All language subtitles for S01E04 An Endless War

NARRATOR: Two months after the
North Vietnamese and Viet Cong

shattered America's
expectations of a quick victory

by launching the Tet
Offensive, the Vietnam War

is increasingly unpopular.

[music playing]

MAN: Hundreds of young
men across the country

are burning their draft cards
this week in their commitment

to resist the draft.

REPORTER: Are you
burning your draft card?

MAN: I don't want to get killed.

I don't mind
getting in the army,

but you're going to
go over in Vietnam

and die in some rice
paddy for something

that not even the president
can tell you what it's about.

CROWD: [CHANTING]
Hell no, we won't go.

NARRATOR: As the US military
presence continues to escalate,

voluntary enlistments fail to
keep pace, forcing the army

to increasingly depend on
the draft to fill the growing

ranks.

MAN: When do we want equality?

CROWD: Now!

MAN: When are we
going to get it?

CROWD: Now.

[explosion]

[gunfire]

Run!

[music playing]

ARTHUR WIKNIK: They
may call this place

the home of the
combat infantryman,

but it's more like
a temporary home.

Within a few months, all our
asses are heading to Vietnam.

NARRATOR: 19-year-old draftee
Arthur Wiknik is training

in Fort Polk, Louisiana.

For tens of thousands
of recruits,

the 198,000-acre complex is
their last stop before Vietnam.

[explosions]

ARTHUR WIKNIK: A month
ago, the military

wasn't even on my radar.

I had just bought a
new car, a 1968 Camaro.

And I had just gotten a new
job at an aircraft company,

I was making pretty good money.

And then I got a draft notice.

That was such a
crushing blow, because I

lived a comfortable life.

I had everything I
ever wanted, and it was

going to be taken away from me.

But I still had to go, because
all my friends were being

drafted.

MAN: Go, go, go.

ARTHUR WIKNIK: No matter
how bad this place is,

I'd still rather be
here than in Vietnam.

So when my commanding
officer says

he wants to send me the NCO
Candidate School to become

a squad leader, I'm
about to say no.

Till he says, "You can stay in
the states six more months."

I said, well, then I'll do it.

Because I don't want
to go to Vietnam.

And I figured,
within six months,

maybe the war will be over,
or our involvement will

be so minimal that they won't
be taking anybody anymore.

[explosion]

Unfortunately, when
I went to the school,

the war hadn't even
reached its peak yet.

[explosion]

NARRATOR: Indeed, the war
Arthur Wiknik is about to enter

is in fact continuing
to escalate.

[gunfire]

Although the NVA and VC suffered
a military defeat during Tet,

they did win a
psychological victory.

MAN: Go, go, go!

NARRATOR: Now they are launching
a series of small scale attacks

to further weaken
American morale.

[crowd yelling]

For a nation already in
turmoil, the shocking events

of the next five months
will nearly tear it apart.

[sirens]

[explosion]

[gunfire]

[shouting]

REPORTER: Has Senator
Kennedy been shot?

Could-- could this
have happened?

[screaming]

[sirens]

[cheering]

[music - "star spangled banner"]

NARRATOR: Against this backdrop
of war and domestic unrest,

Republican Richard Nixon wins
the presidency, on the promise

of restoring order at home,
and achieving peace abroad.

[applause]

The greatest honor
history can bestow

is the title of peacemaker.

This honor now beckons America.

The chance--

NARRATOR: But as Nixon
takes the oath of office,

there are 537,000 American
troops in Vietnam.

300 are being killed
or wounded weekly.

[applause]

And despite the replacement of
General William Westmoreland

with General Creighton Abrams
as the overall commander six

months earlier.

The military situation
remains virtually the same.

A tedious rhythm of
search and destroy

in which American ground
forces spend weeks at a time

hunting down an elusive enemy
in an unforgiving terrain,

and then tallying the
bodies of the dead.

For US soldiers
arriving in 1969,

Vietnam is the same
body count based war

that it was four years earlier.

[flies buzzing]

[MUSIC - THE AMERICAN BREED,
"BEND ME, SHAPE ME"]

THE AMERICAN BREED: [SINGING]
Bend me, shape me any way

you want me.

As long as you love
me, it's all right.

