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(distant helicopter blades
beating)
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00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:16,666
(radio feedback)
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JOHN MUSGRAVE:
I was assigned a listening
post at Con Thien in the fall.
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00:00:24,833 --> 00:00:28,733
That was like getting
a death sentence at a trial.
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00:00:28,833 --> 00:00:31,166
Because that's just three
Marines out there with a radio.
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00:00:32,633 --> 00:00:34,266
And that's the scariest thing
I did.
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00:00:34,366 --> 00:00:37,066
You're listening for the enemy.
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00:00:37,166 --> 00:00:40,200
They call you on the radio
every hour,
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00:00:40,300 --> 00:00:41,633
"Delta, Lima, Papa,
Three, Bravo,
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00:00:41,733 --> 00:00:45,033
"Delta, Lima, Papa, Three,
Bravo, this is Delta Three.
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00:00:45,133 --> 00:00:48,200
"If your sit rep is alpha
sierra, key your handset twice.
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00:00:48,300 --> 00:00:49,566
(two blips of static)
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00:00:49,666 --> 00:00:51,266
"If your situation report
is all secure,
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00:00:51,366 --> 00:00:52,966
break squelch twice
on the handset."
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00:00:53,066 --> 00:00:54,966
(two lower-toned
blips of static)
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00:00:55,066 --> 00:00:57,066
And if it's not, they keep
thinking you're asleep
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00:00:57,166 --> 00:00:59,700
so they keep asking you, "If
your sit rep is alpha sierra,"
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00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:01,133
and then it finally
dawns on them
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00:01:01,233 --> 00:01:03,766
maybe there's somebody too close
for you to say anything.
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00:01:03,866 --> 00:01:06,800
So then they say, "If your sit
rep is negative alpha sierra,
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00:01:06,900 --> 00:01:08,266
key your handset once,"
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00:01:08,366 --> 00:01:10,233
and you damn near squeeze
the handle off the, you know,
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00:01:10,333 --> 00:01:13,466
and two on the radio
because they're so close
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00:01:13,566 --> 00:01:15,600
that you can hear them
whispering to one another.
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00:01:18,033 --> 00:01:19,433
And that's scary stuff.
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That's real scary stuff.
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And I'm scared of the dark,
still.
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I still got a night light.
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When my kids were growing up,
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that's the first time
they really found out
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that Daddy'd been in a war
when they said,
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"Well, why do we need to outgrow
our night lights?
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00:01:39,233 --> 00:01:40,600
Daddy's still got one."
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("So What" by Miles Davis
playing)
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JOHN KENNEDY:
Let the word go forth
from this time and place,
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00:01:51,766 --> 00:01:54,600
to friend and foe alike,
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00:01:54,700 --> 00:01:58,800
that the torch has been passed
to a new generation
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00:01:58,900 --> 00:02:05,566
of Americans born in this
century, tempered by war,
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00:02:05,666 --> 00:02:09,266
disciplined by a hard
and bitter peace,
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00:02:09,366 --> 00:02:10,733
proud of our...
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00:02:10,833 --> 00:02:12,600
JACK TODD:
I still believed, very much,
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00:02:12,700 --> 00:02:17,366
in this concept
of an heroic America,
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00:02:17,466 --> 00:02:20,100
America being a really
special country,
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00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:23,366
the best country in the world,
the best democracy,
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00:02:23,466 --> 00:02:27,400
all the things that
we believe about it, which...
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00:02:27,500 --> 00:02:29,600
and I didn't really see anything
wrong with that.
47
00:02:32,333 --> 00:02:36,833
I was sure that we were right
to be in Vietnam.
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00:02:36,933 --> 00:02:39,066
You know, because it started
under Kennedy
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00:02:39,166 --> 00:02:41,600
and, to me, JFK was God.
50
00:02:41,700 --> 00:02:45,066
Anything that he thought was
right, I thought was right.
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00:02:47,333 --> 00:02:51,433
NARRATOR:
At 43, John Fitzgerald Kennedy
was the youngest man
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00:02:51,533 --> 00:02:55,066
ever elected president
of the United States.
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00:02:55,166 --> 00:02:57,533
He had promised bold
new leadership,
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00:02:57,633 --> 00:03:00,966
and to his supporters his
inauguration seemed to signal
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00:03:01,066 --> 00:03:03,800
a new day.
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00:03:03,900 --> 00:03:06,833
To those new states
whom we welcome
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00:03:06,933 --> 00:03:09,733
to the ranks of the free,
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00:03:09,833 --> 00:03:15,766
we pledge our word that one form
of colonial control
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00:03:15,866 --> 00:03:18,300
shall not have passed away
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00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:23,533
merely to be replaced
by a far more iron tyranny.
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We shall not always expect to
find them supporting our view.
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00:03:28,833 --> 00:03:33,266
But we shall always hope to find
them strongly supporting
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00:03:33,366 --> 00:03:38,733
their own freedom and to
remember that, in the past,
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00:03:38,833 --> 00:03:42,200
those who foolishly
sought power
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00:03:42,300 --> 00:03:46,566
by riding the back of the tiger
ended up inside.
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(cheers and applause)
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00:03:54,933 --> 00:03:57,200
NARRATOR:
The new president gathered
around him
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an extraordinary set of advisors
who shared his determination
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00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:06,200
to confront communism, including
Secretary of State Dean Rusk,
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00:04:06,300 --> 00:04:10,033
National Security Advisor
McGeorge Bundy,
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00:04:10,133 --> 00:04:12,766
his deputy Walt Rostow,
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00:04:12,866 --> 00:04:17,233
special military advisor
General Maxwell Taylor,
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00:04:17,333 --> 00:04:20,866
and Secretary of Defense
Robert McNamara,
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00:04:20,966 --> 00:04:22,533
who had given up his post
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as president of the Ford Motor
Company to serve his country.
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00:04:26,666 --> 00:04:32,666
He was a pioneer in the field
of systems analysis.
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Like the president
who picked them,
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all of Kennedy's men had served
during World War II.
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Each had absorbed what
they all believed
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00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:44,066
was its central lesson:
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00:04:44,166 --> 00:04:48,166
ambitious dictatorships needed
to be halted in their tracks
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before they constituted
a serious danger
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00:04:51,533 --> 00:04:53,566
to the peace of the world.
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00:04:53,666 --> 00:04:56,833
Meanwhile, in South Vietnam,
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the National Liberation Front--
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labeled by its enemies
the Viet Cong--
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00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:04,266
was determined to overthrow
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00:05:04,366 --> 00:05:07,433
the anticommunist and
increasingly autocratic
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00:05:07,533 --> 00:05:10,733
government of Ngo Dinh Diem.
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00:05:10,833 --> 00:05:14,900
In North Vietnam,
unbeknownst to Washington,
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00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:18,900
Ho Chi Minh, the father
of Vietnamese independence,
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00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:22,200
was now sharing power
with a more aggressive leader,
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00:05:22,300 --> 00:05:25,200
Le Duan, who was even
more impatient
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00:05:25,300 --> 00:05:27,700
to reunify his country.
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00:05:29,133 --> 00:05:30,766
BAO NINH:
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00:05:47,966 --> 00:05:51,466
LESLIE GELB:
None of us knew anything
about Vietnam.
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00:05:51,566 --> 00:05:55,666
Vietnam in those days was
a piece on a chessboard,
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00:05:55,766 --> 00:05:57,833
a strategic chessboard,
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00:05:57,933 --> 00:06:01,800
not a place with a culture
and a history
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00:06:01,900 --> 00:06:07,366
that we would have
an impossible time changing,
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even with the mighty force
of the United States.
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00:06:10,433 --> 00:06:15,033
NARRATOR:
Over the next three years,
the United States would struggle
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00:06:15,133 --> 00:06:19,533
to understand the complicated
country it had come to save,
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00:06:19,633 --> 00:06:22,700
fail to appreciate
the enemy's resolve,
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00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:26,433
and misread how the South
Vietnamese people really felt
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about their government.
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00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:32,600
The new president
would find himself caught
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between the momentum of war
and the desire for peace,
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00:06:37,366 --> 00:06:40,333
between humility and hubris,
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00:06:40,433 --> 00:06:46,799
between idealism and expediency,
between the truth and a lie.
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("My Country 'Tis of Thee"
playing)
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00:07:07,033 --> 00:07:10,200
KENNEDY:
And so, my fellow Americans,
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ask not what your country
can do for you,
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00:07:15,466 --> 00:07:17,766
ask what you can do
for your country.
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00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:28,466
MUSGRAVE:
I grew up in Missouri,
near Kansas City,
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00:07:28,566 --> 00:07:31,633
a little community
called Fairmount.
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00:07:31,733 --> 00:07:33,166
I was born in 1948.
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And there were lots of kids
being born in those days
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00:07:35,866 --> 00:07:37,400
from the guys who were lucky
enough to come home
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00:07:37,500 --> 00:07:38,466
from World War II.
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00:07:39,733 --> 00:07:43,066
My dad was a pilot
in the Army Air Corps.
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00:07:43,166 --> 00:07:45,866
And all of dad's friends
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00:07:45,966 --> 00:07:49,000
were World War II vets
or Korean vets.
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And all of my male teachers
were veterans.
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And even my pastor
had been a chaplain.
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Well, they were my heroes,
and I wanted to be like them.
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00:08:07,566 --> 00:08:10,433
NARRATOR:
For all of John Kennedy's
soaring rhetoric,
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00:08:10,533 --> 00:08:13,100
for all the talent
he gathered around him,
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00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:16,433
the first months of his
presidency did not go well.
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00:08:16,533 --> 00:08:20,866
He approved a CIA-sponsored
invasion of Cuba
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00:08:20,966 --> 00:08:25,433
at the Bay of Pigs
that ended in disaster.
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00:08:25,533 --> 00:08:27,333
He felt he'd been bullied
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00:08:27,433 --> 00:08:29,766
by Soviet premier
Nikita Khrushchev
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00:08:29,866 --> 00:08:32,133
at a summit meeting in Vienna.
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00:08:32,233 --> 00:08:34,500
He was unable
to keep the Soviets
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from building the Berlin Wall.
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00:08:36,966 --> 00:08:41,100
And in Southeast Asia,
he refused to intervene
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against a communist
insurrection in Laos.
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00:08:44,433 --> 00:08:48,966
Critics accused him of being
immature, indecisive,
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00:08:49,066 --> 00:08:52,666
inadequate to the task of
combating what seemed to be
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00:08:52,766 --> 00:08:55,166
a mounting communist threat.
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"There are just so many
concessions that we can make
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00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:01,200
in one year and
survive politically,"
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00:09:01,300 --> 00:09:05,966
he confided to an aide
in the spring of 1961.
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00:09:06,066 --> 00:09:11,300
In South Vietnam,
Kennedy felt he had to act.
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00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:14,066
After the president received
reports
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00:09:14,166 --> 00:09:16,633
that the Viet Cong
might be in control
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00:09:16,733 --> 00:09:20,666
of more than half the densely
populated Mekong Delta,
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00:09:20,766 --> 00:09:24,766
he dispatched General
Maxwell Taylor and Walt Rostow
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00:09:24,866 --> 00:09:26,933
to Vietnam.
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They urged him to commit
American ground troops.
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Kennedy refused.
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00:09:32,533 --> 00:09:36,166
It would be like taking
a first drink, he said--
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00:09:36,266 --> 00:09:39,333
the effect would soon wear off
and there would be demands
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for another
and another and another.
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Instead, in the midst
of a cold war,
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with its constant risk
of nuclear confrontation,
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00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:52,833
the president supported
a new "flexible" way
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00:09:52,933 --> 00:09:58,400
to confront and contain
communism: limited war.
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00:09:58,500 --> 00:10:03,200
This is another type of warfare,
new in its intensity,
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00:10:03,300 --> 00:10:05,833
ancient in its origin--
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00:10:05,933 --> 00:10:10,766
war by guerrillas, subversives,
insurgents, assassins;
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00:10:10,866 --> 00:10:15,266
war by ambush
instead of by combat;
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00:10:15,366 --> 00:10:17,900
by infiltration
instead of aggression.
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00:10:19,633 --> 00:10:22,033
NARRATOR:
To fight his "limited wars,"
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00:10:22,133 --> 00:10:25,000
Kennedy hoped to use
the elite Green Berets,
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00:10:25,100 --> 00:10:28,566
special forces trained
in guerrilla warfare,
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00:10:28,666 --> 00:10:31,200
counterinsurgency.
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00:10:31,300 --> 00:10:36,000
They were meant to be dispatched
to hotspots around the world.
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00:10:36,100 --> 00:10:38,833
ROBERT RHEAULT:
Khrushchev said, "We're
not going to destroy you
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00:10:38,933 --> 00:10:40,333
with nuclear weapons,
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00:10:40,433 --> 00:10:43,466
we're going to destroy you with
wars of national liberation."
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00:10:43,566 --> 00:10:45,466
Everybody talked about
the fact
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00:10:45,566 --> 00:10:50,233
that communism was spreading
and it had to be stopped.
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00:10:50,333 --> 00:10:53,000
You went to Command and
General Staff College
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00:10:53,100 --> 00:10:56,600
and you were playing
on maps with nuclear weapons
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and so forth.
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And I escaped from that by
getting into Special Forces.
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00:11:03,366 --> 00:11:06,000
So that instead of planning
what we were going to do
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00:11:06,100 --> 00:11:11,033
if World War III broke out,
we were actually doing stuff.
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00:11:12,566 --> 00:11:16,000
And Vietnam was a place where
we were going to draw the line.
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00:11:17,666 --> 00:11:19,366
NARRATOR:
Kennedy sent the Green Berets
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00:11:19,466 --> 00:11:21,700
to the Central Highlands
of Vietnam
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00:11:21,800 --> 00:11:25,366
to organize mountain tribes
to fight the Viet Cong
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00:11:25,466 --> 00:11:30,133
and to undertake covert missions
to sabotage their supply bases
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00:11:30,233 --> 00:11:33,233
in Laos and Cambodia.
