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ANNOUNCER: MAJOR SUPPORT
FOR "THE VIETNAM WAR"
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00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:06,500
WAS PROVIDED BY MEMBERS
OF THE BETTER ANGELS SOCIETY,
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00:00:06,500 --> 00:00:10,465
INCLUDING JONATHAN
AND JEANNIE LAVINE,
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00:00:10,465 --> 00:00:13,365
DIANE AND HAL BRIERLEY,
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00:00:13,365 --> 00:00:15,766
AMY AND DAVID ABRAMS,
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00:00:15,766 --> 00:00:18,265
JOHN AND CATHERINE DEBS,
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00:00:18,265 --> 00:00:21,166
THE FULLERTON FAMILY
CHARITABLE FUND,
8
00:00:21,166 --> 00:00:23,233
THE MONTRONE FAMILY,
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00:00:23,233 --> 00:00:25,565
LYNDA AND STEWART RESNICK,
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00:00:25,565 --> 00:00:28,332
THE PERRY AND DONNA GOLKIN
FAMILY FOUNDATION,
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00:00:28,332 --> 00:00:29,332
THE LYNCH FOUNDATION,
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00:00:29,332 --> 00:00:32,200
THE ROGER AND ROSEMARY
ENRICO FOUNDATION,
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00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:35,633
AND BY THESE ADDITIONAL FUNDERS.
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00:00:35,633 --> 00:00:37,533
MAJOR FUNDING WAS ALSO PROVIDED
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00:00:37,533 --> 00:00:39,265
BY DAVID H. KOCH...
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00:00:41,566 --> 00:00:43,765
THE BLAVATNIK
FAMILY FOUNDATION...
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00:00:46,100 --> 00:00:48,533
THE PARK FOUNDATION,
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00:00:48,533 --> 00:00:50,700
THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT
FOR THE HUMANITIES,
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00:00:50,700 --> 00:00:52,899
THE PEW CHARITABLE TRUSTS,
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00:00:52,899 --> 00:00:55,566
THE JOHN S. AND JAMES L.
KNIGHT FOUNDATION,
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00:00:55,566 --> 00:00:58,332
THE ANDREW W. MELLON FOUNDATION,
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00:00:58,332 --> 00:01:01,000
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00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:03,200
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AND BY VIEWERS LIKE YOU.
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THANK YOU.
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ANNOUNCER: BANK OF AMERICA
PROUDLY SUPPORTS
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KEN BURNS' AND LYNN NOVICK'S
FILM "THE VIETNAM WAR"
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00:01:20,299 --> 00:01:22,700
BECAUSE FOSTERING
DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES
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00:01:22,700 --> 00:01:25,299
AND CIVIL DISCOURSE
AROUND IMPORTANT ISSUES
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00:01:25,299 --> 00:01:27,599
FURTHERS PROGRESS, EQUALITY,
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00:01:27,599 --> 00:01:29,599
AND A MORE CONNECTED SOCIETY.
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GO TO BANKOFAMERICA.COM/
BETTERCONNECTED TO LEARN MORE.
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(helicopter blades beating,
growing louder)
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00:02:02,165 --> 00:02:03,865
(helicopter blades stop beating)
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00:02:04,766 --> 00:02:06,365
(wind whipping, bullet whizzing)
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00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:10,865
(gunfire)
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00:02:10,966 --> 00:02:12,599
(explosion)
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00:02:14,300 --> 00:02:16,033
(helicopter blades beating,
indistinct voices)
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00:02:18,699 --> 00:02:20,932
(gunfire, distorted screaming)
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(distorted Marine Corps Hymn
playing)
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(electronic hum)
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00:02:31,365 --> 00:02:39,300
(Marine Corps Hymn playing,
crowd cheering)
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KARL MARLANTES:
Coming home from Vietnam
46
00:02:43,365 --> 00:02:47,165
was close to as traumatic
as the war itself.
47
00:02:49,099 --> 00:02:52,066
For years, nobody talked
about Vietnam.
48
00:02:52,165 --> 00:02:53,365
(gunfire)
49
00:02:53,466 --> 00:02:55,133
(marching band playing)
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00:02:55,233 --> 00:02:56,765
We were friends
with a young couple
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00:02:56,865 --> 00:03:01,566
and it was only after 12 years
that the two wives were talking.
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00:03:01,665 --> 00:03:05,032
Found out that we both had been
Marines in Vietnam.
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00:03:05,133 --> 00:03:07,633
Never said a word about it.
54
00:03:07,733 --> 00:03:09,432
Never mentioned it.
55
00:03:09,532 --> 00:03:11,599
And the whole country
was like that.
56
00:03:13,199 --> 00:03:15,932
It was so divisive.
57
00:03:16,033 --> 00:03:20,966
And it's like living in a family
with an alcoholic father.
58
00:03:21,066 --> 00:03:23,400
(whispering):
"Shh, we don't talk about that."
59
00:03:23,500 --> 00:03:25,765
(gunfire)
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00:03:25,865 --> 00:03:27,765
Our country did that
with Vietnam.
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00:03:27,865 --> 00:03:30,599
It's only been very recently
that, I think,
62
00:03:30,699 --> 00:03:33,365
that, you know, the baby boomers
are finally starting to say,
63
00:03:33,466 --> 00:03:34,733
"What happened?
64
00:03:34,832 --> 00:03:36,165
What happened?"
65
00:03:36,265 --> 00:03:39,500
("A Familiar Taste" by Trent
Reznor & Atticus Ross playing)
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00:03:45,900 --> 00:03:47,865
HENRY KISSINGER:
What we need now in this country
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00:03:47,966 --> 00:03:52,265
is to heal the wounds
and to put Vietnam behind us.
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00:03:52,365 --> 00:03:55,500
("A Familiar Taste" continues)
69
00:04:04,466 --> 00:04:05,733
RICHARD NIXON:
The killing
70
00:04:05,832 --> 00:04:07,633
in this tragic war must stop.
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00:04:09,832 --> 00:04:11,099
("A Familiar Taste" continues)
72
00:04:18,300 --> 00:04:20,932
LYNDON JOHNSON:
General Westmoreland's strategy
73
00:04:21,033 --> 00:04:22,699
is producing results.
74
00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:26,966
The enemy is no longer
closer to victory.
75
00:04:28,966 --> 00:04:30,966
("A Familiar Taste" continues)
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00:04:34,300 --> 00:04:36,199
ROBERT McNAMARA:
No matter how you measure it,
77
00:04:36,300 --> 00:04:39,165
we're better off than we thought
we would be at this time.
78
00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:47,365
REPORTER:
You have been less than candid
79
00:04:47,466 --> 00:04:51,066
as to how deeply we are
involved in Vietnam.
80
00:04:51,165 --> 00:04:52,766
We have increased our assistance
81
00:04:52,865 --> 00:04:54,899
to the government,
its logistics.
82
00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:57,365
We have not sent
combat troops there.
83
00:04:57,466 --> 00:05:01,132
DWIGHT EISENHOWER:
You have a row
of dominoes set up
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00:05:01,233 --> 00:05:03,333
and you knock over the first one
85
00:05:03,432 --> 00:05:05,266
and the last one,
certainly it will go over.
86
00:05:05,365 --> 00:05:07,533
HARRY TRUMAN:
If aggression is successful
in Korea,
87
00:05:07,632 --> 00:05:10,100
we can expect it to spread
throughout Asia and Europe
88
00:05:10,199 --> 00:05:11,399
and to this hemisphere.
89
00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:17,533
("A Familiar Taste" continues)
90
00:05:27,399 --> 00:05:30,165
("A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall"
by Bob Dylan playing)
91
00:05:33,500 --> 00:05:39,966
♪ Oh where have you been,
my blue-eyed son? ♪
92
00:05:40,066 --> 00:05:44,199
♪ And where have you been,
my darling young one? ♪
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00:05:46,165 --> 00:05:50,500
MAX CLELAND:
Viktor Frankl, who survived
the death camps in World War II,
94
00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:53,533
wrote a book called
Man's Search for Meaning.
95
00:05:53,632 --> 00:05:55,966
DYLAN:
♪ I've walked
and I've crawled on six... ♪
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00:05:56,066 --> 00:05:58,699
CLELAND:
You know,
"To live is to suffer.
97
00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:03,266
To survive is to find meaning
in suffering."
98
00:06:03,365 --> 00:06:07,800
And for those of us who suffered
because of Vietnam,
99
00:06:07,899 --> 00:06:12,132
that's been our quest
ever since.
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00:06:12,233 --> 00:06:18,766
DYLAN:
♪ And it's a hard,
it's a hard, it's a hard ♪
101
00:06:18,865 --> 00:06:20,832
♪ It's a hard
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00:06:20,932 --> 00:06:25,399
♪ It's a hard rain's
a-gonna fall ♪
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00:06:25,500 --> 00:06:29,533
NARRATOR:
America's involvement in Vietnam
began in secrecy.
104
00:06:29,632 --> 00:06:34,533
It ended, 30 years later,
in failure,
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00:06:34,632 --> 00:06:37,865
witnessed by the entire world.
106
00:06:37,966 --> 00:06:40,800
DYLAN:
♪ And what did you see,
my darling young one? ♪
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00:06:40,899 --> 00:06:44,066
NARRATOR:
It was begun in good faith
by decent people
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00:06:44,165 --> 00:06:46,733
out of fateful
misunderstandings,
109
00:06:46,832 --> 00:06:51,266
American overconfidence,
and Cold War miscalculation.
110
00:06:51,365 --> 00:06:56,699
And it was prolonged because it
seemed easier to muddle through
111
00:06:56,800 --> 00:06:59,832
than admit that it had been
caused by tragic decisions,
112
00:06:59,932 --> 00:07:02,966
made by five American
presidents,
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00:07:03,065 --> 00:07:05,899
belonging to both
political parties.
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00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:07,899
DYLAN:
♪ I saw a room full of men
with their hammers a-bleeding ♪
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00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:09,800
NARRATOR:
Before the war was over,
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00:07:09,899 --> 00:07:13,565
more than 58,000 Americans
would be dead.
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00:07:13,665 --> 00:07:18,466
At least 250,000
South Vietnamese troops died
118
00:07:18,565 --> 00:07:21,065
in the conflict, as well.
119
00:07:21,165 --> 00:07:25,100
So did over a million
North Vietnamese soldiers
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00:07:25,199 --> 00:07:26,665
and Viet Cong guerrillas.
121
00:07:26,766 --> 00:07:29,665
DYLAN:
♪ Sharp swords in the hands
of young children ♪
122
00:07:29,766 --> 00:07:31,966
♪ And it's a hard...
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00:07:32,066 --> 00:07:35,100
NARRATOR:
Two million civilians,
north and south,
124
00:07:35,199 --> 00:07:37,066
are thought to have perished,
125
00:07:37,165 --> 00:07:40,600
as well as tens of thousands
more in the neighboring states
126
00:07:40,699 --> 00:07:42,500
of Laos and Cambodia.
127
00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:45,066
(helicopter blades whirring)
128
00:07:45,165 --> 00:07:49,300
For many Vietnamese,
it was a brutal civil war;
129
00:07:49,399 --> 00:07:52,766
for others, the bloody
climactic chapter
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00:07:52,865 --> 00:07:56,365
in a century-old struggle
for independence.
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00:07:56,466 --> 00:08:01,533
DYLAN:
♪ And what'll you do now,
my blue-eyed son? ♪
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00:08:01,632 --> 00:08:03,966
NARRATOR:
For those Americans
who fought in it,
133
00:08:04,065 --> 00:08:06,932
and for those who fought against
it back home,
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00:08:07,033 --> 00:08:10,533
as well as for those who merely
glimpsed it on the nightly news,
135
00:08:10,632 --> 00:08:14,333
the Vietnam War
was a decade of agony,
136
00:08:14,432 --> 00:08:19,932
the most divisive period
since the Civil War.
137
00:08:20,033 --> 00:08:24,899
Vietnam seemed to call
everything into question--
138
00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:29,432
the value of honor
and gallantry;
139
00:08:29,533 --> 00:08:34,066
the qualities of cruelty
and mercy;
140
00:08:34,165 --> 00:08:38,633
the candor of the
American government;
141
00:08:38,732 --> 00:08:42,500
and what it means
to be a patriot.
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00:08:44,365 --> 00:08:48,932
DYLAN:
♪ Where hunger is ugly,
where the souls are forgotten ♪
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00:08:49,033 --> 00:08:51,165
NARRATOR:
And those who lived through it
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00:08:51,265 --> 00:08:54,165
have never been able
to erase its memory,
145
00:08:54,265 --> 00:08:57,332
have never stopped arguing
about what really happened,
146
00:08:57,432 --> 00:09:03,000
why everything went so badly
wrong, who was to blame,
147
00:09:03,100 --> 00:09:05,799
and whether it was all worth it.
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00:09:09,399 --> 00:09:11,466
BAO NINH:
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00:09:49,133 --> 00:09:51,000
DYLAN:
♪ And it's a hard
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00:09:51,100 --> 00:09:56,066
♪ It's a hard rain's
a-gonna fall ♪
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00:10:01,666 --> 00:10:03,133
(song ends)
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00:10:07,865 --> 00:10:12,932
(Silk Road Ensemble playing
"People and Fighters Unite")
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00:10:31,966 --> 00:10:35,265
BAO NINH:
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00:10:42,832 --> 00:10:46,265
NARRATOR:
The French conquest of Indochina
began with an attack
155
00:10:46,365 --> 00:10:51,966
on the ancient Vietnamese port
of Danang in 1858.
156
00:10:52,066 --> 00:10:55,500
It took 50 years to lay claim
to the whole region--
157
00:10:55,600 --> 00:11:00,166
Laos and Cambodia, as well as
the 1,200-mile-long area
158
00:11:00,265 --> 00:11:03,533
that would come to be called
Vietnam.
159
00:11:06,299 --> 00:11:09,299
All of it was ruled
by a French governor-general
160
00:11:09,399 --> 00:11:11,700
from his palace in Hanoi.
161
00:11:13,399 --> 00:11:16,732
The French largely lived
on plantation estates,
162
00:11:16,832 --> 00:11:21,066
and in cities, like Saigon,
made to look as much as possible
163
00:11:21,166 --> 00:11:23,265
like those at home.
164
00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:27,765
Most did not even bother
to learn the language
165
00:11:27,865 --> 00:11:29,799
spoken by their subjects.
