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I was assigned a listening
post at Con Thien in the fall.
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00:00:24,942 --> 00:00:28,867
That was like getting
a death sentence at a trial.
3
00:00:28,987 --> 00:00:31,285
Because that's just three
Marines out there with a radio.
4
00:00:32,783 --> 00:00:34,410
And that's the scariest thing
I did.
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00:00:34,535 --> 00:00:37,209
You're listening for the enemy.
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00:00:37,329 --> 00:00:40,333
They call you on the radio
every hour,
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00:00:40,457 --> 00:00:41,800
"Delta, Lima, Papa,
Three, Bravo,
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00:00:41,917 --> 00:00:45,262
"Delta, Lima, Papa, Three,
Bravo, this is Delta Three.
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00:00:45,379 --> 00:00:48,428
“If your sit rep is alpha
sierra, key your handset twice.
10
00:00:49,925 --> 00:00:51,485
"If your situation report
is all secure,
11
00:00:51,635 --> 00:00:53,182
break squelch twice
on the handset."
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00:00:55,305 --> 00:00:57,307
And if it's not, they keep
thinking you're asleep
13
00:00:57,432 --> 00:00:59,935
so they keep asking you, "If
your sit rep is alpha sierra,"
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00:01:00,060 --> 00:01:01,340
and then it finally
dawns on them
15
00:01:01,436 --> 00:01:03,985
maybe there's somebody too close
for you to say anything.
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00:01:04,106 --> 00:01:06,985
So then they say, "If your sit
rep is negative alpha sierra,
17
00:01:07,150 --> 00:01:08,493
key your handset once,"
18
00:01:08,610 --> 00:01:10,547
and you damn near squeeze
the handle off the, you know,
19
00:01:10,571 --> 00:01:13,666
and two on the radio
because they're so close
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00:01:13,824 --> 00:01:15,747
that you can hear them
whispering to one another.
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00:01:18,203 --> 00:01:19,580
And that's scary stuff.
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00:01:19,705 --> 00:01:20,831
That's real scary stuff.
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00:01:20,998 --> 00:01:24,593
And I'm scared of the dark,
still.
24
00:01:24,710 --> 00:01:27,509
I still got a night light.
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00:01:27,671 --> 00:01:30,845
When my kids were growing up,
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00:01:30,966 --> 00:01:34,561
that's the first time
they really found out
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00:01:34,678 --> 00:01:36,772
that Daddy'd been in a war
when they said,
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00:01:36,888 --> 00:01:39,357
"Well, why do we need to outgrow
our night lights?
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00:01:39,474 --> 00:01:40,817
Daddy's still got one."
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00:01:47,858 --> 00:01:51,954
Let the word go
forth from this time and place,
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00:01:52,070 --> 00:01:54,869
to friend and foe alike,
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00:01:55,032 --> 00:01:59,082
that the torch has been passed
to a new generation
33
00:01:59,202 --> 00:02:05,801
of Americans born in this
century, tempered by war,
34
00:02:05,917 --> 00:02:09,547
disciplined by a hard
and bitter peace,
35
00:02:09,671 --> 00:02:11,014
proud of our...
36
00:02:11,131 --> 00:02:12,883
I still believed, very much,
37
00:02:13,008 --> 00:02:17,559
in this concept
of an heroic America,
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00:02:17,721 --> 00:02:20,315
America being a really
special country,
39
00:02:20,432 --> 00:02:23,561
the best country in the world,
the best democracy,
40
00:02:23,727 --> 00:02:27,607
all the things that
we believe about it, which...
41
00:02:27,731 --> 00:02:29,825
and I didn't really see anything
wrong with that.
42
00:02:32,569 --> 00:02:37,075
I was sure that we were right
to be in Vietnam.
43
00:02:37,199 --> 00:02:39,293
You know, because it started
under Kennedy
44
00:02:39,409 --> 00:02:41,878
and, to me, JFK was God.
45
00:02:41,995 --> 00:02:45,420
Anything that he thought was
right, I thought was right.
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00:02:47,709 --> 00:02:51,759
At 43, John Fitzgerald
Kennedy was the youngest man
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00:02:51,922 --> 00:02:55,426
ever elected president
of the United States.
48
00:02:55,550 --> 00:02:57,894
He had promised bold
new leadership,
49
00:02:58,011 --> 00:03:01,265
and to his supporters his
inauguration seemed to signal
50
00:03:01,390 --> 00:03:04,109
a new day.
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00:03:04,226 --> 00:03:07,105
To those new states
whom we welcome
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00:03:07,270 --> 00:03:10,023
to the ranks of the free,
53
00:03:10,148 --> 00:03:16,030
we pledge our word that one form
of colonial control
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00:03:16,154 --> 00:03:18,577
shall not have passed away
55
00:03:18,699 --> 00:03:23,796
merely to be replaced
by afar more iron tyranny.
56
00:03:23,954 --> 00:03:29,006
We shall not always expect to
find them supporting our view.
57
00:03:29,126 --> 00:03:33,552
But we shall always hope to find
them strongly supporting
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00:03:33,672 --> 00:03:39,020
their own freedom and to
remember that, in the past,
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00:03:39,136 --> 00:03:42,561
those who foolishly sought power
60
00:03:42,681 --> 00:03:46,936
by riding the back of the tiger
ended up inside.
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00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:57,613
The new president
gathered around him
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00:03:57,738 --> 00:04:01,459
an extraordinary set of advisors
who shared his determination
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00:04:01,575 --> 00:04:06,547
to confront communism, including
Secretary of State Dean Rusk,
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00:04:06,663 --> 00:04:10,384
National Security Advisor
McGeorge Bundy,
65
00:04:10,500 --> 00:04:13,128
his deputy Walt Rostow,
66
00:04:13,253 --> 00:04:17,508
special military advisor
General Maxwell Taylor,
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00:04:17,674 --> 00:04:21,178
and Secretary of Defense
Robert McNamara,
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00:04:21,303 --> 00:04:22,850
who had given up his post
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00:04:23,013 --> 00:04:26,893
as president of the Ford Motor
Company to serve his country.
70
00:04:27,017 --> 00:04:33,024
He was a pioneer in the field
of systems analysis.
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00:04:33,148 --> 00:04:35,901
Like the president
who picked them,
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00:04:36,026 --> 00:04:40,122
all of Kennedy's men had served
during World War II.
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00:04:40,238 --> 00:04:42,536
Each had absorbed what
they all believed
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00:04:42,657 --> 00:04:44,500
was its central lesson:
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00:04:44,618 --> 00:04:48,589
ambitious dictatorships needed
to be halted in their tracks
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00:04:48,705 --> 00:04:51,879
before they constituted
a serious danger
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00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:54,002
to the peace of the world.
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00:04:54,127 --> 00:04:57,301
Meanwhile, in South Vietnam,
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00:04:57,422 --> 00:04:59,390
the National Liberation Front-
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00:04:59,549 --> 00:05:02,302
labeled by its enemies
the Viet Cong...
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00:05:02,427 --> 00:05:04,680
was determined to overthrow
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00:05:04,805 --> 00:05:07,854
the anticommunist and
increasingly autocratic
83
00:05:07,974 --> 00:05:11,148
government of Ngo Dinh Diem.
84
00:05:11,269 --> 00:05:15,240
In North Vietnam,
unbeknownst to Washington,
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00:05:15,398 --> 00:05:19,244
Ho Chi Minh, the father
of Vietnamese independence,
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00:05:19,402 --> 00:05:22,576
was now sharing power
with a more aggressive leader,
87
00:05:22,697 --> 00:05:25,576
Le Duan, who was even
more impatient
88
00:05:25,700 --> 00:05:28,078
to reunify his country.
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00:05:48,473 --> 00:05:51,943
None of us knew
anything about Vietnam.
90
00:05:52,102 --> 00:05:56,152
Vietnam in those days was
a piece on a chessboard,
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00:05:56,273 --> 00:05:58,321
a strategic chessboard,
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00:05:58,441 --> 00:06:02,287
not a place with a culture
and a history
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00:06:02,404 --> 00:06:07,831
that we would have
an impossible time changing,
94
00:06:07,951 --> 00:06:10,795
even with the mighty force
of the United States.
95
00:06:10,954 --> 00:06:15,460
Over the next three years,
the United States would struggle
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00:06:15,584 --> 00:06:19,964
to understand the complicated
country it had come to save,
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00:06:20,088 --> 00:06:23,137
fail to appreciate
the enemy's resolve,
98
00:06:23,258 --> 00:06:26,853
and misread how the South
Vietnamese people really felt
99
00:06:26,970 --> 00:06:28,938
about their government.
100
00:06:30,849 --> 00:06:33,022
The new president
would find himself caught
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00:06:33,143 --> 00:06:37,740
between the momentum of war
and the desire for peace,
102
00:06:37,856 --> 00:06:40,826
between humility and hubris,
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00:06:40,942 --> 00:06:47,325
between idealism and expediency,
between the truth and a lie.
104
00:07:07,552 --> 00:07:10,726
And so, my fellow Americans,
105
00:07:10,847 --> 00:07:15,853
ask not what your country
can do for you,
106
00:07:15,977 --> 00:07:18,230
ask what you can do
for your country.
107
00:07:25,111 --> 00:07:28,957
I grew up in
Missouri, near Kansas City,
108
00:07:29,074 --> 00:07:32,123
a little community
called Fairmount.
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00:07:32,243 --> 00:07:33,665
I was born in 1948.
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00:07:33,787 --> 00:07:36,256
And there were lots of kids
being born in those days
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00:07:36,373 --> 00:07:38,017
from the guys who were lucky
enough to come home
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00:07:38,041 --> 00:07:39,041
from World War II.
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00:07:40,251 --> 00:07:43,676
My dad was a pilot
in the Army Air Corps.
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00:07:43,797 --> 00:07:46,471
And all of dad's friends
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00:07:46,591 --> 00:07:49,595
were World War II vets
or Korean vets.
116
00:07:49,719 --> 00:07:52,313
And all of my male teachers
were veterans.
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00:07:52,430 --> 00:07:54,808
And even my pastor
had been a chaplain.
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00:07:56,393 --> 00:08:01,069
Well, they were my heroes,
and I wanted to be like them.
119
00:08:08,154 --> 00:08:10,998
For all of John
Kennedy's soaring rhetoric,
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00:08:11,116 --> 00:08:13,665
for all the talent
he gathered around him,
121
00:08:13,785 --> 00:08:17,039
the first months of his
presidency did not go well.
122
00:08:17,163 --> 00:08:21,464
He approved a CIA-sponsored
invasion of Cuba
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00:08:21,584 --> 00:08:26,055
at the Bay of Pigs
that ended in disaster.
124
00:08:26,172 --> 00:08:27,924
He felt he'd been bullied
125
00:08:28,091 --> 00:08:30,389
by Soviet premier
Nikita Khrushchev
126
00:08:30,510 --> 00:08:32,763
at a summit meeting in Vienna.
127
00:08:32,887 --> 00:08:35,106
He was unable
to keep the Soviets
128
00:08:35,265 --> 00:08:37,484
from building the Berlin Wall.
129
00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:41,730
And in Southeast Asia,
he refused to intervene
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00:08:41,855 --> 00:08:45,029
against a communist
insurrection in Laos.
131
00:08:45,150 --> 00:08:49,701
Critics accused him of being
immature, indecisive,
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00:08:49,821 --> 00:08:53,416
inadequate to the task of
combating what seemed to be
133
00:08:53,533 --> 00:08:55,911
a mounting communist threat.
134
00:08:56,036 --> 00:08:59,461
"There are just so many
concessions that we can make
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00:08:59,581 --> 00:09:01,879
in one year and
survive politically,"
136
00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:06,631
he confided to an aide
in the spring of 1961.
137
00:09:06,796 --> 00:09:11,973
In South Vietnam,
Kennedy felt he had to act.
138
00:09:12,135 --> 00:09:14,684
After the president received
reports
139
00:09:14,804 --> 00:09:17,273
that the Viet Cong
might be in control
140
00:09:17,390 --> 00:09:21,315
of more than half the densely
populated Mekong Delta,
141
00:09:21,436 --> 00:09:25,441
he dispatched General
Maxwell Taylor and Walt Rostow
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00:09:25,565 --> 00:09:27,613
to Vietnam.
143
00:09:27,734 --> 00:09:31,455
They urged him to commit
American ground troops.
144
00:09:31,571 --> 00:09:33,118
Kennedy refused.
145
00:09:33,239 --> 00:09:36,834
It would be like taking
a first drink, he said-
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00:09:36,993 --> 00:09:39,997
the effect would soon wear off
and there would be demands
147
00:09:40,163 --> 00:09:43,463
for another
and another and another.
148
00:09:43,583 --> 00:09:46,928
Instead, in the midst
of a cold war,
149
00:09:47,045 --> 00:09:50,174
with its constant risk
of nuclear confrontation,
150
00:09:50,340 --> 00:09:53,514
the president supported
a new “flexible" way
151
00:09:53,676 --> 00:09:59,149
to confront and contain
communism: limited war.
152
00:09:59,265 --> 00:10:03,941
This is another type of warfare,
new in its intensity,
153
00:10:04,062 --> 00:10:06,565
ancient in its origin...
154
00:10:06,689 --> 00:10:11,536
war by guerrillas, subversives,
insurgents, assassins;
155
00:10:11,653 --> 00:10:15,954
war by ambush
instead of by combat;
156
00:10:16,074 --> 00:10:18,577
by infiltration
instead of aggression.
157
00:10:20,370 --> 00:10:22,714
To fight his "limited wars,"
158
00:10:22,872 --> 00:10:25,716
Kennedy hoped to use
the elite Green Berets,
159
00:10:25,834 --> 00:10:29,304
special forces trained
in guerrilla warfare,
160
00:10:29,420 --> 00:10:31,923
counterinsurgency.