187
00:11:33,333 --> 00:11:37,766
But Kennedy understood
that counterinsurgency alone
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00:11:37,866 --> 00:11:38,933
would never be enough,
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00:11:39,033 --> 00:11:42,466
so he doubled funding
for South Vietnam's army,
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00:11:42,566 --> 00:11:47,833
dispatched helicopters and APCs,
armored personnel carriers.
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00:11:50,833 --> 00:11:54,566
Kennedy also authorized
the use of napalm
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00:11:54,666 --> 00:11:59,100
and the spraying of defoliants
to deny cover to the Viet Cong
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00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:03,066
and destroy the crops
that fed them.
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00:12:03,166 --> 00:12:06,233
A whole array of chemicals
was used,
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00:12:06,333 --> 00:12:09,700
including one named
for the color of the stripes
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00:12:09,800 --> 00:12:15,800
on the 55-gallon drums in which
it came-- "Agent Orange."
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00:12:15,900 --> 00:12:19,400
And the president quietly
continued to increase
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00:12:19,500 --> 00:12:22,366
the number of American
military advisors.
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00:12:22,466 --> 00:12:27,733
Within two years, the number
he had inherited would grow
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00:12:27,833 --> 00:12:31,033
to 11,300,
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00:12:31,133 --> 00:12:33,600
empowered not only to teach
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00:12:33,700 --> 00:12:36,633
the Army of the Republic
of Vietnam-- the ARVN--
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00:12:36,733 --> 00:12:38,700
to fight a conventional war,
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00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:40,966
but to accompany them
into battle,
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00:12:41,066 --> 00:12:44,500
a violation of the agreement
that had divided Vietnam
206
00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:45,566
back in 1954.
207
00:12:45,666 --> 00:12:49,233
(gunfire)
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00:12:49,333 --> 00:12:53,300
The administration did its best
to hide from the American people
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00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:55,733
the scale of the buildup
that was taking place
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00:12:55,833 --> 00:12:57,600
on the other side of the world,
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00:12:57,700 --> 00:13:00,533
fearful that the public
would not support
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00:13:00,633 --> 00:13:07,466
the more active role advisors
had begun to play in combat.
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00:13:07,566 --> 00:13:10,166
Mr. President, a Republican
National Committee publication
214
00:13:10,266 --> 00:13:13,566
has said that you are...
have been less than candid
215
00:13:13,666 --> 00:13:17,500
with the American people as
to how deeply we are involved
216
00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:19,400
in Vietnam.
217
00:13:19,500 --> 00:13:22,000
Could you throw
any more light on that?
218
00:13:22,100 --> 00:13:24,100
We have increased our assistance
to the government,
219
00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:25,933
its logistics.
220
00:13:26,033 --> 00:13:27,900
We have not sent combat troops
there.
221
00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:31,166
Though the training missions
that we have there
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00:13:31,266 --> 00:13:34,033
have been instructed if
they are fired upon to...
223
00:13:34,133 --> 00:13:37,000
they are, would of course, fire
back, to protect themselves.
224
00:13:37,100 --> 00:13:38,833
But we have not sent
combat troops
225
00:13:38,933 --> 00:13:41,200
in the generally understood
sense of the word.
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00:13:41,300 --> 00:13:46,900
So that I-I feel that we are
being as frank as the...
227
00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:48,166
as we can be.
228
00:13:48,266 --> 00:13:49,800
I think we...
what I have said to you
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00:13:49,900 --> 00:13:52,966
is a description
of our activity there.
230
00:13:57,533 --> 00:14:00,966
NEIL SHEEHAN:
I was a child of the Cold War.
231
00:14:01,066 --> 00:14:04,533
When I got off the plane in
Saigon on a humid evening
232
00:14:04,633 --> 00:14:06,466
in April 1962,
233
00:14:06,566 --> 00:14:10,433
I really believed in all
the ideology of the Cold War.
234
00:14:10,533 --> 00:14:11,566
On...
235
00:14:11,666 --> 00:14:14,233
That if we lost South Vietnam,
236
00:14:14,333 --> 00:14:16,700
that the rest of Southeast Asia
would fall to the communists.
237
00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:20,600
There was an international
communist conspiracy.
238
00:14:20,700 --> 00:14:23,133
We believed fervently
in this stuff.
239
00:14:23,233 --> 00:14:27,100
NARRATOR:
Neil Sheehan was
a 25-year-old reporter
240
00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:30,500
for United Press International,
UPI.
241
00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:34,666
He had served three years
in the Army in Korea and Japan
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00:14:34,766 --> 00:14:37,500
before deciding to become
a newspaperman.
243
00:14:37,600 --> 00:14:41,800
Vietnam was his first full-time
overseas assignment,
244
00:14:41,900 --> 00:14:43,733
and his only worry,
he remembered,
245
00:14:43,833 --> 00:14:46,500
was that he would get there
too late and miss out
246
00:14:46,600 --> 00:14:48,566
on the big story.
247
00:14:48,666 --> 00:14:52,800
Sheehan and other reporters rode
along as the ARVN mounted
248
00:14:52,900 --> 00:14:56,400
a series of helicopter assaults
on enemy strongholds
249
00:14:56,500 --> 00:14:58,833
in the Mekong Delta
and elsewhere
250
00:14:58,933 --> 00:15:02,366
and brought terror
to the Viet Cong.
251
00:15:02,466 --> 00:15:05,466
American pilots were
at the controls.
252
00:15:05,566 --> 00:15:09,966
SHEEHAN:
It was a crusade
and it was thrilling.
253
00:15:10,066 --> 00:15:12,566
And you'd climb aboard
the helicopters
254
00:15:12,666 --> 00:15:16,000
with the Vietnamese soldiers who
were being taken out to battle.
255
00:15:16,100 --> 00:15:17,666
And they'd take off.
256
00:15:17,766 --> 00:15:20,400
And they'd contour-fly, they'd
skim across the rice paddies
257
00:15:20,500 --> 00:15:22,666
at about three or four feet
above the paddies,
258
00:15:22,766 --> 00:15:26,633
and then pop up over the tree
lines that lined the fields.
259
00:15:26,733 --> 00:15:27,900
It was thrilling.
260
00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:29,233
I mean it was absolutely
thrilling.
261
00:15:29,333 --> 00:15:32,333
And you believed
in what was happening.
262
00:15:32,433 --> 00:15:34,500
I mean you had the sense
that we're fighting here
263
00:15:34,599 --> 00:15:38,400
and some day we'll win, and
this country will be a better,
264
00:15:38,500 --> 00:15:39,533
better country for our coming.
265
00:15:41,500 --> 00:15:44,300
NARRATOR:
The new M-113 armored
personnel carriers
266
00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:48,066
were capable of churning across
rivers and rice paddies
267
00:15:48,166 --> 00:15:49,933
and right through
the earthen dikes
268
00:15:50,033 --> 00:15:52,333
that separated one field
from the next.
269
00:15:53,766 --> 00:15:58,766
The Viet Cong had nothing
with which to stop them.
270
00:15:58,866 --> 00:16:04,600
JAMES SCANLON:
We were just overwhelming them
with force, with firepower.
271
00:16:04,700 --> 00:16:08,000
And the firefights would be over
in a pretty short time.
272
00:16:08,100 --> 00:16:10,766
MAN ON RADIO:
We have some people
running along the dikes.
273
00:16:10,866 --> 00:16:13,800
Actually, the canal
is perpendicular
274
00:16:13,900 --> 00:16:15,300
to the one you're attacking now.
275
00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:19,266
They have on black uniforms, and
I estimate approximately 3-0.
276
00:16:19,366 --> 00:16:21,933
Do you have them in sight?
Over.
277
00:16:22,033 --> 00:16:24,233
SCANLON:
That's what was causing us
to win, see.
278
00:16:24,333 --> 00:16:27,466
And we were winning
one after the other.
279
00:16:27,566 --> 00:16:31,133
And we were not meeting
a heck of a lot of resistance.
280
00:16:31,233 --> 00:16:34,966
NARRATOR:
Captain James Scanlon had been
stationed in West Germany
281
00:16:35,066 --> 00:16:38,166
and had seen for himself
the brutality with which
282
00:16:38,266 --> 00:16:40,800
the communist East Germans
dealt with anyone
283
00:16:40,900 --> 00:16:44,300
who dared try to escape
to the West.
284
00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:46,633
He was now in the Mekong Delta,
285
00:16:46,733 --> 00:16:49,700
an advisor to the 7th Division
of the ARVN,
286
00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:54,500
and had begun to see evidence
of Viet Cong brutality as well.
287
00:16:57,733 --> 00:17:01,400
SCANLON:
Those of us who talked to the
people who fled East Germany,
288
00:17:01,500 --> 00:17:05,500
we saw the need to stop
the growth of communism,
289
00:17:05,600 --> 00:17:09,000
to stop the dominoes
from being tumbled.
290
00:17:09,100 --> 00:17:11,633
That was a worthy cause.
291
00:17:13,133 --> 00:17:16,900
NARRATOR:
As the ARVN and their advisors
pursued the Viet Cong,
292
00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:19,633
the government of Ngo Dinh Diem
had launched
293
00:17:19,733 --> 00:17:24,033
an ambitious program meant to
gain control of the countryside
294
00:17:24,133 --> 00:17:26,800
by concentrating
the rural population
295
00:17:26,900 --> 00:17:29,466
into thousands of fortified
settlements,
296
00:17:29,566 --> 00:17:33,900
ringed with barbed wire
and moats and bamboo spikes
297
00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:36,666
meant to keep out the Viet Cong.
298
00:17:36,766 --> 00:17:41,100
They were called strategic
hamlets, part of the effort
299
00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:44,266
to win the hearts and minds,
and loyalty,
300
00:17:44,366 --> 00:17:45,766
of the Vietnamese people.
301
00:17:45,866 --> 00:17:50,466
The French had tried something
like it a decade before.
302
00:17:50,566 --> 00:17:54,500
They had called it pacification.
303
00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:57,166
ROBERT McNAMARA:
President Diem's strategic
hamlet program
304
00:17:57,266 --> 00:17:59,700
is making substantial progress.
305
00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:04,433
About 1,600
of the some 14,000 hamlets
306
00:18:04,533 --> 00:18:08,100
have been fortified to date.
307
00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:10,400
NARRATOR:
By the summer of 1962,
308
00:18:10,500 --> 00:18:13,833
news from South Vietnam
seemed so promising
309
00:18:13,933 --> 00:18:17,666
that Defense Secretary
Robert McNamara made sure
310
00:18:17,766 --> 00:18:20,833
the Pentagon was prepared
to implement a plan
311
00:18:20,933 --> 00:18:24,400
for a gradual withdrawal
of American advisors
312
00:18:24,500 --> 00:18:27,066
to be completed by 1965.
313
00:18:27,166 --> 00:18:30,700
So far as most Americans knew,
314
00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:33,633
the United States was achieving
its goal:
315
00:18:33,733 --> 00:18:37,000
a stable, independent,
anticommunist state
316
00:18:37,100 --> 00:18:39,200
in South Vietnam.
317
00:18:39,300 --> 00:18:43,666
It was "a struggle this country
cannot shirk,"
318
00:18:43,766 --> 00:18:45,533
theNew York Tim es said,
319
00:18:45,633 --> 00:18:50,033
and the United States seemed
to be winning it.
320
00:18:51,700 --> 00:18:55,566
But that same summer,
Ho Chi Minh traveled to Beijing
321
00:18:55,666 --> 00:18:59,166
in search of more help
from the Chinese.
322
00:18:59,266 --> 00:19:02,600
The American buildup in
South Vietnam had alarmed him
323
00:19:02,700 --> 00:19:04,900
and the other leaders in Hanoi.
324
00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:08,266
Ho told the Chinese
that American attacks
325
00:19:08,366 --> 00:19:14,233
on North Vietnam itself now
seemed only a matter of time.
326
00:19:14,333 --> 00:19:18,333
The Chinese promised to equip
and arm tens of thousands
327
00:19:18,433 --> 00:19:21,400
of Vietnamese soldiers.
328
00:19:21,500 --> 00:19:25,000
Meanwhile, the Politburo
in Hanoi had directed
329
00:19:25,100 --> 00:19:28,366
that every able-bodied
North Vietnamese man
330
00:19:28,466 --> 00:19:33,300
be required to serve
in the armed forces.
331
00:19:33,400 --> 00:19:36,566
("Honky Tonk Pt. 1"
by Bill Doggett playing)
332
00:19:40,266 --> 00:19:42,500
NARRATOR:
Inspired by their
president's call,
333
00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:45,800
thousands of young Americans
would join the Peace Corps
334
00:19:45,900 --> 00:19:49,733
and other organizations to help
project American ideals
335
00:19:49,833 --> 00:19:52,200
and goodwill around the world.
336
00:19:53,300 --> 00:19:59,300
("Honky Tonk Pt. 1" continues)
337
00:20:05,100 --> 00:20:09,800
RUFUS PHILLIPS:
We were not only there in
Vietnam to stop communism,
338
00:20:09,900 --> 00:20:13,733
but there had to be
something positive.
339
00:20:13,833 --> 00:20:17,066
We're trying to find out what
the Vietnamese people want
340
00:20:17,166 --> 00:20:19,766
and to help them get it.
341
00:20:19,866 --> 00:20:21,100
And that was very simple
342
00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:23,233
but, if you think about it,
also very complex.
343
00:20:23,333 --> 00:20:25,700
But it went to the heart,
I thought,
344
00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:28,166
of what we were trying to do.
345
00:20:28,266 --> 00:20:30,066
("Dirty Overalls"
by Woody Guthrie playing)
346
00:20:30,166 --> 00:20:33,400
NARRATOR:
Pete Hunting, a 22-year-old
from Oklahoma City,
347
00:20:33,500 --> 00:20:37,066
would go to Vietnam right after
college to do what he could
348
00:20:37,166 --> 00:20:40,400
to help poor villagers
in the countryside.
