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[spacey music plays]
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[man 1] I was born in Brooklyn, New York,
May 19th, 1946,
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{\an8}and when I was about four,
we moved to Florida.
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{\an8}My stepfather was a policeman,
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{\an8}and he was in an organization
called the John Birch Society,
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which was a right-wing organization.
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[spokesman 1] We're proud members
of the John Birch Society.
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{\an8}We're all engaged along with the society
in an epic undertaking.
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We have got to defeat
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the international Communist
world control conspiracy.
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{\an8}[Camil] His job for the John Birch Society
was making telephone tapes.
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People would dial
the word "freedom" on the telephone,
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and they would get a recorded message.
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[spokesman 2]
The road to tyranny was enacted
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in the form of the Civil Rights Bill…
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[Camil] Most of those recorded messages
were about how bad the Communists were.
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[spokesman 2] The goal
of the international Communist conspiracy
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is world domination.
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[Camil] I didn't know
what a Communist was,
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but I knew they were bad,
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and that they were
the enemy of the United States,
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{\an8}and that it would be my job
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to go in the military
when I graduate high school
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and stop the commies
before they got over here.
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Three days after I graduated,
I was at Parris Island.
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Boot camp, that's where they basically
take the civilian out of you
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and put the military in you.
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They take all your personal belongings
away from you,
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and they put you in a rack, a bed.
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[bugle plays "Reveille"]
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[Camil] And then the next morning,
the lights come on,
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people are running up and down
the barrack halls,
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making a lot of noise,
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and they're pushing over the bunk beds
and knocking people out of their beds.
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I woke up, and I thought
I was having a bad dream,
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but it was real. [laughs]
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They give you impossible tasks,
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and then they punish you
for not doing those impossible tasks.
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For instance, I was asked to jump.
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So I jumped.
And the drill instructor said,
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"Private Camil, who gave you
permission to come down?"
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[recruits yelling]
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[Camil] There's a lot
of dehumanization in the training.
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[soldiers sing]
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[Camil] You run,
and you sing songs with a cadence.
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One of the songs was…
♪ I'm gonna go to Vietnam ♪
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♪ I'm gonna kill some Việt Cộng ♪
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♪ With a knife or with a gun ♪
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[swallows and sniffles]
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♪ Either way, it will be fun ♪
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- [soldiers chanting indistinctly]
- [pensive music playing]
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- [music fades]
- [static crackling]
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[helicopter blades chopping in distance]
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[woman 1] I cannot think
of a more cataclysmic event
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than the Vietnam War.
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[droning anxious music plays]
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[woman 1] For Vietnamese people,
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the events that took place
were life-defining.
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And in terms of the United States,
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Vietnam shaped their understanding
of their place in the world.
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[protestors drum and sing]
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And do all this, and do it right…
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[man 2] The Vietnam War caused
a great loss of faith in presidents
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and their top foreign policy advisors…
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{\an8}because we saw things just not work out
the way they were presented,
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{\an8}and the way they were sold to us.
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[inaudible]
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[woman 1] Prior to the Vietnam War,
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for the most part, Americans believed
their leaders in Washington, D.C.
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After Vietnam,
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{\an8}you had the first decline
of what we call the imperial presidency.
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This was really when
the American people understood
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that, you know,
our leaders in Washington, D.C.
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aren't always doing
what we think they're doing.
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They don't always tell us
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the decision-making
that was taking place behind closed doors.
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And during the Vietnam War era,
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the American people saw that leaders
for the first time lied to them.
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{\an8}From a political standpoint,
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{\an8}we could've flushed it
down the drain three years ago.
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Blame Johnson and Kennedy.
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[man 3] Many of the things
that plague our society today,
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resentment, alienation, cynicism,
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a tendency to mistrust one another,
to question one another's motives,
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a breakdown in civic institutions,
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{\an8}they have complex causes, no question,
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{\an8}but I think many of them
have their roots in the Vietnam era.
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[protestors shout indistinctly]
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{\an8}[man 4] America's changing.
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{\an8}Did Vietnam cause it?
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{\an8}It was one of the causes.
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It let loose a torrent of emotion
in American society.
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[protestors] No more war! No more war!
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{\an8}This was a shredding
of the innocence of this country,
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{\an8}the revelation of that.
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[man 5] It was transformative,
not only that,
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but it-- the anti-war movement woke up
a lot of other communities
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{\an8}like, "Hey, we need representation here."
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"We need to be heard."
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[Muhammad Ali] My conscience won't let me
go shoot my brother,
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or some darker people,
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{\an8}or some poor, hungry people in the mud
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{\an8}for big, powerful America.
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And shoot them for what?
They never called me "nigger."
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[protestors chant]
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{\an8}I was angry, and I wanted to make sure
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{\an8}when I threw the rock through the window
of the Army recruitment office,
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I was willing to go to jail for that.
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[man 6] What was happening to us,
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{\an8}our image of ourselves
as the last best hope on earth
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was shaken.
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And if it wasn't shaken,
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if it was still strong
to millions and millions of Americans,
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by the end of the war in Vietnam,
it was shattered.
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[man] Watch out!
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[Weiner] Because viewed a certain way,
the United States in Vietnam
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was not the last best hope on earth.
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It was a violent,
militaristic, imperial power.
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[man 7] We all live
under the shadow of Vietnam.
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We all live
with the consequences of Vietnam.
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The memory of that war is something
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{\an8}that a lot of people are spending
a lot of time trying to erase.
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But we can't forget Vietnam.
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It's with us today.
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- [soldier shouts]
- [gun fires]
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[droning anxious music continues]
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[ethereal music plays]
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[man 8] When I was a very young boy,
perhaps ten,
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plucking hairs from my mother's head…
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She must have been in her fifties
or late forties at that point
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in San Jose, California.
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{\an8}And out of nowhere,
she tells me that in Vietnam,
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{\an8}she saw a dead child
on a doorstep in her neighborhood.
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And that child had died
because of the famine.
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So that was one of the ways
by which I started to understand
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that the history of the country
where I had come from was complicated…
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terrible…
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unspoken of in so many ways.
