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- Original file by zfeet -
- Resynced by Ornlu Wolfjarl -

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TIM O'BRIEN: They shared
the weight of memory.

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They took up what others
could no longer bear.

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Often, they carried each
other, the wounded or weak.

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They carried infections.

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They carried chess sets, basketballs,

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Vietnamese-English dictionaries,

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insignia of rank, Bronze
Stars, and Purple Hearts,

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plastic cards imprinted
with the Code of Conduct.

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(thunder rumbles)

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They carried diseases, among
them malaria and dysentery.

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They carried lice and ringworm
and leeches and paddy algae

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and various rots and molds.

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(rain pouring)

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They carried the land itself...

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Vietnam.

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("My Country 'Tis of Thee" playing)

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(mouths): Thank you.

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(indistinct chatter)

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(applause)

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I can tell you, as I look back
over those months and years,

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that we have met with the
wives and the mothers

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of those of you who were prisoners of war,

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they were and are the bravest,
most magnificent women

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I have ever met in my life.

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And now, if they will give me
my official toasting glass,

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I will propose the toast.

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Tonight...

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NARRATOR: On May 24, 1973,

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President Nixon invited

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all the returned prisoners
of war and their families

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to Washington.

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Among them was Everett Alvarez,

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the first pilot shot
down over North Vietnam.

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EVERETT ALVAREZ: Sometimes,
I feel too much attention

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was being paid to us, the P.O.W.s.

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And what about the poor guys
that fought the war, those kids?

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You know, that came home,
um, you know, amputees...

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Uh, wounded with the injuries of war.

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What about them?

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We had our own challenges,

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and the key was to, to face these

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and yet maintain our, our honor.

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That's what it was.

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NARRATOR: Dr. Hal Kushner,

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who had been a prisoner
for more than five years,

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was unable to attend.

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He was reunited with his
family at Valley Forge.

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HAL KUSHNER: We flew to
Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

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And I came off the helicopter
and I saw my wife...

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...and my daughter,

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who I hadn't seen since she was 2 1/2

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And she was born in 1963.

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So she was ten years old.

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And my son, who I had never seen,

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a week before his fifth birthday.

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And he had on a little
tie and a little coat.

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And my mom and dad.

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And my mother was just
overcome with emotion.

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And I just...

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It was just an incomprehensible moment.

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And we hugged everybody.

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And my little boy had a
flag, American flag.

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NARRATOR: Like many P.O.W. marriages,

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Hal Kushner's would not survive.

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On March 29, 1973,

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the last American troops
left South Vietnam.

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Fewer than 200 Marines would remain,

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assigned to guard consular offices

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and the American Embassy

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and other installations in Saigon.

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Thousands of other Americans,
including C.I.A. agents,

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diplomats, and contractors,

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stayed behind, as well.

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Over the next two years,

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the forces of North and South Vietnam

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would continue to savage one another.

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And the Vietnamese people
would find themselves

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back where they were at the beginning,

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engulfed in an apparently endless civil war

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and struggling over what kind
of future they would have.

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For the United States, combat did end,

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but controversy over the war did not.

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TIM O'BRIEN: The best you
could say about Vietnam

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was that certain blood was being shed

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for uncertain reasons.

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The blood was for sure...

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the bodies, the widows, the orphans...

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they were certain.

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Nobody disputed it, the
dead people were dead.

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But the rectitude of the
war was in great dispute.

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Smart people in pinstripes

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couldn't make their minds up about the war.

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And I remember asking myself...

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"Was it worth it?"

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Maybe it was all a big
mistake, and, you know,

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what, what was it all about?

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We answered the call,

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me and probably 2 1/2 million
other young Americans

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who went over there.

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It was a cause worth the effort.

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And sometimes, things just don't turn out

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and the guys in the white hats don't win.

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But that doesn't make it, uh,

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or doesn't basically take away

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from the rectitude of the cause.

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Subcommittee will come to order.

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NARRATOR: Night after night
during the spring, summer,

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and fall of 1973,

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Americans watched the Nixon administration

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slowly come apart.

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Blackmail,

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enemies lists,

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dirty tricks,

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a vice president forced to resign,

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perjury, cover-up,

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abuse of presidential power,

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secret White House tapes.

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FRED THOMPSON: Mr.
Butterfield, are you aware

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of the installation of
any listening devices

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in the Oval Office of the president?

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I was aware of listening devices.

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Yes, sir.

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Good evening.

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The country tonight is in
the midst of what may be

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the most serious constitutional crisis

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in its history.

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I told the president about the fact

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that there were money demands being made

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by the seven convicted defendants.

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He asked me how much it would cost.

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I told him I could only make an estimate

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that it might be as high as
a million dollars or more.

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He told me that that was no problem.

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I had no prior knowledge
of the Watergate break-in.

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I neither took part in nor knew about

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any of the subsequent cover-up activities.

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The one frustrating thing about...

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about going to Canada was,

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it left me outside the debate here.

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I felt about... frustrated
with that till this day.

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NARRATOR: As the Watergate
scandal unfolded, Jack Todd,

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who had deserted the United States Army

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and fled to Canada,

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had never felt so bitter,

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so disenchanted, so out of touch

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with what the United States
seemed to have become.

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He asked himself, "How did we
let this gang take charge?"

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Then he made a decision
he would always regret:

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he renounced his American citizenship.

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JACK TODD: I thought it
was a political act,

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renouncing my American citizenship.

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And it was the stupidest thing
I have ever done in my life.

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I'm a Canadian citizen and I'm proud of it.

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It's a wonderful country, but
in here, I'm an American.

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JOHN NEGROPONTE: Well,
the agreement was called

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"The Agreement to End the War

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and Restore Peace in Vietnam."

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And, of course, that was a huge euphemism.

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It neither ended the war
nor did it restore peace.

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And if you look at the substance of it,

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it really was a withdrawal agreement.

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We were withdrawing our forces

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in exchange for prisoners of war.

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Those are the two matters that
were definitively settled

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by the peace agreement.

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We got our troops out and
we got our prisoners back.

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The rest is just all a model
of nebulosity and vagueness

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and didn't resolve a darn thing.

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NARRATOR: Neither North nor South Vietnam

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had had any intention of
observing the cease-fire

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called for in the peace
treaty signed in Paris

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on January 27, 1973.

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Even before the ink was dry,

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each side had sought to claim
as much territory as it could

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in what became known as
"the War of the Flags."

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Within three weeks of the ceasefire,

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there were already some 3,000
violations by both sides.

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South Vietnamese President
Nguyen Van Thieu,

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who now commanded the
fifth-largest army on Earth,

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insisted the ARVN take and hold
every inch of South Vietnam,

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something they had been unable to do

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even with the help of nearly
600,000 American troops.

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(explosion)

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Meanwhile, the North Vietnamese
had attacked Tay Ninh,

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near the Cambodian border,

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hoping to establish a rival
capital of their own

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in the South.

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Hanoi installed surface-to-air
missiles near Khe Sanh,

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just below the DMZ.

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At the same time, ARVN
troops attacked enclaves

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seized by the North Vietnamese.

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The fighting went on for months.

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Hanoi built a new paved highway

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within South Vietnam itself,

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down which convoys of 200 to 300 vehicles

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soon began streaming:

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trucks, tanks, and heavy guns
moving in broad daylight.

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And they began laying
down a giant oil pipeline

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to fuel their vehicles in the South.

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Nixon had privately
promised President Thieu

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that he would retaliate
with American airpower

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if Saigon ever seemed seriously threatened.

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(gavel banging)

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But in Washington, week by week,

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as the secrets of Watergate
kept tumbling out,

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Nixon's influence on Capitol
Hill steadily weakened.

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In June of 1973, an energized Congress,

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reflecting the views of a
majority of Americans,

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voted to stop all military operations

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in or over Vietnam, Laos, or Cambodia

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by August 15,

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and insisted that they not be resumed

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without congressional approval.

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"America wants peace,"

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00:14:20,138 --> 00:14:23,737
Senator Edward Kennedy of
Massachusetts declared.

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00:14:23,738 --> 00:14:29,504
"Congress is strong in its
resolve to end the killing."

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LEWIS SORLEY: To abandon
the South Vietnamese,

219
00:14:32,770 --> 00:14:36,603
when all we were providing
them at the end was money,

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was reprehensible,

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00:14:38,604 --> 00:14:42,369
and disrespected the
sacrifices of all soldiers,

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00:14:42,370 --> 00:14:45,002
ours and the South Vietnamese.

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I think the moral obligation,

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that doesn't stem from a
philosophical commitment

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to stopping communism.

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Now it stems from our keeping our promises

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00:14:54,267 --> 00:14:58,333
to this erstwhile, unfortunate ally.

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That they had us as the ally

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where the other guys had the Soviet Union

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and communist China.

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Most Americans, I think,

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00:15:06,867 --> 00:15:08,799
would not like to hear it
said that the communists

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were more faithful allies
than the United States.

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But that is, in fact, what the case was.

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ROBERT GARD: While one regrets
that we pulled the rug out,

236
00:15:17,865 --> 00:15:19,731
in some respects,

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00:15:19,732 --> 00:15:23,863
I think the ultimate outcome
would've been the same.

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00:15:23,864 --> 00:15:28,629
Had we continued, it would have cost

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00:15:28,630 --> 00:15:31,530
probably more lives in the long term

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with no change in the outcome.

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NARRATOR: In the 18 bloody months

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00:15:36,496 --> 00:15:38,962
that followed the signing
of the peace accords,

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00:15:38,963 --> 00:15:44,096
South Vietnam's position became
more and more precarious.

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00:15:44,097 --> 00:15:47,528
But by the summer of 1974,

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00:15:47,529 --> 00:15:50,395
few Americans were paying attention.

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00:15:50,396 --> 00:15:55,060
They were riveted by what was
happening to their own country.

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...to investigate fully and completely

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whether sufficient grounds exist

249
00:16:00,494 --> 00:16:02,794
for the House of Representatives

250
00:16:02,795 --> 00:16:05,992
to exercise its constitutional power

251
00:16:05,993 --> 00:16:08,425
to impeach Richard M. Nixon,

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00:16:08,426 --> 00:16:11,758
president of the United States of America.

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SPEAKER: Mr. Danielson? -Aye.

254
00:16:14,492 --> 00:16:18,624
SPEAKER: Mr. Drinan? -Aye.

255
00:16:18,625 --> 00:16:21,557
SPEAKER: Mr. Rangel? -Aye.

256
00:16:21,558 --> 00:16:23,556
SPEAKER: Ms. Jordan? -Aye.

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SPEAKER: Mr. Lott? -No.

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NARRATOR: On July 27, 1974,

259
00:16:30,057 --> 00:16:32,890
the House Judiciary Committee recommended

260
00:16:32,891 --> 00:16:37,790
that the president be impeached
for abusing his office.

261
00:16:37,791 --> 00:16:41,554
On August 9, rather than face impeachment,

262
00:16:41,555 --> 00:16:45,488
Richard Nixon became the first
president in American history

263
00:16:45,489 --> 00:16:47,421
to resign.

264
00:16:47,422 --> 00:16:49,353
NIXON: Always remember,

265
00:16:49,354 --> 00:16:51,620
others may hate you,

266
00:16:51,621 --> 00:16:55,388
but those who hate you don't win

267
00:16:55,389 --> 00:16:58,352
unless you hate them,

268
00:16:58,353 --> 00:17:01,287
and then you destroy yourself.

269
00:17:01,288 --> 00:17:04,552
NARRATOR: At the presidential
palace in Saigon,

270
00:17:04,553 --> 00:17:07,351
President Thieu closed his office door

271
00:17:07,352 --> 00:17:09,751
and refused to see anyone.

272
00:17:09,752 --> 00:17:12,519
He had staked South Vietnam's survival

273
00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:14,786
on Nixon's personal pledge

274
00:17:14,787 --> 00:17:17,050
that North Vietnamese
aggression would be met

275
00:17:17,051 --> 00:17:20,317
by renewed American airpower.

276
00:17:20,318 --> 00:17:24,983
Just a few days after the
new president, Gerald Ford,

277
00:17:24,984 --> 00:17:26,616
moved into the White House,

278
00:17:26,617 --> 00:17:28,683
Congress cut in half the funds

279
00:17:28,684 --> 00:17:31,650
for military and economic assistance

280
00:17:31,651 --> 00:17:35,150
Nixon had promised to deliver to Saigon.

281
00:17:36,650 --> 00:17:40,815
Conditions in South Vietnam
continued to deteriorate.

282
00:17:40,816 --> 00:17:43,414
With the American military presence gone,

283
00:17:43,415 --> 00:17:48,047
one out of every five
civilian workers was jobless.

284
00:17:48,048 --> 00:17:50,748
Prices soared.

285
00:17:54,614 --> 00:17:57,613
DUONG VAN MAI ELLIOTT: There were
many mistakes made by the Americans,

286
00:17:57,614 --> 00:17:59,680
but the biggest mistake

287
00:17:59,681 --> 00:18:04,013
was in creating the sense of dependency.

288
00:18:04,014 --> 00:18:07,580
Another mistake was in creating
an army in their own image,

289
00:18:07,581 --> 00:18:13,978
an army that was used to
fighting a rich man's war.

290
00:18:13,979 --> 00:18:15,544
And South Vietnam was too poor

291
00:18:15,545 --> 00:18:18,378
to be able to sustain that kind of war.

292
00:18:18,379 --> 00:18:22,578
NARRATOR: Thieu had steadily
grown more authoritarian,

293
00:18:22,579 --> 00:18:26,677
closing newspapers, restricting
opposition parties,

294
00:18:26,678 --> 00:18:31,542
selling political and
military appointments.

295
00:18:31,543 --> 00:18:35,643
A coalition of Catholics
and Buddhists charged him

296
00:18:35,644 --> 00:18:39,142
with corrupting every aspect
of South Vietnamese life,

297
00:18:39,143 --> 00:18:42,308
and demanded his resignation.

298
00:18:42,309 --> 00:18:44,241
Thousands of demonstrators

299
00:18:44,242 --> 00:18:47,209
poured into the streets of Saigon.

300
00:18:50,076 --> 00:18:54,306
Meanwhile, the chronically
underpaid South Vietnamese Army

301
00:18:54,307 --> 00:18:57,640
had its pay cut further.

302
00:18:57,641 --> 00:19:00,874
It began to disintegrate.

303
00:19:00,875 --> 00:19:04,905
As many as 20,000 men were
deserting each month,

304
00:19:04,906 --> 00:19:08,439
most heading home to try to
help their families survive

305
00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:11,373
in such hard times.

306
00:19:11,374 --> 00:19:14,572
Those ARVN who stood and fought

307
00:19:14,573 --> 00:19:17,971
often had to do so without
the sophisticated weaponry

308
00:19:17,972 --> 00:19:21,803
they'd been trained by
the Americans to use.

309
00:19:21,804 --> 00:19:24,670
Much of the equipment Nixon had provided

310
00:19:24,671 --> 00:19:28,803
was ill-suited to the war
the South was now waging,

311
00:19:28,804 --> 00:19:31,770
aircraft for which there
were no trained pilots

312
00:19:31,771 --> 00:19:33,602
or ground crews,

313
00:19:33,603 --> 00:19:35,936
artillery and military vehicles

314
00:19:35,937 --> 00:19:38,834
for which there were no spare parts.

315
00:19:38,835 --> 00:19:43,935
And the U.S. Congress was
in no mood to provide more.

316
00:19:43,936 --> 00:19:46,369
Fuel ran low.

317
00:19:46,370 --> 00:19:49,400
So did ammunition.

318
00:19:49,401 --> 00:19:53,233
Before long, artillerymen
in the Central Highlands

319
00:19:53,234 --> 00:19:56,532
could fire just four shells a day,

320
00:19:56,533 --> 00:20:02,134
and infantrymen were limited
to 85 bullets a month.

321
00:20:20,566 --> 00:20:22,765
NARRATOR: In November of 1974,

322
00:20:22,766 --> 00:20:27,197
the Politburo and the Central
Military Committee met in Hanoi

323
00:20:27,198 --> 00:20:29,564
to discuss strategy.

