Original subtitles

The most important for me, if I were to be elected,

and as I think for any future leaders,

is, uh, to organize the stronger political life

in-- in Vietnam.

Because, uh, if we have a not stronger political life,

we cannot win the war against Communists.

When Mr. Thiệu became president, I became his chief of staff.

I was focused on how we could leverage the help of the Americans,

but also tell the Americans,

"Let's agree on a common strategy and how to execute that."

But by that time, the politics got involved.

This fella, Thiêu, um,

most of the people think--

I'm not very good at evaluating,

but most of the folks think, Westmoreland and-- and Bunker and them...

they think that Thiệu is going to be better than Kỳ.

And I've been suffering a terrific onslaught.

Our own people plucking that we ought to get out of the war,

and that they're not dependable, and that the generals are taking over,

and-- and, uh, it's been quite a problem for me in my own group.

Each side had self-declared a ceasefire

for people to celebrate Tết.

Half of the army was allowed to go home on leave for the Tết holiday.

At this time, I was very well-versed in this mission

because I was a liaison for the Deputy Commander.

The goal was eight points in Saigon.

The attack on the US Embassy was approved in the final days,

so the ninth target was the US Embassy.

All the entry points into Saigon had many checkpoints.

This was to tightly control people coming in and out.

Anyone who wanted to enter needed identification documents.

In just a short period of time,

there were several hundred fake ID cards to make.

There would be major events happening.

I had taken photos of each person.

I had a premonition

that this meeting with this person would probably be the last.

To prepare to attack the US Embassy, we gathered 15 people.

Seventeen, including a male driver and a female liaison.

If we didn't have this woman guide to lead them,

how on earth would they know how to find the US Embassy?

I don't think it's a last-gasp, uh, action.

I do think that it represents, uh, a maximum effort

in the sense of, they've poured on all of their assets...

It's-- It's largely a propaganda effort,

and a publicity effort, and I think they'll gain that way.

I imagine our people across the country this morning will-- will feel

that, uh... that, uh, they're much stronger

than they had previously anticipated they were.

And in that sense, I think they gain.

Thanks to the strong support of the US,

Huế was able to successfully push out the Communists.

Huế suffered the most during the Tết Offensive.

The fighting in Huế was the most horrific.

I don't admit that this is a Communist victory.

And I don't think anybody but a goddamn Communist admits it.

- Yeah. - That's what I think.

And I just think they're using us, just playing games around us...

And nearly everybody I talk to tries to find out

what's wrong with our boys, our country, our leadership, our men.

Our president's a liar. Westmoreland's no good.

I was born in the village of Sơn Mỹ.

I had just turned 11 years old.

I was 13 years old.

I lived with six siblings

and an older sister who had business far from home.

The US Armed Forces bombarded the village

with their artillery.

First, they started killing people walking on the road,

people going to school, people going to the market.

After that, they marched in a horizontal line

and advanced into the village.

As they entered each house, they killed everyone in it.

They consolidated people and began to kill everyone.

They captured our relatives

and led them to Mrs. Ly's ditch.

The ditch was completely full of blood and dead people.

They captured 102 people and led them to the watchtower at the village gate,

and they killed them there in Mr. Nhiều's rice paddy.

All 102 of them.

At eight o'clock in the morning, soldiers came to my family.

They sat us in the front yard and killed three cows in the barn.

They proceeded to burn our house and our barn.

They shoved the six of us, including my mother,

into an underground shelter.

In the moment, my mother sensed the Americans' intent to kill.

So, she told us, her children, to go down to the shelter first.

She would enter behind us to shield us from bullets.

Once everyone was inside, they threw in grenades to kill us all.

I fainted and blacked out.

I had my four-year-old niece, my older brother's daughter.

The bullet entered here. I still have the scar.

I picked her up, and her head was twitching as the bullet went in here.

I just laid there dazed,

and the American soldiers thought I was dead.

There were no more stray bullets.

Only after they passed me,

I was able to crawl under the body of a woman.

Sorry.

After the Americans withdrew,

relatives from another village came.

When I came to,

I saw the bodies of my mother and siblings lifted out.

We staged the parts in a basket in the yard.

We picked up flesh, arms, heads, legs.

No one was left intact.

I was very emotional and at a loss for words.

I could only cry.

At whatever time of day it was, the Americans left.

When I met my brother,

he told me he heard our father died in the ditch by the tree.

He was shot dead where the gas station is right now.

When I arrived, I carried my niece back home.

We buried her, and I notified others.

There are things that I have forgotten, but my mind will never forget that event.

The utter destruction,

annihilation, and death was horrific.

To our knowledge, no opposing force fought against them.

There wasn't a single semblance of resistance.

To me, if you say this village was Việt Cộng,

they weren't here.

If it was Việt Cộng, shoot the Việt Cộng. Why would you shoot the villagers?

And the little babies in their cribs, why were they shot?

The cows were not Việt Cộng, but they were shot.

The pigs were not Việt Cộng. Why'd they shoot the pigs?

I'm afraid the people are going to interpret this

as representing a change in strategy

and tactics and everything else...

I've got to find some alternatives to turn some of this thing around a little bit.

If we don't, uh, we're going to be in trouble,

and Vietnam is the only thing, and it's just murdered me.

He's mean, bitter,

a vicious... animal, in many ways.

He's got this other side of him in his relationship with human beings,

which make it very difficult unless you want to kiss his behind

all the time.

All of it makes Bobby look like a great hero

and makes me look like a son of a bitch,

and 95% of it is completely fabricated.