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Certainly among Americans,
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but also to a certain extent
among the Vietnamese too.
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There's history in the sense of facts.
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But there's also history
as stories, as narratives.
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With the war in Vietnam,
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the histories we tell about that
are really, really crucial.
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For me, as someone
who's Vietnamese and American,
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I'm deeply aware
that in both of these countries,
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there are deeply conflicting histories.
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That's part of what led
to the war in Vietnam.
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In the United States, early on,
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the American mindset
was certainly this Cold War mindset.
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There was communism,
and there was capitalism,
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and there was totalitarianism,
and there was democracy.
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Either or, us or them,
everybody had to choose.
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That was the American perspective.
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{\an8}Only a few generations
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{\an8}have been granted the role
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{\an8}of defending freedom
in its hour of maximum danger.
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{\an8}I do not shrink from this responsibility.
I welcome it.
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[Logevall] John F. Kennedy,
the 35th President of the United States,
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is an extraordinary figure
in American political history.
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He was a Cold War president.
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To some degree,
I would say he was a cold warrior.
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Kennedy obviously inspired Americans,
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through his idealism,
through his rhetoric,
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to support, fundamentally,
his vision for the nation's future.
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[announcer] From the Office
of the White House in Washington, D.C.,
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NBC Radio now presents an address
by the President of the United States,
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John F. Kennedy.
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Ladies and gentlemen,
the President of the United States.
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We preach freedom around the world,
and we mean it,
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and we cherish our freedom here at home.
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[Logevall] But he's a very key figure
on the Vietnam story.
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{\an8}It's fair to say, uh,
it's not his best… chapter.
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[ominous music plays]
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[man 9] So when Kennedy comes in,
he believes that he inherits
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a very, very dangerous
geopolitical situation.
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{\an8}You have these two great power centers
that are emerging in the Communist world,
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{\an8}the Soviet Union,
as well as the People's Republic of China.
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{\an8}[newscaster] What we oppose,
fundamentally,
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is the aggressive nature
of the Communist state,
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its unceasing effort
to expand wherever it can,
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to grow bigger, to take over, to supplant.
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[Logevall] It's hard today to recapture
the degree to which ordinary Americans,
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{\an8}as well as their leaders,
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{\an8}were concerned about the threat
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{\an8}that Communism represented
to the American way of life.
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[Selverstone] In 1961, the Communists
decide to build a wall in Berlin.
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- [people screaming]
- [dark music playing]
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[crowd chanting indistinctly]
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{\an8}[Selverstone] At the same time,
Cuban leader Fidel Castro
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{\an8}and his Communist brethren
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{\an8}had taken over Cuba.
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It looks like the Soviets,
the Communists, have a beachhead
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in the Western Hemisphere.
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{\an8}And Kennedy inherits a plan
to take down Castro.
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{\an8}[weapons firing]
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[Selverstone] The Bay of Pigs affair
is a disaster for the United States.
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It ends in catastrophe.
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There are hundreds of deaths.
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It's a real black eye for Kennedy.
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[somber music plays]
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[machine clicks]
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{\an8}This is essentially a political war,
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{\an8}because it's a war for men's minds.
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{\an8}And, uh, if we lose the minds
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{\an8}of these people,
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we lose the minds of the officer corps
and of the civil servants,
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we will have lost the war.
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[Selverstone] The reason
that Kennedy starts recording?
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It's unclear.
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[Hughes] He was the first president
to tape extensively.
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{\an8}He recorded about 260 hours
of White House conversations.
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He got the Secret Service
to install it on the QT.
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The tape recorder was hidden
in the White House basement.
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It is a time machine.
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[chuckles] It's like if you could
just dial up the past
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and be a kind of a fly on the wall
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as people are making
incredibly important decisions.
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{\an8}There are increasing reports, uh,
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{\an8}in Saigon and in Huế, as well,
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{\an8}that students are talking
of moving over to the Việt Cộng side.
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[Selverstone] Kennedy can see
that the world is changing.
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Who is JFK? Is he really going to be
a leader to contend with or not?
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Kennedy recognizes the danger of that.
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So that's one of the reasons why,
by the end of the year,
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he recognizes that Vietnam
may be the place he needs to take a stand.
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[mournful orchestral music plays]
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[crowd cheers and applauds]
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[boots stomp]
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[Weiner] I think most Americans,
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certainly most white
middle-class Americans,
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had an idealistic view of their country.
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{\an8}The United States stood
for good in the world
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{\an8}against the evil empire
of the Soviet Union.
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Nobody knew anything about Vietnam.
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Nobody knew where it was.
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[Viet] By then, North Vietnam
had become completely identified
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00:15:02,151 --> 00:15:05,571
as a Communist state
with a Communist revolution,
239
00:15:06,196 --> 00:15:08,574
{\an8}supported by China and the Soviet Union.
240
00:15:14,622 --> 00:15:18,250
South Vietnam was going to be
a capitalist democracy
241
00:15:18,334 --> 00:15:20,961
modeled on something
like the United States
242
00:15:21,045 --> 00:15:22,504
and what it had to offer.
243
00:15:24,924 --> 00:15:28,218
[Selverstone] The Democratic Republic
of Vietnam was the Communists…
244
00:15:31,013 --> 00:15:32,389
{\an8}led by Hồ Chí Minh.
245
00:15:39,855 --> 00:15:43,692
[Logevall] He believed sincerely
in the Communist cause,
246
00:15:45,903 --> 00:15:47,529
but it's always his country.
247
00:15:48,572 --> 00:15:52,326
The nationalist fervor is
what really drives Hồ Chí Minh.
248
00:15:54,286 --> 00:15:57,498
A non-Communist government
is in power in Saigon,
249
00:15:59,333 --> 00:16:00,668
{\an8}led by Ngô Đình Diệm.
250
00:16:03,045 --> 00:16:04,463
A dedicated nationalist,
251
00:16:05,381 --> 00:16:07,591
very courageous figure personally,
252
00:16:08,676 --> 00:16:09,718
a Catholic,
253
00:16:10,719 --> 00:16:14,598
who feels strongly that he knows
what's best for South Vietnam,
254
00:16:14,682 --> 00:16:16,892
but he is a dedicated anti-Communist.
