The Vietnam War | Part 2 | The TV War | Free Documentary History
摘要
TLDRThe video provides a comprehensive overview of the Vietnam War, detailing the escalation of U.S. involvement driven by fears of communism, the impact of media coverage on public opinion, and significant events like the Tet Offensive. It discusses the anti-war movement, the roles of key figures such as Ho Chi Minh and President Johnson, and the societal implications of the draft. The narrative highlights the complexities of the conflict and the eventual withdrawal of U.S. forces, leading to Vietnam's unification under communist rule.
心得
- 🕊️ The Vietnam War was driven by fears of communism.
- 📺 Media coverage significantly influenced public opinion.
- ⚔️ The Tet Offensive marked a turning point in the war.
- ✊ The anti-war movement gained momentum through protests.
- 📜 The Pentagon Papers revealed government secrets about the war.
- ✈️ Operation Rolling Thunder was a major bombing campaign.
- 👥 The draft led to widespread protests and societal changes.
- 🇻🇳 The war ended with Vietnam's unification under communist control.
时间轴
- 00:00:00 - 00:05:00
The video opens with a poetic reference to the chaos of the Vietnam War, highlighting the fear of communism that drove America into conflict. It discusses the initial involvement of U.S. special forces as advisers, which quickly escalated into a full military engagement, leading to public backlash as the realities of war were broadcasted on television.
- 00:05:00 - 00:10:00
The narrative shifts to the assassination of President Kennedy and the subsequent rise of Lyndon Johnson, who leveraged the Gulf of Tonkin incident to escalate U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Johnson's misinterpretation of Ho Chi Minh's intentions and his belief in overwhelming force set the stage for a prolonged conflict.
- 00:10:00 - 00:15:00
As the war escalates, the video details the bombing campaigns and troop increases, including the use of Agent Orange. Public opinion begins to shift as anti-war protests grow, fueled by the stark realities of the war shown on television, leading to a significant divide in American society.
- 00:15:00 - 00:20:00
The video highlights the emergence of prominent anti-war figures, including Martin Luther King Jr. and Muhammad Ali, who spoke out against the war. The merging of civil rights and anti-war movements reflects a broader societal discontent with U.S. policies and the impact of the war on domestic issues.
- 00:20:00 - 00:25:00
The Tet Offensive is described as a turning point in the war, where North Vietnamese forces launched a surprise attack, shattering American perceptions of victory. The media coverage of the offensive significantly impacted public opinion, leading to increased anti-war sentiment across the nation.
- 00:25:00 - 00:30:00
The narrative continues with the challenges faced by U.S. troops in Vietnam, including the complexities of guerrilla warfare and the difficulties in understanding the local culture. The video emphasizes the disconnect between American soldiers and the Vietnamese populace, complicating the war effort.
- 00:30:00 - 00:35:00
As the war drags on, the video discusses the racial dynamics within the military, highlighting the disproportionate impact of the draft on Black and Latino soldiers. The growing discontent among these groups reflects broader societal issues and the changing demographics of the U.S. military.
- 00:35:00 - 00:42:37
The video concludes with the fallout from the war, including Nixon's secret bombing campaigns in Cambodia and the eventual withdrawal of U.S. support for South Vietnam. The legacy of the Vietnam War is portrayed as a profound and lasting impact on American society, politics, and foreign policy.
思维导图
视频问答
What was the main reason for U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War?
The fear of encroaching communism drove America into the Vietnam conflict.
How did public opinion change regarding the Vietnam War?
Public support for the war declined as the realities of the conflict were broadcasted on television.
What was the Tet Offensive?
The Tet Offensive was a major coordinated attack by the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces on January 30, 1968, which shocked the American public.
Who was Ho Chi Minh?
Ho Chi Minh was a nationalist leader in Vietnam who initially sought support from the U.S. but turned to communism due to lack of support.
What role did media play in the Vietnam War?
The Vietnam War was the first televised war, significantly influencing public perception and anti-war sentiment.
What was Operation Rolling Thunder?
Operation Rolling Thunder was a sustained bombing campaign against North Vietnam initiated by President Johnson.
How did the anti-war movement manifest in the U.S.?
The anti-war movement included protests, marches, and notable figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and Muhammad Ali speaking out against the war.
What was the impact of the draft on American society?
The draft led to widespread protests, particularly as middle-class Americans were increasingly drafted into the war.
What were the Pentagon Papers?
The Pentagon Papers revealed the U.S. government's secret actions and decisions regarding the Vietnam War.
What was the outcome of the Vietnam War for the U.S.?
The U.S. ultimately withdrew from Vietnam, leading to the fall of Saigon and the unification of Vietnam under communist control.