349
00:20:40,500 --> 00:20:42,866
WOODY GUTHRIE:
♪ I was a soldier in the fight
350
00:20:42,966 --> 00:20:45,200
♪ And I fought till we won
351
00:20:45,300 --> 00:20:49,366
♪ My uniform's
my dirty overhauls. ♪
352
00:20:49,466 --> 00:20:51,266
HUNTING (dramatized):
Dear Margo,
353
00:20:51,366 --> 00:20:53,766
I finally finished up my work
in Phan Rang last week.
354
00:20:53,866 --> 00:20:55,733
Had spent a month
working on a windmill
355
00:20:55,833 --> 00:20:57,833
I'd promised the people
of one hamlet.
356
00:20:57,933 --> 00:21:02,500
Cost a lot of money, too, which
I paid out of my own pocket.
357
00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:06,366
GUTHRIE:
♪ Well, I'll give you my sweat,
I'll give you my blood. ♪
358
00:21:06,466 --> 00:21:08,566
HUNTING (dramatized):
I'm in soaring spirits today
359
00:21:08,666 --> 00:21:11,833
despite all the natural
disasters, political intrigues,
360
00:21:11,933 --> 00:21:14,000
and subversive activities.
361
00:21:14,100 --> 00:21:16,500
NARRATOR:
Pete Hunting worked
362
00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:19,400
for the International
Voluntary Services,
363
00:21:19,500 --> 00:21:23,233
a nonprofit organization
committed to improving
364
00:21:23,333 --> 00:21:26,433
agriculture, education,
and public health.
365
00:21:26,533 --> 00:21:29,700
He was one of hundreds
of dedicated aid workers
366
00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:32,333
in South Vietnam.
367
00:21:32,433 --> 00:21:36,166
GUTHRIE:
♪ My hoe is my gun.
368
00:21:36,266 --> 00:21:38,433
HUNTING (dramatized):
Latest news on this side
of the world
369
00:21:38,533 --> 00:21:40,533
is that I'll almost definitely
be extending over here
370
00:21:40,633 --> 00:21:42,500
for another two years,
371
00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:44,733
providing the country stays
in one piece that long.
372
00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:49,933
NARRATOR:
Two years after he arrived,
373
00:21:50,033 --> 00:21:52,433
Pete Hunting was driving
in the Mekong Delta
374
00:21:52,533 --> 00:21:55,333
when he ran into
a Viet Cong ambush.
375
00:21:55,433 --> 00:21:58,900
He was shot five times
in the head...
376
00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:00,600
(gunshot)
377
00:22:00,700 --> 00:22:02,666
the first American
civilian volunteer
378
00:22:02,766 --> 00:22:05,433
to be killed in Vietnam.
379
00:22:10,066 --> 00:22:20,666
(helicopter blades beating,
voices on radio)
380
00:22:20,766 --> 00:22:26,333
(distorted sound of gunfire,
explosion)
381
00:22:33,933 --> 00:22:36,233
People used to joke in Vietnam
382
00:22:36,333 --> 00:22:37,966
about winning the hearts
and minds.
383
00:22:38,066 --> 00:22:41,600
And you hear that expression,
but that should not be a joke.
384
00:22:41,700 --> 00:22:43,800
It's a serious, serious problem.
385
00:22:43,900 --> 00:22:46,333
If you pull off
a military operation,
386
00:22:46,433 --> 00:22:50,033
and it may be successful
on the military basis,
387
00:22:50,133 --> 00:22:53,000
but you destroy a village,
388
00:22:53,100 --> 00:22:56,833
then you've created
a village of resistance.
389
00:22:56,933 --> 00:23:00,800
NARRATOR:
Few advisors understood
the unique challenges
390
00:23:00,900 --> 00:23:03,633
of fighting
an insurgency in Vietnam
391
00:23:03,733 --> 00:23:07,633
better than Lieutenant
Colonel John Paul Vann.
392
00:23:07,733 --> 00:23:10,366
A career soldier from Virginia,
393
00:23:10,466 --> 00:23:12,633
he was the senior
American advisor
394
00:23:12,733 --> 00:23:16,733
to the 7th ARVN Division
in the Mekong Delta.
395
00:23:16,833 --> 00:23:21,300
Small, wiry and abrasive,
John Paul Vann was convinced
396
00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:25,500
he knew how to defeat
the Viet Cong.
397
00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:30,133
PHILIP BRADY:
John Paul Vann was simply
the most remarkable soldier
398
00:23:30,233 --> 00:23:31,300
I ever met.
399
00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:33,266
Period.
400
00:23:33,366 --> 00:23:38,100
The biggest challenge
of John Paul Vann's life
401
00:23:38,200 --> 00:23:44,000
was somehow saving Vietnam,
winning.
402
00:23:44,100 --> 00:23:47,000
That, to him,
was the ultimate challenge.
403
00:23:47,100 --> 00:23:49,466
(explosion)
404
00:23:49,566 --> 00:23:51,133
NARRATOR:
When it became clear to Vann
405
00:23:51,233 --> 00:23:54,100
that the tactics the Americans
had taught the ARVN
406
00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:57,300
were beginning to make more
enemies than friends,
407
00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:02,066
he sought out newspapermen
to spread the word.
408
00:24:02,166 --> 00:24:06,033
NEIL SHEEHAN:
He was able to explain to us
what was going on.
409
00:24:06,133 --> 00:24:09,433
The important thing was not
to alienate the population.
410
00:24:09,533 --> 00:24:12,400
That if you got sniper fire
from a hamlet,
411
00:24:12,500 --> 00:24:14,866
you sent in riflemen
to take out the sniper.
412
00:24:14,966 --> 00:24:17,233
You didn't shell the place,
because you were going to kill
413
00:24:17,333 --> 00:24:19,633
women and kids
and destroy houses
414
00:24:19,733 --> 00:24:22,200
and you were going to turn
the population against you.
415
00:24:24,433 --> 00:24:27,700
NARRATOR:
Most press coverage
of Vietnam was upbeat
416
00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:30,466
in the tradition
of previous wars.
417
00:24:30,566 --> 00:24:35,366
But a handful of young reporters
including Neil Sheehan,
418
00:24:35,466 --> 00:24:37,933
David Halberstam
of theNew York Times,
419
00:24:38,033 --> 00:24:40,566
and Malcolm Browne
of the Associated Press,
420
00:24:40,666 --> 00:24:44,366
who spent time in the field
with officers like Vann,
421
00:24:44,466 --> 00:24:48,500
were beginning to see that
from the Vietnamese countryside,
422
00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:50,766
things looked very different
than they did
423
00:24:50,866 --> 00:24:54,666
from the press offices
in Washington or Saigon.
424
00:24:54,766 --> 00:24:58,933
SHEEHAN:
So it was terribly important
that we not only win the war
425
00:24:59,033 --> 00:25:01,866
but that we as reporters report
the truth
426
00:25:01,966 --> 00:25:04,800
that would help to win the war.
427
00:25:04,900 --> 00:25:07,933
We were very fervent in wanting
to report the truth
428
00:25:08,033 --> 00:25:11,100
because it was very important
to the welfare of our country
429
00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:12,600
and to the welfare of the world.
430
00:25:14,733 --> 00:25:18,166
NARRATOR:
Sheehan and his colleagues began
asking tough questions
431
00:25:18,266 --> 00:25:23,200
about what constituted progress,
what victory would look like,
432
00:25:23,300 --> 00:25:25,600
and if the people
in the countryside,
433
00:25:25,700 --> 00:25:29,300
where 80% of South Vietnam's
population lived,
434
00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:34,166
could ever trust the government
in Saigon.
435
00:25:34,266 --> 00:25:37,266
SHEEHAN:
I remember going, during one
of Robert McNamara's visits,
436
00:25:37,366 --> 00:25:40,333
out to one of these hamlets.
437
00:25:40,433 --> 00:25:41,866
The Vietnamese general
who commanded the area
438
00:25:41,966 --> 00:25:43,400
was telling McNamara what
a wonderful thing this was.
439
00:25:43,500 --> 00:25:46,000
And the-the... some of these
farmers were down
440
00:25:46,100 --> 00:25:49,733
digging a ditch around the...
around the hamlet.
441
00:25:49,833 --> 00:25:53,166
And I looked at their faces
and they were really angry.
442
00:25:54,933 --> 00:25:56,500
I mean it was very obvious to me
443
00:25:56,600 --> 00:25:59,433
that if these people could,
they'd cut our throats.
444
00:26:03,766 --> 00:26:07,733
NARRATOR:
Farmers resented being forced
to abandon their homes
445
00:26:07,833 --> 00:26:10,266
and move to strategic hamlets.
446
00:26:10,366 --> 00:26:14,433
Corrupt officials
siphoned off funds.
447
00:26:14,533 --> 00:26:16,933
And villagers blamed
the Diem regime
448
00:26:17,033 --> 00:26:20,900
for failing to protect them
from guerrilla attacks.
449
00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:26,166
As the people's anger grew, so
did the ranks of the Viet Cong.
450
00:26:26,266 --> 00:26:30,566
SHEEHAN:
It turned out that the Viet Cong
were recruiting men
451
00:26:30,666 --> 00:26:34,100
right out of those strategic...
so-called strategic hamlets.
452
00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:36,200
And then the whole program
fell apart.
453
00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:39,000
NGUYEN NGOC:
454
00:26:59,966 --> 00:27:03,833
NARRATOR:
Nguyen Ngoc's father was
a postal clerk south of Danang.
455
00:27:03,933 --> 00:27:08,400
His brothers and sisters taught
in South Vietnamese schools.
456
00:27:08,500 --> 00:27:12,166
But he joined the revolution,
and as a political officer,
457
00:27:12,266 --> 00:27:16,200
wrote poems, songs, and slogans
to inspire the people
458
00:27:16,300 --> 00:27:20,800
in the countryside
to support the Viet Cong.
459
00:27:20,900 --> 00:27:25,433
DUONG VAN MAI:
The Viet Cong cadre would come
in and talk to them
460
00:27:25,533 --> 00:27:30,300
and their message is usually
(speaking Vietnamese),
461
00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:32,900
which means "turn your grief
into action.
462
00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:35,400
"Do something about it.
463
00:27:35,500 --> 00:27:37,433
"Join us.
464
00:27:37,533 --> 00:27:38,900
"We'll fight together.
465
00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:43,400
"We'll liberate the country from
this corrupt, unjust government.
466
00:27:43,500 --> 00:27:45,400
"We'll throw out the foreigners.
467
00:27:45,500 --> 00:27:47,200
"We'll reunify the country.
468
00:27:47,300 --> 00:27:50,366
"And we'll bring in
this great regime
469
00:27:50,466 --> 00:27:52,000
"that will take care of you
470
00:27:52,100 --> 00:27:53,900
and bring economic
and social justice."
471
00:27:56,000 --> 00:27:59,100
NARRATOR:
The Viet Cong ran rival
local governments,
472
00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:03,000
complete with their own tax
collectors and school teachers,
473
00:28:03,100 --> 00:28:07,500
spies and propagandists,
and province chiefs.
474
00:28:10,100 --> 00:28:12,300
To make matters worse,
475
00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:16,133
ARVN troops and American
advisors now found themselves
476
00:28:16,233 --> 00:28:19,133
confronted by a new threat:
477
00:28:19,233 --> 00:28:22,400
battalions of well-armed
Viet Cong soldiers,
478
00:28:22,500 --> 00:28:25,666
as well as by local guerrillas.
479
00:28:25,766 --> 00:28:27,966
SHEEHAN:
We'd armed them.
480
00:28:28,066 --> 00:28:31,400
You could hear the arming
of the Viet Cong.
481
00:28:31,500 --> 00:28:34,933
Back in early '62, they only had
one machine gun per battalion.
482
00:28:35,033 --> 00:28:36,100
(single gunfire burst)
483
00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:37,666
It was sporadic fire.
484
00:28:37,766 --> 00:28:41,666
Then, as they captured more and
more of these American arms,
485
00:28:41,766 --> 00:28:43,500
when you made contact, it fi...
486
00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:45,833
it would build up into
a drumfire of automatic
487
00:28:45,933 --> 00:28:47,366
and semi-automatic weapons.
488
00:28:47,466 --> 00:28:50,366
(cacophony of gunfire bursts)
489
00:28:55,100 --> 00:28:58,200
RUFUS PHILLIPS:
Secretary McNamara decided
that he would draw up
490
00:28:58,300 --> 00:29:01,133
some kind of a chart
to determine
491
00:29:01,233 --> 00:29:04,066
whether we were winning or not.
492
00:29:04,166 --> 00:29:06,766
And he was putting things in
493
00:29:06,866 --> 00:29:09,633
like numbers of weapons
recovered,
494
00:29:09,733 --> 00:29:12,000
numbers of Viet Cong killed.
495
00:29:12,100 --> 00:29:14,500
Very statistical.
496
00:29:17,066 --> 00:29:19,466
And he asked Edward Lansdale,
497
00:29:19,566 --> 00:29:23,266
who was then in the Pentagon
as head of Special Operations,
498
00:29:23,366 --> 00:29:25,366
to come down and look at this.
499
00:29:25,466 --> 00:29:29,600
And so Lansdale did and he said,
"There's something missing."
500
00:29:29,700 --> 00:29:32,900
And McNamara said, "What?"
501
00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:36,533
And Lansdale said, "The feelings
of the Vietnamese people."
502
00:29:36,633 --> 00:29:40,466
You couldn't reduce this
to a statistic.
503
00:29:40,566 --> 00:29:45,133
NARRATOR:
Robert McNamara had vowed
to make America's military
504
00:29:45,233 --> 00:29:46,600
"cost-effective."
505
00:29:46,700 --> 00:29:50,400
He demanded that everything
be quantified.
506
00:29:50,500 --> 00:29:54,300
In Saigon,
General Paul D. Harkins,
507
00:29:54,400 --> 00:29:57,666
head of the Military Assistance
Command, Vietnam,
508
00:29:57,766 --> 00:30:01,000
known as MACV,
dutifully complied.
509
00:30:01,100 --> 00:30:05,700
He and his staff generated
mountains of daily, weekly,
510
00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:07,966
monthly, and quarterly data
511
00:30:08,066 --> 00:30:11,066
on more than a hundred
separate indicators,
512
00:30:11,166 --> 00:30:15,666
far more data than could ever be
adequately analyzed.