255
00:16:19,061 --> 00:16:22,439
{\an8}And he becomes a very important ally
of the United States.
256
00:16:24,358 --> 00:16:26,276
[pensive music playing]
257
00:16:27,069 --> 00:16:30,656
[Viet] There was a war being carried out
mostly by the North Vietnamese.
258
00:16:32,574 --> 00:16:34,410
[reporter 1] These are films
of South Vietnam
259
00:16:34,493 --> 00:16:37,997
after the destruction of a village
by the North Vietnamese.
260
00:16:40,082 --> 00:16:43,293
{\an8}To those in command
of North Vietnam and the Việt Cộng,
261
00:16:43,377 --> 00:16:47,631
{\an8}the pursuit was a united Vietnam
under Hanoi with a Communist government.
262
00:16:48,173 --> 00:16:51,927
To those in South Vietnam,
the pursuit was to be left alone.
263
00:16:53,095 --> 00:16:54,888
But they were not left alone.
264
00:16:57,599 --> 00:17:02,146
[reporter 2] By 1960, every area of life
in the South has become a combat zone.
265
00:17:02,229 --> 00:17:05,274
[dramatic music plays on news broadcast]
266
00:17:07,109 --> 00:17:09,403
[automatic weapons firing]
267
00:17:09,486 --> 00:17:11,905
[Veith] The state of Vietnam,
when Kennedy comes into office,
268
00:17:11,989 --> 00:17:16,535
is that the insurrection in South Vietnam
had grown very rapidly.
269
00:17:16,618 --> 00:17:17,703
[explosion]
270
00:17:17,786 --> 00:17:19,246
[weapons firing]
271
00:17:23,542 --> 00:17:26,628
{\an8}By January of '61,
Kennedy was facing a country
272
00:17:26,712 --> 00:17:29,840
{\an8}that had already lost
much of the control of the countryside.
273
00:17:29,923 --> 00:17:31,842
[automatic weapons firing]
274
00:17:31,925 --> 00:17:34,261
[Veith] And the Communists
were on the move.
275
00:17:35,262 --> 00:17:39,308
{\an8}There was concern that if Vietnam fell,
then the others would fall also,
276
00:17:39,391 --> 00:17:42,478
you know, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, etc.
277
00:17:43,937 --> 00:17:46,315
I think that was quite generally believed.
278
00:17:46,398 --> 00:17:48,442
[intriguing music plays]
279
00:17:48,525 --> 00:17:50,069
[Lien-Hang] This is the domino theory.
280
00:17:51,779 --> 00:17:55,616
If you had one country in Asia
fall to Communism,
281
00:17:55,699 --> 00:17:57,284
that it would set off falling dominoes
282
00:17:57,367 --> 00:17:59,787
{\an8}that would lead
all the way to San Francisco.
283
00:17:59,870 --> 00:18:02,498
[reporter] Mr. President, have you
ever had any reason to doubt
284
00:18:02,581 --> 00:18:04,792
this so-called domino theory,
285
00:18:04,875 --> 00:18:08,504
that if South Vietnam falls, the rest
of Southeast Asia will go along behind it?
286
00:18:08,587 --> 00:18:11,215
No, I-I believe it. I believe it.
287
00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:14,343
{\an8}I think that, uh, the struggle
is close enough.
288
00:18:14,426 --> 00:18:19,014
{\an8}China is so large, looms so high
on the-- just beyond the frontiers.
289
00:18:19,098 --> 00:18:20,516
{\an8}If South Vietnam went,
290
00:18:20,599 --> 00:18:23,727
{\an8}it would not only give them
an improved geographic position
291
00:18:23,811 --> 00:18:25,729
for a guerrilla assault on Malaya,
292
00:18:25,813 --> 00:18:27,397
but would also give the impression
293
00:18:27,481 --> 00:18:29,483
that the wave of the future
in Southeast Asia
294
00:18:29,566 --> 00:18:31,485
was China and the Communists.
295
00:18:31,568 --> 00:18:34,238
[tense percussive music plays]
296
00:18:36,657 --> 00:18:38,992
[Logevall] Kennedy's top
foreign policy advisors,
297
00:18:39,076 --> 00:18:40,953
Secretary of State Dean Rusk,
298
00:18:41,036 --> 00:18:43,622
Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara,
299
00:18:43,705 --> 00:18:46,375
National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy,
300
00:18:46,959 --> 00:18:50,379
{\an8}that trio, along, I think,
with senior military brass,
301
00:18:50,462 --> 00:18:56,552
{\an8}are convinced that South Vietnam's future
may depend on increased US involvement.
302
00:18:58,137 --> 00:18:59,930
Top aides who are basically saying,
303
00:19:00,013 --> 00:19:04,059
"Mr. President, we think you need to put
American troops into South Vietnam."
304
00:19:05,269 --> 00:19:07,146
They even come up with various schemes
305
00:19:07,229 --> 00:19:11,358
that can be used to introduce
American forces sort of under the radar.
306
00:19:11,942 --> 00:19:15,320
In the past year, we've doubled
the rate of building Polaris submarines.
307
00:19:15,404 --> 00:19:17,364
[Logevall] The Secretary of Defense
Robert McNamara
308
00:19:17,447 --> 00:19:19,741
must be central to this story.
309
00:19:19,825 --> 00:19:21,910
[brooding music plays]
310
00:19:21,994 --> 00:19:24,663
[man 10] Robert McNamara grew up
in California,
311
00:19:24,746 --> 00:19:29,001
went to Berkeley,
and then got an MBA at Harvard.
312
00:19:29,084 --> 00:19:30,627
{\an8}During World War II,
313
00:19:31,170 --> 00:19:34,923
{\an8}he worked in the units
that did bomb spotting.
314
00:19:36,592 --> 00:19:38,927
After he came out of the Army,
315
00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:41,763
he went to work at Ford.
316
00:19:42,723 --> 00:19:43,807
I'm Bob McNamara,
317
00:19:43,891 --> 00:19:47,728
Group Vice President in charge of the car
and truck divisions of the company.
