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00:00:11,850 --> 00:00:15,250
(distant helicopter blades
beating)

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00:00:15,350 --> 00:00:17,016
(radio feedback)

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00:00:19,483 --> 00:00:25,083
JOHN MUSGRAVE:
I was assigned a listening
post at Con Thien in the fall.

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00:00:25,183 --> 00:00:29,083
That was like getting
a death sentence at a trial.

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00:00:29,183 --> 00:00:31,516
Because that's just three
Marines out there with a radio.

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00:00:32,983 --> 00:00:34,616
And that's the scariest thing
I did.

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00:00:34,716 --> 00:00:37,416
You're listening for the enemy.

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00:00:37,516 --> 00:00:40,550
They call you on the radio
every hour,

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00:00:40,650 --> 00:00:41,983
"Delta, Lima, Papa,
Three, Bravo,

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00:00:42,083 --> 00:00:45,383
"Delta, Lima, Papa, Three,
Bravo, this is Delta Three.

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00:00:45,483 --> 00:00:48,550
"If your sit rep is alpha
sierra, key your handset twice.

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00:00:48,650 --> 00:00:49,916
(two blips of static)

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00:00:50,016 --> 00:00:51,616
"If your situation report
is all secure,

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00:00:51,716 --> 00:00:53,316
break squelch twice
on the handset."

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00:00:53,416 --> 00:00:55,316
(two lower-toned
blips of static)

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00:00:55,416 --> 00:00:57,416
And if it's not, they keep
thinking you're asleep

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00:00:57,516 --> 00:01:00,050
so they keep asking you, "If
your sit rep is alpha sierra,"

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00:01:00,150 --> 00:01:01,483
and then it finally
dawns on them

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00:01:01,583 --> 00:01:04,116
maybe there's somebody too close
for you to say anything.

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00:01:04,216 --> 00:01:07,150
So then they say, "If your sit
rep is negative alpha sierra,

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00:01:07,250 --> 00:01:08,616
key your handset once,"

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00:01:08,716 --> 00:01:10,583
and you damn near squeeze
the handle off the, you know,

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00:01:10,683 --> 00:01:13,816
and two on the radio
because they're so close

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00:01:13,916 --> 00:01:15,950
that you can hear them
whispering to one another.

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00:01:18,383 --> 00:01:19,783
And that's scary stuff.

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00:01:19,883 --> 00:01:21,050
That's real scary stuff.

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And I'm scared of the dark,
still.

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00:01:24,883 --> 00:01:27,716
I still got a night light.

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00:01:27,816 --> 00:01:31,016
When my kids were growing up,

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00:01:31,116 --> 00:01:34,750
that's the first time
they really found out

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00:01:34,850 --> 00:01:36,916
that Daddy'd been in a war
when they said,

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00:01:37,016 --> 00:01:39,483
"Well, why do we need to outgrow
our night lights?

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00:01:39,583 --> 00:01:40,950
Daddy's still got one."

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00:01:45,850 --> 00:01:47,816
("So What" by Miles Davis
playing)

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00:01:47,916 --> 00:01:52,016
JOHN KENNEDY:
Let the word go forth
from this time and place,

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00:01:52,116 --> 00:01:54,950
to friend and foe alike,

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00:01:55,050 --> 00:01:59,150
that the torch has been passed
to a new generation

38
00:01:59,250 --> 00:02:05,916
of Americans born in this
century, tempered by war,

39
00:02:06,016 --> 00:02:09,616
disciplined by a hard
and bitter peace,

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00:02:09,716 --> 00:02:11,083
proud of our...

41
00:02:11,183 --> 00:02:12,950
JACK TODD:
I still believed, very much,

42
00:02:13,050 --> 00:02:17,716
in this concept
of an heroic America,

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00:02:17,816 --> 00:02:20,450
America being a really
special country,

44
00:02:20,550 --> 00:02:23,716
the best country in the world,
the best democracy,

45
00:02:23,816 --> 00:02:27,750
all the things that
we believe about it, which...

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00:02:27,850 --> 00:02:29,950
and I didn't really see anything
wrong with that.

47
00:02:32,683 --> 00:02:37,183
I was sure that we were right
to be in Vietnam.

48
00:02:37,283 --> 00:02:39,416
You know, because it started
under Kennedy

49
00:02:39,516 --> 00:02:41,950
and, to me, JFK was God.

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00:02:42,050 --> 00:02:45,416
Anything that he thought was
right, I thought was right.

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00:02:47,683 --> 00:02:51,783
NARRATOR:
At 43, John Fitzgerald Kennedy
was the youngest man

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00:02:51,883 --> 00:02:55,416
ever elected president
of the United States.

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00:02:55,516 --> 00:02:57,883
He had promised bold
new leadership,

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00:02:57,983 --> 00:03:01,316
and to his supporters his
inauguration seemed to signal

55
00:03:01,416 --> 00:03:04,150
a new day.

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00:03:04,250 --> 00:03:07,183
To those new states
whom we welcome

57
00:03:07,283 --> 00:03:10,083
to the ranks of the free,

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00:03:10,183 --> 00:03:16,116
we pledge our word that one form
of colonial control

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00:03:16,216 --> 00:03:18,650
shall not have passed away

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00:03:18,750 --> 00:03:23,883
merely to be replaced
by a far more iron tyranny.

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00:03:23,983 --> 00:03:29,083
We shall not always expect to
find them supporting our view.

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00:03:29,183 --> 00:03:33,616
But we shall always hope to find
them strongly supporting

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00:03:33,716 --> 00:03:39,083
their own freedom and to
remember that, in the past,

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00:03:39,183 --> 00:03:42,550
those who foolishly
sought power

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00:03:42,650 --> 00:03:46,916
by riding the back of the tiger
ended up inside.

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00:03:50,750 --> 00:03:53,083
(cheers and applause)

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00:03:55,283 --> 00:03:57,550
NARRATOR:
The new president gathered
around him

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00:03:57,650 --> 00:04:01,450
an extraordinary set of advisors
who shared his determination

69
00:04:01,550 --> 00:04:06,550
to confront communism, including
Secretary of State Dean Rusk,

70
00:04:06,650 --> 00:04:10,383
National Security Advisor
McGeorge Bundy,

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00:04:10,483 --> 00:04:13,116
his deputy Walt Rostow,

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00:04:13,216 --> 00:04:17,583
special military advisor
General Maxwell Taylor,

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00:04:17,683 --> 00:04:21,216
and Secretary of Defense
Robert McNamara,

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00:04:21,316 --> 00:04:22,883
who had given up his post

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00:04:22,983 --> 00:04:26,916
as president of the Ford Motor
Company to serve his country.

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00:04:27,016 --> 00:04:33,016
He was a pioneer in the field
of systems analysis.

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00:04:33,116 --> 00:04:35,916
Like the president
who picked them,

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00:04:36,016 --> 00:04:40,116
all of Kennedy's men had served
during World War II.

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00:04:40,216 --> 00:04:42,450
Each had absorbed what
they all believed

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00:04:42,550 --> 00:04:44,416
was its central lesson:

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00:04:44,516 --> 00:04:48,516
ambitious dictatorships needed
to be halted in their tracks

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00:04:48,616 --> 00:04:51,783
before they constituted
a serious danger

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00:04:51,883 --> 00:04:53,916
to the peace of the world.

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00:04:54,016 --> 00:04:57,183
Meanwhile, in South Vietnam,

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00:04:57,283 --> 00:04:59,283
the National Liberation Front--

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00:04:59,383 --> 00:05:02,250
labeled by its enemies
the Viet Cong--

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00:05:02,350 --> 00:05:04,616
was determined to overthrow

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00:05:04,716 --> 00:05:07,783
the anticommunist and
increasingly autocratic

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00:05:07,883 --> 00:05:11,083
government of Ngo Dinh Diem.

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00:05:11,183 --> 00:05:15,250
In North Vietnam,
unbeknownst to Washington,

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00:05:15,350 --> 00:05:19,250
Ho Chi Minh, the father
of Vietnamese independence,

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00:05:19,350 --> 00:05:22,550
was now sharing power
with a more aggressive leader,

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00:05:22,650 --> 00:05:25,550
Le Duan, who was even
more impatient

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00:05:25,650 --> 00:05:28,050
to reunify his country.

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00:05:29,483 --> 00:05:31,116
BAO NINH:

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00:05:48,316 --> 00:05:51,816
LESLIE GELB:
None of us knew anything
about Vietnam.

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00:05:51,916 --> 00:05:56,016
Vietnam in those days was
a piece on a chessboard,

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00:05:56,116 --> 00:05:58,183
a strategic chessboard,

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00:05:58,283 --> 00:06:02,150
not a place with a culture
and a history

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00:06:02,250 --> 00:06:07,716
that we would have
an impossible time changing,

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00:06:07,816 --> 00:06:10,683
even with the mighty force
of the United States.

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00:06:10,783 --> 00:06:15,383
NARRATOR:
Over the next three years,
the United States would struggle

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00:06:15,483 --> 00:06:19,883
to understand the complicated
country it had come to save,

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00:06:19,983 --> 00:06:23,050
fail to appreciate
the enemy's resolve,

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00:06:23,150 --> 00:06:26,783
and misread how the South
Vietnamese people really felt

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00:06:26,883 --> 00:06:28,850
about their government.

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00:06:30,750 --> 00:06:32,950
The new president
would find himself caught

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00:06:33,050 --> 00:06:37,616
between the momentum of war
and the desire for peace,

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00:06:37,716 --> 00:06:40,683
between humility and hubris,

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00:06:40,783 --> 00:06:47,149
between idealism and expediency,
between the truth and a lie.

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00:06:58,783 --> 00:07:03,983
("My Country 'Tis of Thee"
playing)

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00:07:07,383 --> 00:07:10,550
KENNEDY:
And so, my fellow Americans,

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00:07:10,650 --> 00:07:15,716
ask not what your country
can do for you,

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00:07:15,816 --> 00:07:18,116
ask what you can do
for your country.

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00:07:24,950 --> 00:07:28,816
MUSGRAVE:
I grew up in Missouri,
near Kansas City,

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00:07:28,916 --> 00:07:31,983
a little community
called Fairmount.

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00:07:32,083 --> 00:07:33,516
I was born in 1948.

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00:07:33,616 --> 00:07:36,116
And there were lots of kids
being born in those days

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00:07:36,216 --> 00:07:37,750
from the guys who were lucky
enough to come home

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00:07:37,850 --> 00:07:38,816
from World War II.

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00:07:40,083 --> 00:07:43,416
My dad was a pilot
in the Army Air Corps.

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00:07:43,516 --> 00:07:46,216
And all of dad's friends

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00:07:46,316 --> 00:07:49,350
were World War II vets
or Korean vets.

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00:07:49,450 --> 00:07:52,050
And all of my male teachers
were veterans.

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00:07:52,150 --> 00:07:54,550
And even my pastor
had been a chaplain.

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00:07:56,083 --> 00:08:00,883
Well, they were my heroes,
and I wanted to be like them.

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00:08:07,916 --> 00:08:10,783
NARRATOR:
For all of John Kennedy's
soaring rhetoric,

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00:08:10,883 --> 00:08:13,450
for all the talent
he gathered around him,

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00:08:13,550 --> 00:08:16,783
the first months of his
presidency did not go well.

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00:08:16,883 --> 00:08:21,216
He approved a CIA-sponsored
invasion of Cuba

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00:08:21,316 --> 00:08:25,783
at the Bay of Pigs
that ended in disaster.

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00:08:25,883 --> 00:08:27,683
He felt he'd been bullied

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00:08:27,783 --> 00:08:30,116
by Soviet premier
Nikita Khrushchev

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00:08:30,216 --> 00:08:32,483
at a summit meeting in Vienna.

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00:08:32,583 --> 00:08:34,850
He was unable
to keep the Soviets

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00:08:34,950 --> 00:08:37,216
from building the Berlin Wall.

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00:08:37,316 --> 00:08:41,450
And in Southeast Asia,
he refused to intervene

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00:08:41,550 --> 00:08:44,683
against a communist
insurrection in Laos.

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00:08:44,783 --> 00:08:49,316
Critics accused him of being
immature, indecisive,

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00:08:49,416 --> 00:08:53,016
inadequate to the task of
combating what seemed to be

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00:08:53,116 --> 00:08:55,516
a mounting communist threat.

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00:08:55,616 --> 00:08:59,050
"There are just so many
concessions that we can make

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00:08:59,150 --> 00:09:01,550
in one year and
survive politically,"

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00:09:01,650 --> 00:09:06,316
he confided to an aide
in the spring of 1961.

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00:09:06,416 --> 00:09:11,650
In South Vietnam,
Kennedy felt he had to act.

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00:09:11,750 --> 00:09:14,416
After the president received
reports

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00:09:14,516 --> 00:09:16,983
that the Viet Cong
might be in control

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00:09:17,083 --> 00:09:21,016
of more than half the densely
populated Mekong Delta,

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00:09:21,116 --> 00:09:25,116
he dispatched General
Maxwell Taylor and Walt Rostow

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00:09:25,216 --> 00:09:27,283
to Vietnam.

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00:09:27,383 --> 00:09:31,116
They urged him to commit
American ground troops.

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00:09:31,216 --> 00:09:32,783
Kennedy refused.

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00:09:32,883 --> 00:09:36,516
It would be like taking
a first drink, he said--

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00:09:36,616 --> 00:09:39,683
the effect would soon wear off
and there would be demands

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00:09:39,783 --> 00:09:43,116
for another
and another and another.

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00:09:43,216 --> 00:09:46,583
Instead, in the midst
of a cold war,

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00:09:46,683 --> 00:09:49,850
with its constant risk
of nuclear confrontation,

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00:09:49,950 --> 00:09:53,183
the president supported
a new "flexible" way

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00:09:53,283 --> 00:09:58,750
to confront and contain
communism: limited war.

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00:09:58,850 --> 00:10:03,550
This is another type of warfare,
new in its intensity,

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00:10:03,650 --> 00:10:06,183
ancient in its origin--

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00:10:06,283 --> 00:10:11,116
war by guerrillas, subversives,
insurgents, assassins;

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00:10:11,216 --> 00:10:15,616
war by ambush
instead of by combat;

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00:10:15,716 --> 00:10:18,250
by infiltration
instead of aggression.

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00:10:19,983 --> 00:10:22,383
NARRATOR:
To fight his "limited wars,"

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00:10:22,483 --> 00:10:25,350
Kennedy hoped to use
the elite Green Berets,

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00:10:25,450 --> 00:10:28,916
special forces trained
in guerrilla warfare,

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00:10:29,016 --> 00:10:31,550
counterinsurgency.