161
00:10:32,048 --> 00:10:36,724
They were meant to be dispatched
to hotspots around the world.
162
00:10:36,886 --> 00:10:39,560
Khrushchev said,
"We're not going to destroy you
163
00:10:39,722 --> 00:10:41,065
with nuclear weapons,
164
00:10:41,224 --> 00:10:44,273
we're going to destroy you with
wars of national liberation."
165
00:10:44,394 --> 00:10:46,271
Everybody talked about the fact
166
00:10:46,396 --> 00:10:51,072
that communism was spreading
and it had to be stopped.
167
00:10:51,192 --> 00:10:53,820
You went to Command and
General Staff College
168
00:10:53,945 --> 00:10:57,415
and you were playing
on maps with nuclear weapons
169
00:10:57,574 --> 00:10:59,121
and so forth.
170
00:10:59,242 --> 00:11:04,089
And I escaped from that by
getting into Special Forces.
171
00:11:04,205 --> 00:11:06,799
So that instead of planning
what we were going to do
172
00:11:06,916 --> 00:11:11,843
if World War III broke out,
we were actually doing stuff.
173
00:11:13,423 --> 00:11:16,768
And Vietnam was a place where
we were going to draw the line.
174
00:11:18,428 --> 00:11:20,101
Kennedy sent the Green Berets
175
00:11:20,263 --> 00:11:22,436
to the Central Highlands
of Vietnam
176
00:11:22,599 --> 00:11:26,103
to organize mountain tribes
to fight the Viet Cong
177
00:11:26,269 --> 00:11:30,900
and to undertake covert missions
to sabotage their supply bases
178
00:11:31,024 --> 00:11:33,994
in Laos and Cambodia.
179
00:11:34,110 --> 00:11:38,581
But Kennedy understood
that counterinsurgency alone
180
00:11:38,698 --> 00:11:39,745
would never be enough,
181
00:11:39,866 --> 00:11:43,336
so he doubled funding
for South Vietnam's army,
182
00:11:43,453 --> 00:11:48,710
dispatched helicopters and APCs,
armored personnel carriers.
183
00:11:51,753 --> 00:11:55,474
Kennedy also authorized
the use of napalm
184
00:11:55,590 --> 00:11:59,970
and the spraying of defoliants
to deny cover to the Viet Cong
185
00:12:00,136 --> 00:12:03,891
and destroy the crops
that fed them.
186
00:12:04,015 --> 00:12:07,064
A whole array of chemicals
was used,
187
00:12:07,185 --> 00:12:10,564
including one named
for the color of the stripes
188
00:12:10,688 --> 00:12:16,616
on the 55-gallon drums in which
it came- "Agent Orange."
189
00:12:16,736 --> 00:12:20,206
And the president quietly
continued to increase
190
00:12:20,323 --> 00:12:23,167
the number of American
military advisors.
191
00:12:23,326 --> 00:12:28,548
Within two years, the number
he had inherited would grow
192
00:12:28,665 --> 00:12:31,839
to 11,300,
193
00:12:32,001 --> 00:12:34,424
empowered not only to teach
194
00:12:34,545 --> 00:12:37,469
the Army of the Republic
of Vietnam-the ARVN-
195
00:12:37,590 --> 00:12:39,513
to fight a conventional war,
196
00:12:39,676 --> 00:12:41,804
but to accompany them
into battle,
197
00:12:41,928 --> 00:12:45,432
a violation of the agreement
that had divided Vietnam
198
00:12:45,556 --> 00:12:46,556
back in 1954.
199
00:12:50,311 --> 00:12:54,236
The administration did its best
to hide from the American people
200
00:12:54,357 --> 00:12:56,701
the scale of the buildup
that was taking place
201
00:12:56,818 --> 00:12:58,536
on the other side of the world,
202
00:12:58,695 --> 00:13:01,414
fearful that the public
would not support
203
00:13:01,531 --> 00:13:08,380
the more active role advisors
had begun to play in combat.
204
00:13:08,496 --> 00:13:11,045
Mr. President, a Republican
National Committee publication
205
00:13:11,207 --> 00:13:14,461
has said that you are...
have been less than candid
206
00:13:14,585 --> 00:13:18,385
with the American people as
to how deeply we are involved
207
00:13:18,506 --> 00:13:20,258
in Vietnam.
208
00:13:20,383 --> 00:13:22,886
Could you throw
any more light on that?
209
00:13:23,011 --> 00:13:25,011
We have increased our assistance
to the government,
210
00:13:25,096 --> 00:13:26,814
its logistics.
211
00:13:26,931 --> 00:13:28,774
We have not sent combat troops
there.
212
00:13:28,891 --> 00:13:32,065
Though the training missions
that we have there
213
00:13:32,186 --> 00:13:34,905
have been instructed if
they are fired upon to...
214
00:13:35,064 --> 00:13:37,908
they are, would of course, fire
back, to protect themselves.
215
00:13:38,026 --> 00:13:39,744
But we have not sent
combat troops
216
00:13:39,861 --> 00:13:42,080
in the generally understood
sense of the word.
217
00:13:42,238 --> 00:13:47,870
So that I-I feel that we are
being as frank as the...
218
00:13:47,994 --> 00:13:49,166
as we can be.
219
00:13:49,287 --> 00:13:50,789
I think we...
what I have said to you
220
00:13:50,913 --> 00:13:53,962
is a description
of our activity there.
221
00:13:58,588 --> 00:14:01,933
I was a child of the Cold War.
222
00:14:02,050 --> 00:14:05,475
When I got off the plane in
Saigon on a humid evening
223
00:14:05,595 --> 00:14:07,438
in April 1962,
224
00:14:07,555 --> 00:14:11,401
I really believed in all
the ideology of the Cold War.
225
00:14:11,517 --> 00:14:12,518
On...
226
00:14:12,643 --> 00:14:15,112
That if we lost South Vietnam,
227
00:14:15,271 --> 00:14:17,671
that the rest of Southeast Asia
would fall to the communists.
228
00:14:17,732 --> 00:14:21,487
There was an international
communist conspiracy.
229
00:14:21,611 --> 00:14:24,080
We believed fervently
in this stuff.
230
00:14:24,197 --> 00:14:28,043
Neil Sheehan was
a 25-year-old reporter
231
00:14:28,159 --> 00:14:31,459
for United Press International,
UPI.
232
00:14:31,579 --> 00:14:35,629
He had served three years
in the Army in Korea and Japan
233
00:14:35,750 --> 00:14:38,469
before deciding to become
a newspaperman.
234
00:14:38,586 --> 00:14:42,762
Vietnam was his first full-time
overseas assignment,
235
00:14:42,882 --> 00:14:44,759
and his only worry,
he remembered,
236
00:14:44,884 --> 00:14:47,512
was that he would get there
too late and miss out
237
00:14:47,637 --> 00:14:49,605
on the big story.
238
00:14:49,722 --> 00:14:53,818
Sheehan and other reporters rode
along as the ARVN mounted
239
00:14:53,976 --> 00:14:57,480
a series of helicopter assaults
on enemy strongholds
240
00:14:57,605 --> 00:14:59,903
in the Mekong Delta
and elsewhere
241
00:15:00,024 --> 00:15:03,369
and brought terror
to the Viet Cong.
242
00:15:03,486 --> 00:15:06,490
American pilots were
at the controls.
243
00:15:06,614 --> 00:15:10,994
It was a crusade
and it was thrilling.
244
00:15:11,119 --> 00:15:13,588
And you'd climb aboard
the helicopters
245
00:15:13,704 --> 00:15:16,958
with the Vietnamese soldiers who
were being taken out to battle.
246
00:15:17,083 --> 00:15:18,630
And they'd take off.
247
00:15:18,751 --> 00:15:21,345
And they'd contour-fly, they'd
skim across the rice paddies
248
00:15:21,504 --> 00:15:23,632
at about three or four feet
above the paddies,
249
00:15:23,756 --> 00:15:27,602
and then pop up over the tree
lines that lined the fields.
250
00:15:27,718 --> 00:15:28,890
It was thrilling.
251
00:15:29,011 --> 00:15:30,322
I mean it was absolutely
thrilling.
252
00:15:30,346 --> 00:15:33,350
And you believed
in what was happening.
253
00:15:33,474 --> 00:15:35,522
I mean you had the sense
that we're fighting here
254
00:15:35,643 --> 00:15:39,398
and some day we'll win, and
this country will be a better,
255
00:15:39,522 --> 00:15:40,722
better country for our coming.
256
00:15:42,525 --> 00:15:45,369
The new M-113
armored personnel carriers
257
00:15:45,528 --> 00:15:49,158
were capable of churning across
rivers and rice paddies
258
00:15:49,282 --> 00:15:51,034
and right through
the earthen dikes
259
00:15:51,159 --> 00:15:53,412
that separated one field
from the next.
260
00:15:54,871 --> 00:15:59,877
The Viet Cong had nothing
with which to stop them.
261
00:16:00,001 --> 00:16:05,679
We were just overwhelming
them with force, with firepower.
262
00:16:05,798 --> 00:16:09,052
And the firefights would be over
in a pretty short time.
263
00:16:09,218 --> 00:16:11,846
We have some
people running along the dikes.
264
00:16:11,971 --> 00:16:14,815
Actually, the canal
is perpendicular
265
00:16:14,932 --> 00:16:16,309
to the one you're attacking now.
266
00:16:16,434 --> 00:16:20,280
They have on black uniforms, and
I estimate approximately 3-0.
267
00:16:20,396 --> 00:16:22,945
Do you have them in sight?
Over.
268
00:16:23,065 --> 00:16:25,238
That's what was
causing us to win, see.
269
00:16:25,401 --> 00:16:28,496
And we were winning
one after the other.
270
00:16:28,613 --> 00:16:32,163
And we were not meeting
a heck of a lot of resistance.
271
00:16:32,283 --> 00:16:36,038
Captain James Scanlon had
been stationed in West Germany
272
00:16:36,162 --> 00:16:39,257
and had seen for himself
the brutality with which
273
00:16:39,373 --> 00:16:41,876
the communist East Germans
dealt with anyone
274
00:16:42,001 --> 00:16:45,426
who dared try to escape
to the West.
275
00:16:45,588 --> 00:16:47,761
He was now in the Mekong Delta,
276
00:16:47,924 --> 00:16:50,848
an advisor to the 7th Division
of the ARVN,
277
00:16:50,968 --> 00:16:55,644
and had begun to see evidence
of Viet Cong brutality as well.
278
00:16:58,935 --> 00:17:02,485
Those of us who talked to
the people who fled East Germany,
279
00:17:02,605 --> 00:17:06,610
we saw the need to stop
the growth of communism,
280
00:17:06,734 --> 00:17:10,113
to stop the dominoes
from being tumbled.
281
00:17:10,279 --> 00:17:12,782
That was a worthy cause.
282
00:17:14,283 --> 00:17:17,958
As the ARVN and their
advisors pursued the Viet Cong,
283
00:17:18,120 --> 00:17:20,714
the government of Ngo Dinh Diem
had launched
284
00:17:20,831 --> 00:17:25,132
an ambitious program meant to
gain control of the countryside
285
00:17:25,253 --> 00:17:27,881
by concentrating
the rural population
286
00:17:28,005 --> 00:17:30,554
into thousands of fortified
settlements,
287
00:17:30,675 --> 00:17:34,976
ringed with barbed wire
and moats and bamboo spikes
288
00:17:35,137 --> 00:17:37,765
meant to keep out the Viet Cong.
289
00:17:37,890 --> 00:17:42,236
They were called strategic
hamlets, part of the effort
290
00:17:42,353 --> 00:17:45,482
to win the hearts and minds,
and loyalty,
291
00:17:45,606 --> 00:17:46,983
of the Vietnamese people.
292
00:17:47,108 --> 00:17:51,659
The French had tried something
like it a decade before.
293
00:17:51,821 --> 00:17:55,701
They had called it pacification.
294
00:17:55,825 --> 00:17:58,374
President
Diem's strategic hamlet program
295
00:17:58,494 --> 00:18:00,838
is making substantial progress.
296
00:18:00,997 --> 00:18:05,594
About 1,600
of the some 14,000 hamlets
297
00:18:05,710 --> 00:18:09,260
have been fortified to date.
298
00:18:09,380 --> 00:18:11,553
By the summer of 1962,
299
00:18:11,674 --> 00:18:15,019
news from South Vietnam
seemed so promising
300
00:18:15,136 --> 00:18:18,857
that Defense Secretary
Robert McNamara made sure
301
00:18:19,015 --> 00:18:22,019
the Pentagon was prepared
to implement a plan
302
00:18:22,184 --> 00:18:25,609
for a gradual withdrawal
of American advisors
303
00:18:25,730 --> 00:18:28,279
to be completed by 1965.
304
00:18:28,399 --> 00:18:31,903
So far as most Americans knew,
305
00:18:32,028 --> 00:18:34,872
the United States was achieving
its goal:
306
00:18:34,989 --> 00:18:38,209
a stable, independent,
anticommunist state
307
00:18:38,367 --> 00:18:40,415
in South Vietnam.
308
00:18:40,536 --> 00:18:44,962
It was "a struggle this country
cannot shirk,"
309
00:18:45,082 --> 00:18:46,834
the New York Times said,
310
00:18:46,959 --> 00:18:51,339
and the United States seemed
to be winning it.
311
00:18:53,049 --> 00:18:56,895
But that same summer,
Ho Chi Minh traveled to Beijing
312
00:18:57,053 --> 00:19:00,523
in search of more help
from the Chinese.