513
00:30:15,766 --> 00:30:19,033
(typewriter keys clacking)
514
00:30:19,133 --> 00:30:21,933
General Harkins had little use
for skeptical reporters
515
00:30:22,033 --> 00:30:23,566
like Neil Sheehan.
516
00:30:23,666 --> 00:30:26,133
Bad news was to be buried.
517
00:30:26,233 --> 00:30:30,333
Harkins ignored the alarming
after action reports
518
00:30:30,433 --> 00:30:34,000
John Paul Vann and other
officers were sending in
519
00:30:34,100 --> 00:30:36,066
from the field.
520
00:30:36,166 --> 00:30:39,133
DONALD GREGG:
I was going to be made head
of the Vietnam desk
521
00:30:39,233 --> 00:30:41,200
at CIA headquarters.
522
00:30:41,300 --> 00:30:44,533
And the first person of
importance that I met
523
00:30:44,633 --> 00:30:46,833
was General Harkins.
524
00:30:46,933 --> 00:30:49,366
And he started out by saying,
525
00:30:49,466 --> 00:30:52,233
"Mr. Gregg, I don't care what
you hear from anybody else,
526
00:30:52,333 --> 00:30:54,633
"I can tell you without a doubt
we're going to be out of here
527
00:30:54,733 --> 00:30:56,533
with a military victory
in six months."
528
00:30:58,033 --> 00:30:59,966
JAMES MOSSMAN:
The country's 12 million
peasants
529
00:31:00,066 --> 00:31:02,666
can scarcely remember
what peace was like.
530
00:31:02,766 --> 00:31:04,600
They're caught between
the predatory guerrillas
531
00:31:04,700 --> 00:31:07,200
and the almost equally
demanding soldiery.
532
00:31:07,300 --> 00:31:09,600
Their lives are lived in a state
of permanent uncertainty,
533
00:31:09,700 --> 00:31:12,300
punctuated by bouts of violence
534
00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:13,833
as government forces come
to grips
535
00:31:13,933 --> 00:31:16,166
with the black-clad
communist rebel forces
536
00:31:16,266 --> 00:31:17,600
called the Viet Cong.
537
00:31:22,333 --> 00:31:24,833
HUY DUC:
538
00:32:03,733 --> 00:32:07,100
NGUYEN NGOC:
539
00:32:49,533 --> 00:32:52,233
CAO XUAN DAI:
540
00:33:15,566 --> 00:33:19,800
On our side we were
not as committed
541
00:33:19,900 --> 00:33:21,733
and we were...
542
00:33:21,833 --> 00:33:25,066
our leaders were corrupt
and incompetent.
543
00:33:25,166 --> 00:33:30,133
And so deep down
we'll always have this fear,
544
00:33:30,233 --> 00:33:35,800
this suspicion that in the end
it'll be the communists who won.
545
00:33:35,900 --> 00:33:39,366
TOM VALLELY:
When John Kennedy assembled
546
00:33:39,466 --> 00:33:41,500
what he thinks is the best
and the brightest,
547
00:33:41,600 --> 00:33:47,766
20 years before that in
a cave in the northern part
548
00:33:47,866 --> 00:33:50,433
of Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh
also put together
549
00:33:50,533 --> 00:33:51,933
his best and the brightest.
550
00:33:52,033 --> 00:33:55,100
And these guys are at it
for a while.
551
00:33:55,200 --> 00:33:58,733
And when we show up,
they were far along
552
00:33:58,833 --> 00:34:04,700
to consolidating their victory
over this inevitable conflict
553
00:34:04,800 --> 00:34:09,333
between Ho Chi Minh
and John F. Kennedy's vision.
554
00:34:09,433 --> 00:34:14,500
The more you think about
the American strategy,
555
00:34:14,600 --> 00:34:18,200
the more you know
556
00:34:18,300 --> 00:34:21,066
that it was never going to work
out particularly well.
557
00:34:35,933 --> 00:34:41,600
RHEAULT:
I was at my top of my
game when I was in combat.
558
00:34:46,566 --> 00:34:49,633
You don't have the luxury
to indulge your fear
559
00:34:49,733 --> 00:34:51,700
because other people's lives
depend upon
560
00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:53,100
you keeping your head cold.
561
00:35:01,866 --> 00:35:04,833
You know, when something
goes wrong,
562
00:35:04,933 --> 00:35:06,233
they call it emotional numbing.
563
00:35:06,333 --> 00:35:08,600
It's not very good
in civilian life,
564
00:35:08,700 --> 00:35:10,900
but it's pretty useful
in combat.
565
00:35:22,600 --> 00:35:25,200
To be able to get absolutely
very cold
566
00:35:25,300 --> 00:35:30,466
about what needs to be done
and to stick with it.
567
00:35:36,300 --> 00:35:39,233
To me it's, it's a little bit
distressing to realize
568
00:35:39,333 --> 00:35:41,000
that I was at my best
569
00:35:41,100 --> 00:35:43,766
doing something as terrible
as war.
570
00:35:53,166 --> 00:35:55,700
MOSSMAN:
President Kennedy has staked
his reputation in Asia
571
00:35:55,800 --> 00:35:58,633
on saving South Vietnam
from communism.
572
00:35:58,733 --> 00:36:01,133
As the army makes the sweep
towards the village
573
00:36:01,233 --> 00:36:03,033
suspected of harboring
Viet Cong,
574
00:36:03,133 --> 00:36:06,233
it can't tell whether it will
meet resistance.
575
00:36:12,466 --> 00:36:14,666
The troops round up all the
young men they can find,
576
00:36:14,766 --> 00:36:17,833
since they can't tell who is
a communist just by looking.
577
00:36:20,333 --> 00:36:23,000
Those who try to run for it
are shot
578
00:36:23,100 --> 00:36:25,033
on the assumption
they have something to hide.
579
00:36:30,066 --> 00:36:33,700
TRAN NGOC CHAU (in English):
580
00:37:16,700 --> 00:37:21,566
NARRATOR:
Each of South Vietnam's
44 provinces had its own chief.
581
00:37:21,666 --> 00:37:24,466
Some were simply political
appointees,
582
00:37:24,566 --> 00:37:27,333
corrupt allies of
President Diem.
583
00:37:27,433 --> 00:37:33,066
Tran Ngoc Chau, province chief
of Kien Hoa, was different.
584
00:37:33,166 --> 00:37:38,000
A privileged judge's son from
the old imperial city of Hue,
585
00:37:38,100 --> 00:37:41,066
he and two of his brothers
had fought against the French
586
00:37:41,166 --> 00:37:42,533
with the Viet Minh.
587
00:37:42,633 --> 00:37:46,633
But he had refused to join
the Communist Party;
588
00:37:46,733 --> 00:37:49,666
he admired their dedication,
but disliked the way
589
00:37:49,766 --> 00:37:52,900
they punished those who dared
differ with them.
590
00:37:53,000 --> 00:37:55,966
Instead, he left the Viet Minh,
591
00:37:56,066 --> 00:37:59,200
became a major in the army
fighting against them,
592
00:37:59,300 --> 00:38:03,166
and eventually so impressed Diem
with his insider's knowledge
593
00:38:03,266 --> 00:38:07,100
of communist tactics that
he was promoted to colonel
594
00:38:07,200 --> 00:38:13,033
and made chief of Kien Hoa,
a Viet Cong stronghold.
595
00:38:13,133 --> 00:38:16,800
PHILLIPS:
He was absolutely incorruptible.
596
00:38:16,900 --> 00:38:21,866
And people came to really
understand that here's a guy
597
00:38:21,966 --> 00:38:24,966
who's, even though it's not
an elected system,
598
00:38:25,066 --> 00:38:27,900
who never... nevertheless
really represents us.
599
00:38:29,600 --> 00:38:31,500
NARRATOR:
"Give me a budget that equals
the cost
600
00:38:31,600 --> 00:38:35,800
of one American helicopter,"
Chau liked to say,
601
00:38:35,900 --> 00:38:38,533
"and I'll give you
a pacified province.
602
00:38:38,633 --> 00:38:42,700
"With that much money, I can
raise the standard of living
603
00:38:42,800 --> 00:38:44,300
"of the rice farmers,
604
00:38:44,400 --> 00:38:46,100
"and government officials
can be paid enough
605
00:38:46,200 --> 00:38:50,900
so they won't think it necessary
to steal."
606
00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:53,466
Rather than hunt down
the Viet Cong,
607
00:38:53,566 --> 00:38:56,233
he sought to persuade them.
608
00:38:57,600 --> 00:39:00,800
TRAN NGOC CHAU (in English):
609
00:39:47,433 --> 00:39:51,533
("Walk, Don't Run"
by the Ventures playing)
610
00:39:51,633 --> 00:39:55,233
NARRATOR:
Back home, Americans were paying
little attention
611
00:39:55,333 --> 00:39:57,500
to what was happening
in Vietnam.
612
00:39:57,600 --> 00:40:00,333
They were watching
The Beverly Hillbillies
613
00:40:00,433 --> 00:40:02,533
andGunsm oke on TV,
614
00:40:02,633 --> 00:40:05,566
were interested in whether
the Yankees would win
615
00:40:05,666 --> 00:40:07,066
the World Series again
616
00:40:07,166 --> 00:40:11,300
and in the recent death
of Marilyn Monroe.
617
00:40:11,400 --> 00:40:14,500
("Stand By Me"
by Ben E. King playing)
618
00:40:14,600 --> 00:40:17,000
But some Americans had been
growing impatient
619
00:40:17,100 --> 00:40:20,366
with the slow pace
of social change.
620
00:40:20,466 --> 00:40:22,100
BILL ZIMMERMAN:
We were told in the '50s
621
00:40:22,200 --> 00:40:24,900
that we lived in the best
country in the world.
622
00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:28,400
In the middle of, you know,
trying to figure out
623
00:40:28,500 --> 00:40:30,733
what it meant to be a citizen
of the...
624
00:40:30,833 --> 00:40:33,166
of this best country
in the world,
625
00:40:33,266 --> 00:40:35,066
suddenly the civil rights
movement exploded
626
00:40:35,166 --> 00:40:37,100
into our consciousness.
627
00:40:37,200 --> 00:40:43,333
BEN E. KING:
♪ When the night has come...
628
00:40:43,433 --> 00:40:45,266
ZIMMERMAN:
We didn't think
we had any power.
629
00:40:45,366 --> 00:40:48,500
We didn't think we could be
actors in history,
630
00:40:48,600 --> 00:40:51,200
that we could affect things.
631
00:40:53,433 --> 00:40:56,500
KING:
♪ No, I won't be afraid
632
00:40:56,600 --> 00:40:58,433
♪ Oh, I won't...
633
00:40:58,533 --> 00:41:00,266
ZIMMERMAN:
And suddenly, you know,
634
00:41:00,366 --> 00:41:02,266
these young black students
in the South
635
00:41:02,366 --> 00:41:03,966
were doing exactly that.
636
00:41:04,066 --> 00:41:07,133
And it just blew the tops
of our heads off.
637
00:41:07,233 --> 00:41:12,866
KING:
♪ So darling, darling,
stand by me ♪
638
00:41:12,966 --> 00:41:17,300
♪ Oh, stand by me
639
00:41:17,400 --> 00:41:22,566
♪ Oh, stand, stand by me
640
00:41:22,666 --> 00:41:25,433
♪ Stand by me
641
00:41:25,533 --> 00:41:28,200
♪ If the sky
that we look upon... ♪
642
00:41:28,300 --> 00:41:31,700
NARRATOR:
Other Americans were concerned
about the proliferation
643
00:41:31,800 --> 00:41:35,033
of nuclear weapons in the world.
644
00:41:35,133 --> 00:41:39,033
Perhaps it would be a good thing
to put Khrushchev and Kennedy
645
00:41:39,133 --> 00:41:42,933
on an island and not let either
one of them off
646
00:41:43,033 --> 00:41:45,300
until they came to an agreement.
647
00:41:45,400 --> 00:41:47,766
KING:
♪ Stand by me
648
00:41:47,866 --> 00:41:52,700
♪ And darling, darling,
stand by me. ♪
649
00:41:56,900 --> 00:42:00,333
(bicycle bells ring,
motors rumble)
650
00:42:08,066 --> 00:42:11,200
SHEEHAN:
And if you were in a cafe when
Diem was giving a speech,
651
00:42:11,300 --> 00:42:13,066
somebody would get up
and shut the radio off,
652
00:42:13,166 --> 00:42:14,933
it would be coming in
over the radio.
653
00:42:15,033 --> 00:42:17,333
Somebody would get up and
they'd just shut the radio off.
654
00:42:17,433 --> 00:42:21,600
I mean, he was not connected
with... to his own population.
655
00:42:24,566 --> 00:42:29,466
PHAN QUANG TUE:
Diem was simply the opposite
of what democracy was.
656
00:42:29,566 --> 00:42:33,333
South Vietnam, in the
competition against the North,
657
00:42:33,433 --> 00:42:38,500
that should been, should have
been a golden opportunity
658
00:42:38,600 --> 00:42:43,900
to have that society open
with the free press,
659
00:42:44,000 --> 00:42:46,000
free expression.
660
00:42:46,100 --> 00:42:48,833
But there was not much choice
661
00:42:48,933 --> 00:42:53,333
if the two system are
structurally dictator
662
00:42:53,433 --> 00:42:54,733
and oppressive systems--
663
00:42:54,833 --> 00:43:01,166
one under the Communist
Party, one under a family.
664
00:43:02,266 --> 00:43:04,800
CHAU (speaking English):
665
00:43:18,100 --> 00:43:21,700
NARRATOR:
Diem's brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu,
had been the architect
666
00:43:21,800 --> 00:43:24,200
of the strategic hamlet program,
667
00:43:24,300 --> 00:43:28,433
ran a personal political party
that mirrored the techniques
668
00:43:28,533 --> 00:43:31,000
and the ruthlessness
of the communists,
669
00:43:31,100 --> 00:43:35,266
and supervised a host of
internal security units
670
00:43:35,366 --> 00:43:39,500
that spied on and seized enemies
of the regime.