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00:10:31,650 --> 00:10:36,350
They were meant to be dispatched
to hotspots around the world.

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00:10:36,450 --> 00:10:39,183
ROBERT RHEAULT:
Khrushchev said, "We're
not going to destroy you

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00:10:39,283 --> 00:10:40,683
with nuclear weapons,

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00:10:40,783 --> 00:10:43,816
we're going to destroy you with
wars of national liberation."

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00:10:43,916 --> 00:10:45,816
Everybody talked about
the fact

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00:10:45,916 --> 00:10:50,583
that communism was spreading
and it had to be stopped.

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00:10:50,683 --> 00:10:53,350
You went to Command and
General Staff College

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00:10:53,450 --> 00:10:56,950
and you were playing
on maps with nuclear weapons

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00:10:57,050 --> 00:10:58,650
and so forth.

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00:10:58,750 --> 00:11:03,616
And I escaped from that by
getting into Special Forces.

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00:11:03,716 --> 00:11:06,350
So that instead of planning
what we were going to do

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00:11:06,450 --> 00:11:11,383
if World War III broke out,
we were actually doing stuff.

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00:11:12,916 --> 00:11:16,350
And Vietnam was a place where
we were going to draw the line.

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00:11:18,016 --> 00:11:19,716
NARRATOR:
Kennedy sent the Green Berets

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00:11:19,816 --> 00:11:22,050
to the Central Highlands
of Vietnam

184
00:11:22,150 --> 00:11:25,716
to organize mountain tribes
to fight the Viet Cong

185
00:11:25,816 --> 00:11:30,483
and to undertake covert missions
to sabotage their supply bases

186
00:11:30,583 --> 00:11:33,583
in Laos and Cambodia.

187
00:11:33,683 --> 00:11:38,116
But Kennedy understood
that counterinsurgency alone

188
00:11:38,216 --> 00:11:39,283
would never be enough,

189
00:11:39,383 --> 00:11:42,816
so he doubled funding
for South Vietnam's army,

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00:11:42,916 --> 00:11:48,183
dispatched helicopters and APCs,
armored personnel carriers.

191
00:11:51,183 --> 00:11:54,916
Kennedy also authorized
the use of napalm

192
00:11:55,016 --> 00:11:59,450
and the spraying of defoliants
to deny cover to the Viet Cong

193
00:11:59,550 --> 00:12:03,416
and destroy the crops
that fed them.

194
00:12:03,516 --> 00:12:06,583
A whole array of chemicals
was used,

195
00:12:06,683 --> 00:12:10,050
including one named
for the color of the stripes

196
00:12:10,150 --> 00:12:16,150
on the 55-gallon drums in which
it came-- "Agent Orange."

197
00:12:16,250 --> 00:12:19,750
And the president quietly
continued to increase

198
00:12:19,850 --> 00:12:22,716
the number of American
military advisors.

199
00:12:22,816 --> 00:12:28,083
Within two years, the number
he had inherited would grow

200
00:12:28,183 --> 00:12:31,383
to 11,300,

201
00:12:31,483 --> 00:12:33,950
empowered not only to teach

202
00:12:34,050 --> 00:12:36,983
the Army of the Republic
of Vietnam-- the ARVN--

203
00:12:37,083 --> 00:12:39,050
to fight a conventional war,

204
00:12:39,150 --> 00:12:41,316
but to accompany them
into battle,

205
00:12:41,416 --> 00:12:44,850
a violation of the agreement
that had divided Vietnam

206
00:12:44,950 --> 00:12:45,916
back in 1954.

207
00:12:46,016 --> 00:12:49,583
(gunfire)

208
00:12:49,683 --> 00:12:53,650
The administration did its best
to hide from the American people

209
00:12:53,750 --> 00:12:56,083
the scale of the buildup
that was taking place

210
00:12:56,183 --> 00:12:57,950
on the other side of the world,

211
00:12:58,050 --> 00:13:00,883
fearful that the public
would not support

212
00:13:00,983 --> 00:13:07,816
the more active role advisors
had begun to play in combat.

213
00:13:07,916 --> 00:13:10,516
Mr. President, a Republican
National Committee publication

214
00:13:10,616 --> 00:13:13,916
has said that you are...
have been less than candid

215
00:13:14,016 --> 00:13:17,850
with the American people as
to how deeply we are involved

216
00:13:17,950 --> 00:13:19,750
in Vietnam.

217
00:13:19,850 --> 00:13:22,350
Could you throw
any more light on that?

218
00:13:22,450 --> 00:13:24,450
We have increased our assistance
to the government,

219
00:13:24,550 --> 00:13:26,283
its logistics.

220
00:13:26,383 --> 00:13:28,250
We have not sent combat troops
there.

221
00:13:28,350 --> 00:13:31,516
Though the training missions
that we have there

222
00:13:31,616 --> 00:13:34,383
have been instructed if
they are fired upon to...

223
00:13:34,483 --> 00:13:37,350
they are, would of course, fire
back, to protect themselves.

224
00:13:37,450 --> 00:13:39,183
But we have not sent
combat troops

225
00:13:39,283 --> 00:13:41,550
in the generally understood
sense of the word.

226
00:13:41,650 --> 00:13:47,250
So that I-I feel that we are
being as frank as the...

227
00:13:47,350 --> 00:13:48,516
as we can be.

228
00:13:48,616 --> 00:13:50,150
I think we...
what I have said to you

229
00:13:50,250 --> 00:13:53,316
is a description
of our activity there.

230
00:13:57,883 --> 00:14:01,316
NEIL SHEEHAN:
I was a child of the Cold War.

231
00:14:01,416 --> 00:14:04,883
When I got off the plane in
Saigon on a humid evening

232
00:14:04,983 --> 00:14:06,816
in April 1962,

233
00:14:06,916 --> 00:14:10,783
I really believed in all
the ideology of the Cold War.

234
00:14:10,883 --> 00:14:11,916
On...

235
00:14:12,016 --> 00:14:14,583
That if we lost South Vietnam,

236
00:14:14,683 --> 00:14:17,050
that the rest of Southeast Asia
would fall to the communists.

237
00:14:17,150 --> 00:14:20,950
There was an international
communist conspiracy.

238
00:14:21,050 --> 00:14:23,483
We believed fervently
in this stuff.

239
00:14:23,583 --> 00:14:27,450
NARRATOR:
Neil Sheehan was
a 25-year-old reporter

240
00:14:27,550 --> 00:14:30,850
for United Press International,
UPI.

241
00:14:30,950 --> 00:14:35,016
He had served three years
in the Army in Korea and Japan

242
00:14:35,116 --> 00:14:37,850
before deciding to become
a newspaperman.

243
00:14:37,950 --> 00:14:42,150
Vietnam was his first full-time
overseas assignment,

244
00:14:42,250 --> 00:14:44,083
and his only worry,
he remembered,

245
00:14:44,183 --> 00:14:46,850
was that he would get there
too late and miss out

246
00:14:46,950 --> 00:14:48,916
on the big story.

247
00:14:49,016 --> 00:14:53,150
Sheehan and other reporters rode
along as the ARVN mounted

248
00:14:53,250 --> 00:14:56,750
a series of helicopter assaults
on enemy strongholds

249
00:14:56,850 --> 00:14:59,183
in the Mekong Delta
and elsewhere

250
00:14:59,283 --> 00:15:02,716
and brought terror
to the Viet Cong.

251
00:15:02,816 --> 00:15:05,816
American pilots were
at the controls.

252
00:15:05,916 --> 00:15:10,316
SHEEHAN:
It was a crusade
and it was thrilling.

253
00:15:10,416 --> 00:15:12,916
And you'd climb aboard
the helicopters

254
00:15:13,016 --> 00:15:16,350
with the Vietnamese soldiers who
were being taken out to battle.

255
00:15:16,450 --> 00:15:18,016
And they'd take off.

256
00:15:18,116 --> 00:15:20,750
And they'd contour-fly, they'd
skim across the rice paddies

257
00:15:20,850 --> 00:15:23,016
at about three or four feet
above the paddies,

258
00:15:23,116 --> 00:15:26,983
and then pop up over the tree
lines that lined the fields.

259
00:15:27,083 --> 00:15:28,250
It was thrilling.

260
00:15:28,350 --> 00:15:29,583
I mean it was absolutely
thrilling.

261
00:15:29,683 --> 00:15:32,683
And you believed
in what was happening.

262
00:15:32,783 --> 00:15:34,850
I mean you had the sense
that we're fighting here

263
00:15:34,949 --> 00:15:38,750
and some day we'll win, and
this country will be a better,

264
00:15:38,850 --> 00:15:39,883
better country for our coming.

265
00:15:41,850 --> 00:15:44,650
NARRATOR:
The new M-113 armored
personnel carriers

266
00:15:44,750 --> 00:15:48,416
were capable of churning across
rivers and rice paddies

267
00:15:48,516 --> 00:15:50,283
and right through
the earthen dikes

268
00:15:50,383 --> 00:15:52,683
that separated one field
from the next.

269
00:15:54,116 --> 00:15:59,116
The Viet Cong had nothing
with which to stop them.

270
00:15:59,216 --> 00:16:04,950
JAMES SCANLON:
We were just overwhelming them
with force, with firepower.

271
00:16:05,050 --> 00:16:08,350
And the firefights would be over
in a pretty short time.

272
00:16:08,450 --> 00:16:11,116
MAN ON RADIO:
We have some people
running along the dikes.

273
00:16:11,216 --> 00:16:14,150
Actually, the canal
is perpendicular

274
00:16:14,250 --> 00:16:15,650
to the one you're attacking now.

275
00:16:15,750 --> 00:16:19,616
They have on black uniforms, and
I estimate approximately 3-0.

276
00:16:19,716 --> 00:16:22,283
Do you have them in sight?
Over.

277
00:16:22,383 --> 00:16:24,583
SCANLON:
That's what was causing us
to win, see.

278
00:16:24,683 --> 00:16:27,816
And we were winning
one after the other.

279
00:16:27,916 --> 00:16:31,483
And we were not meeting
a heck of a lot of resistance.

280
00:16:31,583 --> 00:16:35,316
NARRATOR:
Captain James Scanlon had been
stationed in West Germany

281
00:16:35,416 --> 00:16:38,516
and had seen for himself
the brutality with which

282
00:16:38,616 --> 00:16:41,150
the communist East Germans
dealt with anyone

283
00:16:41,250 --> 00:16:44,650
who dared try to escape
to the West.

284
00:16:44,750 --> 00:16:46,983
He was now in the Mekong Delta,

285
00:16:47,083 --> 00:16:50,050
an advisor to the 7th Division
of the ARVN,

286
00:16:50,150 --> 00:16:54,850
and had begun to see evidence
of Viet Cong brutality as well.

287
00:16:58,083 --> 00:17:01,750
SCANLON:
Those of us who talked to the
people who fled East Germany,

288
00:17:01,850 --> 00:17:05,850
we saw the need to stop
the growth of communism,

289
00:17:05,950 --> 00:17:09,350
to stop the dominoes
from being tumbled.

290
00:17:09,450 --> 00:17:11,983
That was a worthy cause.

291
00:17:13,483 --> 00:17:17,250
NARRATOR:
As the ARVN and their advisors
pursued the Viet Cong,

292
00:17:17,350 --> 00:17:19,983
the government of Ngo Dinh Diem
had launched

293
00:17:20,083 --> 00:17:24,383
an ambitious program meant to
gain control of the countryside

294
00:17:24,483 --> 00:17:27,150
by concentrating
the rural population

295
00:17:27,250 --> 00:17:29,816
into thousands of fortified
settlements,

296
00:17:29,916 --> 00:17:34,250
ringed with barbed wire
and moats and bamboo spikes

297
00:17:34,350 --> 00:17:37,016
meant to keep out the Viet Cong.

298
00:17:37,116 --> 00:17:41,450
They were called strategic
hamlets, part of the effort

299
00:17:41,550 --> 00:17:44,616
to win the hearts and minds,
and loyalty,

300
00:17:44,716 --> 00:17:46,116
of the Vietnamese people.

301
00:17:46,216 --> 00:17:50,816
The French had tried something
like it a decade before.

302
00:17:50,916 --> 00:17:54,850
They had called it pacification.

303
00:17:54,950 --> 00:17:57,516
ROBERT McNAMARA:
President Diem's strategic
hamlet program

304
00:17:57,616 --> 00:18:00,050
is making substantial progress.

305
00:18:00,150 --> 00:18:04,783
About 1,600
of the some 14,000 hamlets

306
00:18:04,883 --> 00:18:08,450
have been fortified to date.

307
00:18:08,550 --> 00:18:10,750
NARRATOR:
By the summer of 1962,

308
00:18:10,850 --> 00:18:14,183
news from South Vietnam
seemed so promising

309
00:18:14,283 --> 00:18:18,016
that Defense Secretary
Robert McNamara made sure

310
00:18:18,116 --> 00:18:21,183
the Pentagon was prepared
to implement a plan

311
00:18:21,283 --> 00:18:24,750
for a gradual withdrawal
of American advisors

312
00:18:24,850 --> 00:18:27,416
to be completed by 1965.

313
00:18:27,516 --> 00:18:31,050
So far as most Americans knew,

314
00:18:31,150 --> 00:18:33,983
the United States was achieving
its goal:

315
00:18:34,083 --> 00:18:37,350
a stable, independent,
anticommunist state

316
00:18:37,450 --> 00:18:39,550
in South Vietnam.

317
00:18:39,650 --> 00:18:44,016
It was "a struggle this country
cannot shirk,"

318
00:18:44,116 --> 00:18:45,883
<i>theNew York Tim es said,</i>

319
00:18:45,983 --> 00:18:50,383
and the United States seemed
to be winning it.

320
00:18:52,050 --> 00:18:55,916
But that same summer,
Ho Chi Minh traveled to Beijing

321
00:18:56,016 --> 00:18:59,516
in search of more help
from the Chinese.

322
00:18:59,616 --> 00:19:02,950
The American buildup in
South Vietnam had alarmed him

323
00:19:03,050 --> 00:19:05,250
and the other leaders in Hanoi.

324
00:19:05,350 --> 00:19:08,616
Ho told the Chinese
that American attacks

325
00:19:08,716 --> 00:19:14,583
on North Vietnam itself now
seemed only a matter of time.

326
00:19:14,683 --> 00:19:18,683
The Chinese promised to equip
and arm tens of thousands

327
00:19:18,783 --> 00:19:21,750
of Vietnamese soldiers.