318
00:19:47,811 --> 00:19:51,023
[Logevall] He was
a very imposing figure in Washington
319
00:19:51,106 --> 00:19:53,025
in terms of his persona
320
00:19:53,108 --> 00:19:55,485
and the degree
to which he intimidated people
321
00:19:55,569 --> 00:19:58,363
with his forceful personality
and his intelligence.
322
00:19:59,781 --> 00:20:02,451
And he's an architect of the Vietnam War,
323
00:20:02,534 --> 00:20:04,786
of the Americanization of the Vietnam War.
324
00:20:05,829 --> 00:20:09,541
{\an8}[Selverstone] The United States is not
at war with the Communists,
325
00:20:09,625 --> 00:20:13,170
{\an8}but American military advisors
are going over to work
326
00:20:13,253 --> 00:20:15,547
with the South Vietnamese military.
327
00:20:15,631 --> 00:20:16,965
[intriguing music plays]
328
00:20:17,049 --> 00:20:22,179
[Selverstone] Kennedy's advisors tell him
that Vietnam is actually in grave danger.
329
00:20:22,262 --> 00:20:26,642
The Communists have made inroads
all throughout South Vietnam.
330
00:20:26,725 --> 00:20:31,355
It doesn't look like Diệm's forces
are able to really withstand the tide.
331
00:20:32,856 --> 00:20:34,483
{\an8}While I can report, Mr. President,
332
00:20:34,566 --> 00:20:38,237
{\an8}definite progress and increasing strength
in the government forces,
333
00:20:38,320 --> 00:20:39,404
{\an8}the progress is slow.
334
00:20:39,488 --> 00:20:41,281
{\an8}And it's very, very slow,
335
00:20:41,365 --> 00:20:43,242
slower than we would like to see.
336
00:20:43,325 --> 00:20:44,910
[speaks Vietnamese]
337
00:20:44,993 --> 00:20:46,703
[Selverstone] When Kennedy comes
into office,
338
00:20:46,787 --> 00:20:51,041
there are less than 700
US military advisors in South Vietnam.
339
00:20:51,124 --> 00:20:55,504
Keep your eye on the man ahead of you.
Keep him in that gun sight at all times.
340
00:20:56,505 --> 00:21:00,467
{\an8}[Selverstone] But now Kennedy decides
to put in more military advisors
341
00:21:00,550 --> 00:21:03,220
{\an8}to help the South Vietnamese learn
342
00:21:03,303 --> 00:21:06,848
how to fight the war better
against the Communists.
343
00:21:06,932 --> 00:21:09,643
[guns firing]
344
00:21:12,980 --> 00:21:16,149
{\an8}[Barry] I grew up in central New York
in the Finger Lakes area
345
00:21:16,233 --> 00:21:17,818
{\an8}near Ithaca, New York.
346
00:21:17,901 --> 00:21:22,197
I only had a tiny idea
that something was going on in Vietnam.
347
00:21:22,281 --> 00:21:25,033
[bells ringing]
348
00:21:27,619 --> 00:21:29,496
[Barry] I wanted to go to West Point.
349
00:21:29,997 --> 00:21:31,957
So I decided to just walk downtown,
350
00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:34,334
go to an Army recruiter,
and join the Army.
351
00:21:34,418 --> 00:21:36,003
[officers shout indistinctly]
352
00:21:38,046 --> 00:21:40,549
[Barry] That was, uh,
in the spring of 1962,
353
00:21:40,632 --> 00:21:42,551
and I was in Vietnam
by the end of the year.
354
00:21:42,634 --> 00:21:44,052
[indistinct]
355
00:21:45,053 --> 00:21:50,017
[Barry] I got the sense that the military
had no idea what they were doing.
356
00:21:50,767 --> 00:21:53,478
There had been
an assistant secretary of defense
357
00:21:53,562 --> 00:21:57,399
{\an8}who said, "We need a cover story
for what we're doing in South Vietnam."
358
00:21:58,567 --> 00:22:00,360
They were sending in advisors.
359
00:22:02,904 --> 00:22:06,199
What that really meant was they would take
a group of South Vietnamese troops,
360
00:22:06,283 --> 00:22:10,245
put them on a helicopter
or otherwise transport them to some place,
361
00:22:10,329 --> 00:22:12,164
and push them into a firefight.
362
00:22:14,666 --> 00:22:18,170
Sometimes they turned around
and shot at the American helicopters.
363
00:22:18,253 --> 00:22:19,921
So that wasn't working out so well,
364
00:22:20,005 --> 00:22:24,217
turning somebody else into the army
that we would direct.
365
00:22:25,010 --> 00:22:27,179
[tense sparse music plays]
366
00:22:27,262 --> 00:22:29,222
[Barry] And that's why
they kept bringing in
367
00:22:29,306 --> 00:22:31,683
more and more of our own advisors.
368
00:22:34,144 --> 00:22:37,522
[man 11] But this is not going to be
like World War II.
369
00:22:40,859 --> 00:22:42,527
This is an insurgency fight.
370
00:22:44,279 --> 00:22:46,740
{\an8}This is a war without front lines,
371
00:22:46,823 --> 00:22:50,911
where war is fought in and among
the population, not separate from it.
372
00:22:51,495 --> 00:22:54,247
This is the only way that you can be sure
373
00:22:54,331 --> 00:22:56,792
that you always have
the equipment which you need
374
00:22:56,875 --> 00:22:58,877
in order to go out and fight the Việt Cộng
375
00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:00,921
and win the battle against the Việt Cộng.
376
00:23:04,925 --> 00:23:07,969
[Lien-Hang] "Việt Cộng" is a contraction
between "Vietnam Cộng Sản,"
377
00:23:08,053 --> 00:23:09,554
or Vietnamese Communism.
378
00:23:10,430 --> 00:23:14,059
{\an8}"Việt Cộng," it would be used
in a derogatory way
379
00:23:14,142 --> 00:23:17,687
{\an8}to describe any Communist enemy
in South Vietnam.
380
00:23:17,771 --> 00:23:20,190
{\an8}So it would be called "VC" for short.