671
00:43:41,366 --> 00:43:43,466
Some reporters
who probed too deeply
672
00:43:43,566 --> 00:43:45,966
into what Diem and Nhu
were doing
673
00:43:46,066 --> 00:43:48,233
were ordered out of the country.
674
00:43:48,333 --> 00:43:49,266
(gunshot)
675
00:43:49,366 --> 00:43:51,766
When an American journalist
objected,
676
00:43:51,866 --> 00:43:55,933
Nhu's sharp-tongued wife told
him Vietnam had no use
677
00:43:56,033 --> 00:43:58,666
for "your crazy freedoms."
678
00:44:00,133 --> 00:44:02,000
Meanwhile,
out in the countryside,
679
00:44:02,100 --> 00:44:06,266
John Paul Vann and other
advisors had begun to notice
680
00:44:06,366 --> 00:44:10,100
that the corruption within
Diem's regime had filtered down
681
00:44:10,200 --> 00:44:12,133
to the commanders in the field.
682
00:44:12,233 --> 00:44:17,233
Troops, who had once been
willing to engage the enemy,
683
00:44:17,333 --> 00:44:21,366
now seemed strangely reluctant.
684
00:44:21,466 --> 00:44:26,266
God, I was told so many
times, "(speaking Vietnamese)."
685
00:44:26,366 --> 00:44:28,266
You know, "Scanlon,
(speaking Vietnamese)."
686
00:44:28,366 --> 00:44:29,466
Um...
687
00:44:29,566 --> 00:44:34,766
very dangerous, you know,
going out there.
688
00:44:34,866 --> 00:44:37,600
NEIL SHEEHAN:
John Vann would go out
with them at night.
689
00:44:37,700 --> 00:44:41,800
And he noticed that somebody
would always cough
690
00:44:41,900 --> 00:44:45,233
or make some other
slight noise when it turned out
691
00:44:45,333 --> 00:44:47,733
that the Viet Cong were heading
into the ambush site.
692
00:44:47,833 --> 00:44:49,566
They did not want to get
in a fight.
693
00:44:49,666 --> 00:44:52,866
NARRATOR:
South Vietnamese officers
were chosen
694
00:44:52,966 --> 00:44:56,433
less for their combat skill
than for their loyalty
695
00:44:56,533 --> 00:45:00,500
to President Diem,
and their men knew it.
696
00:45:01,800 --> 00:45:03,133
RHEAULT:
What we should've done is
697
00:45:03,233 --> 00:45:07,800
either forced the Vietnamese--
I mean really forced them--
698
00:45:07,900 --> 00:45:10,000
to clean up their act.
699
00:45:10,100 --> 00:45:12,133
And if they wouldn't clean up
their act to say,
700
00:45:12,233 --> 00:45:14,633
"We're out of here.
701
00:45:14,733 --> 00:45:17,533
"Because we don't bet
on losing horses.
702
00:45:17,633 --> 00:45:20,033
"This is a losing horse.
703
00:45:20,133 --> 00:45:22,400
You are not going to win
this insurgency."
704
00:45:22,500 --> 00:45:25,233
We, as Americans, should have
understood the desire
705
00:45:25,333 --> 00:45:28,800
of the Vietnamese people
to have their own country.
706
00:45:28,900 --> 00:45:31,900
I mean we did the same thing
to the Brits.
707
00:45:37,533 --> 00:45:42,366
NARRATOR:
In October of 1962, the United
States and the Soviet Union
708
00:45:42,466 --> 00:45:45,233
came closer than they would ever
come again
709
00:45:45,333 --> 00:45:48,000
to mutually assured destruction.
710
00:45:48,100 --> 00:45:51,100
Good evening,
my fellow citizens.
711
00:45:51,200 --> 00:45:55,166
This government,
as promised, has maintained
712
00:45:55,266 --> 00:45:59,100
the closest surveillance of
the Soviet military buildup
713
00:45:59,200 --> 00:46:01,000
on the island of Cuba.
714
00:46:02,000 --> 00:46:04,033
Within the past week,
715
00:46:04,133 --> 00:46:07,433
unmistakable evidence
has established the fact
716
00:46:07,533 --> 00:46:10,933
that a series of offensive
missile sites
717
00:46:11,033 --> 00:46:16,066
is now in preparation
on that imprisoned island.
718
00:46:16,166 --> 00:46:19,366
NARRATOR:
The Soviets had secretly placed
nuclear missiles
719
00:46:19,466 --> 00:46:22,500
90 miles
from the United States.
720
00:46:22,600 --> 00:46:27,500
The Joint Chiefs of Staff urged
President Kennedy to bomb Cuba.
721
00:46:27,600 --> 00:46:31,733
He resisted and instead ordered
a naval blockade
722
00:46:31,833 --> 00:46:36,233
to stop Soviet ships
from resupplying the island.
723
00:46:37,800 --> 00:46:43,200
For 13 excruciating days,
the world held its breath.
724
00:46:46,600 --> 00:46:49,833
Finally, in exchange
for a private pledge
725
00:46:49,933 --> 00:46:52,633
to remove American missiles
from Turkey,
726
00:46:52,733 --> 00:46:56,333
Khrushchev agreed to remove
his missiles from Cuba.
727
00:46:59,166 --> 00:47:02,166
Neither the United States
nor the Soviet Union
728
00:47:02,266 --> 00:47:06,300
wanted so direct
a confrontation ever again.
729
00:47:06,400 --> 00:47:08,800
From now on, limited wars,
730
00:47:08,900 --> 00:47:11,400
like the growing conflict
in Vietnam,
731
00:47:11,500 --> 00:47:15,000
would assume
still greater importance.
732
00:47:18,300 --> 00:47:22,800
MUSGRAVE:
I'd grown up in the shadow
of the mushroom cloud.
733
00:47:22,900 --> 00:47:26,933
And I remember the...
watching President Kennedy speak
734
00:47:27,033 --> 00:47:28,600
during the Cuban Missile Crisis
735
00:47:28,700 --> 00:47:30,900
and wondering if I was
ever gonna kiss a girl.
736
00:47:31,000 --> 00:47:33,866
And so this was just continuing
that battle
737
00:47:33,966 --> 00:47:35,733
against the Russians.
738
00:47:35,833 --> 00:47:39,366
Only we were fighting,
you know, their, their proxies,
739
00:47:39,466 --> 00:47:42,900
the Vietnamese there--
but it was monolithic communism.
740
00:47:44,266 --> 00:47:47,133
It didn't matter to me
where it was, I was going to go
741
00:47:47,233 --> 00:47:51,300
if my government said
we needed to be there.
742
00:47:51,400 --> 00:47:54,333
We were probably the last kids
of any generation
743
00:47:54,433 --> 00:47:55,666
that actually believed
744
00:47:55,766 --> 00:47:57,500
our government
would never lie to us.
745
00:48:02,833 --> 00:48:05,133
SHEEHAN:
We had been writing stories
about all the flaws
746
00:48:05,233 --> 00:48:08,066
on the Saigon side--
about how they wouldn't fight,
747
00:48:08,166 --> 00:48:10,900
about the corruption,
they wouldn't obey orders,
748
00:48:11,000 --> 00:48:12,533
the disorganization.
749
00:48:14,466 --> 00:48:19,000
And then all of a sudden the
Viet Cong, for the first time,
750
00:48:19,100 --> 00:48:20,466
the "raggedy-ass
little bastards"
751
00:48:20,566 --> 00:48:23,366
as the Harkins's people
in Saigon called them,
752
00:48:23,466 --> 00:48:25,000
stood and fought.
753
00:48:25,100 --> 00:48:27,366
And suddenly all the flaws
on the Saigon side
754
00:48:27,466 --> 00:48:29,766
were illuminated by this.
755
00:48:29,866 --> 00:48:33,066
Like a star shell, it
illuminated the battlefield.
756
00:48:33,166 --> 00:48:34,633
Everything came out.
757
00:48:35,900 --> 00:48:39,200
NARRATOR:
A few days after Christmas 1962,
758
00:48:39,300 --> 00:48:42,766
the 7th ARVN Division got
orders to capture
759
00:48:42,866 --> 00:48:44,966
a Viet Cong radio transmitter
760
00:48:45,066 --> 00:48:49,700
broadcasting from a spot some
40 miles southwest of Saigon
761
00:48:49,800 --> 00:48:52,766
in a village called Tan Thoi.
762
00:48:52,866 --> 00:48:55,600
The village was surrounded
by rice paddies.
763
00:48:55,700 --> 00:49:01,700
An irrigation dike linked it to
a neighboring hamlet-- Ap Bac.
764
00:49:01,800 --> 00:49:06,133
Intelligence suggested
no more than 120 guerrillas
765
00:49:06,233 --> 00:49:08,566
were guarding the transmitter.
766
00:49:08,666 --> 00:49:12,000
John Paul Vann helped draw up
what seemed to be
767
00:49:12,100 --> 00:49:14,533
a foolproof plan of attack.
768
00:49:14,633 --> 00:49:18,866
Supported by helicopters and
armored personnel carriers,
769
00:49:18,966 --> 00:49:22,833
some 1,200 South Vietnamese
troops would attack the village
770
00:49:22,933 --> 00:49:24,766
from three sides.
771
00:49:24,866 --> 00:49:27,733
When the surviving Viet Cong
tried to flee through the gap
772
00:49:27,833 --> 00:49:31,766
left open for them, as they
always had whenever outnumbered
773
00:49:31,866 --> 00:49:34,066
and confronted
by modern weapons,
774
00:49:34,166 --> 00:49:37,666
artillery and airstrikes
would destroy them.
775
00:49:37,766 --> 00:49:42,233
Vann would observe the fighting
from a spotter plane.
776
00:49:42,333 --> 00:49:47,933
But the intelligence underlying
it all turned out to be wrong.
777
00:49:48,033 --> 00:49:53,566
There were more than 340 Viet
Cong, not 120, in the area.
778
00:49:53,666 --> 00:49:56,600
Communist spies
had tipped them off
779
00:49:56,700 --> 00:49:58,800
that they were soon to be
attacked.
780
00:49:58,900 --> 00:50:02,966
And this time they would not
flee without a fight.
781
00:50:05,433 --> 00:50:08,166
Among them was Le Quan Cong,
782
00:50:08,266 --> 00:50:12,700
who had been a guerrilla fighter
since 1951, when he was 12.
783
00:50:27,166 --> 00:50:32,233
NARRATOR:
At 6:35 in the morning
on January 2, 1963,
784
00:50:32,333 --> 00:50:35,633
ten American helicopters ferried
an ARVN company
785
00:50:35,733 --> 00:50:39,100
to a spot just north
of Tan Thoi.
786
00:50:42,000 --> 00:50:45,000
They met no resistance.
787
00:50:45,100 --> 00:50:48,666
Meanwhile, two South Vietnamese
Civil Guard battalions
788
00:50:48,766 --> 00:50:52,066
approached Ap Bac
from the South on foot.
789
00:50:55,066 --> 00:50:58,733
The Viet Cong commander let the
Civil Guards get within 100 feet
790
00:50:58,833 --> 00:51:01,400
before giving the order to fire.
791
00:51:03,900 --> 00:51:06,666
Several South Vietnamese
soldiers were killed.
792
00:51:10,633 --> 00:51:13,700
Survivors hid behind a dike.
793
00:51:13,800 --> 00:51:16,533
(gunfire)
794
00:51:16,633 --> 00:51:18,466
Ten more helicopters,
795
00:51:18,566 --> 00:51:22,266
filled with troops and escorted
by five helicopter gunships,
796
00:51:22,366 --> 00:51:23,633
roared in to help.
797
00:51:25,166 --> 00:51:27,133
LE QUAN CONG:
798
00:51:50,466 --> 00:51:54,766
NARRATOR:
Viet Cong machine guns hit
14 of the 15 aircraft.
799
00:51:54,866 --> 00:52:00,233
Five would be destroyed, killing
and wounding American crewmen.
800
00:52:01,700 --> 00:52:03,866
LE QUAN CONG:
801
00:52:09,933 --> 00:52:12,300
NARRATOR:
The enemy concentrated
their fire on the ARVN
802
00:52:12,400 --> 00:52:15,466
struggling to get out
of the downed helicopters.
803
00:52:15,566 --> 00:52:18,533
"It was like shooting ducks
for the Viet Cong,"
804
00:52:18,633 --> 00:52:20,566
an American crewman remembered.
805
00:52:22,900 --> 00:52:25,900
Colonel Vann circled
helplessly overhead.
806
00:52:26,000 --> 00:52:28,400
He radioed the ARVN commander,
807
00:52:28,500 --> 00:52:32,600
urging him to send an APC unit
to rescue the men.
808
00:52:33,933 --> 00:52:36,500
SCANLON:
I got the word from John Vann
809
00:52:36,600 --> 00:52:39,400
that American helicopters
were down.
810
00:52:39,500 --> 00:52:41,866
They were right in front
of the Viet Cong positions.
811
00:52:41,966 --> 00:52:45,266
We had Americans killed
and wounded
812
00:52:45,366 --> 00:52:47,433
and we had to get over there
right away.
813
00:52:47,533 --> 00:52:51,433
NARRATOR:
Like Vann, Captain Scanlon
was only an advisor.
814
00:52:51,533 --> 00:52:54,966
Captain Ly Tong Ba,
his ARVN counterpart,
815
00:52:55,066 --> 00:52:57,766
would have to give the order
to advance.
816
00:52:57,866 --> 00:53:01,100
Scanlon liked and admired him.
817
00:53:01,200 --> 00:53:03,633
SCANLON:
I turned to Ba and said,
818
00:53:03,733 --> 00:53:06,400
"Hey, you know, you got to get
over there right away."
819
00:53:06,500 --> 00:53:11,000
And Ba said to me,
"I'm not going."
820
00:53:11,100 --> 00:53:14,466
NARRATOR:
Ba's superiors within the ARVN,
far from the battlefield,
821
00:53:14,566 --> 00:53:17,633
had told him to stay put.