328
00:19:21,850 --> 00:19:25,350
Meanwhile, the Politburo
in Hanoi had directed

329
00:19:25,450 --> 00:19:28,716
that every able-bodied
North Vietnamese man

330
00:19:28,816 --> 00:19:33,650
be required to serve
in the armed forces.

331
00:19:33,750 --> 00:19:36,916
("Honky Tonk Pt. 1"
by Bill Doggett playing)

332
00:19:40,616 --> 00:19:42,850
NARRATOR:
Inspired by their
president's call,

333
00:19:42,950 --> 00:19:46,150
thousands of young Americans
would join the Peace Corps

334
00:19:46,250 --> 00:19:50,083
and other organizations to help
project American ideals

335
00:19:50,183 --> 00:19:52,550
and goodwill around the world.

336
00:19:53,650 --> 00:19:59,650
("Honky Tonk Pt. 1" continues)

337
00:20:05,450 --> 00:20:10,150
RUFUS PHILLIPS:
We were not only there in
Vietnam to stop communism,

338
00:20:10,250 --> 00:20:14,083
but there had to be
something positive.

339
00:20:14,183 --> 00:20:17,416
We're trying to find out what
the Vietnamese people want

340
00:20:17,516 --> 00:20:20,116
and to help them get it.

341
00:20:20,216 --> 00:20:21,450
And that was very simple

342
00:20:21,550 --> 00:20:23,583
but, if you think about it,
also very complex.

343
00:20:23,683 --> 00:20:26,050
But it went to the heart,
I thought,

344
00:20:26,150 --> 00:20:28,516
of what we were trying to do.

345
00:20:28,616 --> 00:20:30,416
("Dirty Overalls"
by Woody Guthrie playing)

346
00:20:30,516 --> 00:20:33,750
NARRATOR:
Pete Hunting, a 22-year-old
from Oklahoma City,

347
00:20:33,850 --> 00:20:37,416
would go to Vietnam right after
college to do what he could

348
00:20:37,516 --> 00:20:40,750
to help poor villagers
in the countryside.

349
00:20:40,850 --> 00:20:43,216
WOODY GUTHRIE:
♪ I was a soldier in the fight

350
00:20:43,316 --> 00:20:45,550
♪ And I fought till we won

351
00:20:45,650 --> 00:20:49,716
♪ My uniform's
my dirty overhauls. ♪

352
00:20:49,816 --> 00:20:51,616
HUNTING (dramatized):
Dear Margo,

353
00:20:51,716 --> 00:20:54,116
I finally finished up my work
in Phan Rang last week.

354
00:20:54,216 --> 00:20:56,083
Had spent a month
working on a windmill

355
00:20:56,183 --> 00:20:58,183
I'd promised the people
of one hamlet.

356
00:20:58,283 --> 00:21:02,850
Cost a lot of money, too, which
I paid out of my own pocket.

357
00:21:02,950 --> 00:21:06,716
GUTHRIE:
♪ Well, I'll give you my sweat,
I'll give you my blood. ♪

358
00:21:06,816 --> 00:21:08,916
HUNTING (dramatized):
I'm in soaring spirits today

359
00:21:09,016 --> 00:21:12,183
despite all the natural
disasters, political intrigues,

360
00:21:12,283 --> 00:21:14,350
and subversive activities.

361
00:21:14,450 --> 00:21:16,850
NARRATOR:
Pete Hunting worked

362
00:21:16,950 --> 00:21:19,750
for the International
Voluntary Services,

363
00:21:19,850 --> 00:21:23,583
a nonprofit organization
committed to improving

364
00:21:23,683 --> 00:21:26,783
agriculture, education,
and public health.

365
00:21:26,883 --> 00:21:30,050
He was one of hundreds
of dedicated aid workers

366
00:21:30,150 --> 00:21:32,683
in South Vietnam.

367
00:21:32,783 --> 00:21:36,516
GUTHRIE:
♪ My hoe is my gun.

368
00:21:36,616 --> 00:21:38,783
HUNTING (dramatized):
Latest news on this side
of the world

369
00:21:38,883 --> 00:21:40,883
is that I'll almost definitely
be extending over here

370
00:21:40,983 --> 00:21:42,850
for another two years,

371
00:21:42,950 --> 00:21:45,083
providing the country stays
in one piece that long.

372
00:21:48,150 --> 00:21:50,283
NARRATOR:
Two years after he arrived,

373
00:21:50,383 --> 00:21:52,783
Pete Hunting was driving
in the Mekong Delta

374
00:21:52,883 --> 00:21:55,683
when he ran into
a Viet Cong ambush.

375
00:21:55,783 --> 00:21:59,250
He was shot five times
in the head...

376
00:21:59,350 --> 00:22:00,950
(gunshot)

377
00:22:01,050 --> 00:22:03,016
the first American
civilian volunteer

378
00:22:03,116 --> 00:22:05,783
to be killed in Vietnam.

379
00:22:10,416 --> 00:22:21,016
(helicopter blades beating,
voices on radio)

380
00:22:21,116 --> 00:22:26,683
(distorted sound of gunfire,
explosion)

381
00:22:34,283 --> 00:22:36,583
People used to joke in Vietnam

382
00:22:36,683 --> 00:22:38,316
about winning the hearts
and minds.

383
00:22:38,416 --> 00:22:41,950
And you hear that expression,
but that should not be a joke.

384
00:22:42,050 --> 00:22:44,150
It's a serious, serious problem.

385
00:22:44,250 --> 00:22:46,683
If you pull off
a military operation,

386
00:22:46,783 --> 00:22:50,383
and it may be successful
on the military basis,

387
00:22:50,483 --> 00:22:53,350
but you destroy a village,

388
00:22:53,450 --> 00:22:57,183
then you've created
a village of resistance.

389
00:22:57,283 --> 00:23:01,150
NARRATOR:
Few advisors understood
the unique challenges

390
00:23:01,250 --> 00:23:03,983
of fighting
an insurgency in Vietnam

391
00:23:04,083 --> 00:23:07,983
better than Lieutenant
Colonel John Paul Vann.

392
00:23:08,083 --> 00:23:10,716
A career soldier from Virginia,

393
00:23:10,816 --> 00:23:12,983
he was the senior
American advisor

394
00:23:13,083 --> 00:23:17,083
to the 7th ARVN Division
in the Mekong Delta.

395
00:23:17,183 --> 00:23:21,650
Small, wiry and abrasive,
John Paul Vann was convinced

396
00:23:21,750 --> 00:23:25,850
he knew how to defeat
the Viet Cong.

397
00:23:25,950 --> 00:23:30,483
PHILIP BRADY:
John Paul Vann was simply
the most remarkable soldier

398
00:23:30,583 --> 00:23:31,650
I ever met.

399
00:23:31,750 --> 00:23:33,616
Period.

400
00:23:33,716 --> 00:23:38,450
The biggest challenge
of John Paul Vann's life

401
00:23:38,550 --> 00:23:44,350
was somehow saving Vietnam,
winning.

402
00:23:44,450 --> 00:23:47,350
That, to him,
was the ultimate challenge.

403
00:23:47,450 --> 00:23:49,816
(explosion)

404
00:23:49,916 --> 00:23:51,483
NARRATOR:
When it became clear to Vann

405
00:23:51,583 --> 00:23:54,450
that the tactics the Americans
had taught the ARVN

406
00:23:54,550 --> 00:23:57,650
were beginning to make more
enemies than friends,

407
00:23:57,750 --> 00:24:02,416
he sought out newspapermen
to spread the word.

408
00:24:02,516 --> 00:24:06,383
NEIL SHEEHAN:
He was able to explain to us
what was going on.

409
00:24:06,483 --> 00:24:09,783
The important thing was not
to alienate the population.

410
00:24:09,883 --> 00:24:12,750
That if you got sniper fire
from a hamlet,

411
00:24:12,850 --> 00:24:15,216
you sent in riflemen
to take out the sniper.

412
00:24:15,316 --> 00:24:17,583
You didn't shell the place,
because you were going to kill

413
00:24:17,683 --> 00:24:19,983
women and kids
and destroy houses

414
00:24:20,083 --> 00:24:22,550
and you were going to turn
the population against you.

415
00:24:24,783 --> 00:24:28,050
NARRATOR:
Most press coverage
of Vietnam was upbeat

416
00:24:28,150 --> 00:24:30,816
in the tradition
of previous wars.

417
00:24:30,916 --> 00:24:35,716
But a handful of young reporters
including Neil Sheehan,

418
00:24:35,816 --> 00:24:38,283
<i>David Halberstam
of theNew York Times,</i>

419
00:24:38,383 --> 00:24:40,916
and Malcolm Browne
of the Associated Press,

420
00:24:41,016 --> 00:24:44,716
who spent time in the field
with officers like Vann,

421
00:24:44,816 --> 00:24:48,850
were beginning to see that
from the Vietnamese countryside,

422
00:24:48,950 --> 00:24:51,116
things looked very different
than they did

423
00:24:51,216 --> 00:24:55,016
from the press offices
in Washington or Saigon.

424
00:24:55,116 --> 00:24:59,283
SHEEHAN:
So it was terribly important
that we not only win the war

425
00:24:59,383 --> 00:25:02,216
but that we as reporters report
the truth

426
00:25:02,316 --> 00:25:05,150
that would help to win the war.

427
00:25:05,250 --> 00:25:08,283
We were very fervent in wanting
to report the truth

428
00:25:08,383 --> 00:25:11,450
because it was very important
to the welfare of our country

429
00:25:11,550 --> 00:25:12,950
and to the welfare of the world.

430
00:25:15,083 --> 00:25:18,516
NARRATOR:
Sheehan and his colleagues began
asking tough questions

431
00:25:18,616 --> 00:25:23,550
about what constituted progress,
what victory would look like,

432
00:25:23,650 --> 00:25:25,950
and if the people
in the countryside,

433
00:25:26,050 --> 00:25:29,650
where 80% of South Vietnam's
population lived,

434
00:25:29,750 --> 00:25:34,516
could ever trust the government
in Saigon.

435
00:25:34,616 --> 00:25:37,616
SHEEHAN:
I remember going, during one
of Robert McNamara's visits,

436
00:25:37,716 --> 00:25:40,683
out to one of these hamlets.

437
00:25:40,783 --> 00:25:42,216
The Vietnamese general
who commanded the area

438
00:25:42,316 --> 00:25:43,750
was telling McNamara what
a wonderful thing this was.

439
00:25:43,850 --> 00:25:46,350
And the-the... some of these
farmers were down

440
00:25:46,450 --> 00:25:50,083
digging a ditch around the...
around the hamlet.

441
00:25:50,183 --> 00:25:53,516
And I looked at their faces
and they were really angry.

442
00:25:55,283 --> 00:25:56,850
I mean it was very obvious to me

443
00:25:56,950 --> 00:25:59,783
that if these people could,
they'd cut our throats.

444
00:26:04,116 --> 00:26:08,083
NARRATOR:
Farmers resented being forced
to abandon their homes

445
00:26:08,183 --> 00:26:10,616
and move to strategic hamlets.

446
00:26:10,716 --> 00:26:14,783
Corrupt officials
siphoned off funds.

447
00:26:14,883 --> 00:26:17,283
And villagers blamed
the Diem regime

448
00:26:17,383 --> 00:26:21,250
for failing to protect them
from guerrilla attacks.

449
00:26:21,350 --> 00:26:26,516
As the people's anger grew, so
did the ranks of the Viet Cong.

450
00:26:26,616 --> 00:26:30,916
SHEEHAN:
It turned out that the Viet Cong
were recruiting men

451
00:26:31,016 --> 00:26:34,450
right out of those strategic...
so-called strategic hamlets.

452
00:26:34,550 --> 00:26:36,550
And then the whole program
fell apart.

453
00:26:37,750 --> 00:26:39,350
NGUYEN NGOC:

454
00:27:00,316 --> 00:27:04,183
NARRATOR:
Nguyen Ngoc's father was
a postal clerk south of Danang.

455
00:27:04,283 --> 00:27:08,750
His brothers and sisters taught
in South Vietnamese schools.

456
00:27:08,850 --> 00:27:12,516
But he joined the revolution,
and as a political officer,

457
00:27:12,616 --> 00:27:16,550
wrote poems, songs, and slogans
to inspire the people

458
00:27:16,650 --> 00:27:21,150
in the countryside
to support the Viet Cong.

459
00:27:21,250 --> 00:27:25,783
DUONG VAN MAI:
The Viet Cong cadre would come
in and talk to them

460
00:27:25,883 --> 00:27:30,650
and their message is usually
(speaking Vietnamese),

461
00:27:30,750 --> 00:27:33,250
which means "turn your grief
into action.

462
00:27:33,350 --> 00:27:35,750
"Do something about it.

463
00:27:35,850 --> 00:27:37,783
"Join us.

464
00:27:37,883 --> 00:27:39,250
"We'll fight together.

465
00:27:39,350 --> 00:27:43,750
"We'll liberate the country from
this corrupt, unjust government.

466
00:27:43,850 --> 00:27:45,750
"We'll throw out the foreigners.

467
00:27:45,850 --> 00:27:47,550
"We'll reunify the country.

468
00:27:47,650 --> 00:27:50,716
"And we'll bring in
this great regime

469
00:27:50,816 --> 00:27:52,350
"that will take care of you

470
00:27:52,450 --> 00:27:54,250
and bring economic
and social justice."

471
00:27:56,350 --> 00:27:59,450
NARRATOR:
The Viet Cong ran rival
local governments,

472
00:27:59,550 --> 00:28:03,350
complete with their own tax
collectors and school teachers,

473
00:28:03,450 --> 00:28:07,850
spies and propagandists,
and province chiefs.

474
00:28:10,450 --> 00:28:12,650
To make matters worse,

475
00:28:12,750 --> 00:28:16,483
ARVN troops and American
advisors now found themselves

476
00:28:16,583 --> 00:28:19,483
confronted by a new threat:

477
00:28:19,583 --> 00:28:22,750
battalions of well-armed
Viet Cong soldiers,

478
00:28:22,850 --> 00:28:26,016
as well as by local guerrillas.

479
00:28:26,116 --> 00:28:28,316
SHEEHAN:
We'd armed them.

480
00:28:28,416 --> 00:28:31,750
You could hear the arming
of the Viet Cong.

481
00:28:31,850 --> 00:28:35,283
Back in early '62, they only had
one machine gun per battalion.

482
00:28:35,383 --> 00:28:36,450
(single gunfire burst)

483
00:28:36,550 --> 00:28:38,016
It was sporadic fire.