313
00:19:00,640 --> 00:19:03,894
The American buildup in
South Vietnam had alarmed him
314
00:19:04,018 --> 00:19:06,191
and the other leaders in Hanoi.
315
00:19:06,312 --> 00:19:09,566
Ho told the Chinese
that American attacks
316
00:19:09,690 --> 00:19:15,447
on North Vietnam itself now
seemed only a matter of time.
317
00:19:15,571 --> 00:19:19,576
The Chinese promised to equip
and arm tens of thousands
318
00:19:19,700 --> 00:19:22,670
of Vietnamese soldiers.
319
00:19:22,787 --> 00:19:26,257
Meanwhile, the Politburo
in Hanoi had directed
320
00:19:26,415 --> 00:19:29,635
that every able-bodied
North Vietnamese man
321
00:19:29,752 --> 00:19:34,599
be required to serve
in the armed forces.
322
00:19:41,597 --> 00:19:43,770
Inspired by
their president's call,
323
00:19:43,933 --> 00:19:47,107
thousands of young Americans
would join the Peace Corps
324
00:19:47,228 --> 00:19:51,028
and other organizations to help
project American ideals
325
00:19:51,148 --> 00:19:53,492
and goodwill around the world.
326
00:20:05,454 --> 00:20:10,130
We were not only
there in Vietnam to stop communism,
327
00:20:10,292 --> 00:20:14,013
but there had to be
something positive.
328
00:20:14,130 --> 00:20:17,350
We're trying to find out what
the Vietnamese people want
329
00:20:17,466 --> 00:20:20,060
and to help them get it.
330
00:20:20,177 --> 00:20:21,394
And that was very simple
331
00:20:21,512 --> 00:20:23,514
but, if you think about it,
also very complex.
332
00:20:23,639 --> 00:20:25,983
But it went to the heart,
I thought,
333
00:20:26,142 --> 00:20:28,486
of what we were trying to do.
334
00:20:30,521 --> 00:20:33,741
Pete Hunting, a
22-year-old from Oklahoma City,
335
00:20:33,858 --> 00:20:37,408
would go to Vietnam right after
college to do what he could
336
00:20:37,528 --> 00:20:40,748
to help poor villagers
in the countryside.
337
00:20:40,865 --> 00:20:43,288
# I was a soldier in the fight #
338
00:20:43,409 --> 00:20:45,628
# And I fought till we won #
339
00:20:45,745 --> 00:20:49,795
# My uniform's
my dirty overhauls. #
340
00:20:49,915 --> 00:20:51,667
Dear Margo,
341
00:20:51,834 --> 00:20:54,178
I finally finished up my work
in Phan Rang last week.
342
00:20:54,336 --> 00:20:56,179
Had spent a month
working on a windmill
343
00:20:56,297 --> 00:20:58,265
I'd promised the people
of one hamlet.
344
00:20:58,382 --> 00:21:02,888
Cost a lot of money, too, which
I paid out of my own pocket.
345
00:21:03,012 --> 00:21:06,767
# Well, I'll give you my
sweat, I'll give you my blood. #
346
00:21:06,891 --> 00:21:08,985
I'm in soaring spirits today
347
00:21:09,101 --> 00:21:12,230
despite all the natural
disasters, political intrigues,
348
00:21:12,354 --> 00:21:14,356
and subversive activities.
349
00:21:14,482 --> 00:21:16,860
Pete Hunting worked
350
00:21:16,984 --> 00:21:19,737
for the International
Voluntary Services,
351
00:21:19,862 --> 00:21:23,583
a nonprofit organization
committed to improving
352
00:21:23,699 --> 00:21:26,794
agriculture, education,
and public health.
353
00:21:26,911 --> 00:21:30,040
He was one of hundreds
of dedicated aid workers
354
00:21:30,206 --> 00:21:32,709
in South Vietnam.
355
00:21:32,833 --> 00:21:36,554
# My hoe is my gun. #
356
00:21:36,712 --> 00:21:38,940
Latest
news on this side of the world
357
00:21:38,964 --> 00:21:41,026
is that I'll almost definitely
be extending over here
358
00:21:41,050 --> 00:21:42,893
for another two years,
359
00:21:43,052 --> 00:21:45,225
providing the country stays
in one piece that long.
360
00:21:48,307 --> 00:21:50,401
Two years after he arrived,
361
00:21:50,559 --> 00:21:52,903
Pete Hunting was driving
in the Mekong Delta
362
00:21:53,062 --> 00:21:55,815
when he ran into
a Viet Cong ambush.
363
00:21:55,940 --> 00:21:59,410
He was shot five times
in the head...
364
00:22:01,153 --> 00:22:03,076
the first American
civilian volunteer
365
00:22:03,239 --> 00:22:05,867
to be killed in Vietnam.
366
00:22:34,395 --> 00:22:36,648
People used to joke in Vietnam
367
00:22:36,772 --> 00:22:38,399
about winning the hearts
and minds.
368
00:22:38,524 --> 00:22:42,028
And you hear that expression,
but that should not be a joke.
369
00:22:42,152 --> 00:22:44,325
It's a serious, serious problem.
370
00:22:44,446 --> 00:22:46,869
If you pull off
a military operation,
371
00:22:46,991 --> 00:22:50,586
and it may be successful
on the military basis,
372
00:22:50,703 --> 00:22:53,547
but you destroy a village,
373
00:22:53,664 --> 00:22:57,385
then you've created
a village of resistance.
374
00:22:57,501 --> 00:23:01,301
Few advisers
understood the unique challenges
375
00:23:01,422 --> 00:23:04,141
of fighting
an insurgency in Vietnam
376
00:23:04,258 --> 00:23:08,138
better than Lieutenant
Colonel John Paul Vann.
377
00:23:08,262 --> 00:23:10,856
A career soldier from Virginia,
378
00:23:10,973 --> 00:23:13,146
he was the senior
American advisor
379
00:23:13,267 --> 00:23:17,192
to the 7th ARVN Division
in the Mekong Delta.
380
00:23:17,313 --> 00:23:21,784
Small, wiry and abrasive,
John Paul Vann was convinced
381
00:23:21,901 --> 00:23:25,997
he knew how to defeat
the Viet Cong.
382
00:23:26,113 --> 00:23:30,619
John Paul Vann was
simply the most remarkable soldier
383
00:23:30,743 --> 00:23:31,790
I ever met.
384
00:23:31,911 --> 00:23:33,754
Period.
385
00:23:33,871 --> 00:23:38,593
The biggest challenge
of John Paul Vann's life
386
00:23:38,709 --> 00:23:44,557
was somehow saving Vietnam,
winning.
387
00:23:44,673 --> 00:23:47,552
That, to him,
was the ultimate challenge.
388
00:23:50,179 --> 00:23:51,726
When it became clear to Vann
389
00:23:51,847 --> 00:23:54,691
that the tactics the Americans
had taught the ARVN
390
00:23:54,850 --> 00:23:57,899
were beginning to make more
enemies than friends,
391
00:23:58,020 --> 00:24:02,617
he sought out newspapermen
to spread the word.
392
00:24:02,733 --> 00:24:06,579
He was able to
explain to us what was going on.
393
00:24:06,695 --> 00:24:09,995
The important thing was not
to alienate the population.
394
00:24:10,115 --> 00:24:12,959
That if you got sniper fire
from a hamlet,
395
00:24:13,077 --> 00:24:15,375
you sent in riflemen
to take out the sniper.
396
00:24:15,496 --> 00:24:17,777
You didn't shell the place,
because you were going to kill
397
00:24:17,873 --> 00:24:20,126
women and kids
and destroy houses
398
00:24:20,250 --> 00:24:22,719
and you were going to turn
the population against you.
399
00:24:25,005 --> 00:24:28,225
Most press coverage
of Vietnam was upbeat
400
00:24:28,384 --> 00:24:31,012
in the tradition
of previous wars.
401
00:24:31,136 --> 00:24:35,892
But a handful of young reporters
including Neil Sheehan,
402
00:24:36,058 --> 00:24:38,481
David Halberstam
of the New York Times,
403
00:24:38,602 --> 00:24:41,105
and Malcolm Browne
of the Associated Press,
404
00:24:41,230 --> 00:24:44,985
who spent time in the field
with officers like Vann,
405
00:24:45,109 --> 00:24:49,114
were beginning to see that
from the Vietnamese countryside,
406
00:24:49,238 --> 00:24:51,411
things looked very different
than they did
407
00:24:51,532 --> 00:24:55,287
from the press offices
in Washington or Saigon.
408
00:24:55,411 --> 00:24:59,587
So it was terribly important
that we not only win the war
409
00:24:59,748 --> 00:25:02,467
but that we as reporters report
the truth
410
00:25:02,584 --> 00:25:05,428
that would help to win the war.
411
00:25:05,546 --> 00:25:08,550
We were very fervent in wanting
to report the truth
412
00:25:08,674 --> 00:25:11,723
because it was very important
to the welfare of our country
413
00:25:11,844 --> 00:25:13,141
and to the welfare of the world.
414
00:25:15,305 --> 00:25:18,730
Sheehan and his colleagues
began asking tough questions
415
00:25:18,851 --> 00:25:23,778
about what constituted progress,
what victory would look like,
416
00:25:23,897 --> 00:25:26,150
and if the people
in the countryside,
417
00:25:26,275 --> 00:25:29,905
where 80% of South Vietnam's
population lived,
418
00:25:30,029 --> 00:25:34,785
could ever trust the government
in Saigon.
419
00:25:34,908 --> 00:25:37,878
I remember going, during
one of Robert McNamaras visits,
420
00:25:37,995 --> 00:25:40,965
out to one of these hamlets.
421
00:25:41,081 --> 00:25:42,600
The Vietnamese general
who commanded the area
422
00:25:42,624 --> 00:25:44,185
was telling McNamara what
a wonderful thing this was.
423
00:25:44,209 --> 00:25:46,678
And the-the... some of these
farmers were down
424
00:25:46,795 --> 00:25:50,425
digging a ditch around the...
around the hamlet.
425
00:25:50,549 --> 00:25:53,849
And I looked at their faces
and they were really angry.
426
00:25:55,637 --> 00:25:57,184
I mean it was very obvious to me
427
00:25:57,306 --> 00:26:00,059
that if these people could,
they'd cut our throats.
428
00:26:04,480 --> 00:26:08,405
Farmers resented being
forced to abandon their homes
429
00:26:08,525 --> 00:26:10,948
and move to strategic hamlets.
430
00:26:11,070 --> 00:26:15,041
Corrupt officials
siphoned off funds.
431
00:26:15,157 --> 00:26:17,535
And villagers blamed
the Diem regime
432
00:26:17,659 --> 00:26:21,505
for failing to protect them
from guerrilla attacks.
433
00:26:21,663 --> 00:26:26,794
As the people's anger grew, so
did the ranks of the Viet Cong.
434
00:26:26,919 --> 00:26:31,174
It turned out that the
Viet Cong were recruiting men
435
00:26:31,340 --> 00:26:34,719
right out of those strategic...
so-called strategic hamlets.
436
00:26:34,843 --> 00:26:36,845
And then the whole program
fell apart.
437
00:27:00,744 --> 00:27:04,544
Nguyen Ngoc's father was
a postal clerk south of Danang.
438
00:27:04,665 --> 00:27:09,136
His brothers and sisters taught
in South Vietnamese schools.
439
00:27:09,253 --> 00:27:12,883
But he joined the revolution,
and as a political officer,
440
00:27:13,048 --> 00:27:16,894
wrote poems, songs, and slogans
to inspire the people
441
00:27:17,010 --> 00:27:21,481
in the countryside
to support the Viet Cong.
442
00:27:21,598 --> 00:27:26,104
The Viet Cong cadre
would come in and talk to them
443
00:27:26,228 --> 00:27:30,984
and their message is usually,
444
00:27:31,108 --> 00:27:33,577
which means "turn your grief
into action.
445
00:27:33,735 --> 00:27:36,079
"Do something about it.
446
00:27:36,238 --> 00:27:38,115
"Join us.
447
00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:39,583
"We'll fight together.
448
00:27:39,741 --> 00:27:44,212
"We'll liberate the country from
this corrupt, unjust government.
449
00:27:44,329 --> 00:27:46,206
"We'll throw out the foreigners.
450
00:27:46,331 --> 00:27:48,004
"We'll reunify the country.
451
00:27:48,125 --> 00:27:51,174
"And we'll bring in
this great regime
452
00:27:51,295 --> 00:27:52,797
"that will take care of you
453
00:27:52,921 --> 00:27:54,719
and bring economic
and social justice."
454
00:27:56,842 --> 00:27:59,937
The Viet Cong ran
rival local governments,
455
00:28:00,053 --> 00:28:03,774
complete with their own tax
collectors and school teachers,
456
00:28:03,891 --> 00:28:08,271
spies and propagandists,
and province chiefs.
457
00:28:10,898 --> 00:28:13,071
To make matters worse,
458
00:28:13,192 --> 00:28:16,947
ARVN troops and American
advisors now found themselves
459
00:28:17,070 --> 00:28:19,949
confronted by a new threat:
460
00:28:20,073 --> 00:28:23,202
battalions of well-armed
Viet Cong soldiers,
461
00:28:23,327 --> 00:28:26,456
as well as by local guerrillas.
462
00:28:26,622 --> 00:28:28,795
We'd armed them.
463
00:28:28,916 --> 00:28:32,216
You could hear the arming
of the Viet Cong.
464
00:28:32,336 --> 00:28:35,761
Back in early '62, they only had
one machine gun per battalion.
465
00:28:37,049 --> 00:28:38,471
It was sporadic fire.
466
00:28:38,634 --> 00:28:42,480
Then, as they captured more and
more of these American arms,
467
00:28:42,638 --> 00:28:44,390
when you made contact, it fi...