822
00:53:17,733 --> 00:53:21,666
And John Vann, my boss, was,
uh, screaming at me over the...
823
00:53:21,766 --> 00:53:25,066
over the radio to get them
over there.
824
00:53:25,166 --> 00:53:29,500
NARRATOR:
It took Scanlon an hour
to convince Captain Ba to move.
825
00:53:29,600 --> 00:53:32,000
Another two hours were lost
826
00:53:32,100 --> 00:53:35,100
before the APCs could make
their way through the paddies
827
00:53:35,200 --> 00:53:37,400
toward the trapped men.
828
00:53:39,366 --> 00:53:41,633
The firing had died down.
829
00:53:41,733 --> 00:53:43,633
SCANLON:
Everything was quiet.
830
00:53:43,733 --> 00:53:46,433
You could see the open
expanse of rice fields.
831
00:53:46,533 --> 00:53:49,833
And my reaction was,
hey, it was all over.
832
00:53:49,933 --> 00:53:53,133
NARRATOR:
The first two APCs
dropped their ramps.
833
00:53:53,233 --> 00:53:55,600
Infantry squads stepped out,
834
00:53:55,700 --> 00:53:58,666
prepared to spray the tree line
with automatic fire
835
00:53:58,766 --> 00:53:59,966
as they advanced.
836
00:54:00,066 --> 00:54:02,766
In the past,
that had been enough
837
00:54:02,866 --> 00:54:06,200
to make the Viet Cong
scurry away.
838
00:54:06,300 --> 00:54:08,566
This time was different.
839
00:54:12,266 --> 00:54:14,266
Eight of the APCs
came under attack.
840
00:54:14,366 --> 00:54:17,733
Within minutes, six of their
gunners had been killed,
841
00:54:17,833 --> 00:54:19,066
shot through the head.
842
00:54:20,466 --> 00:54:22,566
SCANLON:
And boy, we got raked.
843
00:54:22,666 --> 00:54:24,400
So it was like a pool table.
844
00:54:24,500 --> 00:54:25,866
We were on the green
845
00:54:25,966 --> 00:54:28,200
and they were in the pockets
shooting at us.
846
00:54:28,300 --> 00:54:31,066
NARRATOR:
When Captain Ba managed
to convince
847
00:54:31,166 --> 00:54:33,733
a few more APCs to advance,
848
00:54:33,833 --> 00:54:36,800
guerrillas leapt
from their foxholes
849
00:54:36,900 --> 00:54:38,933
and hurled hand grenades
at them.
850
00:54:43,933 --> 00:54:46,333
None did any real damage,
851
00:54:46,433 --> 00:54:50,000
but the drivers were so
demoralized that they halted,
852
00:54:50,100 --> 00:54:55,033
turned around, and withdrew
behind the wrecked helicopters.
853
00:54:55,133 --> 00:54:57,033
From his spotter plane,
854
00:54:57,133 --> 00:55:01,266
Vann begged the ARVN to make
a simultaneous assault
855
00:55:01,366 --> 00:55:04,733
on the enemy by all the
remaining ground forces.
856
00:55:05,866 --> 00:55:08,866
ARVN commanders refused.
857
00:55:11,266 --> 00:55:14,233
That night,
the Viet Cong melted away,
858
00:55:14,333 --> 00:55:17,733
carrying most of their dead
and wounded with them.
859
00:55:19,866 --> 00:55:23,933
At least 80 South Vietnamese
soldiers had been killed.
860
00:55:24,033 --> 00:55:29,400
So had three American advisors,
including Captain Ken Good,
861
00:55:29,500 --> 00:55:30,633
a friend of Scanlon's.
862
00:55:34,533 --> 00:55:38,433
SCANLON:
We stacked the armored personnel
carriers with bodies,
863
00:55:38,533 --> 00:55:40,233
stacked them up on top
till they...
864
00:55:40,333 --> 00:55:42,166
we couldn't stack anymore.
865
00:55:42,266 --> 00:55:48,366
And, um, I wouldn't let the
Vietnamese touch the Americans.
866
00:55:48,466 --> 00:55:51,233
So I carried Americans out.
867
00:55:51,333 --> 00:55:53,600
And, um...
868
00:55:53,700 --> 00:55:55,900
And I was... I was exhausted.
869
00:55:56,000 --> 00:56:01,866
They told me about
Ken Good getting killed.
870
00:56:01,966 --> 00:56:06,200
And Ken and I had worked so hard
with our two battalions.
871
00:56:06,300 --> 00:56:12,100
And to hear that...
he got killed hurt.
872
00:56:12,200 --> 00:56:13,833
(voice breaking):
Great guy.
873
00:56:15,266 --> 00:56:17,466
NARRATOR:
Reporters arrived from Saigon
874
00:56:17,566 --> 00:56:21,500
before all of the ARVN dead
could be removed.
875
00:56:21,600 --> 00:56:25,800
They were horrified at what they
saw and tried to find out
876
00:56:25,900 --> 00:56:28,566
what had really happened.
877
00:56:28,666 --> 00:56:33,100
John Paul Vann took Neil Sheehan
and David Halberstam aside
878
00:56:33,200 --> 00:56:35,133
and told them.
879
00:56:35,233 --> 00:56:37,000
The Battle of Ap Bac had been
880
00:56:37,100 --> 00:56:39,833
"a miserable goddamn
performance."
881
00:56:39,933 --> 00:56:42,066
"The ARVN won't listen,"
he said.
882
00:56:42,166 --> 00:56:45,100
"They make the same mistakes
over and over again
883
00:56:45,200 --> 00:56:47,233
in the same way."
884
00:56:48,900 --> 00:56:50,400
But back in Saigon,
885
00:56:50,500 --> 00:56:54,200
General Harkins immediately
declared victory.
886
00:56:54,300 --> 00:56:57,300
"The ARVN forces had
an objective," he said.
887
00:56:57,400 --> 00:56:58,833
"We took that objective.
888
00:56:58,933 --> 00:57:02,433
"The VC left and their
casualties were greater
889
00:57:02,533 --> 00:57:05,100
"than those of
the government forces.
890
00:57:05,200 --> 00:57:06,833
What more do you want?"
891
00:57:08,300 --> 00:57:10,633
When Halberstam and Sheehan
reported
892
00:57:10,733 --> 00:57:13,633
that Ap Bac had in fact
been a defeat,
893
00:57:13,733 --> 00:57:17,800
the U.S. Commander
in the Pacific denied it all
894
00:57:17,900 --> 00:57:23,433
and urged the reporters
to "get on the team."
895
00:57:23,533 --> 00:57:25,566
SHEEHAN:
Ap Bac was terribly important.
896
00:57:25,666 --> 00:57:27,833
They had shot down five
helicopters,
897
00:57:27,933 --> 00:57:30,333
which they previously had been
terrified of.
898
00:57:30,433 --> 00:57:34,500
They'd stopped the armored
personnel carriers.
899
00:57:34,600 --> 00:57:36,600
They demonstrated
to their own people
900
00:57:36,700 --> 00:57:39,766
that you could resist
the Americans and win.
901
00:57:43,466 --> 00:57:45,700
LE QUAN CONG:
902
00:57:59,433 --> 00:58:03,200
NARRATOR:
In Hanoi, the Battle of Ap Bac
was seen
903
00:58:03,300 --> 00:58:07,900
by Party First Secretary Le Duan
and his Politburo allies
904
00:58:08,000 --> 00:58:10,200
as evidence
of the inherent weakness
905
00:58:10,300 --> 00:58:13,266
of the South Vietnamese regime.
906
00:58:13,366 --> 00:58:17,100
Even when faced with American
advisors and weaponry,
907
00:58:17,200 --> 00:58:20,966
the Viet Cong had learned
how to inflict heavy casualties
908
00:58:21,066 --> 00:58:24,866
on Saigon's forces,
and get away again.
909
00:58:26,366 --> 00:58:30,166
In Saigon, President Diem
claimed the ARVN were winning,
910
00:58:30,266 --> 00:58:31,500
not losing.
911
00:58:31,600 --> 00:58:34,866
Ap Bac had only been
a momentary setback.
912
00:58:34,966 --> 00:58:36,766
And he resented Americans
telling him
913
00:58:36,866 --> 00:58:40,466
how to fight his battles
or run his country.
914
00:58:40,566 --> 00:58:45,566
The president's sister-in-law,
Madame Nhu, went further.
915
00:58:45,666 --> 00:58:50,066
She denounced the Americans
as "false brothers."
916
00:58:51,533 --> 00:58:54,333
"We don't have a prayer
of staying in Vietnam,"
917
00:58:54,433 --> 00:58:58,500
President Kennedy privately told
a friend that spring.
918
00:58:58,600 --> 00:59:00,666
"These people hate us.
919
00:59:00,766 --> 00:59:04,100
"But I can't give up a piece
of territory like that
920
00:59:04,200 --> 00:59:08,700
to the communists and then get
the people to reelect me."
921
00:59:12,800 --> 00:59:15,333
(loud commotion)
922
00:59:15,433 --> 00:59:16,966
ED HERLIHY:
Buddhist monks and nuns
are joined
923
00:59:17,066 --> 00:59:18,466
by thousands of sympathizers
924
00:59:18,566 --> 00:59:20,233
to protest
the government's restrictions
925
00:59:20,333 --> 00:59:23,266
on the practice of
their religion in South Vietnam.
926
00:59:24,866 --> 00:59:28,433
SHEEHAN:
Diem began by alienating
the rural population.
927
00:59:28,533 --> 00:59:31,100
And that started the Viet Cong.
928
00:59:31,200 --> 00:59:34,033
And now he was alienating
the urban population.
929
00:59:34,133 --> 00:59:36,666
HERLIHY:
Seventy percent of the
population is Buddhist
930
00:59:36,766 --> 00:59:38,266
and the demonstrators clashed
with the police
931
00:59:38,366 --> 00:59:42,533
during the week-long series
of incidents like this.
932
00:59:42,633 --> 00:59:46,033
NARRATOR:
In the months that followed
the Battle of Ap Bac,
933
00:59:46,133 --> 00:59:50,800
South Vietnam plunged into civil
strife that had little to do
934
00:59:50,900 --> 00:59:53,700
with the Viet Cong.
935
00:59:53,800 --> 00:59:57,766
Religion and nationalism
were at its heart.
936
00:59:57,866 --> 01:00:01,600
A Catholic minority had for
years dominated the government
937
01:00:01,700 --> 01:00:04,533
of an overwhelmingly
Buddhist country.
938
01:00:06,133 --> 01:00:08,533
That spring in the city of Hue,
939
01:00:08,633 --> 01:00:11,566
Christian flags had been
flown to celebrate
940
01:00:11,666 --> 01:00:14,800
the 25th anniversary
of the ordination
941
01:00:14,900 --> 01:00:17,700
of Diem's older brother
as a Catholic bishop.
942
01:00:20,833 --> 01:00:24,166
But when the Buddhists
of the city flew their flags
943
01:00:24,266 --> 01:00:29,600
to celebrate the 2,527th
birthday of Lord Buddha,
944
01:00:29,700 --> 01:00:32,533
police tore them down.
945
01:00:32,633 --> 01:00:35,266
Protesters took to the streets.
946
01:00:37,366 --> 01:00:41,166
The Catholic deputy province
chief sent security forces
947
01:00:41,266 --> 01:00:44,066
to suppress the demonstration.
948
01:00:44,166 --> 01:00:45,733
The soldiers opened fire.
949
01:00:45,833 --> 01:00:46,733
(two gunshots)
950
01:00:46,833 --> 01:00:49,766
Eight protesters died.
951
01:00:49,866 --> 01:00:55,733
The youngest was 12;
the oldest was 20.
952
01:00:55,833 --> 01:00:59,700
The Diem regime blamed
the Viet Cong.
953
01:01:01,300 --> 01:01:05,100
Monks throughout the country
demanded an apology.
954
01:01:13,966 --> 01:01:16,266
They also called for an end
to discrimination
955
01:01:16,366 --> 01:01:18,633
by Catholic officials.
956
01:01:18,733 --> 01:01:21,900
Many Buddhists had come to see
Diem's policies
957
01:01:22,000 --> 01:01:25,266
as a direct threat
to their religious beliefs.
958
01:01:28,066 --> 01:01:31,700
DUONG VAN MAI:
My family was against
what Diem was doing.
959
01:01:31,800 --> 01:01:34,366
My mother was convinced
960
01:01:34,466 --> 01:01:38,400
that Diem was destroying
the Buddhist faith.
961
01:01:38,500 --> 01:01:42,666
She would go to the pagodas and
listen to the monks' speeches.
962
01:01:42,766 --> 01:01:46,133
And she was just
extremely upset.
963
01:01:47,500 --> 01:01:48,700
She was not alone.
964
01:01:48,800 --> 01:01:51,600
There was a lot of people
like her.
965
01:01:51,700 --> 01:01:55,633
NARRATOR:
American officials urged Diem
and his brother Nhu
966
01:01:55,733 --> 01:01:59,033
to make meaningful concessions
to the Buddhists,
967
01:01:59,133 --> 01:02:01,166
for the sake
of maintaining unity
968
01:02:01,266 --> 01:02:03,800
in the struggle
against communism.
969
01:02:03,900 --> 01:02:05,533
They refused.
970
01:02:08,066 --> 01:02:13,033
On June 10, 1963, Malcolm Browne
of the Associated Press
971
01:02:13,133 --> 01:02:16,000
received an anonymous tip:
972
01:02:16,100 --> 01:02:19,266
something important was going
to happen the next day
973
01:02:19,366 --> 01:02:22,766
at a major intersection
in Saigon.
974
01:02:22,866 --> 01:02:24,800
He took his camera.
975
01:02:32,333 --> 01:02:35,700
To protest the Diem regime's
repression,
976
01:02:35,800 --> 01:02:42,200
a 73-year-old monk named
Quang Duc set himself on fire.
