he wants them and finally

blows the bridge.

He is utterly spent.

And once it finally did go up,

as I said, the whole battle changed.

Binh's troops are now probably down to--probably lost 200 men

already out of his 800.

And he's going to lose almost all the rest of them.

So, he lost 80% of his battalion defending--if you

will, holding the bridge for Ripley to blow it.

I'd like to start off by thanking you all for inviting

me here today to speak.

You know, I was just sitting at the table with my wife here

and looking around at all the faces in the crowd.

And I have to say it's a true honor to be amongst so many

people that love America and make America a great place to live.

But I'll also have to say that I am worried for America.

Now that I've come back home, I see people in our own

country rooting for the communists to win,

to defeat and to kill our troops.

I see people living in this country and enjoying all the

wonderful things America has to offer and then I see those

same people turn around and say how much

they hate America.

I see a movie star living a lavish lifestyle here in

America travel to the enemy, sit at a Russian gun used to

kill Americans, laughing, broadcasting to the world how

evil America is.

Oh, captain.

Captain, I have a dream.

I have a dream, a big dream.

A dream of democracy.

That's my dream.

And together, together, we could help protect the free

world from unfair competition and ensure that future

generations have a free world to protect.

Yes, sir.

We went down to the base, then you look at my face and read out an

order to bar me.

So, we said Foxtrot, Tango, Alpha.

Fuck the army and the navy and the marines.

Lo, coming in.

Here it is.

It's naplam.

Wow.

Right on top on the 101st,

one, two, three, four--five rounds of mortar fire and two-- make it

four Huey helicopters down and the rest are up and going home.

We got it now into orderly withdrawal and lying

motionless on the ground is Lieutenant Colonel Billy

Slocum that will be a fragging penalty for the boys

in the 101st.

When the anti-war people would come to Hanoi,

it had great impact on us because they were saying

freely what we're being tortured to say.

The guards who were trained in torture--they had a--had a

team, we call the goon squad and their job was to extract

information from the prisoners.

But where the dangers came is when you had amateurs trying

to torture you.

And that's when I sustained a compound fracture.

My left arm had a compound fracture where the bone's

through the skin, from the ropes.

And that's the communist system.

It was a very brutal, tough existence.

And when Donald Sutherland and Jane Fonda came with the FTA,

the four letter word, the army.

They piped it into our cells through the speakers that they

control from the headquarters building.

It really affected our morale tremendously.

I see a man that served three months in Vietnam come back

home a self-proclaimed expert on the war and the

Vietnamese people.

I see that same man testify before congress that it is the

American Military Policy to rape,

torture, and murder Vietnamese civilians.

I see that same man say that he never did it,

never saw anybody do it, but people told him about it,

but when asked to name those names,

he can't name them.

John, can you tell me about any war crimes that occurred

in that unit coastal division 11?

And a second question, why didn't you attempt to get out

of the unit or submit a request when you were there if

you saw anything that shocked a normal man?

We--well, I'll come back to the question.

I'd like you to answer that question if you will.

We served--I--you obviously are quite good on the polished

rhetoric but I did serve in the same place you did

and--not for four months, but for eighteen months--and

I never saw anything, and I'd like you to tell me about the

war crimes you saw committed there and also why you didn't

do something about them?

I think there's something particularly pathetic about me

having to appear on nationwide television and trade polished

little phrases with you to defend the honor of the

fifty-five thousand people that died there,

the two and a half million of us that served there?

I think further that the justification that Hanoi

uses for keeping our POWs is that they were engaged in

criminal acts there and I think that someone who comes

out and says exactly the same something can be doing nothing

but serving those purposes.

I find it particularly remarkable that this gentleman

who is building his political career apparently upon the

misery of all of us that served there.

Well, I'm here today to testify that I spent two years

in Vietnam and I never saw any American

commit those atrocities.

What I saw were heroes, decent men and women

sacrificing for others.

I saw men put into impossible situations,

doing the best that they could without fanfare.

Lima Company, 215 of us, had run into the 324B Regiment of

the North Vietnamese Army.

There were some 1,500 of them and there were 200 of us.