468
00:28:44,514 --> 00:28:46,733
it would build up into
a drumfire of automatic
469
00:28:46,850 --> 00:28:48,272
and semi-automatic weapons.
470
00:28:55,067 --> 00:28:58,162
Secretary McNamara
decided that he would draw up
471
00:28:58,278 --> 00:29:00,997
some kind of a chart
to determine
472
00:29:01,156 --> 00:29:03,955
whether we were winning or not.
473
00:29:04,076 --> 00:29:06,670
And he was putting things in
474
00:29:06,787 --> 00:29:09,506
like numbers of weapons
recovered,
475
00:29:09,665 --> 00:29:11,884
numbers of Viet Cong killed.
476
00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:14,344
Very statistical.
477
00:29:16,922 --> 00:29:19,300
And he asked Edward Lansdale,
478
00:29:19,424 --> 00:29:23,145
who was then in the Pentagon
as head of Special Operations,
479
00:29:23,262 --> 00:29:25,230
to come down and look at this.
480
00:29:25,347 --> 00:29:29,477
And so Lansdale did and he said,
"There's something missing."
481
00:29:29,601 --> 00:29:32,775
And McNamara said, "What?"
482
00:29:32,896 --> 00:29:36,400
And Lansdale said, "The feelings
of the Vietnamese people."
483
00:29:36,525 --> 00:29:40,371
You couldn't reduce this
to a statistic.
484
00:29:40,487 --> 00:29:45,038
Robert McNamara had
vowed to make America's military
485
00:29:45,158 --> 00:29:46,501
"cost-effective."
486
00:29:46,618 --> 00:29:50,293
He demanded that everything
be quantified.
487
00:29:50,414 --> 00:29:54,214
In Saigon,
General Paul D. Harkins,
488
00:29:54,334 --> 00:29:57,588
head of the Military Assistance
Command, Vietnam,
489
00:29:57,713 --> 00:30:00,933
known as MACV,
dutifully complied.
490
00:30:01,049 --> 00:30:05,646
He and his staff generated
mountains of daily, weekly,
491
00:30:05,762 --> 00:30:07,890
monthly, and quarterly data
492
00:30:08,056 --> 00:30:11,026
on more than a hundred
separate indicators,
493
00:30:11,143 --> 00:30:15,569
far more data than could ever be
adequately analyzed.
494
00:30:19,067 --> 00:30:21,820
General Harkins had little use
for skeptical reporters
495
00:30:21,945 --> 00:30:23,447
like Neil Sheehan.
496
00:30:23,572 --> 00:30:26,041
Bad news was to be buried.
497
00:30:26,158 --> 00:30:30,254
Harkins ignored the alarming
after action reports
498
00:30:30,412 --> 00:30:33,916
John Paul Vann and other
officers were sending in
499
00:30:34,082 --> 00:30:36,005
from the field.
500
00:30:36,126 --> 00:30:39,096
I was going to be
made head of the Vietnam desk
501
00:30:39,212 --> 00:30:41,135
at CIA headquarters.
502
00:30:41,256 --> 00:30:44,556
And the first person of
importance that I met
503
00:30:44,676 --> 00:30:46,849
was General Harkins.
504
00:30:46,970 --> 00:30:49,393
And he started out by saying,
505
00:30:49,514 --> 00:30:52,267
"Mr. Gregg, I don't care what
you hear from anybody else,
506
00:30:52,392 --> 00:30:54,746
"I can tell you without a doubt
we're going to be out of here
507
00:30:54,770 --> 00:30:56,568
with a military victory
in six months."
508
00:30:58,106 --> 00:30:59,986
The country's
12 million peasants
509
00:31:00,108 --> 00:31:02,657
can scarcely remember
what peace was like.
510
00:31:02,778 --> 00:31:04,621
They're caught between
the predatory guerrillas
511
00:31:04,738 --> 00:31:07,207
and the almost equally
demanding soldiery.
512
00:31:07,324 --> 00:31:09,622
Their lives are lived in a state
of permanent uncertainty,
513
00:31:09,743 --> 00:31:12,292
punctuated by bouts of violence
514
00:31:12,454 --> 00:31:13,797
as government forces come
to grips
515
00:31:13,914 --> 00:31:16,133
with the black-clad
communist rebel forces
516
00:31:16,249 --> 00:31:17,546
called the Viet Cong.
517
00:32:49,676 --> 00:32:52,350
CAO XUAN DAI.
518
00:33:15,619 --> 00:33:19,840
On our side we were
not as committed
519
00:33:19,998 --> 00:33:21,796
and we were...
520
00:33:21,917 --> 00:33:25,137
our leaders were corrupt
and incompetent.
521
00:33:25,253 --> 00:33:30,180
And so deep down
we'll always have this fear,
522
00:33:30,342 --> 00:33:35,849
this suspicion that in the end
it'll be the communists who won.
523
00:33:36,014 --> 00:33:39,439
When John Kennedy assembled
524
00:33:39,559 --> 00:33:41,561
what he thinks is the best
and the brightest,
525
00:33:41,686 --> 00:33:47,910
20 years before that in
a cave in the northern part
526
00:33:48,026 --> 00:33:50,620
of Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh
also put together
527
00:33:50,737 --> 00:33:52,114
his best and the brightest.
528
00:33:52,239 --> 00:33:55,288
And these guys are at it
for a while.
529
00:33:55,408 --> 00:33:58,912
And when we show up,
they were far along
530
00:33:59,037 --> 00:34:04,840
to consolidating their victory
over this inevitable conflict
531
00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:09,466
between Ho Chi Minh
and John F. Kennedy's vision.
532
00:34:09,589 --> 00:34:14,561
The more you think about
the American strategy,
533
00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:18,269
the more you know
534
00:34:18,390 --> 00:34:21,143
that it was never going to work
out particularly well.
535
00:34:36,074 --> 00:34:41,752
I was at my top of
my game when I was in combat.
536
00:34:46,793 --> 00:34:49,842
You don't have the luxury
to indulge your fear
537
00:34:49,963 --> 00:34:51,886
because other people's lives
depend upon
538
00:34:52,048 --> 00:34:53,300
you keeping your head cold.
539
00:35:02,058 --> 00:35:05,028
You know, when something
goes wrong,
540
00:35:05,145 --> 00:35:06,397
they call it emotional numbing.
541
00:35:06,563 --> 00:35:08,782
It's not very good
in civilian life,
542
00:35:08,898 --> 00:35:11,071
but it's pretty useful
in combat.
543
00:35:22,746 --> 00:35:25,340
To be able to get absolutely
very cold
544
00:35:25,457 --> 00:35:30,588
about what needs to be done
and to stick with it.
545
00:35:36,509 --> 00:35:39,433
To me it's, it's a little bit
distressing to realize
546
00:35:39,554 --> 00:35:41,181
that I was at my best
547
00:35:41,306 --> 00:35:43,934
doing something as terrible
as war.
548
00:35:53,443 --> 00:35:55,946
President Kennedy has
staked his reputation in Asia
549
00:35:56,071 --> 00:35:58,915
on saving South Vietnam
from communism.
550
00:35:59,032 --> 00:36:01,330
As the army makes the sweep
towards the village
551
00:36:01,451 --> 00:36:03,249
suspected of harboring
Viet Cong,
552
00:36:03,411 --> 00:36:06,460
it can't tell whether it will
meet resistance.
553
00:36:12,712 --> 00:36:14,840
The troops round up all the
young men they can find,
554
00:36:14,964 --> 00:36:18,013
since they can't tell who is
a communist just by looking.
555
00:36:20,553 --> 00:36:23,181
Those who try to run for it
are shot
556
00:36:23,306 --> 00:36:25,229
on the assumption
they have something to hide.
557
00:37:16,943 --> 00:37:21,790
Each of South Vietnam's
44 provinces had its own chief.
558
00:37:21,948 --> 00:37:24,701
Some were simply political
appointees,
559
00:37:24,826 --> 00:37:27,579
corrupt allies of
President Diem.
560
00:37:27,704 --> 00:37:33,302
Tran Ngoc Chau, province chief
of Kien Hoa, was different.
561
00:37:33,460 --> 00:37:38,261
A privileged judge's son from
the old imperial city of Hue,
562
00:37:38,381 --> 00:37:41,305
he and two of his brothers
had fought against the French
563
00:37:41,468 --> 00:37:42,811
with the Viet Minh.
564
00:37:42,969 --> 00:37:46,974
But he had refused to join
the Communist Party;
565
00:37:47,140 --> 00:37:50,019
he admired their dedication,
but disliked the way
566
00:37:50,143 --> 00:37:53,272
they punished those who dared
differ with them.
567
00:37:53,396 --> 00:37:56,320
Instead, he left the Viet Minh,
568
00:37:56,483 --> 00:37:59,578
became a major in the army
fighting against them,
569
00:37:59,694 --> 00:38:03,494
and eventually so impressed Diem
with his insider's knowledge
570
00:38:03,615 --> 00:38:07,415
of communist tactics that
he was promoted to colonel
571
00:38:07,535 --> 00:38:13,338
and made chief of Kien Hoa,
a Viet Cong stronghold.
572
00:38:13,500 --> 00:38:17,175
He was absolutely incorruptible.
573
00:38:17,295 --> 00:38:22,222
And people came to really
understand that here's a guy
574
00:38:22,342 --> 00:38:25,346
who's, even though it's not
an elected system,
575
00:38:25,470 --> 00:38:28,269
who never... nevertheless
really represents us.
576
00:38:30,016 --> 00:38:31,896
"Give me a budget
that equals the cost
577
00:38:32,018 --> 00:38:36,194
of one American helicopter,"
Chau liked to say,
578
00:38:36,314 --> 00:38:38,908
"and I'll give you
a pacified province.
579
00:38:39,025 --> 00:38:43,075
"With that much money, I can
raise the standard of living
580
00:38:43,196 --> 00:38:44,743
"of the rice farmers,
581
00:38:44,864 --> 00:38:46,584
"and government officials
can be paid enough
582
00:38:46,699 --> 00:38:51,375
so they won't think it necessary
to steal."
583
00:38:51,538 --> 00:38:53,961
Rather than hunt down
the Viet Cong,
584
00:38:54,082 --> 00:38:56,710
he sought to persuade them.
585
00:39:52,098 --> 00:39:55,693
Back home, Americans
were paying little attention
586
00:39:55,810 --> 00:39:57,983
to what was happening
in Vietnam.
587
00:39:58,104 --> 00:40:00,823
They were watching
The Beverly Hillbillies
588
00:40:00,940 --> 00:40:03,034
and Gunsmoke on TV,
589
00:40:03,151 --> 00:40:06,075
were interested in whether
the Yankees would win
590
00:40:06,195 --> 00:40:07,572
the World Series again
591
00:40:07,697 --> 00:40:11,793
and in the recent death
of Marilyn Monroe.
592
00:40:15,079 --> 00:40:17,457
But some Americans had been
growing impatient
593
00:40:17,582 --> 00:40:20,802
with the slow pace
of social change.
594
00:40:20,960 --> 00:40:22,553
We were told in the '50s
595
00:40:22,670 --> 00:40:25,344
that we lived in the best
country in the world.
596
00:40:25,465 --> 00:40:28,844
In the middle of, you know,
trying to figure out
597
00:40:28,968 --> 00:40:31,221
what it meant to be a citizen
of the...
598
00:40:31,346 --> 00:40:33,644
of this best country
in the world,
599
00:40:33,806 --> 00:40:35,558
suddenly the civil rights
movement exploded
600
00:40:35,683 --> 00:40:37,606
into our consciousness.
601
00:40:37,727 --> 00:40:43,825
# When the night has come... #
602
00:40:43,983 --> 00:40:45,826
We didn't
think we had any power.
603
00:40:45,985 --> 00:40:49,080
We didn't think we could be
actors in history,
604
00:40:49,197 --> 00:40:51,791
that we could affect things.
605
00:40:54,035 --> 00:40:57,084
# No, I won't be afraid #
606
00:40:57,205 --> 00:40:59,003
# Oh, I won't... #
607
00:40:59,165 --> 00:41:00,792
And suddenly, you know,
608
00:41:00,917 --> 00:41:02,840
these young black students
in the South
609
00:41:02,961 --> 00:41:04,508
were doing exactly that.
610
00:41:04,671 --> 00:41:07,675
And it just blew the tops
of our heads off.
611
00:41:07,840 --> 00:41:13,438
# So darling,
darling, stand by me #
612
00:41:13,554 --> 00:41:17,809
# Oh, stand by me #
613
00:41:17,934 --> 00:41:23,065
# Oh, stand, stand by me #
614
00:41:23,189 --> 00:41:25,942
# Stand by me #
615
00:41:26,067 --> 00:41:28,695
# If the sky
that we look upon... #
616
00:41:28,861 --> 00:41:32,206
Other Americans were
concerned about the proliferation
617
00:41:32,365 --> 00:41:35,539
of nuclear weapons in the world.
618
00:41:35,702 --> 00:41:39,582
Perhaps it would be a good thing
to put Khrushchev and Kennedy
619
00:41:39,706 --> 00:41:43,506
on an island and not let either
one of them off
620
00:41:43,626 --> 00:41:45,924
until they came to an agreement.
621
00:41:46,045 --> 00:41:48,389
# Stand by me #
622
00:41:48,548 --> 00:41:53,349
# And darling, darling,
stand by me. #
623
00:42:08,693 --> 00:42:11,822
And if you were in a cafe
when Diem was giving a speech,
624
00:42:11,946 --> 00:42:13,706
somebody would get up
and shut the radio off,
625
00:42:13,823 --> 00:42:15,496
it would be coming in
over the radio.
626
00:42:15,616 --> 00:42:17,914
Somebody would get up and
they'd just shut the radio off.