977
01:02:59,800 --> 01:03:04,933
As a large, hushed crowd watched
him burn to death,
978
01:03:05,033 --> 01:03:08,466
another monk repeated
over and over again
979
01:03:08,566 --> 01:03:11,500
in English and Vietnamese,
980
01:03:11,600 --> 01:03:14,533
"A Buddhist monk becomes
a martyr.
981
01:03:14,633 --> 01:03:17,266
A Buddhist monk
becomes a martyr."
982
01:03:24,066 --> 01:03:26,933
SHEEHAN:
I remember they held the ashes
983
01:03:27,033 --> 01:03:29,533
of the monk who burned himself
to death
984
01:03:29,633 --> 01:03:32,633
where it was kept in one
of the main pagodas.
985
01:03:32,733 --> 01:03:38,833
And lines of people came to pass
by, and I saw these women,
986
01:03:38,933 --> 01:03:41,900
not rich women, ordinary
Vietnamese women,
987
01:03:42,000 --> 01:03:44,966
take off the one piece of gold
they had on, their wedding ring,
988
01:03:45,066 --> 01:03:49,966
and drop it in the bottle
to contribute to the struggle.
989
01:03:50,066 --> 01:03:53,900
And I thought to myself,
"This regime is over.
990
01:03:54,000 --> 01:03:55,066
It's the end."
991
01:03:59,166 --> 01:04:01,766
NARRATOR:
Soon other monks
would become martyrs.
992
01:04:05,033 --> 01:04:10,566
Fresh outbursts by Madame Nhu
only made things worse.
993
01:04:10,666 --> 01:04:14,133
Burning monks made her clap
her hands, she said.
994
01:04:14,233 --> 01:04:16,800
If more monks wanted
to burn themselves,
995
01:04:16,900 --> 01:04:20,000
she would provide the matches.
996
01:04:20,100 --> 01:04:21,966
The only thing they have done,
997
01:04:22,066 --> 01:04:27,766
they have barbecued
one of their monks,
998
01:04:27,866 --> 01:04:33,400
whom they have intoxicated, whom
they have abused the confidence.
999
01:04:33,500 --> 01:04:37,800
And even that barbecuing
was done
1000
01:04:37,900 --> 01:04:40,133
not even with self-sufficient
means
1001
01:04:40,233 --> 01:04:43,266
because they-they used
imported gasoline.
1002
01:04:44,966 --> 01:04:47,600
DUONG VAN MAI:
They thought she was arrogant,
1003
01:04:47,700 --> 01:04:49,166
she was power hungry.
1004
01:04:49,266 --> 01:04:52,533
They suspected her and her
husband of being corrupt.
1005
01:04:52,633 --> 01:04:58,900
Nhu ran the secret police, which
arrested and tortured people.
1006
01:04:59,000 --> 01:05:02,200
People feared the Diem regime.
1007
01:05:02,300 --> 01:05:05,866
Perhaps more than they feared
it, they really hated it.
1008
01:05:08,133 --> 01:05:10,766
NARRATOR:
Students, including
many Catholics,
1009
01:05:10,866 --> 01:05:13,333
rallied to the Buddhist cause.
1010
01:05:13,433 --> 01:05:16,633
So did some army officers.
1011
01:05:16,733 --> 01:05:21,000
People among the military
had to ask the question,
1012
01:05:21,100 --> 01:05:24,400
"Can we continue this kind
of situation like that
1013
01:05:24,500 --> 01:05:27,900
"when the whole country,
country was almost burning
1014
01:05:28,000 --> 01:05:29,633
with the kind of protest
from the Buddhists?"
1015
01:05:29,733 --> 01:05:30,666
You see?
1016
01:05:34,333 --> 01:05:38,266
ZIMMERMAN:
I first became aware of Vietnam
because of a burning monk.
1017
01:05:40,800 --> 01:05:45,600
We had watched the civil rights
movement in the South
1018
01:05:45,700 --> 01:05:48,600
and it had set the standard
for us
1019
01:05:48,700 --> 01:05:55,033
to stand up against injustice,
allow yourself to be beaten up,
1020
01:05:55,133 --> 01:05:57,433
allow yourself to be attacked
by a dog
1021
01:05:57,533 --> 01:05:59,866
or hit by a police truncheon.
1022
01:05:59,966 --> 01:06:01,833
And we had enormous respect
1023
01:06:01,933 --> 01:06:05,066
for people who were willing
to go that far.
1024
01:06:09,466 --> 01:06:12,366
And then one day in 1963,
1025
01:06:12,466 --> 01:06:16,900
we saw on television
a picture of a monk in Saigon.
1026
01:06:18,333 --> 01:06:20,466
This was an extraordinary act.
1027
01:06:22,866 --> 01:06:25,666
Why was a Buddhist monk
burning himself
1028
01:06:25,766 --> 01:06:28,500
on the streets of Saigon?
1029
01:06:31,233 --> 01:06:33,633
NARRATOR:
The protests continued.
1030
01:06:33,733 --> 01:06:38,566
Tensions between Washington
and Saigon steadily worsened.
1031
01:06:38,666 --> 01:06:42,566
The more the Kennedy
Administration demanded change,
1032
01:06:42,666 --> 01:06:46,633
the more Diem and his brother
Nhu seemed to resist.
1033
01:06:48,300 --> 01:06:51,033
The White House announced that
a new American ambassador,
1034
01:06:51,133 --> 01:06:56,266
former senator Henry Cabot
Lodge, was being sent to Saigon,
1035
01:06:56,366 --> 01:06:58,833
a man eminent enough,
the president hoped,
1036
01:06:58,933 --> 01:07:04,000
to make Diem listen more closely
to American advice.
1037
01:07:04,100 --> 01:07:07,866
Diem professed to be
unimpressed.
1038
01:07:07,966 --> 01:07:10,600
"They can send ten Lodges,"
he said,
1039
01:07:10,700 --> 01:07:14,633
"but I will not let myself
or my country be humiliated,
1040
01:07:14,733 --> 01:07:18,500
not if they train their
artillery on this palace."
1041
01:07:18,600 --> 01:07:23,166
He did promise the outgoing
ambassador, Frederick Nolting,
1042
01:07:23,266 --> 01:07:26,000
that he would take no further
repressive steps
1043
01:07:26,100 --> 01:07:27,666
against the Buddhists.
1044
01:07:29,433 --> 01:07:34,666
Then, a few minutes after
midnight on August 21, 1963,
1045
01:07:34,766 --> 01:07:38,233
with Nolting gone and
Henry Cabot Lodge's arrival
1046
01:07:38,333 --> 01:07:41,866
still one day away,
Diem cut the phone lines
1047
01:07:41,966 --> 01:07:45,300
of all the senior American
officials in Saigon
1048
01:07:45,399 --> 01:07:48,933
and sent hundreds
of his Special Forces
1049
01:07:49,033 --> 01:07:52,833
storming into Buddhist pagodas
in Saigon, Hue,
1050
01:07:52,933 --> 01:07:56,133
and several other
South Vietnamese cities.
1051
01:07:56,233 --> 01:07:59,000
Some 1,400 monks and nuns,
1052
01:07:59,100 --> 01:08:04,700
students and ordinary citizens
were rounded up and taken away.
1053
01:08:04,800 --> 01:08:08,366
(shouting)
1054
01:08:12,533 --> 01:08:16,966
Martial law was imposed,
public meetings were forbidden,
1055
01:08:17,066 --> 01:08:21,466
troops were authorized to shoot
anyone found on the streets
1056
01:08:21,566 --> 01:08:23,200
after 9:00.
1057
01:08:23,300 --> 01:08:26,600
PETER ROBERTS:
Tanks guard a pagoda in Saigon
1058
01:08:26,700 --> 01:08:29,366
during South Vietnam's
bafflingly complicated crisis
1059
01:08:29,466 --> 01:08:32,466
that has the government of
President Ngo Dinh Diem,
1060
01:08:32,566 --> 01:08:36,300
students, and Buddhists,
and the United States government
1061
01:08:36,400 --> 01:08:40,000
all trying to guess one
another's next move.
1062
01:08:40,100 --> 01:08:43,900
NARRATOR:
When college students protested
in support of the monks,
1063
01:08:44,000 --> 01:08:47,533
Diem closed Vietnam's
universities.
1064
01:08:47,633 --> 01:08:51,400
High school students
then poured into the streets.
1065
01:08:51,500 --> 01:08:54,066
He shut down
all the high schools
1066
01:08:54,166 --> 01:08:55,333
and the grammar schools, too,
1067
01:08:55,433 --> 01:08:58,666
and arrested thousands
of school children,
1068
01:08:58,766 --> 01:09:01,633
including the sons and daughters
of officials
1069
01:09:01,733 --> 01:09:03,700
in his own government.
1070
01:09:03,800 --> 01:09:06,866
PHAN QUANG TUE:
I participated
in the demonstrations.
1071
01:09:06,966 --> 01:09:13,833
I strongly believed that that
government has to be overthrown
1072
01:09:13,933 --> 01:09:16,033
because it's a dictator
government.
1073
01:09:16,133 --> 01:09:18,100
We couldn't stand it anymore
1074
01:09:18,200 --> 01:09:21,866
and this is an opportunity
to rise against it.
1075
01:09:21,966 --> 01:09:25,933
NARRATOR:
Phan Quang Tue was a law student
that summer.
1076
01:09:26,033 --> 01:09:29,933
His father was a prominent
nationalist whom Diem had jailed
1077
01:09:30,033 --> 01:09:33,266
for calling for
greater democracy.
1078
01:09:33,366 --> 01:09:36,866
PHAN QUANG TUE:
I was and I'm still a Catholic,
1079
01:09:36,966 --> 01:09:39,200
not a very good Catholic.
1080
01:09:39,300 --> 01:09:41,133
I don't practice religiously.
1081
01:09:41,233 --> 01:09:43,133
But I'm a Catholic.
1082
01:09:44,633 --> 01:09:46,066
I was rightly arrested
1083
01:09:46,166 --> 01:09:49,233
because I did participate
in demonstration.
1084
01:09:49,333 --> 01:09:52,233
And I was interrogated
1085
01:09:52,333 --> 01:09:55,400
and briefly tortured,
beaten a little bit.
1086
01:09:59,700 --> 01:10:02,500
HERLIHY:
Henry Cabot Lodge took over
as U.S. ambassador
1087
01:10:02,600 --> 01:10:04,066
in the midst of the turmoil.
1088
01:10:04,166 --> 01:10:05,500
And he has reported
to have demanded
1089
01:10:05,600 --> 01:10:07,766
that President Diem's brother
Nhu be ousted
1090
01:10:07,866 --> 01:10:10,233
or U.S. aid to Vietnam
will be cut.
1091
01:10:13,600 --> 01:10:15,500
NARRATOR:
In the wake of the pagoda raids,
1092
01:10:15,600 --> 01:10:17,966
a small group of South
Vietnamese generals
1093
01:10:18,066 --> 01:10:21,633
contacted the CIA in Saigon.
1094
01:10:21,733 --> 01:10:25,166
Diem's brother Nhu was now
largely in control
1095
01:10:25,266 --> 01:10:27,233
of the government, they said.
1096
01:10:27,333 --> 01:10:31,966
What would Washington's reaction
be if they mounted a coup?
1097
01:10:32,066 --> 01:10:35,066
President Kennedy
and his senior advisors
1098
01:10:35,166 --> 01:10:39,966
happened to be out of town,
so Roger Hilsman, Jr.,
1099
01:10:40,066 --> 01:10:43,533
assistant secretary of state
for Far Eastern affairs
1100
01:10:43,633 --> 01:10:45,933
and a critic of the Diem regime,
1101
01:10:46,033 --> 01:10:50,066
took it upon himself to draft
a cable with new instructions
1102
01:10:50,166 --> 01:10:53,000
for Ambassador Lodge.
1103
01:10:53,100 --> 01:10:56,966
The U.S. government could
no longer tolerate a situation
1104
01:10:57,066 --> 01:11:01,233
in which power lay in Nhu's
hands, it said.
1105
01:11:01,333 --> 01:11:04,566
Diem should be given a chance
to rid himself of his brother.
1106
01:11:06,000 --> 01:11:09,533
If he refused, Lodge was
to tell the generals,
1107
01:11:09,633 --> 01:11:13,133
"then we must face the
possibility that Diem himself
1108
01:11:13,233 --> 01:11:17,000
cannot be preserved."
1109
01:11:17,100 --> 01:11:20,733
The president was vacationing at
Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.
1110
01:11:20,833 --> 01:11:24,700
Undersecretary of State George
Ball read part of the cable
1111
01:11:24,800 --> 01:11:27,866
to him over the phone.
1112
01:11:27,966 --> 01:11:30,133
Since the early 1950s,
1113
01:11:30,233 --> 01:11:31,800
the United States government
had encouraged
1114
01:11:31,900 --> 01:11:38,133
and even orchestrated other Cold
War coups in Iran, Guatemala,
1115
01:11:38,233 --> 01:11:42,633
the Congo, and elsewhere.
1116
01:11:42,733 --> 01:11:46,566
Kennedy decided to approve
Hilsman's cable
1117
01:11:46,666 --> 01:11:49,800
in part because he thought
his top advisors
1118
01:11:49,900 --> 01:11:51,933
had already endorsed it.
1119
01:11:52,033 --> 01:11:54,833
They had not.
1120
01:11:54,933 --> 01:12:00,033
And somehow, because of a cable
that came out from Washington,
1121
01:12:00,133 --> 01:12:03,433
Lodge decided that the only
solution was to get rid
1122
01:12:03,533 --> 01:12:07,233
of not just Ngo Dinh Nhu,
the bad brother,
1123
01:12:07,333 --> 01:12:09,766
but also of Diem himself.
1124
01:12:09,866 --> 01:12:11,933
And that started us
on this whole business
1125
01:12:12,033 --> 01:12:14,800
of promoting a coup.
1126
01:12:14,900 --> 01:12:18,266
And it was not a good idea.
1127
01:12:18,366 --> 01:12:21,133
I just had a feeling
of impending disaster.
1128
01:12:22,333 --> 01:12:24,933
NARRATOR:
On September 2, 1963,
1129
01:12:25,033 --> 01:12:28,666
Labor Day, Walter Cronkite
of CBS News
1130
01:12:28,766 --> 01:12:31,266
interviewed President Kennedy.