We kept pushing, kept pushing,

kept pushing, and kept backing them up,

and Ripley was doing a fantastic job.

He was right there on the frontline with us.

And at the end of the day, their bodies were all over the place.

I don't know how many of them we had killed,

but we totally decimated the 324B Regiment.

Whatever mission they had been sent out to do,

we had completely thwarted it.

That company gunnery sergeant

reported at the end of the day, skipper asked for a casualty

report and he says--skipper he says there were 215 of us when

we started the day, by my count,

he said there's only 15 people left that haven't been killed

or wounded.

And the corpsman finally comes over and he's putting a

bandage on and put some medicine on this cut in my

leg, and he's writing his card up,

I said, "Doc, what are you doing?"

I said, "What's that?"

And he says, "We're writing you up for Purple Heart."

And I said, "Doc, no."

I said, "Look at these guys. These guys are Purple Hearts."

Sometime after--I don't remember the exact date,

but we got some mail flown out to us--helicoptered out to us.

And we were going through the mail.

And one of the guys in the company got a letter from his mother.

And when he opened the letter up,

there was a newspaper article.

And the headline of this newspaper article was,

"Ripley's Raiders Route NVA Force."

And that was the first time anybody had ever heard

Ripley's Raiders.

And, you know, we passed that article around and everybody

was reading it, and we said, "We kind of like that."

So, the rest of our tour over there,

Captain John Ripley became Ripley's Raiders and we

were his men.

And that's the way it is today.

Now, I'm not going to stand here and say that no American

ever did anything bad in Vietnam.

During stressful times, people make mistakes.

And anytime you have two million guys in one place,

there's going to be bad guys that do bad things,

but they do not represent all of us.

If those lies do not go unchallenged,

it will be their version of history that is taught to our

children in the schools.

Our troops will be the monsters and the communists the heroes.

John Ripley is probably the best,

finest leader I've ever known in a human being.

He was a outstanding combat leader.

People would've--we would've followed him anywhere.

If he'd--he said saddle up, we're going to go attack Ho

Chi Minh and Hanoi all by ourselves we'd all gone,

we'd have gone with him.

I loved the guy.

Worst day of my life when he--when he died.

I felt like I lost my closest brother.

I would like to leave you with this one final message:

Draw a line in the sand.

No more lies.

Do not be quiet.

Do not walk away.

Draw the line in the sand.

The lies end here.

Thank you.

My dear Cam, the days here seem to be getting longer and

harder or maybe I'm just getting weaker and weaker.

Is this the communist paradise they told us about?

I'm just too tired now to be angry.

I just don't understand.

We all don't understand.

It's been so long.

Is the world watching us?

Where's the Red Cross?

Where is the American press?

Are we forgotten?

A lot of Americans really don't understand how vicious

the Viet Cong were.

And I saw this dramatically.

In early 1969, I was a rifle company commander in the 5th

Marines, stationed in Bien Hoa combat base south of Da Nang

and we had one of those periodic truces, Tet Truce.

The U. S. government said that we're going to try to convince the

communists to come to the table and bargain

and what have you.

We're going to have a truce.

And because of that, the marines had to pull in all the

patrols inside the wire.

And we were told to stay out of the villages and what not.

Well, the Viet Cong took advantage of that.

What was called an Armed Propaganda Team came out of

the mountains, went into a village adjacent to the combat base.

Normally, we would have marines in that base providing

security but we had to pull them out.

Communists knew that because of the truce.

They moved in there at night.

They went to the home of the chief of the village.

And they pulled him out, his wife out,

and his five children.

They then proceeded to cut the throats of the children in

the presence of their parents one at a time.

And they did this to the villagers--villagers and the

tenants or a large number of the villagers.

It was sort of a group trial of the village chief.

After killing the children, they shot the wife in the head

in front of her husband and then they proceeded to shoot

the village chief several times in sensitive parts of

his body before cutting his throat and cutting off his

head and placing it on a stake.

They attached to the stake a statement that this man was a

government official.

He was evil and corrupt and he deserved to die.

Well, that was not the case.

He was a very popular village chief because he

was very good.

And that's why they killed him.