NARRATOR: To help relieve
some of the stress

on soldiers who were in
continual action in the field,

the US military has in-country
rest and recreation,

or R&R sites.

Although these have
existed in previous wars,

Vietnam is the first time they
are located in an active war

zone.

ARTHUR WIKNIK: If
this is Vietnam,

this is my kind of war.

They've even got
girls in bikinis.

NARRATOR: One month after
arriving in Vietnam,

Sergeant Arthur Wiknik's
company from the 101st Airborne

is sent for a three-day rest.

ARTHUR WIKNIK: It's great and
all, but at the same time,

I kind of feel guilty.

Most of these guys have
been out there fighting

the VC for months.

They deserve a chance to kick
back and blow off some steam.

I don't.

But just as I'm starting
to enjoy myself,

they're shuffling us
back to Camp Evans.

And something big was up, but
we didn't know what it was.

So we're all assembled, and our
captain comes out, and tells us

that some of our buddies are
in trouble out in the A Shau

Valley, and we're going
to go in and help them.

Now, I had never heard
of the A Shau Valley,

but some of these
other guys did.

So a couple of guys are saying,
oh my God, the A Shau valley.

He says, the NVA drive
trucks down there.

We're going there?

What the heck's going on?

[music playing]

NARRATOR: Unknown
to Wiknik, he is

about to enter one of the most
viciously contested regions

in all of South Vietnam.

Located along the
Laotian border,

the heavily-jungled
A Shau Valley

is one of the NVA's
most valuable base areas

in South Vietnam.

It serves as a funnel
for soldiers and supplies

coming off the Ho
Chi Minh Trail.

A week earlier, a 400-man
battalion of US soldiers

discovered 1,500 NVA
dug into Hill 937,

less than a mile
from the border.

[explosion]

They've been locked in
intense combat ever since,

and are in desperate
need of reinforcements

to take the hill.

ARTHUR WIKNIK: Right
away, the Supply Sergeants

starts shoving
tons of ammo at us.

We're told to double
up on everything.

Instead of 200 rounds
of M16, take 400.

Instead of 50 rounds
of M60, take 100.

Jesus, we really must be
heading into something big.

I'm trying to keep it
together, but you know,

I've never been in
major combat before.

I mean, aside from
training, I've

barely even fired my weapon.

I don't know what I'm gonna do,
other than just go with my gut,

and pray that it all works out.

[helicopter whirring]

[radio chatter]

Up here, everything
looks eerily picturesque.

Kind of reminds me of Vermont.

But I know better than that.

Vietnam sure as
hell is not Vermont.

NARRATOR: Sergeant Arthur
Wiknik and his company

are en route to Hill 937,
to reinforce US troops who

have been trying to dislodge
the NVA for the past week.

The hill is located along one
of the many enemy pathways

into the south.

US forces are attempting
to cut them off.

ARTHUR WIKNIK: When
I glance around

at the other guys'
faces, they're

all staring straight ahead.

So I look, I can see
off in the distance,

this brown mountain top
against a green backdrop.

And I knew then
that-- that's probably

where we're going to go.

We hit the ground
as fast as we can,

and we head straight towards
this little command center.

I can hardly believe my eyes.

Filthy, unshaven
GIs are everywhere.

Empty ammo boxes and C-rations
thrown on the ground.

Even the air stinks
like human waste.

I'm taking it all in,
when one guy points to me,

and he says-- pointed at me, and
said, "Hey Sergeant, you better

get those stripes off."

I said, "What do you mean?

I earned these."

And he says, "No, you
got to take them off.

Because the enemy is
shooting the leaders first,

and you're going to be a
target when you get out there."

As he was explaining this,
for me to take my stripes

off, another guy came over, and
said, come on, Jim, you know.

Let these guys be.

They haven't been here yet.

They don't know what it's like.

Apparently these
guys had been there

since the beginning of this
battle that had been going on,

for eight days.

And then I started
thinking back how

we were at a picnic,
drinking beer,

while these poor bastards were
going through this battle.

I just felt awful.

I just, I wanted to get
away from these guys

because I don't feel
like I deserved to even

be in their company.

As we settle in, I can hear
these Vietnamese voices ringing

out from top of that hill.