381
00:23:20,273 --> 00:23:24,444
{\an8}They would become known officially
as the National Liberation Front.
382
00:23:26,405 --> 00:23:30,117
[Daddis] And what you see
is an escalation of US advisors,
383
00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:32,536
an escalation of military aid,
economic aid.
384
00:23:33,745 --> 00:23:36,248
[Selverstone] By the end of 1961,
385
00:23:36,331 --> 00:23:40,252
there are roughly 3,000
American military advisors
386
00:23:40,335 --> 00:23:42,421
embedded with the South Vietnamese.
387
00:23:42,504 --> 00:23:44,256
{\an8}By the end of 1962,
388
00:23:44,339 --> 00:23:46,591
{\an8}I've seen figures upwards of 11,000.
389
00:23:47,134 --> 00:23:48,635
{\an8}And by 1963,
390
00:23:48,718 --> 00:23:53,098
{\an8}there are well over 16,000
US military advisors
391
00:23:53,181 --> 00:23:54,516
{\an8}in South Vietnam.
392
00:23:56,435 --> 00:23:58,311
This is a dramatic increase.
393
00:23:58,937 --> 00:24:02,399
[pastor] Almighty God,
we stand before thee
394
00:24:02,482 --> 00:24:05,944
as thy children should, acknowledging…
395
00:24:06,027 --> 00:24:10,157
[man 12] We didn't know much
about this operation that was developing.
396
00:24:11,575 --> 00:24:15,745
Kennedy did not allow
much information to emerge
397
00:24:15,829 --> 00:24:21,376
{\an8}of the kind of support
that he was sending to Vietnam.
398
00:24:23,044 --> 00:24:26,715
[Bass] The Vietnam War is a turning point
in United States history.
399
00:24:27,924 --> 00:24:31,678
{\an8}There's a stark difference
between the before and the after
400
00:24:31,761 --> 00:24:33,346
{\an8}when it comes to the Vietnam War.
401
00:24:34,306 --> 00:24:38,560
And one of those turning points is
this thing called the credibility gap.
402
00:24:39,936 --> 00:24:42,522
That's a gap between
what the government is telling you
403
00:24:42,606 --> 00:24:45,150
and what is actually happening
on the ground.
404
00:24:45,859 --> 00:24:48,361
[reporter] And you feel
that you have told the American people
405
00:24:48,445 --> 00:24:51,031
as much as can be told
because of the sensitivity
406
00:24:51,114 --> 00:24:53,200
of the-- of the subject? Is that…?
407
00:24:53,283 --> 00:24:56,328
[Kennedy] Well, I-- I think
I've just indicated what our role is.
408
00:24:56,411 --> 00:25:00,290
We have increased our assistance
to the government, its logistics.
409
00:25:00,373 --> 00:25:02,417
We have not sent combat troops there,
410
00:25:02,501 --> 00:25:05,712
though the training missions
that we have there,
411
00:25:05,795 --> 00:25:08,507
uh, have been instructed,
if they are fired upon, to, uh…
412
00:25:08,590 --> 00:25:10,217
They, uh, would, of course, fire back.
413
00:25:11,384 --> 00:25:14,679
[Arnett] He didn't say
that they were reinforcing
414
00:25:14,763 --> 00:25:19,935
the South Vietnamese military
with heavy weapons and aircraft.
415
00:25:20,519 --> 00:25:21,645
[speaks Vietnamese]
416
00:25:21,728 --> 00:25:23,730
[tense music continues playing]
417
00:25:30,070 --> 00:25:33,615
[Arnett] He didn't say
that American so-called "advisors"
418
00:25:33,698 --> 00:25:37,661
would fly the planes
going out on bombing missions.
419
00:25:39,913 --> 00:25:42,457
[Selverstone] The advisors are not
supposed to be fighting the war.
420
00:25:42,541 --> 00:25:46,586
They're only supposed to be assisting,
but they're actually fighting as well.
421
00:25:47,712 --> 00:25:48,547
And dying too.
422
00:25:48,630 --> 00:25:52,050
[priest] …continue to bless this world
with men such as these.
423
00:25:59,975 --> 00:26:03,353
[Arnett] We also learned in that period
424
00:26:03,436 --> 00:26:09,484
that the Kennedy administration had sent
guidelines out to the American mission
425
00:26:09,568 --> 00:26:12,487
not to cooperate with the Western press.
426
00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:14,781
The important question
427
00:26:14,864 --> 00:26:20,245
{\an8}was what was really happening
on the ground in South Vietnam.
428
00:26:20,328 --> 00:26:22,330
{\an8}[motorcycle engine revs]
429
00:26:24,916 --> 00:26:26,167
[people chatter]
430
00:26:32,882 --> 00:26:37,178
[Arnett] I arrived in Saigon in June 1962
431
00:26:37,262 --> 00:26:41,224
{\an8}as a correspondent
for the Associated Press.
432
00:26:42,267 --> 00:26:46,104
{\an8}The roadblocks we encountered
were enormous.
433
00:26:46,730 --> 00:26:51,610
{\an8}The South Vietnamese government
enforced strict censorship.
434
00:26:51,693 --> 00:26:54,237
{\an8}So any story we sent out,
435
00:26:54,321 --> 00:26:56,531
{\an8}we had to send through the post office.
436
00:26:56,615 --> 00:26:58,908
[South Vietnamese national anthem plays]
437
00:27:01,036 --> 00:27:05,123
[Arnett] They did not allow
any critical references
438
00:27:05,206 --> 00:27:09,461
or anything that would suggest
the inadequacies of the government.
439
00:27:10,211 --> 00:27:15,675
{\an8}And the US diplomatic
and military missions
440
00:27:15,759 --> 00:27:20,597
were totally uncooperative
with the media in Saigon.
441
00:27:21,556 --> 00:27:24,351
One of the solutions we found
442
00:27:24,434 --> 00:27:28,063
to get information
of what was really going on
443
00:27:28,146 --> 00:27:32,233
was we would simply
drive out in the mornings
444
00:27:32,317 --> 00:27:34,944
along the main highways out of Saigon,
445
00:27:35,028 --> 00:27:37,405
looking for any action,
446
00:27:37,489 --> 00:27:39,324
say, helicopter traffic.