324
00:20:29,565 --> 00:20:32,263
Some members urged caution.

325
00:20:32,264 --> 00:20:34,363
They worried that if they tried

326
00:20:34,364 --> 00:20:37,263
to push Saigon to the point
of collapse too quickly,

327
00:20:37,264 --> 00:20:40,063
the Americans would return.

328
00:20:40,064 --> 00:20:45,862
Final victory, they calculated,
would come in 1976.

329
00:20:45,863 --> 00:20:50,526
Party First Secretary Le Duan didn't agree.

330
00:20:50,527 --> 00:20:53,561
"Now that the United States
has pulled out," he said,

331
00:20:53,562 --> 00:20:57,361
"it will be hard for them to jump back in."

332
00:20:57,362 --> 00:20:59,725
He ordered a test attack

333
00:20:59,726 --> 00:21:03,225
to see if the Americans would
intervene with airpower

334
00:21:03,226 --> 00:21:05,325
as they had during the Easter Offensive

335
00:21:05,326 --> 00:21:08,125
2 1/2 years earlier.

336
00:21:08,126 --> 00:21:09,658
(artillery fire)

337
00:21:09,659 --> 00:21:12,091
In December 1974,

338
00:21:12,092 --> 00:21:14,458
North Vietnamese forces
attacked Phuoc Long,

339
00:21:14,459 --> 00:21:16,391
northeast of Saigon.

340
00:21:20,425 --> 00:21:24,491
Within three weeks, they had
overrun the entire province

341
00:21:24,492 --> 00:21:29,789
and had killed or captured
thousands of ARVN defenders.

342
00:21:29,790 --> 00:21:34,856
The United States did nothing in response.

343
00:21:34,857 --> 00:21:40,221
President Ford, preoccupied
with other problems...

344
00:21:40,222 --> 00:21:44,320
inflation, unemployment,
tensions in the Middle East...

345
00:21:44,321 --> 00:21:46,020
held a press conference

346
00:21:46,021 --> 00:21:50,154
that offered the South
Vietnamese no comfort.

347
00:21:50,155 --> 00:21:51,621
REPORTER: Are you considering

348
00:21:51,622 --> 00:21:53,453
any additional measures,
beyond a supplemental,

349
00:21:53,454 --> 00:21:56,519
of assistance to the South
Vietnamese government?

350
00:21:56,520 --> 00:22:00,153
I am not anticipating

351
00:22:00,154 --> 00:22:03,152
any further action beyond that supplemental

352
00:22:03,153 --> 00:22:04,553
at this time.

353
00:22:04,554 --> 00:22:07,253
NARRATOR: Washington
seemed to have no interest

354
00:22:07,254 --> 00:22:09,318
in fulfilling the secret pledges

355
00:22:09,319 --> 00:22:12,651
Nixon had repeatedly made to Thieu.

356
00:22:12,652 --> 00:22:15,685
He was stunned.

357
00:22:15,686 --> 00:22:17,752
STUART HERRINGTON: With the communist flag

358
00:22:17,753 --> 00:22:22,083
planted in a provincial capital
just to the north of Saigon,

359
00:22:22,084 --> 00:22:24,816
to me, the handwriting was on the wall.

360
00:22:24,817 --> 00:22:28,282
I then communicated with
my family, and told them

361
00:22:28,283 --> 00:22:31,582
that even though my tour was
supposed to take me till August,

362
00:22:31,583 --> 00:22:33,582
that I would be home sooner.

363
00:22:33,583 --> 00:22:38,314
And then I began to quietly,
one little box at a time,

364
00:22:38,315 --> 00:22:41,814
mail my possessions out of Vietnam.

365
00:22:41,815 --> 00:22:46,313
("Kashmir" by Led Zeppelin playing)

366
00:22:46,314 --> 00:22:48,548
NARRATOR: The North
Vietnamese now undertook

367
00:22:48,549 --> 00:22:51,713
a new assault on cities
in the Central Highlands,

368
00:22:51,714 --> 00:22:54,114
including Ban Me Thuot,

369
00:22:54,115 --> 00:22:57,413
where their forces outnumbered
the over-extended ARVN

370
00:22:57,414 --> 00:22:59,579
nearly six to one.

371
00:22:59,580 --> 00:23:03,181
("Kashmir" continues)

372
00:23:05,579 --> 00:23:10,046
Ban Me Thuot fell in two days.

373
00:23:10,047 --> 00:23:13,845
JAMES WILLBANKS: And here is
the second province to fall,

374
00:23:13,846 --> 00:23:17,510
and it falls fairly quickly.

375
00:23:17,511 --> 00:23:19,077
At that point, they realize,

376
00:23:19,078 --> 00:23:20,577
"Well, we don't have to wait till 1976,

377
00:23:20,578 --> 00:23:21,910
we can go for it now."

378
00:23:21,911 --> 00:23:23,943
NARRATOR: Hanoi was delighted

379
00:23:23,944 --> 00:23:27,110
by the Americans' lack of response.

380
00:23:27,111 --> 00:23:32,343
But all the previous offensives
Le Duan had set in motion...

381
00:23:32,344 --> 00:23:34,343
in 1964,

382
00:23:34,344 --> 00:23:37,142
in 1968,

383
00:23:37,143 --> 00:23:39,374
in 1972...

384
00:23:39,375 --> 00:23:43,274
had ended in failure.

385
00:23:43,275 --> 00:23:46,975
This time, he turned to
General Vo Nguyen Giap,

386
00:23:46,976 --> 00:23:49,940
the architect of the great
victory over the French

387
00:23:49,941 --> 00:23:51,506
at Dien Bien Phu,

388
00:23:51,507 --> 00:23:56,675
who had been sidelined
during the Tet Offensive.

389
00:24:18,771 --> 00:24:20,570
NARRATOR: For weeks, the ARVN top command

390
00:24:20,571 --> 00:24:23,737
had warned Thieu that his
already weakened forces

391
00:24:23,738 --> 00:24:25,636
were spread too thinly;

392
00:24:25,637 --> 00:24:29,802
that it was no longer possible
to defend the entire country.

393
00:24:29,803 --> 00:24:32,568
He had angrily resisted.

394
00:24:32,569 --> 00:24:37,036
But now, suddenly, he changed his mind.

395
00:24:37,037 --> 00:24:40,768
Thieu ordered his troops
to abandon the highlands,

396
00:24:40,769 --> 00:24:42,634
to withdraw under fire

397
00:24:42,635 --> 00:24:46,468
and then regroup in order
to retake Ban Me Thuot.

398
00:24:46,469 --> 00:24:49,067
It would have been a near-impossible task

399
00:24:49,068 --> 00:24:51,799
with a carefully worked-out plan.

400
00:24:51,800 --> 00:24:53,933
Thieu had none.

401
00:24:53,934 --> 00:24:55,535
(gunfire)

402
00:24:57,835 --> 00:24:59,632
(explosion)

403
00:24:59,633 --> 00:25:02,034
The result would be disaster.

404
00:25:20,098 --> 00:25:21,664
NARRATOR: Within a week,

405
00:25:21,665 --> 00:25:25,264
Pleiku and Kon Tum were in enemy hands.

406
00:25:26,630 --> 00:25:31,496
BAO NINH:

407
00:25:42,495 --> 00:25:45,161
According to Western
diplomats here in Saigon,

408
00:25:45,162 --> 00:25:47,828
the South Vietnamese are
quitting the Central Highlands

409
00:25:47,829 --> 00:25:50,728
because they hope to avoid a complete rout.

410
00:25:50,729 --> 00:25:52,360
The withdrawal is said to be an attempt

411
00:25:52,361 --> 00:25:55,393
to save men and equipment
that may become sorely needed

412
00:25:55,394 --> 00:25:58,293
in other, more heavily populated
parts of the country.

413
00:26:25,257 --> 00:26:28,389
NARRATOR: As the ARVN fled south,

414
00:26:28,390 --> 00:26:31,689
400,000 civilians fled with them.

415
00:26:38,355 --> 00:26:41,054
The enemy blocked the main roads

416
00:26:41,055 --> 00:26:44,421
so that they had to take
a disused back road.

417
00:26:44,422 --> 00:26:46,553
Thousands died,

418
00:26:46,554 --> 00:26:49,120
killed by North Vietnamese shells

419
00:26:49,121 --> 00:26:50,887
and machine gun fire,

420
00:26:50,888 --> 00:26:53,486
trampled by fellow refugees,

421
00:26:53,487 --> 00:26:56,119
run over by retreating tanks,

422
00:26:56,120 --> 00:26:59,453
blown apart by South Vietnamese bombs

423
00:26:59,454 --> 00:27:04,118
dropped by pilots who
mistook them for the enemy.

424
00:27:04,119 --> 00:27:08,119
Reporters called it the "Convoy of Tears."

425
00:27:10,220 --> 00:27:13,984
Then, Hue fell.

426
00:27:28,151 --> 00:27:32,048
NARRATOR: On March 29, 1975,

427
00:27:32,049 --> 00:27:35,149
the North Vietnamese entered Danang,

428
00:27:35,150 --> 00:27:37,416
South Vietnam's second-largest city.

429
00:27:39,650 --> 00:27:43,082
Civilians and soldiers alike tried to flee.

430
00:27:49,448 --> 00:27:52,314
(crowd clamoring)

431
00:27:52,315 --> 00:27:56,613
"Danang was not captured," an
American reporter remembered.

432
00:27:56,614 --> 00:28:00,845
"It disintegrated in its own terror."

433
00:28:00,846 --> 00:28:02,613
(plane engine starting)

434
00:29:17,538 --> 00:29:20,504
NARRATOR: On the same beach
where the U.S. Marines

435
00:29:20,505 --> 00:29:23,137
had landed nearly ten years earlier,

436
00:29:23,138 --> 00:29:26,803
beginning America's combat
involvement in Vietnam,

437
00:29:26,804 --> 00:29:30,968
16,000 ARVN soldiers fought for space

438
00:29:30,969 --> 00:29:34,402
with 75,000 terrified civilians

439
00:29:34,403 --> 00:29:38,334
aboard an improvised fleet of
freighters and fishing boats

440
00:29:38,335 --> 00:29:43,267
headed south for Cam Ranh
Bay, Vung Tau, and Saigon;

441
00:29:43,268 --> 00:29:48,435
anywhere they thought Northern
troops might not follow.

442
00:29:54,333 --> 00:29:58,366
Thousands drowned struggling
to reach the boats.

443
00:29:58,367 --> 00:30:01,732
Thousands more were killed by enemy shells

444
00:30:01,733 --> 00:30:04,399
raining down on the beach.

445
00:30:20,730 --> 00:30:23,329
NARRATOR: Danang, Tam Ky,

446
00:30:23,330 --> 00:30:25,697
Quang Ngai, Qui Nhon,

447
00:30:25,698 --> 00:30:29,761
Nha Trang, Cam Ranh Bay.

448
00:30:29,762 --> 00:30:33,129
The North Vietnamese kept
moving closer and closer

449
00:30:33,130 --> 00:30:34,929
to Saigon.

450
00:30:34,930 --> 00:30:40,160
It was stunning to sit there in Saigon,

451
00:30:40,161 --> 00:30:42,861
writing the daily ledes

452
00:30:42,862 --> 00:30:46,660
on the fall of all these places.

453
00:30:46,661 --> 00:30:49,759
You just were overwhelmed

454
00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:52,627
with ten years' worth of history

455
00:30:52,628 --> 00:30:56,825
and seeing all of it come unglued.

456
00:30:56,826 --> 00:30:58,126
(explosion)

457
00:30:58,127 --> 00:30:59,793
FRANK SNEPP: At the end of March,

458
00:30:59,794 --> 00:31:03,693
18 North Vietnamese divisions,

459
00:31:03,694 --> 00:31:06,125
with five in reserve,

460
00:31:06,126 --> 00:31:07,391
were now arrayed

461
00:31:07,392 --> 00:31:12,391
against, basically, six
South Vietnamese divisions.

462
00:31:12,392 --> 00:31:15,323
The manpower imbalance

463
00:31:15,324 --> 00:31:19,124
was about three or four to one,
in favor of the communists.

464
00:31:19,125 --> 00:31:21,256
This was breathtaking.

465
00:31:21,257 --> 00:31:24,089
NARRATOR: The North Vietnamese now decided

466
00:31:24,090 --> 00:31:25,990
to move against Saigon

467
00:31:25,991 --> 00:31:30,856
and take it before Ho Chi
Minh's birthday on May 19.

468
00:31:30,857 --> 00:31:33,622
It became clear to Thomas Polgar,

469
00:31:33,623 --> 00:31:36,689
the C.I.A. station chief in Saigon,

470
00:31:36,690 --> 00:31:40,454
that the time had come to begin
preparing for an evacuation.

471
00:31:40,455 --> 00:31:44,320
There were still some 5,000
Americans in Saigon,

472
00:31:44,321 --> 00:31:46,153
and there were also as many

473
00:31:46,154 --> 00:31:49,752
as 200,000 South Vietnamese
and their families

474
00:31:49,753 --> 00:31:53,519
who had cooperated with the United States.

475
00:31:53,520 --> 00:31:57,452
But Ambassador Graham Martin disagreed.

476
00:31:57,453 --> 00:31:59,852
He was a resolute Cold Warrior,

477
00:31:59,853 --> 00:32:02,151
who had been appointed to reassure Thieu

478
00:32:02,152 --> 00:32:04,885
of continuing American backing,

479
00:32:04,886 --> 00:32:07,584
and his feelings had only been intensified

480
00:32:07,585 --> 00:32:10,384
by the death of his son in Vietnam.

481
00:32:10,385 --> 00:32:12,650
He had not been appointed ambassador,

482
00:32:12,651 --> 00:32:14,384
he had told an aide,

483
00:32:14,385 --> 00:32:18,016
to "give Vietnam away to the communists."

484
00:32:18,017 --> 00:32:21,617
The C.I.A. was being alarmist, he said.

485
00:32:21,618 --> 00:32:23,883
There would be no attack on Saigon,

486
00:32:23,884 --> 00:32:27,215
and, therefore, no evacuation.

487
00:32:27,216 --> 00:32:32,449
President Thieu also continued
to insist all was not lost.

488
00:32:32,450 --> 00:32:35,615
The ARVN were ready to
"fight on to the last bullet

489
00:32:35,616 --> 00:32:38,415
and the last grain of rice," he said.

490
00:32:40,315 --> 00:32:43,246
Just 40 miles east of Saigon,

491
00:32:43,247 --> 00:32:45,480
North Vietnamese forces attacked

492
00:32:45,481 --> 00:32:48,746
the town of Xuan Loc on Highway One,

493
00:32:48,747 --> 00:32:52,979
the last obstacle on their way to Saigon.

494
00:32:52,980 --> 00:32:55,780
Although they were
outnumbered and outgunned,

495
00:32:55,781 --> 00:33:00,013
the South Vietnamese commander
refused to retreat.

496
00:33:00,014 --> 00:33:04,779
He was determined to keep
the enemy from his capital.

497
00:33:04,780 --> 00:33:07,579
REPORTER: You're certain
that you can hold Xuan Loc?

498
00:33:07,580 --> 00:33:09,112
Surely, surely.

499
00:33:09,113 --> 00:33:10,843
I am certain to you.

500
00:33:10,844 --> 00:33:13,643
I am sure with you I can hold Xuan Loc.

501
00:33:13,644 --> 00:33:16,778
Even the enemies uses, you
know, the double forces

502
00:33:16,779 --> 00:33:19,709
or maybe three time more than my forces.

503
00:33:19,710 --> 00:33:21,043
But no problem, sir.

504
00:33:21,044 --> 00:33:22,477
No problem.

505
00:33:23,843 --> 00:33:26,543
FORD: A vast human tragedy

506
00:33:26,544 --> 00:33:31,341
has befallen our friends
in Vietnam and Cambodia.