627
00:42:18,036 --> 00:42:22,166
I mean, he was not connected
with... to his own population.
628
00:42:25,168 --> 00:42:30,049
Diem was simply the
opposite of what democracy was.
629
00:42:30,173 --> 00:42:33,928
South Vietnam, in the
competition against the North,
630
00:42:34,052 --> 00:42:39,104
that should been, should have
been a golden opportunity
631
00:42:39,223 --> 00:42:44,605
to have that society open
with the free press,
632
00:42:44,729 --> 00:42:46,697
free expression.
633
00:42:46,814 --> 00:42:49,533
But there was not much choice
634
00:42:49,650 --> 00:42:54,030
if the two system are
structurally dictator
635
00:42:54,155 --> 00:42:55,452
and oppressive systems...
636
00:42:55,573 --> 00:43:01,797
one under the Communist
Party, one under a family.
637
00:43:18,763 --> 00:43:22,313
Diem's brother, Ngo
Dinh Nhu, had been the architect
638
00:43:22,475 --> 00:43:24,819
of the strategic hamlet program,
639
00:43:24,977 --> 00:43:29,073
ran a personal political party
that mirrored the techniques
640
00:43:29,190 --> 00:43:31,659
and the ruthlessness
of the communists,
641
00:43:31,776 --> 00:43:35,906
and supervised a host of
internal security units
642
00:43:36,030 --> 00:43:40,160
that spied on and seized enemies
of the regime.
643
00:43:42,036 --> 00:43:44,130
Some reporters
who probed too deeply
644
00:43:44,247 --> 00:43:46,670
into what Diem and Nhu
were doing
645
00:43:46,833 --> 00:43:48,961
were ordered out of the country.
646
00:43:50,169 --> 00:43:52,513
When an American journalist
objected,
647
00:43:52,672 --> 00:43:56,677
Nhu's sharp-tongued wife told
him Vietnam had no use
648
00:43:56,843 --> 00:43:59,437
for "your crazy freedoms."
649
00:44:00,847 --> 00:44:02,690
Meanwhile,
out in the countryside,
650
00:44:02,849 --> 00:44:06,979
John Paul Vann and other
advisors had begun to notice
651
00:44:07,103 --> 00:44:10,824
that the corruption within
Diem's regime had filtered down
652
00:44:10,940 --> 00:44:12,863
to the commanders in the field.
653
00:44:12,984 --> 00:44:17,865
Troops, who had once been
willing to engage the enemy,
654
00:44:18,030 --> 00:44:22,035
now seemed strangely reluctant.
655
00:44:22,160 --> 00:44:26,961
God, I was told so many
times, "."
656
00:44:27,081 --> 00:44:28,958
You know, "Scanlon,."
657
00:44:29,083 --> 00:44:30,175
Um...
658
00:44:30,293 --> 00:44:35,470
very dangerous, you know,
going out there.
659
00:44:35,590 --> 00:44:38,309
John Vann would
go out with them at night.
660
00:44:38,426 --> 00:44:42,522
And he noticed that somebody
would always cough
661
00:44:42,638 --> 00:44:46,017
or make some other
slight noise when it turned out
662
00:44:46,142 --> 00:44:48,520
that the Viet Cong were heading
into the ambush site.
663
00:44:48,644 --> 00:44:50,362
They did not want to get
in a fight.
664
00:44:50,479 --> 00:44:53,653
South Vietnamese
officers were chosen
665
00:44:53,774 --> 00:44:57,244
less for their combat skill
than for their loyalty
666
00:44:57,403 --> 00:45:01,249
to President Diem,
and their men knew it.
667
00:45:02,575 --> 00:45:03,918
What we should've done is
668
00:45:04,035 --> 00:45:08,586
either forced the Vietnamese...
I mean really forced them-
669
00:45:08,706 --> 00:45:10,754
to clean up their act.
670
00:45:10,917 --> 00:45:12,919
And if they wouldn't clean up
their act to say,
671
00:45:13,044 --> 00:45:15,342
"We're out of here.
672
00:45:15,463 --> 00:45:18,262
"Because we don't bet
on losing horses.
673
00:45:18,382 --> 00:45:20,760
"This is a losing horse.
674
00:45:20,885 --> 00:45:23,104
You are not going to win
this insurgency."
675
00:45:23,262 --> 00:45:25,936
We, as Americans, should have
understood the desire
676
00:45:26,098 --> 00:45:29,568
of the Vietnamese people
to have their own country.
677
00:45:29,685 --> 00:45:32,655
I mean we did the same thing
to the Brits.
678
00:45:38,319 --> 00:45:43,120
In October of 1962, the
United States and the Soviet Union
679
00:45:43,282 --> 00:45:46,081
came closer than they would ever
come again
680
00:45:46,202 --> 00:45:48,830
to mutually assured destruction.
681
00:45:48,955 --> 00:45:51,959
Good evening,
my fellow citizens.
682
00:45:52,083 --> 00:45:56,008
This government,
as promised, has maintained
683
00:45:56,128 --> 00:45:59,974
the closest surveillance of
the Soviet military buildup
684
00:46:00,091 --> 00:46:01,809
on the island of Cuba.
685
00:46:02,843 --> 00:46:04,845
Within the past week,
686
00:46:04,971 --> 00:46:08,271
unmistakable evidence
has established the fact
687
00:46:08,391 --> 00:46:11,770
that a series of offensive
missile sites
688
00:46:11,894 --> 00:46:16,821
is now in preparation
on that imprisoned island.
689
00:46:16,983 --> 00:46:20,157
The Soviets had
secretly placed nuclear missiles
690
00:46:20,278 --> 00:46:23,282
90 miles from the United States.
691
00:46:23,406 --> 00:46:28,287
The Joint Chiefs of Staff urged
President Kennedy to bomb Cuba.
692
00:46:28,411 --> 00:46:32,507
He resisted and instead ordered
a naval blockade
693
00:46:32,665 --> 00:46:37,011
to stop Soviet ships
from resupplying the island.
694
00:46:38,671 --> 00:46:44,019
For 13 excruciating days,
the world held its breath.
695
00:46:47,513 --> 00:46:50,733
Finally, in exchange
for a private pledge
696
00:46:50,850 --> 00:46:53,524
to remove American missiles
from Turkey,
697
00:46:53,686 --> 00:46:57,236
Khrushchev agreed to remove
his missiles from Cuba.
698
00:47:00,109 --> 00:47:03,033
Neither the United States
nor the Soviet Union
699
00:47:03,154 --> 00:47:07,159
wanted so direct
a confrontation ever again.
700
00:47:07,283 --> 00:47:09,706
From now on, limited wars,
701
00:47:09,827 --> 00:47:12,296
like the growing conflict
in Vietnam,
702
00:47:12,413 --> 00:47:15,838
would assume
still greater importance.
703
00:47:19,170 --> 00:47:23,641
I'd grown up in the
shadow of the mushroom cloud.
704
00:47:23,758 --> 00:47:27,763
And I remember the...
watching President Kennedy speak
705
00:47:27,887 --> 00:47:29,434
during the Cuban Missile Crisis
706
00:47:29,555 --> 00:47:31,728
and wondering if I was
ever gonna kiss a girl.
707
00:47:31,891 --> 00:47:34,735
And so this was just continuing
that battle
708
00:47:34,852 --> 00:47:36,570
against the Russians.
709
00:47:36,729 --> 00:47:40,233
Only we were fighting,
you know, their, their proxies,
710
00:47:40,358 --> 00:47:43,737
the Vietnamese there-
but it was monolithic communism.
711
00:47:45,237 --> 00:47:48,081
It didn't matter to me
where it was, I was going to go
712
00:47:48,240 --> 00:47:52,245
if my government said
we needed to be there.
713
00:47:52,411 --> 00:47:55,290
We were probably the last kids
of any generation
714
00:47:55,414 --> 00:47:56,631
that actually believed
715
00:47:56,749 --> 00:47:58,467
our government
would never lie to us.
716
00:48:03,756 --> 00:48:06,054
We had been writing
stories about all the flaws
717
00:48:06,175 --> 00:48:08,974
on the Saigon side-
about how they wouldn't fight,
718
00:48:09,095 --> 00:48:11,814
about the corruption,
they wouldn't obey orders,
719
00:48:11,931 --> 00:48:13,433
the disorganization.
720
00:48:15,434 --> 00:48:19,940
And then all of a sudden the
Viet Cong, for the first time,
721
00:48:20,106 --> 00:48:21,449
the "raggedy-ass
little bastards"
722
00:48:21,565 --> 00:48:24,318
as the Harkins's people
in Saigon called them,
723
00:48:24,443 --> 00:48:25,945
stood and fought.
724
00:48:26,112 --> 00:48:28,331
And suddenly all the flaws
on the Saigon side
725
00:48:28,447 --> 00:48:30,745
were illuminated by this.
726
00:48:30,866 --> 00:48:34,040
Like a star shell, it
illuminated the battlefield.
727
00:48:34,161 --> 00:48:35,629
Everything came out.
728
00:48:36,914 --> 00:48:40,168
A few days after Christmas 1962,
729
00:48:40,292 --> 00:48:43,762
the 7th ARVN Division got
orders to capture
730
00:48:43,879 --> 00:48:46,007
a Viet Cong radio transmitter
731
00:48:46,132 --> 00:48:50,808
broadcasting from a spot some
40 miles southwest of Saigon
732
00:48:50,928 --> 00:48:53,852
in a village called Tan Thoi.
733
00:48:53,973 --> 00:48:56,692
The village was surrounded
by rice paddles.
734
00:48:56,809 --> 00:49:02,737
An irrigation dike linked it to
a neighboring hamlet-Ap Bac.
735
00:49:02,857 --> 00:49:07,158
Intelligence suggested
no more than 120 guerrillas
736
00:49:07,319 --> 00:49:09,617
were guarding the transmitter.
737
00:49:09,738 --> 00:49:13,038
John Paul Vann helped draw up
what seemed to be
738
00:49:13,159 --> 00:49:15,503
a foolproof plan of attack.
739
00:49:15,661 --> 00:49:19,837
Supported by helicopters and
armored personnel carriers,
740
00:49:19,999 --> 00:49:23,845
some 1,200 South Vietnamese
troops would attack the village
741
00:49:24,003 --> 00:49:25,801
from three sides.
742
00:49:25,921 --> 00:49:28,765
When the surviving Viet Cong
tried to flee through the gap
743
00:49:28,883 --> 00:49:32,808
left open for them, as they
always had whenever outnumbered
744
00:49:32,928 --> 00:49:35,101
and confronted
by modern weapons,
745
00:49:35,222 --> 00:49:38,692
artillery and airstrikes
would destroy them.
746
00:49:38,851 --> 00:49:43,277
Vann would observe the fighting
from a spotter plane.
747
00:49:43,397 --> 00:49:48,995
But the intelligence underlying
it all turned out to be wrong.
748
00:49:49,111 --> 00:49:54,618
There were more than 340 Viet
Cong, not 120, in the area.
749
00:49:54,742 --> 00:49:57,712
Communist spies
had tipped them off
750
00:49:57,828 --> 00:49:59,876
that they were soon to be
attacked.
751
00:50:00,039 --> 00:50:04,044
And this time they would not
flee without a fight.
752
00:50:05,544 --> 00:50:08,263
Among them was Le Quan Cong,
753
00:50:08,380 --> 00:50:12,726
who had been a guerrilla fighter
since 1951, when he was 12.
754
00:50:27,233 --> 00:50:32,330
At 6:35 in the
morning on January 2, 1963,
755
00:50:32,446 --> 00:50:35,746
ten American helicopters ferried
an ARVN company
756
00:50:35,866 --> 00:50:39,211
to a spot just north
of Tan Thoi.
757
00:50:42,122 --> 00:50:45,171
They met no resistance.
758
00:50:45,292 --> 00:50:48,842
Meanwhile, two South Vietnamese
Civil Guard battalions
759
00:50:48,963 --> 00:50:52,263
approached Ap Bac
from the South on foot.
760
00:50:55,261 --> 00:50:58,936
The Viet Cong commander let the
Civil Guards get within 100 feet
761
00:50:59,056 --> 00:51:01,525
before giving the order to fire.
762
00:51:04,103 --> 00:51:06,822
Several South Vietnamese
soldiers were killed.
763
00:51:10,818 --> 00:51:13,788
Survivors hid behind a dike.
764
00:51:16,782 --> 00:51:18,580
Ten more helicopters,
765
00:51:18,701 --> 00:51:22,376
filled with troops and escorted
by five helicopter gunships,
766
00:51:22,496 --> 00:51:23,748
roared in to help.
767
00:51:50,733 --> 00:51:54,988
Viet Cong machine
guns hit 14 of the 15 aircraft.
768
00:51:55,154 --> 00:52:00,411
Five would be destroyed, killing
and wounding American crewmen.
769
00:52:10,169 --> 00:52:12,513
The enemy concentrated
their fire on the ARVN
770
00:52:12,671 --> 00:52:15,641
struggling to get out
of the downed helicopters.
771
00:52:15,758 --> 00:52:18,682
"It was like shooting ducks
for the Viet Cong,"
772
00:52:18,844 --> 00:52:20,721
an American crewman remembered.
773
00:52:23,098 --> 00:52:26,068
Colonel Vann circled
helplessly overhead.
774
00:52:26,185 --> 00:52:28,563
He radioed the ARVN commander,
775
00:52:28,687 --> 00:52:32,783
urging him to send an APC unit
to rescue the men.
776
00:52:34,151 --> 00:52:36,700
I got the word from John Vann
777
00:52:36,820 --> 00:52:39,573
that American helicopters
were down.
778
00:52:39,698 --> 00:52:42,042
They were right in front
of the Viet Cong positions.