查看更多视频摘要
- 00:00:02logic and
- 00:00:05proportion have
- 00:00:07fallen be dead and the white night is
- 00:00:12talking
- 00:00:13backwards and the red Queens are the
- 00:00:18head
- 00:00:21remember what the D
- 00:00:27said feed your head
- 00:00:32Fe your
- 00:00:37[Music]
- 00:00:49head
- 00:00:52yeah
- 00:00:54[Applause]
- 00:00:55absolutely the fear of encroaching
- 00:00:58communism Drew America into the conflict
- 00:01:01of the Vietnam
- 00:01:05Wars fear scares the hell out of
- 00:01:07everybody and who pays for it people
- 00:01:11were so gung-ho about attacking the
- 00:01:13North Vietnamese that they made some
- 00:01:15serious
- 00:01:18mistakes at first the 400 special forces
- 00:01:22were just sent as advisers to the
- 00:01:24Vietnamese but these numbers were soon
- 00:01:27to
- 00:01:28escalate the word advised
- 00:01:30needs to be taken with a grain of salt
- 00:01:32Pilots were flying missions helicopters
- 00:01:35and large amounts of military equipment
- 00:01:37were being supplied by the United States
- 00:01:40we did the only an War covers in America
- 00:01:42going on then you couldn't come out
- 00:01:43against the war kids were beaten up by
- 00:01:46cops in every town and city in America
- 00:01:48for coming out against the
- 00:01:51war public opinion which had supported
- 00:01:54the war at first turned when endless
- 00:01:56battles were shown nightly on television
- 00:01:59without any sign of
- 00:02:01success because of the
- 00:02:03exposure the American public became
- 00:02:06suddenly aware of how self-destructive
- 00:02:09this war was I was a gassed at the
- 00:02:13number of people who really had no
- 00:02:15concept at all of what the war was about
- 00:02:18in a fighting
- 00:02:20sense the age of Aquarius brings civil
- 00:02:23desent peace marches the death of a
- 00:02:26president and a North Vietnamese leader
- 00:02:28who is playing a patient game when you
- 00:02:31put young men In Harm's Way they do bad
- 00:02:35things were there any Americans who
- 00:02:37thought the Americans were going to win
- 00:02:39the war so what are you doing in the
- 00:02:58jungle
- 00:03:02[Music]
- 00:03:04from Dallas Texas The Flash apparently
- 00:03:07official President Kennedy died at 100
- 00:03:11p.m. Central Standard
- 00:03:13Time vice president Lyndon Johnson has
- 00:03:16left the hospital in uh Dallas but we do
- 00:03:19not know uh to where he has proceeded
- 00:03:22presumably he will be taking the oath of
- 00:03:25office shortly and become the 36th
- 00:03:29president of the United
- 00:03:31States Lyndon Johnson has made his way
- 00:03:34to the presidential plane there he takes
- 00:03:37the oath of office ensuring that
- 00:03:39Presidential Power is unbroken end the
- 00:03:42first Milestone of his presidency was
- 00:03:44the signing of the new Civil Rights Act
- 00:03:47of 1964 into law the Gulf of ton kin
- 00:03:51incident is used by Johnson to launch
- 00:03:54into the war he has kept things lowkey
- 00:03:57till now in order to be reelected as an
- 00:04:00ex-navy man he is Keen to take up the
- 00:04:02challenge to finish the war and
- 00:04:04retaliates with air
- 00:04:08attacks the determination of all
- 00:04:11Americans to carry out our full
- 00:04:13commitment to the people and to the
- 00:04:15government of South
- 00:04:17Vietnam will be redoubled by this
- 00:04:21outrage America has misinterpreted hoi
- 00:04:24min's intentions and instead of
- 00:04:26supporting him earlier against the
- 00:04:28French they opposed him
- 00:04:30hoi Min was a nationalist but with no
- 00:04:32other support he had to turn to the
- 00:04:34Russians into the arms of the Communists
- 00:04:38he wasn't a a screaming nationalist
- 00:04:41fanatic didn't come across the fanatic
- 00:04:43at all he wasn't a communist he was a
- 00:04:45nationalist I mean he was a great hero
- 00:04:46to his country you know I mean they
- 00:04:48called him Uncle ho and he looked like
- 00:04:51your uncle and it was he was smiling and
- 00:04:54uh he looked like a lovely
- 00:04:57guy the vast meong River can provide
- 00:05:00food and water and power on a scale to
- 00:05:03dwarf even our own
- 00:05:05TVA Johnson was in the mindset that if
- 00:05:08he went in with Force hoochi Min would
- 00:05:11capitulate Johnson offers hoochi Min a
- 00:05:14vast development program for Vietnam if
- 00:05:17they pull
- 00:05:19back and we remain ready with this
- 00:05:23purpose for
- 00:05:25unconditional
- 00:05:28discussions
- 00:05:30hoi Min calculates that he and general
- 00:05:32Gap will eventually rid Vietnam of this
- 00:05:35American influence in the South
- 00:05:37President Johnson for all his great
- 00:05:39virtues wasn't very strong on foreign
- 00:05:41policy he believed that overwhelming
- 00:05:44Force worked he was a great Tex and
- 00:05:47Wheeler Dealer he figured that that that
- 00:05:50if he waved the big stick he could
- 00:05:52negotiate with hoim Min hoim Min didn't
- 00:05:55want to negotiate with anyone in my view
- 00:05:58on reflection of course is that we may
- 00:06:00have picked the wrong side when it came
- 00:06:02to hoi men in particular and general [ __ ]
- 00:06:06we were stuck with it and then all these
- 00:06:08murderous bombing runs
- 00:06:10began Johnson retaliates with Operation
- 00:06:13Rolling
- 00:06:15[Music]
- 00:06:22Thunder the Americans not being able
- 00:06:26politically to invade North Vietnam
- 00:06:29tried to bomit into a
- 00:06:32[Music]
- 00:06:38cound President Johnson is advised that
- 00:06:41the US Airfield at dang is vulnerable to