507
00:33:31,342 --> 00:33:33,042
NARRATOR: On April 10,

508
00:33:33,043 --> 00:33:36,707
President Ford appealed to a
joint session of Congress

509
00:33:36,708 --> 00:33:39,508
for emergency aid to Saigon.

510
00:33:39,509 --> 00:33:42,108
If they refused and Saigon fell,

511
00:33:42,109 --> 00:33:45,739
Congress, not the White
House, should take the blame.

512
00:33:45,740 --> 00:33:48,507
Under five presidents and 12 Congresses,

513
00:33:48,508 --> 00:33:52,839
the United States was engaged in Indochina.

514
00:33:52,840 --> 00:33:56,405
Millions of Americans served,

515
00:33:56,406 --> 00:33:58,506
thousands died,

516
00:33:58,507 --> 00:34:03,337
and many more were wounded,
imprisoned, or lost.

517
00:34:03,338 --> 00:34:07,837
NARRATOR: The president asked
Congress for $722 million

518
00:34:07,838 --> 00:34:09,637
in military aid.

519
00:34:09,638 --> 00:34:11,505
There was no applause.

520
00:34:11,506 --> 00:34:14,937
Most legislators, and their constituents,

521
00:34:14,938 --> 00:34:18,104
thought it was too late
to make any difference.

522
00:34:18,105 --> 00:34:23,235
In the end, Congress voted
against any military aid.

523
00:34:23,236 --> 00:34:25,869
BUI DIEM: I didn't think that it is good

524
00:34:25,870 --> 00:34:30,169
for a big nation like the U.S.
to behave like that.

525
00:34:30,170 --> 00:34:31,868
Because by that time,

526
00:34:31,869 --> 00:34:35,734
we didn't ask for the blood
of American soldiers.

527
00:34:35,735 --> 00:34:40,168
I mean, the last minute, they
washed their hands like that.

528
00:34:40,169 --> 00:34:43,200
It is not up to a diplomat
to use strong words

529
00:34:43,201 --> 00:34:44,668
against the American,

530
00:34:44,669 --> 00:34:47,934
but I felt deeply sorry about it.

531
00:34:50,534 --> 00:34:53,466
SNEPP: We broke every rule in
the book to get people out,

532
00:34:53,467 --> 00:34:56,533
the young officers did,

533
00:34:56,534 --> 00:35:01,865
while the ambassador continued to stonewall

534
00:35:01,866 --> 00:35:04,099
both the embassy and Washington.

535
00:35:04,100 --> 00:35:08,065
NARRATOR: Evacuation plans
were finally drawn up.

536
00:35:08,066 --> 00:35:11,330
There were four options:

537
00:35:11,331 --> 00:35:16,829
sealift by cargo ships anchored
in the port of Saigon,

538
00:35:16,830 --> 00:35:20,196
airlift by commercial airliner,

539
00:35:20,197 --> 00:35:23,030
a military airlift,

540
00:35:23,031 --> 00:35:25,395
and, as a last resort,

541
00:35:25,396 --> 00:35:27,929
evacuation by flights of helicopters

542
00:35:27,930 --> 00:35:31,128
to a flotilla of U.S. Navy ships

543
00:35:31,129 --> 00:35:33,995
in the South China Sea.

544
00:35:33,996 --> 00:35:38,361
Ambassador Martin continued
to show little interest.

545
00:35:38,362 --> 00:35:40,327
The slightest sign that the United States

546
00:35:40,328 --> 00:35:43,261
would abandon South Vietnam, he said,

547
00:35:43,262 --> 00:35:47,094
would produce panic in the streets.

548
00:35:47,095 --> 00:35:48,261
(gunfire and explosions)

549
00:35:48,262 --> 00:35:50,061
On April 21,

550
00:35:50,062 --> 00:35:53,625
Xuan Loc finally fell to
the North Vietnamese.

551
00:35:53,626 --> 00:35:58,825
The ARVN had valiantly held
on for 12 bloody days.

552
00:35:58,826 --> 00:36:04,691
Highway One was now open
all the way to Saigon.

553
00:36:04,692 --> 00:36:09,957
That evening, President Thieu resigned.

554
00:36:09,958 --> 00:36:15,091
Four days later, the C.I.A.
would spirit Thieu to Taiwan,

555
00:36:15,092 --> 00:36:17,122
where an American emissary brought him

556
00:36:17,123 --> 00:36:19,923
a private message from President Ford.

557
00:36:19,924 --> 00:36:23,822
It was not a good time for
him to visit America.

558
00:36:23,823 --> 00:36:27,621
Antiwar feelings were too strong.

559
00:36:27,622 --> 00:36:31,056
"It is so easy to be an enemy
of the United States,"

560
00:36:31,057 --> 00:36:32,556
Thieu said,

561
00:36:32,557 --> 00:36:36,255
"but so difficult to be a friend."

562
00:36:36,256 --> 00:36:39,220
News of Thieu's resignation

563
00:36:39,221 --> 00:36:42,187
had sent thousands of panicked Vietnamese

564
00:36:42,188 --> 00:36:44,420
rushing to Tan Son Nhut Airport,

565
00:36:44,421 --> 00:36:47,119
hoping to get out of their country.

566
00:36:47,120 --> 00:36:52,653
Some had exit visas; many did not.

567
00:36:52,654 --> 00:36:57,318
Marines did what they
could to establish order.

568
00:36:57,319 --> 00:37:01,851
Master Sergeant Juan Valdez was
the noncommissioned officer

569
00:37:01,852 --> 00:37:06,351
in charge of Marine Corps
Security Guards in Saigon.

570
00:37:06,352 --> 00:37:08,485
He had been one of the first Marines

571
00:37:08,486 --> 00:37:12,551
to land in Vietnam in 1965.

572
00:37:12,552 --> 00:37:15,683
VALDEZ: People were trying
to bribe the Marines.

573
00:37:15,684 --> 00:37:19,183
You know, they were bringing
money out there, jewelry,

574
00:37:19,184 --> 00:37:21,382
to get them out of the country.

575
00:37:21,383 --> 00:37:23,250
I think just about every
Marine that was at the gate

576
00:37:23,251 --> 00:37:25,315
encountered this type of bribes.

577
00:37:25,316 --> 00:37:27,750
But they had to refuse them, yeah, yeah.

578
00:37:27,751 --> 00:37:31,114
NARRATOR: Duong Van Mai Elliott's family

579
00:37:31,115 --> 00:37:33,915
had fled Hanoi in 1954,

580
00:37:33,916 --> 00:37:37,015
leaving behind her older sister, Thang,

581
00:37:37,016 --> 00:37:39,947
who had joined Ho Chi Minh's forces.

582
00:37:39,948 --> 00:37:42,347
Now, 20 years later,

583
00:37:42,348 --> 00:37:45,380
with the North Vietnamese
closing in on Saigon,

584
00:37:45,381 --> 00:37:47,247
they were faced with the prospect

585
00:37:47,248 --> 00:37:50,413
of fleeing once again.

586
00:37:50,414 --> 00:37:53,779
DUONG VAN MAI ELLIOTT: My
mother didn't want to leave.

587
00:37:53,780 --> 00:37:56,611
She said she didn't want
to be a refugee again.

588
00:37:56,612 --> 00:37:59,345
She had been a refugee too many times.

589
00:37:59,346 --> 00:38:02,246
Plus, my sister Thang was about to arrive

590
00:38:02,247 --> 00:38:05,777
and meet us after all these years.

591
00:38:05,778 --> 00:38:10,810
She said she wanted to stay and see Thang.

592
00:38:10,811 --> 00:38:14,276
My father was determined to leave,

593
00:38:14,277 --> 00:38:18,376
because he was afraid that if
we stayed, we'd be killed.

594
00:38:18,377 --> 00:38:23,009
He got mad at my mother, and they argued,

595
00:38:23,010 --> 00:38:25,308
but in the end, my mother yielded

596
00:38:25,309 --> 00:38:28,843
to his, uh, insistence that we should...
they should leave.

597
00:38:30,477 --> 00:38:33,008
PHAN QUANG TUE: I knew that
the end was approaching.

598
00:38:33,009 --> 00:38:36,207
When you are at the center of the storm,

599
00:38:36,208 --> 00:38:38,374
you have to get out.

600
00:38:38,375 --> 00:38:43,606
When I myself and my immediate family,

601
00:38:43,607 --> 00:38:45,606
and my father and his immediate family,

602
00:38:45,607 --> 00:38:48,241
went to the Tan Son Nhut Airport,

603
00:38:48,242 --> 00:38:52,205
through the whole thing I said,
"This is crazy, you know.

604
00:38:52,206 --> 00:38:55,772
Why, why do we have to leave
under these conditions?"

605
00:38:55,773 --> 00:38:57,339
It was so humiliating.

606
00:38:57,340 --> 00:39:02,671
And I carry that humiliation
with me to the United States.

607
00:39:02,672 --> 00:39:05,472
When I get in line to sign up for a job,

608
00:39:05,473 --> 00:39:07,471
you know, I was a...

609
00:39:07,472 --> 00:39:10,937
I remind them of the war in Vietnam,

610
00:39:10,938 --> 00:39:13,603
which the Americans hate.

611
00:39:13,604 --> 00:39:16,637
You have to lose a nation and a dream

612
00:39:16,638 --> 00:39:20,138
to feel... to feel that humiliation.

613
00:40:40,495 --> 00:40:43,827
JEAN-MARIE CROCKER: We
have always sent a wreath

614
00:40:43,828 --> 00:40:47,993
to his grave at Arlington.

615
00:40:47,994 --> 00:40:51,060
Partly in remembrance, of course, of him,

616
00:40:51,061 --> 00:40:55,059
but also thinking, if other
grieving people are there,

617
00:40:55,060 --> 00:40:59,226
or just people that are
visiting to pay their respects,

618
00:40:59,227 --> 00:41:03,558
that it's good for them
to know that people are,

619
00:41:03,559 --> 00:41:05,858
that the soldiers are remembered.

620
00:41:20,256 --> 00:41:22,755
FORD: Today...

621
00:41:22,756 --> 00:41:26,822
America can regain the sense of pride

622
00:41:26,823 --> 00:41:29,687
that existed before Vietnam.

623
00:41:29,688 --> 00:41:34,555
But it cannot be achieved
by refighting a war

624
00:41:34,556 --> 00:41:38,653
that is finished as far
as America is concerned.

625
00:41:38,654 --> 00:41:41,555
(applause)

626
00:41:43,388 --> 00:41:44,487
(explosion)

627
00:41:44,488 --> 00:41:47,785
NARRATOR: On April 27, 1975,

628
00:41:47,786 --> 00:41:51,053
rockets landed in the heart of Saigon.

629
00:41:51,054 --> 00:41:54,252
It was the signal for the
North Vietnamese to begin

630
00:41:54,253 --> 00:41:56,651
their main assault on the city.

631
00:41:56,652 --> 00:42:00,119
They attacked from five sides,

632
00:42:00,120 --> 00:42:03,219
"like a hurricane," their commander said.

633
00:42:03,220 --> 00:42:06,884
The White House ordered
all American cargo ships

634
00:42:06,885 --> 00:42:09,350
to sail out to sea without waiting

635
00:42:09,351 --> 00:42:11,683
to take on any passengers.

636
00:42:11,684 --> 00:42:15,483
There now could be no organized sealift.

637
00:42:15,484 --> 00:42:19,750
(Jimi Hendrix Experience's "All
Along the Watchtower" playing)

638
00:42:27,082 --> 00:42:29,648
NARRATOR: When the
communists began shelling

639
00:42:29,649 --> 00:42:33,814
the seaside town of Vung Tau,
just southeast of Saigon,

640
00:42:33,815 --> 00:42:35,780
thousands of terrified people

641
00:42:35,781 --> 00:42:38,280
clambered into any vessel they could find

642
00:42:38,281 --> 00:42:41,214
in hope of rescue by the Americans.

643
00:42:41,215 --> 00:42:43,813
Before the exodus ended,

644
00:42:43,814 --> 00:42:46,947
more than 60,000 refugees from Vung Tau

645
00:42:46,948 --> 00:42:48,679
would be picked up.

646
00:42:48,680 --> 00:42:51,979
But thousands more were left behind,

647
00:42:51,980 --> 00:42:55,745
floating helplessly at sea.

648
00:42:55,746 --> 00:42:57,778
At the American Embassy,

649
00:42:57,779 --> 00:43:00,844
Ambassador Martin cabled Henry Kissinger,

650
00:43:00,845 --> 00:43:02,512
now secretary of state,

651
00:43:02,513 --> 00:43:04,811
that "It is the unanimous opinion

652
00:43:04,812 --> 00:43:06,777
"of the senior personnel here

653
00:43:06,778 --> 00:43:11,877
that there will be no direct
or serious attack on Saigon."

654
00:43:11,878 --> 00:43:14,143
SNEPP: A lot of us began to wonder

655
00:43:14,144 --> 00:43:17,309
whether he had lost grip on reality.

656
00:43:17,310 --> 00:43:22,210
He had come down with
pneumonia in the final days.

657
00:43:22,211 --> 00:43:24,675
He was terribly enfeebled.

658
00:43:24,676 --> 00:43:27,741
And it's possible this
affected his judgment.

659
00:43:27,742 --> 00:43:31,808
NARRATOR: Evacuation planners
had quietly designated

660
00:43:31,809 --> 00:43:33,674
two spots within the embassy

661
00:43:33,675 --> 00:43:36,340
as potential helicopter landing zones...

662
00:43:36,341 --> 00:43:39,640
a courtyard that could
accommodate large choppers,

663
00:43:39,641 --> 00:43:42,041
and the helipad on the embassy roof,

664
00:43:42,042 --> 00:43:44,607
meant for smaller ones.

665
00:43:44,608 --> 00:43:48,973
An old tamarind tree stood in
the center of the courtyard.

666
00:43:48,974 --> 00:43:52,539
Again and again, the Marines
asked Ambassador Martin

667
00:43:52,540 --> 00:43:54,606
for permission to cut it down

668
00:43:54,607 --> 00:43:57,872
so as not to interfere with
the lift-offs and landings

669
00:43:57,873 --> 00:44:00,938
they were certain would soon have to begin.

670
00:44:00,939 --> 00:44:03,770
He always refused.

671
00:44:03,771 --> 00:44:07,438
That tree was a symbol of
American resolve, he said.

672
00:44:07,439 --> 00:44:11,470
Cutting it down would
send the wrong message.

673
00:44:11,471 --> 00:44:14,437
Meanwhile, General Duong Van Minh,

674
00:44:14,438 --> 00:44:16,104
who had been part of the coup

675
00:44:16,105 --> 00:44:19,802
that overthrew President
Diem 12 years earlier,

676
00:44:19,803 --> 00:44:23,603
was sworn in as the new
president of South Vietnam.

677
00:44:23,604 --> 00:44:26,503
He called for an immediate cease-fire

678
00:44:26,504 --> 00:44:32,567
and asked that Americans
leave within 24 hours.

679
00:44:32,568 --> 00:44:33,868
(explosion)

680
00:44:33,869 --> 00:44:36,967
NARRATOR: On April 29,
at 3:58 in the morning,

681
00:44:36,968 --> 00:44:39,800
North Vietnamese rockets began falling

682
00:44:39,801 --> 00:44:42,101
on Tan Son Nhut Airport.

683
00:44:42,102 --> 00:44:44,434
The North Vietnamese were just...

684
00:44:44,435 --> 00:44:46,100
walking these shells...

685
00:44:46,101 --> 00:44:48,366
these big 130-millimeter artillery shells

686
00:44:48,367 --> 00:44:49,933
all over the airfield,

687
00:44:49,934 --> 00:44:51,799
destroying the runway, basically.

688
00:44:51,800 --> 00:44:53,165
It was close enough

689
00:44:53,166 --> 00:44:54,798
that you could hear the
incoming go overhead.