But as Lenin

says the purpose of terrorism is terror and it had

a very, very sobering impact on those people

living in the village.

Those villagers were not communists.

They were not VC, but they were very frightened that the

Armed Propaganda Team would come back in there and again

kill people like the village chief.

I have met a new friend here that I have become

very close to.

He is a school teacher named Dong.

He's a good man.

You would like him very much.

Hoa is, too, by my side.

But I fear for him.

He still talks before he thinks and has created many

enemies here.

It's almost time guys, get close to the jungle.

Almost there.

Come on, come on, okay.

My eye.

Let's go.

Okay.

Let's go.

The jungles are the walls of our prison,

but we think of escape every day.

It's siesta time for the guards.

It's meal time for us.

Yup.

That's right.

Oh, look good, huh?

Yeah look good, huh?

There.

If we find a dead calf once a week.

We can stay alive until we get out here, huh?

Yeah.

That's right.

Thank you, brother.

Yeah with all this good living,

we got to be careful not to get too fat.

The guards will notice us.

That's it Hoa.

That's it.

You are a genius.

We look just like them, chubby,

chubby, chubby, and we'll walk out of camp waving goodbye.

Yummy, yummy.

You can't beat this, right?

Uh-hmm.

Uh-hmm.

Good, isn't it?

We need the protein.

I've been thinking of my little boy.

I miss my son.

I miss my wife.

I want to go home and we'll get back on our horses,

come back to this town and burn this goddamn place down.

Well, at least you got something to dream about.

I have given my mother nothing to dream about.

Hey, guys.

We're all going to get out here.

And Dong, you will have your time with your

wife and your kids.

Don't think too much.

Keep your head straight.

Yes, Major.

And Hoa, you going to have time to marry some wonderful

woman and give your Mom a grandson.

Okay?

Hey, brothers, I'll be back.

Yes, Major Binh.

Okay.

I would rather die escaping through the jungle than to

live at the feet of the communists any longer but

I know that if I should ever go.

They will then come for you, Cam,

I have been long praying for a miracle.

Time to go, guys.

Brother.

Hey, what took you so long?

We got to get back.

Easy, siesta's over.

I am just glad you went that far since it took so long.

Let's go.

Let's go on.

Come on, Hoa.

It's very unusual to be-- it's hard to see how you can be

opposed to the war and then participate in it.

Well, as I say, my opposition to the war was not,

at that time, a strongly moral opposition.

It wasn't an opposition on grounds of what was happening

in Vietnam.

Uh-hmm.

It was an opposition that was based on a broad

spectrum on foreign policy.

But what did the South Vietnamese generally think

of you when you were there as a soldier?

Are any of them sympathetic?

Well, I think the majority hate us.

I think the Vietnamese people hate us.

And you can sense this.

You can hear it.

One of them I turned to him and I said,

"What would be the best thing that we could do for you?"

And he said, "Go home."

And this attitude, I said to one, this is your country, you have to fight and he said no.

I am so looking forward to seeing them tonight. (woman's voice)

Yea, me too. It will be great to see them.

Let me just finish watching this TV show.

I don't know why you watch that stuff.

You know, it just upsets you.

I can't believe what I'm watching.

What am I missing here?

[crosstalk] All the channels, the news, they're saying we lost the war?

When we left Vietnam, we left in victory.

What the hell is going on?

How do you feel about that?

What do have to say about the fact that if we pulled out,

there would be the blood bath.

That seems to be a persuasive argument with a lot of people and.

I really don't believe that there would be a blood bath

and I'll tell you why.

I think that what happened at Hue--and this is the instance

that's always sided, the 5000, 3000 people.

If in fact--it did happen then because nobody heard about then.

They heard about it later.

Uh-hmm.

But what happened there was part of the pure Maoist Doctrine

of revolution that you must--you must coerce through terrorism.

And it's in fact the United States has said that-

and declared that we will unilaterally withdraw within a

certain specified amount of time.

Uh-hmm.

And we will accept Hanoi's agreement to have

international supervision of that withdrawal.

We will offer amnesty to those people who demand it.