- 00:06:44attack from the North Vietnamese and the
- 00:06:46South Vietnamese Army lacks the strength
- 00:06:48to defend
- 00:06:50[Music]
- 00:06:51it I have asked the Commanding General
- 00:06:55General West
- 00:06:56morand what more he needs to meet this
- 00:07:00mounting
- 00:07:04[Music]
- 00:07:07aggression General West mland requests a
- 00:07:09few battalions to protect the Airfield
- 00:07:12this is the first of many requests for
- 00:07:14further troops and by the end of the
- 00:07:16year numbers of US troops would rise to
- 00:07:21200,000 escalated and escalated LBJ
- 00:07:24escalated it then then everybody was
- 00:07:26escalating it you know suddenly everyone
- 00:07:29in America is is is
- 00:07:32affected the bombing campaign and
- 00:07:34increasing troops does little to stop
- 00:07:36the North Vietnamese Army moving
- 00:07:38personnel and supplies through Laos and
- 00:07:41into South Vietnam American B-52 planes
- 00:07:45are sent in to bomb North Vietnam for
- 00:07:47the first time these continuous
- 00:07:50devastating air rates would last for 3
- 00:07:52years and include the heavy deployment
- 00:07:55of Agent
- 00:07:56Orange agent orange was actually used on
- 00:07:59American at highways to keep the weeds
- 00:08:01down off the side of the
- 00:08:03expressways but it was used in massive
- 00:08:05uh amounts in Vietnam and there dioxin
- 00:08:09which causes the Cancer birth
- 00:08:13defect as more and more US troops are
- 00:08:15sent to Vietnam the Stark reality of the
- 00:08:18war hits home in America anti-war
- 00:08:21demonstrators protest us involvement in
- 00:08:24the Vietnam War public support for the
- 00:08:26war begins to slide as anti-war
- 00:08:28demonstrations increase in the US the
- 00:08:31estimated 125,000 Manhattan Marchers
- 00:08:33include students Housewives beatnik
- 00:08:36poets doctors businessmen teachers
- 00:08:38priests and nuns makeup and costumes
- 00:08:40were
- 00:08:42[Music]
- 00:08:46bizarre in a major war effort the ground
- 00:08:49offensive operation CED of Falls begins
- 00:08:5230,000 us and South Vietnamese troops
- 00:08:56are sent to destroy Viet Kong operations
- 00:08:58and supply sites near
- 00:09:03Saigon protest rallies and marches
- 00:09:06against the war in Vietnam continued to
- 00:09:09increase veterans from World War I World
- 00:09:12War II and Korea stage a protest in New
- 00:09:15York
- 00:09:16City Muhammad Ali was world champion
- 00:09:19from 1964 until 1967 when he was
- 00:09:23stripped of his titles he caused a
- 00:09:25sensation when he refused to be inducted
- 00:09:27into the army you is my name is a white
- 00:09:31people not Viet Chinese or Japanese I
- 00:09:34saw just no comment on boxing religion
- 00:09:37induction no comments on the WEA
- 00:09:40nothing he refused to step forward he
- 00:09:43was sentenced to 5 years in jail they
- 00:09:47took they stripped his title while he
- 00:09:49was waiting for the Supreme Court to his
- 00:09:51case he spent his time going to colleges
- 00:09:53talked all over the country he gave
- 00:09:56young people the guts to come out
- 00:09:59against the
- 00:10:02war other artist activists such as Joan
- 00:10:05bz Pete Seager and Bob Dylan had joined
- 00:10:09what was to become an international
- 00:10:11movement against the Vietnam War in
- 00:10:14April
- 00:10:151967 Martin Luther King Jr makes a
- 00:10:18powerful speech previously he had not
- 00:10:21been vocal about Vietnam in order not to
- 00:10:24upset President Johnson as the civil
- 00:10:26rights legislation was going through
- 00:10:28during his presidency he speaks out
- 00:10:31against US policy in Vietnam Calling
- 00:10:34America the greatest purveyor of
- 00:10:36violence in the world he publicly
- 00:10:39denounces their military presence in
- 00:10:41Vietnam and proposes a merger of the
- 00:10:43anti-war and Civil Rights Movement the
- 00:10:46promises of the Great
- 00:10:48Society have been shut down on the
- 00:10:51battlefield of
- 00:10:53Vietnam the pursuit of this widen
- 00:10:56wall has narrowed the promise dimensions
- 00:11:00of the domestic welfare programs making
- 00:11:04the poor white and negro bear the
- 00:11:07heaviest burdens both at the front and
- 00:11:10at
- 00:11:14[Music]
- 00:11:18home where you going with that
- 00:11:20[Music]
- 00:11:23g in June 1967 the first Monteray Pop
- 00:11:28Festival takes Place showcasing many
- 00:11:30artists who've been expressing their
- 00:11:32anti- Vietnam feelings when Jimmy
- 00:11:35Hendrick takes to the stage many young
- 00:11:38men in the audience already have their
- 00:11:40draft
- 00:11:43papers you had ravish Shang car on one
- 00:11:45side and then you have the who smashing
- 00:11:47up guitars on the other and Jimmy
- 00:11:48Hendrick somewhere in the middle and
- 00:11:51that would certainly have been a kind of
- 00:11:53rallying cry for uh you know increasing
- 00:11:57anti-vietnam sentiment there have been
- 00:11:59various incidents of burning draft cards
- 00:12:02but this was brought into intense focus
- 00:12:04when it was acted out in the musical
- 00:12:06hair in New York in October
- 00:12:091967 people in colleges were pretty well
- 00:12:12organized by this time because they'
- 00:12:14been fighting for civil rights so they
- 00:12:16knew how to protest and and this
- 00:12:19essentially divides the country that the
- 00:12:21younger generation know how to cause
- 00:12:23trouble know how to if necessary avoid
- 00:12:26the draft and flee to Canada whereas the