690
00:44:54,799 --> 00:44:55,965
(whistling, explosion)

691
00:44:55,966 --> 00:44:58,264
NARRATOR: Two Marine guards,

692
00:44:58,265 --> 00:45:02,164
Lance Corporal Darwin Judge,
of Marshalltown, Iowa,

693
00:45:02,165 --> 00:45:06,464
and Corporal Charles McMahon,
Jr., of Woburn, Massachusetts,

694
00:45:06,465 --> 00:45:08,698
were killed in the barrage...

695
00:45:08,699 --> 00:45:13,097
the last American servicemen
to die in Vietnam.

696
00:45:13,098 --> 00:45:16,197
♪ All along the watchtower...

697
00:45:16,198 --> 00:45:18,396
VALDEZ: I still blame the ambassador.

698
00:45:18,397 --> 00:45:19,729
This shouldn't have happened.

699
00:45:19,730 --> 00:45:21,895
You know, if the ambassador
had taken action

700
00:45:21,896 --> 00:45:25,161
and gotten people out of there,
which he was supposed to,

701
00:45:25,162 --> 00:45:28,228
this would have never happened.

702
00:45:28,229 --> 00:45:30,727
NARRATOR: The runways were cratered

703
00:45:30,728 --> 00:45:32,528
and blocked by wrecked planes,

704
00:45:32,529 --> 00:45:36,760
littered with jettisoned
bombs and fuel tanks.

705
00:45:36,761 --> 00:45:41,427
The Americans had run out
of evacuation options.

706
00:45:41,428 --> 00:45:44,460
It was time to call in the helicopters

707
00:45:44,461 --> 00:45:46,860
from the offshore fleet.

708
00:45:46,861 --> 00:45:48,225
There was no way

709
00:45:48,226 --> 00:45:50,325
all of the remaining South Vietnamese

710
00:45:50,326 --> 00:45:52,527
could be evacuated.

711
00:45:54,326 --> 00:45:56,526
(chain saws buzzing)

712
00:45:56,527 --> 00:45:59,291
The tamarind tree in the embassy compound

713
00:45:59,292 --> 00:46:01,257
was finally hacked down

714
00:46:01,258 --> 00:46:04,257
so helicopters could begin landing.

715
00:46:04,258 --> 00:46:07,491
VALDEZ: So they had to chop
this big tamarind tree down,

716
00:46:07,492 --> 00:46:09,991
cut it in pieces, tow it away.

717
00:46:09,992 --> 00:46:11,991
And then they had to get
the fire department

718
00:46:11,992 --> 00:46:14,755
to wash all the debris and everything

719
00:46:14,756 --> 00:46:16,155
so when the choppers land,

720
00:46:16,156 --> 00:46:17,856
they wouldn't suck up all those debris

721
00:46:17,857 --> 00:46:20,389
into the, uh, into the engines.

722
00:46:20,390 --> 00:46:23,288
NARRATOR: Just after 11:00 a.m.,

723
00:46:23,289 --> 00:46:26,022
a prearranged signal to
evacuate was broadcast

724
00:46:26,023 --> 00:46:30,022
over a special radio
frequency in the capital:

725
00:46:30,023 --> 00:46:34,753
"The temperature in Saigon
is 105 degrees and rising."

726
00:46:34,754 --> 00:46:36,387
("White Christmas" by
Tennessee Ernie Ford playing)

727
00:46:36,388 --> 00:46:38,220
♪ I'm dreaming...

728
00:46:38,221 --> 00:46:40,720
NARRATOR: It was supposed to
be followed by Bing Crosby

729
00:46:40,721 --> 00:46:42,953
singing "White Christmas."

730
00:46:42,954 --> 00:46:45,619
But the disc jockey
couldn't find the record

731
00:46:45,620 --> 00:46:50,852
and played Tennessee Ernie
Ford's version instead.

732
00:46:50,853 --> 00:46:54,818
Americans and Vietnamese with proper papers

733
00:46:54,819 --> 00:46:57,651
gathered at pre-arranged collection points

734
00:46:57,652 --> 00:47:00,250
and boarded convoys of buses.

735
00:47:00,251 --> 00:47:04,185
Angry South Vietnamese beat
on the sides of the vehicles

736
00:47:04,186 --> 00:47:06,650
as they moved through the crowded streets

737
00:47:06,651 --> 00:47:08,783
to the airport.

738
00:47:08,784 --> 00:47:13,316
Philip Caputo, now covering
the fall of Saigon,

739
00:47:13,317 --> 00:47:16,149
was among the evacuees.

740
00:47:16,150 --> 00:47:19,315
PHILIP CAPUTO: We were evacuated
from Tan Son Nhut Air Base.

741
00:47:19,316 --> 00:47:23,382
But we drove past the embassy,
and you just saw this scrum,

742
00:47:23,383 --> 00:47:28,247
this horde of people pressing
up against the walls,

743
00:47:28,248 --> 00:47:31,182
and Marines standing on the wall

744
00:47:31,183 --> 00:47:36,546
and gun-butting people
to, uh, to keep them...

745
00:47:36,547 --> 00:47:38,981
to keep them from pouring over the walls.

746
00:47:38,982 --> 00:47:41,947
NARRATOR: The evacuees at
the airport were divided

747
00:47:41,948 --> 00:47:44,879
into helicopter teams of 50 each,

748
00:47:44,880 --> 00:47:48,112
and led down a long hallway to the tarmac.

749
00:47:48,113 --> 00:47:50,612
Someone in Caputo's group joked

750
00:47:50,613 --> 00:47:55,778
about finally seeing "light
at the end of the tunnel."

751
00:47:55,779 --> 00:47:57,845
The choppers take off.

752
00:47:57,846 --> 00:48:01,411
And they're flying, uh...
flying toward the coast.

753
00:48:01,412 --> 00:48:05,043
And you could look down
and all you could see,

754
00:48:05,044 --> 00:48:07,310
all around Saigon, all around the airfield,

755
00:48:07,311 --> 00:48:10,876
were just these plumes of
smoke from burning buildings,

756
00:48:10,877 --> 00:48:13,309
from exploding artillery shells.

757
00:48:13,310 --> 00:48:16,209
And I'll never forget going
over that coastline,

758
00:48:16,210 --> 00:48:20,241
seeing the entire 7th
Fleet... dozens and dozens...

759
00:48:20,242 --> 00:48:23,342
and this enormous fleet
out there like that.

760
00:48:23,343 --> 00:48:28,307
And I just remember this sense
of, of disbelief, completely.

761
00:48:28,308 --> 00:48:31,375
Disbelief and relief at the same time.

762
00:48:34,476 --> 00:48:36,740
VALDEZ: There were anywhere
from 10,000 to 12,000 people

763
00:48:36,741 --> 00:48:39,074
surrounding the embassy.

764
00:48:39,075 --> 00:48:42,474
We're supposed to get
Americans out of there.

765
00:48:42,475 --> 00:48:44,806
And we were supposed to
get South Vietnamese

766
00:48:44,807 --> 00:48:47,673
that worked for us in the embassy.

767
00:48:47,674 --> 00:48:50,006
The C.I.A. was behind us,

768
00:48:50,007 --> 00:48:51,305
and they were pointing at the people

769
00:48:51,306 --> 00:48:53,238
who were supposed to get out.

770
00:48:53,239 --> 00:48:56,037
But every time you reached out
to grab a specific individual,

771
00:48:56,038 --> 00:48:57,905
other people were grabbing your hands

772
00:48:57,906 --> 00:48:59,972
and trying to pull you
down with them, you know,

773
00:48:59,973 --> 00:49:01,472
so that you could help them out.

774
00:49:01,473 --> 00:49:05,136
SNEPP: Some Americans had left so rapidly,

775
00:49:05,137 --> 00:49:07,803
they'd left the radios behind.

776
00:49:07,804 --> 00:49:11,937
So their Vietnamese friends
were on the radios

777
00:49:11,938 --> 00:49:13,802
begging to be rescued.

778
00:49:13,803 --> 00:49:16,170
"I'm Han, the driver."

779
00:49:16,171 --> 00:49:19,403
"I'm Mr. Ngoc, your translator."

780
00:49:19,404 --> 00:49:24,234
I realized what the Americans
had often done in Vietnam.

781
00:49:24,235 --> 00:49:29,170
They had forgotten that
these were human beings.

782
00:49:31,301 --> 00:49:33,700
My experience in Vietnam

783
00:49:33,701 --> 00:49:39,933
had often been like a
B-52 strike from on high.

784
00:49:39,934 --> 00:49:43,866
I never had to confront the
consequences of my action.

785
00:49:43,867 --> 00:49:47,099
I could just let the bomb doors open

786
00:49:47,100 --> 00:49:51,432
and still remain detached.

787
00:49:51,433 --> 00:49:53,765
NARRATOR: Elsewhere in the embassy,

788
00:49:53,766 --> 00:49:57,931
Marines frantically destroyed
classified documents.

789
00:49:57,932 --> 00:50:01,030
VALDEZ: The top of the roof
had two big incinerators

790
00:50:01,031 --> 00:50:03,565
right underneath the helicopter pad.

791
00:50:03,566 --> 00:50:06,130
And the Marines burned classified material

792
00:50:06,131 --> 00:50:08,196
around the clock.

793
00:50:08,197 --> 00:50:10,363
But to my understanding, even when we left,

794
00:50:10,364 --> 00:50:14,096
there was still classified
material left behind.

795
00:50:14,097 --> 00:50:17,762
SNEPP: Well, when the choppers
finally began coming in,

796
00:50:17,763 --> 00:50:20,595
the downdraft ripped open those bags

797
00:50:20,596 --> 00:50:22,996
and there was classified material

798
00:50:22,997 --> 00:50:26,361
all over the parking lot.

799
00:50:26,362 --> 00:50:28,294
When the North Vietnamese arrived,

800
00:50:28,295 --> 00:50:34,093
they apparently Scotch-taped
that material back together

801
00:50:34,094 --> 00:50:36,360
and it became a blood
list that they could use

802
00:50:36,361 --> 00:50:39,693
to track down people, Vietnamese,
who'd worked for us.

803
00:50:39,694 --> 00:50:43,560
NARRATOR: Embassy officials
dumped bags of currency

804
00:50:43,561 --> 00:50:45,025
into an oil drum

805
00:50:45,026 --> 00:50:46,792
and set it afire.

806
00:50:46,793 --> 00:50:49,560
Millions of dollars in contingency funds

807
00:50:49,561 --> 00:50:51,758
went up in smoke.

808
00:50:51,759 --> 00:50:55,492
"This will be the final
message from Saigon station,"

809
00:50:55,493 --> 00:50:59,659
the C.I.A. chief Thomas
Polgar wired to Washington.

810
00:50:59,660 --> 00:51:04,590
"It has been a long fight and we have lost.

811
00:51:04,591 --> 00:51:07,523
"Those who fail to learn from history

812
00:51:07,524 --> 00:51:09,589
"are forced to repeat it.

813
00:51:09,590 --> 00:51:13,923
"Let us hope that we will not
have another Vietnam experience

814
00:51:13,924 --> 00:51:16,689
"and that we have learned our lesson.

815
00:51:16,690 --> 00:51:20,022
Saigon signing off."

816
00:51:23,589 --> 00:51:26,389
More than 50 U.S. helicopters

817
00:51:26,390 --> 00:51:29,555
now crisscrossed the sky over Saigon,

818
00:51:29,556 --> 00:51:33,087
picking up evacuees from
designated rooftops,

819
00:51:33,088 --> 00:51:35,420
as well as the embassy,

820
00:51:35,421 --> 00:51:38,753
ferrying them to the fleet far out at sea,

821
00:51:38,754 --> 00:51:40,555
then returning for more.

822
00:51:42,287 --> 00:51:45,118
Some desperate South Vietnamese officers

823
00:51:45,119 --> 00:51:47,053
also commandeered helicopters

824
00:51:47,054 --> 00:51:49,419
for themselves and their families,

825
00:51:49,420 --> 00:51:51,453
dangerously crowding the decks

826
00:51:51,454 --> 00:51:54,052
of the American aircraft carriers.

827
00:51:54,053 --> 00:51:56,985
There was no room for them.

828
00:51:56,986 --> 00:51:59,684
WILLBANKS: The image
that remains in my mind

829
00:51:59,685 --> 00:52:01,717
is the picture of the helicopter

830
00:52:01,718 --> 00:52:04,551
being pushed over the side of the carrier.

831
00:52:04,552 --> 00:52:07,783
The helicopter was everything in Vietnam.

832
00:52:07,784 --> 00:52:10,683
I mean, it was dust-off, it was resupply,

833
00:52:10,684 --> 00:52:13,115
it was fire support, it was everything.

834
00:52:13,116 --> 00:52:18,249
All I could think of was:
what a waste, what a waste.

835
00:52:18,250 --> 00:52:20,781
As I watched that all unfold,

836
00:52:20,782 --> 00:52:24,882
I, I felt responsible.

837
00:52:24,883 --> 00:52:26,114
I was ashamed.

838
00:52:26,115 --> 00:52:28,181
We had told these people

839
00:52:28,182 --> 00:52:30,448
that we would be there to support them

840
00:52:30,449 --> 00:52:31,949
and we were not.

841
00:52:37,049 --> 00:52:40,913
SNEPP: About 9:15 on the last night,

842
00:52:40,914 --> 00:52:44,147
Polgar came and he said,
"We've got to all leave.

843
00:52:44,148 --> 00:52:45,779
"We've been ordered by
headquarters to leave.

844
00:52:45,780 --> 00:52:47,479
Let's go."

845
00:52:47,480 --> 00:52:51,678
NARRATOR: Ambassador Martin had
wanted to be the last man to leave.

846
00:52:51,679 --> 00:52:55,479
But at about 4:00 in the
morning of April 30,

847
00:52:55,480 --> 00:52:59,844
a CH-46 touched down on the embassy roof.

848
00:52:59,845 --> 00:53:03,878
Its pilot carried orders
from the president himself.

849
00:53:03,879 --> 00:53:07,776
Martin was to leave, now.

850
00:53:07,777 --> 00:53:10,276
"I guess this is it," he said.

851
00:53:10,277 --> 00:53:12,444
As Martin was helped aboard,

852
00:53:12,445 --> 00:53:15,108
he was handed the furled American flag

853
00:53:15,109 --> 00:53:19,376
that had flown from the
flagstaff the previous day.

854
00:53:19,377 --> 00:53:25,375
He lifted off at 4:58 a.m.
and headed out to sea.

855
00:53:25,376 --> 00:53:29,442
President Ford had also
ordered that from then on,

856
00:53:29,443 --> 00:53:33,840
only Americans would be evacuated.

857
00:53:33,841 --> 00:53:37,740
Tens of thousands of South Vietnamese

858
00:53:37,741 --> 00:53:39,706
would be left behind,

859
00:53:39,707 --> 00:53:42,440
and more than 400 were still waiting

860
00:53:42,441 --> 00:53:44,140
in the embassy courtyard.

861
00:53:44,141 --> 00:53:46,873
Time and again, they had been assured

862
00:53:46,874 --> 00:53:50,838
helicopters were on the
way to pick them up.

863
00:53:50,839 --> 00:53:53,504
HERRINGTON: I was directed

864
00:53:53,505 --> 00:53:56,805
to stay with the Vietnamese
and keep them warm,

865
00:53:56,806 --> 00:53:59,503
meaning, "Don't give any hint

866
00:53:59,504 --> 00:54:05,170
that all these promises we
made to them are for naught."

867
00:54:05,171 --> 00:54:07,370
I felt sick at heart, I had a hard time.

868
00:54:07,371 --> 00:54:09,336
It was dark out, so I didn't have to worry

869
00:54:09,337 --> 00:54:12,470
about looking these folks in the eye.

870
00:54:12,471 --> 00:54:15,602
But I made my excuse and,
um, (speaks Vietnamese)...

871
00:54:15,603 --> 00:54:17,568
"I have to go to the bathroom."