166
00:11:29,899 --> 00:11:33,533
Instead they installed a series
of puppet emperors
167
00:11:33,633 --> 00:11:35,200
and employed a network
168
00:11:35,299 --> 00:11:39,100
of French-speaking Vietnamese
officials-- mandarins--
169
00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:41,265
willing to carry out
their wishes.
170
00:11:44,665 --> 00:11:49,033
The French put their subjects to
work building roads and canals,
171
00:11:49,133 --> 00:11:51,633
railroads and bridges.
172
00:11:52,966 --> 00:11:55,332
BAO NINH:
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00:12:07,932 --> 00:12:10,633
NARRATOR:
The Vietnamese people
did not take easily
174
00:12:10,732 --> 00:12:12,166
to French occupation,
175
00:12:12,265 --> 00:12:15,033
just as they had fought
against earlier invasions
176
00:12:15,133 --> 00:12:16,732
by the Chinese.
177
00:12:16,832 --> 00:12:20,932
By the early 20th century,
nationalism was on the rise.
178
00:12:21,033 --> 00:12:26,332
But anyone who dared resist
colonial rule risked exile,
179
00:12:26,432 --> 00:12:28,865
prison, or the guillotine.
180
00:12:31,365 --> 00:12:32,899
TRAN NGOC TOAN
(speaking English):
181
00:12:59,765 --> 00:13:03,533
LAM QUANG THI:
182
00:13:18,399 --> 00:13:20,332
(helicopter blades whirring)
183
00:13:22,765 --> 00:13:25,899
JOHN MUSGRAVE:
My hatred for them was pure.
184
00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:27,832
Pure.
185
00:13:27,932 --> 00:13:30,966
I hated them so much.
186
00:13:31,066 --> 00:13:32,466
And I was so scared of them.
187
00:13:32,566 --> 00:13:34,600
(gunfire)
188
00:13:36,966 --> 00:13:39,200
Boy, I was terrified of them.
189
00:13:47,765 --> 00:13:50,665
And the scareder I got,
the more I hated them.
190
00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:56,832
I was an 18-year-old Marine
rifleman with the ink still wet
191
00:13:56,932 --> 00:13:59,000
on my high school diploma.
192
00:13:59,100 --> 00:14:01,533
I didn't want to shame myself
in front of my buddies.
193
00:14:03,666 --> 00:14:05,566
But I was so scared.
194
00:14:05,666 --> 00:14:08,466
I felt like I was hanging onto
my honor by my fingernails
195
00:14:08,566 --> 00:14:10,200
the whole time I was there.
196
00:14:15,332 --> 00:14:18,399
("La Marseillaise" playing)
197
00:14:20,765 --> 00:14:23,066
(crowd cheering)
198
00:14:24,966 --> 00:14:27,100
NARRATOR:
In the spring of 1919,
199
00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:30,299
as the victorious Allied Powers
met in Paris
200
00:14:30,399 --> 00:14:34,100
to rebuild a world shattered
by the Great War,
201
00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:37,899
President Woodrow Wilson
headed the American delegation
202
00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:40,399
housed in the Hotel Crillon.
203
00:14:43,265 --> 00:14:47,066
One day, a tall, slender,
29-nine-year-old man
204
00:14:47,165 --> 00:14:49,633
appeared with a petition
for the president
205
00:14:49,732 --> 00:14:53,665
he and other Vietnamese
nationalists had written.
206
00:14:53,765 --> 00:14:57,232
Inspired by Wilson's declaration
207
00:14:57,332 --> 00:15:00,200
that the interests of colonial
peoples should be given
208
00:15:00,299 --> 00:15:03,566
equal weight with those
of their European rulers,
209
00:15:03,666 --> 00:15:07,166
the man was asking that this
principle be applied
210
00:15:07,265 --> 00:15:08,966
to his homeland.
211
00:15:09,066 --> 00:15:13,799
The president's secretary
promised to show it to Wilson,
212
00:15:13,899 --> 00:15:17,466
but there is no
evidence that he ever did.
213
00:15:17,566 --> 00:15:20,066
His name was Nguyen Tat Thanh,
214
00:15:20,166 --> 00:15:24,066
but he was now living under
an alias, Nguyen Ai Quoc--
215
00:15:24,166 --> 00:15:26,732
"Nguyen the Patriot."
216
00:15:28,033 --> 00:15:30,200
During his long, shadowy career,
217
00:15:30,299 --> 00:15:34,000
he would adopt some
70 different pseudonyms,
218
00:15:34,100 --> 00:15:37,165
finally settling on
"the most enlightened one"--
219
00:15:37,265 --> 00:15:40,600
Ho Chi Minh.
220
00:15:40,700 --> 00:15:45,899
DUONG VAN MAI:
Ho Chi Minh was a man who
succeeded in projecting an image
221
00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:50,000
of somebody who was totally
dedicated to freeing
222
00:15:50,100 --> 00:15:54,466
his country and his people
from foreign domination
223
00:15:54,566 --> 00:15:58,533
to the point that he
sacrificed his own well-being,
224
00:15:58,633 --> 00:16:02,566
his own life, not having
a family of his own.
225
00:16:03,966 --> 00:16:06,466
To Vietnamese,
that's a big sacrifice
226
00:16:06,566 --> 00:16:09,299
because to us
everybody needs a family.
227
00:16:11,265 --> 00:16:14,000
NARRATOR:
Ho Chi Minh was born in 1890,
228
00:16:14,100 --> 00:16:16,966
the son of a minor official
in the French regime.
229
00:16:17,066 --> 00:16:19,966
After taking part
in a demonstration
230
00:16:20,066 --> 00:16:21,633
against the puppet emperor
231
00:16:21,732 --> 00:16:23,566
and the Frenchmen
who pulled his strings,
232
00:16:23,666 --> 00:16:27,732
Ho was expelled from school
and marked for arrest.
233
00:16:29,832 --> 00:16:35,133
He left Vietnam in 1911 and
remained in exile for 30 years.
234
00:16:36,700 --> 00:16:39,899
He served as a cook's helper
aboard a French liner,
235
00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:42,732
and visited New York and Boston,
236
00:16:42,832 --> 00:16:47,899
where he worked for a time as a
pastry chef at the Parker House.
237
00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:53,265
He shoveled snow in London,
tinted photographs in Paris.
238
00:16:54,732 --> 00:16:58,932
There, Ho Chi Minh joined
the French Socialist Party.
239
00:16:59,033 --> 00:17:02,500
But when he discovered the
anti-colonial writings of Lenin,
240
00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:04,598
he became a communist.
241
00:17:06,133 --> 00:17:08,032
He was invited
to Moscow to study,
242
00:17:08,133 --> 00:17:11,098
underwent training
as a Soviet agent,
243
00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:14,566
was sometimes criticized
for being a nationalist first,
244
00:17:14,665 --> 00:17:16,500
a communist second,
245
00:17:16,598 --> 00:17:19,532
and then was dispatched to China
246
00:17:19,633 --> 00:17:22,799
to organize a cell
of other Vietnamese exiles
247
00:17:22,900 --> 00:17:27,465
and help establish
the Indochinese Communist Party.
248
00:17:27,566 --> 00:17:31,200
Through it all,
"He was taut and quivering,"
249
00:17:31,299 --> 00:17:34,532
a friend remembered,
"with only one thought--
250
00:17:34,633 --> 00:17:37,465
his country, Vietnam."
251
00:17:38,732 --> 00:17:41,566
(air raid siren blaring)
252
00:17:41,665 --> 00:17:42,865
(bombs whistling, exploding)
253
00:17:42,965 --> 00:17:44,165
(shouting)
254
00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:51,232
(gunfire, explosions)
255
00:17:51,333 --> 00:17:57,732
NARRATOR:
By 1940, much of the world
was at war again.
256
00:18:04,133 --> 00:18:08,000
Germany had seized most
of Western Europe,
257
00:18:08,099 --> 00:18:10,000
including France.
258
00:18:13,500 --> 00:18:15,232
Imperial Japan threatened
259
00:18:15,333 --> 00:18:17,365
many of the European colonies
in Asia,
260
00:18:17,465 --> 00:18:21,299
and occupied Vietnam, where
they permitted their allies,
261
00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:22,965
the collaborationist French,
262
00:18:23,066 --> 00:18:25,766
to continue to oversee
their colony.
263
00:18:28,932 --> 00:18:32,432
To some Vietnamese,
the coming of the Japanese
264
00:18:32,532 --> 00:18:37,066
seemed to signal a welcome end
to white colonial rule.
265
00:18:37,165 --> 00:18:40,432
But Ho Chi Minh,
still in exile in China,
266
00:18:40,532 --> 00:18:43,900
saw the Japanese
as alien invaders,
267
00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:46,432
no more welcome than the French.
268
00:18:46,532 --> 00:18:49,766
They were only interested in
exploiting his country
269
00:18:49,865 --> 00:18:55,532
and seizing Vietnamese crops
to fill their own rice bowls.
270
00:18:55,633 --> 00:18:57,965
The time had come, he said,
271
00:18:58,066 --> 00:19:01,700
to rally "patriots of all ages
and all types,
272
00:19:01,799 --> 00:19:05,865
peasants, workers, merchants
and soldiers"
273
00:19:05,965 --> 00:19:09,665
to defeat the Japanese and
the collaborationist French.
274
00:19:13,432 --> 00:19:18,965
In February of 1941, after three
decades away from his homeland,
275
00:19:19,066 --> 00:19:23,099
Ho Chi Minh slipped back across
the Chinese border into Vietnam
276
00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:27,465
and set up headquarters near
the remote village of Pac Bo
277
00:19:27,566 --> 00:19:30,333
in a limestone cave
at the side of a mountain
278
00:19:30,432 --> 00:19:33,133
he named for Karl Marx,
279
00:19:33,232 --> 00:19:38,700
overlooking a jungle stream
he named for his hero, Lenin.
280
00:19:41,066 --> 00:19:43,700
There, he founded
a revolutionary movement,
281
00:19:43,799 --> 00:19:47,532
which he called the
Vietnam Independence League--
282
00:19:47,633 --> 00:19:50,266
the Viet Minh.
283
00:19:51,432 --> 00:19:53,833
TRAN NGOC TOAN
(speaking English):
284
00:20:02,932 --> 00:20:06,099
NARRATOR:
To build and lead a fighting
force for his revolution,
285
00:20:06,200 --> 00:20:08,833
Ho called upon Vo Nguyen Giap,
286
00:20:08,932 --> 00:20:11,333
a one-time teacher
of French history
287
00:20:11,432 --> 00:20:15,099
who had instructed
the children of Hanoi's elite.
288
00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:18,766
Giap was an early convert
to communism,
289
00:20:18,865 --> 00:20:22,232
whose life-long hatred
for the French intensified
290
00:20:22,333 --> 00:20:25,633
when they beat his wife to death
in prison.
291
00:20:25,732 --> 00:20:29,932
Inspired by Napoleon,
Lawrence of Arabia,
292
00:20:30,032 --> 00:20:33,599
and the communist Chinese
revolutionary Mao Zedong,
293
00:20:33,700 --> 00:20:36,000
Giap had already begun
to develop
294
00:20:36,099 --> 00:20:40,365
a distinctive theory of warfare
that relied on guerrilla tactics
295
00:20:40,465 --> 00:20:45,465
until a full-scale conventional
attack could be mounted.
296
00:20:45,566 --> 00:20:49,599
In the fight for independence
which he believed was coming,
297
00:20:49,700 --> 00:20:56,365
his armies, Giap said, would be
"everywhere and nowhere."
298
00:20:56,465 --> 00:21:00,299
DUONG VAN MAI:
The reason Vietnamese had always
resort to guerrilla warfare
299
00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:02,965
was because we were
a small country.
300
00:21:03,066 --> 00:21:08,299
And it was just a way of fight
the weak against the strong.
301
00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:11,965
Don't fight unless you're
sure you can win,
302
00:21:12,066 --> 00:21:15,400
and surprise is a big element.
303
00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:19,766
Choose your own battle.
304
00:21:25,465 --> 00:21:29,633
MIKE HEANEY:
I had about 26 guys that day
out of 45.
305
00:21:29,732 --> 00:21:32,066
We were always
somewhat understrength.
306
00:21:32,165 --> 00:21:34,465
And this day we were
quite understrength.
307
00:21:36,099 --> 00:21:38,000
My platoon's on point.
308
00:21:43,066 --> 00:21:44,732
MAN:
Go, go, go, go, go!
309
00:21:44,833 --> 00:21:47,599
HEANEY:
And all of a sudden
the very point man,
310
00:21:47,700 --> 00:21:51,165
the first guy in the column,
said, "VC on the trail.
311
00:21:51,266 --> 00:21:52,532
VC on the trail."
312
00:21:54,500 --> 00:21:56,833
Before I had a chance
to digest this...
313
00:21:56,932 --> 00:21:58,032
(gunshot)
314
00:21:58,133 --> 00:21:59,700
...he went down,
shot right through the chest.
315
00:21:59,799 --> 00:22:02,099
(gunfire)
316
00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:05,766
And what was a very
well-laid ambush erupted.
317
00:22:05,865 --> 00:22:09,232
(explosion, gunfire)
318
00:22:14,799 --> 00:22:16,799
(gunfire, shouting)
319
00:22:16,900 --> 00:22:19,099
I knew I'd lost a bunch of guys.
320
00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:23,400
I said a prayer to God saying,
basically,
321
00:22:23,500 --> 00:22:25,932
"If you need any more guys
from my platoon, take me.
322
00:22:26,032 --> 00:22:27,900
Don't take any more of my men."
323
00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:31,365
As soon as I said it,
I freaked myself out and said,
324
00:22:31,465 --> 00:22:32,865
"Holy shit.
325
00:22:32,965 --> 00:22:35,532
Can I take that prayer back?"
326
00:22:37,865 --> 00:22:40,365
(gunfire, plane engine roaring)
327
00:22:41,865 --> 00:22:45,532
(explosion, alarm ringing)
328
00:22:45,633 --> 00:22:49,066
NARRATOR:
By the spring of 1945,
329
00:22:49,165 --> 00:22:54,500
more than three years after the
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor,
330
00:22:54,599 --> 00:22:57,732
the United States government
was looking for allies
331
00:22:57,833 --> 00:22:59,900
behind the lines in Vietnam.
332
00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:02,099
The Americans were hoping
to find a way
333
00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:05,465
to undermine Japanese forces
there
334
00:23:05,566 --> 00:23:08,732
when they were contacted
by Ho Chi Minh.