- 00:12:29older people remember World War II and
- 00:12:33remember being
- 00:12:35[Music]
- 00:12:37right
- 00:12:391967 The Summer of Love had a bloody
- 00:12:42underbar Young American boys are sent to
- 00:12:45fight their counterparts in Vietnam this
- 00:12:48will be brought to a terrifying
- 00:12:50conflagration with the shock of the Tet
- 00:12:53Offensive tell me what's going on I'll
- 00:12:56tell you what's going on woo
- 00:13:01Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara
- 00:13:03visits General West mland to assess the
- 00:13:06situation on the ground their advice to
- 00:13:08President Johnson is taken up and Troop
- 00:13:11numbers are eventually increased to more
- 00:13:13than
- 00:13:16500,000 as more and more US troops enter
- 00:13:20Vietnam the siege of kasan begins and
- 00:13:23the Marines are cut off the United
- 00:13:26States had begun to suspect that the
- 00:13:29North Vietnamese strategy was to lure
- 00:13:32the Americans into a remote Outpost the
- 00:13:36Americans thought that they could win
- 00:13:37that if they built up enough forces and
- 00:13:40win a conventional battle against the
- 00:13:43North Vietnamese and so they built up
- 00:13:46the large base of
- 00:13:48kasan they expected that the attack
- 00:13:51would come there and indeed it built up
- 00:13:54all through December and
- 00:13:58January
- 00:14:00however this was a distraction from the
- 00:14:02main event on the night of January 30th
- 00:14:05the Vietnamese New Year some 880,000
- 00:14:08Viet Kong attacked 36 capitals 64 towns
- 00:14:12and four American bases around 4,000
- 00:14:16Viet Kong attacked Saigon occupi the
- 00:14:18grounds of the US Embassy and hit
- 00:14:21General West morand's headquarters this
- 00:14:23was known as the Tet Offensive Americans
- 00:14:26have to engage intense Force to recover
- 00:14:28from from the sudden
- 00:14:34Onslaught the Americans think they're in
- 00:14:37control of the the country then comes
- 00:14:39the Teta offensive tet is is the
- 00:14:42Vietnamese Lunar New Year the Americans
- 00:14:45say that there's no chance that V would
- 00:14:47attack them during tet it would be like
- 00:14:49a starting an offensive on Christmas Day
- 00:14:52it wouldn't happen however again nobody
- 00:14:54read the Vietnamese history books the
- 00:14:57Vietnamese W one of their greatest
- 00:14:58victories against the
- 00:15:00Chinese attacking on tet the Tet offense
- 00:15:03was essentially led by the southern
- 00:15:05Vietnamese communist the vietcom back by
- 00:15:07the North Vietnamese um but it was a
- 00:15:09Viet Kong inspired Uprising dozens and
- 00:15:11dozens of cities came under near
- 00:15:14simultaneous attack by mostly NLF
- 00:15:17Southern guerillas who had been moved
- 00:15:20into position largely unknown to the US
- 00:15:24forces suddenly every town and city in
- 00:15:28South Vietnam there are explosions going
- 00:15:30off there's there's gunfire the Vietcong
- 00:15:32even send a Suicide Squad into the
- 00:15:36American Embassy and they hold it for
- 00:15:38hours this is an American television the
- 00:15:42Americans see their own Embassy occupied
- 00:15:45by the enemy the fact that the Viet Kong
- 00:15:49had entered the American Embassy in
- 00:15:50Saigon and um caused a great deal of
- 00:15:53damage shattered public opinion and
- 00:15:55American faith in winning the war if the
- 00:15:57war was ever winnable they can't believe
- 00:15:59what they're saying they've been told
- 00:16:00that they're winning this for and it
- 00:16:02doesn't seem that they are the battle
- 00:16:05for H was the response to tet to
- 00:16:07Endeavor to take back the territory that
- 00:16:09had been lost to the Viet Kong it's
- 00:16:12regarded as one of the bloodiest and
- 00:16:13longest battles of the Vietnam War
- 00:16:16ending in March
- 00:16:181968 fighting is violent and if ever a
- 00:16:21marine had to rely on his own quickness
- 00:16:23and toughness this was
- 00:16:26it house to house Street to Street for
- 00:16:30three long
- 00:16:33weeks massive retaliation was taken and
- 00:16:36the the vehicon was swept out out of the
- 00:16:38cities and and largely
- 00:16:41annihilated and this is again was part
- 00:16:43of hoim strategy because he realized
- 00:16:47that eventually he was going to win the
- 00:16:48war and he didn't want these annoying
- 00:16:52Southerners many of whom weren at the
- 00:16:54vcon weren't necessarily Communists they
- 00:16:56were just nationalists he wanted to get
- 00:16:58rid of them and this was a wonderful way
- 00:17:01to do it this meant that the North
- 00:17:03Vietnamese forces which had not even
- 00:17:06appeared in many parts of the South for
- 00:17:08instance the Mong Delta by that time now
- 00:17:11began to play a much bigger role in the
- 00:17:13war and it became necessary for the
- 00:17:16Communist forces to have North
- 00:17:18Vietnamese reinforcements to keep up
- 00:17:21their level of
- 00:17:27activity and to the first day Marines
- 00:17:30own just two blocks of the city two
- 00:17:33blocks and the price is deer militar was
- 00:17:37a defeat for them but in political and
- 00:17:39public relations terms it was a huge
- 00:17:41success and uh badly damaged American
- 00:17:44morale um particularly at home um and
- 00:17:48the tide of the war changed on the north
- 00:17:51side of the river the enemy's position
- 00:17:52begins to crumble Marines along with the
- 00:17:55South Vietnamese Army Marine and Ranger
- 00:17:57units move into the the Imperial
- 00:18:00T this great strategist was hoochi Min