447
00:27:42,118 --> 00:27:45,372
We would follow the helicopters
along the main roads.
448
00:27:45,455 --> 00:27:49,709
And when we saw dead bodies
on the road or wounded people,
449
00:27:49,793 --> 00:27:52,754
we knew we'd found
the battle and the action.
450
00:27:52,837 --> 00:27:55,173
[guns fire, bombs explode]
451
00:27:55,256 --> 00:27:58,760
[Bass] To be a great journalist,
you gotta get close to the action.
452
00:27:59,636 --> 00:28:01,221
You got to be there.
453
00:28:01,304 --> 00:28:04,432
And Arnett is famous
for the stories that he covered
454
00:28:04,516 --> 00:28:07,310
where he was just on top of the action.
455
00:28:07,394 --> 00:28:09,729
[droning, disturbing music plays]
456
00:28:09,813 --> 00:28:13,358
[Arnett] It was dangerous,
but getting a story was the main thing.
457
00:28:14,818 --> 00:28:18,446
And that's how we got
the story about Ấp Bắc.
458
00:28:22,617 --> 00:28:25,245
{\an8}We didn't know anything
about this operation.
459
00:28:26,955 --> 00:28:31,251
{\an8}The helicopter contacts
at the Tân Sơn Nhứt airport called us
460
00:28:31,334 --> 00:28:33,211
{\an8}and said they're really worried
461
00:28:33,294 --> 00:28:36,506
{\an8}because they've lost
several of their helicopters
462
00:28:36,589 --> 00:28:38,425
{\an8}in this place, Ấp Bắc.
463
00:28:42,345 --> 00:28:45,473
And we're given a helicopter ride
464
00:28:45,557 --> 00:28:47,600
{\an8}around the battlefield.
465
00:28:48,768 --> 00:28:52,355
{\an8}And we went pretty close.
You could see bodies on the ground.
466
00:28:53,022 --> 00:28:58,111
And at that point, there'd been
five American helicopters shot down,
467
00:28:58,862 --> 00:29:00,697
{\an8}three American dead.
468
00:29:00,780 --> 00:29:02,907
{\an8}There were eight or nine injured,
469
00:29:02,991 --> 00:29:06,870
50, 60 South Vietnamese casualties.
470
00:29:06,953 --> 00:29:08,955
It was just a complete mess.
471
00:29:09,998 --> 00:29:12,584
The Battle of Ấp Bắc
is extremely important.
472
00:29:12,667 --> 00:29:13,752
[guns fire]
473
00:29:13,835 --> 00:29:18,548
[Bass] US helicopter pilots
and US soldiers are directly involved
474
00:29:18,631 --> 00:29:22,844
and noticeably directly involved
for the first time in the war.
475
00:29:26,014 --> 00:29:29,058
It is evident
that they're flying the helicopters.
476
00:29:30,310 --> 00:29:33,480
So the pretense
that the United States is only there
477
00:29:33,563 --> 00:29:37,108
in the capacity of advising Vietnam
478
00:29:37,192 --> 00:29:39,861
can no longer be maintained
at the Battle of Ấp Bắc.
479
00:29:41,571 --> 00:29:44,449
{\an8}[Arnett] General Paul D. Harkins arrived.
480
00:29:44,532 --> 00:29:48,036
{\an8}He was the chief
of the American military mission.
481
00:29:48,119 --> 00:29:52,332
And we walked over to him.
We said, "General, how does it look?"
482
00:29:52,415 --> 00:29:54,083
And he said, "Boys…
483
00:29:56,002 --> 00:29:57,629
it was a great victory."
484
00:29:57,712 --> 00:30:00,423
"We've got the VC on the run,
485
00:30:00,507 --> 00:30:03,760
and we're moving in
on them right now. Bye."
486
00:30:06,513 --> 00:30:09,808
That was the senseless optimism
487
00:30:10,433 --> 00:30:14,103
that prevailed
amongst the senior-most Americans
488
00:30:14,187 --> 00:30:15,355
in Saigon.
489
00:30:16,147 --> 00:30:18,274
[reporter] Most of the Red guerrilla band
was wiped out.
490
00:30:18,358 --> 00:30:21,277
American observers counted
at least 80 bodies.
491
00:30:21,361 --> 00:30:26,032
They added that it was the best action
Vietnam's 7th Division has yet executed.
492
00:30:26,115 --> 00:30:28,368
US training seems to be paying off.
493
00:30:28,868 --> 00:30:32,455
[Selverstone] The military painted
the Ấp Bắc engagement as a victory.
494
00:30:33,039 --> 00:30:35,583
But it's a real black eye
for the Americans,
495
00:30:35,667 --> 00:30:39,462
as reported in the American media,
back home, to the country…
496
00:30:42,674 --> 00:30:44,342
as well as to Kennedy.
497
00:30:44,425 --> 00:30:48,429
When Kennedy sees a picture
of an American helicopter on the ground,
498
00:30:48,513 --> 00:30:51,808
you know, "What's going on here?
I-- I thought we were doing well."
499
00:30:56,145 --> 00:30:59,732
[trumpets play military call]
500
00:31:05,029 --> 00:31:07,574
[Selverstone] It's impossible
to divorce American politics
501
00:31:07,657 --> 00:31:09,951
from American policy abroad.
502
00:31:11,911 --> 00:31:13,955
Politics is always going to be
part of the mix
503
00:31:14,038 --> 00:31:16,583
because that's just baked into the system.
504
00:31:18,543 --> 00:31:20,920
[Hughes] John F. Kennedy is hoping
that he can keep this all
505
00:31:21,004 --> 00:31:23,506
on the back burner
through the '64 election.
506
00:31:26,718 --> 00:31:31,347
But that hope is dashed
when the Buddhist crisis erupts.
507
00:31:31,431 --> 00:31:33,433
[solemn music plays]
508
00:31:37,312 --> 00:31:42,734
[Arnett] Buddhists were a big part
of Vietnam's 15 million or so population.