335
00:23:08,833 --> 00:23:10,633
DONALD GREGG:
And so it was decided to drop
336
00:23:10,732 --> 00:23:15,732
an OSS team in to meet with
the Viet Minh leadership.
337
00:23:18,165 --> 00:23:21,400
Paul Hoagland was
the medic on the team.
338
00:23:21,500 --> 00:23:25,099
And the first thing he was told
was that he must attend
339
00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:27,032
to their leader, who was
desperately sick.
340
00:23:27,133 --> 00:23:30,099
So he was taken
to a grass shack
341
00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:34,532
where a bewhiskered, skinny man
lay on a bundle of straw,
342
00:23:34,633 --> 00:23:36,165
desperately ill.
343
00:23:36,266 --> 00:23:37,900
And that was Ho Chi Minh.
344
00:23:40,333 --> 00:23:44,965
NARRATOR:
The OSS, the secret wartime
precursor of the CIA,
345
00:23:45,066 --> 00:23:48,232
supplied Ho's ragtag guerrillas
with arms
346
00:23:48,333 --> 00:23:53,133
and marveled at how quickly
they learned to handle them.
347
00:23:53,232 --> 00:23:55,932
Ho Chi Minh began to call
his followers
348
00:23:56,032 --> 00:24:00,232
the "Viet-American Army,"
and praised the United States
349
00:24:00,333 --> 00:24:02,232
as a "champion of democracy"
350
00:24:02,333 --> 00:24:05,500
that would surely help them end
colonial rule.
351
00:24:06,766 --> 00:24:09,932
BUI DIEM (speaking English):
352
00:24:23,766 --> 00:24:28,333
NARRATOR:
Meanwhile, famine gripped the
northern part of the country.
353
00:24:28,432 --> 00:24:30,333
Hundreds of thousands
of Vietnamese
354
00:24:30,432 --> 00:24:32,400
were dying of starvation
355
00:24:32,500 --> 00:24:35,732
while Japanese storehouses
were filled with rice.
356
00:24:38,766 --> 00:24:40,766
DUONG VAN MAI:
In those days,
garbage was collected
357
00:24:40,865 --> 00:24:43,000
by people pushing carts.
358
00:24:43,099 --> 00:24:47,700
And my mother remembers that
every morning she would see
359
00:24:47,799 --> 00:24:49,700
these garbage carts going around
360
00:24:49,799 --> 00:24:52,165
and people picking up dead
bodies and throwing them
361
00:24:52,266 --> 00:24:53,766
on the cart.
362
00:24:53,865 --> 00:24:55,400
It was incredible.
363
00:24:55,500 --> 00:24:59,032
And people who lived through it
never, never forgot.
364
00:24:59,133 --> 00:25:03,599
NARRATOR:
Duong Van Mai's father
was the deputy governor
365
00:25:03,700 --> 00:25:05,865
of a province east of Hanoi,
366
00:25:05,965 --> 00:25:08,400
the son and grandson
of mandarins
367
00:25:08,500 --> 00:25:11,133
who had all served the French.
368
00:25:11,232 --> 00:25:14,566
He and his wife had 17 children.
369
00:25:14,665 --> 00:25:19,400
DUONG VAN MAI:
Parents who had children
who were, you know, plump,
370
00:25:19,500 --> 00:25:21,932
were very afraid of their
children being stolen
371
00:25:22,032 --> 00:25:24,465
and killed.
372
00:25:24,566 --> 00:25:27,665
And it was really like
hell on earth.
373
00:25:27,766 --> 00:25:31,232
The government didn't have
a clue on how to deal
374
00:25:31,333 --> 00:25:33,432
with this calamity.
375
00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:36,299
NARRATOR:
But Ho Chi Minh did.
376
00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:38,633
He directed the Viet Minh
377
00:25:38,732 --> 00:25:42,000
to break into the Japanese
storehouses wherever they could
378
00:25:42,099 --> 00:25:46,232
and distribute the rice
to the people.
379
00:25:46,333 --> 00:25:48,900
They were hailed as saviors.
380
00:25:51,432 --> 00:25:53,032
(engine starts)
381
00:26:00,066 --> 00:26:01,200
(explosion)
382
00:26:03,766 --> 00:26:06,932
NARRATOR:
When an atomic bomb
destroyed Hiroshima,
383
00:26:07,032 --> 00:26:10,566
and three days later a second
one destroyed Nagasaki,
384
00:26:10,665 --> 00:26:13,700
Japanese surrender
seemed imminent.
385
00:26:15,732 --> 00:26:19,299
Ho Chi Minh called upon
all Vietnamese to rise up
386
00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:21,333
and take over
their own country
387
00:26:21,432 --> 00:26:23,799
before the Free French
could reestablish
388
00:26:23,900 --> 00:26:26,400
their old colonial regime.
389
00:26:26,500 --> 00:26:31,599
They did, in cities and towns
across the country.
390
00:26:35,133 --> 00:26:38,032
On September 2, 1945,
391
00:26:38,133 --> 00:26:40,900
the same day the Japanese
formally surrendered,
392
00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:43,900
hundreds of thousands
of Vietnamese
393
00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:48,799
streamed into Ba Dinh Square in
Hanoi to see for the first time
394
00:26:48,900 --> 00:26:52,133
the mysterious leader
of the Viet Minh
395
00:26:52,232 --> 00:26:56,865
and hear him proclaim
Vietnam's independence.
396
00:26:56,965 --> 00:27:00,400
(Ho Chi Minh speaking
Vietnamese)
397
00:27:00,500 --> 00:27:05,099
NARRATOR:
With an OSS officer
standing nearby,
398
00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:09,165
Ho Chi Minh began with the words
of Thomas Jefferson:
399
00:27:09,266 --> 00:27:11,799
"All men are created equal.
400
00:27:11,900 --> 00:27:14,700
"They are endowed
by their creator
401
00:27:14,799 --> 00:27:17,900
"with certain
unalienable rights;
402
00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:20,665
"that among these are life,
liberty
403
00:27:20,766 --> 00:27:22,965
and the pursuit of happiness."
404
00:27:25,665 --> 00:27:28,532
DONG SI NGUYEN:
405
00:27:45,432 --> 00:27:47,732
GEORGE WICKES:
Ho Chi Minh had great hopes
406
00:27:47,833 --> 00:27:53,200
that the U.S. would support the
Vietnam desire for independence,
407
00:27:53,299 --> 00:27:55,066
not necessarily by intervening
408
00:27:55,165 --> 00:27:58,932
but by doing what it could
409
00:27:59,032 --> 00:28:02,665
to support an
independence movement.
410
00:28:02,766 --> 00:28:06,465
NARRATOR:
Ho Chi Minh's hopes for American
support were calculated
411
00:28:06,566 --> 00:28:09,465
but understandable.
412
00:28:09,566 --> 00:28:13,465
President Franklin Roosevelt had
promised a postwar world
413
00:28:13,566 --> 00:28:16,633
that would "respect the rights
of all peoples
414
00:28:16,732 --> 00:28:19,700
to choose the form of government
under which they live."
415
00:28:22,532 --> 00:28:26,365
But Roosevelt was dead now,
and his successor, Harry Truman,
416
00:28:26,465 --> 00:28:30,232
had inherited
a very different world.
417
00:28:30,333 --> 00:28:32,665
The alliance
with the Soviet Union
418
00:28:32,766 --> 00:28:36,566
that had won the
Second World War had collapsed.
419
00:28:36,665 --> 00:28:40,299
The Soviets now occupied
the Eastern European countries
420
00:28:40,400 --> 00:28:44,965
they had overrun, and hoped to
spread their influence farther,
421
00:28:45,066 --> 00:28:49,766
into Iran, Turkey,
and the Mediterranean.
422
00:28:49,865 --> 00:28:54,165
A new cold war had begun.
423
00:28:54,266 --> 00:28:56,833
French president
Charles De Gaulle warned
424
00:28:56,932 --> 00:29:00,000
that if the United States
insisted on independence
425
00:29:00,099 --> 00:29:03,766
for her colonies,
France might have no choice
426
00:29:03,865 --> 00:29:07,200
but to "fall into
the Russian orbit."
427
00:29:07,299 --> 00:29:10,700
The United States must do
nothing to undercut
428
00:29:10,799 --> 00:29:16,200
the restoration of France's
empire, including Vietnam.
429
00:29:20,266 --> 00:29:23,766
WICKES:
There were hardly any Americans
in Vietnam, you know--
430
00:29:23,865 --> 00:29:26,799
State Department people,
consular officials,
431
00:29:26,900 --> 00:29:29,099
a few businessmen.
432
00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:31,165
Hardly anyone from this country
433
00:29:31,266 --> 00:29:33,032
knew where Vietnam
was located.
434
00:29:33,133 --> 00:29:37,833
NARRATOR:
George Wickes was part
of a seven-man OSS mission
435
00:29:37,932 --> 00:29:41,266
sent to Saigon,
the largest city in the south.
436
00:29:41,365 --> 00:29:44,833
The United States
was officially neutral,
437
00:29:44,932 --> 00:29:47,700
hoping the French
and Viet Minh could reach
438
00:29:47,799 --> 00:29:51,333
some peaceful solution
on their own.
439
00:29:51,432 --> 00:29:54,932
Allied leaders had agreed
temporarily to divide Vietnam
440
00:29:55,032 --> 00:29:57,500
into two separate zones.
441
00:29:57,599 --> 00:30:01,766
Nationalist Chinese troops were
to handle things in the north.
442
00:30:01,865 --> 00:30:05,333
British colonial troops would
try to perform the same task
443
00:30:05,432 --> 00:30:08,232
in the south,
where rival factions,
444
00:30:08,333 --> 00:30:12,432
including the French and Viet
Minh, were already fighting
445
00:30:12,532 --> 00:30:15,432
in the streets of Saigon.
446
00:30:15,532 --> 00:30:17,900
WICKES:
No one was in charge.
447
00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:22,165
On both sides, there was
brutality and atrocity
448
00:30:22,266 --> 00:30:23,766
and violence.
449
00:30:23,865 --> 00:30:26,400
It wasn't quite a civil war
450
00:30:26,500 --> 00:30:28,365
but it was getting very
close to civil war
451
00:30:28,465 --> 00:30:30,700
in the streets of Saigon.
452
00:30:30,799 --> 00:30:33,766
NARRATOR:
Lieutenant Colonel Peter Dewey,
453
00:30:33,865 --> 00:30:37,232
the 28-year-old commander
of the OSS in Saigon,
454
00:30:37,333 --> 00:30:39,932
tried to make sense of it all.
455
00:30:40,032 --> 00:30:42,766
WICKES:
Right from the start he was
in touch with everybody--
456
00:30:42,865 --> 00:30:45,599
not only the French,
but very soon he established
457
00:30:45,700 --> 00:30:49,865
a connection with various
Vietnamese groups.
458
00:30:49,965 --> 00:30:52,965
The Viet Minh soon
established themselves
459
00:30:53,066 --> 00:30:55,500
as the most successful.
460
00:30:55,599 --> 00:30:58,400
NARRATOR:
Dewey, who spoke fluent French,
461
00:30:58,500 --> 00:31:01,432
brokered talks between
a Viet Minh spokesman
462
00:31:01,532 --> 00:31:05,232
and the senior French
representative in the city.
463
00:31:05,333 --> 00:31:10,099
His efforts infuriated
British general Douglas Gracey,
464
00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:13,133
who commanded
Allied forces in the south.
465
00:31:13,232 --> 00:31:16,099
Gracey was convinced
that French control
466
00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:19,032
should be reimposed
as soon as possible.
467
00:31:19,133 --> 00:31:22,465
By conferring with
the Viet Minh, Gracey said,
468
00:31:22,566 --> 00:31:27,032
Colonel Dewey had become
a "subversive" force.
469
00:31:27,133 --> 00:31:28,465
(gunfire)
470
00:31:28,566 --> 00:31:32,066
The violence in and around
Saigon escalated.
471
00:31:34,066 --> 00:31:36,799
Colonel Dewey urgently
cabled his superiors:
472
00:31:36,900 --> 00:31:40,400
Vietnam "is burning," he wrote.
473
00:31:40,500 --> 00:31:43,000
"The French and British
are finished here
474
00:31:43,099 --> 00:31:45,633
and the United States,"
he concluded,
475
00:31:45,732 --> 00:31:47,900
"ought to clear out
of Southeast Asia."
476
00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:49,599
(gunfire)
477
00:31:52,232 --> 00:31:56,665
Two days later,
September 26, 1945,
478
00:31:56,766 --> 00:31:58,266
he set out for the airport,
479
00:31:58,365 --> 00:32:03,266
prepared to fly
to OSS headquarters.
480
00:32:03,365 --> 00:32:08,365
At a roadblock, the Viet Minh
mistook Dewey for a Frenchman
481
00:32:08,465 --> 00:32:10,500
and opened fire.
482
00:32:10,599 --> 00:32:12,000
(gunfire)
483
00:32:12,099 --> 00:32:15,299
He was killed instantly.
484
00:32:15,400 --> 00:32:19,200
WICKES:
Ho Chi Minh wrote
to the United States
485
00:32:19,299 --> 00:32:23,299
lamenting the death of Dewey,
whom he recognized
486
00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:27,266
as a person sympathetic
to his cause.
487
00:32:27,365 --> 00:32:30,099
It seemed a terrible irony
that Dewey,
488
00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:32,766
who was doing what he could
to help
489
00:32:32,865 --> 00:32:36,532
the Vietnamese independence
movement should have been killed
490
00:32:36,633 --> 00:32:38,900
by the Vietnamese by a mistake.
491
00:32:44,333 --> 00:32:46,833
(electronic buzzing,
muted helicopter blades beating)
492
00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:55,165
An elderly African-American
woman answered the door.
493
00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:04,200
I think she knew the instant
she saw us why we were there.
494
00:33:07,165 --> 00:33:09,299
And the padre said, uh,
495
00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:14,000
"I'm... I'm terribly sorry
to inform you,
496
00:33:14,099 --> 00:33:19,266
but your son was killed
in Vietnam."
497
00:33:19,365 --> 00:33:20,299
And she just sat down.
498
00:33:20,400 --> 00:33:22,032
Didn't say a word.
499
00:33:24,365 --> 00:33:28,099
Then the... her husband says,
"No, there's a mistake."
500
00:33:28,200 --> 00:33:29,900
He comes back with this letter.
501
00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:32,266
And he said, "Look, see?
502
00:33:32,365 --> 00:33:37,266
We got it yesterday, my... our
son was still alive yesterday."