- 00:18:04because he realized fighting the
- 00:18:06Americans it wasn't about what actually
- 00:18:09happened in Vietnam it was what happened
- 00:18:11on the television sets in the United
- 00:18:13States so if he could get the war on the
- 00:18:16news every night he knew that America
- 00:18:19would Tire of it sooner or later and he'
- 00:18:22get his
- 00:18:23way finally the job is finished 25 days
- 00:18:27of heavy fighting
- 00:18:29enemy losses in the thousands and each
- 00:18:32Marine knows he's been a part of a
- 00:18:34historic battle knows he rates the
- 00:18:36traditional well
- 00:18:40done although America did win back their
- 00:18:43territory this was a huge turning point
- 00:18:45in the war as America loses its
- 00:18:48appearance of
- 00:18:49invincibility Vietnam was the first
- 00:18:51television War it was on the Nightly
- 00:18:53News in America and it was on the news
- 00:18:55here in the UK um and so had a phenomen
- 00:18:59impact it was in American living rooms
- 00:19:03every
- 00:19:05[Music]
- 00:19:10evening now CIA men and MPS have gone
- 00:19:14into the embassy and are trying to get
- 00:19:16the snipers out this is the main
- 00:19:19Vietnamese language radio station in
- 00:19:20Saigon and right now and it went on and
- 00:19:23on and on and of course the people in
- 00:19:25America knew that their sons were going
- 00:19:28and
- 00:19:29there were shots at the body bags coming
- 00:19:31home and it's terribly demoralizing
- 00:19:34America has this great sort of culture
- 00:19:36winning and they believed that with
- 00:19:39their wealth their technical expertise
- 00:19:42and their Manpower that they could do
- 00:19:45anything the smoke turned on us again
- 00:19:48and out of it in the briefest Lull in
- 00:19:50the crossfire soldiers came running out
- 00:19:53carrying children every time you went
- 00:19:55around a corner you see a a palm leaf
- 00:19:58move you think Christ it's a Ambush
- 00:20:00every time you see a junk you think ah
- 00:20:02it's full of explosives I mean this is
- 00:20:04how American television had weaned me
- 00:20:08into
- 00:20:13Vietnam so I went out there convinced I
- 00:20:16was either going to be killed or I was
- 00:20:18going to fail in the story my very first
- 00:20:21story in Vietnam Apocalypse Now the
- 00:20:23scene where they're on that uh little
- 00:20:25boat big machine gun up there but that
- 00:20:28was my first story River Marine Patrol
- 00:20:31it was called and I was absolutely
- 00:20:34terrified I mean really quite
- 00:20:38[Applause]
- 00:20:43terrified patrols like these in the
- 00:20:46mikon delra are convinced that they're
- 00:20:48winning their war against the VC they
- 00:20:50put a success they're as evidence of
- 00:20:53their success the number of VC dead and
- 00:20:56the number of VC defectors but they have
- 00:20:59nevertheless the substantial backing of
- 00:21:02thousands of well-armed and well-trained
- 00:21:04troops plus Barrack ships helicopters
- 00:21:07and gunships and the River Marine Force
- 00:21:10the problem about TV is that when there
- 00:21:13were big things happening in Vietnam
- 00:21:16your bosses wanted Daily
- 00:21:20News television journalists would go to
- 00:21:22a battlefield but they would had to
- 00:21:24leave the battlefield by a certain time
- 00:21:26to get back to Saigon Airport and ship
- 00:21:29their film to Hong Kong there were no
- 00:21:31satellites of course we were shooting
- 00:21:33film usually if you're doing a a feature
- 00:21:35story you just get to New York then they
- 00:21:38would uh develop it and edit it with
- 00:21:41your narration now it's sort of hard I
- 00:21:43think for journalist TV journalist today
- 00:21:47to relate to the fact that we were
- 00:21:48writing our narrations without ever
- 00:21:51having seen the film that we were
- 00:21:53narrating you just watched what you were
- 00:21:56covering you watched what your cameraman
- 00:21:58was filming you wrote to what you
- 00:22:01thought he had filmed and then you laid
- 00:22:03down the
- 00:22:04narration and offered when the fire
- 00:22:08spreads the people leave and in no time
- 00:22:11at all that area is charred and ruined
- 00:22:13and destroyed you couldn't go too far so
- 00:22:16my area of operations tended to be down
- 00:22:18in the mikon which as it turns out was a
- 00:22:21pretty dangerous place to be
- 00:22:24anyway for one moment they they panicked
- 00:22:27and brightly Ser a mort hit
- 00:22:29right in the middle of them down on the
- 00:22:30right after 600 in the evening there was
- 00:22:33nothing to
- 00:22:34do that's when we all got into
- 00:22:37trouble um and now I mean there was
- 00:22:39nothing like 24 hours news and I
- 00:22:42remember the when when a satellite first
- 00:22:44came up it was Charles Collingwood who
- 00:22:46said to
- 00:22:48me our Glory Days Are Over we're going
- 00:22:51to have to work for a living
- 00:22:54now the journalists working out of saon
- 00:22:57all seemed to have have a huge affection
- 00:22:59for the city it is their Retreat from
- 00:23:02the war a short helicopter ride away
- 00:23:05nothing could be more of a contrast to
- 00:23:07the war than their cocktail hour back at
- 00:23:10the hotels we stayed at a hotel in
- 00:23:13lamong square which is bang next to the
- 00:23:16U Congress building the safest part of
- 00:23:18town that little Center seemed to be
- 00:23:20protected saig is a fantastic place to
- 00:23:23be that a very exciting atmosphere
- 00:23:26didn't seem to be in great danger at