Then there's absolutely no reason to believe in the world

that there's anything to be gained by the North Vietnamese

or any other faction through reprisals.

And I think that really this is just another form of

red-baiting to keep the American people feeling

we've got to protect something that's out there.

Thank you for being here and we will see you tomorrow night.

How about this?

You turn all that passion into making your wife happy?

Okay.

Yeah, you're right.

Okay.

Let's go.

You've been stressing more and more-- about the prisoners of war

left in Vietnam.

What's happening is that a lot of terribly concerned and

well-intentioned people in America are putting a great deal of energy

and time and money into a letter writing campaign to Hanoi.

And without knowing it--and they're doing a disservice to

the prisoners of war.

For one thing, the post offices in Hanoi are being

flooded with all this mail, with all these letters,

all these petitions.

Well, one of the things that we're being told is that the

Vietnamese are not--are not releasing all the names of the

prisoners of war.

The other very tragic myth is that the prisoners are being tortured,

that they're being given barbaric, inhumane treatment.

Now, overwhelming evidence says that this isn't true.

There are films that have been--that have been seen.

People have--numbers of the people who have been in the

north have seen the prisons, have talked to prisoners,

have brought the nine prisoners that have

released out.

Two years later, several of these men are being allowed to

travel around the country.

Allowed by the Pentagon to travel around the country

telling horror stories about tortured tactics

and it's crucial for the American people to know that

they're not true.

The treatment that is being given the American prisoners

of war is more humane that the treatment of any prisoners of

war in the last century in Asia.

What we must all do--you know,

we who care is stop writing letters to Hanoi and carrying

on this kind of campaign.

The moment I walked into my first cell,

what I saw in the seven by nine foot cell was

a concrete slab.

On one end were leg irons with another leg iron to go

over the ankles which should be padlocked in the evening.

And the head were manacles.

A month later, they called me back up to make a tape.

And I said, "I will not make a tape.

I refuse to make a tape," which I'd refused after that point.

And they've said, "But we can force you."

And I said, Yes.

But you will have to force me.

I will not do it on my own accord.

Two weeks into my torture, I reached the point that I had

nothing else left to give.

I had lost about 50 pounds of weight,

half rations, no use of my hands--they've

been--from rope torture.

I--my feet--for seven days, seven nights without sleep,

eating on pitted concrete, arms over my head,

being beat daily with a fan belt about 50 times.

On one occasion, more than 200 times to raw buttocks with

a rubber strap and that's how I developed the 39 open wounds

on my whole body.

And it came a time-when the only thing left was the will that says, "Hang on."

And I said, God, it's all yours to do.

Whatever you want, I have nothing more else to give.

And the lesson I learned is this:

Courage is not the absence of fear.

Courage is simply the presence of faith.

Every night, I'd say a little prayer

for the ones who served over there,

for the ones who really don't care what your politics are

they believe in the stripes, they believe in the stars.

Dan and Mike are from New York, volunteered for Vietnam

they went over seas.

Good to see you.

I keep forgetting how old you are.

You look like you could jump right back into action.

John, are you still waiting for that homecoming parade?

No.

No, no.

I don't want any parade.

What I want is for us not to abandon our ally.

You hear what congress is doing?

Cutting South Vietnam's military aid.

I mean, what good is the equipment without the fuel and the ammo?

And they're also cutting the humanitarian aid.

Why would they do that?

Why would they cut the aid to the kids?

Now, you know, that question is easy to answer.

Congress wants South Vietnam to lose.

It's all bullshit.

It's like the anti-war protesters.

If they were really anti-war, why don't they ask China and

Russia to get out of Vietnam, too?

Why don't they ask the communists in North Vietnam

to stop invading South Vietnam?

This is not the America we had World War II, John.

We had reporter from the Washington Post,

that's a very--a highly respected reporter named Peter Braestrup.

And I recall once he and I were just talking and I ask

him about some of these stories that appeared in the

paper, I said, they're just--there's so many falsehoods,

whether they're on purpose or just ignorance,

I don't know, and he said, kind of shook his head and said

You know, I'll send a story back to Washington,

and when I see it in print with my name on it.

he said. sometimes, I can hardly recognize the story.