872
00:54:17,569 --> 00:54:20,936
And left into the landscaping,

873
00:54:20,937 --> 00:54:23,835
circuitous route to the
back door of the embassy,

874
00:54:23,836 --> 00:54:25,567
to the chancery building,

875
00:54:25,568 --> 00:54:27,968
and made my way to the roof.

876
00:54:27,969 --> 00:54:32,834
NARRATOR: Some 129 Marines
remained in the compound.

877
00:54:32,835 --> 00:54:34,134
They did their best

878
00:54:34,135 --> 00:54:37,566
to pull back into the embassy
and up onto the roof

879
00:54:37,567 --> 00:54:39,134
without alerting the Vietnamese

880
00:54:39,135 --> 00:54:42,300
that they were about to be left behind.

881
00:54:42,301 --> 00:54:45,433
VALDEZ: We locked ourselves
inside the embassy

882
00:54:45,434 --> 00:54:48,832
and found ourselves up on the roof.

883
00:54:48,833 --> 00:54:51,299
It was actually after we
got up on top of the roof

884
00:54:51,300 --> 00:54:53,264
that we started seeing all
these masses of people.

885
00:54:53,265 --> 00:54:55,731
Some of them had already come
on the embassy compound.

886
00:54:55,732 --> 00:54:57,331
And they broke those doors.

887
00:54:57,332 --> 00:55:00,231
And that's how those, uh, South Vietnamese

888
00:55:00,232 --> 00:55:03,664
were able to get inside the embassy.

889
00:55:05,997 --> 00:55:10,695
RON NESSEN: This action closes a
chapter in the American experience.

890
00:55:10,696 --> 00:55:15,262
The president asks all
Americans to close ranks,

891
00:55:15,263 --> 00:55:19,561
to avoid recriminations about the past,

892
00:55:19,562 --> 00:55:22,494
and to work together on the great tasks

893
00:55:22,495 --> 00:55:25,594
that remain to be accomplished.

894
00:55:25,595 --> 00:55:30,093
Now, to, uh, give you details of
the events of the past few days

895
00:55:30,094 --> 00:55:31,961
and to answer your questions,

896
00:55:31,962 --> 00:55:33,428
Secretary of State Kissinger.

897
00:55:33,429 --> 00:55:34,760
REPORTER: Mr. Secretary, are you confident

898
00:55:34,761 --> 00:55:37,059
that all the Americans
that wanted to come out

899
00:55:37,060 --> 00:55:38,860
are out of Saigon,

900
00:55:38,861 --> 00:55:40,460
and do you have any idea

901
00:55:40,461 --> 00:55:42,259
of the number of Americans
who remain behind?

902
00:55:42,260 --> 00:55:44,992
I have no idea of the number of Americans

903
00:55:44,993 --> 00:55:46,658
that remain behind.

904
00:55:46,659 --> 00:55:50,191
Uh, I am confident that every American

905
00:55:50,192 --> 00:55:51,558
who wanted to come out,

906
00:55:51,559 --> 00:55:54,757
uh, is, is out.

907
00:55:54,758 --> 00:55:57,757
What we need now in this country

908
00:55:57,758 --> 00:56:01,758
is to heal the wounds and
to put Vietnam behind us.

909
00:56:03,458 --> 00:56:06,624
NARRATOR: An aide handed Kissinger a note.

910
00:56:06,625 --> 00:56:09,656
It said that the 129 Marines

911
00:56:09,657 --> 00:56:13,923
had somehow been left
behind on the embassy roof.

912
00:56:13,924 --> 00:56:17,389
Helicopters were dispatched
to pick them up.

913
00:56:17,390 --> 00:56:20,389
Eventually, only Sergeant Valdez

914
00:56:20,390 --> 00:56:25,187
and his ten-man embassy
security unit remained.

915
00:56:25,188 --> 00:56:27,754
But then, an hour went by

916
00:56:27,755 --> 00:56:30,354
with no sign of any more helicopters.

917
00:56:30,355 --> 00:56:32,921
Their radio was dead.

918
00:56:32,922 --> 00:56:36,121
The Marines had no way to contact the fleet

919
00:56:36,122 --> 00:56:39,552
to see if anyone was on the way.

920
00:56:39,553 --> 00:56:41,353
VALDEZ: Everything stopped.

921
00:56:41,354 --> 00:56:43,152
We're being left behind.

922
00:56:43,153 --> 00:56:46,052
People are sitting around in
their own little thoughts,

923
00:56:46,053 --> 00:56:48,852
uh, not doing too much talking.

924
00:56:48,853 --> 00:56:51,952
We pretty much decided that we
were going to fight it out,

925
00:56:51,953 --> 00:56:53,385
use these small arms that we had

926
00:56:53,386 --> 00:56:55,818
and just fight it to the end.

927
00:56:55,819 --> 00:57:00,683
We started seeing two puffs of
smoke coming from out at sea.

928
00:57:00,684 --> 00:57:03,918
As they got closer, then
we were able to determine

929
00:57:03,919 --> 00:57:05,649
that they were helicopters.

930
00:57:05,650 --> 00:57:07,917
It was a relief.

931
00:57:07,918 --> 00:57:10,316
One of the Marines, I believe
it was Staff Sergeant Sullivan,

932
00:57:10,317 --> 00:57:11,482
my assistant,

933
00:57:11,483 --> 00:57:13,182
grabbed me and started pulling me in

934
00:57:13,183 --> 00:57:14,748
as the ramp's going up.

935
00:57:14,749 --> 00:57:21,315
NARRATOR: At 7:53 a.m., April 30, 1975,

936
00:57:21,316 --> 00:57:25,714
the last helicopter lifted
off the embassy roof.

937
00:57:25,715 --> 00:57:28,348
Master Sergeant Juan Valdez

938
00:57:28,349 --> 00:57:33,079
was the last American to climb aboard.

939
00:57:33,080 --> 00:57:35,579
(sirens wailing)

940
00:57:35,580 --> 00:57:37,979
The government of South Vietnam

941
00:57:37,980 --> 00:57:40,515
had less than five hours to live.

942
00:57:44,780 --> 00:57:49,779
President Minh spoke from
the palace at mid-morning.

943
00:57:49,780 --> 00:57:53,577
He urged what was left of
the South Vietnamese Army

944
00:57:53,578 --> 00:57:55,412
to stop fighting.

945
00:57:55,413 --> 00:58:00,076
"We are here waiting," he said,
"to hand over the authority

946
00:58:00,077 --> 00:58:04,244
in order to stop useless bloodshed."

947
00:59:25,603 --> 00:59:27,534
NARRATOR: At noon,

948
00:59:27,535 --> 00:59:31,466
North Vietnamese tanks
flying Viet Cong flags

949
00:59:31,467 --> 00:59:33,367
smashed their way through the gates

950
00:59:33,368 --> 00:59:35,301
of the presidential palace.

951
00:59:37,566 --> 00:59:40,732
Within hours, victorious soldiers

952
00:59:40,733 --> 00:59:44,533
were calling Saigon "Ho Chi Minh City."

953
00:59:47,433 --> 00:59:51,964
All over town, ARVN soldiers
tore off their uniforms

954
00:59:51,965 --> 00:59:55,730
and did their best to melt into the crowds.

955
00:59:55,731 --> 00:59:57,998
Families burned their photo albums

956
00:59:57,999 --> 00:59:59,864
so there would be no evidence

957
00:59:59,865 --> 01:00:04,764
that their sons or husbands had
ever fought for South Vietnam.

958
01:00:07,063 --> 01:00:11,296
Colonel Tran Ngoc Toan had
been fighting the communists

959
01:00:11,297 --> 01:00:13,396
for more than 12 years,

960
01:00:13,397 --> 01:00:15,362
and had survived terrible wounds

961
01:00:15,363 --> 01:00:18,128
suffered at the Battle of Binh Gia.

962
01:00:18,129 --> 01:00:20,528
He was leading what was left

963
01:00:20,529 --> 01:00:23,794
of the 4th South Vietnamese
Marine Battalion

964
01:00:23,795 --> 01:00:28,895
near Bien Hoa, 20 miles east of Saigon.

965
01:00:28,896 --> 01:00:31,693
His commanding general had long since

966
01:00:31,694 --> 01:00:36,059
bribed his way aboard a
ship and fled the country.

967
01:00:36,060 --> 01:00:40,859
An American friend had urged
Toan to get out, too.

968
01:00:40,860 --> 01:00:42,760
He refused.

969
01:01:25,489 --> 01:01:28,553
NARRATOR: A South Vietnamese police officer

970
01:01:28,554 --> 01:01:30,754
walked to a memorial built to honor

971
01:01:30,755 --> 01:01:34,286
those who had fallen
defending South Vietnam.

972
01:01:34,287 --> 01:01:37,420
He saluted it, stood there for a time,

973
01:01:37,421 --> 01:01:41,019
and then shot himself in the head.

974
01:01:41,020 --> 01:01:44,386
DUONG VAN MAI ELLIOTT: It
was a very messy ending

975
01:01:44,387 --> 01:01:47,319
to a very messy war.

976
01:01:47,320 --> 01:01:49,752
I felt a sense of relief,

977
01:01:49,753 --> 01:01:53,650
but also a sense of sadness when it ended.

978
01:01:53,651 --> 01:01:58,617
I felt relief that the
killing, destruction,

979
01:01:58,618 --> 01:02:00,884
finally came to an end,

980
01:02:00,885 --> 01:02:03,084
and I didn't care which side won.

981
01:02:03,085 --> 01:02:05,549
To me, Vietnam won.

982
01:02:05,550 --> 01:02:07,516
Vietnamese people won

983
01:02:07,517 --> 01:02:10,849
because they finally could live normally.

984
01:02:10,850 --> 01:02:16,483
And sad because I saw that
my family was again fleeing,

985
01:02:16,484 --> 01:02:18,547
and this time from their homeland,

986
01:02:18,548 --> 01:02:22,014
and their future was very uncertain.

987
01:02:22,015 --> 01:02:25,147
And I knew that with the
communists taking over,

988
01:02:25,148 --> 01:02:29,646
Vietnamese society would
be changed drastically.

989
01:02:29,647 --> 01:02:32,247
NARRATOR: Lo Khac Tam had been fighting

990
01:02:32,248 --> 01:02:35,980
in the North Vietnamese Army
for nearly ten years now,

991
01:02:35,981 --> 01:02:39,380
beginning with the bloody
clash in the la Drang Valley,

992
01:02:39,381 --> 01:02:43,580
the first full-scale battle
of the American war.

993
01:02:43,581 --> 01:02:48,012
Now he was watching that war's end.

994
01:03:21,641 --> 01:03:25,241
In Vietnam, we finally have
reached the end of the tunnel,

995
01:03:25,242 --> 01:03:27,575
and there is no light there.

996
01:03:27,576 --> 01:03:31,173
What is there, perhaps, was
best said by President Ford,

997
01:03:31,174 --> 01:03:33,606
"a war that is finished."

998
01:03:33,607 --> 01:03:37,240
LEWIS SORLEY: I happened
to be at a conference

999
01:03:37,241 --> 01:03:38,705
at Tufts University,

1000
01:03:38,706 --> 01:03:41,406
and the dean there was a former ambassador

1001
01:03:41,407 --> 01:03:43,373
who spoke to us late on that day,

1002
01:03:43,374 --> 01:03:45,772
as it turned out, the fateful day.

1003
01:03:45,773 --> 01:03:49,104
And he said he had just
come back from Washington,

1004
01:03:49,105 --> 01:03:52,838
where the spring weather was beautiful

1005
01:03:52,839 --> 01:03:55,536
and the daffodils were in bloom,

1006
01:03:55,537 --> 01:04:01,838
to Boston, where it was gloomy
and gray as it was in his heart.

1007
01:04:03,738 --> 01:04:06,970
And people hissed him and booed him.

1008
01:04:06,971 --> 01:04:10,370
I was there in uniform.

1009
01:04:10,371 --> 01:04:12,736
One of my great regrets
was that I did not get up

1010
01:04:12,737 --> 01:04:14,768
and start laying waste to those people

1011
01:04:14,769 --> 01:04:16,168
who disrespected the ambassador

1012
01:04:16,169 --> 01:04:19,235
and his sorrow at the
fall of South Vietnam.

1013
01:04:19,236 --> 01:04:21,735
I got a call from the V.V.A.W.
national office

1014
01:04:21,736 --> 01:04:24,401
from some friends of
mine from the old days.

1015
01:04:24,402 --> 01:04:26,500
They were having a big celebration,

1016
01:04:26,501 --> 01:04:29,633
drinking booze and, "Ah, well,
it's a great day, isn't it?"

1017
01:04:29,634 --> 01:04:32,666
And I said, "Are you nuts?"

1018
01:04:32,667 --> 01:04:35,666
I said, "No, it's not a great day."

1019
01:04:35,667 --> 01:04:38,666
To see America leaving like that,

1020
01:04:38,667 --> 01:04:43,431
after we'd given almost 60,000
of our sons and daughters,

1021
01:04:43,432 --> 01:04:47,031
that wasn't something to celebrate.

1022
01:04:47,032 --> 01:04:48,998
I knew we were abandoning

1023
01:04:48,999 --> 01:04:52,565
millions of South Vietnamese
that had trusted us,

1024
01:04:52,566 --> 01:04:55,465
thrown in their lot with us.

1025
01:04:55,466 --> 01:04:58,696
That wasn't anything to celebrate.

1026
01:04:58,697 --> 01:05:01,163
I thought it was just one
of the saddest moments

1027
01:05:01,164 --> 01:05:04,897
I'd ever seen in American history.

1028
01:05:04,898 --> 01:05:07,028
So when some future
politician, for some reason,

1029
01:05:07,029 --> 01:05:11,128
feels the need to drag
this country into a war,

1030
01:05:11,129 --> 01:05:13,028
he might come out here to Arlington,

1031
01:05:13,029 --> 01:05:15,229
and stand maybe right over there somewhere,

1032
01:05:15,230 --> 01:05:19,095
to make his announcement and
to tell what he has in mind.

1033
01:06:48,818 --> 01:06:51,617
(cheering)

1034
01:06:51,618 --> 01:06:55,084
TOM VALLELY: In Vietnam, the
Communist Party is triumphant.

1035
01:06:55,085 --> 01:06:57,851
And they have exceptionalism, too.

1036
01:06:57,852 --> 01:07:01,717
And their exceptionalism gets in their way

1037
01:07:01,718 --> 01:07:05,482
just like our exceptionalism
got in our way.

1038
01:07:05,483 --> 01:07:09,382
So they unify the country
in a military sense,

1039
01:07:09,383 --> 01:07:13,849
and then they, they don't really
unify the country after that.

1040
01:07:13,850 --> 01:07:18,448
They, they try, but they fail.

1041
01:07:18,449 --> 01:07:21,313
NARRATOR: In the end,
there was no bloodbath

1042
01:07:21,314 --> 01:07:24,380
on the scale many had feared,

1043
01:07:24,381 --> 01:07:28,947
but hundreds, perhaps thousands,
of people in the countryside

1044
01:07:28,948 --> 01:07:30,647
are thought to have been killed

1045
01:07:30,648 --> 01:07:35,979
in individual acts of revenge
or political retaliation.

1046
01:07:35,980 --> 01:07:39,146
Those who had served the Thieu regime,

1047
01:07:39,147 --> 01:07:41,811
from generals to ordinary clerks,

1048
01:07:41,812 --> 01:07:45,546
were required to undergo re-education.

1049
01:07:45,547 --> 01:07:47,477
Enlisted men were assured

1050
01:07:47,478 --> 01:07:51,145
they would only have to submit
to three days of "study."

1051
01:07:51,146 --> 01:07:55,678
Officers needn't attend
for more than a month.

1052
01:08:27,607 --> 01:08:29,841
NARRATOR: A million and a half people

1053
01:08:29,842 --> 01:08:34,640
are believed to have undergone
some form of indoctrination.