- 00:23:28that time there were French restaurants
- 00:23:30there were um there's an old French
- 00:23:33residual Community there who were very
- 00:23:36attached to Vietnam who had Vietnam
- 00:23:38Vietnamese wives a lot of them it was
- 00:23:39French you know the wide streets the
- 00:23:42plazas the squares the trees the flowers
- 00:23:47and the restaurants you could go to war
- 00:23:50in the most horrific circumstances and
- 00:23:52see some rather Dreadful things and then
- 00:23:55You' come back and go out into Saigon
- 00:23:58cross the road and have the most superb
- 00:24:00French meal with quite excellent French
- 00:24:04[Music]
- 00:24:06wine the American public has no Escape
- 00:24:09From The War General West morland's
- 00:24:11requests for more troops had required
- 00:24:14students to be drafted this results in
- 00:24:16an increase in demonstrations as the
- 00:24:19public feel helpless against this
- 00:24:21distant
- 00:24:23struggle the hoochi Min Trail was
- 00:24:26developed from earlier footpaths used
- 00:24:28for trading it started just south of
- 00:24:31Hanoi and due to the mountain range
- 00:24:33trong son the trail dropped into Laos
- 00:24:35and Cambodia and then into South Vietnam
- 00:24:38west of dalat at first it took several
- 00:24:41months to reach the South however the
- 00:24:44volume of traffic expanded gradually
- 00:24:46from carrying loads on soldiers backs or
- 00:24:48in carts to improvements being made to
- 00:24:51accommodate heavy trucks dotted along
- 00:24:54the routs were fuel storage tanks and
- 00:24:57field hospitals
- 00:24:58the trail was covered by the heavy
- 00:25:00jungle canopy and therefore hidden from
- 00:25:03us bombing raids until the bombing
- 00:25:05became so intense destroying the jungle
- 00:25:08and using agent orange to
- 00:25:10defoliate even so the determination of
- 00:25:13the North Vietnamese would just make
- 00:25:15another path around to join the trail
- 00:25:17again this Trail was supplying several
- 00:25:20hundred 100,000 troops in the South
- 00:25:21against the
- 00:25:23US my unit was trying to achieve a
- 00:25:26workable uh interdiction of the hoi men
- 00:25:29Trail where it came into South Mount
- 00:25:32North of Saigon they bed the hoi men
- 00:25:35trail with a supply trail that ran down
- 00:25:38through lais and latly through Cambodia
- 00:25:42the hman trail was in fact a series of
- 00:25:44trails some of them big enough to take
- 00:25:46Vehicles down They Carried the stuff was
- 00:25:49weapons food medicine that sort of thing
- 00:25:51for the fighters in the South were
- 00:25:54either North vietnames or Viet Kong so
- 00:25:56the bulk of the people we fought in
- 00:25:58firefights were either North viames
- 00:26:01coming down the trail or Viet Kong the
- 00:26:04great story of the war the best story of
- 00:26:06the war was never told because the best
- 00:26:10story of the war was the hoian
- 00:26:14trail how the guys got from North
- 00:26:18Vietnam from Hanoi to a large extent
- 00:26:20into South Vietnam and when they got to
- 00:26:23South Vietnam managed to fight is
- 00:26:27superhuman a year of my life was spent
- 00:26:29either ambushing people or trying to
- 00:26:31avoid being ambushed by them that was it
- 00:26:34it was Ambush Warfare and that's what
- 00:26:36the nature of the firefights were the
- 00:26:38fantasy the journalistic fantasy was to
- 00:26:40go down the trail with the North
- 00:26:43Vietnamese but it it never happened for
- 00:26:46years now the Viet Kong have been strong
- 00:26:48in the Delta it's where they've always
- 00:26:51raised taxes food and recruits and
- 00:26:54recently they've even been enrolling
- 00:26:55boys of 14 and 15
- 00:26:58but the Americans say that since the T
- 00:27:00offensive Viet Kong tactics have become
- 00:27:03much more
- 00:27:05aggressive pressure came down from the
- 00:27:08top levels to inflate the body count and
- 00:27:11uh sometimes this was done with false
- 00:27:13reporting of the number of Communists
- 00:27:15killed in particular actions but also
- 00:27:18including civilian casualties in the
- 00:27:21body Camp the Americans thought they'd
- 00:27:23succeeded in keeping at least the main
- 00:27:25waterways of the Delta clear of Viet
- 00:27:27Kong but now they find that they're not
- 00:27:30safe even
- 00:27:33[Music]
- 00:27:34there the person who first realized hoim
- 00:27:39min's strategy was Robert McNamara that
- 00:27:42the Communists were controlling the
- 00:27:45action in the battlefield they could
- 00:27:49attack and run away at will so they
- 00:27:53could control how many people they were
- 00:27:55losing what their casualties were and
- 00:27:57all the they were doing was keeping
- 00:27:59their casualties down to below their
- 00:28:01birth rate which meant essentially they
- 00:28:03could fight forever and of course the
- 00:28:06Americans weren't going to fight forever
- 00:28:08eventually they' go home the NLF also
- 00:28:11were able to keep recruiting amongst
- 00:28:13people who were disillusioned or
- 00:28:15disgusted by uh the destruction and the
- 00:28:18casualties inflicted on the Vietnamese
- 00:28:19rural population it was the kind of
- 00:28:22place where you had you know brothers
- 00:28:26fighting for the Arvin the South
- 00:28:28Vietnamese Army run by the South
- 00:28:30Vietnamese American puppets and then you
- 00:28:33had his brother in the
- 00:28:35Viet and the Americans could never
- 00:28:38understand what was going on they didn't
- 00:28:39understand the language they didn't