484
00:28:38,116 --> 00:28:42,016
Then, as they captured more and
more of these American arms,

485
00:28:42,116 --> 00:28:43,850
when you made contact, it fi...

486
00:28:43,950 --> 00:28:46,183
it would build up into
a drumfire of automatic

487
00:28:46,283 --> 00:28:47,716
and semi-automatic weapons.

488
00:28:47,816 --> 00:28:50,716
(cacophony of gunfire bursts)

489
00:28:55,450 --> 00:28:58,550
RUFUS PHILLIPS:
Secretary McNamara decided
that he would draw up

490
00:28:58,650 --> 00:29:01,483
some kind of a chart
to determine

491
00:29:01,583 --> 00:29:04,416
whether we were winning or not.

492
00:29:04,516 --> 00:29:07,116
And he was putting things in

493
00:29:07,216 --> 00:29:09,983
like numbers of weapons
recovered,

494
00:29:10,083 --> 00:29:12,350
numbers of Viet Cong killed.

495
00:29:12,450 --> 00:29:14,850
Very statistical.

496
00:29:17,416 --> 00:29:19,816
And he asked Edward Lansdale,

497
00:29:19,916 --> 00:29:23,616
who was then in the Pentagon
as head of Special Operations,

498
00:29:23,716 --> 00:29:25,716
to come down and look at this.

499
00:29:25,816 --> 00:29:29,950
And so Lansdale did and he said,
"There's something missing."

500
00:29:30,050 --> 00:29:33,250
And McNamara said, "What?"

501
00:29:33,350 --> 00:29:36,883
And Lansdale said, "The feelings
of the Vietnamese people."

502
00:29:36,983 --> 00:29:40,816
You couldn't reduce this
to a statistic.

503
00:29:40,916 --> 00:29:45,483
NARRATOR:
Robert McNamara had vowed
to make America's military

504
00:29:45,583 --> 00:29:46,950
"cost-effective."

505
00:29:47,050 --> 00:29:50,750
He demanded that everything
be quantified.

506
00:29:50,850 --> 00:29:54,650
In Saigon,
General Paul D. Harkins,

507
00:29:54,750 --> 00:29:58,016
head of the Military Assistance
Command, Vietnam,

508
00:29:58,116 --> 00:30:01,350
known as MACV,
dutifully complied.

509
00:30:01,450 --> 00:30:06,050
He and his staff generated
mountains of daily, weekly,

510
00:30:06,150 --> 00:30:08,316
monthly, and quarterly data

511
00:30:08,416 --> 00:30:11,416
on more than a hundred
separate indicators,

512
00:30:11,516 --> 00:30:16,016
far more data than could ever be
adequately analyzed.

513
00:30:16,116 --> 00:30:19,383
(typewriter keys clacking)

514
00:30:19,483 --> 00:30:22,283
General Harkins had little use
for skeptical reporters

515
00:30:22,383 --> 00:30:23,916
like Neil Sheehan.

516
00:30:24,016 --> 00:30:26,483
Bad news was to be buried.

517
00:30:26,583 --> 00:30:30,683
Harkins ignored the alarming
after action reports

518
00:30:30,783 --> 00:30:34,350
John Paul Vann and other
officers were sending in

519
00:30:34,450 --> 00:30:36,416
from the field.

520
00:30:36,516 --> 00:30:39,483
DONALD GREGG:
I was going to be made head
of the Vietnam desk

521
00:30:39,583 --> 00:30:41,550
at CIA headquarters.

522
00:30:41,650 --> 00:30:44,883
And the first person of
importance that I met

523
00:30:44,983 --> 00:30:47,183
was General Harkins.

524
00:30:47,283 --> 00:30:49,716
And he started out by saying,

525
00:30:49,816 --> 00:30:52,583
"Mr. Gregg, I don't care what
you hear from anybody else,

526
00:30:52,683 --> 00:30:54,983
"I can tell you without a doubt
we're going to be out of here

527
00:30:55,083 --> 00:30:56,883
with a military victory
in six months."

528
00:30:58,383 --> 00:31:00,316
JAMES MOSSMAN:
The country's 12 million
peasants

529
00:31:00,416 --> 00:31:03,016
can scarcely remember
what peace was like.

530
00:31:03,116 --> 00:31:04,950
They're caught between
the predatory guerrillas

531
00:31:05,050 --> 00:31:07,550
and the almost equally
demanding soldiery.

532
00:31:07,650 --> 00:31:09,950
Their lives are lived in a state
of permanent uncertainty,

533
00:31:10,050 --> 00:31:12,650
punctuated by bouts of violence

534
00:31:12,750 --> 00:31:14,183
as government forces come
to grips

535
00:31:14,283 --> 00:31:16,516
with the black-clad
communist rebel forces

536
00:31:16,616 --> 00:31:17,950
called the Viet Cong.

537
00:31:22,683 --> 00:31:25,183
HUY DUC:

538
00:32:04,083 --> 00:32:07,450
NGUYEN NGOC:

539
00:32:49,883 --> 00:32:52,583
CAO XUAN DAI:

540
00:33:15,916 --> 00:33:20,150
On our side we were
not as committed

541
00:33:20,250 --> 00:33:22,083
and we were...

542
00:33:22,183 --> 00:33:25,416
our leaders were corrupt
and incompetent.

543
00:33:25,516 --> 00:33:30,483
And so deep down
we'll always have this fear,

544
00:33:30,583 --> 00:33:36,150
this suspicion that in the end
it'll be the communists who won.

545
00:33:36,250 --> 00:33:39,716
TOM VALLELY:
When John Kennedy assembled

546
00:33:39,816 --> 00:33:41,850
what he thinks is the best
and the brightest,

547
00:33:41,950 --> 00:33:48,116
20 years before that in
a cave in the northern part

548
00:33:48,216 --> 00:33:50,783
of Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh
also put together

549
00:33:50,883 --> 00:33:52,283
his best and the brightest.

550
00:33:52,383 --> 00:33:55,450
And these guys are at it
for a while.

551
00:33:55,550 --> 00:33:59,083
And when we show up,
they were far along

552
00:33:59,183 --> 00:34:05,050
to consolidating their victory
over this inevitable conflict

553
00:34:05,150 --> 00:34:09,683
between Ho Chi Minh
and John F. Kennedy's vision.

554
00:34:09,783 --> 00:34:14,850
The more you think about
the American strategy,

555
00:34:14,950 --> 00:34:18,550
the more you know

556
00:34:18,650 --> 00:34:21,416
that it was never going to work
out particularly well.

557
00:34:36,283 --> 00:34:41,950
RHEAULT:
I was at my top of my
game when I was in combat.

558
00:34:46,916 --> 00:34:49,983
You don't have the luxury
to indulge your fear

559
00:34:50,083 --> 00:34:52,050
because other people's lives
depend upon

560
00:34:52,150 --> 00:34:53,450
you keeping your head cold.

561
00:35:02,216 --> 00:35:05,183
You know, when something
goes wrong,

562
00:35:05,283 --> 00:35:06,583
they call it emotional numbing.

563
00:35:06,683 --> 00:35:08,950
It's not very good
in civilian life,

564
00:35:09,050 --> 00:35:11,250
but it's pretty useful
in combat.

565
00:35:22,950 --> 00:35:25,550
To be able to get absolutely
very cold

566
00:35:25,650 --> 00:35:30,816
about what needs to be done
and to stick with it.

567
00:35:36,650 --> 00:35:39,583
To me it's, it's a little bit
distressing to realize

568
00:35:39,683 --> 00:35:41,350
that I was at my best

569
00:35:41,450 --> 00:35:44,116
doing something as terrible
as war.

570
00:35:53,516 --> 00:35:56,050
MOSSMAN:
President Kennedy has staked
his reputation in Asia

571
00:35:56,150 --> 00:35:58,983
on saving South Vietnam
from communism.

572
00:35:59,083 --> 00:36:01,483
As the army makes the sweep
towards the village

573
00:36:01,583 --> 00:36:03,383
suspected of harboring
Viet Cong,

574
00:36:03,483 --> 00:36:06,583
it can't tell whether it will
meet resistance.

575
00:36:12,816 --> 00:36:15,016
The troops round up all the
young men they can find,

576
00:36:15,116 --> 00:36:18,183
since they can't tell who is
a communist just by looking.

577
00:36:20,683 --> 00:36:23,350
Those who try to run for it
are shot

578
00:36:23,450 --> 00:36:25,383
on the assumption
they have something to hide.

579
00:36:30,416 --> 00:36:34,050
TRAN NGOC CHAU (in English):

580
00:37:17,050 --> 00:37:21,916
NARRATOR:
Each of South Vietnam's
44 provinces had its own chief.

581
00:37:22,016 --> 00:37:24,816
Some were simply political
appointees,

582
00:37:24,916 --> 00:37:27,683
corrupt allies of
President Diem.

583
00:37:27,783 --> 00:37:33,416
Tran Ngoc Chau, province chief
of Kien Hoa, was different.

584
00:37:33,516 --> 00:37:38,350
A privileged judge's son from
the old imperial city of Hue,

585
00:37:38,450 --> 00:37:41,416
he and two of his brothers
had fought against the French

586
00:37:41,516 --> 00:37:42,883
with the Viet Minh.

587
00:37:42,983 --> 00:37:46,983
But he had refused to join
the Communist Party;

588
00:37:47,083 --> 00:37:50,016
he admired their dedication,
but disliked the way

589
00:37:50,116 --> 00:37:53,250
they punished those who dared
differ with them.

590
00:37:53,350 --> 00:37:56,316
Instead, he left the Viet Minh,

591
00:37:56,416 --> 00:37:59,550
became a major in the army
fighting against them,

592
00:37:59,650 --> 00:38:03,516
and eventually so impressed Diem
with his insider's knowledge

593
00:38:03,616 --> 00:38:07,450
of communist tactics that
he was promoted to colonel

594
00:38:07,550 --> 00:38:13,383
and made chief of Kien Hoa,
a Viet Cong stronghold.

595
00:38:13,483 --> 00:38:17,150
PHILLIPS:
He was absolutely incorruptible.

596
00:38:17,250 --> 00:38:22,216
And people came to really
understand that here's a guy

597
00:38:22,316 --> 00:38:25,316
who's, even though it's not
an elected system,

598
00:38:25,416 --> 00:38:28,250
who never... nevertheless
really represents us.

599
00:38:29,950 --> 00:38:31,850
NARRATOR:
"Give me a budget that equals
the cost

600
00:38:31,950 --> 00:38:36,150
of one American helicopter,"
Chau liked to say,

601
00:38:36,250 --> 00:38:38,883
"and I'll give you
a pacified province.

602
00:38:38,983 --> 00:38:43,050
"With that much money, I can
raise the standard of living

603
00:38:43,150 --> 00:38:44,650
"of the rice farmers,

604
00:38:44,750 --> 00:38:46,450
"and government officials
can be paid enough

605
00:38:46,550 --> 00:38:51,250
so they won't think it necessary
to steal."

606
00:38:51,350 --> 00:38:53,816
Rather than hunt down
the Viet Cong,

607
00:38:53,916 --> 00:38:56,583
he sought to persuade them.

608
00:38:57,950 --> 00:39:01,150
TRAN NGOC CHAU (in English):

609
00:39:47,783 --> 00:39:51,883
("Walk, Don't Run"
by the Ventures playing)

610
00:39:51,983 --> 00:39:55,583
NARRATOR:
Back home, Americans were paying
little attention

611
00:39:55,683 --> 00:39:57,850
to what was happening
in Vietnam.

612
00:39:57,950 --> 00:40:00,683
<i>They were watching
The Beverly Hillbillies</i>

613
00:40:00,783 --> 00:40:02,883
<i>andGunsm oke on TV,</i>

614
00:40:02,983 --> 00:40:05,916
were interested in whether
the Yankees would win

615
00:40:06,016 --> 00:40:07,416
the World Series again

616
00:40:07,516 --> 00:40:11,650
and in the recent death
of Marilyn Monroe.

617
00:40:11,750 --> 00:40:14,850
("Stand By Me"
by Ben E. King playing)

618
00:40:14,950 --> 00:40:17,350
But some Americans had been
growing impatient

619
00:40:17,450 --> 00:40:20,716
with the slow pace
of social change.

620
00:40:20,816 --> 00:40:22,450
BILL ZIMMERMAN:
We were told in the '50s

621
00:40:22,550 --> 00:40:25,250
that we lived in the best
country in the world.

622
00:40:25,350 --> 00:40:28,750
In the middle of, you know,
trying to figure out

623
00:40:28,850 --> 00:40:31,083
what it meant to be a citizen
of the...

624
00:40:31,183 --> 00:40:33,516
of this best country
in the world,

625
00:40:33,616 --> 00:40:35,416
suddenly the civil rights
movement exploded

626
00:40:35,516 --> 00:40:37,450
into our consciousness.

627
00:40:37,550 --> 00:40:43,683
BEN E. KING:
♪ When the night has come...

628
00:40:43,783 --> 00:40:45,616
ZIMMERMAN:
We didn't think
we had any power.

629
00:40:45,716 --> 00:40:48,850
We didn't think we could be
actors in history,

630
00:40:48,950 --> 00:40:51,550
that we could affect things.

631
00:40:53,783 --> 00:40:56,850
KING:
♪ No, I won't be afraid

632
00:40:56,950 --> 00:40:58,783
♪ Oh, I won't...

633
00:40:58,883 --> 00:41:00,616
ZIMMERMAN:
And suddenly, you know,

634
00:41:00,716 --> 00:41:02,616
these young black students
in the South

635
00:41:02,716 --> 00:41:04,316
were doing exactly that.

636
00:41:04,416 --> 00:41:07,483
And it just blew the tops
of our heads off.

637
00:41:07,583 --> 00:41:13,216
KING:
♪ So darling, darling,
stand by me ♪

638
00:41:13,316 --> 00:41:17,650
♪ Oh, stand by me

639
00:41:17,750 --> 00:41:22,916
♪ Oh, stand, stand by me

640
00:41:23,016 --> 00:41:25,783
♪ Stand by me

641
00:41:25,883 --> 00:41:28,550
♪ If the sky
that we look upon... ♪

642
00:41:28,650 --> 00:41:32,050
NARRATOR:
Other Americans were concerned
about the proliferation

643
00:41:32,150 --> 00:41:35,383
of nuclear weapons in the world.

644
00:41:35,483 --> 00:41:39,383
Perhaps it would be a good thing
to put Khrushchev and Kennedy

645
00:41:39,483 --> 00:41:43,283
on an island and not let either
one of them off

646
00:41:43,383 --> 00:41:45,650
until they came to an agreement.