503
00:33:37,365 --> 00:33:40,333
And the chaplain looked
at the letter
504
00:33:40,432 --> 00:33:42,633
and he said, "It's a week old.
505
00:33:42,732 --> 00:33:47,165
I think your son was killed on
the day he wrote this letter."
506
00:33:49,200 --> 00:33:53,099
("La Marseillaise" playing)
507
00:33:54,965 --> 00:33:59,165
NARRATOR:
In the fall of 1945, a week
after Colonel Dewey's death,
508
00:33:59,266 --> 00:34:02,232
fresh French troops
began arriving in Saigon,
509
00:34:02,333 --> 00:34:06,200
taking over from the British.
510
00:34:06,299 --> 00:34:07,465
They quickly established
511
00:34:07,566 --> 00:34:09,365
control of the city
512
00:34:09,465 --> 00:34:10,766
and set out to reoccupy
513
00:34:10,865 --> 00:34:12,666
the entire country.
514
00:34:14,565 --> 00:34:18,300
Ho Chi Minh hoped somehow
to achieve independence
515
00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:20,400
without a war with France,
516
00:34:20,500 --> 00:34:23,900
and he still hoped the
United States would intervene.
517
00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:27,900
"You never had an empire, never
exploited the Asian peoples,"
518
00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:31,032
he would tell a visiting
American journalist.
519
00:34:31,132 --> 00:34:35,199
"Do not be blinded by this issue
of communism."
520
00:34:35,300 --> 00:34:40,432
LESLIE GELB:
He did not want to fight the
French as an enemy of America.
521
00:34:40,532 --> 00:34:46,733
And, in fact, I saw the letters
he wrote to President Truman
522
00:34:46,833 --> 00:34:51,266
saying, "We believe in the same
things you believe."
523
00:34:51,365 --> 00:34:54,632
Those letters I saw
in the CIA files,
524
00:34:54,733 --> 00:34:58,599
they had never been given
to President Truman.
525
00:35:00,065 --> 00:35:02,766
(children shouting)
526
00:35:02,865 --> 00:35:07,465
NARRATOR:
In June of 1946,
Ho Chi Minh returned to Paris
527
00:35:07,565 --> 00:35:10,500
in a fruitless attempt to get
the French to live up
528
00:35:10,599 --> 00:35:13,800
to a promise they had made
of increased autonomy
529
00:35:13,900 --> 00:35:16,132
for his country.
530
00:35:16,233 --> 00:35:18,032
While Ho was away,
531
00:35:18,132 --> 00:35:21,500
General Giap began consolidating
communist control
532
00:35:21,599 --> 00:35:22,965
of the revolution.
533
00:35:23,065 --> 00:35:25,833
He conducted a merciless purge
534
00:35:25,932 --> 00:35:28,865
of members of rival
nationalist parties
535
00:35:28,965 --> 00:35:32,233
and people he called
"reactionary saboteurs"--
536
00:35:32,333 --> 00:35:37,599
landlords and moneylenders,
Trotskyites and Catholics,
537
00:35:37,699 --> 00:35:42,065
men and women accused of
collaborating with the French.
538
00:35:42,166 --> 00:35:46,500
Hundreds were shot,
drowned, buried alive.
539
00:35:46,599 --> 00:35:48,500
LAM QUANG THI:
540
00:35:59,632 --> 00:36:04,532
NARRATOR:
On December 19, 1946, after
months of building tension,
541
00:36:04,632 --> 00:36:06,833
fighting broke out in Hanoi
542
00:36:06,932 --> 00:36:09,833
between the Viet Minh
and the French.
543
00:36:09,932 --> 00:36:11,699
(gunfire)
544
00:36:14,099 --> 00:36:17,266
The Viet Minh proved no match
for French firepower.
545
00:36:21,833 --> 00:36:27,699
Ho, Giap, and their comrades
slipped out of the city
546
00:36:27,800 --> 00:36:31,733
and returned to their mountain
stronghold far to the north.
547
00:36:33,965 --> 00:36:37,099
"Those who have rifles will use
their rifles,"
548
00:36:37,199 --> 00:36:39,199
Ho declared in a radio address
549
00:36:39,300 --> 00:36:42,132
calling for a nationwide
guerrilla war.
550
00:36:42,233 --> 00:36:46,099
"Those who have swords
will use swords;
551
00:36:46,199 --> 00:36:51,432
those who have no swords
will use spades or sticks."
552
00:36:55,166 --> 00:37:00,166
NGUYEN NGOC:
553
00:37:21,833 --> 00:37:24,432
NARRATOR:
But the country Ho Chi Minh
hoped to unite
554
00:37:24,532 --> 00:37:27,766
was itself bitterly divided.
555
00:37:27,865 --> 00:37:30,166
Families were being torn apart.
556
00:37:30,266 --> 00:37:34,032
Despite her father's position
in the French government,
557
00:37:34,132 --> 00:37:39,065
Duong Van Mai's sister felt
compelled to answer Ho's call.
558
00:37:40,733 --> 00:37:44,333
DUONG VAN MAI:
My older sister Thang
was married
559
00:37:44,432 --> 00:37:49,465
to a man who had great sympathy
for the Viet Minh.
560
00:37:49,565 --> 00:37:52,565
And by that time Ho Chi Minh
had evacuated his government
561
00:37:52,666 --> 00:37:53,965
to the mountain base.
562
00:37:54,065 --> 00:37:57,699
So my sister and her husband
trekked all the way
563
00:37:57,800 --> 00:38:00,032
from Hanoi toward the base
564
00:38:00,132 --> 00:38:03,733
in order to join the resistance
against the French.
565
00:38:06,432 --> 00:38:08,900
So the Vietnam War
was really a civil war
566
00:38:09,000 --> 00:38:10,632
down to the family level.
567
00:38:18,965 --> 00:38:22,565
NARRATOR:
France poured thousands of men
into Vietnam--
568
00:38:22,666 --> 00:38:27,000
French regulars, European
mercenaries, and colonial troops
569
00:38:27,099 --> 00:38:30,965
from Morocco, Algeria,
Tunisia, and Senegal--
570
00:38:31,065 --> 00:38:35,932
who fought alongside an army
of Cambodians, Laotians,
571
00:38:36,032 --> 00:38:38,932
and anti-communist Vietnamese.
572
00:38:42,766 --> 00:38:47,065
French forces managed to occupy
most of the large towns
573
00:38:47,166 --> 00:38:48,565
and province capitals
574
00:38:48,666 --> 00:38:53,632
and established hundreds
of isolated outposts.
575
00:38:53,733 --> 00:38:58,400
The French also set out to try
to win over rural Vietnamese
576
00:38:58,500 --> 00:39:01,865
through a program
they calledpacification--
577
00:39:01,965 --> 00:39:04,065
pacification--
578
00:39:04,166 --> 00:39:08,800
building dikes, schools and
roads, and vaccinating children.
579
00:39:11,632 --> 00:39:14,032
DUONG VAN MAI:
The French would pacify
a village
580
00:39:14,132 --> 00:39:18,300
and during the daytime
they could control it.
581
00:39:18,400 --> 00:39:21,900
But at night the Viet Minh
would come back.
582
00:39:22,000 --> 00:39:26,132
And so it was never
completely secure.
583
00:39:26,233 --> 00:39:29,666
My father would shake his head
and said, you know,
584
00:39:29,766 --> 00:39:31,233
"Pacification is
really futile
585
00:39:31,333 --> 00:39:35,565
because it's like trying to hold
sand in your fingers."
586
00:39:39,032 --> 00:39:44,132
NARRATOR:
The Viet Minh mined roads,
blew up bridges and railroads,
587
00:39:44,233 --> 00:39:49,400
ambushed French patrols,
and then disappeared.
588
00:39:51,733 --> 00:39:55,932
French soldiers sometimes took
revenge on the nearest village,
589
00:39:56,032 --> 00:39:58,432
burning homes, raping women,
590
00:39:58,532 --> 00:40:02,733
executing men suspected
of aiding the Viet Minh.
591
00:40:07,599 --> 00:40:09,766
LE CONG HUAN:
592
00:40:41,532 --> 00:40:46,333
NARRATOR:
But the communists proved every
bit as ruthless as the French.
593
00:40:46,432 --> 00:40:49,599
"It is better to kill even
those who might be innocent,"
594
00:40:49,699 --> 00:40:55,432
one commander said, "than to let
a guilty person go."
595
00:40:55,532 --> 00:40:57,800
And they specifically targeted
596
00:40:57,900 --> 00:41:01,166
anyone who had links
to the French.
597
00:41:01,266 --> 00:41:05,000
DUONG VAN MAI:
Once my father started working
for the French, then he was
598
00:41:05,099 --> 00:41:07,733
a target, especially
the higher he rose,
599
00:41:07,833 --> 00:41:09,699
the bigger target he became.
600
00:41:09,800 --> 00:41:15,865
A Viet Minh agent actually came
in with a pistol to shoot him
601
00:41:15,965 --> 00:41:19,532
but at the last moment
decided not to.
602
00:41:21,900 --> 00:41:24,532
TRANG NGOC ("HARRY") HUE:
603
00:41:54,065 --> 00:41:55,632
(gunfire)
604
00:41:58,500 --> 00:42:01,865
NARRATOR:
French casualties
continued to mount.
605
00:42:01,965 --> 00:42:04,800
"There are days
when we are so discouraged
606
00:42:04,900 --> 00:42:07,500
that we would like
to give it all up,"
607
00:42:07,599 --> 00:42:09,699
a French soldier
wrote his mother.
608
00:42:09,800 --> 00:42:12,965
"Convoys under attack,
roads cut,
609
00:42:13,065 --> 00:42:16,166
"firing in all directions
every night,
610
00:42:16,266 --> 00:42:18,199
the indifference at home."
611
00:42:27,865 --> 00:42:30,465
ROGER HARRIS:
While I was there I had the
opportunity to call my mother,
612
00:42:30,565 --> 00:42:32,699
you know.
613
00:42:32,800 --> 00:42:35,833
And I was telling my mother
what was happening over there,
614
00:42:35,932 --> 00:42:39,032
and I was telling her how
she shouldn't believe
615
00:42:39,132 --> 00:42:42,000
what she sees in the newspaper
and sees on television
616
00:42:42,099 --> 00:42:44,733
because we're losing the war.
617
00:42:44,833 --> 00:42:47,599
I said, "And you'll probably
never see me again
618
00:42:47,699 --> 00:42:51,300
"because we're the most northern
outpost that the Marines have,
619
00:42:51,400 --> 00:42:52,699
you know."
620
00:42:52,800 --> 00:42:54,733
We could literally... could look
right into North Vietnam.
621
00:42:54,833 --> 00:42:56,766
We could see the sparks
when the guns fired on us.
622
00:42:56,865 --> 00:42:59,032
And I said, "And everybody
in my unit is dying.
623
00:42:59,132 --> 00:43:01,800
I probably won't be
coming back."
624
00:43:01,900 --> 00:43:03,932
And my mother said,
"No, you're coming back."
625
00:43:04,032 --> 00:43:07,766
She said, "I talk to God
every day and you're special.
626
00:43:07,865 --> 00:43:09,699
You're coming back."
627
00:43:09,800 --> 00:43:12,032
And I said, "Ma, everybody's
mother thinks
628
00:43:12,132 --> 00:43:14,333
"that they're special.
629
00:43:14,432 --> 00:43:18,465
You know, I'm putting pieces
of special people in bags."
630
00:43:19,833 --> 00:43:21,500
(explosion)
631
00:43:23,900 --> 00:43:25,532
ED HERLIHY:
President Truman's dramatic
announcement
632
00:43:25,632 --> 00:43:27,065
that Russia had the atom secret
633
00:43:27,166 --> 00:43:28,733
caused state departments
all over the world
634
00:43:28,833 --> 00:43:31,500
to stir uneasily.
635
00:43:31,599 --> 00:43:35,632
HAL KUSHNER:
We were very aware
that there was a Cold War
636
00:43:35,733 --> 00:43:37,599
and that we had an enemy,
637
00:43:37,699 --> 00:43:41,733
and that enemy was
the Soviet Union.
638
00:43:41,833 --> 00:43:44,900
The United States stood
at one pole
639
00:43:45,000 --> 00:43:47,199
and the Soviet Union stood
at the other pole.
640
00:43:47,300 --> 00:43:50,266
It was kind of a
Manichean dynamic
641
00:43:50,365 --> 00:43:52,132
that there was evil
and there was good.
642
00:43:52,233 --> 00:43:54,166
And we were good,
and the other side was evil.
643
00:43:54,266 --> 00:43:57,333
It wasn't morally ambiguous.
644
00:44:00,132 --> 00:44:04,365
NARRATOR:
Just a few weeks after Russia
became a nuclear power,
645
00:44:04,465 --> 00:44:06,300
there was more stunning news--
646
00:44:06,400 --> 00:44:10,000
communist forces under
Mao Zedong seized control
647
00:44:10,099 --> 00:44:12,699
of China.
648
00:44:12,800 --> 00:44:16,666
Separate communist insurrections
were also underway
649
00:44:16,766 --> 00:44:22,300
in the British colonies
of Burma and Malaya.
650
00:44:22,400 --> 00:44:26,065
In January 1950,
Mao formally recognized
651
00:44:26,166 --> 00:44:30,199
Ho Chi Minh's insurgency and
agreed to provide the arms,
652
00:44:30,300 --> 00:44:34,199
equipment, and military training
he had been seeking.
653
00:44:34,300 --> 00:44:38,300
The Soviets recognized
the Viet Minh as well,
654
00:44:38,400 --> 00:44:40,199
and also offered help.
655
00:44:40,300 --> 00:44:43,865
President Truman,
who was being blamed
656
00:44:43,965 --> 00:44:47,800
by his political opponents
for having "lost" China,
657
00:44:47,900 --> 00:44:50,233
and having failed to "contain"
communism,
658
00:44:50,333 --> 00:44:53,766
approved a $23 million
aid program
659
00:44:53,865 --> 00:44:56,599
for the French in Vietnam.
660
00:44:56,699 --> 00:45:01,532
The United States
was no longer neutral.
661
00:45:01,632 --> 00:45:04,465
SAM WILSON:
We were caught on the horns
of a dilemma
662
00:45:04,565 --> 00:45:07,199
of how can we maintain
our friendship
663
00:45:07,300 --> 00:45:11,032
and our alliance with the French
and support them in Indochina
664
00:45:11,132 --> 00:45:14,766
while we, as a former
colony ourselves,
665
00:45:14,865 --> 00:45:17,833
sympathized with the Vietnamese
and their aspirations
666
00:45:17,932 --> 00:45:19,865
for freedom and independence?