- 00:28:41understand the culture they didn't
- 00:28:43understand how that was possible I mean
- 00:28:44there weren't any can you imagine the
- 00:28:46second world war you have one GI and his
- 00:28:49brothers with the Nazis
- 00:28:51unimaginable but this is what was going
- 00:28:53on through the whole
- 00:28:57War
- 00:28:58President Johnson continues this huge us
- 00:29:01bombing campaign of Rolling Thunder
- 00:29:04targeting the hoochi Min Trail in the
- 00:29:06main the tonnage of ordinance would
- 00:29:08surpass all that was dropped in World
- 00:29:10War II in old part
- 00:29:15of make no mistake about
- 00:29:18[Music]
- 00:29:19it I don't want a man in here to go back
- 00:29:23home thinking
- 00:29:25otherwise we are going to win you be did
- 00:29:28before your time
- 00:29:31is there's another aspect to the war in
- 00:29:35Vietnam which is race this was the first
- 00:29:38time there was a major commitment of
- 00:29:41mixed race units um a lot of young black
- 00:29:45Americans wanted to prove their status
- 00:29:47in in in American society their manhood
- 00:29:49if if you will he wanted to get young
- 00:29:52black man into the army so he could
- 00:29:54Supply proper medical assistance to them
- 00:29:56give them education and get them out of
- 00:29:58the ghettos and improve their lock as
- 00:30:00the war start to go badly the black guys
- 00:30:03thought well why are we dying dying over
- 00:30:06here when the enemies uh back home in
- 00:30:13America in the early years of the war
- 00:30:16the Black and Latino soldiers were
- 00:30:18Professionals in mostly mixed race units
- 00:30:21by the end of 1968 draft EES account for
- 00:30:24over 30% of American troops amongst
- 00:30:27these are many black soldiers who are
- 00:30:29growing more and more disaffected in
- 00:30:31what they call the white man's War when
- 00:30:34there were so many racial issues to deal
- 00:30:36with back home as the casualty rate
- 00:30:38increased conscription was now to
- 00:30:40include college students who had
- 00:30:42previously been exempt this meant that
- 00:30:45although the majority of US soldiers
- 00:30:47were still volunteers their numbers now
- 00:30:49included middleclass white Americans who
- 00:30:52were forced to defer their University
- 00:30:55education we got to get out of
- 00:30:59[Music]
- 00:31:03this when I first went out there in 68
- 00:31:06the majority of the Infantry men were
- 00:31:09all workingclass
- 00:31:11Americans but when the Americans abandon
- 00:31:14this avoidance of the draft and suddenly
- 00:31:17in in Vietnam we saw the arrival not of
- 00:31:21the officer class but of white middle
- 00:31:24class kids in the ranks these are young
- 00:31:26men who have to go and fight and we the
- 00:31:29draft comes in and so you may have to
- 00:31:31fight against your will and then the
- 00:31:33whole idea of the draft Dodger comes in
- 00:31:35well it wasn't the fact so much that
- 00:31:38they were University students it was the
- 00:31:40middle class the middle class was
- 00:31:43getting
- 00:31:44drafted not a chance forget it which is
- 00:31:47why there hasn't been a draft since then
- 00:31:49World War II draft was I mean everybody
- 00:31:51believed in the war you suddenly had
- 00:31:54middleclass kids being drafted in to do
- 00:31:56the same job and they were writing
- 00:31:58letters home their parents were
- 00:32:00appealing to the
- 00:32:02congressman and that's when it all
- 00:32:04started the
- 00:32:08change giant protests were not only not
- 00:32:13even so much the soldiers as their
- 00:32:16mothers because what the hell is my boy
- 00:32:19doing in Vietnam he should be doing his
- 00:32:23graduate work now well you could get a
- 00:32:25student deferment for a while but the
- 00:32:28middle class was getting drafted which
- 00:32:31you can make a coherent Theory saying
- 00:32:35that that's why we lost the
- 00:32:37war they're only going there for a year
- 00:32:40tour whereas the Vietnamese Fighters are
- 00:32:43there all the time so every time you
- 00:32:45send a fresh young guy who's just come
- 00:32:48out of college they have to start again
- 00:32:50with with a new guy who who who knows
- 00:32:53nothing all the challenges have been met
- 00:32:57the enemy is not beaten but he knows
- 00:33:00that he has met his master in the
- 00:33:04field President Johnson was under
- 00:33:06tremendous pressure over the lack of
- 00:33:08victory in Vietnam the Battle of H had
- 00:33:11been the response to the Tet Offensive
- 00:33:13as US forces managed to regain the
- 00:33:16territories that had been lost but all
- 00:33:18their claims of Victory were like dust
- 00:33:20in the hand because this amounted to
- 00:33:22only a stalemate in addition at home
- 00:33:25despite all his efforts to pass a Civil
- 00:33:27Rights Act through Congress to become LW
- 00:33:29the lack of improvement for the black
- 00:33:31situation caused the Black Power
- 00:33:33movement to be active against him the
- 00:33:36Democratic party splits into many
- 00:33:38factions Johnson does badly in the New
- 00:33:41Hampshire primary and ends his bid for
- 00:33:43re-election the nation is stunned with
- 00:33:47American sons in the field far
- 00:33:51away with America's future under
- 00:33:55challenge right here at home
- 00:33:58with our hopes and the world's hopes for
- 00:34:01peace and the balance every
- 00:34:04day I do not
- 00:34:06believe that I should devote an hour or
- 00:34:09a day of my time to any personal partis