Good evening, the advocates, again,

looks at the subject of war in Indo-China.

And each side is armed by its super-power allies,

South Vietnam by the United States,

North Vietnam by Russia and China.

Specifically, our question is this,

should we end all military aid to South Vietnam?

the communist failed to conquer South Vietnam

by force of arms.

But they can still snatch victory from the jaws of defeat

if they can persuade the United States to abandon

all military aid for the South Vietnamese people.

Mr. Goodman we've talked about ending the bloodshed,

would cutting military aid really end the bloodshed in

your opinion?

Yes I think it would, it would substantially reduced it.

Does the story of the massacre in Hue by the North Vietnamese

forces when they took that city and killed thousands upon

thousands of innocent civilians suggest

contrary to you?

Not at all.

The massacres at Hue was the sign of a communist failure,

not a success.

Let's take an example of a communist success,

they're certainly were successful in taking over the

North much earlier in 1949 and thereafter.

And yet, it is estimated that a half a million people died

in their purges after that takeover.

I think the estimates ranged anywhere from

50,000 to 500,000.

And that's not a blood bath?

The basic point, is A, Ho Chi Minh acknowledge that as a

mistake, B, it hasn't happened since,

and C, North Vietnam is not South Vietnam.

If the communist walk into Saigon tomorrow,

they would walk out.

How much bloodshed were there have been last year if the

North Vietnamese armed forces had withdrawn from South Vietnam?

I couldn't--I couldn't estimate that.

Well, there wouldn't have been any, what would the fighting been about

I'm saying there's a positive step we can take

to restore the peace and to end the war and we ought to take it.

You stated that in May in 1973,

if I may quote exactly what you said "America,

Military and economic support.

to the Thieu government is absolute crucial.

That was wrong? Yes, and I did.

Why was it wrong?

Because the fundamental problem that Thieu faces today is

political and economic.

Was it then?

No, I wasn't sure what it was then.

You weren't sure?

Are you sure now?

Yes, I am.

So, now that you've changed your mind,

you are right?

No more than anyone of us are right.

Exactly, we're all right and wrong so it doesn't matter.

But in any case, you were wrong.

That's right.

In the case, you're perfectly prepared to assure the people

of South Vietnam that they have no bloodshed or purge to

fear if the communist take them over,

is that right?

Yes. I am. I'm...

I'm sure they're very happy to have your assurance but

will you forgive them if they keep on fighting

anyway, thank you.

When the Paris Agreement was signed,

the North Vietnamese troops were still staying in South Vietnam,

waiting for the day they would organize some other offensive and

so we have to make a choice.

And the choice was to accept the Paris Agreement with the

promise from the American administration.

That the American's side would continue to aid

South Vietnam.

And number two, the US would retaliate against

North Vietnam if North Vietnam violated the Paris Agreement

but somehow later these two promises were not kept at all.

And that is why the situation,

deteriorated in '74 up to the point in 1975 when we had

almost nothing in terms of ammunition,

in terms of arms.

It looks as if we have our hands tied behind our back

waiting for the communist and the Soviet Union

and the Chinese to come and take Saigon.

Alrighty.

Thanks.

I knew getting together with you guys would be just

what John needed..

Sir, I saw your speech today.

I just wanted to shake your hand.

You're a true American hero.

Thank you, I appreciate that.

This is my brother.

Hey, how you doing?

Major Ripley, Fox 276869, sir.

Semper Fi

I'm headed off to Paris Island.

Oh, great, excellent, Semper Fi Marines.

Semper Fi, sir.

Carry on.

My hero.

Yeah, they talk all the time about fighting the communists

and helping the Vietnamese.

You know, what they're really doing over there,

killing for the American businessman.

Do it for the most corrupt country in the world.

Do it for America.

Do it.

Do it for the land of the free.

Yeah.

They're over there doing some partying and doing a little dope.

Sampling some of the local talent,

yeah, and then you come home to your pretty little wife

like nothing ever happened, over there trying to help the Vietnamese.

Yeah, well, you know what I think?

I think they're just over there trying to help themselves.

Imagine that, huh?