779
00:52:42,201 --> 00:52:45,546
We had Americans killed
and wounded
780
00:52:45,704 --> 00:52:47,706
and we had to get over there
right away.
781
00:52:47,873 --> 00:52:51,719
Like Vann, Captain
Scanlon was only an advisor.
782
00:52:51,877 --> 00:52:55,256
Captain Ly Tong Ba,
his ARVN counterpart,
783
00:52:55,381 --> 00:52:58,055
would have to give the order
to advance.
784
00:52:58,217 --> 00:53:01,346
Scanlon liked and admired him.
785
00:53:01,470 --> 00:53:03,893
I turned to Ba and said,
786
00:53:04,014 --> 00:53:06,642
"Hey, you know, you got to get
over there right away."
787
00:53:06,767 --> 00:53:11,238
And Ba said to me,
"I'm not going."
788
00:53:11,397 --> 00:53:14,651
Bar's superiors within the
ARVN, far from the battlefield,
789
00:53:14,775 --> 00:53:17,870
had told him to stay put.
790
00:53:17,986 --> 00:53:21,911
And John Vann, my boss, was,
uh, screaming at me over the...
791
00:53:22,032 --> 00:53:25,286
over the radio to get them
over there.
792
00:53:25,411 --> 00:53:29,757
It took Scanlon an hour
to convince Captain Ba to move.
793
00:53:29,873 --> 00:53:32,251
Another two hours were lost
794
00:53:32,376 --> 00:53:35,346
before the APCs could make
their way through the paddies
795
00:53:35,462 --> 00:53:37,635
toward the trapped men.
796
00:53:39,633 --> 00:53:41,886
The firing had died down.
797
00:53:42,010 --> 00:53:43,887
Everything was quiet.
798
00:53:44,012 --> 00:53:46,765
You could see the open
expanse of rice fields.
799
00:53:46,890 --> 00:53:50,190
And my reaction was,
hey, it was all over.
800
00:53:50,310 --> 00:53:53,484
The first two
APCs dropped their ramps.
801
00:53:53,605 --> 00:53:55,949
Infantry squads stepped out,
802
00:53:56,108 --> 00:53:59,032
prepared to spray the tree line
with automatic fire
803
00:53:59,153 --> 00:54:00,325
as they advanced.
804
00:54:00,446 --> 00:54:03,074
In the past,
that had been enough
805
00:54:03,198 --> 00:54:06,498
to make the Viet Cong
scurry away.
806
00:54:06,618 --> 00:54:08,871
This time was different.
807
00:54:12,624 --> 00:54:14,501
Eight of the APCs
came under attack.
808
00:54:14,626 --> 00:54:17,971
Within minutes, six of their
gunners had been killed,
809
00:54:18,130 --> 00:54:19,302
shot through the head.
810
00:54:20,758 --> 00:54:22,806
And boy, we got raked.
811
00:54:22,968 --> 00:54:24,686
So it was like a pool table.
812
00:54:24,803 --> 00:54:26,146
We were on the green
813
00:54:26,305 --> 00:54:28,478
and they were in the pockets
shooting at us.
814
00:54:28,640 --> 00:54:31,359
When Captain
Ba managed to convince
815
00:54:31,477 --> 00:54:34,026
a few more APCs to advance,
816
00:54:34,146 --> 00:54:37,116
guerrillas leapt
from their foxholes
817
00:54:37,232 --> 00:54:39,234
and hurled hand grenades
at them.
818
00:54:44,281 --> 00:54:46,704
None did any real damage,
819
00:54:46,825 --> 00:54:50,375
but the drivers were so
demoralized that they halted,
820
00:54:50,496 --> 00:54:55,423
turned around, and withdrew
behind the wrecked helicopters.
821
00:54:55,542 --> 00:54:57,465
From his spotter plane,
822
00:54:57,586 --> 00:55:01,636
Vann begged the ARVN to make
a simultaneous assault
823
00:55:01,757 --> 00:55:05,102
on the enemy by all the
remaining ground forces.
824
00:55:06,261 --> 00:55:09,231
ARVN commanders refused.
825
00:55:11,683 --> 00:55:14,527
That night,
the Viet Cong melted away,
826
00:55:14,686 --> 00:55:18,031
carrying most of their dead
and wounded with them.
827
00:55:20,192 --> 00:55:24,242
At least 80 South Vietnamese
soldiers had been killed.
828
00:55:24,363 --> 00:55:29,745
So had three American advisors,
including Captain Ken Good,
829
00:55:29,868 --> 00:55:30,994
a friend of Scanlon's.
830
00:55:34,915 --> 00:55:38,795
We stacked the armored
personnel carriers with bodies,
831
00:55:38,919 --> 00:55:40,592
stacked them up on top
till they...
832
00:55:40,712 --> 00:55:42,555
we couldn't stack anymore.
833
00:55:42,673 --> 00:55:48,806
And, um, I wouldn't let the
Vietnamese touch the Americans.
834
00:55:48,929 --> 00:55:51,682
So I carried Americans out.
835
00:55:51,807 --> 00:55:54,060
And, um...
836
00:55:54,184 --> 00:55:56,357
And I was... I was exhausted.
837
00:55:56,478 --> 00:56:02,235
They told me about
Ken Good getting killed.
838
00:56:02,401 --> 00:56:06,622
And Ken and I had worked so hard
with our two battalions.
839
00:56:06,738 --> 00:56:12,541
And to hear that...
he got killed hurt.
840
00:56:12,661 --> 00:56:14,208
Great guy.
841
00:56:15,664 --> 00:56:17,837
Reporters arrived from Saigon
842
00:56:17,958 --> 00:56:21,883
before all of the ARVN dead
could be removed.
843
00:56:22,004 --> 00:56:26,180
They were horrified at what they
saw and tried to find out
844
00:56:26,300 --> 00:56:28,928
what had really happened.
845
00:56:29,094 --> 00:56:33,474
John Paul Vann took Neil Sheehan
and David Halberstam aside
846
00:56:33,599 --> 00:56:35,522
and told them.
847
00:56:35,642 --> 00:56:37,440
The Battle of Ap Bac had been
848
00:56:37,561 --> 00:56:40,280
"a miserable goddamn
performance."
849
00:56:40,397 --> 00:56:42,491
"The ARVN won't listen,"
he said.
850
00:56:42,608 --> 00:56:45,612
"They make the same mistakes
over and over again
851
00:56:45,736 --> 00:56:47,738
in the same way."
852
00:56:49,448 --> 00:56:50,916
But back in Saigon,
853
00:56:51,033 --> 00:56:54,708
General Harkins immediately
declared victory.
854
00:56:54,828 --> 00:56:57,798
"The ARVN forces had
an objective," he said.
855
00:56:57,956 --> 00:56:59,333
"We took that objective.
856
00:56:59,458 --> 00:57:02,883
"The VC left and their
casualties were greater
857
00:57:03,003 --> 00:57:05,552
"than those of
the government forces.
858
00:57:05,672 --> 00:57:07,299
What more do you want?"
859
00:57:08,800 --> 00:57:11,144
When Halberstam and Sheehan
reported
860
00:57:11,261 --> 00:57:14,060
that Ap Bac had in fact
been a defeat,
861
00:57:14,181 --> 00:57:18,231
the U.S. Commander
in the Pacific denied it all
862
00:57:18,352 --> 00:57:23,859
and urged the reporters
to “get on the team."
863
00:57:23,982 --> 00:57:25,984
Ap Bac was terribly important.
864
00:57:26,151 --> 00:57:28,279
They had shot down five
helicopters,
865
00:57:28,403 --> 00:57:30,781
which they previously had been
terrified of.
866
00:57:30,906 --> 00:57:34,956
They'd stopped the armored
personnel carriers.
867
00:57:35,077 --> 00:57:37,045
They demonstrated
to their own people
868
00:57:37,162 --> 00:57:40,211
that you could resist
the Americans and win.
869
00:58:00,018 --> 00:58:03,693
In Hanoi, the
Battle of Ap Bac was seen
870
00:58:03,855 --> 00:58:08,406
by Party First Secretary Le Duan
and his Politburo allies
871
00:58:08,527 --> 00:58:10,700
as evidence
of the inherent weakness
872
00:58:10,862 --> 00:58:13,786
of the South Vietnamese regime.
873
00:58:13,907 --> 00:58:17,662
Even when faced with American
advisors and weaponry,
874
00:58:17,786 --> 00:58:21,541
the Viet Cong had learned
how to inflict heavy casualties
875
00:58:21,665 --> 00:58:25,420
on Saigon's forces,
and get away again.
876
00:58:26,962 --> 00:58:30,717
In Saigon, President Diem
claimed the ARVN were winning,
877
00:58:30,882 --> 00:58:32,054
not losing.
878
00:58:32,217 --> 00:58:35,437
Ap Bac had only been
a momentary setback.
879
00:58:35,554 --> 00:58:37,352
And he resented Americans
telling him
880
00:58:37,472 --> 00:58:41,067
how to fight his battles
or run his country.
881
00:58:41,184 --> 00:58:46,236
The president's sister-in-law,
Madame Nhu, went further.
882
00:58:46,356 --> 00:58:50,736
She denounced the Americans
as "false brothers."
883
00:58:52,237 --> 00:58:55,036
"We don't have a prayer
of staying in Vietnam,"
884
00:58:55,157 --> 00:58:59,207
President Kennedy privately told
a friend that spring.
885
00:58:59,327 --> 00:59:01,295
"These people hate us.
886
00:59:01,413 --> 00:59:04,758
"But I can't give up a piece
of territory like that
887
00:59:04,875 --> 00:59:09,346
to the communists and then get
the people to reelect me."
888
00:59:16,053 --> 00:59:17,655
Buddhist monks
and nuns are joined
889
00:59:17,679 --> 00:59:19,056
by thousands of sympathizers
890
00:59:19,181 --> 00:59:20,808
to protest
the government's restrictions
891
00:59:20,932 --> 00:59:23,856
on the practice of
their religion in South Vietnam.
892
00:59:25,520 --> 00:59:29,070
Diem began by
alienating the rural population.
893
00:59:29,191 --> 00:59:31,740
And that started the Viet Cong.
894
00:59:31,860 --> 00:59:34,659
And now he was alienating
the urban population.
895
00:59:34,780 --> 00:59:37,283
Seventy percent of
the population is Buddhist
896
00:59:37,449 --> 00:59:39,010
and the demonstrators clashed
with the police
897
00:59:39,034 --> 00:59:43,164
during the week-long series
of incidents like this.
898
00:59:43,288 --> 00:59:46,667
In the months that
followed the Battle of Ap Bac,
899
00:59:46,792 --> 00:59:51,468
South Vietnam plunged into civil
strife that had little to do
900
00:59:51,588 --> 00:59:54,341
with the Viet Cong.
901
00:59:54,466 --> 00:59:58,471
Religion and nationalism
were at its heart.
902
00:59:58,595 --> 01:00:02,316
A Catholic minority had for
years dominated the government
903
01:00:02,432 --> 01:00:05,231
of an overwhelmingly
Buddhist country.
904
01:00:06,853 --> 01:00:09,231
That spring in the city of Hue,
905
01:00:09,356 --> 01:00:12,280
Christian flags had been
flown to celebrate
906
01:00:12,400 --> 01:00:15,449
the 25th anniversary
of the ordination
907
01:00:15,570 --> 01:00:18,323
of Diem's older brother
as a Catholic bishop.
908
01:00:21,493 --> 01:00:24,838
But when the Buddhists
of the city flew their flags
909
01:00:24,955 --> 01:00:30,303
to celebrate the 2,527th
birthday of Lord Buddha,
910
01:00:30,418 --> 01:00:33,217
police tore them down.
911
01:00:33,338 --> 01:00:35,966
Protesters took to the streets.
912
01:00:38,093 --> 01:00:41,848
The Catholic deputy province
chief sent security forces
913
01:00:42,013 --> 01:00:44,766
to suppress the demonstration.
914
01:00:44,891 --> 01:00:46,518
The soldiers opened fire.
915
01:00:47,644 --> 01:00:50,523
Eight protesters died.
916
01:00:50,689 --> 01:00:56,537
The youngest was 12;
the oldest was 20.
917
01:00:56,653 --> 01:01:00,408
The Diem regime blamed
the Viet Cong.
918
01:01:02,033 --> 01:01:05,833
Monks throughout the country
demanded an apology.
919
01:01:14,713 --> 01:01:16,966
They also called for an end
to discrimination
920
01:01:17,090 --> 01:01:19,343
by Catholic officials.
921
01:01:19,467 --> 01:01:22,596
Many Buddhists had come to see
Diem's policies
922
01:01:22,721 --> 01:01:25,975
as a direct threat
to their religious beliefs.
923
01:01:28,810 --> 01:01:32,405
My family was
against what Diem was doing.
924
01:01:32,564 --> 01:01:35,067
My mother was convinced
925
01:01:35,233 --> 01:01:39,158
that Diem was destroying
the Buddhist faith.
926
01:01:39,279 --> 01:01:43,409
She would go to the pagodas and
listen to the monks' speeches.
927
01:01:43,575 --> 01:01:46,954
And she was just
extremely upset.
928
01:01:48,371 --> 01:01:49,543
She was not alone.
929
01:01:49,664 --> 01:01:52,417
There was a lot of people
like her.
930
01:01:52,584 --> 01:01:56,464
American officials
urged Diem and his brother Nhu
931
01:01:56,588 --> 01:01:59,888
to make meaningful concessions
to the Buddhists,
932
01:02:00,008 --> 01:02:01,931
for the sake
of maintaining unity
933
01:02:02,093 --> 01:02:04,596
in the struggle
against communism.
934
01:02:04,721 --> 01:02:06,314
They refused.