509
00:31:47,697 --> 00:31:49,032
[ominous music plays]
510
00:31:49,115 --> 00:31:53,077
{\an8}[Viet] The United States supported
South Vietnamese President Ngô Đình Diệm.
511
00:31:55,288 --> 00:31:57,415
He was a Vietnamese Catholic.
512
00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:00,835
And of course he received
a lot of support,
513
00:32:00,919 --> 00:32:02,629
I think, from Vietnamese Catholics.
514
00:32:03,338 --> 00:32:07,133
{\an8}Vietnamese Catholics are a minority
throughout Vietnam.
515
00:32:07,216 --> 00:32:11,054
Their Catholicism owes
to the French and Portuguese presence
516
00:32:11,137 --> 00:32:13,890
throughout the past few centuries
of Vietnamese history.
517
00:32:15,183 --> 00:32:20,313
{\an8}South Vietnam, under Ngô Đình Diệm,
did not have a policy against Buddhism.
518
00:32:21,356 --> 00:32:27,153
He supported the building,
the construction of many Buddhist temples.
519
00:32:27,946 --> 00:32:29,948
But by the 1960s,
520
00:32:30,031 --> 00:32:35,161
{\an8}Diệm's older brother, Ngô Đình Thục,
who was a Catholic archbishop,
521
00:32:35,244 --> 00:32:39,666
{\an8}was clearly promoting Catholicism
in South Vietnam.
522
00:32:41,834 --> 00:32:44,462
That gave people the impression
523
00:32:44,545 --> 00:32:50,551
that Diệm was discriminating
against Buddhism and Buddhists.
524
00:32:56,933 --> 00:33:01,521
{\an8}As Mr. Diệm consolidated his power,
he became more autocratic.
525
00:33:02,271 --> 00:33:05,733
[reporter] Among Diệm's people,
there is no genuine political opposition.
526
00:33:05,817 --> 00:33:07,443
It is simply not permitted.
527
00:33:09,988 --> 00:33:14,492
{\an8}[Nhã] He has his brother, Mr. Nhu,
who ran the secret police.
528
00:33:15,159 --> 00:33:18,871
{\an8}[Vu] Ngô Đình Nhu is younger brother
of Ngô Đình Diệm.
529
00:33:19,539 --> 00:33:23,126
{\an8}Madame Nhu, his wife,
was much younger than he was.
530
00:33:24,877 --> 00:33:27,714
{\an8}She was well-educated under the French.
531
00:33:27,797 --> 00:33:31,801
{\an8}She became the first lady
because Diệm was not married.
532
00:33:32,885 --> 00:33:35,221
[reporter] Madame Nhu
and her husband, Diệm's brother,
533
00:33:35,304 --> 00:33:37,348
live in the presidential palace.
534
00:33:38,349 --> 00:33:42,103
[Mike Wallace] What do you think
that the United States can do most now
535
00:33:42,186 --> 00:33:43,271
to help Vietnam?
536
00:33:46,774 --> 00:33:48,735
{\an8}I think that the most urgent
537
00:33:49,652 --> 00:33:54,574
is to decide not to be intoxicated anymore
538
00:33:55,199 --> 00:33:58,745
by the propaganda, uh, plot
539
00:34:00,038 --> 00:34:02,582
directed by the Communists.
540
00:34:02,665 --> 00:34:04,917
[marching band plays]
541
00:34:05,001 --> 00:34:08,504
[Lien-Hang] One of the things you see
in Diệm's administration
542
00:34:08,588 --> 00:34:13,259
is a concerted campaign
to kill off all of the VC in the region.
543
00:34:13,342 --> 00:34:15,344
{\an8}[somber music plays]
544
00:34:16,054 --> 00:34:17,180
{\an8}[Lien-Hang] Việt Cộng…
545
00:34:20,391 --> 00:34:22,894
and anyone who disagrees with him is a VC.
546
00:34:23,644 --> 00:34:25,104
[inaudible]
547
00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:30,693
[Lien-Hang] The Buddhist political
opposition would fall under this category
548
00:34:30,777 --> 00:34:32,111
as enemy of the state.
549
00:34:33,613 --> 00:34:36,491
[Vu] There were factions
in the Buddhist church.
550
00:34:37,492 --> 00:34:39,911
There was the more militant faction
551
00:34:39,994 --> 00:34:42,121
who wanted Buddhism to play
552
00:34:42,205 --> 00:34:45,666
a bigger political role
in the life of the nation.
553
00:34:45,750 --> 00:34:50,296
And they did not like the idea of having
a Catholic president for the country.
554
00:34:54,717 --> 00:34:57,428
{\an8}[woman] Ngô Đình Nhu, who is a policeman,
555
00:34:57,512 --> 00:35:00,515
only thing in his mind
is torture and kill.
556
00:35:03,684 --> 00:35:06,479
{\an8}When the South Vietnamese
came in our village,
557
00:35:06,562 --> 00:35:11,275
{\an8}they put a big Ngô Đình Diệm photo
and a cross
558
00:35:12,068 --> 00:35:18,116
{\an8}right inside our temple, or our altar.
559
00:35:18,699 --> 00:35:20,701
They made us bow to Ngô Đình Diệm,
560
00:35:20,785 --> 00:35:23,746
and they talking about him
as just like a god.
561
00:35:23,830 --> 00:35:28,084
Like he is somebody
that's so important to us.
562
00:35:28,668 --> 00:35:31,796
We don't care.
We just want to be peaceful.
563
00:35:32,505 --> 00:35:37,218
We want to worship our ancestors,
hang up the Buddhist flag.
564
00:35:38,553 --> 00:35:41,681
But the next thing we know that,
everybody's killed.
565
00:35:41,764 --> 00:35:43,766
[foreboding music plays]
566
00:35:47,645 --> 00:35:49,522
[Hayslip] They killed the leaders
in the village.
567
00:35:49,605 --> 00:35:52,400
They killed the monks.
They buried them alive.
568
00:35:52,984 --> 00:35:54,861
So they killed
569
00:35:56,404 --> 00:35:58,573
whoever they think that's Việt Cộng.