- 00:34:14causes or to any duties
- 00:34:18other than the awesome
- 00:34:21duties of this office the
- 00:34:25presidency of your country
- 00:34:29accordingly I shall not
- 00:34:33seek and I will not
- 00:34:35accept the nomination of my party for
- 00:34:38another term as your
- 00:34:41president the famous CBS anchor Monto
- 00:34:45kronite he hadn't been in in Vietnam
- 00:34:47since
- 00:34:481965 he went back saw what he had to see
- 00:34:52and said on American television we're
- 00:34:54not winning can't win and at this
- 00:34:58point President Johnson says if I've
- 00:35:01lost Walter I've lost the American
- 00:35:03public and he resigns a strike in
- 00:35:07Memphis causes Martin Luther King Jr to
- 00:35:10return to his hometown after his March
- 00:35:12had been interrupted with civil unrest
- 00:35:14he gave his I came to the Mountaintop
- 00:35:17speech and I've looked
- 00:35:19over and I've
- 00:35:22seen the promised
- 00:35:24land I may not get there with you
- 00:35:28but I want you to know
- 00:35:30tonight that we as a people will get to
- 00:35:34the promised
- 00:35:39land goad goad so I'm happy tonight I'm
- 00:35:42not worried about anything I'm not
- 00:35:45fearing any man my eyes have seen the
- 00:35:49glory of the coming of the
- 00:35:51[Applause]
- 00:35:54Lord at his Motel the next day prepared
- 00:35:57preparing to leave for another meeting
- 00:35:59Martin Luther King Jr is shot in the
- 00:36:02head and dies that April sees the
- 00:36:05beginning of riots in many US
- 00:36:26cities
- 00:36:56e
- 00:37:26e
- 00:37:56e
- 00:38:06let me tell you what those four years
- 00:38:07have done to America the longest war
- 00:38:10that America's ever had in this history
- 00:38:13the worst crime wave we've ever had in
- 00:38:15our history the highest taxes we've ever
- 00:38:17had in our history the highest rate in
- 00:38:20the cost of living that we've had in a
- 00:38:22generation and the lowest respect for
- 00:38:25the United States of America in our
- 00:38:27history
- 00:38:29as the squabbling for the presidential
- 00:38:31election continues violent conflict
- 00:38:33breaks out particularly in Newark and
- 00:38:36Detroit in Chicago a huge anti-war
- 00:38:39protest outside the Democratic National
- 00:38:41Convention leads to ugly clashes with
- 00:38:44[Applause]
- 00:38:56police Hubert Humphrey gains the
- 00:38:58Democratic nomination but loses to Nixon
- 00:39:01by a majority vote of less than
- 00:39:051% Along Comes President Nixon who
- 00:39:09promises peace with honor to get the
- 00:39:11boys out of there everything's going to
- 00:39:13be all right I decided in my mind I was
- 00:39:16in Vietnam at the time that I would vote
- 00:39:18for Nixon because he rather than Hubert
- 00:39:20Humphrey would end the war and he would
- 00:39:22some find some way to extricate the
- 00:39:25United States out of that mess
- 00:39:28unfortunately that's not what he gave
- 00:39:30America he pulled some of the people out
- 00:39:32but he expanded the war in into Cambodia
- 00:39:36and
- 00:39:37[Music]
- 00:39:40L however less than two months into
- 00:39:42office President Nixon orders the secret
- 00:39:45bombing of Cambodia ostensibly to
- 00:39:48destroy the hoochi Min tril and the
- 00:39:50supply enclaves just over the Border
- 00:39:53this covert bombing of over half a
- 00:39:55million tons of ordinance would actually
- 00:39:57stretch across the whole of Cambodia and
- 00:39:59was carried out without the knowledge of
- 00:40:01Congress or the US
- 00:40:04public we will Aid Cambodia Cambodia is
- 00:40:08the Nixon Doctrine in its purest form in
- 00:40:11Cambodia what we are doing is helping
- 00:40:12the cambodians to help
- 00:40:15[Music]
- 00:40:22themselves as part of Nixon's strategy
- 00:40:26of reducing in soldiers on the ground
- 00:40:28and attacking the Vietnamese communist
- 00:40:32while trying to negotiate peace in Paris
- 00:40:35he launched uh an legal bombing against
- 00:40:39the Viet Kong camps in Cambodia and he
- 00:40:44even followed up that with an illegal
- 00:40:47Invasion Richard Nixon gave the order
- 00:40:50for the Strategic bombing of Cambodia
- 00:40:53using us B52 high altitude uh bombing
- 00:40:57aircraft and the escalation of the
- 00:41:00bombing of Cambodia occurred from March
- 00:41:031969 the war been spilled over from
- 00:41:06South Vietnam we we learned later there
- 00:41:07had been secret American bombing going
- 00:41:09on um the South Vietnamese forces and
- 00:41:12Americans moved into Cambodia to try and
- 00:41:15wipe out the Vietnamese communist
- 00:41:17Sanctuary areas in the eastern part of
- 00:41:20Cambodia which bordered on South
- 00:41:22[Music]
- 00:41:26Vietnam
- 00:41:28[Music]
- 00:41:32hoochi Min dies General [ __ ] carries on
- 00:41:36the strategy of the war the age of
- 00:41:39Aquarius ends with students being shot
- 00:41:41down by the Ohio National Guard South
- 00:41:44Vietnam has lost its us support and
- 00:41:47fights a desperate War alone against the
- 00:41:49north Nixon's secret war crimes have
- 00:41:52brought to light in the Pentagon papers
- 00:41:54in the Washington Post with the New York
- 00:41:57Times
- 00:41:58General [ __ ] still stands strong for the
- 00:42:00north as the war in Vietnam rages
- 00:42:05[Music]
- 00:42:10[Applause]
- 00:42:13[Music]
- 00:42:17[Applause]
- 00:42:18[Music]
- 00:42:26on
- 00:42:28[Music]
- Vietnam War
- U.S. involvement
- Tet Offensive
- Ho Chi Minh
- anti-war movement
- Operation Rolling Thunder
- media impact
- draft
- Pentagon Papers
- public opinion