667
00:45:24,699 --> 00:45:27,032
ED HERLIHY:
A highly trained and
well-equipped North Korean Army
668
00:45:27,132 --> 00:45:29,266
swarmed across the 38th parallel
669
00:45:29,365 --> 00:45:31,333
to attack unprepared
South Korean defenders.
670
00:45:31,432 --> 00:45:33,000
(explosion)
671
00:45:33,099 --> 00:45:36,733
NARRATOR:
In June of 1950, China's ally,
672
00:45:36,833 --> 00:45:40,333
communist North Korea,
invaded South Korea.
673
00:45:40,432 --> 00:45:41,865
(gunfire)
674
00:45:41,965 --> 00:45:43,865
President Truman ordered
675
00:45:43,965 --> 00:45:46,233
tens of thousands
of American ground troops
676
00:45:46,333 --> 00:45:48,199
onto the Korean Peninsula.
677
00:45:55,166 --> 00:45:57,065
The United States and its allies
678
00:45:57,166 --> 00:46:01,532
eventually pushed the invaders
back north.
679
00:46:01,632 --> 00:46:03,932
Meanwhile in southern China,
680
00:46:04,032 --> 00:46:06,400
Mao's military was beginning
to turn the Viet Minh
681
00:46:06,500 --> 00:46:10,300
into a modern fighting force,
682
00:46:10,400 --> 00:46:14,465
capable of inflicting a heavy
toll on the French occupiers.
683
00:46:21,833 --> 00:46:23,599
In July, the Truman
administration
684
00:46:23,699 --> 00:46:26,565
quietly dispatched
transport planes
685
00:46:26,666 --> 00:46:29,233
and a shipload of jeeps
to Vietnam.
686
00:46:29,333 --> 00:46:35,000
Thirty-five military advisors
went along to oversee their use.
687
00:46:36,833 --> 00:46:39,733
None of them, and no one
in the American embassy,
688
00:46:39,833 --> 00:46:43,833
spoke a word of Vietnamese.
689
00:46:43,932 --> 00:46:48,233
But the United States was now
officially in Vietnam.
690
00:46:50,465 --> 00:46:52,632
In October of 1950,
691
00:46:52,733 --> 00:46:55,800
hundreds of thousands
of Chinese troops
692
00:46:55,900 --> 00:46:58,065
began pouring into North Korea,
693
00:46:58,166 --> 00:47:02,199
driving the allies
back down the peninsula.
694
00:47:02,300 --> 00:47:03,932
As that fighting raged,
695
00:47:04,032 --> 00:47:07,233
Truman continued to increase
military aid
696
00:47:07,333 --> 00:47:10,132
for the French war in Vietnam.
697
00:47:13,865 --> 00:47:15,500
HARRY TRUMAN:
If aggression is successful
in Korea,
698
00:47:15,599 --> 00:47:18,833
we can expect it to spread
throughout Asia and Europe
699
00:47:18,932 --> 00:47:20,166
and to this hemisphere.
700
00:47:20,266 --> 00:47:22,699
(mortar fire)
701
00:47:22,800 --> 00:47:25,266
We are fighting in Korea
702
00:47:25,365 --> 00:47:27,965
for our own national security
and survival.
703
00:47:31,400 --> 00:47:34,632
("Mean Old World"
by T-Bone Walker playing)
704
00:47:34,733 --> 00:47:36,833
NARRATOR:
In the autumn of 1951,
705
00:47:36,932 --> 00:47:39,065
a young Massachusetts
congressman
706
00:47:39,166 --> 00:47:43,032
named John F. Kennedy dined
at the rooftop bar
707
00:47:43,132 --> 00:47:45,766
of the Hotel Majestic
overlooking Saigon.
708
00:47:45,865 --> 00:47:47,065
(distant gun fire)
709
00:47:47,166 --> 00:47:49,166
As he and his party ate,
710
00:47:49,266 --> 00:47:53,599
they could hear the thunder of
guns across the Saigon River.
711
00:47:53,699 --> 00:47:56,733
French commanders
assured Kennedy
712
00:47:56,833 --> 00:47:59,333
that with more American support,
713
00:47:59,432 --> 00:48:02,599
French rule would be
re-established.
714
00:48:02,699 --> 00:48:06,266
But Kennedy spent two hours
with Seymour Topping,
715
00:48:06,365 --> 00:48:08,465
a seasoned American reporter,
716
00:48:08,565 --> 00:48:11,166
who gave him a very
different perspective:
717
00:48:11,266 --> 00:48:13,965
the French were losing, he said,
718
00:48:14,065 --> 00:48:17,833
and many Vietnamese, who had
once admired the Americans,
719
00:48:17,932 --> 00:48:22,065
were beginning to despise them
for backing the French.
720
00:48:22,166 --> 00:48:25,400
Kennedy believed the reporter.
721
00:48:25,500 --> 00:48:28,766
Unless the United States could
persuade the Vietnamese
722
00:48:28,865 --> 00:48:32,432
that it was as opposed to
"injustice and inequality"
723
00:48:32,532 --> 00:48:34,032
as it was to communism,
724
00:48:34,132 --> 00:48:37,099
he told his constituents
when he got home,
725
00:48:37,199 --> 00:48:42,465
the current effort would result
in "foredoomed failure."
726
00:48:42,565 --> 00:48:45,400
(Rosemary Clooney singing
"Come On-a My House")
727
00:48:45,500 --> 00:48:50,900
♪ Come on-a my house, my house,
I'm gonna give you candy ♪
728
00:48:51,000 --> 00:48:52,865
NARRATOR:
In 1952,
729
00:48:52,965 --> 00:48:56,233
General Dwight Eisenhower
was elected president,
730
00:48:56,333 --> 00:48:59,132
in part because he promised
to take a tougher stance
731
00:48:59,233 --> 00:49:01,266
on communism.
732
00:49:01,365 --> 00:49:04,666
That year, American taxpayers
733
00:49:04,766 --> 00:49:07,199
were footing more than
30% of the bill
734
00:49:07,300 --> 00:49:10,233
for the French war in Vietnam.
735
00:49:10,333 --> 00:49:12,432
Within two years,
736
00:49:12,532 --> 00:49:15,865
that number would rise
to nearly 80%.
737
00:49:15,965 --> 00:49:19,199
CLOONEY:
♪ Everything, everything,
everything ♪
738
00:49:19,300 --> 00:49:21,565
RICHARD NIXON:
And many of you ask this
question:
739
00:49:21,666 --> 00:49:23,932
Why is the United States
spending
740
00:49:24,032 --> 00:49:25,833
hundreds of millions of dollars
741
00:49:25,932 --> 00:49:30,032
supporting the forces
of the French Union
742
00:49:30,132 --> 00:49:33,632
in the fight against communism
in Indochina?
743
00:49:33,733 --> 00:49:35,965
I think perhaps if we go over
to the map here,
744
00:49:36,065 --> 00:49:40,400
I can indicate to you why
it is so vitally important.
745
00:49:40,500 --> 00:49:42,833
Here's Indochina.
746
00:49:42,932 --> 00:49:44,266
If Indochina falls,
747
00:49:44,365 --> 00:49:47,599
Thailand is put in almost
impossible position.
748
00:49:47,699 --> 00:49:50,766
The same is true of Malaya
with its rubber and tin.
749
00:49:50,865 --> 00:49:55,900
Now may I say that as far as the
war in Indochina is concerned,
750
00:49:56,000 --> 00:50:00,565
that I was there, right on the
battlefield, or close to it,
751
00:50:00,666 --> 00:50:03,266
and it's a bloody war,
and it's a bitter one.
752
00:50:03,365 --> 00:50:08,565
(explosions)
753
00:50:08,666 --> 00:50:13,400
NARRATOR:
By 1953, the French had been
fighting for seven years.
754
00:50:13,500 --> 00:50:16,733
They had suffered over
100,000 casualties
755
00:50:16,833 --> 00:50:19,965
and failed to pacify
the countryside.
756
00:50:20,065 --> 00:50:23,733
Six commanders had come
and gone.
757
00:50:23,833 --> 00:50:26,000
Nevertheless,
the seventh commander,
758
00:50:26,099 --> 00:50:29,132
General Henri Navarre,
assured his countrymen
759
00:50:29,233 --> 00:50:30,666
that victory was near.
760
00:50:30,766 --> 00:50:33,800
"Now we can see it clearly,"
he said,
761
00:50:33,900 --> 00:50:37,733
"like the light at the end
of the tunnel."
762
00:50:39,733 --> 00:50:43,632
Meanwhile, large parts of the
French population were horrified
763
00:50:43,733 --> 00:50:46,333
by reports
of French brutality
764
00:50:46,432 --> 00:50:49,132
and the widespread
use of napalm--
765
00:50:49,233 --> 00:50:53,900
gelatinized petroleum
that burned foliage,
766
00:50:54,000 --> 00:50:56,465
homes, and human flesh.
767
00:50:59,400 --> 00:51:02,800
When returning French troops
disembarked at Marseilles,
768
00:51:02,900 --> 00:51:07,266
members of the longshoremen's
union pelted them with rocks.
769
00:51:07,365 --> 00:51:10,432
Parisian leftists began to call
the conflict
770
00:51:10,532 --> 00:51:13,666
"La Sale Guerre"--
"The Dirty War."
771
00:51:17,365 --> 00:51:20,800
(police sirens wailing,
people chanting)
772
00:51:22,032 --> 00:51:24,333
RON FERRIZZI:
The camera was a close-up,
773
00:51:24,432 --> 00:51:27,500
was over the shoulder
of this storm trooper
774
00:51:27,599 --> 00:51:31,132
who had a kid by the scruff
of his shirt and he smacks him.
775
00:51:31,233 --> 00:51:32,333
REPORTER:
People screaming...
776
00:51:32,432 --> 00:51:34,500
FERRIZZI:
At that moment in time,
777
00:51:34,599 --> 00:51:37,199
I realized that anybody who
really cared for America
778
00:51:37,300 --> 00:51:38,766
was sent halfway
around the world
779
00:51:38,865 --> 00:51:42,266
chasing some ghost in a jungle.
780
00:51:42,365 --> 00:51:45,400
In the meantime,
my country's being torn apart.
781
00:51:45,500 --> 00:51:47,699
So I saw somebody
who looked like my dad
782
00:51:47,800 --> 00:51:49,300
hitting somebody
who looked like me.
783
00:51:49,400 --> 00:51:51,233
Whose side would I be on?
784
00:51:59,333 --> 00:52:01,833
ED HERLIHY:
In Korea, three years
of combat end
785
00:52:01,932 --> 00:52:04,800
as United Nations and communist
negotiators at Panmunjom
786
00:52:04,900 --> 00:52:05,932
sign a truce.
787
00:52:06,032 --> 00:52:09,000
NARRATOR:
In July of 1953,
788
00:52:09,099 --> 00:52:12,465
the Korean War ended
in a negotiated settlement
789
00:52:12,565 --> 00:52:14,500
and a still-divided peninsula.
790
00:52:14,599 --> 00:52:17,900
American policymakers
saw it as proof
791
00:52:18,000 --> 00:52:21,300
that communism in Asia
could be contained.
792
00:52:21,400 --> 00:52:23,132
HERLIHY:
And in Washington, a dramatic
evening press conference...
793
00:52:23,233 --> 00:52:26,266
NARRATOR:
That fall, the French indicated
their willingness
794
00:52:26,365 --> 00:52:30,333
to begin talks to end
the fighting in Vietnam.
795
00:52:30,432 --> 00:52:33,865
Ho Chi Minh agreed to meet.
796
00:52:33,965 --> 00:52:37,833
But before the negotiators
were to convene in Geneva,
797
00:52:37,932 --> 00:52:42,932
each side sought to improve
its position on the battlefield.
798
00:52:44,532 --> 00:52:47,099
General Navarre set up
a fortified base
799
00:52:47,199 --> 00:52:50,065
in a remote valley
in northwestern Vietnam
800
00:52:50,166 --> 00:52:54,632
called Dien Bien Phu, where
he hoped to lure the Viet Minh
801
00:52:54,733 --> 00:52:56,733
into a decisive battle.
802
00:52:58,833 --> 00:53:02,032
Navarre was certain that
superior French firepower
803
00:53:02,132 --> 00:53:07,132
and air support would crush
any attack by the Viet Minh.
804
00:53:07,233 --> 00:53:09,800
He and his commanders
saw no need to worry
805
00:53:09,900 --> 00:53:14,333
about the jungle-covered hills
that overlooked his 11,000 men,
806
00:53:14,432 --> 00:53:17,333
dug in on the valley floor.
807
00:53:17,432 --> 00:53:21,666
The artillery commander
was so confident of victory,
808
00:53:21,766 --> 00:53:25,800
he complained, "I have more guns
than I need."
809
00:53:28,865 --> 00:53:31,500
General Giap saw his chance.
810
00:53:31,599 --> 00:53:36,065
"We decided to wipe out at all
costs the whole enemy force
811
00:53:36,166 --> 00:53:39,099
at Dien Bien Phu,"
he remembered.
812
00:53:41,166 --> 00:53:44,900
To do it, he pulled off one
of the greatest logistical feats
813
00:53:45,000 --> 00:53:46,932
in military history--
814
00:53:47,032 --> 00:53:50,132
a feat that would be restaged
in propaganda films
815
00:53:50,233 --> 00:53:53,432
and celebrated for decades.
816
00:53:53,532 --> 00:53:57,400
A quarter of a million
civilian porters--
817
00:53:57,500 --> 00:53:58,833
nearly half of them women--
818
00:53:58,932 --> 00:54:03,733
moved everything he needed
for a siege, from sacks of rice
819
00:54:03,833 --> 00:54:06,000
to disassembled
artillery pieces,
820
00:54:06,099 --> 00:54:09,132
on foot through the jungle.
821
00:54:09,233 --> 00:54:14,000
Giap surrounded the valley
with 50,000 soldiers
822
00:54:14,099 --> 00:54:19,233
and 200 big guns, dug-in
and camouflaged so well
823
00:54:19,333 --> 00:54:23,900
they could not be spotted
from the air.
824
00:54:25,599 --> 00:54:29,432
On March 13, 1954,
825
00:54:29,532 --> 00:54:31,766
Viet Minh artillery
on the hillsides
826
00:54:31,865 --> 00:54:35,132
began raining down 50 shells
a minute
827
00:54:35,233 --> 00:54:38,199
on the French troops
huddled below.