Getting medals for killing babies.

Hey, there's no fighting in my bar.

John, sit down.

Sit down.

That's an order.

Let's cool off.

Why don't you go back to playing in pool?

You're breaking my heart, man.

How long have I been coming in here?

How much money have I spent here, huh?

Just cool down, go back and play some pool or I'm calling

the cops right now.

Semper Fi, G-I.

Carry on.

If you could see the part, I'm trying to press here and.

Yes, but the people who are fighting over there,

know why they are fighting.

That's why they're fighting so well.

And if they were a splinter group in this North Vietnam

which you are so fond of certain viewers are saying to

themselves now and they tried to put on a show

against the war.

From their point of view, what would happen to them in

this wonderful people's democracy?

Well, it would be inconceivable that they would

put on a show against the war.

No, the defeat that we have suffered is

enormous, it's a Dien Bien Phu that's taken place.

Why are they fighting that way?

It's because they know it's a people's war.

It's truly a war of the people,

by the people and for the people, you know.

I wish we had more time to deal with the fact that only

eight people are applauding, you know,

because it's so complex and we're jammed and we must...

take a break, we'll be right back.

I love you, sweetheart.

I'm sorry.

My dear Cam, I dream of you every day but I'm afraid that

I'm no longer the man you remembered.

I have been gone for a very long time.

Some of us here say it's been five years but no one really

knows for sure.

Time doesn't seem to exist anymore for us.

Dong

No.

You listen to me.

Look at me.

Look at me.

No.

No. Hoa.

You want to go home.

Hoa

We want to go home.

You got to see your Mom.

You miss her, right?

Calm down.

I want to see my daughter.

I don't want to go home in a box.

You hear me?

We got to go home, man.

We got to go home.

My Binh, they all say you have died but I don't believe them.

I know you and you are too stubborn to ever die.

When you come home.

I will be here waiting for you.

Cam, I wonder if you believe if I'm still alive.

Every day is the same.

During the day they work us like animals.

We work so hard in the fields growing food but

we never see any of it.

The communist always try to break us.

Many have lost hope but they will never break me.

The communist words have no meaning,

they are all lies.

They preach many things but act on nothing.

They speak of a world that they know nothing about.

At the end of the day, when we are weak,

they try to brainwash us with their communist propaganda.

Long live Ho Chi Minh.

Long live Ho Chi Minh.

Altogether.

Long live, Ho Chi Minh.

Long live, Ho Chi Minh.

Long live, Ho Chi Minh.

Long live, Ho Chi Minh.

Long live, Ho Chi Minh.

Long live, Ho Chi Minh.

Long live, Ho Chi Minh.

Long live, Ho Chi Minh.

Long live, Ho Chi Minh.

Long live, Ho Chi Minh.

Long live, Ho Chi Minh.

Long live, Ho Chi Minh.

This is not a prison.

This is a re-education camp.

We are the second largest military power in the world.

Be proud of the new Vietnam.

For many years, you've been deceived by your teachers,

your monks, your priest and your puppet leaders.

This is a mistake.

Uncle Ho has brought light to us all.

There's no Buddha,

there's no Jesus

but there's only Uncle Ho.

Long live, Ho Chi Minh.

Long live, Ho Chi Minh.

Long live, Ho Chi Minh.

Long live, Ho Chi Minh.

What are you doing?

Dong hold this.

Hold this and hide it.

Give it to my wife.

She must know what happened to me.

Do it for me, Dong.

Okay.

It's time to come with me hero.

No.

No, he had done nothing.

Stop, that's okay, you can come too.

No.

No.

Long live, Ho Chi Minh.

Long live, Ho Chi Minh.

Long live, Ho Chi Minh.

Long live Ho Chi Minh.

Louder.

Long live, Ho Chi Minh.

Long live Ho Chi Minh.

We could hardly have installed a puppet regime at

a time when we have less than 700 unarmed military advisors

many of the non-commissioned officers helping to teach the

South Vietnamese how to organize an army for

protection against enemies in their own country.

Are you saying that you approve of the activity of the Diem regime?

What activity?