[yelling]

Now, nobody knows
what they're saying,

but the message is clear.

They want us to know
that they're there,

and they're waiting for us.

NARRATOR: As Wiknik
and his company

prepare for their assault up
Hill 937, 15 miles to the west,

American pilots are attempting
to stop enemy advances

into the south by going straight
to the source of the problem--

the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

Although diplomatic policy
prohibits US ground troops

from entering Laos and Cambodia,
where the vast majority

of the trail is
located, US aircraft

are not restricted from bombing.

[explosions]

[radio chatter]

[explosions]

Despite the relentless
bombing, enemy movements

along the Ho Chi Minh Trail
prove impossible to stop.

With more than 6,000
miles of paths,

the NVA simply
reroute themselves

around damaged areas, while
a crew of 100,000 North

Vietnamese laborers work
around the clock on maintenance

and repair.

The result is that
enemy forces are

able to move nearly
10,000 tons of supplies

every month, forcing US ground
troops to try to stop them

in an inhospitable landscape of
endless jungle-covered hills.

[thunder]

KARL MARLANTES: Between
the monsoon rain

and the unbearable humidity,
everyone's constantly soaked.

It's bad enough we've
already lost half a dozen men

to the NVA.

Now we're starting to
lose them to jungle rot.

Although after being stranded
out here for three days,

I suppose a little bad weather
is the least of our problems.

NARRATOR: 23-year-old Marine
Lieutenant Karl Marlantes

is on Hill 400, 65 miles
north of Arthur Wiknik.

Three days earlier, he and
his company of 170 Marines

set out to stop
what they believe

to be a group of 100 NVA
crossing into the south

via the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

Instead, they stumbled into
the path of an entire enemy

regiment, numbering
nearly 2,500.

Incoming!

[explosions]

KARL MARLANTES: Out here in
the middle of all this shit,

it's hard to believe
that just over a year ago

I was at Oxford.

[gunfire]

I was only there about
five or six weeks

before I was feeling guilty.

Because there I was, sort
of drinking beer, and dating

girls, and having a
very wonderful time,

and my friends were over
in Vietnam fighting.

So I came to that
point of, all right,

you know, I can't sit here.

I sort of had this feeling I
was hiding behind privilege.

That I couldn't do that anymore.

I just woke up one morning,
and I said, I'm going to go.

I'm going to go to Vietnam.

[radio chatter]

[gunfire]

Now I'm stuck out here
on some godforsaken hill.

Another company's
a few miles away,

but the NVA have us surrounded.

[explosions]

They're hitting us with
mortars all the time.

We've run out of water, even
though it was a monsoon.

So we were trying to catch
the fog in our ponchos,

and licking our ponchos
to try and, you know.

So we were in desperate strait.

[explosions]

[radio chatter]

And we had about eight seconds
of machine gun ammo left

for each.

And we divided
everything evenly.

We just divided
everything evenly.

And I remember just looking
at a little patch of ground,

and thinking how wonderful
it was just to see the earth,

you know.

And thinking about what will
I miss because I'll be dead?

For the first time in days, we
can actually see clear skies.

Mutter, Kilo Six.

They are off the landing.

KARL MARLANTES: And
the radio crackles

to life, telling us the words
we've been praying for--

choppers are on their way.

All right!

[cheering]

NARRATOR: Marine
Lieutenant Karl Marlantes

is stranded atop Hill 400,
near the Laotian border.

After suffering heavy
casualties during intense combat

with an NVA force, he
and his 170-man company

have spent the past three
days without food or supplies.

KARL MARLANTES: As soon as
the wounded are taken care of,

dozens of reinforcements
start unloading

cases of ammo and C-rations.

God, I've never seen
so many guys so happy

for such a crappy meal.

When I'm done eating, I
head over to the skipper

to get our new orders.

But as he starts to speak,
my entire body tenses up.

He says most of the enemy's
moved on, except for about 100

that are still dug into the
next hill over, Hill 484.

Then he says that since
it was our company's job

to stop the NVA in
the first place,

it should be our company's
job to take 484 now.

I can hardly believe my ears.

I mean, we've been stuck
out here for three days

without supplies,
and now they want

us to continue the assault?