1131
01:12:31,366 --> 01:12:35,366
The president used the
opportunity to deliver a message
1132
01:12:35,466 --> 01:12:37,233
to President Diem.
1133
01:12:37,333 --> 01:12:41,066
Mr. President, the only hot war
we've got running at the moment
1134
01:12:41,166 --> 01:12:43,633
is of course the one in Vietnam,
1135
01:12:43,733 --> 01:12:46,566
and we've got our difficulties
there, quite obviously.
1136
01:12:46,666 --> 01:12:51,166
I don't think that unless
a greater effort is made
1137
01:12:51,266 --> 01:12:53,133
by the government to win
popular support
1138
01:12:53,233 --> 01:12:54,600
that the war can be won
out there.
1139
01:12:54,700 --> 01:12:56,566
In the final analysis,
it's their war.
1140
01:12:56,666 --> 01:13:00,533
Hasn't every indication
from Saigon been
1141
01:13:00,633 --> 01:13:02,666
that President Diem
has no intention
1142
01:13:02,766 --> 01:13:03,666
of changing his pattern?
1143
01:13:03,766 --> 01:13:04,666
If he doesn't change it,
1144
01:13:04,766 --> 01:13:06,600
of course, that's his decision.
1145
01:13:06,700 --> 01:13:08,700
He has been there ten years
and, as I say,
1146
01:13:08,800 --> 01:13:10,066
he has carried this burden
1147
01:13:10,166 --> 01:13:11,500
when he has been counted out
on a number of occasions.
1148
01:13:11,600 --> 01:13:12,600
Our best judgment is
1149
01:13:12,700 --> 01:13:15,200
that he can't be
successful in this basis.
1150
01:13:15,300 --> 01:13:17,866
But I don't agree with those
who say we should withdraw.
1151
01:13:17,966 --> 01:13:19,133
That would be a great mistake.
1152
01:13:19,233 --> 01:13:20,500
That'd be
a great mistake.
1153
01:13:20,600 --> 01:13:22,466
I know people don't like
Americans to be engaged
1154
01:13:22,566 --> 01:13:23,566
in this kind of an effort.
1155
01:13:23,666 --> 01:13:26,033
47 Americans have been killed.
1156
01:13:26,133 --> 01:13:28,033
We're in a very
1157
01:13:28,133 --> 01:13:30,900
desperate struggle
against the communist system.
1158
01:13:31,000 --> 01:13:34,233
And I don't want Asia to pass
into the control of the Chinese.
1159
01:13:34,333 --> 01:13:36,466
Do you think that this
government still has time
1160
01:13:36,566 --> 01:13:39,000
to-to regain the support
of the people?
1161
01:13:39,100 --> 01:13:41,533
I do.
1162
01:13:41,633 --> 01:13:44,333
With changes in policy
and perhaps in personnel,
1163
01:13:44,433 --> 01:13:45,866
I think it can.
1164
01:13:45,966 --> 01:13:49,233
If it doesn't make
those changes,
1165
01:13:49,333 --> 01:13:51,533
I would think that
the chances of winning it
1166
01:13:51,633 --> 01:13:53,300
would not be very good.
1167
01:13:55,033 --> 01:13:57,833
NARRATOR:
Despite the cable,
Kennedy and his advisors
1168
01:13:57,933 --> 01:14:01,266
were sharply
divided about a coup.
1169
01:14:01,366 --> 01:14:06,633
Robert McNamara, Maxwell Taylor,
Vice President Lyndon Johnson,
1170
01:14:06,733 --> 01:14:11,066
and the head of the CIA
all cautioned against it,
1171
01:14:11,166 --> 01:14:14,566
because, while none of them
especially admired Diem,
1172
01:14:14,666 --> 01:14:19,233
they did not believe there was
any viable alternative.
1173
01:14:19,333 --> 01:14:22,300
GREGG:
Fritz Nolting was called in.
1174
01:14:22,400 --> 01:14:24,833
And he said, "As difficult
as they are to deal with,
1175
01:14:24,933 --> 01:14:29,866
"there is nobody with the guts
and sangfroid in Vietnam
1176
01:14:29,966 --> 01:14:31,666
"of Diem and his brother Nhu.
1177
01:14:31,766 --> 01:14:35,133
"And if we let them go
we will be saddled
1178
01:14:35,233 --> 01:14:39,100
by a descending cycle
of mediocre generals."
1179
01:14:39,200 --> 01:14:41,166
And he was absolutely correct.
1180
01:14:42,833 --> 01:14:45,666
NARRATOR:
But several State Department
officials believed
1181
01:14:45,766 --> 01:14:50,500
that without fresh leadership,
South Vietnam could not survive.
1182
01:14:50,600 --> 01:14:53,866
The debate intensified.
1183
01:14:55,033 --> 01:14:56,900
"My God," the president said,
1184
01:14:57,000 --> 01:15:00,333
"my administration
is coming apart."
1185
01:15:00,433 --> 01:15:03,766
In the end,
Kennedy instructed Lodge
1186
01:15:03,866 --> 01:15:06,166
to tell the renegade generals
1187
01:15:06,266 --> 01:15:08,566
that while the United States
does not wish
1188
01:15:08,666 --> 01:15:12,733
to stimulate a coup,
it would not thwart one either.
1189
01:15:14,233 --> 01:15:17,266
The generals laid their plans.
1190
01:15:17,366 --> 01:15:19,866
(gunfire)
1191
01:15:23,600 --> 01:15:29,200
On November 1, 1963,
troops loyal to the plotters
1192
01:15:29,300 --> 01:15:31,400
seized key installations
in Saigon
1193
01:15:31,500 --> 01:15:34,966
and demanded Diem and Nhu
surrender.
1194
01:15:37,500 --> 01:15:39,933
REPORTER:
The battle for the city
went on for 18 hours
1195
01:15:40,033 --> 01:15:43,266
and most of it was centered
on the presidential palace.
1196
01:15:43,366 --> 01:15:46,833
Just after 6:30 in the morning
Saturday, the shooting ceased.
1197
01:15:49,166 --> 01:15:51,033
(people cheering)
1198
01:15:55,766 --> 01:16:01,066
NARRATOR:
Diem and Nhu escaped,
took sanctuary in a church,
1199
01:16:01,166 --> 01:16:04,133
and agreed to surrender
to the rebels in exchange
1200
01:16:04,233 --> 01:16:07,966
for the promise of safe
passage out of the country.
1201
01:16:08,066 --> 01:16:11,533
They were picked up in an
armored personnel carrier...
1202
01:16:11,633 --> 01:16:13,533
(gunshot)
1203
01:16:13,633 --> 01:16:17,733
And murdered soon
after they climbed inside.
1204
01:16:17,833 --> 01:16:19,166
(gunshot)
1205
01:16:22,533 --> 01:16:25,900
Madame Nhu survived the coup.
1206
01:16:26,000 --> 01:16:29,266
She was on a goodwill tour
in the United States.
1207
01:16:34,500 --> 01:16:37,033
PHAN QUANG TUE:
The system was overthrown
on November 1.
1208
01:16:37,133 --> 01:16:39,733
I was released November 4.
1209
01:16:39,833 --> 01:16:45,933
And it was the most exciting
moment in the life of Saigon.
1210
01:16:47,766 --> 01:16:53,033
The excitement,
you could feel it in the air.
1211
01:16:53,133 --> 01:16:57,566
DUONG VAN MAI:
I was thinking that,
yeah, it's a good thing.
1212
01:16:57,666 --> 01:17:01,300
Diem was making it impossible
to win the war
1213
01:17:01,400 --> 01:17:04,866
because people were
so against him
1214
01:17:04,966 --> 01:17:09,466
that the war would be lost
if he stayed in power.
1215
01:17:11,100 --> 01:17:13,166
My father was a bit worried
1216
01:17:13,266 --> 01:17:15,366
because he didn't know
who was going to replace Diem.
1217
01:17:18,166 --> 01:17:20,700
NARRATOR:
Ambassador Lodge reported
to Washington
1218
01:17:20,800 --> 01:17:25,333
that "every Vietnamese has
a smile on his face today."
1219
01:17:25,433 --> 01:17:29,033
"The prospects are now for
a shorter war," he said,
1220
01:17:29,133 --> 01:17:32,000
"provided the generals
stay together.
1221
01:17:32,100 --> 01:17:34,833
"Certainly officers
and soldiers
1222
01:17:34,933 --> 01:17:38,033
who can pull off an operation
like this," he continued,
1223
01:17:38,133 --> 01:17:41,466
"should be able to do
very well on the battlefield
1224
01:17:41,566 --> 01:17:44,033
if their hearts are in it."
1225
01:17:46,800 --> 01:17:49,933
President Kennedy was
not so sure.
1226
01:17:50,033 --> 01:17:54,266
He was appalled that Diem
and Nhu had been killed.
1227
01:17:54,366 --> 01:17:57,966
Three days later, he dictated
his own rueful account
1228
01:17:58,066 --> 01:18:02,200
of the coup and his
concerns for the future.
1229
01:18:03,800 --> 01:18:07,600
KENNEDY:
Monday, November 4, 1963.
1230
01:18:07,700 --> 01:18:10,633
Over the weekend the
coup in Saigon took place.
1231
01:18:10,733 --> 01:18:13,500
It culminated three months
of conversation,
1232
01:18:13,600 --> 01:18:18,766
which divided the government
here and in Saigon.
1233
01:18:18,866 --> 01:18:23,966
I feel that we must bear a good
deal of responsibility for it,
1234
01:18:24,066 --> 01:18:27,000
beginning
with our cable of August
1235
01:18:27,100 --> 01:18:29,700
in which we suggested the coup.
1236
01:18:29,800 --> 01:18:32,600
I should not have given
my consent to it
1237
01:18:32,700 --> 01:18:34,966
without a roundtable conference.
1238
01:18:37,000 --> 01:18:42,366
I was shocked by the death
of Diem and Nhu.
1239
01:18:42,466 --> 01:18:46,500
The way he was killed made it
particularly abhorrent.
1240
01:18:46,600 --> 01:18:49,133
The question now is whether
the generals can stay together
1241
01:18:49,233 --> 01:18:53,000
and build a stable government or
whether public opinion in Saigon
1242
01:18:53,100 --> 01:18:56,766
will turn on this government
as repressive and undemocratic
1243
01:18:56,866 --> 01:18:58,800
in the not-too-distant future.
1244
01:19:03,833 --> 01:19:06,133
NARRATOR:
Kennedy would not live
to see the answer
1245
01:19:06,233 --> 01:19:08,733
to the question he had asked.
1246
01:19:08,833 --> 01:19:13,233
He was murdered in Dallas
18 days later.
1247
01:19:13,333 --> 01:19:18,300
There were now 16,000 American
advisors in South Vietnam.
1248
01:19:18,400 --> 01:19:23,733
Their fate and the fate of
that embattled country rested
1249
01:19:23,833 --> 01:19:29,000
with another American president,
Lyndon Baines Johnson.
1250
01:19:29,100 --> 01:19:33,066
(distorted rock music playing)
1251
01:19:46,500 --> 01:19:48,633
SHEEHAN:
We thought we were the
exceptions to history,
1252
01:19:48,733 --> 01:19:50,200
we Americans.
1253
01:19:50,300 --> 01:19:52,933
History didn't apply to us.
1254
01:19:53,033 --> 01:19:55,166
We could never fight a bad war.
1255
01:19:55,266 --> 01:19:57,133
We could never represent
the wrong cause.
1256
01:19:57,233 --> 01:19:58,366
We were Americans.
1257
01:19:59,566 --> 01:20:00,800
Well, in Vietnam it proved
1258
01:20:00,900 --> 01:20:03,400
that we were not
an exception to history.
1259
01:20:04,633 --> 01:20:06,933
(distorted rock music continues)
1260
01:20:15,900 --> 01:20:18,300
("Mean Old World"
by Sam Cooke playing)
1261
01:20:22,600 --> 01:20:31,366
♪ This is a mean old world
to live in all by yourself ♪
1262
01:20:36,100 --> 01:20:42,333
♪ This is a mean old world
to live in ♪
1263
01:20:42,433 --> 01:20:45,133
♪ All by yourself
1264
01:20:48,966 --> 01:20:56,000
♪ This is a mean world
to be alone ♪
1265
01:20:56,100 --> 01:21:02,033
♪ Without someone
to call your own ♪
1266
01:21:02,133 --> 01:21:08,133
♪ This is a mean old world
to try and live in ♪
1267
01:21:08,233 --> 01:21:10,700
♪ All by yourself
1268
01:21:14,933 --> 01:21:21,033
♪ I wish I had someone,
someone ♪
1269
01:21:21,133 --> 01:21:23,366
♪ Who'd love me true
1270
01:21:27,800 --> 01:21:38,000
♪ I wish I had someone
who loved me true ♪
1271
01:21:40,633 --> 01:21:47,000
♪ If I had someone
who loved me true ♪
1272
01:21:47,100 --> 01:21:53,600
♪ Then I know I wouldn't be
so blue ♪
1273
01:21:53,700 --> 01:22:00,266
♪ This is a mean old world
to try and live in ♪
1274
01:22:00,366 --> 01:22:02,866
♪ All by yourself
1275
01:22:05,133 --> 01:22:13,300
♪ Lord, I find myself dreaming
1276
01:22:13,400 --> 01:22:15,633
♪ I found a love
1277
01:22:19,033 --> 01:22:26,300
♪ Sometimes I find myself
dreaming ♪
1278
01:22:26,400 --> 01:22:29,700
♪ I found a love
1279
01:22:32,100 --> 01:22:40,000
♪ Sometimes I dream
I've really found a love ♪
1280
01:22:40,100 --> 01:22:46,033
♪ Someone who loved me true
as the stars above ♪
1281
01:22:46,133 --> 01:22:51,600
♪ For this is a mean old world
to try and live in ♪
1282
01:22:51,700 --> 01:22:55,900
♪ All by yourself.
105205
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