828
00:54:38,300 --> 00:54:40,465
(explosions)
829
00:54:40,565 --> 00:54:42,300
The airstrip was destroyed.
830
00:54:45,365 --> 00:54:48,432
The besieged troops could only
be reinforced
831
00:54:48,532 --> 00:54:51,365
and resupplied by airdrop.
832
00:54:54,965 --> 00:54:56,666
The French artillery commander,
833
00:54:56,766 --> 00:55:01,733
who had underestimated
his enemy, committed suicide.
834
00:55:01,833 --> 00:55:04,833
NEWSREEL NARRATOR:
The airlift to Dien Bien Phu
continues--
835
00:55:04,932 --> 00:55:07,365
vital men and supplies
for the heroic garrison
836
00:55:07,465 --> 00:55:09,032
that has defied the massed
Viet Minh onslaughts
837
00:55:09,132 --> 00:55:10,199
for over six weeks.
838
00:55:10,300 --> 00:55:13,300
Today, Dien Bien Phu
is a human dam
839
00:55:13,400 --> 00:55:15,300
trying to stem the red tide
840
00:55:15,400 --> 00:55:17,500
that threatens to engulf
Southeast Asia.
841
00:55:19,166 --> 00:55:21,900
NARRATOR:
The French government begged
President Eisenhower
842
00:55:22,000 --> 00:55:23,500
to intervene.
843
00:55:23,599 --> 00:55:26,900
He refused to act without
Congressional approval
844
00:55:27,000 --> 00:55:29,865
and support from
European allies.
845
00:55:29,965 --> 00:55:32,000
Britain said no
846
00:55:32,099 --> 00:55:35,865
and the Congress would not
support unilateral action.
847
00:55:35,965 --> 00:55:37,233
JOHN F. KENNEDY:
The communists
848
00:55:37,333 --> 00:55:39,900
under Ho Chi Minh are able
to claim that they are fighting
849
00:55:40,000 --> 00:55:42,532
for independence and the French
appear to be fighting
850
00:55:42,632 --> 00:55:44,900
for a maintain...
maintenance of colonial rule.
851
00:55:45,000 --> 00:55:46,333
I therefore believe
852
00:55:46,432 --> 00:55:49,632
that before the United States
moves in, in any degree,
853
00:55:49,733 --> 00:55:52,266
that independence must be
granted to the people,
854
00:55:52,365 --> 00:55:54,032
that the people must support
the struggle.
855
00:55:55,833 --> 00:55:59,766
NARRATOR:
"I am convinced," Eisenhower
confided to his diary,
856
00:55:59,865 --> 00:56:04,699
"that no military victory is
possible in this theater."
857
00:56:04,800 --> 00:56:07,432
Still, without
consulting Congress,
858
00:56:07,532 --> 00:56:11,365
the president had secretly sent
more American transport planes,
859
00:56:11,465 --> 00:56:17,132
their markings painted over and
flown by civilian contractors,
860
00:56:17,233 --> 00:56:21,800
to help resupply the desperate
French troops at Dien Bien Phu.
861
00:56:25,565 --> 00:56:27,733
GELB:
Everyone understood
that in and of itself,
862
00:56:27,833 --> 00:56:31,365
Vietnam didn't mean very much.
863
00:56:31,465 --> 00:56:35,599
But they believed, I believed,
if we lost it,
864
00:56:35,699 --> 00:56:38,532
that the rest of Asia
would tumble to communism.
865
00:56:38,632 --> 00:56:43,432
EISENHOWER:
You have broader considerations
that might follow
866
00:56:43,532 --> 00:56:48,300
what you would call the
falling domino principle.
867
00:56:48,400 --> 00:56:50,932
You have a row of dominoes
set up,
868
00:56:51,032 --> 00:56:52,800
and you knock over
the first one,
869
00:56:52,900 --> 00:56:56,766
and what will happen to the
last one is the certainty
870
00:56:56,865 --> 00:56:59,766
that it will go over
very quickly.
871
00:57:01,632 --> 00:57:03,699
(explosion)
872
00:57:07,733 --> 00:57:10,666
(muted gunfire)
873
00:57:20,965 --> 00:57:27,000
NARRATOR:
On the afternoon of May 7, 1954,
after 55 days of siege,
874
00:57:27,099 --> 00:57:32,233
the exhausted French forces
at Dien Bien Phu surrendered.
875
00:57:34,833 --> 00:57:39,565
They had lost 8,000 men,
killed, wounded, or missing.
876
00:57:42,432 --> 00:57:46,800
General Giap had lost
three times as many,
877
00:57:46,900 --> 00:57:50,032
but he had won a great victory.
878
00:57:51,065 --> 00:57:54,900
NGUYEN THOI BUNG:
879
00:58:07,166 --> 00:58:12,032
NARRATOR:
Even Duong Van Mai's parents
could not help but be impressed.
880
00:58:12,132 --> 00:58:14,166
DUONG VAN MAI:
They were very proud
881
00:58:14,266 --> 00:58:16,900
that the Viet Minh had defeated
the French,
882
00:58:17,000 --> 00:58:18,900
this great Western power.
883
00:58:19,000 --> 00:58:22,833
Admiration and respect
on the one hand,
884
00:58:22,932 --> 00:58:25,166
but fear on the other hand.
885
00:58:25,266 --> 00:58:27,965
And fear was the
stronger emotion.
886
00:58:29,666 --> 00:58:32,333
NARRATOR:
"We have been caught
bluffing by our enemies,"
887
00:58:32,432 --> 00:58:36,132
Senate Minority Leader
Lyndon Johnson said.
888
00:58:36,233 --> 00:58:41,233
"Today it is Indochina,
tomorrow Asia may be in flames.
889
00:58:41,333 --> 00:58:47,432
And the day after, the Western
Alliance will lie in ruins."
890
00:58:47,532 --> 00:58:50,500
DONALD GREGG:
We should have seen it as
the end of the colonial era
891
00:58:50,599 --> 00:58:53,699
in Southeast Asia,
which it really was.
892
00:58:53,800 --> 00:58:56,166
But instead we saw it
in Cold War terms,
893
00:58:56,266 --> 00:59:00,932
and we saw it as a defeat
for the free world
894
00:59:01,032 --> 00:59:02,800
that was related to the rise
of China.
895
00:59:02,900 --> 00:59:07,900
And it was a total misreading
of a pivotal event,
896
00:59:08,000 --> 00:59:10,599
which cost us very dearly.
897
00:59:10,699 --> 00:59:12,699
(chanting)
898
00:59:12,800 --> 00:59:16,532
(newsreel music playing)
899
00:59:16,632 --> 00:59:18,599
JACK TOBIN:
The former home of
the League of Nations,
900
00:59:18,699 --> 00:59:20,865
Geneva, Switzerland,
where East is meeting West
901
00:59:20,965 --> 00:59:22,266
in the international conference
902
00:59:22,365 --> 00:59:26,833
that may decisively affect
the political future of Asia.
903
00:59:26,932 --> 00:59:30,199
NARRATOR:
The day after the fall
of Dien Bien Phu,
904
00:59:30,300 --> 00:59:33,965
diplomats from nine nations
gathered in Geneva
905
00:59:34,065 --> 00:59:36,833
to settle the future of Vietnam.
906
00:59:36,932 --> 00:59:40,965
The talks dragged on for nearly
two-and-a-half months.
907
00:59:44,000 --> 00:59:45,766
Despite their victory,
908
00:59:45,865 --> 00:59:49,532
Ho Chi Minh and General Giap
could not keep fighting
909
00:59:49,632 --> 00:59:54,766
without more support from China
and the Soviet Union.
910
00:59:54,865 --> 00:59:58,266
But China had lost a million men
in Korea
911
00:59:58,365 --> 01:00:01,333
and did not want to become
involved in another war
912
01:00:01,432 --> 01:00:03,000
along its border.
913
01:00:03,099 --> 01:00:08,833
The Soviet Union was hoping
to ease tensions with the West.
914
01:00:08,932 --> 01:00:13,800
Both of Ho Chi Minh's communist
patrons urged him to agree
915
01:00:13,900 --> 01:00:15,766
to a negotiated settlement,
916
01:00:15,865 --> 01:00:20,166
a partition like the one
that had ended the Korean War.
917
01:00:20,266 --> 01:00:23,599
Ho had no option but to give in.
918
01:00:27,532 --> 01:00:30,300
In the end,
no one was satisfied.
919
01:00:32,333 --> 01:00:37,300
Vietnam was temporarily to be
divided at the 17th parallel.
920
01:00:37,400 --> 01:00:41,833
The 130,000 French-led troops
stationed in the North
921
01:00:41,932 --> 01:00:44,000
were to withdraw to the South,
922
01:00:44,099 --> 01:00:48,000
and somewhere between
50,000 and 90,000 Viet Minh
923
01:00:48,099 --> 01:00:50,766
were to "re-group" to the North.
924
01:00:50,865 --> 01:00:52,632
The two halves
would be separated
925
01:00:52,733 --> 01:00:57,032
by a demilitarized zone
until an election could be held
926
01:00:57,132 --> 01:01:00,333
to reunify
North and South Vietnam,
927
01:01:00,432 --> 01:01:05,565
an election everyone knew
Ho Chi Minh would win.
928
01:01:08,032 --> 01:01:12,500
NGUYEN VAN TONG:
929
01:01:21,032 --> 01:01:22,400
(cheering)
930
01:01:22,500 --> 01:01:25,032
NGUYEN THOI BUNG:
931
01:01:40,565 --> 01:01:42,099
KARL MARLANTES:
We had started walking up
932
01:01:42,199 --> 01:01:44,065
and we had probably gotten about
a third of the way up the hill
933
01:01:44,166 --> 01:01:45,666
and then they unleashed on us.
934
01:01:45,766 --> 01:01:48,432
(explosion, gunfire)
935
01:01:48,532 --> 01:01:50,666
We were in the middle of this
horrible shit sandwich.
936
01:01:50,766 --> 01:01:52,766
That's what we called it.
937
01:01:54,500 --> 01:01:57,766
(explosion, gunfire)
938
01:01:57,865 --> 01:02:01,733
One of the things that I learned
in the war is that
939
01:02:01,833 --> 01:02:05,432
we're not the top species on
the planet because we're nice.
940
01:02:08,300 --> 01:02:11,432
People talk a lot about how well
the military turns, you know,
941
01:02:11,532 --> 01:02:14,233
kids into, you know,
killing machines and stuff.
942
01:02:14,333 --> 01:02:16,833
And I'll always argue that
it's just finishing school.
943
01:02:16,932 --> 01:02:18,699
(gunfire)
944
01:02:18,800 --> 01:02:22,932
(shouting)
945
01:02:25,500 --> 01:02:29,166
NEWSREEL NARRATOR:
Braving the dangers of the open
sea in tiny, rickety craft,
946
01:02:29,266 --> 01:02:31,666
thousands of Roman Catholic
and Buddhist faith
947
01:02:31,766 --> 01:02:34,032
have found life impossible
under the communists.
948
01:02:34,132 --> 01:02:37,599
For them, it's freedom
or nothing.
949
01:02:40,766 --> 01:02:42,733
NARRATOR:
Under the Geneva Accords,
950
01:02:42,833 --> 01:02:45,666
civilians living in either
half of Vietnam
951
01:02:45,766 --> 01:02:48,000
who wanted to relocate
to the other
952
01:02:48,099 --> 01:02:51,099
would have 300 days to do so.
953
01:02:51,199 --> 01:02:55,099
DUONG VAN MAI:
My mother and father
wanted to stay
954
01:02:55,199 --> 01:02:57,199
and meet my sister Thang again
955
01:02:57,300 --> 01:02:59,632
because they knew
Thang would come back.
956
01:02:59,733 --> 01:03:01,965
But on the other hand
they couldn't risk that.
957
01:03:02,065 --> 01:03:06,932
They were convinced that when
Ho Chi Minh and his government
958
01:03:07,032 --> 01:03:09,166
arrived in Hanoi,
959
01:03:09,266 --> 01:03:12,800
my father would be the first one
to be killed
960
01:03:12,900 --> 01:03:14,766
and all of us would be
persecuted.
961
01:03:17,500 --> 01:03:19,532
And I remember the day we left.
962
01:03:19,632 --> 01:03:22,900
I looked around and I thought,
"I never come back here again."
963
01:03:25,266 --> 01:03:27,166
It was extremely traumatic.
964
01:03:27,266 --> 01:03:31,865
It was like the ground was
suddenly cut from under you.
965
01:03:31,965 --> 01:03:37,432
NARRATOR:
In the end,
some 900,000 refugees,
966
01:03:37,532 --> 01:03:39,766
including more than half
of all the Catholics
967
01:03:39,865 --> 01:03:41,132
living in the North,
968
01:03:41,233 --> 01:03:46,400
fled to the South, many of them
aboard American ships.
969
01:03:50,766 --> 01:03:54,333
The United States hoped somehow
to encourage the building
970
01:03:54,432 --> 01:03:56,666
of a legitimate government
in the South.
971
01:03:58,800 --> 01:04:03,500
That government was now headed
by Ngo Dinh Diem.
972
01:04:03,599 --> 01:04:06,266
Both a Roman Catholic
and a Confucian
973
01:04:06,365 --> 01:04:08,465
in a largely Buddhist country,
974
01:04:08,565 --> 01:04:13,465
he was a celibate bachelor who
had once planned to be a priest.
975
01:04:13,565 --> 01:04:19,666
GELB:
The war for us really started
when we became the partner,
976
01:04:19,766 --> 01:04:24,800
or I would say the victim,
of President Diem.
977
01:04:24,900 --> 01:04:29,833
We were going to help him turn
South Vietnam into a democracy.
978
01:04:29,932 --> 01:04:31,432
That's what he said
he wanted to do.
979
01:04:31,532 --> 01:04:32,500
And we believed him.
980
01:04:32,599 --> 01:04:34,932
NARRATOR:
Like Ho Chi Minh,
981
01:04:35,032 --> 01:04:38,599
Diem had spent years abroad
seeking support
982
01:04:38,699 --> 01:04:42,365
for his own brand
of Vietnamese nationalism.
983
01:04:42,465 --> 01:04:45,865
He was a veteran politician
whose loathing for the French
984
01:04:45,965 --> 01:04:49,733
was matched only by his hatred
for the communists,
985
01:04:49,833 --> 01:04:53,500
who had imprisoned him and
buried alive his eldest brother
986
01:04:53,599 --> 01:04:55,965
and his nephew.