935
01:02:08,892 --> 01:02:13,864
On June 10, 1963, Malcolm Browne
of the Associated Press
936
01:02:13,980 --> 01:02:16,779
received an anonymous tip:
937
01:02:16,900 --> 01:02:20,029
something important was going
to happen the next day
938
01:02:20,153 --> 01:02:23,532
at a major intersection
in Saigon.
939
01:02:23,657 --> 01:02:25,580
He took his camera.
940
01:02:33,124 --> 01:02:36,469
To protest the Diem regime's
repression,
941
01:02:36,628 --> 01:02:42,977
a 73-year-old monk named
Quang Duc set himself on fire.
942
01:03:00,735 --> 01:03:05,787
As a large, hushed crowd watched
him burn to death,
943
01:03:05,907 --> 01:03:09,332
another monk repeated
over and over again
944
01:03:09,452 --> 01:03:12,331
in English and Vietnamese,
945
01:03:12,497 --> 01:03:15,341
"A Buddhist monk becomes
a martyr.
946
01:03:15,458 --> 01:03:18,052
A Buddhist monk
becomes a martyr."
947
01:03:24,926 --> 01:03:27,770
I remember they held the ashes
948
01:03:27,887 --> 01:03:30,356
of the monk who burned himself
to death
949
01:03:30,515 --> 01:03:33,485
where it was kept in one
of the main pagodas.
950
01:03:33,601 --> 01:03:39,699
And lines of people came to pass
by, and I saw these women,
951
01:03:39,816 --> 01:03:42,740
not rich women, ordinary
Vietnamese women,
952
01:03:42,861 --> 01:03:45,865
take off the one piece of gold
they had on, their wedding ring,
953
01:03:46,031 --> 01:03:50,912
and drop it in the bottle
to contribute to the struggle.
954
01:03:51,036 --> 01:03:54,882
And I thought to myself,
“This regime is over.
955
01:03:54,998 --> 01:03:56,045
It's the end."
956
01:04:00,170 --> 01:04:02,673
Soon other monks
would become martyrs.
957
01:04:05,967 --> 01:04:11,474
Fresh outbursts by Madame Nhu
only made things worse.
958
01:04:11,598 --> 01:04:14,977
Burning monks made her clap
her hands, she said.
959
01:04:15,101 --> 01:04:17,650
If more monks wanted
to burn themselves,
960
01:04:17,771 --> 01:04:20,866
she would provide the matches.
961
01:04:20,982 --> 01:04:22,825
The only thing they have done,
962
01:04:22,942 --> 01:04:28,665
they have barbecued
one of their monks,
963
01:04:28,782 --> 01:04:34,289
whom they have intoxicated, whom
they have abused the confidence.
964
01:04:34,412 --> 01:04:38,713
And even that barbecuing
was done
965
01:04:38,833 --> 01:04:41,052
not even with self-sufficient
means
966
01:04:41,169 --> 01:04:44,173
because they-they used
imported gasoline.
967
01:04:45,924 --> 01:04:48,598
They thought she was arrogant,
968
01:04:48,718 --> 01:04:50,140
she was power hungry.
969
01:04:50,261 --> 01:04:53,515
They suspected her and her
husband of being corrupt.
970
01:04:53,640 --> 01:04:59,943
Nhu ran the secret police, which
arrested and tortured people.
971
01:05:00,063 --> 01:05:03,158
People feared the Diem regime.
972
01:05:03,274 --> 01:05:06,824
Perhaps more than they feared
it, they really hated it.
973
01:05:09,114 --> 01:05:11,742
Students,
including many Catholics,
974
01:05:11,866 --> 01:05:14,244
rallied to the Buddhist cause.
975
01:05:14,369 --> 01:05:17,543
So did some army officers.
976
01:05:17,664 --> 01:05:21,919
People among the military
had to ask the question,
977
01:05:22,043 --> 01:05:25,297
"Can we continue this kind
of situation like that
978
01:05:25,463 --> 01:05:28,808
"when the whole country,
country was almost burning
979
01:05:28,967 --> 01:05:30,694
with the kind of protest
from the Buddhists?"
980
01:05:30,718 --> 01:05:31,718
You see?
981
01:05:35,306 --> 01:05:39,231
I first became aware of
Vietnam because of a burning monk.
982
01:05:41,813 --> 01:05:46,660
We had watched the civil rights
movement in the South
983
01:05:46,776 --> 01:05:49,655
and it had set the standard
for us
984
01:05:49,779 --> 01:05:56,082
to stand up against injustice,
allow yourself to be beaten up,
985
01:05:56,202 --> 01:05:58,500
allow yourself to be attacked
by a dog
986
01:05:58,621 --> 01:06:00,840
or hit by a police truncheon.
987
01:06:00,999 --> 01:06:02,842
And we had enormous respect
988
01:06:02,959 --> 01:06:06,054
for people who were willing
to go that far.
989
01:06:10,508 --> 01:06:13,387
And then one day in 1963,
990
01:06:13,511 --> 01:06:17,857
we saw on television
a picture of a monk in Saigon.
991
01:06:19,350 --> 01:06:21,444
This was an extraordinary act.
992
01:06:23,855 --> 01:06:26,654
Why was a Buddhist monk
burning himself
993
01:06:26,774 --> 01:06:29,493
on the streets of Saigon?
994
01:06:32,238 --> 01:06:34,616
The protests continued.
995
01:06:34,741 --> 01:06:39,588
Tensions between Washington
and Saigon steadily worsened.
996
01:06:39,704 --> 01:06:43,584
The more the Kennedy
Administration demanded change,
997
01:06:43,708 --> 01:06:47,713
the more Diem and his brother
Nhu seemed to resist.
998
01:06:49,422 --> 01:06:52,141
The White House announced that
a new American ambassador,
999
01:06:52,258 --> 01:06:57,389
former senator Henry Cabot
Lodge, was being sent to Saigon,
1000
01:06:57,514 --> 01:06:59,937
a man eminent enough,
the president hoped,
1001
01:07:00,058 --> 01:07:05,064
to make Diem listen more closely
to American advice.
1002
01:07:05,188 --> 01:07:08,909
Diem professed to be
unimpressed.
1003
01:07:09,067 --> 01:07:11,695
"They can send ten Lodges,"
he said,
1004
01:07:11,819 --> 01:07:15,665
"but I will not let myself
or my country be humiliated,
1005
01:07:15,782 --> 01:07:19,537
not if they train their
artillery on this palace."
1006
01:07:19,661 --> 01:07:24,212
He did promise the outgoing
ambassador, Frederick Nolting,
1007
01:07:24,332 --> 01:07:27,051
that he would take no further
repressive steps
1008
01:07:27,168 --> 01:07:28,715
against the Buddhists.
1009
01:07:30,505 --> 01:07:35,727
Then, a few minutes after
midnight on August 21, 1963,
1010
01:07:35,843 --> 01:07:39,268
with Nolting gone and
Henry Cabot Lodge's arrival
1011
01:07:39,430 --> 01:07:42,934
still one day away,
Diem cut the phone lines
1012
01:07:43,059 --> 01:07:46,438
of all the senior American
officials in Saigon
1013
01:07:46,604 --> 01:07:50,108
and sent hundreds
of his Special Forces
1014
01:07:50,233 --> 01:07:53,988
storming into Buddhist pagodas
in Saigon, Hue,
1015
01:07:54,112 --> 01:07:57,286
and several other
South Vietnamese cities.
1016
01:07:57,448 --> 01:08:00,167
Some 1,400 monks and nuns,
1017
01:08:00,285 --> 01:08:05,792
students and ordinary citizens
were rounded up and taken away.
1018
01:08:13,673 --> 01:08:18,144
Martial law was imposed,
public meetings were forbidden,
1019
01:08:18,261 --> 01:08:22,641
troops were authorized to shoot
anyone found on the streets
1020
01:08:22,765 --> 01:08:24,358
after 9:00.
1021
01:08:24,475 --> 01:08:27,775
Tanks guard a pagoda in Saigon
1022
01:08:27,895 --> 01:08:30,523
during South Vietnam's
bafflingly complicated crisis
1023
01:08:30,648 --> 01:08:33,652
that has the government of
President Ngo Dinh Diem,
1024
01:08:33,776 --> 01:08:37,497
students, and Buddhists,
and the United States government
1025
01:08:37,614 --> 01:08:41,164
all trying to guess one
another's next move.
1026
01:08:41,326 --> 01:08:45,081
When college students
protested in support of the monks,
1027
01:08:45,204 --> 01:08:48,799
Diem closed Vietnam's
universities.
1028
01:08:48,916 --> 01:08:52,671
High school students
then poured into the streets.
1029
01:08:52,837 --> 01:08:55,340
He shut down
all the high schools
1030
01:08:55,506 --> 01:08:56,666
and the grammar schools, too,
1031
01:08:56,758 --> 01:08:59,978
and arrested thousands
of school children,
1032
01:09:00,094 --> 01:09:02,847
including the sons and daughters
of officials
1033
01:09:03,014 --> 01:09:04,937
in his own government.
1034
01:09:05,058 --> 01:09:08,107
I participated
in the demonstrations.
1035
01:09:08,227 --> 01:09:15,031
I strongly believed that that
government has to be overthrown
1036
01:09:15,151 --> 01:09:17,199
because it's a dictator
government.
1037
01:09:17,362 --> 01:09:19,285
We couldn't stand it anymore
1038
01:09:19,405 --> 01:09:23,035
and this is an opportunity
to rise against it.
1039
01:09:23,201 --> 01:09:27,172
Phan Quang Tue was
a law student that summer.
1040
01:09:27,288 --> 01:09:31,168
His father was a prominent
nationalist whom Diem had jailed
1041
01:09:31,292 --> 01:09:34,512
for calling for
greater democracy.
1042
01:09:34,629 --> 01:09:38,099
I was and I'm still a Catholic,
1043
01:09:38,216 --> 01:09:40,435
not a very good Catholic.
1044
01:09:40,551 --> 01:09:42,394
I don't practice religiously.
1045
01:09:42,512 --> 01:09:44,389
But I'm a Catholic.
1046
01:09:45,890 --> 01:09:47,312
I was rightly arrested
1047
01:09:47,433 --> 01:09:50,482
because I did participate
in demonstration.
1048
01:09:50,603 --> 01:09:53,482
And I was interrogated
1049
01:09:53,606 --> 01:09:56,655
and briefly tortured,
beaten a little bit.
1050
01:10:00,029 --> 01:10:02,782
Henry Cabot Lodge
took over as U.S. ambassador
1051
01:10:02,907 --> 01:10:04,375
in the midst of the turmoil.
1052
01:10:04,492 --> 01:10:05,886
And he has reported
to have demanded
1053
01:10:05,910 --> 01:10:08,083
that President Diem's brother
Nhu be ousted
1054
01:10:08,204 --> 01:10:10,548
or U.S. aid to Vietnam
will be cut.
1055
01:10:13,876 --> 01:10:15,753
In the wake of the pagoda raids,
1056
01:10:15,878 --> 01:10:18,222
a small group of South
Vietnamese generals
1057
01:10:18,339 --> 01:10:21,889
contacted the CIA in Saigon.
1058
01:10:22,009 --> 01:10:25,434
Diem's brother Nhu was now
largely in control
1059
01:10:25,555 --> 01:10:27,478
of the government, they said.
1060
01:10:27,598 --> 01:10:32,274
What would Washington's reaction
be if they mounted a coup?
1061
01:10:32,395 --> 01:10:35,365
President Kennedy
and his senior advisors
1062
01:10:35,481 --> 01:10:40,282
happened to be out of town,
so Roger Hilsman, Jr.,
1063
01:10:40,403 --> 01:10:43,828
assistant secretary of state
for Far Eastern affairs
1064
01:10:43,948 --> 01:10:46,292
and a critic of the Diem regime,
1065
01:10:46,451 --> 01:10:50,456
took it upon himself to draft
a cable with new instructions
1066
01:10:50,580 --> 01:10:53,379
for Ambassador Lodge.
1067
01:10:53,499 --> 01:10:57,345
The U.S. government could
no longer tolerate a situation
1068
01:10:57,462 --> 01:11:01,558
in which power lay in Nhu's
hands, it said.
1069
01:11:01,674 --> 01:11:04,894
Diem should be given a chance
to rid himself of his brother.
1070
01:11:06,387 --> 01:11:09,891
If he refused, Lodge was
to tell the generals,
1071
01:11:10,016 --> 01:11:13,441
"then we must face the
possibility that Diem himself
1072
01:11:13,561 --> 01:11:17,316
cannot be preserved."
1073
01:11:17,440 --> 01:11:21,035
The president was vacationing at
Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.
1074
01:11:21,152 --> 01:11:24,998
Undersecretary of State George
Ball read part of the cable
1075
01:11:25,156 --> 01:11:28,160
to him over the phone.
1076
01:11:28,326 --> 01:11:30,454
Since the early 1950s,
1077
01:11:30,578 --> 01:11:32,222
the United States government
had encouraged
1078
01:11:32,246 --> 01:11:38,504
and even orchestrated other Cold
War coups in Iran, Guatemala,
1079
01:11:38,628 --> 01:11:43,008
the Congo, and elsewhere.
1080
01:11:43,132 --> 01:11:47,012
Kennedy decided to approve
Hilsman's cable
1081
01:11:47,136 --> 01:11:50,231
in part because he thought
his top advisors
1082
01:11:50,348 --> 01:11:52,350
had already endorsed it.
1083
01:11:52,517 --> 01:11:55,270
They had not.
1084
01:11:55,394 --> 01:12:00,491
And somehow, because of a cable
that came out from Washington,
1085
01:12:00,608 --> 01:12:03,828
Lodge decided that the only
solution was to get rid
1086
01:12:03,945 --> 01:12:07,620
of not just Ngo Dinh Nhu,
the bad brother,
1087
01:12:07,740 --> 01:12:10,209
but also of Diem himself.