Do you approve that they put six million in false

prison camps and that the American advisors

did nothing but help them in this?

I challenge your history again there is absolutely no record

that six million people were put in concentration camps.

They only have sixteen million to begin with but also

I would like to call your attention that a team from the

United Nations was sent to Saigon,

to Vietnam to investigate the charges made against the Diem regime

and the United Nations report completely clear the

Diem regime of any of the charges that have been brought against it.

The seventeen parrallel dividing North from South Vietnam

is a mere provision on military demarcation line

and should not in any way be interpreted as constituting a political

and territorial boundary.

But once the demarcation line was set,

was it not Ho Chi Minh and the North Vietnamese that closed

that border after a million refugees had fled from the

communist regime that was imposed in North Vietnam had

fled to South Vietnam.

Did they not make this a country themselves?

And did they not create or start the aggression with

regard to South Vietnam in violation of that treaty?

[Crosstalk]

Look, man, forget those guys.

They don't even know where Vietnam is.

Blow them off.

I know these guys.

They will hurt you.

I don't know what you're trying to prove here.

I don't know.

I guess I'm just trying to draw line in the sand,

stop the insanity.

Insanity is going up to fight those guys,

Blow it off.

You know why I've stayed so pretty all these years,

it's because I don't get involve in fights I don't need to be in.

It's called self-preservation, my friend.

I believe the war in Vietnam is illegal,

immoral, politically unjustifiable

and economically motivated.

I do believe that our goal is the right of a people to

self-determination and to not have a way of life,

a government or a system force upon them.

Son, I wouldn't go out there if I were you.

I know you wouldn't but I'm not you.

It ain't right, you know, him going out there alone like that.

Well, it's his fight, not ours.

Still ain't right.

What are you going to do?

Hit him with your Banjo?

It's called a guitar, man.

If we go out there, instead of one guy getting his ass kicked,

there are going to be three guys getting

their asses kicked.

We shouldn't have to fight other people's battles.

Who cares what they say about the war?

It's going to be okay now we're going to watch out

for each other.

Enough.

My turn.

To be the lucky one.

Go home Binh.

Cam,

I imagine our daughter is now as strong and beautiful

like her mother.

I dream of the day we are together again.

If that day does not come, please do what you have to do

so you and our daughter can survive.

The only thing I want now is that I just wish that you will

know what happened to me.

I don't want to die like the others,

forgotten and bury in a mass grave.

Cam, it's you.

It's you.

I think of you every day.

It's been so long Cam.

Every day I think of you, Cam.

I never give up, never will give up.

I will never give up.

Okay, times up.

Please.

Please.

Our daughter?

She's okay.

She misses you every night.

I promise you, I will come home to you.

I promise you that, no matter what.

I will survive to be home with you and our baby

no matter what.

Cam, I love you.

I love you.

Let's go.

No, I don't want to go.

I don't want to go.

Everything will be okay.

I don't want to go.

You--go.

I know where you're at.

Wait for me.

I'll be home, I promise you.

Times up.

Wait for daddy, huh?

I love you.

I often wondered who these Americans were that they would

come to the other side of the world to help us fight for our

freedom then go home to their country

that did not understand.

As soldiers, we fight so others may live.

We are judged not by the praise we may receive

but by the results we have achieved.

Because of you, two million of our people escaped the

communist nightmare that was to come.

If you ever wonder, was it worth it?

The next time you see a Vietnamese family,

remember, they would not be here if it not for you.

We know your sacrifices

and we will forever be in debted to you.

You are our brothers that we will never forget.

I have seen much in my life and have finally

come to peace with it.

I will always be grateful to America for opening the doors

of a great nation to bring our people in.

The freedom of America has allowed us to prosper here

and although we will always have sorrow in our hearts

for our homeland.

We are proud to be Americans.

Ripley, you made it.

My brother, you know if you call I'll be here for you.

Thanks, brother.

How was everything with you?

Never better.

I know you.

If there's something you want to tell me?

Just tell me.

Everything okay?

How's Cam?

Cam is Cam, still beautiful but foolish for marrying me.

Ripley, take a look up.

Our fight for freedom will be remembered.

[Music]