But the decision's
already been made.

We attack at dawn.

[thunder]

As we head out to get in
position, all sorts of thoughts

start running through my mind.

Thinking about how we're
going to take the hill.

If we do it this way.

Yeah, that's a good idea, but
how about if we do it this way.

Well, that'll work,
but this will happen.

And you just try as hard as you
can to come up with a solution,

and you realize that there
is no solution that you'll

be able to do it without--

without losing people.

And I can remember seeing a
very vague outline of that hill

above us in the darkness.

And you just go, like,
you know, there's people

up there that I don't know,
and they don't know me.

And we're, in the
next hour or two,

we're going to be trying
to kill each other?

And you just sit
there, and you just

shake your head and wonder.

It's like, I'm going
to go through this.

I'm not going to turn
around and walk away.

You're going to go up the hill.

And at the same time,
you're wondering,

why am I going up that hill?

But I already know the answer.

It's cause I'm a Marine, and
we don't let each other down.

[thunder in distance]

[helicopter whirring]

ARTHUR WIKNIK: The sun's just
peeking up over the horizon.

Men whisper quietly
to one another.

For a moment, it's
almost oddly peaceful.

NARRATOR: Sergeant Arthur Wiknik
is at the base of Hill 937

in the A Shau Valley.

He and his company have joined
a battalion that for the past 10

days has been attempting
to take the hill.

Today, they will begin
their 10th, and hopefully,

final assault.

[radio chatter]

ARTHUR WIKNIK: And then
the order comes down.

Fixed bayonets.

We're going to kill
everyone we see.

And if we run out
of bullets, we're

going to stab them to death.

[whooshing]

[radio chatter]

NARRATOR: At 8:00, US pilots
begin a 30-minute bombardment

of Hill 937.

[explosions]

Tango, Tango, 240.

NARRATOR: At 8:30, every
American fire base within range

begins 90 minutes of
intense preparatory fire.

[explosions]

At 10 o'clock, the
artillery falls silent,

and the ground assault begins.

[gunfire]

[yelling]

ARTHUR WIKNIK: You're
thinking you're going

to go up in an orderly fashion.

But it's just, it's
just not that way.

It's all chaos.

It's all shooting.

Guys start peeling off
in different directions,

trying to get away from
whatever's happening around

them.
[gunfire]

[yelling]

[gunfire]

Over all that noise, you can
hear the bullets coming in.

It sounds crazy.

You can literally hear
them hitting the dirt

in front of you.

And I can't figure out why the
hell they're picking on me.

And then I realize, I
never took my stripes off.

They're trying to
kill me because--

they're trying to kill
me because I'm a leader.

Well, I didn't have a knife,
I didn't have anything.

I wasn't going to cut
my stripes off now.

I'm too busy trying to
keep from getting killed.

So I got up, and I just
started firing at that spot

again, put another magazine,
and get up and start firing.

And the third time I went to
do that, something suddenly

blinded me.

When I reach up to
protect my eyes,

something suddenly
hits me in the chest.

Knocks me backwards.

And for a second all I
can think is, this is it.

I'm going to die on a hill
out in the middle of nowhere.

But then the pain starts
getting more intense.

And what had happened was this
enemy soldier that was shooting

at me, his first round
came in, hit the dirt

in front of my face,
blasted the dirt in my eyes.

And when I reached
up, his second round,

it didn't penetrate my body,
but it had enough power

to knock me right on my ass.

There's no way in hell
I'll be this lucky again.

So I yelled at my guys,
"I want you to follow me."

I took off running.

As I ran, bullets were coming,
bullet were nipping at my feet.

I just start running
up that hill.

[gunfire]

Jumping over abandoned bunkers,
not even paying any attention

to what's going on around me.

All I know is if I'm
going to survive,

I've got to get to
the top of that hill.

[gunfire]

[gunfire]

Get in the hole.

Get in the hole.

[gunfire]

KARL MARLANTES: Everybody's flat
on the ground, kissing dirt.

If we don't find a way to
take out those bunkers,

we're all going to end up dead.

NARRATOR: Marine Lieutenant
Karl Marlantes is on Hill 484.

Hours earlier, he
and his company

began an assault against
approximately 100 NVA

who were dug into the hill.