647
00:41:45,750 --> 00:41:48,116
KING:
♪ Stand by me

648
00:41:48,216 --> 00:41:53,050
♪ And darling, darling,
stand by me. ♪

649
00:41:57,250 --> 00:42:00,683
(bicycle bells ring,
motors rumble)

650
00:42:08,416 --> 00:42:11,550
SHEEHAN:
And if you were in a cafe when
Diem was giving a speech,

651
00:42:11,650 --> 00:42:13,416
somebody would get up
and shut the radio off,

652
00:42:13,516 --> 00:42:15,283
it would be coming in
over the radio.

653
00:42:15,383 --> 00:42:17,683
Somebody would get up and
they'd just shut the radio off.

654
00:42:17,783 --> 00:42:21,950
I mean, he was not connected
with... to his own population.

655
00:42:24,916 --> 00:42:29,816
PHAN QUANG TUE:
Diem was simply the opposite
of what democracy was.

656
00:42:29,916 --> 00:42:33,683
South Vietnam, in the
competition against the North,

657
00:42:33,783 --> 00:42:38,850
that should been, should have
been a golden opportunity

658
00:42:38,950 --> 00:42:44,250
to have that society open
with the free press,

659
00:42:44,350 --> 00:42:46,350
free expression.

660
00:42:46,450 --> 00:42:49,183
But there was not much choice

661
00:42:49,283 --> 00:42:53,683
if the two system are
structurally dictator

662
00:42:53,783 --> 00:42:55,083
and oppressive systems--

663
00:42:55,183 --> 00:43:01,516
one under the Communist
Party, one under a family.

664
00:43:02,616 --> 00:43:05,150
CHAU (speaking English):

665
00:43:18,450 --> 00:43:22,050
NARRATOR:
Diem's brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu,
had been the architect

666
00:43:22,150 --> 00:43:24,550
of the strategic hamlet program,

667
00:43:24,650 --> 00:43:28,783
ran a personal political party
that mirrored the techniques

668
00:43:28,883 --> 00:43:31,350
and the ruthlessness
of the communists,

669
00:43:31,450 --> 00:43:35,616
and supervised a host of
internal security units

670
00:43:35,716 --> 00:43:39,850
that spied on and seized enemies
of the regime.

671
00:43:41,716 --> 00:43:43,816
Some reporters
who probed too deeply

672
00:43:43,916 --> 00:43:46,316
into what Diem and Nhu
were doing

673
00:43:46,416 --> 00:43:48,583
were ordered out of the country.

674
00:43:48,683 --> 00:43:49,616
(gunshot)

675
00:43:49,716 --> 00:43:52,116
When an American journalist
objected,

676
00:43:52,216 --> 00:43:56,283
Nhu's sharp-tongued wife told
him Vietnam had no use

677
00:43:56,383 --> 00:43:59,016
for "your crazy freedoms."

678
00:44:00,483 --> 00:44:02,350
Meanwhile,
out in the countryside,

679
00:44:02,450 --> 00:44:06,616
John Paul Vann and other
advisors had begun to notice

680
00:44:06,716 --> 00:44:10,450
that the corruption within
Diem's regime had filtered down

681
00:44:10,550 --> 00:44:12,483
to the commanders in the field.

682
00:44:12,583 --> 00:44:17,583
Troops, who had once been
willing to engage the enemy,

683
00:44:17,683 --> 00:44:21,716
now seemed strangely reluctant.

684
00:44:21,816 --> 00:44:26,616
God, I was told so many
times, "(speaking Vietnamese)."

685
00:44:26,716 --> 00:44:28,616
You know, "Scanlon,
(speaking Vietnamese)."

686
00:44:28,716 --> 00:44:29,816
Um...

687
00:44:29,916 --> 00:44:35,116
very dangerous, you know,
going out there.

688
00:44:35,216 --> 00:44:37,950
NEIL SHEEHAN:
John Vann would go out
with them at night.

689
00:44:38,050 --> 00:44:42,150
And he noticed that somebody
would always cough

690
00:44:42,250 --> 00:44:45,583
or make some other
slight noise when it turned out

691
00:44:45,683 --> 00:44:48,083
that the Viet Cong were heading
into the ambush site.

692
00:44:48,183 --> 00:44:49,916
They did not want to get
in a fight.

693
00:44:50,016 --> 00:44:53,216
NARRATOR:
South Vietnamese officers
were chosen

694
00:44:53,316 --> 00:44:56,783
less for their combat skill
than for their loyalty

695
00:44:56,883 --> 00:45:00,850
to President Diem,
and their men knew it.

696
00:45:02,150 --> 00:45:03,483
RHEAULT:
What we should've done is

697
00:45:03,583 --> 00:45:08,150
either forced the Vietnamese--
I mean really forced them--

698
00:45:08,250 --> 00:45:10,350
to clean up their act.

699
00:45:10,450 --> 00:45:12,483
And if they wouldn't clean up
their act to say,

700
00:45:12,583 --> 00:45:14,983
"We're out of here.

701
00:45:15,083 --> 00:45:17,883
"Because we don't bet
on losing horses.

702
00:45:17,983 --> 00:45:20,383
"This is a losing horse.

703
00:45:20,483 --> 00:45:22,750
You are not going to win
this insurgency."

704
00:45:22,850 --> 00:45:25,583
We, as Americans, should have
understood the desire

705
00:45:25,683 --> 00:45:29,150
of the Vietnamese people
to have their own country.

706
00:45:29,250 --> 00:45:32,250
I mean we did the same thing
to the Brits.

707
00:45:37,883 --> 00:45:42,716
NARRATOR:
In October of 1962, the United
States and the Soviet Union

708
00:45:42,816 --> 00:45:45,583
came closer than they would ever
come again

709
00:45:45,683 --> 00:45:48,350
to mutually assured destruction.

710
00:45:48,450 --> 00:45:51,450
Good evening,
my fellow citizens.

711
00:45:51,550 --> 00:45:55,516
This government,
as promised, has maintained

712
00:45:55,616 --> 00:45:59,450
the closest surveillance of
the Soviet military buildup

713
00:45:59,550 --> 00:46:01,350
on the island of Cuba.

714
00:46:02,350 --> 00:46:04,383
Within the past week,

715
00:46:04,483 --> 00:46:07,783
unmistakable evidence
has established the fact

716
00:46:07,883 --> 00:46:11,283
that a series of offensive
missile sites

717
00:46:11,383 --> 00:46:16,416
is now in preparation
on that imprisoned island.

718
00:46:16,516 --> 00:46:19,716
NARRATOR:
The Soviets had secretly placed
nuclear missiles

719
00:46:19,816 --> 00:46:22,850
90 miles
from the United States.

720
00:46:22,950 --> 00:46:27,850
The Joint Chiefs of Staff urged
President Kennedy to bomb Cuba.

721
00:46:27,950 --> 00:46:32,083
He resisted and instead ordered
a naval blockade

722
00:46:32,183 --> 00:46:36,583
to stop Soviet ships
from resupplying the island.

723
00:46:38,150 --> 00:46:43,550
For 13 excruciating days,
the world held its breath.

724
00:46:46,950 --> 00:46:50,183
Finally, in exchange
for a private pledge

725
00:46:50,283 --> 00:46:52,983
to remove American missiles
from Turkey,

726
00:46:53,083 --> 00:46:56,683
Khrushchev agreed to remove
his missiles from Cuba.

727
00:46:59,516 --> 00:47:02,516
Neither the United States
nor the Soviet Union

728
00:47:02,616 --> 00:47:06,650
wanted so direct
a confrontation ever again.

729
00:47:06,750 --> 00:47:09,150
From now on, limited wars,

730
00:47:09,250 --> 00:47:11,750
like the growing conflict
in Vietnam,

731
00:47:11,850 --> 00:47:15,350
would assume
still greater importance.

732
00:47:18,650 --> 00:47:23,150
MUSGRAVE:
I'd grown up in the shadow
of the mushroom cloud.

733
00:47:23,250 --> 00:47:27,283
And I remember the...
watching President Kennedy speak

734
00:47:27,383 --> 00:47:28,950
during the Cuban Missile Crisis

735
00:47:29,050 --> 00:47:31,250
and wondering if I was
ever gonna kiss a girl.

736
00:47:31,350 --> 00:47:34,216
And so this was just continuing
that battle

737
00:47:34,316 --> 00:47:36,083
against the Russians.

738
00:47:36,183 --> 00:47:39,716
Only we were fighting,
you know, their, their proxies,

739
00:47:39,816 --> 00:47:43,250
the Vietnamese there--
but it was monolithic communism.

740
00:47:44,616 --> 00:47:47,483
It didn't matter to me
where it was, I was going to go

741
00:47:47,583 --> 00:47:51,650
if my government said
we needed to be there.

742
00:47:51,750 --> 00:47:54,683
We were probably the last kids
of any generation

743
00:47:54,783 --> 00:47:56,016
that actually believed

744
00:47:56,116 --> 00:47:57,850
our government
would never lie to us.

745
00:48:03,183 --> 00:48:05,483
SHEEHAN:
We had been writing stories
about all the flaws

746
00:48:05,583 --> 00:48:08,416
on the Saigon side--
about how they wouldn't fight,

747
00:48:08,516 --> 00:48:11,250
about the corruption,
they wouldn't obey orders,

748
00:48:11,350 --> 00:48:12,883
the disorganization.

749
00:48:14,816 --> 00:48:19,350
And then all of a sudden the
Viet Cong, for the first time,

750
00:48:19,450 --> 00:48:20,816
the "raggedy-ass
little bastards"

751
00:48:20,916 --> 00:48:23,716
as the Harkins's people
in Saigon called them,

752
00:48:23,816 --> 00:48:25,350
stood and fought.

753
00:48:25,450 --> 00:48:27,716
And suddenly all the flaws
on the Saigon side

754
00:48:27,816 --> 00:48:30,116
were illuminated by this.

755
00:48:30,216 --> 00:48:33,416
Like a star shell, it
illuminated the battlefield.

756
00:48:33,516 --> 00:48:34,983
Everything came out.

757
00:48:36,250 --> 00:48:39,550
NARRATOR:
A few days after Christmas 1962,

758
00:48:39,650 --> 00:48:43,116
the 7th ARVN Division got
orders to capture

759
00:48:43,216 --> 00:48:45,316
a Viet Cong radio transmitter

760
00:48:45,416 --> 00:48:50,050
broadcasting from a spot some
40 miles southwest of Saigon

761
00:48:50,150 --> 00:48:53,116
in a village called Tan Thoi.

762
00:48:53,216 --> 00:48:55,950
The village was surrounded
by rice paddies.

763
00:48:56,050 --> 00:49:02,050
An irrigation dike linked it to
a neighboring hamlet-- Ap Bac.

764
00:49:02,150 --> 00:49:06,483
Intelligence suggested
no more than 120 guerrillas

765
00:49:06,583 --> 00:49:08,916
were guarding the transmitter.

766
00:49:09,016 --> 00:49:12,350
John Paul Vann helped draw up
what seemed to be

767
00:49:12,450 --> 00:49:14,883
a foolproof plan of attack.

768
00:49:14,983 --> 00:49:19,216
Supported by helicopters and
armored personnel carriers,

769
00:49:19,316 --> 00:49:23,183
some 1,200 South Vietnamese
troops would attack the village

770
00:49:23,283 --> 00:49:25,116
from three sides.

771
00:49:25,216 --> 00:49:28,083
When the surviving Viet Cong
tried to flee through the gap

772
00:49:28,183 --> 00:49:32,116
left open for them, as they
always had whenever outnumbered

773
00:49:32,216 --> 00:49:34,416
and confronted
by modern weapons,

774
00:49:34,516 --> 00:49:38,016
artillery and airstrikes
would destroy them.

775
00:49:38,116 --> 00:49:42,583
Vann would observe the fighting
from a spotter plane.

776
00:49:42,683 --> 00:49:48,283
But the intelligence underlying
it all turned out to be wrong.

777
00:49:48,383 --> 00:49:53,916
There were more than 340 Viet
Cong, not 120, in the area.

778
00:49:54,016 --> 00:49:56,950
Communist spies
had tipped them off

779
00:49:57,050 --> 00:49:59,150
that they were soon to be
attacked.

780
00:49:59,250 --> 00:50:03,316
And this time they would not
flee without a fight.

781
00:50:05,783 --> 00:50:08,516
Among them was Le Quan Cong,

782
00:50:08,616 --> 00:50:13,050
who had been a guerrilla fighter
since 1951, when he was 12.

783
00:50:27,516 --> 00:50:32,583
NARRATOR:
At 6:35 in the morning
on January 2, 1963,

784
00:50:32,683 --> 00:50:35,983
ten American helicopters ferried
an ARVN company

785
00:50:36,083 --> 00:50:39,450
to a spot just north
of Tan Thoi.

786
00:50:42,350 --> 00:50:45,350
They met no resistance.

787
00:50:45,450 --> 00:50:49,016
Meanwhile, two South Vietnamese
Civil Guard battalions

788
00:50:49,116 --> 00:50:52,416
approached Ap Bac
from the South on foot.

789
00:50:55,416 --> 00:50:59,083
The Viet Cong commander let the
Civil Guards get within 100 feet

790
00:50:59,183 --> 00:51:01,750
before giving the order to fire.

791
00:51:04,250 --> 00:51:07,016
Several South Vietnamese
soldiers were killed.

792
00:51:10,983 --> 00:51:14,050
Survivors hid behind a dike.

793
00:51:14,150 --> 00:51:16,883
(gunfire)

794
00:51:16,983 --> 00:51:18,816
Ten more helicopters,

795
00:51:18,916 --> 00:51:22,616
filled with troops and escorted
by five helicopter gunships,

796
00:51:22,716 --> 00:51:23,983
roared in to help.

797
00:51:25,516 --> 00:51:27,483
LE QUAN CONG:

798
00:51:50,816 --> 00:51:55,116
NARRATOR:
Viet Cong machine guns hit
14 of the 15 aircraft.

799
00:51:55,216 --> 00:52:00,583
Five would be destroyed, killing
and wounding American crewmen.

800
00:52:02,050 --> 00:52:04,216
LE QUAN CONG:

801
00:52:10,283 --> 00:52:12,650
NARRATOR:
The enemy concentrated
their fire on the ARVN

802
00:52:12,750 --> 00:52:15,816
struggling to get out
of the downed helicopters.

803
00:52:15,916 --> 00:52:18,883
"It was like shooting ducks
for the Viet Cong,"

804
00:52:18,983 --> 00:52:20,916
an American crewman remembered.