1054
01:08:34,641 --> 01:08:39,206
ARVN cemeteries were
bulldozed or padlocked,

1055
01:08:39,207 --> 01:08:42,205
as if the memory of an
independent South Vietnam,

1056
01:08:42,206 --> 01:08:45,104
and those who had died for that cause,

1057
01:08:45,105 --> 01:08:48,339
could both be obliterated.

1058
01:08:48,340 --> 01:08:49,937
DUONG VAN MAI ELLIOTT: The communists,

1059
01:08:49,938 --> 01:08:53,370
in their effort to erase vestiges

1060
01:08:53,371 --> 01:08:55,071
of the former regime,

1061
01:08:55,072 --> 01:08:59,169
have not allowed the South Vietnamese

1062
01:08:59,170 --> 01:09:02,669
who lost their sons in the war

1063
01:09:02,670 --> 01:09:08,235
to mourn, to have their graves
and to honor their memory.

1064
01:09:08,236 --> 01:09:11,901
It caused a division
that lasts to this day,

1065
01:09:11,902 --> 01:09:16,900
that the winners would not
accommodate the losers

1066
01:09:16,901 --> 01:09:18,836
in some way.

1067
01:09:31,967 --> 01:09:37,398
NARRATOR: After 30 years of war,
much of Vietnam lay in ruins.

1068
01:09:37,399 --> 01:09:40,133
Three million people are
thought to have died,

1069
01:09:40,134 --> 01:09:42,432
North and South.

1070
01:09:42,433 --> 01:09:46,198
Still more had been wounded.

1071
01:09:46,199 --> 01:09:50,532
Thousands of children fathered
by American servicemen

1072
01:09:50,533 --> 01:09:53,463
had been left behind.

1073
01:09:53,464 --> 01:09:59,896
Villages needed to be rebuilt,
land had to be reclaimed.

1074
01:09:59,897 --> 01:10:03,362
Cities were choked with refugees.

1075
01:10:03,363 --> 01:10:06,263
Millions were without work.

1076
01:10:06,264 --> 01:10:10,629
President Ford imposed an economic embargo.

1077
01:10:10,630 --> 01:10:16,594
Washington refused to recognize
the new government of Vietnam.

1078
01:10:16,595 --> 01:10:19,427
But Le Duan and his allies on the Politburo

1079
01:10:19,428 --> 01:10:21,860
remained optimistic.

1080
01:10:21,861 --> 01:10:25,194
"Nothing more can happen,"
one committee member said.

1081
01:10:25,195 --> 01:10:27,892
"The problems we face now are trifles

1082
01:10:27,893 --> 01:10:31,260
compared to those in the past."

1083
01:10:31,261 --> 01:10:34,127
Le Duan resolved, with Soviet help,

1084
01:10:34,128 --> 01:10:37,192
to turn all of Vietnam into what he called

1085
01:10:37,193 --> 01:10:42,091
an "impregnable outpost
of the socialist system."

1086
01:10:42,092 --> 01:10:46,390
Hanoi forcibly collectivized
agriculture in the South,

1087
01:10:46,391 --> 01:10:48,857
virtually abolished capitalism,

1088
01:10:48,858 --> 01:10:51,457
nationalized industries,

1089
01:10:51,458 --> 01:10:53,991
and appointed planners to run it all

1090
01:10:53,992 --> 01:10:57,524
along strict communist lines.

1091
01:10:57,525 --> 01:11:01,656
The result would be economic disaster.

1092
01:11:01,657 --> 01:11:06,623
Inflation rose as high as 700% a year.

1093
01:11:06,624 --> 01:11:09,289
People starved.

1094
01:11:38,286 --> 01:11:41,252
NARRATOR: To compound its problems,

1095
01:11:41,253 --> 01:11:44,918
Vietnam found itself, once again, at war,

1096
01:11:44,919 --> 01:11:48,551
caught between the interests
of the two communist powers

1097
01:11:48,552 --> 01:11:51,551
that had once been its staunchest allies,

1098
01:11:51,552 --> 01:11:54,184
China and the Soviet Union.

1099
01:11:54,185 --> 01:11:55,518
(gunshot, man yells)

1100
01:11:55,519 --> 01:11:58,683
After the brutal Maoist regime in Cambodia

1101
01:11:58,684 --> 01:12:00,282
raided border areas,

1102
01:12:00,283 --> 01:12:04,449
Vietnamese troops, with Soviet
arms and encouragement,

1103
01:12:04,450 --> 01:12:09,148
crossed the frontier in
1978 and overthrew it.

1104
01:12:09,149 --> 01:12:11,381
A frustrating ten-year

1105
01:12:11,382 --> 01:12:13,982
counterinsurgency campaign followed

1106
01:12:13,983 --> 01:12:18,714
that some called "Vietnam's Vietnam."

1107
01:12:18,715 --> 01:12:20,647
Before it was over,

1108
01:12:20,648 --> 01:12:24,547
the Vietnamese would lose
some 50,000 more men,

1109
01:12:24,548 --> 01:12:29,713
almost as many as the Americans
had lost in their war.

1110
01:12:29,714 --> 01:12:31,114
(explosions and gunfire)

1111
01:12:31,115 --> 01:12:33,078
Meanwhile, communist China,

1112
01:12:33,079 --> 01:12:37,046
determined to punish Vietnam
for invading Cambodia,

1113
01:12:37,047 --> 01:12:39,746
and to show Moscow it would
not have a free hand

1114
01:12:39,747 --> 01:12:41,546
in Southeast Asia,

1115
01:12:41,547 --> 01:12:46,144
sent 85,000 troops storming
into northern Vietnam.

1116
01:12:46,145 --> 01:12:49,512
They devastated areas along the border

1117
01:12:49,513 --> 01:12:53,312
before the Vietnamese pushed them back.

1118
01:12:55,312 --> 01:12:58,977
ED BRADLEY: The South China Sea, 1978.

1119
01:12:58,978 --> 01:13:02,709
They come ashore at the
rate of 10,000 a month,

1120
01:13:02,710 --> 01:13:05,275
much faster than the United
States or any other nation

1121
01:13:05,276 --> 01:13:07,176
is willing to accept them.

1122
01:13:07,177 --> 01:13:11,274
They come chasing an elusive memory:

1123
01:13:11,275 --> 01:13:13,475
the promise of America.

1124
01:13:13,476 --> 01:13:18,873
NARRATOR: A million and a half people
would eventually flee Vietnam:

1125
01:13:18,874 --> 01:13:21,974
supporters of the old Saigon regime,

1126
01:13:21,975 --> 01:13:24,008
refugees from the renewed fighting

1127
01:13:24,009 --> 01:13:26,073
along the Cambodian border,

1128
01:13:26,074 --> 01:13:28,939
and ethnic Chinese residents of Vietnam,

1129
01:13:28,940 --> 01:13:33,439
whom the new government had
treated especially harshly.

1130
01:13:33,440 --> 01:13:37,705
Hundreds of thousands of
the boat people died.

1131
01:13:37,706 --> 01:13:40,039
Others suffered in refugee camps

1132
01:13:40,040 --> 01:13:42,339
throughout Southeast Asia.

1133
01:13:46,606 --> 01:13:51,738
Some 400,000 eventually made it to America,

1134
01:13:51,739 --> 01:13:54,569
where they settled in nearly every state,

1135
01:13:54,570 --> 01:13:57,470
industrious, entrepreneurial,

1136
01:13:57,471 --> 01:14:01,304
more eager to take part in
American political life

1137
01:14:01,305 --> 01:14:04,902
and more likely to become American citizens

1138
01:14:04,903 --> 01:14:08,402
than other immigrant groups from Asia.

1139
01:14:08,403 --> 01:14:12,468
But for that first generation
of Vietnamese Americans,

1140
01:14:12,469 --> 01:14:17,503
memories of their homeland
could never be erased.

1141
01:15:04,629 --> 01:15:06,462
KARL MARLANTES: I remember I was

1142
01:15:06,463 --> 01:15:08,596
with one of my daughters, uh... (chuckles)

1143
01:15:08,597 --> 01:15:10,928
at an intersection and
some guy came up behind me

1144
01:15:10,929 --> 01:15:14,060
and blasted the horn.

1145
01:15:14,061 --> 01:15:16,260
When I came to my senses,

1146
01:15:16,261 --> 01:15:18,295
I was on the hood of his car,

1147
01:15:18,296 --> 01:15:21,360
about to, trying to kick his windshield in.

1148
01:15:21,361 --> 01:15:23,626
And I went... and there's
people all over looking at me.

1149
01:15:23,627 --> 01:15:25,393
I mean, this is crazy. This is crazy.

1150
01:15:25,394 --> 01:15:27,259
And then I started going,
"Well, this is weird."

1151
01:15:27,260 --> 01:15:29,660
I sort of slinked back
to my car and, you know,

1152
01:15:29,661 --> 01:15:31,358
my daughter, she's about
four, looking at me,

1153
01:15:31,359 --> 01:15:32,493
"Wow, what's that all about?"

1154
01:15:32,494 --> 01:15:33,925
And I go, "What is that all about?"

1155
01:15:33,926 --> 01:15:35,159
I had no idea.

1156
01:15:35,160 --> 01:15:37,527
I had no idea that it was
even related to the war.

1157
01:15:39,626 --> 01:15:43,525
NARRATOR: It is as old as war itself.

1158
01:15:43,526 --> 01:15:46,493
The ancient Greeks called
it "divine madness."

1159
01:15:49,292 --> 01:15:54,457
It was "soldier's heart" in the Civil War,

1160
01:15:54,458 --> 01:15:59,156
"shell shock" during the First World War

1161
01:15:59,157 --> 01:16:01,491
and "combat fatigue" in the Second.

1162
01:16:05,457 --> 01:16:08,621
Following Vietnam, it was given a new name,

1163
01:16:08,622 --> 01:16:12,054
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder...

1164
01:16:12,055 --> 01:16:14,789
PTSD.

1165
01:16:14,790 --> 01:16:19,521
MARLANTES: And what you learn
is that PTSD doesn't go away.

1166
01:16:19,522 --> 01:16:22,887
But now if someone honks the horn,

1167
01:16:22,888 --> 01:16:24,387
and it startles me, I'm still...

1168
01:16:24,388 --> 01:16:26,087
My heart rate's still going to go up,

1169
01:16:26,088 --> 01:16:28,119
and it'll be there for five
minutes and I'm like this.

1170
01:16:28,120 --> 01:16:30,852
But, "Ten, nine, it's just some asshole,

1171
01:16:30,853 --> 01:16:33,052
"he's had a bad day at
work, eight, seven, six,

1172
01:16:33,053 --> 01:16:34,918
"it's not... no one's
shooting at you, you're safe,

1173
01:16:34,919 --> 01:16:36,551
it's seven, six, five,
four, three, two, one."

1174
01:16:36,552 --> 01:16:38,185
And I can control it,

1175
01:16:38,186 --> 01:16:39,551
whereas I couldn't do it before

1176
01:16:39,552 --> 01:16:41,619
because I didn't understand
what was going on.

1177
01:16:43,219 --> 01:16:45,750
NARRATOR: Adding to the
pain many veterans felt

1178
01:16:45,751 --> 01:16:50,018
was their country's eagerness
to forget the war.

1179
01:16:50,019 --> 01:16:52,550
There were few parades.

1180
01:16:54,050 --> 01:16:59,651
In many ways, everyone came
home from Vietnam alone.

1181
01:17:01,450 --> 01:17:03,149
When I got home,

1182
01:17:03,150 --> 01:17:04,615
and my mom and dad were there,

1183
01:17:04,616 --> 01:17:07,182
my brothers and sisters, my wife.

1184
01:17:07,183 --> 01:17:08,883
And we're embracing and...

1185
01:17:11,583 --> 01:17:16,282
I couldn't relate to my wife
or my mother what I had seen,

1186
01:17:16,283 --> 01:17:19,680
what I had done in Vietnam.

1187
01:17:19,681 --> 01:17:22,014
I could've talked to my brothers about it,

1188
01:17:22,015 --> 01:17:25,281
but they, they knew I didn't want to.

1189
01:17:25,282 --> 01:17:28,213
And so it just, uh,
something unsaid, you know.

1190
01:17:28,214 --> 01:17:30,280
"Welcome back, Vince.

1191
01:17:30,281 --> 01:17:33,246
You've been through the, the
wringer, but welcome back."

1192
01:17:36,179 --> 01:17:38,544
NARRATOR: In April 1981,

1193
01:17:38,545 --> 01:17:41,212
a panel of eight architects and sculptors

1194
01:17:41,213 --> 01:17:43,279
gathered in an airplane hangar

1195
01:17:43,280 --> 01:17:46,944
at Andrews Air Force
Base outside Washington.

1196
01:17:46,945 --> 01:17:49,877
They were there to choose
the winning design

1197
01:17:49,878 --> 01:17:53,043
for a Vietnam memorial
for the nation's capital

1198
01:17:53,044 --> 01:17:55,778
from more than 1,400 submissions.

1199
01:17:59,578 --> 01:18:03,709
The memorial was the brainchild
of a single stubborn veteran,

1200
01:18:03,710 --> 01:18:06,741
a former rifleman named Jan Scruggs,

1201
01:18:06,742 --> 01:18:10,241
who, after suffering a
frightening flashback,

1202
01:18:10,242 --> 01:18:13,107
told his wife he wanted
to "build a memorial

1203
01:18:13,108 --> 01:18:16,441
"to all the guys who served in Vietnam.

1204
01:18:16,442 --> 01:18:19,575
It'll have the name of everyone killed."

1205
01:18:19,576 --> 01:18:21,173
With other veterans,

1206
01:18:21,174 --> 01:18:24,106
he established a nonprofit organization,

1207
01:18:24,107 --> 01:18:26,806
the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund,

1208
01:18:26,807 --> 01:18:30,973
and went to work collecting
money and making plans.

1209
01:18:30,974 --> 01:18:35,639
In the end, some 650,000 Americans

1210
01:18:35,640 --> 01:18:39,205
would contribute more than $8 million.

1211
01:18:39,206 --> 01:18:43,972
The judges chose submission number 1026.

1212
01:18:43,973 --> 01:18:45,205
(applause)

1213
01:18:45,206 --> 01:18:47,205
SUSAN PETERSON: 21-year-old Maya Ying Lin,

1214
01:18:47,206 --> 01:18:49,370
an architect student at Yale University,

1215
01:18:49,371 --> 01:18:51,637
got the $20,000 prize.

1216
01:18:51,638 --> 01:18:53,571
Her winning design is comprised

1217
01:18:53,572 --> 01:18:56,137
of two elongated triangles
of black granite,

1218
01:18:56,138 --> 01:18:58,703
inset into a hill and
inscribed with the names

1219
01:18:58,704 --> 01:19:03,570
of the 57,692 men and women
who died in the war.

1220
01:19:03,571 --> 01:19:07,969
Lin, whose parents emigrated
from China in the 1940s to Ohio,

1221
01:19:07,970 --> 01:19:09,534
thought she wouldn't win

1222
01:19:09,535 --> 01:19:12,069
because her design was too
strange and too strong.

1223
01:19:12,070 --> 01:19:15,300
I had a general idea that I
wanted to describe a journey,

1224
01:19:15,301 --> 01:19:18,568
a journey that would make
you experience death

1225
01:19:18,569 --> 01:19:21,134
and where you'd have to be an observer,

1226
01:19:21,135 --> 01:19:23,899
where you could never really
fully be with the dead.

1227
01:19:23,900 --> 01:19:25,967
It wasn't going to be something
that was going to say,

1228
01:19:25,968 --> 01:19:27,832
"It's all right, it's all over,"

1229
01:19:27,833 --> 01:19:29,000
because it's not.

1230
01:19:29,001 --> 01:19:31,898
NARRATOR: Differences about the war

1231
01:19:31,899 --> 01:19:36,066
colored people's feelings
about the proposed design.

1232
01:19:36,067 --> 01:19:39,566
Some who believed that the war
had been unjust and immoral

1233
01:19:39,567 --> 01:19:43,132
feared the monument was
somehow meant to glorify it.