[gunfire]

KARL MARLANTES: I holler at
one of my gunners, and I said,

you gotta engage that
machine gun that's coming

out that bunker up there.

You've gotta keep them busy.

And he laid down, and they
started a machine gun duel.

That machine gun shooting at
him, and him shooting back.

And he was pumping
blood, because he'd

been hit in the leg.

And you could see the
blood coming out of his leg

as his heart was beating.

And this kid just kept shooting.

[gunfire]

But he kept that
machine gun down.

And I thought, this is it.

And I started
running up the hill.

And I thought I
was all by myself.

But out of the corner of
my eye, I see all my guys,

just seconds behind me.

And when we get to the
bunkers, everyone opens up.

[gunfire]

Just seconds behind me.

And we hit those bunkers, and
I start running down the line,

throwing hand
grenades into them.

And everybody else
was coming with me.

And we took the hill.

[helicopter whirring]

Four men from my platoon
died taking Hill 484.

And every one of
them was a friend.

To try and be a leader,
you have to order people

to do things that kills them.

And that's hard.

And it's usually your best guys.

Because if, if, if you know
it's going to be tough,

you put your best guys to make
sure that we get the job done.

And then your best guys die.

That's always a tough one.

I carry that with me.

[faraway helicopter whirring]

[explosion]

ARTHUR WIKNIK:
I'm hunkered down,

bracing for the next
wave of gunfire,

but it's strangely calm.

All I hear is some rifle shots
and a few hand grenades off

in the distance.

And I see someone coming up.

And he flashes me
the peace sign.

And then I realize, that's
my guys coming up the hill.

NARRATOR: On May 20, 1969, after
10 days of brutal fighting,

US forces successfully
secure Hill 937.

The cost to the US--

70 American soldiers
killed, and 372 wounded.

The cost to the enemy,
more than 600 killed.

Although US forces win the
hill and the battle of the body

count, the majority of
the 1,500 North Vietnamese

originally spotted on
Hill 937 escape into Laos.

[soldiers chattering]

ARTHUR WIKNIK: I'm so thrilled,
I don't even know what to say.

I can't believe I survived.

We've actually taken
this bitch of a hill.

[helicopter whirring]

Right as I'm about to sit down
and rest for a second, a couple

of soldiers come over to me
and they say, "Hey, you know,

they got a name for this hill."

So I say, "Really, what is it?"

And they said, "Well, they
call it Hamburger Hill."

"OK, why do they call it that?"

"Well, because it was
a human meat grinder.

And that's why they
gave it that name.

And there's even a sign
over there, on that stump."

So I went over and looked,
and there was a sign there

that said, "Hamburger Hill."

It was stuck to a tree
stump with a bayonet.

And I was looking at
the sign, I said, OK.

I see a few tiny words scrawled
on a piece of paper pinned

beneath it.

They read, "Was it worth it?"

For a moment, I looked around
at the blasted-out tree stumps,

and the empty,
hollow bomb craters.

And the moans of the wounded
start to fill my ears,

and the smell of cordite
starts to burn my nose.

And I just stand there
thinking, was it worth it?

Was Hamburger Hill
really worth it?

God, I-- I certainly hope so.

[helicopter whirring]

REPORTER: The battle
for a Hamburger Hill

near the Laotian border is over.

A dozen North Vietnamese
snipers were killed today--

ARTHUR WIKNIK: So much
for savoring victory.

They're already making us pack
up and leave this damn hill.

NARRATOR: On June 5, 1969, 16
days after heroically seizing

Hamburger Hill, US
forces abandon it.

Three weeks later, the
NVA retake the hill

without a fight.

KARL MARLANTES: Hamburger Hill
was just on a larger scale

what happened all over--

all over Vietnam.

So on the tactical level,
it was easy to understand

what our job was.

On the more esoteric level,
there was no objective.

I mean, you think
about World War II--

which my father
fought, and my uncles--

well, at first, you know,
if you're in the Pacific,

you take this island,
you take that island,

and you get closer to Tokyo.

And you can sort of measure
your progress like, oh, looks

like we're winning.

Or you land in Normandy,
then you liberate Paris,

and then you head, go
across the Rhine, and--

you had, you had objectives.