805
00:52:23,250 --> 00:52:26,250
Colonel Vann circled
helplessly overhead.

806
00:52:26,350 --> 00:52:28,750
He radioed the ARVN commander,

807
00:52:28,850 --> 00:52:32,950
urging him to send an APC unit
to rescue the men.

808
00:52:34,283 --> 00:52:36,850
SCANLON:
I got the word from John Vann

809
00:52:36,950 --> 00:52:39,750
that American helicopters
were down.

810
00:52:39,850 --> 00:52:42,216
They were right in front
of the Viet Cong positions.

811
00:52:42,316 --> 00:52:45,616
We had Americans killed
and wounded

812
00:52:45,716 --> 00:52:47,783
and we had to get over there
right away.

813
00:52:47,883 --> 00:52:51,783
NARRATOR:
Like Vann, Captain Scanlon
was only an advisor.

814
00:52:51,883 --> 00:52:55,316
Captain Ly Tong Ba,
his ARVN counterpart,

815
00:52:55,416 --> 00:52:58,116
would have to give the order
to advance.

816
00:52:58,216 --> 00:53:01,450
Scanlon liked and admired him.

817
00:53:01,550 --> 00:53:03,983
SCANLON:
I turned to Ba and said,

818
00:53:04,083 --> 00:53:06,750
"Hey, you know, you got to get
over there right away."

819
00:53:06,850 --> 00:53:11,350
And Ba said to me,
"I'm not going."

820
00:53:11,450 --> 00:53:14,816
NARRATOR:
Ba's superiors within the ARVN,
far from the battlefield,

821
00:53:14,916 --> 00:53:17,983
had told him to stay put.

822
00:53:18,083 --> 00:53:22,016
And John Vann, my boss, was,
uh, screaming at me over the...

823
00:53:22,116 --> 00:53:25,416
over the radio to get them
over there.

824
00:53:25,516 --> 00:53:29,850
NARRATOR:
It took Scanlon an hour
to convince Captain Ba to move.

825
00:53:29,950 --> 00:53:32,350
Another two hours were lost

826
00:53:32,450 --> 00:53:35,450
before the APCs could make
their way through the paddies

827
00:53:35,550 --> 00:53:37,750
toward the trapped men.

828
00:53:39,716 --> 00:53:41,983
The firing had died down.

829
00:53:42,083 --> 00:53:43,983
SCANLON:
Everything was quiet.

830
00:53:44,083 --> 00:53:46,783
You could see the open
expanse of rice fields.

831
00:53:46,883 --> 00:53:50,183
And my reaction was,
hey, it was all over.

832
00:53:50,283 --> 00:53:53,483
NARRATOR:
The first two APCs
dropped their ramps.

833
00:53:53,583 --> 00:53:55,950
Infantry squads stepped out,

834
00:53:56,050 --> 00:53:59,016
prepared to spray the tree line
with automatic fire

835
00:53:59,116 --> 00:54:00,316
as they advanced.

836
00:54:00,416 --> 00:54:03,116
In the past,
that had been enough

837
00:54:03,216 --> 00:54:06,550
to make the Viet Cong
scurry away.

838
00:54:06,650 --> 00:54:08,916
This time was different.

839
00:54:12,616 --> 00:54:14,616
Eight of the APCs
came under attack.

840
00:54:14,716 --> 00:54:18,083
Within minutes, six of their
gunners had been killed,

841
00:54:18,183 --> 00:54:19,416
shot through the head.

842
00:54:20,816 --> 00:54:22,916
SCANLON:
And boy, we got raked.

843
00:54:23,016 --> 00:54:24,750
So it was like a pool table.

844
00:54:24,850 --> 00:54:26,216
We were on the green

845
00:54:26,316 --> 00:54:28,550
and they were in the pockets
shooting at us.

846
00:54:28,650 --> 00:54:31,416
NARRATOR:
When Captain Ba managed
to convince

847
00:54:31,516 --> 00:54:34,083
a few more APCs to advance,

848
00:54:34,183 --> 00:54:37,150
guerrillas leapt
from their foxholes

849
00:54:37,250 --> 00:54:39,283
and hurled hand grenades
at them.

850
00:54:44,283 --> 00:54:46,683
None did any real damage,

851
00:54:46,783 --> 00:54:50,350
but the drivers were so
demoralized that they halted,

852
00:54:50,450 --> 00:54:55,383
turned around, and withdrew
behind the wrecked helicopters.

853
00:54:55,483 --> 00:54:57,383
From his spotter plane,

854
00:54:57,483 --> 00:55:01,616
Vann begged the ARVN to make
a simultaneous assault

855
00:55:01,716 --> 00:55:05,083
on the enemy by all the
remaining ground forces.

856
00:55:06,216 --> 00:55:09,216
ARVN commanders refused.

857
00:55:11,616 --> 00:55:14,583
That night,
the Viet Cong melted away,

858
00:55:14,683 --> 00:55:18,083
carrying most of their dead
and wounded with them.

859
00:55:20,216 --> 00:55:24,283
At least 80 South Vietnamese
soldiers had been killed.

860
00:55:24,383 --> 00:55:29,750
So had three American advisors,
including Captain Ken Good,

861
00:55:29,850 --> 00:55:30,983
a friend of Scanlon's.

862
00:55:34,883 --> 00:55:38,783
SCANLON:
We stacked the armored personnel
carriers with bodies,

863
00:55:38,883 --> 00:55:40,583
stacked them up on top
till they...

864
00:55:40,683 --> 00:55:42,516
we couldn't stack anymore.

865
00:55:42,616 --> 00:55:48,716
And, um, I wouldn't let the
Vietnamese touch the Americans.

866
00:55:48,816 --> 00:55:51,583
So I carried Americans out.

867
00:55:51,683 --> 00:55:53,950
And, um...

868
00:55:54,050 --> 00:55:56,250
And I was... I was exhausted.

869
00:55:56,350 --> 00:56:02,216
They told me about
Ken Good getting killed.

870
00:56:02,316 --> 00:56:06,550
And Ken and I had worked so hard
with our two battalions.

871
00:56:06,650 --> 00:56:12,450
And to hear that...
he got killed hurt.

872
00:56:12,550 --> 00:56:14,183
(voice breaking):
Great guy.

873
00:56:15,616 --> 00:56:17,816
NARRATOR:
Reporters arrived from Saigon

874
00:56:17,916 --> 00:56:21,850
before all of the ARVN dead
could be removed.

875
00:56:21,950 --> 00:56:26,150
They were horrified at what they
saw and tried to find out

876
00:56:26,250 --> 00:56:28,916
what had really happened.

877
00:56:29,016 --> 00:56:33,450
John Paul Vann took Neil Sheehan
and David Halberstam aside

878
00:56:33,550 --> 00:56:35,483
and told them.

879
00:56:35,583 --> 00:56:37,350
The Battle of Ap Bac had been

880
00:56:37,450 --> 00:56:40,183
"a miserable goddamn
performance."

881
00:56:40,283 --> 00:56:42,416
"The ARVN won't listen,"
he said.

882
00:56:42,516 --> 00:56:45,450
"They make the same mistakes
over and over again

883
00:56:45,550 --> 00:56:47,583
in the same way."

884
00:56:49,250 --> 00:56:50,750
But back in Saigon,

885
00:56:50,850 --> 00:56:54,550
General Harkins immediately
declared victory.

886
00:56:54,650 --> 00:56:57,650
"The ARVN forces had
an objective," he said.

887
00:56:57,750 --> 00:56:59,183
"We took that objective.

888
00:56:59,283 --> 00:57:02,783
"The VC left and their
casualties were greater

889
00:57:02,883 --> 00:57:05,450
"than those of
the government forces.

890
00:57:05,550 --> 00:57:07,183
What more do you want?"

891
00:57:08,650 --> 00:57:10,983
When Halberstam and Sheehan
reported

892
00:57:11,083 --> 00:57:13,983
that Ap Bac had in fact
been a defeat,

893
00:57:14,083 --> 00:57:18,150
the U.S. Commander
in the Pacific denied it all

894
00:57:18,250 --> 00:57:23,783
and urged the reporters
to "get on the team."

895
00:57:23,883 --> 00:57:25,916
SHEEHAN:
Ap Bac was terribly important.

896
00:57:26,016 --> 00:57:28,183
They had shot down five
helicopters,

897
00:57:28,283 --> 00:57:30,683
which they previously had been
terrified of.

898
00:57:30,783 --> 00:57:34,850
They'd stopped the armored
personnel carriers.

899
00:57:34,950 --> 00:57:36,950
They demonstrated
to their own people

900
00:57:37,050 --> 00:57:40,116
that you could resist
the Americans and win.

901
00:57:43,816 --> 00:57:46,050
LE QUAN CONG:

902
00:57:59,783 --> 00:58:03,550
NARRATOR:
In Hanoi, the Battle of Ap Bac
was seen

903
00:58:03,650 --> 00:58:08,250
by Party First Secretary Le Duan
and his Politburo allies

904
00:58:08,350 --> 00:58:10,550
as evidence
of the inherent weakness

905
00:58:10,650 --> 00:58:13,616
of the South Vietnamese regime.

906
00:58:13,716 --> 00:58:17,450
Even when faced with American
advisors and weaponry,

907
00:58:17,550 --> 00:58:21,316
the Viet Cong had learned
how to inflict heavy casualties

908
00:58:21,416 --> 00:58:25,216
on Saigon's forces,
and get away again.

909
00:58:26,716 --> 00:58:30,516
In Saigon, President Diem
claimed the ARVN were winning,

910
00:58:30,616 --> 00:58:31,850
not losing.

911
00:58:31,950 --> 00:58:35,216
Ap Bac had only been
a momentary setback.

912
00:58:35,316 --> 00:58:37,116
And he resented Americans
telling him

913
00:58:37,216 --> 00:58:40,816
how to fight his battles
or run his country.

914
00:58:40,916 --> 00:58:45,916
The president's sister-in-law,
Madame Nhu, went further.

915
00:58:46,016 --> 00:58:50,416
She denounced the Americans
as "false brothers."

916
00:58:51,883 --> 00:58:54,683
"We don't have a prayer
of staying in Vietnam,"

917
00:58:54,783 --> 00:58:58,850
President Kennedy privately told
a friend that spring.

918
00:58:58,950 --> 00:59:01,016
"These people hate us.

919
00:59:01,116 --> 00:59:04,450
"But I can't give up a piece
of territory like that

920
00:59:04,550 --> 00:59:09,050
to the communists and then get
the people to reelect me."

921
00:59:13,150 --> 00:59:15,683
(loud commotion)

922
00:59:15,783 --> 00:59:17,316
ED HERLIHY:
Buddhist monks and nuns
are joined

923
00:59:17,416 --> 00:59:18,816
by thousands of sympathizers

924
00:59:18,916 --> 00:59:20,583
to protest
the government's restrictions

925
00:59:20,683 --> 00:59:23,616
on the practice of
their religion in South Vietnam.

926
00:59:25,216 --> 00:59:28,783
SHEEHAN:
Diem began by alienating
the rural population.

927
00:59:28,883 --> 00:59:31,450
And that started the Viet Cong.

928
00:59:31,550 --> 00:59:34,383
And now he was alienating
the urban population.

929
00:59:34,483 --> 00:59:37,016
HERLIHY:
Seventy percent of the
population is Buddhist

930
00:59:37,116 --> 00:59:38,616
and the demonstrators clashed
with the police

931
00:59:38,716 --> 00:59:42,883
during the week-long series
of incidents like this.

932
00:59:42,983 --> 00:59:46,383
NARRATOR:
In the months that followed
the Battle of Ap Bac,

933
00:59:46,483 --> 00:59:51,150
South Vietnam plunged into civil
strife that had little to do

934
00:59:51,250 --> 00:59:54,050
with the Viet Cong.

935
00:59:54,150 --> 00:59:58,116
Religion and nationalism
were at its heart.

936
00:59:58,216 --> 01:00:01,950
A Catholic minority had for
years dominated the government

937
01:00:02,050 --> 01:00:04,883
of an overwhelmingly
Buddhist country.

938
01:00:06,483 --> 01:00:08,883
That spring in the city of Hue,

939
01:00:08,983 --> 01:00:11,916
Christian flags had been
flown to celebrate

940
01:00:12,016 --> 01:00:15,150
the 25th anniversary
of the ordination

941
01:00:15,250 --> 01:00:18,050
of Diem's older brother
as a Catholic bishop.

942
01:00:21,183 --> 01:00:24,516
But when the Buddhists
of the city flew their flags

943
01:00:24,616 --> 01:00:29,950
to celebrate the 2,527th
birthday of Lord Buddha,

944
01:00:30,050 --> 01:00:32,883
police tore them down.

945
01:00:32,983 --> 01:00:35,616
Protesters took to the streets.

946
01:00:37,716 --> 01:00:41,516
The Catholic deputy province
chief sent security forces

947
01:00:41,616 --> 01:00:44,416
to suppress the demonstration.

948
01:00:44,516 --> 01:00:46,083
The soldiers opened fire.

949
01:00:46,183 --> 01:00:47,083
(two gunshots)

950
01:00:47,183 --> 01:00:50,116
Eight protesters died.

951
01:00:50,216 --> 01:00:56,083
The youngest was 12;
the oldest was 20.

952
01:00:56,183 --> 01:01:00,050
The Diem regime blamed
the Viet Cong.

953
01:01:01,650 --> 01:01:05,450
Monks throughout the country
demanded an apology.

954
01:01:14,316 --> 01:01:16,616
They also called for an end
to discrimination

955
01:01:16,716 --> 01:01:18,983
by Catholic officials.

956
01:01:19,083 --> 01:01:22,250
Many Buddhists had come to see
Diem's policies

957
01:01:22,350 --> 01:01:25,616
as a direct threat
to their religious beliefs.

958
01:01:28,416 --> 01:01:32,050
DUONG VAN MAI:
My family was against
what Diem was doing.

959
01:01:32,150 --> 01:01:34,716
My mother was convinced

960
01:01:34,816 --> 01:01:38,750
that Diem was destroying
the Buddhist faith.

961
01:01:38,850 --> 01:01:43,016
She would go to the pagodas and
listen to the monks' speeches.

962
01:01:43,116 --> 01:01:46,483
And she was just
extremely upset.

963
01:01:47,850 --> 01:01:49,050
She was not alone.

964
01:01:49,150 --> 01:01:51,950
There was a lot of people
like her.