1234
01:19:44,598 --> 01:19:48,164
Others feared its stark
design failed to do justice

1235
01:19:48,165 --> 01:19:52,130
to the cause for which
Americans had fought.

1236
01:19:52,131 --> 01:19:54,829
The writer Tom Wolfe dismissed it

1237
01:19:54,830 --> 01:19:57,930
as "a tribute to Jane Fonda."

1238
01:19:57,931 --> 01:19:59,929
TOM CARHART: I don't care
about artistic perceptions.

1239
01:19:59,930 --> 01:20:02,063
One needs no artistic education

1240
01:20:02,064 --> 01:20:04,629
to see this memorial design for what it is:

1241
01:20:04,630 --> 01:20:07,228
a black scar.

1242
01:20:07,229 --> 01:20:09,161
Black, the universal color

1243
01:20:09,162 --> 01:20:11,661
of sorrow and shame and degradation

1244
01:20:11,662 --> 01:20:14,495
in all races and all societies worldwide.

1245
01:20:14,496 --> 01:20:17,593
In a hole, hidden as if out of shame.

1246
01:20:17,594 --> 01:20:20,360
JANICE CONNALLY: Mr. Chairman,
members of the commission,

1247
01:20:20,361 --> 01:20:22,061
I speak as an individual,

1248
01:20:22,062 --> 01:20:24,660
a member from the general public.

1249
01:20:24,661 --> 01:20:29,292
What are the memorable images
from the war in Vietnam?

1250
01:20:29,293 --> 01:20:30,892
A guerrilla,

1251
01:20:30,893 --> 01:20:33,493
shot at point-blank range.

1252
01:20:33,494 --> 01:20:36,125
A naked girl, afire, running,

1253
01:20:36,126 --> 01:20:38,260
screaming down a dusty road.

1254
01:20:39,792 --> 01:20:41,925
I think Maya Lin was right

1255
01:20:41,926 --> 01:20:45,323
in going beyond these kinds of images.

1256
01:20:45,324 --> 01:20:50,191
She resolved all the pain and
conflict of that unhappy time

1257
01:20:50,192 --> 01:20:54,957
in a simple message of
sacrifice and quiet heroism.

1258
01:20:54,958 --> 01:20:59,856
NARRATOR: In an official vote of
support for Maya Lin's design,

1259
01:20:59,857 --> 01:21:03,588
the American Gold Star
Mothers spoke for many.

1260
01:21:03,589 --> 01:21:05,489
"Nowadays," they said,

1261
01:21:05,490 --> 01:21:08,456
"patriotism is a complicated matter.

1262
01:21:08,457 --> 01:21:10,587
"But perhaps that is why

1263
01:21:10,588 --> 01:21:12,587
"the V-shaped, black granite lines

1264
01:21:12,588 --> 01:21:16,055
"merging gently with the sloping earth

1265
01:21:16,056 --> 01:21:18,587
"convey the only point about the war

1266
01:21:18,588 --> 01:21:20,754
"on which people may agree:

1267
01:21:20,755 --> 01:21:24,086
that those who died should be remembered."

1268
01:21:24,087 --> 01:21:27,421
("Bridge Over Troubled Water"
by Simon and Garfunkel playing)

1269
01:21:46,185 --> 01:21:50,017
♪ When you're weary

1270
01:21:52,618 --> 01:21:54,917
♪ Feeling small

1271
01:21:57,551 --> 01:22:04,982
♪ When tears are in your eyes

1272
01:22:04,983 --> 01:22:13,147
♪ I'll dry them all.

1273
01:22:13,148 --> 01:22:17,813
RION CAUSEY: As you got out of the
car and you approached the wall,

1274
01:22:17,814 --> 01:22:22,380
the intensity of which, it grabs you...

1275
01:22:23,647 --> 01:22:25,048
You go up...

1276
01:22:28,347 --> 01:22:29,879
You see the names,

1277
01:22:29,880 --> 01:22:31,180
you touch the names...

1278
01:22:33,846 --> 01:22:35,912
(crying): It's intense.

1279
01:22:35,913 --> 01:22:42,945
♪ Bridge over troubled water

1280
01:22:42,946 --> 01:22:46,479
♪ I will lay me down.

1281
01:22:55,577 --> 01:22:56,843
SORLEY: I did not like

1282
01:22:56,844 --> 01:22:58,676
the Vietnam wall.

1283
01:22:58,677 --> 01:23:02,543
I considered it an ugly, black ditch

1284
01:23:02,544 --> 01:23:06,307
and that it said the only people that, uh...

1285
01:23:06,308 --> 01:23:08,542
to be commemorated are the dead,

1286
01:23:08,543 --> 01:23:13,008
not because they're heroes,
but because they're victims.

1287
01:23:14,508 --> 01:23:17,541
I didn't go.

1288
01:23:17,542 --> 01:23:20,806
Until...

1289
01:23:20,807 --> 01:23:23,006
one year...

1290
01:23:23,007 --> 01:23:26,139
they were going to put the
wreath in front of...

1291
01:23:26,140 --> 01:23:28,272
the name of my roommate.

1292
01:23:28,273 --> 01:23:31,005
(voice breaking): I had, I had to go.

1293
01:23:31,006 --> 01:23:34,439
So I've gone every year since then

1294
01:23:34,440 --> 01:23:38,338
to remember those we, we lost.

1295
01:23:38,339 --> 01:23:40,338
And, um...

1296
01:23:40,339 --> 01:23:41,971
I walk down to the far left

1297
01:23:41,972 --> 01:23:46,771
and I run my fingers over that name.

1298
01:23:53,503 --> 01:23:55,769
You go to that wall,

1299
01:23:55,770 --> 01:23:58,970
and even my son, who was nine
years old when I first took him,

1300
01:23:58,971 --> 01:24:02,102
and you see over 58,000 names,

1301
01:24:02,103 --> 01:24:07,469
and you know that unwritten
behind or beside each name,

1302
01:24:07,470 --> 01:24:11,668
there's a mother or a father
or a wife or a daughter

1303
01:24:11,669 --> 01:24:15,867
whose lives were forever shattered

1304
01:24:15,868 --> 01:24:18,535
by that damn war.

1305
01:24:22,935 --> 01:24:27,565
NANCY BIBERMAN: I've been to
the wall, more than once.

1306
01:24:27,566 --> 01:24:29,533
When I look back at the war and, you know,

1307
01:24:29,534 --> 01:24:31,632
think of the horrible things, you know,

1308
01:24:31,633 --> 01:24:35,131
we said to, you know,
vets who were returning,

1309
01:24:35,132 --> 01:24:38,997
you know, calling them
"baby killers" and worse,

1310
01:24:38,998 --> 01:24:44,931
I, you know... I feel very sad about that.

1311
01:24:44,932 --> 01:24:48,597
I can only say that, you
know, we were kids, too,

1312
01:24:48,598 --> 01:24:51,031
you know, just like they were.

1313
01:24:51,032 --> 01:24:53,862
It grieves me, it grieves me today.

1314
01:24:53,863 --> 01:24:57,495
It pains me to think of
the things that I said

1315
01:24:57,496 --> 01:24:59,062
and that we said.

1316
01:24:59,063 --> 01:25:02,562
And I'm sorry.

1317
01:25:04,896 --> 01:25:06,963
I'm sorry.

1318
01:25:14,029 --> 01:25:15,229
(bird calling)

1319
01:25:18,095 --> 01:25:19,827
CAROL CROCKER: I didn't want to go.

1320
01:25:21,161 --> 01:25:27,893
And it was a beautiful summer morning.

1321
01:25:27,894 --> 01:25:33,291
Went to the Lincoln Memorial first.

1322
01:25:33,292 --> 01:25:37,624
A comforting place to be.

1323
01:25:37,625 --> 01:25:39,757
And...

1324
01:25:39,758 --> 01:25:44,790
And then crossed the street and
walked in towards the entrance.

1325
01:25:44,791 --> 01:25:48,189
And, as you know, at first, you
can't really see the wall,

1326
01:25:48,190 --> 01:25:51,890
and you're coming down
into the grassy hill.

1327
01:25:51,891 --> 01:25:56,788
And when I caught sight of it,

1328
01:25:56,789 --> 01:25:59,924
I literally lost my breath.

1329
01:26:01,056 --> 01:26:03,724
Of course, I wept.

1330
01:26:05,822 --> 01:26:10,287
I had help getting lifted
up so I could touch it.

1331
01:26:10,288 --> 01:26:12,988
I found my brother's name.

1332
01:26:17,155 --> 01:26:19,253
I looked at my brother's name

1333
01:26:19,254 --> 01:26:23,454
in the company of all those other people.

1334
01:26:25,553 --> 01:26:28,252
There was sadness.

1335
01:26:28,253 --> 01:26:32,818
But now he wasn't alone, either.

1336
01:26:32,819 --> 01:26:36,419
He was in the company of people.

1337
01:26:36,420 --> 01:26:39,118
And he was there

1338
01:26:39,119 --> 01:26:43,584
for people to know and to think about.

1339
01:26:43,585 --> 01:26:45,350
And he wasn't forgotten.

1340
01:26:45,351 --> 01:26:47,151
And he wasn't lost.

1341
01:26:47,152 --> 01:26:51,451
It was incredibly healing
and freeing for me.

1342
01:26:59,316 --> 01:27:01,548
As I was walking towards it
from the reflecting pool,

1343
01:27:01,549 --> 01:27:04,449
there were so many names on those walls.

1344
01:27:04,450 --> 01:27:08,480
And all of a sudden, my throat swole up,

1345
01:27:08,481 --> 01:27:10,415
and I thought, "I can't do this.

1346
01:27:10,416 --> 01:27:12,614
I can't do this right now."

1347
01:27:12,615 --> 01:27:15,847
And I collapsed.

1348
01:27:19,215 --> 01:27:23,314
And all the tears I'd been holding back...

1349
01:27:25,380 --> 01:27:27,446
I didn't cry, I sobbed.

1350
01:27:27,447 --> 01:27:31,446
I was on my knees, sobbing.

1351
01:27:31,447 --> 01:27:34,913
I couldn't stop, I couldn't get my breath.

1352
01:27:37,678 --> 01:27:42,776
And I was so grateful to
God that it was there.

1353
01:27:42,777 --> 01:27:45,711
I thought,

1354
01:27:45,712 --> 01:27:48,444
"This is going to save lives.

1355
01:27:48,445 --> 01:27:51,343
This is going to save lives."

1356
01:28:35,472 --> 01:28:37,905
VALLELY: I was struck by its beauty

1357
01:28:37,906 --> 01:28:40,871
and how at peace Vietnam
looked from the air.

1358
01:28:40,872 --> 01:28:43,571
I had a sense of anticipation in my body.

1359
01:28:43,572 --> 01:28:45,904
I had worked hard for
many months with others

1360
01:28:45,905 --> 01:28:50,437
to organize this trip and
to negotiate our arrival

1361
01:28:50,438 --> 01:28:51,570
with the Vietnamese government.

1362
01:28:51,571 --> 01:28:52,704
How do you do?

1363
01:28:52,705 --> 01:28:53,936
Toi ten Tom Vallely.

1364
01:28:53,937 --> 01:28:56,768
VALLELY: I came back to
Vietnam as a veteran

1365
01:28:56,769 --> 01:28:59,003
to learn from history,

1366
01:28:59,004 --> 01:29:02,069
and to see how the place had changed.

1367
01:29:02,070 --> 01:29:04,068
(laughter)

1368
01:29:04,069 --> 01:29:06,234
There had only been 200 Americans

1369
01:29:06,235 --> 01:29:07,902
that had been to Vietnam since 1975,

1370
01:29:07,903 --> 01:29:09,534
and most of them had been correspondents

1371
01:29:09,535 --> 01:29:11,202
and had been in the South.

1372
01:29:11,203 --> 01:29:13,800
(clamoring, horn honking)

1373
01:29:13,801 --> 01:29:16,766
Many of the kids, you'd
walk down the street,

1374
01:29:16,767 --> 01:29:18,567
and they'd go, "Lien Xo, lien Xo,"

1375
01:29:18,568 --> 01:29:20,067
which means "Russian."

1376
01:29:20,068 --> 01:29:21,532
And you'd go, "Nolien Xo,

1377
01:29:21,533 --> 01:29:24,099
toi la nguoi My"... "I'm an American."

1378
01:29:24,100 --> 01:29:26,765
And their face would light up,
and they'd go, "American!"

1379
01:29:26,766 --> 01:29:28,765
And it would spread like wildfire

1380
01:29:28,766 --> 01:29:30,798
through the schoolyard, or the street

1381
01:29:30,799 --> 01:29:32,764
that Americans were here.

1382
01:29:32,765 --> 01:29:35,264
And they'd come out and they'd
be very, very friendly.

1383
01:29:35,265 --> 01:29:38,931
(laughter)

1384
01:29:38,932 --> 01:29:40,131
Goodbye.

1385
01:29:40,132 --> 01:29:42,730
Goodbye! Goodbye!

1386
01:29:42,731 --> 01:29:44,199
(laughter)

1387
01:29:47,631 --> 01:29:52,596
NARRATOR: Tom Vallely had served
with the Marines in Vietnam.

1388
01:29:52,597 --> 01:29:58,295
16 years later, the country drew him back.

1389
01:29:58,296 --> 01:30:00,862
He founded the Vietnam Program

1390
01:30:00,863 --> 01:30:03,261
of the Kennedy School at Harvard,

1391
01:30:03,262 --> 01:30:09,561
and helped educate some of the
country's future leaders.

1392
01:30:09,562 --> 01:30:12,727
I got very, very involved
in the reconnecting

1393
01:30:12,728 --> 01:30:15,093
between the United States and Vietnam,

1394
01:30:15,094 --> 01:30:17,860
and how that reconnection takes place,

1395
01:30:17,861 --> 01:30:22,926
I spent a decade of my life
putting those pieces together.

1396
01:30:22,927 --> 01:30:25,225
NARRATOR: Although the United States

1397
01:30:25,226 --> 01:30:28,493
did not have diplomatic
relations with Vietnam,

1398
01:30:28,494 --> 01:30:32,457
veterans had begun coming
back on their own,

1399
01:30:32,458 --> 01:30:37,525
revisiting places where they had fought...

1400
01:30:38,658 --> 01:30:41,724
...meeting old foes...

1401
01:30:43,824 --> 01:30:47,656
...planting trees and building schools,

1402
01:30:47,657 --> 01:30:51,624
trying to put the war behind them.

1403
01:30:53,156 --> 01:30:56,190
Vallely worked closely with other veterans,

1404
01:30:56,191 --> 01:30:59,821
including three United States senators,

1405
01:30:59,822 --> 01:31:03,654
who became among the most
influential American advocates

1406
01:31:03,655 --> 01:31:06,422
for normalizing relations:

1407
01:31:06,423 --> 01:31:09,220
John McCain from Arizona,

1408
01:31:09,221 --> 01:31:14,188
who had endured six years
as a prisoner of war;

1409
01:31:14,189 --> 01:31:17,319
John Kerry from Massachusetts,

1410
01:31:17,320 --> 01:31:20,819
the ex-commander of a Swift Boat;

1411
01:31:20,820 --> 01:31:24,019
and Bob Kerrey of Nebraska,

1412
01:31:24,020 --> 01:31:27,552
a former Navy SEAL.

1413
01:31:27,553 --> 01:31:30,818
Their task would not be easy.

1414
01:31:30,819 --> 01:31:34,185
Hanoi insisted the United States make good

1415
01:31:34,186 --> 01:31:38,817
on a promise to provide
funds for reconstruction.

1416
01:31:38,818 --> 01:31:41,885
For its part, the United States demanded

1417
01:31:41,886 --> 01:31:43,649
a complete accounting

1418
01:31:43,650 --> 01:31:46,884
of the 2,500 Americans whose remains

1419
01:31:46,885 --> 01:31:49,484
had never been recovered.

1420
01:31:49,485 --> 01:31:54,983
Hanoi, which had more than
300,000 missing of its own,

1421
01:31:54,984 --> 01:31:59,648
refused to cooperate.