Vietnam was the first
war where it was unclear.

How do you know when you've won?

NARRATOR: On June 27, in a
groundbreaking 12-page cover

story, "Life Magazine"
publishes the photographs

of 242 Americans killed in
Vietnam in just one week.

Many mistakenly believe
that all of the men

died taking Hamburger Hill.

The battle suddenly ignites
a firestorm of controversy.

[music playing]

MAN: President Nixon,
when he was running,

during the campaign,
stated he had a peace plan.

We'd like to know what it is.

MAN: We want to show Mr. Nixon
that there are so many people

opposed to the war that it is
politically possible for him

to end it now.

REPORTER: Senator
Kennedy of Massachusetts

delivered a brief speech
criticizing what he called,

"The senseless and irresponsible
military pride, in which

American men are sent to
their deaths in pointless

battles like this one
for Hamburger Hill."

[yelling]

NARRATOR: Although
US forces have fought

battles like Hamburger Hill
many times in the past,

the American public--

still traumatized by
the Tet Offensive,

and frustrated with
President Nixon

for not delivering the
peace he promised--

comes to see the battle
as representative

of the entire Vietnam War.

An unjustifiable loss
of American lives.

The cumulative effect of four
years of graphic news coverage,

an ever-increasing death
toll, and the building anger

over a seemingly endless
war, push some Americans

to look for an outlet
for their frustrations.

For the first time
in US history,

the American soldier will bear
the burden of the public's

disapproval.

KARL MARLANTES: And I remember
my last day so clearly,

because I landed in Da Nang.

And in Da Nang, it was like,
that was the airfield where you

went home from.

I was so filled with joy
that I'd sort of escaped.

I'd made it.

ARTHUR WIKNIK: Soon as
we get off the ground,

everybody starts
screaming and yelling.

Everything imaginable.

They're throwing stuff
around, pillows, everything.

Once we got airborne,
the pilot says,

"Gentlemen, if anybody wants
a last look at Vietnam,

I can fly up the coast
for a little bit."

And everybody yelled out
a collective obscenity

at the pilot, no.

KARL MARLANTES: Where my brother
picked me up at the airport,

and, you know, tearful reunion.

And then he said,
"Well, you know,

we've got to go outside now."

And he said, "I gotta
warn you, it's not going

to be very pleasant out there."

And I said, "What?"

And he said, "Well, there's kind
of trouble with protesters."

I thought, trouble?

I just came from Vietnam,
what's the problem.

And I just felt
like a million bucks.

I'm strolling down through
the terminal, my uniform,

my duffel bag, my
chest full of medals.

I'm so proud.

Nothing was going
to change that mood.

Until people started
looking at me.

We go out, and
we got in his car,

and these protesters
were pounding

on the car with the
bottoms of their signs,

and they were shouting at me.

And they were pounding
on the window,

and snarling, and
calling me names.

And that was my welcome home.

It was-- I was just
sort of stunned.

ARTHUR WIKNIK: And as
I'm looking around,

watching people, I see
some people whispering,

pointing at me.

And all that proud
patriotism I felt

was just being drained away.

And as that room filled
up, all the seats

were being filled,
except the one on my left

and the one on the right.

People would rather
sit on the floor

or stand up against the
wall than sit next to me.

I never felt so
alone, so unwanted,

uncared for in my life.

I just-- I just had to go home
and get out of that uniform.

Something I was so proud
of had become something

to be ashamed of.

[crying]

KARL MARLANTES: I just
had this sense of,

I could reach across
the street, and just

show you that I'm just me.

And that the people
that, you know,

you're-- you're protesting
about, and deriding are--

are just kids trying
to do a good job.

But there was no reaching
across the street.

[music playing]

ARTHUR WIKNIK: So after
my cousin picked me up

and we left the
airport, we drove home.

And soon as I got in
the house, my father

was sitting at the
table, his mouth dropped.

And they couldn't even--

they were speechless,
they couldn't talk.

So I said, "Where's mom?"

Says, "Well, she's sleeping."

"Sleeping?

It's 10:00."

So I go in there,
in the bedroom.

I said, "Mom, I'm home."

It was just so great to be home.