965
01:01:52,050 --> 01:01:55,983
NARRATOR:
American officials urged Diem
and his brother Nhu

966
01:01:56,083 --> 01:01:59,383
to make meaningful concessions
to the Buddhists,

967
01:01:59,483 --> 01:02:01,516
for the sake
of maintaining unity

968
01:02:01,616 --> 01:02:04,150
in the struggle
against communism.

969
01:02:04,250 --> 01:02:05,883
They refused.

970
01:02:08,416 --> 01:02:13,383
On June 10, 1963, Malcolm Browne
of the Associated Press

971
01:02:13,483 --> 01:02:16,350
received an anonymous tip:

972
01:02:16,450 --> 01:02:19,616
something important was going
to happen the next day

973
01:02:19,716 --> 01:02:23,116
at a major intersection
in Saigon.

974
01:02:23,216 --> 01:02:25,150
He took his camera.

975
01:02:32,683 --> 01:02:36,050
To protest the Diem regime's
repression,

976
01:02:36,150 --> 01:02:42,550
a 73-year-old monk named
Quang Duc set himself on fire.

977
01:03:00,150 --> 01:03:05,283
As a large, hushed crowd watched
him burn to death,

978
01:03:05,383 --> 01:03:08,816
another monk repeated
over and over again

979
01:03:08,916 --> 01:03:11,850
in English and Vietnamese,

980
01:03:11,950 --> 01:03:14,883
"A Buddhist monk becomes
a martyr.

981
01:03:14,983 --> 01:03:17,616
A Buddhist monk
becomes a martyr."

982
01:03:24,416 --> 01:03:27,283
SHEEHAN:
I remember they held the ashes

983
01:03:27,383 --> 01:03:29,883
of the monk who burned himself
to death

984
01:03:29,983 --> 01:03:32,983
where it was kept in one
of the main pagodas.

985
01:03:33,083 --> 01:03:39,183
And lines of people came to pass
by, and I saw these women,

986
01:03:39,283 --> 01:03:42,250
not rich women, ordinary
Vietnamese women,

987
01:03:42,350 --> 01:03:45,316
take off the one piece of gold
they had on, their wedding ring,

988
01:03:45,416 --> 01:03:50,316
and drop it in the bottle
to contribute to the struggle.

989
01:03:50,416 --> 01:03:54,250
And I thought to myself,
"This regime is over.

990
01:03:54,350 --> 01:03:55,416
It's the end."

991
01:03:59,516 --> 01:04:02,116
NARRATOR:
Soon other monks
would become martyrs.

992
01:04:05,383 --> 01:04:10,916
Fresh outbursts by Madame Nhu
only made things worse.

993
01:04:11,016 --> 01:04:14,483
Burning monks made her clap
her hands, she said.

994
01:04:14,583 --> 01:04:17,150
If more monks wanted
to burn themselves,

995
01:04:17,250 --> 01:04:20,350
she would provide the matches.

996
01:04:20,450 --> 01:04:22,316
The only thing they have done,

997
01:04:22,416 --> 01:04:28,116
they have barbecued
one of their monks,

998
01:04:28,216 --> 01:04:33,750
whom they have intoxicated, whom
they have abused the confidence.

999
01:04:33,850 --> 01:04:38,150
And even that barbecuing
was done

1000
01:04:38,250 --> 01:04:40,483
not even with self-sufficient
means

1001
01:04:40,583 --> 01:04:43,616
because they-they used
imported gasoline.

1002
01:04:45,316 --> 01:04:47,950
DUONG VAN MAI:
They thought she was arrogant,

1003
01:04:48,050 --> 01:04:49,516
she was power hungry.

1004
01:04:49,616 --> 01:04:52,883
They suspected her and her
husband of being corrupt.

1005
01:04:52,983 --> 01:04:59,250
Nhu ran the secret police, which
arrested and tortured people.

1006
01:04:59,350 --> 01:05:02,550
People feared the Diem regime.

1007
01:05:02,650 --> 01:05:06,216
Perhaps more than they feared
it, they really hated it.

1008
01:05:08,483 --> 01:05:11,116
NARRATOR:
Students, including
many Catholics,

1009
01:05:11,216 --> 01:05:13,683
rallied to the Buddhist cause.

1010
01:05:13,783 --> 01:05:16,983
So did some army officers.

1011
01:05:17,083 --> 01:05:21,350
People among the military
had to ask the question,

1012
01:05:21,450 --> 01:05:24,750
"Can we continue this kind
of situation like that

1013
01:05:24,850 --> 01:05:28,250
"when the whole country,
country was almost burning

1014
01:05:28,350 --> 01:05:29,983
with the kind of protest
from the Buddhists?"

1015
01:05:30,083 --> 01:05:31,016
You see?

1016
01:05:34,683 --> 01:05:38,616
ZIMMERMAN:
I first became aware of Vietnam
because of a burning monk.

1017
01:05:41,150 --> 01:05:45,950
We had watched the civil rights
movement in the South

1018
01:05:46,050 --> 01:05:48,950
and it had set the standard
for us

1019
01:05:49,050 --> 01:05:55,383
to stand up against injustice,
allow yourself to be beaten up,

1020
01:05:55,483 --> 01:05:57,783
allow yourself to be attacked
by a dog

1021
01:05:57,883 --> 01:06:00,216
or hit by a police truncheon.

1022
01:06:00,316 --> 01:06:02,183
And we had enormous respect

1023
01:06:02,283 --> 01:06:05,416
for people who were willing
to go that far.

1024
01:06:09,816 --> 01:06:12,716
And then one day in 1963,

1025
01:06:12,816 --> 01:06:17,250
we saw on television
a picture of a monk in Saigon.

1026
01:06:18,683 --> 01:06:20,816
This was an extraordinary act.

1027
01:06:23,216 --> 01:06:26,016
Why was a Buddhist monk
burning himself

1028
01:06:26,116 --> 01:06:28,850
on the streets of Saigon?

1029
01:06:31,583 --> 01:06:33,983
NARRATOR:
The protests continued.

1030
01:06:34,083 --> 01:06:38,916
Tensions between Washington
and Saigon steadily worsened.

1031
01:06:39,016 --> 01:06:42,916
The more the Kennedy
Administration demanded change,

1032
01:06:43,016 --> 01:06:46,983
the more Diem and his brother
Nhu seemed to resist.

1033
01:06:48,650 --> 01:06:51,383
The White House announced that
a new American ambassador,

1034
01:06:51,483 --> 01:06:56,616
former senator Henry Cabot
Lodge, was being sent to Saigon,

1035
01:06:56,716 --> 01:06:59,183
a man eminent enough,
the president hoped,

1036
01:06:59,283 --> 01:07:04,350
to make Diem listen more closely
to American advice.

1037
01:07:04,450 --> 01:07:08,216
Diem professed to be
unimpressed.

1038
01:07:08,316 --> 01:07:10,950
"They can send ten Lodges,"
he said,

1039
01:07:11,050 --> 01:07:14,983
"but I will not let myself
or my country be humiliated,

1040
01:07:15,083 --> 01:07:18,850
not if they train their
artillery on this palace."

1041
01:07:18,950 --> 01:07:23,516
He did promise the outgoing
ambassador, Frederick Nolting,

1042
01:07:23,616 --> 01:07:26,350
that he would take no further
repressive steps

1043
01:07:26,450 --> 01:07:28,016
against the Buddhists.

1044
01:07:29,783 --> 01:07:35,016
Then, a few minutes after
midnight on August 21, 1963,

1045
01:07:35,116 --> 01:07:38,583
with Nolting gone and
Henry Cabot Lodge's arrival

1046
01:07:38,683 --> 01:07:42,216
still one day away,
Diem cut the phone lines

1047
01:07:42,316 --> 01:07:45,650
of all the senior American
officials in Saigon

1048
01:07:45,749 --> 01:07:49,283
and sent hundreds
of his Special Forces

1049
01:07:49,383 --> 01:07:53,183
storming into Buddhist pagodas
in Saigon, Hue,

1050
01:07:53,283 --> 01:07:56,483
and several other
South Vietnamese cities.

1051
01:07:56,583 --> 01:07:59,350
Some 1,400 monks and nuns,

1052
01:07:59,450 --> 01:08:05,050
students and ordinary citizens
were rounded up and taken away.

1053
01:08:05,150 --> 01:08:08,716
(shouting)

1054
01:08:12,883 --> 01:08:17,316
Martial law was imposed,
public meetings were forbidden,

1055
01:08:17,416 --> 01:08:21,816
troops were authorized to shoot
anyone found on the streets

1056
01:08:21,916 --> 01:08:23,550
after 9:00.

1057
01:08:23,650 --> 01:08:26,950
PETER ROBERTS:
Tanks guard a pagoda in Saigon

1058
01:08:27,050 --> 01:08:29,716
during South Vietnam's
bafflingly complicated crisis

1059
01:08:29,816 --> 01:08:32,816
that has the government of
President Ngo Dinh Diem,

1060
01:08:32,916 --> 01:08:36,650
students, and Buddhists,
and the United States government

1061
01:08:36,750 --> 01:08:40,350
all trying to guess one
another's next move.

1062
01:08:40,450 --> 01:08:44,250
NARRATOR:
When college students protested
in support of the monks,

1063
01:08:44,350 --> 01:08:47,883
Diem closed Vietnam's
universities.

1064
01:08:47,983 --> 01:08:51,750
High school students
then poured into the streets.

1065
01:08:51,850 --> 01:08:54,416
He shut down
all the high schools

1066
01:08:54,516 --> 01:08:55,683
and the grammar schools, too,

1067
01:08:55,783 --> 01:08:59,016
and arrested thousands
of school children,

1068
01:08:59,116 --> 01:09:01,983
including the sons and daughters
of officials

1069
01:09:02,083 --> 01:09:04,050
in his own government.

1070
01:09:04,150 --> 01:09:07,216
PHAN QUANG TUE:
I participated
in the demonstrations.

1071
01:09:07,316 --> 01:09:14,183
I strongly believed that that
government has to be overthrown

1072
01:09:14,283 --> 01:09:16,383
because it's a dictator
government.

1073
01:09:16,483 --> 01:09:18,450
We couldn't stand it anymore

1074
01:09:18,550 --> 01:09:22,216
and this is an opportunity
to rise against it.

1075
01:09:22,316 --> 01:09:26,283
NARRATOR:
Phan Quang Tue was a law student
that summer.

1076
01:09:26,383 --> 01:09:30,283
His father was a prominent
nationalist whom Diem had jailed

1077
01:09:30,383 --> 01:09:33,616
for calling for
greater democracy.

1078
01:09:33,716 --> 01:09:37,216
PHAN QUANG TUE:
I was and I'm still a Catholic,

1079
01:09:37,316 --> 01:09:39,550
not a very good Catholic.

1080
01:09:39,650 --> 01:09:41,483
I don't practice religiously.

1081
01:09:41,583 --> 01:09:43,483
But I'm a Catholic.

1082
01:09:44,983 --> 01:09:46,416
I was rightly arrested

1083
01:09:46,516 --> 01:09:49,583
because I did participate
in demonstration.

1084
01:09:49,683 --> 01:09:52,583
And I was interrogated

1085
01:09:52,683 --> 01:09:55,750
and briefly tortured,
beaten a little bit.

1086
01:10:00,050 --> 01:10:02,850
HERLIHY:
Henry Cabot Lodge took over
as U.S. ambassador

1087
01:10:02,950 --> 01:10:04,416
in the midst of the turmoil.

1088
01:10:04,516 --> 01:10:05,850
And he has reported
to have demanded

1089
01:10:05,950 --> 01:10:08,116
that President Diem's brother
Nhu be ousted

1090
01:10:08,216 --> 01:10:10,583
or U.S. aid to Vietnam
will be cut.

1091
01:10:13,950 --> 01:10:15,850
NARRATOR:
In the wake of the pagoda raids,

1092
01:10:15,950 --> 01:10:18,316
a small group of South
Vietnamese generals

1093
01:10:18,416 --> 01:10:21,983
contacted the CIA in Saigon.

1094
01:10:22,083 --> 01:10:25,516
Diem's brother Nhu was now
largely in control

1095
01:10:25,616 --> 01:10:27,583
of the government, they said.

1096
01:10:27,683 --> 01:10:32,316
What would Washington's reaction
be if they mounted a coup?

1097
01:10:32,416 --> 01:10:35,416
President Kennedy
and his senior advisors

1098
01:10:35,516 --> 01:10:40,316
happened to be out of town,
so Roger Hilsman, Jr.,

1099
01:10:40,416 --> 01:10:43,883
assistant secretary of state
for Far Eastern affairs

1100
01:10:43,983 --> 01:10:46,283
and a critic of the Diem regime,

1101
01:10:46,383 --> 01:10:50,416
took it upon himself to draft
a cable with new instructions

1102
01:10:50,516 --> 01:10:53,350
for Ambassador Lodge.

1103
01:10:53,450 --> 01:10:57,316
The U.S. government could
no longer tolerate a situation

1104
01:10:57,416 --> 01:11:01,583
in which power lay in Nhu's
hands, it said.

1105
01:11:01,683 --> 01:11:04,916
Diem should be given a chance
to rid himself of his brother.

1106
01:11:06,350 --> 01:11:09,883
If he refused, Lodge was
to tell the generals,

1107
01:11:09,983 --> 01:11:13,483
"then we must face the
possibility that Diem himself

1108
01:11:13,583 --> 01:11:17,350
cannot be preserved."

1109
01:11:17,450 --> 01:11:21,083
The president was vacationing at
Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.

1110
01:11:21,183 --> 01:11:25,050
Undersecretary of State George
Ball read part of the cable

1111
01:11:25,150 --> 01:11:28,216
to him over the phone.

1112
01:11:28,316 --> 01:11:30,483
Since the early 1950s,

1113
01:11:30,583 --> 01:11:32,150
the United States government
had encouraged

1114
01:11:32,250 --> 01:11:38,483
and even orchestrated other Cold
War coups in Iran, Guatemala,

1115
01:11:38,583 --> 01:11:42,983
the Congo, and elsewhere.

1116
01:11:43,083 --> 01:11:46,916
Kennedy decided to approve
Hilsman's cable

1117
01:11:47,016 --> 01:11:50,150
in part because he thought
his top advisors

1118
01:11:50,250 --> 01:11:52,283
had already endorsed it.

1119
01:11:52,383 --> 01:11:55,183
They had not.

1120
01:11:55,283 --> 01:12:00,383
And somehow, because of a cable
that came out from Washington,

1121
01:12:00,483 --> 01:12:03,783
Lodge decided that the only
solution was to get rid

1122
01:12:03,883 --> 01:12:07,583
of not just Ngo Dinh Nhu,
the bad brother,

1123
01:12:07,683 --> 01:12:10,116
but also of Diem himself.