987
01:04:56,065 --> 01:04:59,400
Diem was aloof, autocratic,
988
01:04:59,500 --> 01:05:02,766
mistrustful of anyone much
beyond his own family.
989
01:05:02,865 --> 01:05:06,766
He also proved to be shrewd,
resourceful,
990
01:05:06,865 --> 01:05:10,900
and skilled at exploiting
the weaknesses of his opponents.
991
01:05:11,000 --> 01:05:16,932
But he faced a daunting task
in creating a new country.
992
01:05:17,032 --> 01:05:20,032
The French, who still had
thousands of troops
993
01:05:20,132 --> 01:05:23,599
stationed in the South,
detested Diem.
994
01:05:23,699 --> 01:05:27,465
Several provinces were under
the sway of religious sects
995
01:05:27,565 --> 01:05:29,932
with armies of their own.
996
01:05:30,032 --> 01:05:34,132
Tens of thousands of Viet Minh
soldiers had gone north,
997
01:05:34,233 --> 01:05:36,333
but several thousand cadre--
998
01:05:36,432 --> 01:05:39,766
trained and dedicated Communist
Party workers--
999
01:05:39,865 --> 01:05:45,800
had stayed behind to organize
resistance in the countryside.
1000
01:05:45,900 --> 01:05:49,965
And Saigon itself was ruled
by the Binh Xuyen,
1001
01:05:50,065 --> 01:05:53,465
a crime syndicate
backed by the French.
1002
01:05:53,565 --> 01:05:55,766
RUFUS PHILLIPS:
And the French were behind
the Binh Xuyen,
1003
01:05:55,865 --> 01:05:57,266
sort of supporting them
1004
01:05:57,365 --> 01:06:00,432
because they didn't want
Diem to succeed.
1005
01:06:00,532 --> 01:06:02,465
And that became
the central contest.
1006
01:06:04,500 --> 01:06:08,365
NARRATOR:
Some in the CIA believed that
Diem could be the savior
1007
01:06:08,465 --> 01:06:10,465
of South Vietnam.
1008
01:06:10,565 --> 01:06:12,500
Others were not so sure.
1009
01:06:12,599 --> 01:06:14,733
"He is a messiah
without a message,"
1010
01:06:14,833 --> 01:06:17,766
one diplomat reported
to Washington.
1011
01:06:17,865 --> 01:06:21,333
The U.S. ambassador agreed.
1012
01:06:21,432 --> 01:06:24,733
On April 27, 1955,
1013
01:06:24,833 --> 01:06:28,900
President Eisenhower decided
to end American support
1014
01:06:29,000 --> 01:06:31,565
for Diem's regime.
1015
01:06:31,666 --> 01:06:32,632
(gunfire)
1016
01:06:32,733 --> 01:06:35,932
But then Diem made
an all-out assault
1017
01:06:36,032 --> 01:06:38,333
on the Binh Xuyen syndicate.
1018
01:06:38,432 --> 01:06:40,632
(sirens blaring, gunfire)
1019
01:06:40,733 --> 01:06:42,532
DUONG VAN MAI:
Suddenly in the middle
of the day
1020
01:06:42,632 --> 01:06:47,132
we heard gunfire
and then we saw flames
1021
01:06:47,233 --> 01:06:49,565
and the neighborhood
was burning.
1022
01:06:49,666 --> 01:06:52,465
MICHAEL FITZMAURICE:
There are hundreds of dead
and wounded on both sides
1023
01:06:52,565 --> 01:06:55,465
as the street fighting continues
for an entire week.
1024
01:06:55,565 --> 01:06:57,532
For the United States,
the situation presents
1025
01:06:57,632 --> 01:06:58,800
a grave problem.
1026
01:07:00,733 --> 01:07:03,699
Diem finally regains control
of Saigon.
1027
01:07:05,432 --> 01:07:09,699
NARRATOR:
In the end,
Diem's forces prevailed.
1028
01:07:09,800 --> 01:07:15,666
Eisenhower now saw no option
but to stick with Diem.
1029
01:07:15,766 --> 01:07:21,132
The French then announced their
intention to withdraw completely
1030
01:07:21,233 --> 01:07:27,365
from South Vietnam, ending
nearly a century of occupation.
1031
01:07:27,465 --> 01:07:32,432
PHILLIPS:
Diem became wildly popular
because he seemed to embody
1032
01:07:32,532 --> 01:07:35,032
the nationalist cause
in the South.
1033
01:07:35,132 --> 01:07:37,032
He succeeded in getting
the French
1034
01:07:37,132 --> 01:07:39,065
out of Vietnam all the way.
1035
01:07:39,166 --> 01:07:42,632
And Ho Chi Minh had only got
them out of the northern half.
1036
01:07:42,733 --> 01:07:48,532
NARRATOR:
Flush with victory, Diem called
for a referendum in the South.
1037
01:07:48,632 --> 01:07:54,032
The CIA warned him not to meddle
too much with the returns.
1038
01:07:55,233 --> 01:07:57,032
But when the ballots
were counted,
1039
01:07:57,132 --> 01:08:02,900
Diem claimed to have won
98.2% of the vote.
1040
01:08:04,800 --> 01:08:10,333
On October 26, 1955,
Ngo Dinh Diem named himself
1041
01:08:10,432 --> 01:08:16,065
the first president of the
brand-new Republic of Vietnam.
1042
01:08:16,166 --> 01:08:19,966
The election to reunify
the North and South
1043
01:08:20,065 --> 01:08:23,632
that had been promised at Geneva
would never be held.
1044
01:08:23,733 --> 01:08:29,765
GELB:
He became our ally,
or rather our master,
1045
01:08:29,865 --> 01:08:32,365
because the goal of preventing
1046
01:08:32,466 --> 01:08:34,565
the communists from taking
over the South
1047
01:08:34,666 --> 01:08:41,199
was so strong that we couldn't
afford for him to lose.
1048
01:08:41,300 --> 01:08:44,033
So Diem started
to boss us around.
1049
01:08:44,132 --> 01:08:46,132
And this was a typical
relationship.
1050
01:08:46,233 --> 01:08:48,600
You need any ally you believe
1051
01:08:48,699 --> 01:08:51,632
to be the centerpiece
of your foreign policy.
1052
01:08:51,733 --> 01:08:53,233
They understand
that right away.
1053
01:08:53,332 --> 01:08:56,000
And the tail wags the dog.
1054
01:09:00,466 --> 01:09:02,733
ED HERLIHY:
From the Far East comes
a distinguished visitor.
1055
01:09:02,832 --> 01:09:05,500
President Ngo Dinh Diem
of Vietnam is accorded
1056
01:09:05,600 --> 01:09:08,533
one of President Eisenhower's
rare airport greetings,
1057
01:09:08,632 --> 01:09:11,033
as he arrives for a four-day
state visit.
1058
01:09:11,132 --> 01:09:13,565
President Diem, one of America's
staunchest allies
1059
01:09:13,666 --> 01:09:14,865
in Southeast Asia,
1060
01:09:14,966 --> 01:09:17,600
will seek an increase in aid
to shore up his country
1061
01:09:17,699 --> 01:09:19,500
against increasing
communist pressure,
1062
01:09:19,600 --> 01:09:25,065
a request to which the president
lends a sympathetic ear.
1063
01:09:25,166 --> 01:09:29,100
NARRATOR:
Most politicians, Democrats
as well as Republicans,
1064
01:09:29,199 --> 01:09:31,100
now seemed to share
the changing views
1065
01:09:31,199 --> 01:09:33,033
of Senator John F. Kennedy.
1066
01:09:33,132 --> 01:09:36,699
South Vietnam is
"our offspring," he said.
1067
01:09:36,800 --> 01:09:38,399
"We cannot abandon it."
1068
01:09:38,500 --> 01:09:42,765
If it fell, the United States
would be "held responsible
1069
01:09:42,865 --> 01:09:47,166
and our prestige in Asia
will sink to a new low."
1070
01:09:47,265 --> 01:09:52,600
There had never before been
a South Vietnamese nation,
1071
01:09:52,699 --> 01:09:55,932
but Americans, who had rebuilt
much of their own country
1072
01:09:56,033 --> 01:09:59,632
during the New Deal and had
helped rebuild Western Europe
1073
01:09:59,733 --> 01:10:00,966
through the Marshall Plan,
1074
01:10:01,065 --> 01:10:05,733
were convinced they
could build one nonetheless.
1075
01:10:05,832 --> 01:10:07,800
(blows whistle)
1076
01:10:07,899 --> 01:10:11,800
Eisenhower ordered scores
of American civilians
1077
01:10:11,899 --> 01:10:15,600
to South Vietnam, full of
plans for economic development
1078
01:10:15,699 --> 01:10:19,432
meant to win, he hoped,
the hearts and minds
1079
01:10:19,533 --> 01:10:21,233
of the Vietnamese people.
1080
01:10:24,199 --> 01:10:27,300
But those civilians would always
be outnumbered
1081
01:10:27,399 --> 01:10:28,899
by military advisors,
1082
01:10:29,000 --> 01:10:33,399
with orders to modernize, train,
and equip Diem's forces,
1083
01:10:33,500 --> 01:10:39,265
now called the Army of the
Republic of Vietnam-- the ARVN.
1084
01:10:39,365 --> 01:10:44,800
Some ARVN officers found
American methods unsuited
1085
01:10:44,899 --> 01:10:47,533
to the guerrilla war they
expected to wage
1086
01:10:47,632 --> 01:10:49,765
against the communists.
1087
01:10:49,865 --> 01:10:52,533
Most American military advisors
were veterans
1088
01:10:52,632 --> 01:10:53,932
of the war in Korea,
1089
01:10:54,033 --> 01:10:57,699
determined to prepare
South Vietnamese forces
1090
01:10:57,800 --> 01:11:03,233
to slow a conventional invasion
from the North.
1091
01:11:03,332 --> 01:11:06,932
But no one in North Vietnam
1092
01:11:07,033 --> 01:11:10,565
was planning
a conventional invasion.
1093
01:11:10,666 --> 01:11:14,565
Ho Chi Minh was focused
on rebuilding his country,
1094
01:11:14,666 --> 01:11:18,533
devastated by more
than a decade of war.
1095
01:11:21,065 --> 01:11:24,600
The communists imposed
brutal land reforms
1096
01:11:24,699 --> 01:11:26,865
modeled on those underway
in China
1097
01:11:26,966 --> 01:11:31,632
with a ruthlessness that left
thousands of people dead,
1098
01:11:31,733 --> 01:11:35,100
including not only landlords
who had sided with the French,
1099
01:11:35,199 --> 01:11:39,466
but also many villagers who had
fought with the Viet Minh.
1100
01:11:42,132 --> 01:11:45,865
Ho Chi Minh was still determined
to reunite Vietnam.
1101
01:11:45,966 --> 01:11:48,565
But he worried that if he took
direct military action
1102
01:11:48,666 --> 01:11:50,166
against the South,
1103
01:11:50,265 --> 01:11:54,332
the United States would be drawn
more deeply into the struggle.
1104
01:11:54,432 --> 01:11:57,865
He cautioned his comrades
in the South to put their faith
1105
01:11:57,966 --> 01:12:01,733
in political agitation
and avoid violence.
1106
01:12:04,166 --> 01:12:06,132
But that message rang hollow
1107
01:12:06,233 --> 01:12:09,000
among embattled Southern
revolutionaries
1108
01:12:09,100 --> 01:12:10,800
struggling to survive
1109
01:12:10,899 --> 01:12:15,800
under Diem's increasingly
harsh regime.
1110
01:12:15,899 --> 01:12:20,432
In a campaign he called
"Denounce the Communists,"
1111
01:12:20,533 --> 01:12:23,832
Diem had imprisoned tens of
thousands of citizens
1112
01:12:23,932 --> 01:12:30,065
without trial and ordered
the executions of hundreds more.
1113
01:12:30,166 --> 01:12:34,065
Now, the communists took matters
into their own hands
1114
01:12:34,166 --> 01:12:37,832
and began attacking
South Vietnamese officials.
1115
01:12:39,265 --> 01:12:44,199
LE QUAN CONG:
1116
01:13:17,533 --> 01:13:21,600
NARRATOR:
As violence in South Vietnam
intensified,
1117
01:13:21,699 --> 01:13:24,332
new leaders emerged in Hanoi.
1118
01:13:24,432 --> 01:13:27,800
Ho Chi Minh would remain
the face of the revolution
1119
01:13:27,899 --> 01:13:31,765
around the world,
but he now began to share power
1120
01:13:31,865 --> 01:13:35,033
with men who were growing
impatient with his caution,
1121
01:13:35,132 --> 01:13:39,666
men about whom Americans
knew almost nothing.
1122
01:13:41,800 --> 01:13:44,733
The most important proved to be
a carpenter's son
1123
01:13:44,832 --> 01:13:50,932
from Quang Tri province
in the South named Le Duan.
1124
01:13:51,033 --> 01:13:54,500
He had helped found the
Indochinese Communist Party,
1125
01:13:54,600 --> 01:13:58,065
survived nearly ten years
in a French prison,
1126
01:13:58,166 --> 01:14:01,265
and proved himself a shrewd
political infighter
1127
01:14:01,365 --> 01:14:04,800
as he rose to become
First Secretary of the party.
1128
01:14:06,699 --> 01:14:10,699
NGUYEN NGOC:
1129
01:14:39,565 --> 01:14:43,632
NARRATOR:
By 1959, Le Duan
and his hardline allies
1130
01:14:43,733 --> 01:14:47,666
were gaining influence within
the North Vietnamese Politburo
1131
01:14:47,765 --> 01:14:50,365
and beginning to
change its policy.
1132
01:14:50,466 --> 01:14:54,233
They now argued that Hanoi
should do everything
1133
01:14:54,332 --> 01:14:57,432
within its power to help
Southern revolutionaries
1134
01:14:57,533 --> 01:14:59,832
remove Diem by force.
1135
01:15:01,932 --> 01:15:06,166
BUI DIEM (speaking English):
1136
01:15:21,466 --> 01:15:25,000
NARRATOR:
Now, bands of 40 to 50
armed Viet Minh
1137
01:15:25,100 --> 01:15:28,399
began slipping back home
into South Vietnam,
1138
01:15:28,500 --> 01:15:32,265
following jungle paths hacked
through the Laotian mountains
1139
01:15:32,365 --> 01:15:36,865
that the Americans would soon
call the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
1140
01:15:42,865 --> 01:15:46,065
Violence against the Diem regime
steadily accelerated.