1422
01:31:59,649 --> 01:32:04,581
But events both within Vietnam
and far beyond its borders

1423
01:32:04,582 --> 01:32:08,883
slowly moved things along.

1424
01:32:36,546 --> 01:32:41,978
NARRATOR: Le Duan died in 1986.

1425
01:32:41,979 --> 01:32:46,377
His successors adopted
what they calleddoi moi,

1426
01:32:46,378 --> 01:32:49,943
a more pragmatic reformist economic policy.

1427
01:32:52,478 --> 01:32:56,708
As the Cold War ended,
Soviet aid disappeared,

1428
01:32:56,709 --> 01:33:01,909
and Hanoi finally began to help U.S.
military teams

1429
01:33:01,910 --> 01:33:05,740
search for American remains.

1430
01:33:05,741 --> 01:33:10,375
VALLELY: The architects of normalization

1431
01:33:10,376 --> 01:33:12,674
are the Vietnamese.

1432
01:33:12,675 --> 01:33:15,806
It's not the Americans.

1433
01:33:15,807 --> 01:33:18,139
And the normalization of Vietnam

1434
01:33:18,140 --> 01:33:23,272
is a strategy of the
Vietnamese Communist Party

1435
01:33:23,273 --> 01:33:25,638
to join the world.

1436
01:33:25,639 --> 01:33:27,238
They want to join the world.

1437
01:33:27,239 --> 01:33:30,504
And the United States makes it
hard for them to join the world.

1438
01:33:30,505 --> 01:33:33,472
So John McCain insists,

1439
01:33:33,473 --> 01:33:35,437
"Yeah, you want to have normalization?

1440
01:33:35,438 --> 01:33:38,804
All your prisoners need to be
out of re-education camp."

1441
01:33:38,805 --> 01:33:41,270
"You want normalization?"

1442
01:33:41,271 --> 01:33:44,338
John Kerry... "I need all the
information about the missing."

1443
01:33:46,338 --> 01:33:48,935
NARRATOR: In 1994,

1444
01:33:48,936 --> 01:33:51,870
after the Vietnamese met
the Americans' demands,

1445
01:33:51,871 --> 01:33:56,202
the United States lifted its trade embargo.

1446
01:33:56,203 --> 01:34:00,934
Full normalization came the following year.

1447
01:34:00,935 --> 01:34:04,369
The new American ambassador
was Pete Peterson,

1448
01:34:04,370 --> 01:34:09,501
who had spent six years
in Hanoi as a P.O.W.

1449
01:34:11,969 --> 01:34:14,233
In November of 2000,

1450
01:34:14,234 --> 01:34:17,499
President Bill Clinton traveled to Vietnam,

1451
01:34:17,500 --> 01:34:21,499
the first American president
to visit that country

1452
01:34:21,500 --> 01:34:25,166
since Richard Nixon reviewed U.S.
troops there

1453
01:34:25,167 --> 01:34:28,066
31 years earlier.

1454
01:34:29,999 --> 01:34:31,966
BARACK OBAMA: Now we can say something

1455
01:34:31,967 --> 01:34:33,764
that was once unimaginable:

1456
01:34:33,765 --> 01:34:37,930
Today, Vietnam and the
United States are partners.

1457
01:34:37,931 --> 01:34:42,664
We have shown that hearts can change,

1458
01:34:42,665 --> 01:34:44,429
and that a different future is possible

1459
01:34:44,430 --> 01:34:48,264
when we refuse to be prisoners of the past.

1460
01:35:53,323 --> 01:35:56,188
MIKE HEANEY: I went back to Vietnam.

1461
01:35:56,189 --> 01:35:59,989
I got in touch with a
provincial vets organization.

1462
01:36:04,288 --> 01:36:06,720
This is a huge organization
of Vietnamese vets,

1463
01:36:06,721 --> 01:36:10,220
all former enemies.

1464
01:36:10,221 --> 01:36:11,786
All former enemies.

1465
01:36:11,787 --> 01:36:14,686
But now, mellowed quite a bit, like me.

1466
01:36:14,687 --> 01:36:17,253
You know, they're guys my age, grandpas.

1467
01:36:17,254 --> 01:36:23,252
And after we got past the initial
checking each other out,

1468
01:36:23,253 --> 01:36:26,785
and is this a political thing or not,

1469
01:36:26,786 --> 01:36:34,585
they could not have been more
gracious and more loving.

1470
01:36:34,586 --> 01:36:39,651
They took me under their
wing like a brother soldier.

1471
01:36:39,652 --> 01:36:45,251
We exchanged painful memories, stories.

1472
01:36:48,283 --> 01:36:52,482
And I did a little ceremony
honoring the guys I'd lost,

1473
01:36:52,483 --> 01:36:56,015
honoring the Vietnamese
enemies that we'd killed.

1474
01:36:56,016 --> 01:36:59,982
And just telling them, you know,
they could be at peace now.

1475
01:37:05,414 --> 01:37:09,315
It was a wonderful, wonderful trip.

1476
01:37:11,382 --> 01:37:13,212
You know, you don't...

1477
01:37:13,213 --> 01:37:16,013
You don't get closure,
but you get some peace.

1478
01:37:16,014 --> 01:37:18,381
You get some peace... I got some peace.

1479
01:37:28,479 --> 01:37:33,378
NARRATOR: In Vietnam, the
land has largely healed.

1480
01:37:33,379 --> 01:37:37,111
Old animosities have mostly been buried.

1481
01:37:39,178 --> 01:37:41,878
But ghosts remain.

1482
01:37:44,511 --> 01:37:46,043
Americans and Vietnamese

1483
01:37:46,044 --> 01:37:48,209
work together to clean up places

1484
01:37:48,210 --> 01:37:51,643
where Agent Orange has poisoned the earth.

1485
01:37:51,644 --> 01:37:56,009
Unexploded ordnance,
half-hidden in the ground,

1486
01:37:56,010 --> 01:38:00,308
still takes lives each year.

1487
01:38:00,309 --> 01:38:04,274
Aged mothers and fathers
from northern Vietnam

1488
01:38:04,275 --> 01:38:06,641
still roam the south,

1489
01:38:06,642 --> 01:38:07,906
seeking to discover

1490
01:38:07,907 --> 01:38:10,442
what happened to their sons and daughters.

1491
01:40:07,362 --> 01:40:11,727
SAM WILSON: As we finally came
lurching out of Vietnam...

1492
01:40:13,093 --> 01:40:18,459
We were beginning to doubt ourselves.

1493
01:40:18,460 --> 01:40:23,126
And, uh, that's a foreign
feeling for an American.

1494
01:40:23,127 --> 01:40:27,191
We, we seldom doubt ourselves.

1495
01:40:27,192 --> 01:40:32,291
This turned out to be the most
bitter, the most divisive...

1496
01:40:32,292 --> 01:40:35,125
or second-most bitter and
second-most divisive...

1497
01:40:35,126 --> 01:40:37,791
war in our entire history.

1498
01:40:37,792 --> 01:40:42,291
And we still hurt because of it.

1499
01:40:44,524 --> 01:40:48,290
We have feelings of guilt about Vietnam.

1500
01:40:50,389 --> 01:40:53,923
NARRATOR: More than four
decades after the war ended,

1501
01:40:53,924 --> 01:40:57,254
the divisions it created between Americans

1502
01:40:57,255 --> 01:41:00,822
have not yet wholly healed.

1503
01:41:00,823 --> 01:41:05,121
Lessons were learned and then forgotten;

1504
01:41:05,122 --> 01:41:10,121
divides were bridged and then widened;

1505
01:41:10,122 --> 01:41:16,452
old secrets were revealed and
new secrets were locked away.

1506
01:41:16,453 --> 01:41:20,685
The Vietnam War was a tragedy,

1507
01:41:20,686 --> 01:41:24,585
immeasurable and irredeemable.

1508
01:41:27,620 --> 01:41:31,052
But meaning can be found
in the individual stories

1509
01:41:31,053 --> 01:41:33,517
of those who lived through it,

1510
01:41:33,518 --> 01:41:36,750
stories of courage and comradeship

1511
01:41:36,751 --> 01:41:38,818
and perseverance,

1512
01:41:38,819 --> 01:41:42,317
of understanding and forgiveness

1513
01:41:42,318 --> 01:41:47,183
and, ultimately, reconciliation.

1514
01:41:52,550 --> 01:41:56,081
O'BRIEN: "They shared the weight of memory.

1515
01:41:56,082 --> 01:41:59,447
"They took up what others
could no longer bear.

1516
01:41:59,448 --> 01:42:03,247
"Often, they carried each
other, the wounded or weak.

1517
01:42:03,248 --> 01:42:07,147
"They carried infections.

1518
01:42:07,148 --> 01:42:09,379
"They carried chess sets,

1519
01:42:09,380 --> 01:42:11,914
"basketballs,

1520
01:42:11,915 --> 01:42:15,547
"Vietnamese-English dictionaries,

1521
01:42:15,548 --> 01:42:22,245
"insignia of rank, Bronze
Stars and Purple Hearts,

1522
01:42:22,246 --> 01:42:29,011
"plastic cards imprinted
with the Code of Conduct.

1523
01:42:29,012 --> 01:42:32,077
"They carried diseases,

1524
01:42:32,078 --> 01:42:35,510
"among them malaria and dysentery.

1525
01:42:35,511 --> 01:42:41,943
"They carried lice and
ringworm and leeches,

1526
01:42:41,944 --> 01:42:48,075
"paddy algae and various rots and molds.

1527
01:42:48,076 --> 01:42:54,542
"They carried the land itself... Vietnam,

1528
01:42:54,543 --> 01:42:58,475
"the place, the soil...

1529
01:42:58,476 --> 01:43:00,974
"a powdery orange-red dust

1530
01:43:00,975 --> 01:43:07,640
"that covered their boots
and fatigues and faces.

1531
01:43:07,641 --> 01:43:11,006
"They carried the sky.

1532
01:43:11,007 --> 01:43:14,072
"The whole atmosphere,

1533
01:43:14,073 --> 01:43:16,872
"they carried it...

1534
01:43:16,873 --> 01:43:20,772
"the humidity, the monsoons,

1535
01:43:20,773 --> 01:43:25,005
"the stink of fungus and decay, all of it.

1536
01:43:25,006 --> 01:43:27,238
"They carried gravity.

1537
01:43:27,239 --> 01:43:30,105
"They moved like mules.

1538
01:43:30,106 --> 01:43:32,805
"By daylight, they took sniper fire;

1539
01:43:32,806 --> 01:43:34,704
"at night, they were mortared.

1540
01:43:34,705 --> 01:43:38,304
"They crawled into tunnels and walked point

1541
01:43:38,305 --> 01:43:40,736
"and advanced under fire.

1542
01:43:40,737 --> 01:43:43,669
"But it was not battle,

1543
01:43:43,670 --> 01:43:46,702
"it was just the endless march,

1544
01:43:46,703 --> 01:43:49,702
"village to village.

1545
01:43:49,703 --> 01:43:54,202
"They marched for the sake of the march.

1546
01:43:54,203 --> 01:43:58,035
"They plodded along slowly, dumbly,

1547
01:43:58,036 --> 01:44:02,302
"leaning forward against
the heat, unthinking,

1548
01:44:02,303 --> 01:44:06,000
"all blood and bone, simple grunts,

1549
01:44:06,001 --> 01:44:08,534
"soldiering with their legs,

1550
01:44:08,535 --> 01:44:11,101
"toiling up the hills and
down into the paddies

1551
01:44:11,102 --> 01:44:16,033
"and across the rivers and up
again and down, just humping,

1552
01:44:16,034 --> 01:44:21,799
"one step and then the
next and then another.

1553
01:44:21,800 --> 01:44:23,365
"They made their legs move.

1554
01:44:25,466 --> 01:44:27,333
They endured."

1555
01:44:29,565 --> 01:44:31,332
("Let It Be" by The Beatles playing)

1556
01:44:41,363 --> 01:44:44,763
♪ When I find myself
in times of trouble ♪

1557
01:44:44,764 --> 01:44:47,995
♪ Mother Mary comes to me

1558
01:44:47,996 --> 01:44:50,396
♪ Speaking words of wisdom

1559
01:44:50,397 --> 01:44:53,728
♪ Let it be

1560
01:44:53,729 --> 01:44:56,628
♪ And in my hour of darkness

1561
01:44:56,629 --> 01:45:00,494
♪ She is standing right
in front of me ♪

1562
01:45:00,495 --> 01:45:03,127
♪ Speaking words of wisdom

1563
01:45:03,128 --> 01:45:06,226
♪ Let it be

1564
01:45:06,227 --> 01:45:09,527
♪ Let it be, let it be

1565
01:45:09,528 --> 01:45:12,859
♪ Let it be, let it be ♪

1566
01:45:12,860 --> 01:45:16,393
♪ Whisper words of wisdom

1567
01:45:16,394 --> 01:45:19,826
♪ Let it be

1568
01:45:19,827 --> 01:45:22,793
♪ And when the brokenhearted people ♪

1569
01:45:22,794 --> 01:45:26,657
♪ Living in the world agree

1570
01:45:26,658 --> 01:45:29,491
♪ There will be an answer

1571
01:45:29,492 --> 01:45:32,824
♪ Let it be

1572
01:45:32,825 --> 01:45:36,024
♪ For though they may be parted ♪

1573
01:45:36,025 --> 01:45:40,257
♪ There is still a chance
that they will see ♪

1574
01:45:40,258 --> 01:45:42,622
♪ There will be an answer

1575
01:45:42,623 --> 01:45:45,855
♪ Let it be

1576
01:45:45,856 --> 01:45:49,290
♪ Let it be, let it be

1577
01:45:49,291 --> 01:45:53,289
♪ Let it be, let it be ♪

1578
01:45:53,290 --> 01:45:56,089
♪ Yeah, there will be an answer ♪

1579
01:45:56,090 --> 01:45:59,220
♪ Let it be

1580
01:45:59,221 --> 01:46:02,620
♪ Let it be, let it be

1581
01:46:02,621 --> 01:46:07,021
♪ Let it be, yeah, let it be ♪

1582
01:46:07,022 --> 01:46:09,953
♪ Whisper words of wisdom

1583
01:46:09,954 --> 01:46:14,320
♪ Let it be

1584
01:46:14,321 --> 01:46:16,852
♪ And when the night is cloudy

1585
01:46:16,853 --> 01:46:21,319
♪ There is still a light
that shines on me ♪

1586
01:46:21,320 --> 01:46:24,286
♪ Shine until tomorrow

1587
01:46:24,287 --> 01:46:27,984
♪ Let it be

1588
01:46:27,985 --> 01:46:31,550
♪ I wake up to the sound of music ♪

1589
01:46:31,551 --> 01:46:34,983
♪ Mother Mary comes to me

1590
01:46:34,984 --> 01:46:38,084
♪ Speaking words of wisdom

1591
01:46:38,085 --> 01:46:41,183
♪ Let it be

1592
01:46:41,184 --> 01:46:44,249
♪ Yeah, let it be, let it be

1593
01:46:44,250 --> 01:46:49,148
♪ Let it be, yeah, let it be

1594
01:46:49,149 --> 01:46:51,816
♪ There will be an answer

1595
01:46:51,817 --> 01:46:55,282
♪ Let it be

1596
01:46:55,283 --> 01:46:58,481
♪ Let it be, let it be

1597
01:46:58,482 --> 01:47:02,980
♪ Let it be, yeah, let it be

1598
01:47:02,981 --> 01:47:06,046
♪ There will be an answer

1599
01:47:06,047 --> 01:47:09,146
♪ Let it be

1600
01:47:09,147 --> 01:47:12,380
♪ Let it be, let it be

1601
01:47:12,381 --> 01:47:17,145
♪ Let it be, yeah, let it be

1602
01:47:17,146 --> 01:47:19,812
♪ Whisper words of wisdom

1603
01:47:19,813 --> 01:47:27,813
♪ Let it be.