1124
01:12:10,216 --> 01:12:12,283
And that started us
on this whole business

1125
01:12:12,383 --> 01:12:15,150
of promoting a coup.

1126
01:12:15,250 --> 01:12:18,616
And it was not a good idea.

1127
01:12:18,716 --> 01:12:21,483
I just had a feeling
of impending disaster.

1128
01:12:22,683 --> 01:12:25,283
NARRATOR:
On September 2, 1963,

1129
01:12:25,383 --> 01:12:29,016
Labor Day, Walter Cronkite
of CBS News

1130
01:12:29,116 --> 01:12:31,616
interviewed President Kennedy.

1131
01:12:31,716 --> 01:12:35,716
The president used the
opportunity to deliver a message

1132
01:12:35,816 --> 01:12:37,583
to President Diem.

1133
01:12:37,683 --> 01:12:41,416
Mr. President, the only hot war
we've got running at the moment

1134
01:12:41,516 --> 01:12:43,983
is of course the one in Vietnam,

1135
01:12:44,083 --> 01:12:46,916
and we've got our difficulties
there, quite obviously.

1136
01:12:47,016 --> 01:12:51,516
I don't think that unless
a greater effort is made

1137
01:12:51,616 --> 01:12:53,483
by the government to win
popular support

1138
01:12:53,583 --> 01:12:54,950
that the war can be won
out there.

1139
01:12:55,050 --> 01:12:56,916
In the final analysis,
it's their war.

1140
01:12:57,016 --> 01:13:00,883
Hasn't every indication
from Saigon been

1141
01:13:00,983 --> 01:13:03,016
that President Diem
has no intention

1142
01:13:03,116 --> 01:13:04,016
of changing his pattern?

1143
01:13:04,116 --> 01:13:05,016
If he doesn't change it,

1144
01:13:05,116 --> 01:13:06,950
of course, that's his decision.

1145
01:13:07,050 --> 01:13:09,050
He has been there ten years
and, as I say,

1146
01:13:09,150 --> 01:13:10,416
he has carried this burden

1147
01:13:10,516 --> 01:13:11,850
when he has been counted out
on a number of occasions.

1148
01:13:11,950 --> 01:13:12,950
Our best judgment is

1149
01:13:13,050 --> 01:13:15,550
that he can't be
successful in this basis.

1150
01:13:15,650 --> 01:13:18,216
But I don't agree with those
who say we should withdraw.

1151
01:13:18,316 --> 01:13:19,483
That would be a great mistake.

1152
01:13:19,583 --> 01:13:20,850
That'd be
a great mistake.

1153
01:13:20,950 --> 01:13:22,816
I know people don't like
Americans to be engaged

1154
01:13:22,916 --> 01:13:23,916
in this kind of an effort.

1155
01:13:24,016 --> 01:13:26,383
47 Americans have been killed.

1156
01:13:26,483 --> 01:13:28,383
We're in a very

1157
01:13:28,483 --> 01:13:31,250
desperate struggle
against the communist system.

1158
01:13:31,350 --> 01:13:34,583
And I don't want Asia to pass
into the control of the Chinese.

1159
01:13:34,683 --> 01:13:36,816
Do you think that this
government still has time

1160
01:13:36,916 --> 01:13:39,350
to-to regain the support
of the people?

1161
01:13:39,450 --> 01:13:41,883
I do.

1162
01:13:41,983 --> 01:13:44,683
With changes in policy
and perhaps in personnel,

1163
01:13:44,783 --> 01:13:46,216
I think it can.

1164
01:13:46,316 --> 01:13:49,583
If it doesn't make
those changes,

1165
01:13:49,683 --> 01:13:51,883
I would think that
the chances of winning it

1166
01:13:51,983 --> 01:13:53,650
would not be very good.

1167
01:13:55,383 --> 01:13:58,183
NARRATOR:
Despite the cable,
Kennedy and his advisors

1168
01:13:58,283 --> 01:14:01,616
were sharply
divided about a coup.

1169
01:14:01,716 --> 01:14:06,983
Robert McNamara, Maxwell Taylor,
Vice President Lyndon Johnson,

1170
01:14:07,083 --> 01:14:11,416
and the head of the CIA
all cautioned against it,

1171
01:14:11,516 --> 01:14:14,916
because, while none of them
especially admired Diem,

1172
01:14:15,016 --> 01:14:19,583
they did not believe there was
any viable alternative.

1173
01:14:19,683 --> 01:14:22,650
GREGG:
Fritz Nolting was called in.

1174
01:14:22,750 --> 01:14:25,183
And he said, "As difficult
as they are to deal with,

1175
01:14:25,283 --> 01:14:30,216
"there is nobody with the guts
and sangfroid in Vietnam

1176
01:14:30,316 --> 01:14:32,016
"of Diem and his brother Nhu.

1177
01:14:32,116 --> 01:14:35,483
"And if we let them go
we will be saddled

1178
01:14:35,583 --> 01:14:39,450
by a descending cycle
of mediocre generals."

1179
01:14:39,550 --> 01:14:41,516
And he was absolutely correct.

1180
01:14:43,183 --> 01:14:46,016
NARRATOR:
But several State Department
officials believed

1181
01:14:46,116 --> 01:14:50,850
that without fresh leadership,
South Vietnam could not survive.

1182
01:14:50,950 --> 01:14:54,216
The debate intensified.

1183
01:14:55,383 --> 01:14:57,250
"My God," the president said,

1184
01:14:57,350 --> 01:15:00,683
"my administration
is coming apart."

1185
01:15:00,783 --> 01:15:04,116
In the end,
Kennedy instructed Lodge

1186
01:15:04,216 --> 01:15:06,516
to tell the renegade generals

1187
01:15:06,616 --> 01:15:08,916
that while the United States
does not wish

1188
01:15:09,016 --> 01:15:13,083
to stimulate a coup,
it would not thwart one either.

1189
01:15:14,583 --> 01:15:17,616
The generals laid their plans.

1190
01:15:17,716 --> 01:15:20,216
(gunfire)

1191
01:15:23,950 --> 01:15:29,550
On November 1, 1963,
troops loyal to the plotters

1192
01:15:29,650 --> 01:15:31,750
seized key installations
in Saigon

1193
01:15:31,850 --> 01:15:35,316
and demanded Diem and Nhu
surrender.

1194
01:15:37,850 --> 01:15:40,283
REPORTER:
The battle for the city
went on for 18 hours

1195
01:15:40,383 --> 01:15:43,616
and most of it was centered
on the presidential palace.

1196
01:15:43,716 --> 01:15:47,183
Just after 6:30 in the morning
Saturday, the shooting ceased.

1197
01:15:49,516 --> 01:15:51,383
(people cheering)

1198
01:15:56,116 --> 01:16:01,416
NARRATOR:
Diem and Nhu escaped,
took sanctuary in a church,

1199
01:16:01,516 --> 01:16:04,483
and agreed to surrender
to the rebels in exchange

1200
01:16:04,583 --> 01:16:08,316
for the promise of safe
passage out of the country.

1201
01:16:08,416 --> 01:16:11,883
They were picked up in an
armored personnel carrier...

1202
01:16:11,983 --> 01:16:13,883
(gunshot)

1203
01:16:13,983 --> 01:16:18,083
And murdered soon
after they climbed inside.

1204
01:16:18,183 --> 01:16:19,516
(gunshot)

1205
01:16:22,883 --> 01:16:26,250
Madame Nhu survived the coup.

1206
01:16:26,350 --> 01:16:29,616
She was on a goodwill tour
in the United States.

1207
01:16:34,850 --> 01:16:37,383
PHAN QUANG TUE:
The system was overthrown
on November 1.

1208
01:16:37,483 --> 01:16:40,083
I was released November 4.

1209
01:16:40,183 --> 01:16:46,283
And it was the most exciting
moment in the life of Saigon.

1210
01:16:48,116 --> 01:16:53,383
The excitement,
you could feel it in the air.

1211
01:16:53,483 --> 01:16:57,916
DUONG VAN MAI:
I was thinking that,
yeah, it's a good thing.

1212
01:16:58,016 --> 01:17:01,650
Diem was making it impossible
to win the war

1213
01:17:01,750 --> 01:17:05,216
because people were
so against him

1214
01:17:05,316 --> 01:17:09,816
that the war would be lost
if he stayed in power.

1215
01:17:11,450 --> 01:17:13,516
My father was a bit worried

1216
01:17:13,616 --> 01:17:15,716
because he didn't know
who was going to replace Diem.

1217
01:17:18,516 --> 01:17:21,050
NARRATOR:
Ambassador Lodge reported
to Washington

1218
01:17:21,150 --> 01:17:25,683
that "every Vietnamese has
a smile on his face today."

1219
01:17:25,783 --> 01:17:29,383
"The prospects are now for
a shorter war," he said,

1220
01:17:29,483 --> 01:17:32,350
"provided the generals
stay together.

1221
01:17:32,450 --> 01:17:35,183
"Certainly officers
and soldiers

1222
01:17:35,283 --> 01:17:38,383
who can pull off an operation
like this," he continued,

1223
01:17:38,483 --> 01:17:41,816
"should be able to do
very well on the battlefield

1224
01:17:41,916 --> 01:17:44,383
if their hearts are in it."

1225
01:17:47,150 --> 01:17:50,283
President Kennedy was
not so sure.

1226
01:17:50,383 --> 01:17:54,616
He was appalled that Diem
and Nhu had been killed.

1227
01:17:54,716 --> 01:17:58,316
Three days later, he dictated
his own rueful account

1228
01:17:58,416 --> 01:18:02,550
of the coup and his
concerns for the future.

1229
01:18:04,150 --> 01:18:07,950
KENNEDY:
Monday, November 4, 1963.

1230
01:18:08,050 --> 01:18:10,983
Over the weekend the
coup in Saigon took place.

1231
01:18:11,083 --> 01:18:13,850
It culminated three months
of conversation,

1232
01:18:13,950 --> 01:18:19,116
which divided the government
here and in Saigon.

1233
01:18:19,216 --> 01:18:24,316
I feel that we must bear a good
deal of responsibility for it,

1234
01:18:24,416 --> 01:18:27,350
beginning
with our cable of August

1235
01:18:27,450 --> 01:18:30,050
in which we suggested the coup.

1236
01:18:30,150 --> 01:18:32,950
I should not have given
my consent to it

1237
01:18:33,050 --> 01:18:35,316
without a roundtable conference.

1238
01:18:37,350 --> 01:18:42,716
I was shocked by the death
of Diem and Nhu.

1239
01:18:42,816 --> 01:18:46,850
The way he was killed made it
particularly abhorrent.

1240
01:18:46,950 --> 01:18:49,483
The question now is whether
the generals can stay together

1241
01:18:49,583 --> 01:18:53,350
and build a stable government or
whether public opinion in Saigon

1242
01:18:53,450 --> 01:18:57,116
will turn on this government
as repressive and undemocratic

1243
01:18:57,216 --> 01:18:59,150
in the not-too-distant future.

1244
01:19:04,183 --> 01:19:06,483
NARRATOR:
Kennedy would not live
to see the answer

1245
01:19:06,583 --> 01:19:09,083
to the question he had asked.

1246
01:19:09,183 --> 01:19:13,583
He was murdered in Dallas
18 days later.

1247
01:19:13,683 --> 01:19:18,650
There were now 16,000 American
advisors in South Vietnam.

1248
01:19:18,750 --> 01:19:24,083
Their fate and the fate of
that embattled country rested

1249
01:19:24,183 --> 01:19:29,350
with another American president,
Lyndon Baines Johnson.

1250
01:19:29,450 --> 01:19:33,416
(distorted rock music playing)

1251
01:19:46,850 --> 01:19:48,983
SHEEHAN:
We thought we were the
exceptions to history,

1252
01:19:49,083 --> 01:19:50,550
we Americans.

1253
01:19:50,650 --> 01:19:53,283
History didn't apply to us.

1254
01:19:53,383 --> 01:19:55,516
We could never fight a bad war.

1255
01:19:55,616 --> 01:19:57,483
We could never represent
the wrong cause.

1256
01:19:57,583 --> 01:19:58,716
We were Americans.

1257
01:19:59,916 --> 01:20:01,150
Well, in Vietnam it proved

1258
01:20:01,250 --> 01:20:03,750
that we were not
an exception to history.

1259
01:20:04,983 --> 01:20:07,283
(distorted rock music continues)

1260
01:20:16,250 --> 01:20:18,650
("Mean Old World"
by Sam Cooke playing)

1261
01:20:22,950 --> 01:20:31,716
♪ This is a mean old world
to live in all by yourself ♪

1262
01:20:36,450 --> 01:20:42,683
♪ This is a mean old world
to live in ♪

1263
01:20:42,783 --> 01:20:45,483
♪ All by yourself

1264
01:20:49,316 --> 01:20:56,350
♪ This is a mean world
to be alone ♪

1265
01:20:56,450 --> 01:21:02,383
♪ Without someone
to call your own ♪

1266
01:21:02,483 --> 01:21:08,483
♪ This is a mean old world
to try and live in ♪

1267
01:21:08,583 --> 01:21:11,050
♪ All by yourself

1268
01:21:15,283 --> 01:21:21,383
♪ I wish I had someone,
someone ♪

1269
01:21:21,483 --> 01:21:23,716
♪ Who'd love me true

1270
01:21:28,150 --> 01:21:38,350
♪ I wish I had someone
who loved me true ♪

1271
01:21:40,983 --> 01:21:47,350
♪ If I had someone
who loved me true ♪

1272
01:21:47,450 --> 01:21:53,950
♪ Then I know I wouldn't be
so blue ♪

1273
01:21:54,050 --> 01:22:00,616
♪ This is a mean old world
to try and live in ♪

1274
01:22:00,716 --> 01:22:03,216
♪ All by yourself

1275
01:22:05,483 --> 01:22:13,650
♪ Lord, I find myself dreaming

1276
01:22:13,750 --> 01:22:15,983
♪ I found a love

1277
01:22:19,383 --> 01:22:26,650
♪ Sometimes I find myself
dreaming ♪

1278
01:22:26,750 --> 01:22:30,050
♪ I found a love

1279
01:22:32,450 --> 01:22:40,350
♪ Sometimes I dream
I've really found a love ♪

1280
01:22:40,450 --> 01:22:46,383
♪ Someone who loved me true
as the stars above ♪

1281
01:22:46,483 --> 01:22:51,950
♪ For this is a mean old world
to try and live in ♪

1282
01:22:52,050 --> 01:22:56,250
♪ All by yourself.