1141
01:15:46,166 --> 01:15:47,800
(gunfire)
1142
01:15:47,899 --> 01:15:49,865
(siren blaring)
1143
01:15:56,000 --> 01:16:01,132
On the evening of July 8, 1959,
at Bien Hoa,
1144
01:16:01,233 --> 01:16:03,065
20 miles northeast of Saigon,
1145
01:16:03,166 --> 01:16:07,300
six American military advisors
were watching a movie
1146
01:16:07,399 --> 01:16:08,932
in their mess hall.
1147
01:16:10,632 --> 01:16:12,666
Viet Minh guerrillas,
who had crept silently
1148
01:16:12,765 --> 01:16:16,332
into the compound,
opened fire through the windows.
1149
01:16:16,432 --> 01:16:19,033
(rapid gunfire)
1150
01:16:22,000 --> 01:16:24,899
Major Dale Buis
from Pender, Nebraska,
1151
01:16:25,000 --> 01:16:27,100
and Master Sergeant
Chester Ovnand
1152
01:16:27,199 --> 01:16:30,600
from Copperas Cove, Texas,
were killed.
1153
01:16:32,800 --> 01:16:37,100
They were the first American
soldiers to die from enemy fire
1154
01:16:37,199 --> 01:16:39,100
in the Vietnam War.
1155
01:16:40,632 --> 01:16:43,199
JOHN KENNEDY:
We must prove all over again,
1156
01:16:43,300 --> 01:16:49,033
to a watching world, as we sit
on a most conspicuous stage,
1157
01:16:49,132 --> 01:16:50,733
whether this nation,
1158
01:16:50,832 --> 01:16:54,932
conceived as it is
with its freedom of choice,
1159
01:16:55,033 --> 01:16:59,600
its breadth of opportunity,
its range of alternatives,
1160
01:16:59,699 --> 01:17:02,065
can compete with the
single-minded advance
1161
01:17:02,166 --> 01:17:03,832
of the communist system.
1162
01:17:03,932 --> 01:17:09,565
NARRATOR:
On November 8, 1960, John
Fitzgerald Kennedy was elected
1163
01:17:09,666 --> 01:17:12,300
president of the United States.
1164
01:17:12,399 --> 01:17:16,132
His vice president
was Senator Lyndon Johnson.
1165
01:17:16,233 --> 01:17:20,199
They had narrowly beaten
Vice President Richard Nixon
1166
01:17:20,300 --> 01:17:23,533
and his running mate,
Senator Henry Cabot Lodge.
1167
01:17:25,000 --> 01:17:27,932
During the campaign,
both Kennedy and Nixon
1168
01:17:28,033 --> 01:17:32,466
had pledged to hold the line
against international communism
1169
01:17:32,565 --> 01:17:35,166
wherever it seemed to be
a threat.
1170
01:17:35,265 --> 01:17:39,166
But very few Americans knew
or cared about
1171
01:17:39,265 --> 01:17:41,600
what was going on in Vietnam.
1172
01:17:43,365 --> 01:17:45,565
Six weeks after
Kennedy's election,
1173
01:17:45,666 --> 01:17:48,632
at a remote jungle village
called Tan Lap
1174
01:17:48,733 --> 01:17:50,565
near the Cambodian border,
1175
01:17:50,666 --> 01:17:54,500
representatives of southern
revolutionary groups
1176
01:17:54,600 --> 01:17:58,699
met to form a new organization
to replace the Viet Minh,
1177
01:17:58,800 --> 01:18:01,666
dedicated to overthrowing
Ngo Dinh Diem
1178
01:18:01,765 --> 01:18:05,666
and ousting the
foreigners supporting him.
1179
01:18:05,765 --> 01:18:11,265
Behind the scenes, Le Duan and
his communist comrades in Hanoi
1180
01:18:11,365 --> 01:18:15,365
were orchestrating everything.
1181
01:18:15,466 --> 01:18:17,166
The new organization
would be called
1182
01:18:17,265 --> 01:18:21,500
the National Liberation Front--
the NLF.
1183
01:18:23,100 --> 01:18:26,166
The armed wing
of the NLF was called
1184
01:18:26,265 --> 01:18:28,932
the People's Liberation
Armed Forces,
1185
01:18:29,033 --> 01:18:32,466
but its enemies in Saigon
and Washington preferred
1186
01:18:32,565 --> 01:18:34,600
a more disparaging term.
1187
01:18:34,699 --> 01:18:38,065
In their eyes,
the revolutionaries were
1188
01:18:38,166 --> 01:18:41,565
Communist Traitors
to the Vietnamese Nation--
1189
01:18:41,666 --> 01:18:43,166
the Viet Cong.
1190
01:18:49,132 --> 01:18:53,899
(muted shouting)
1191
01:18:56,332 --> 01:19:01,065
HUY DUC:
1192
01:19:33,300 --> 01:19:35,699
JOHN KENNEDY:
Let every nation know,
1193
01:19:35,800 --> 01:19:41,399
whether it wishes us well
or ill,
1194
01:19:41,500 --> 01:19:47,533
that we shall pay any price,
bear any burden,
1195
01:19:47,632 --> 01:19:52,500
meet any hardship,
support any friend,
1196
01:19:52,600 --> 01:19:57,600
oppose any foe,
to assure the survival
1197
01:19:57,699 --> 01:19:59,065
and the success of liberty.
1198
01:20:11,432 --> 01:20:13,899
TIM O'BRIEN:
For me, I'd always
thought of courage
1199
01:20:14,000 --> 01:20:18,500
as charging enemy bunkers
or standing up under fire.
1200
01:20:18,600 --> 01:20:24,533
But just to walk, day after day
from village to village
1201
01:20:24,632 --> 01:20:29,166
and through the paddies
and up into the mountains,
1202
01:20:29,265 --> 01:20:33,432
just to get up in the morning
and look out at the land
1203
01:20:33,533 --> 01:20:37,132
and think, "In a few minutes
I'll be walking out there
1204
01:20:37,233 --> 01:20:40,365
"and will my corpse be there,
over there?
1205
01:20:40,466 --> 01:20:41,899
Will I lose a leg out there?"
1206
01:20:43,699 --> 01:20:47,466
Just to walk felt
incredibly brave.
1207
01:20:47,565 --> 01:20:50,332
I would sometimes look
at my legs as I walked,
1208
01:20:50,432 --> 01:20:52,832
thinking, how am I doing this?
1209
01:20:56,865 --> 01:21:03,000
("A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall"
by Bob Dylan playing)
1210
01:21:03,100 --> 01:21:06,832
♪ Oh, where have you been,
my blue-eyed son? ♪
1211
01:21:09,332 --> 01:21:13,533
♪ And where have you been,
my darling young one? ♪
1212
01:21:16,332 --> 01:21:20,100
♪ I've stumbled on the side
of 12 misty mountains ♪
1213
01:21:23,132 --> 01:21:27,265
♪ I've walked and I've crawled
on six crooked highways ♪
1214
01:21:29,699 --> 01:21:33,733
♪ I've stepped in the middle
of seven sad forests ♪
1215
01:21:36,132 --> 01:21:40,600
♪ I've been out in front
of a dozen dead oceans ♪
1216
01:21:42,699 --> 01:21:47,233
♪ I've been ten thousand miles
in the mouth of a graveyard ♪
1217
01:21:49,432 --> 01:21:52,666
♪ And it's a hard,
it's a hard ♪
1218
01:21:52,765 --> 01:21:56,800
♪ It's a hard,
it's a hard ♪
1219
01:21:56,899 --> 01:22:02,132
♪ It's a hard rain's
a-gonna fall ♪
1220
01:22:07,500 --> 01:22:11,632
♪ Oh, what did you see,
my blue-eyed son? ♪
1221
01:22:14,233 --> 01:22:18,000
♪ And what did you see,
my darling young one? ♪
1222
01:22:20,865 --> 01:22:25,300
♪ I saw a newborn baby
with wild wolves all around it ♪
1223
01:22:27,565 --> 01:22:31,300
♪ I saw a highway of diamonds
with nobody on it ♪
1224
01:22:34,265 --> 01:22:38,233
♪ I saw a black branch with
blood that kept drippin' ♪
1225
01:22:40,865 --> 01:22:44,865
♪ I saw a room full of men
with their hammers a-bleedin' ♪
1226
01:22:47,666 --> 01:22:51,265
♪ I saw a white ladder
all covered with water ♪
1227
01:22:54,199 --> 01:22:58,065
♪ I saw 10,000 talkers whose
tongues were all broken ♪
1228
01:23:00,932 --> 01:23:05,765
♪ I saw guns with sharp swords
in the hands of young children ♪
1229
01:23:05,865 --> 01:23:09,100
♪ And it's a hard,
it's a hard ♪
1230
01:23:09,199 --> 01:23:13,065
♪ It's a hard,
and it's a hard ♪
1231
01:23:13,166 --> 01:23:18,632
♪ It's a hard rain's
a-gonna fall ♪
1232
01:23:21,000 --> 01:23:24,432
♪ And it's a hard,
it's a hard ♪
1233
01:23:24,533 --> 01:23:28,000
♪ It's a hard,
and it's a hard ♪
1234
01:23:28,100 --> 01:23:33,265
♪ It's a hard rain's
a-gonna fall. ♪
1235
01:23:39,500 --> 01:23:45,466
Captioned by Media Access Group
at WGBH, access.wgbh.org
1236
01:23:46,533 --> 01:23:47,733
ANNOUNCER: LEARN MORE
ABOUT THE FILM
1237
01:23:47,733 --> 01:23:50,600
AND FIND ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
AT PBS.ORG/VIETNAMWAR
1238
01:23:50,600 --> 01:23:54,533
AND JOIN THE CONVERSATION
USING HASHTAG VIETNAMWARPBS.
1239
01:23:54,533 --> 01:23:56,000
"THE VIETNAM WAR" IS AVAILABLE
1240
01:23:56,000 --> 01:23:57,666
ON BLU-RAY
AND DVD.
1241
01:23:57,666 --> 01:23:59,332
THE COMPANION BOOK,
SOUNDTRACK,
1242
01:23:59,332 --> 01:24:00,800
AND ORIGINAL SCORE
FROM THE FILM
1243
01:24:00,800 --> 01:24:01,932
ARE ALSO
AVAILABLE.
1244
01:24:01,932 --> 01:24:04,033
TO ORDER, VISIT
SHOPPBS.ORG
1245
01:24:04,033 --> 01:24:06,500
OR CALL
1-800-PLAY-PBS.
1246
01:24:06,500 --> 01:24:07,932
EPISODES OF
THIS SERIES ALSO
1247
01:24:07,932 --> 01:24:09,033
AVAILABLE
FOR DOWNLOAD
1248
01:24:09,033 --> 01:24:10,132
FROM iTUNES.
1249
01:24:13,399 --> 01:24:15,533
ANNOUNCER: BANK OF AMERICA
PROUDLY SUPPORTS
1250
01:24:15,533 --> 01:24:20,432
KEN BURNS' AND LYNN NOVICK'S
FILM "THE VIETNAM WAR"
1251
01:24:20,432 --> 01:24:22,832
BECAUSE FOSTERING
DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES
1252
01:24:22,832 --> 01:24:25,432
AND CIVIL DISCOURSE
AROUND IMPORTANT ISSUES
1253
01:24:25,432 --> 01:24:27,733
FURTHERS PROGRESS, EQUALITY,
1254
01:24:27,733 --> 01:24:29,733
AND A MORE CONNECTED SOCIETY.
1255
01:24:34,199 --> 01:24:38,233
GO TO BANKOFAMERICA.COM/
BETTERCONNECTED TO LEARN MORE.
1256
01:24:41,699 --> 01:24:43,132
ANNOUNCER: MAJOR SUPPORT
FOR "THE VIETNAM WAR"
1257
01:24:43,132 --> 01:24:46,632
WAS PROVIDED BY MEMBERS
OF THE BETTER ANGELS SOCIETY,
1258
01:24:46,632 --> 01:24:50,600
INCLUDING JONATHAN
AND JEANNIE LAVINE,
1259
01:24:50,600 --> 01:24:53,500
DIANE AND HAL BRIERLEY,
1260
01:24:53,500 --> 01:24:55,899
AMY AND DAVID ABRAMS,
1261
01:24:55,899 --> 01:24:58,399
JOHN AND CATHERINE DEBS,
1262
01:24:58,399 --> 01:25:01,365
THE FULLERTON FAMILY
CHARITABLE FUND,
1263
01:25:01,365 --> 01:25:03,432
THE MONTRONE FAMILY,
1264
01:25:03,432 --> 01:25:05,765
LYNDA AND STEWART RESNICK,
1265
01:25:05,765 --> 01:25:08,533
THE PERRY AND DONNA GOLKIN
FAMILY FOUNDATION,
1266
01:25:08,533 --> 01:25:09,533
THE LYNCH FOUNDATION,
1267
01:25:09,533 --> 01:25:12,399
THE ROGER AND ROSEMARY
ENRICO FOUNDATION,
1268
01:25:12,399 --> 01:25:15,832
AND BY THESE ADDITIONAL FUNDERS.
1269
01:25:15,832 --> 01:25:17,733
MAJOR FUNDING WAS ALSO PROVIDED
1270
01:25:17,733 --> 01:25:19,466
BY DAVID H. KOCH...
1271
01:25:21,765 --> 01:25:23,966
THE BLAVATNIK
FAMILY FOUNDATION...
1272
01:25:26,300 --> 01:25:28,733
THE PARK FOUNDATION,
1273
01:25:28,733 --> 01:25:30,899
THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT
FOR THE HUMANITIES,
1274
01:25:30,899 --> 01:25:33,100
THE PEW CHARITABLE TRUSTS,
1275
01:25:33,100 --> 01:25:35,765
THE JOHN S. AND JAMES L.
KNIGHT FOUNDATION,
1276
01:25:35,765 --> 01:25:38,533
THE ANDREW W. MELLON FOUNDATION,
1277
01:25:38,533 --> 01:25:41,132
THE ARTHUR VINING DAVIS
FOUNDATIONS,
1278
01:25:41,132 --> 01:25:43,332
THE FORD FOUNDATION JUSTFILMS,
1279
01:25:43,332 --> 01:25:44,533
BY THE CORPORATION
1280
01:25:44,533 --> 01:25:45,765
FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING,
1281
01:25:45,765 --> 01:25:47,733
AND BY VIEWERS LIKE YOU.
1282
01:25:47,733 --> 01:25:48,865
THANK YOU.
178616
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