1088
01:12:10,326 --> 01:12:12,374
And that started us
on this whole business
1089
01:12:12,495 --> 01:12:15,169
of promoting a coup.
1090
01:12:15,289 --> 01:12:18,634
And it was not a good idea.
1091
01:12:18,751 --> 01:12:21,504
I just had a feeling
of impending disaster.
1092
01:12:22,713 --> 01:12:25,307
On September 2, 1963,
1093
01:12:25,424 --> 01:12:29,054
Labor Day, Walter Cronkite
of CBS News
1094
01:12:29,178 --> 01:12:31,647
interviewed President Kennedy.
1095
01:12:31,764 --> 01:12:35,735
The president used the
opportunity to deliver a message
1096
01:12:35,893 --> 01:12:37,611
to President Diem.
1097
01:12:37,728 --> 01:12:41,449
Mr. President, the only hot war
we've got running at the moment
1098
01:12:41,566 --> 01:12:44,069
is of course the one in Vietnam,
1099
01:12:44,193 --> 01:12:47,072
and we've got our difficulties
there, quite obviously.
1100
01:12:47,196 --> 01:12:51,667
I don't think that unless
a greater effort is made
1101
01:12:51,784 --> 01:12:53,627
by the government to win
popular support
1102
01:12:53,744 --> 01:12:55,087
that the war can be won
out there.
1103
01:12:55,246 --> 01:12:57,089
In the final analysis,
it's their war.
1104
01:12:57,206 --> 01:13:00,961
Hasn't every indication
from Saigon been
1105
01:13:01,085 --> 01:13:03,087
that President Diem
has no intention
1106
01:13:03,254 --> 01:13:04,096
of changing his pattern?
1107
01:13:04,255 --> 01:13:05,097
If he doesn't change it,
1108
01:13:05,256 --> 01:13:07,054
of course, that's his decision.
1109
01:13:07,174 --> 01:13:09,142
He has been there ten years
and, as I say,
1110
01:13:09,260 --> 01:13:10,512
he has carried this burden
1111
01:13:10,636 --> 01:13:12,072
when he has been counted out
on a number of occasions.
1112
01:13:12,096 --> 01:13:13,096
Our best judgment is
1113
01:13:13,180 --> 01:13:15,603
that he can't be
successful in this basis.
1114
01:13:15,725 --> 01:13:18,274
But I don't agree with those
who say we should withdraw.
1115
01:13:18,436 --> 01:13:19,636
That would be a great mistake.
1116
01:13:19,687 --> 01:13:20,939
That'd be a great mistake.
1117
01:13:21,063 --> 01:13:22,943
I know people don't like
Americans to be engaged
1118
01:13:23,024 --> 01:13:24,064
in this kind of an effort.
1119
01:13:24,108 --> 01:13:26,452
47 Americans have been killed.
1120
01:13:26,611 --> 01:13:28,454
We're in a very
1121
01:13:28,613 --> 01:13:31,332
desperate struggle
against the communist system.
1122
01:13:31,449 --> 01:13:34,669
And I don't want Asia to pass
into the control of the Chinese.
1123
01:13:34,785 --> 01:13:36,913
Do you think that this
government still has time
1124
01:13:37,038 --> 01:13:39,461
to-to regain the support
of the people?
1125
01:13:39,582 --> 01:13:41,960
I do.
1126
01:13:42,126 --> 01:13:44,800
With changes in policy
and perhaps in personnel,
1127
01:13:44,921 --> 01:13:46,389
I think it can.
1128
01:13:46,505 --> 01:13:49,759
If it doesn't make
those changes,
1129
01:13:49,884 --> 01:13:52,103
I would think that
the chances of winning it
1130
01:13:52,219 --> 01:13:53,846
would not be very good.
1131
01:13:55,640 --> 01:13:58,393
Despite the cable,
Kennedy and his advisors
1132
01:13:58,517 --> 01:14:01,771
were sharply
divided about a coup.
1133
01:14:01,896 --> 01:14:07,153
Robert McNamara, Maxwell Taylor,
Vice President Lyndon Johnson,
1134
01:14:07,276 --> 01:14:11,577
and the head of the CIA
all cautioned against it,
1135
01:14:11,697 --> 01:14:14,997
because, while none of them
especially admired Diem,
1136
01:14:15,159 --> 01:14:19,665
they did not believe there was
any viable alternative.
1137
01:14:19,830 --> 01:14:22,754
Fritz Nolting was called in.
1138
01:14:22,875 --> 01:14:25,344
And he said, "As difficult
as they are to deal with,
1139
01:14:25,461 --> 01:14:30,342
"there is nobody with the guts
and sangfroid in Vietnam
1140
01:14:30,508 --> 01:14:32,181
"of Diem and his brother Nhu.
1141
01:14:32,301 --> 01:14:35,646
"And if we let them go
we will be saddled
1142
01:14:35,763 --> 01:14:39,609
by a descending cycle
of mediocre generals."
1143
01:14:39,725 --> 01:14:41,693
And he was absolutely correct.
1144
01:14:43,354 --> 01:14:46,198
But several State
Department officials believed
1145
01:14:46,315 --> 01:14:51,071
that without fresh leadership,
South Vietnam could not survive.
1146
01:14:51,195 --> 01:14:54,449
The debate intensified.
1147
01:14:55,658 --> 01:14:57,535
"My God," the president said,
1148
01:14:57,660 --> 01:15:00,880
"my administration
is coming apart."
1149
01:15:01,038 --> 01:15:04,338
In the end,
Kennedy instructed Lodge
1150
01:15:04,458 --> 01:15:06,711
to tell the renegade generals
1151
01:15:06,877 --> 01:15:09,130
that while the United States
does not wish
1152
01:15:09,255 --> 01:15:13,226
to stimulate a coup,
it would not thwart one either.
1153
01:15:14,760 --> 01:15:17,764
The generals laid their plans.
1154
01:15:24,145 --> 01:15:29,743
On November 1, 1963,
troops loyal to the plotters
1155
01:15:29,859 --> 01:15:31,953
seized key installations
in Saigon
1156
01:15:32,069 --> 01:15:35,539
and demanded Diem and Nhu
surrender.
1157
01:15:38,075 --> 01:15:40,498
The battle For the
city went on for 18 hour's
1158
01:15:40,619 --> 01:15:43,839
and most of it was centered
on the presidential palace.
1159
01:15:43,956 --> 01:15:47,460
Just after 6:30 in the morning
Saturday, the shooting ceased.
1160
01:15:56,427 --> 01:16:01,649
Diem and Nhu escaped,
took sanctuary in a church,
1161
01:16:01,766 --> 01:16:04,770
and agreed to surrender
to the rebels in exchange
1162
01:16:04,894 --> 01:16:08,615
for the promise of safe
passage out of the country.
1163
01:16:08,731 --> 01:16:12,156
They were picked up in an
armored personnel carrier...
1164
01:16:14,236 --> 01:16:18,286
And murdered soon
after they climbed inside.
1165
01:16:23,120 --> 01:16:26,465
Madame Nhu survived the coup.
1166
01:16:26,624 --> 01:16:29,844
She was on a goodwill tour
in the United States.
1167
01:16:35,132 --> 01:16:37,635
The system was
overthrown on November 1.
1168
01:16:37,802 --> 01:16:40,351
I was released November 4.
1169
01:16:40,471 --> 01:16:46,649
And it was the most exciting
moment in the life of Saigon.
1170
01:16:48,479 --> 01:16:53,736
The excitement,
you could feel it in the air.
1171
01:16:53,859 --> 01:16:58,285
I was thinking
that, yeah, it's a good thing.
1172
01:16:58,405 --> 01:17:01,955
Diem was making it impossible
to win the war
1173
01:17:02,076 --> 01:17:05,501
because people were
so against him
1174
01:17:05,663 --> 01:17:10,134
that the war would be lost
if he stayed in power.
1175
01:17:11,836 --> 01:17:13,838
My father was a bit worried
1176
01:17:14,004 --> 01:17:16,084
because he didn't know
who was going to replace Diem.
1177
01:17:18,843 --> 01:17:21,346
Ambassador Lodge
reported to Washington
1178
01:17:21,470 --> 01:17:25,976
that "every Vietnamese has
a smile on his face today."
1179
01:17:26,100 --> 01:17:29,695
"The prospects are now for
a shorter war," he said,
1180
01:17:29,812 --> 01:17:32,656
"provided the generals
stay together.
1181
01:17:32,773 --> 01:17:35,492
"Certainly officers and soldiers
1182
01:17:35,609 --> 01:17:38,704
who can pull off an operation
like this," he continued,
1183
01:17:38,821 --> 01:17:42,121
“should be able to do
very well on the battlefield
1184
01:17:42,241 --> 01:17:44,710
if their hearts are in it."
1185
01:17:47,580 --> 01:17:50,709
President Kennedy was
not so sure.
1186
01:17:50,833 --> 01:17:55,054
He was appalled that Diem
and Nhu had been killed.
1187
01:17:55,171 --> 01:17:58,721
Three days later, he dictated
his own rueful account
1188
01:17:58,883 --> 01:18:02,888
of the coup and his
concerns for the future.
1189
01:18:04,555 --> 01:18:08,310
Monday, November 4, 1963.
1190
01:18:08,434 --> 01:18:11,358
Over the weekend the
coup in Saigon took place.
1191
01:18:11,478 --> 01:18:14,231
It culminated three months
of conversation,
1192
01:18:14,356 --> 01:18:19,533
which divided the government
here and in Saigon.
1193
01:18:19,653 --> 01:18:24,750
I feel that we must bear a good
deal of responsibility for it,
1194
01:18:24,867 --> 01:18:27,746
beginning
with our cable of August
1195
01:18:27,912 --> 01:18:30,461
in which we suggested the coup.
1196
01:18:30,581 --> 01:18:33,380
I should not have given
my consent to it
1197
01:18:33,500 --> 01:18:35,753
without a roundtable conference.
1198
01:18:37,796 --> 01:18:43,144
I was shocked by the death
of Diem and Nhu.
1199
01:18:43,260 --> 01:18:47,356
The way he was killed made it
particularly abhorrent.
1200
01:18:47,473 --> 01:18:49,976
The question now is whether
the generals can stay together
1201
01:18:50,100 --> 01:18:53,900
and build a stable government or
whether public opinion in Saigon
1202
01:18:54,021 --> 01:18:57,651
will turn on this government
as repressive and undemocratic
1203
01:18:57,775 --> 01:18:59,698
in the not-too-distant future.
1204
01:19:04,698 --> 01:19:06,951
Kennedy would not
live to see the answer
1205
01:19:07,117 --> 01:19:09,586
to the question he had asked.
1206
01:19:09,703 --> 01:19:14,083
He was murdered in Dallas
18 days later.
1207
01:19:14,208 --> 01:19:19,089
There were now 16,000 American
advisors in South Vietnam.
1208
01:19:19,213 --> 01:19:24,561
Their fate and the fate of
that embattled country rested
1209
01:19:24,677 --> 01:19:29,808
with another American president,
Lyndon Baines Johnson.
1210
01:19:47,366 --> 01:19:49,494
We thought we were
the exceptions to history,
1211
01:19:49,618 --> 01:19:51,040
we Americans.
1212
01:19:51,161 --> 01:19:53,789
History didn't apply to us.
1213
01:19:53,914 --> 01:19:56,008
We could never fight a bad war.
1214
01:19:56,166 --> 01:19:58,009
We could never represent
the wrong cause.
1215
01:19:58,168 --> 01:19:59,260
We were Americans.
1216
01:20:00,504 --> 01:20:01,676
Well, in Vietnam it proved
1217
01:20:01,839 --> 01:20:04,308
that we were not
an exception to history.
1218
01:20:23,485 --> 01:20:31,485
# This is a mean old world
to live in all by yourself #
1219
01:20:37,041 --> 01:20:43,219
# This is a mean old world
to live in #
1220
01:20:43,380 --> 01:20:46,054
# All by yourself #
1221
01:20:49,970 --> 01:20:56,979
# This is a mean world
to be alone #
1222
01:20:57,102 --> 01:21:02,950
# Without someone
to call your own #
1223
01:21:03,067 --> 01:21:09,074
# This is a mean old world
to try and live in #
1224
01:21:09,239 --> 01:21:11,662
# All by yourself #
1225
01:21:15,871 --> 01:21:21,924
# I wish I had someone,
someone #
1226
01:21:22,086 --> 01:21:24,259
# Who'd love me true #
1227
01:21:28,759 --> 01:21:33,759
# I wish I had someone
who loved me true #
1228
01:21:41,605 --> 01:21:48,033
# If I had someone
who loved me true #
1229
01:21:48,153 --> 01:21:54,627
# Then I know I wouldn't be
so blue #
1230
01:21:54,785 --> 01:22:01,259
# This is a mean old world
to try and live in #
1231
01:22:01,375 --> 01:22:03,844
# All by yourself #
1232
01:22:06,130 --> 01:22:14,130
# Lord, I find myself dreaming #
1233
01:22:14,388 --> 01:22:16,607
# I found a love #
1234
01:22:20,018 --> 01:22:27,277
# Sometimes I find myself
dreaming #
1235
01:22:27,401 --> 01:22:30,655
# I found a love #
1236
01:22:33,115 --> 01:22:41,000
# Sometimes I dream
I've really found a love #
1237
01:22:41,123 --> 01:22:47,130
# Someone who loved me true
as the stars above #
1238
01:22:47,254 --> 01:22:52,681
# For this is a mean old world
to try and live in #
1239
01:22:52,843 --> 01:22:57,019
# All by yourself. #
100725
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