570
00:36:01,993 --> 00:36:02,827
[sniffles]
571
00:36:02,910 --> 00:36:06,497
And so, more them doing that,
572
00:36:07,081 --> 00:36:11,919
the more our family
and 90% of the villagers,
573
00:36:12,003 --> 00:36:15,214
yeah, we join the Việt Cộng,
we stand up and we fight.
574
00:36:18,050 --> 00:36:21,762
And so daytime,
we praise the Ngô Đình Diệm.
575
00:36:22,430 --> 00:36:25,141
The nighttime, we praise Hồ Chí Minh.
576
00:36:33,816 --> 00:36:36,444
[Lien-Hang] By 1963, you had all-out war
577
00:36:36,527 --> 00:36:39,822
between the Catholic leadership
and their Buddhist majority.
578
00:36:39,906 --> 00:36:42,074
[tense classical music plays]
579
00:36:42,158 --> 00:36:43,326
[Nho] In South Vietnam,
580
00:36:44,702 --> 00:36:46,579
{\an8}I demonstrated against the government.
581
00:36:46,662 --> 00:36:51,542
{\an8}Not to overthrow the-- the system
of government that we have,
582
00:36:51,626 --> 00:36:55,171
but to establish
a constitutional order for the country.
583
00:36:58,883 --> 00:37:03,054
{\an8}[Arnett] In Huế, the decision was made
by the security forces
584
00:37:03,137 --> 00:37:05,765
{\an8}to push the protesters back.
585
00:37:05,848 --> 00:37:07,808
{\an8}[sirens wail]
586
00:37:10,394 --> 00:37:12,063
{\an8}[Arnett] And in that melee,
587
00:37:12,146 --> 00:37:14,232
several grenades were thrown.
588
00:37:15,483 --> 00:37:19,028
Eight Buddhists were killed
and a lot injured.
589
00:37:19,111 --> 00:37:20,363
[people scream]
590
00:37:26,702 --> 00:37:29,080
{\an8}[Nho] That was a catastrophic mistake.
591
00:37:32,750 --> 00:37:37,713
{\an8}The anger was severe, strong, boiling.
592
00:37:39,090 --> 00:37:40,007
Boiling.
593
00:37:42,134 --> 00:37:46,973
[Arnett] Protests began on the streets
of Saigon within a week or two.
594
00:37:47,890 --> 00:37:49,892
{\an8}[people shouting]
595
00:37:57,316 --> 00:38:03,114
{\an8}There were thousands of people
massed along the streets of this parade.
596
00:38:07,243 --> 00:38:10,913
And as they came
along Phan Đình Phùng Street,
597
00:38:12,081 --> 00:38:18,212
a large, old automobile
that had been part of the parade stopped.
598
00:38:21,882 --> 00:38:26,721
This elderly man was led
out of the vehicle by a younger monk,
599
00:38:27,305 --> 00:38:31,225
taken to the center of the street
where he sat cross-legged
600
00:38:32,893 --> 00:38:33,894
on the street.
601
00:38:33,978 --> 00:38:36,897
And the assistant poured
a liquid over him.
602
00:38:38,274 --> 00:38:42,695
And, uh, this monk lit a match
and… [claps hands]
603
00:38:42,778 --> 00:38:44,405
…was in flames.
604
00:38:44,488 --> 00:38:47,491
[melancholic ethereal music plays]
605
00:38:59,378 --> 00:39:00,963
{\an8}[monks chanting]
606
00:39:04,592 --> 00:39:06,886
[Hayslip] One Buddhist monk died
607
00:39:06,969 --> 00:39:11,724
to figure out how could he help
to save the people.
608
00:39:12,767 --> 00:39:15,561
{\an8}Only way he can do is to give himself up.
609
00:39:25,780 --> 00:39:28,282
{\an8}[Arnett] Madame Nhu was outspoken
on everything.
610
00:39:29,617 --> 00:39:32,370
{\an8}When the Buddhist crisis was erupting
611
00:39:32,453 --> 00:39:36,415
and the immolations by fire began,
612
00:39:37,124 --> 00:39:39,585
she called them "monk barbecues."
613
00:39:41,545 --> 00:39:47,259
[Nhu] What have the Buddhist leaders
done comparatively?
614
00:39:47,760 --> 00:39:49,345
The only thing they have done,
615
00:39:49,428 --> 00:39:54,183
they have, uh, barbecued
one of their monks,
616
00:39:54,809 --> 00:39:57,311
uh, whom they have intoxicated,
617
00:39:57,395 --> 00:39:59,814
whom they have abused the confidence.
618
00:40:00,815 --> 00:40:05,027
And even that barbecuing was done, uh,
619
00:40:05,111 --> 00:40:07,238
not even with self-sufficient means.
620
00:40:07,321 --> 00:40:10,616
Because they-- they used,
uh, imported, uh, gasoline.
621
00:40:10,699 --> 00:40:13,494
[brooding synthesizer music plays]
622
00:40:14,370 --> 00:40:17,832
You love your country
and you say those things?
623
00:40:19,834 --> 00:40:20,960
It doesn't heal.
624
00:40:21,627 --> 00:40:23,838
It break up the faith of the people.
625
00:40:29,093 --> 00:40:31,512
[Veith] There is a difference
between how President Diệm
626
00:40:31,595 --> 00:40:34,473
and his brother Nhu looked
at the Buddhist protests.
627
00:40:37,435 --> 00:40:40,855
{\an8}Diệm himself was attempting
to actually talk to the Buddhists
628
00:40:40,938 --> 00:40:42,481
{\an8}and sort of reach a compromise.
629
00:40:42,565 --> 00:40:44,567
{\an8}[sparse tense music plays]
630
00:40:45,401 --> 00:40:48,237
{\an8}[Veith] It was Nhu that sent
the police and the military
631
00:40:48,320 --> 00:40:50,573
{\an8}into the pagoda raids in late August.
632
00:40:58,664 --> 00:41:00,624
[Lien-Hang] They start
raiding the pagodas.
633
00:41:00,708 --> 00:41:02,334
They start arresting more people.
634
00:41:03,752 --> 00:41:05,963
Waging war on their own people.
635
00:41:09,675 --> 00:41:12,803
[Arnett] This clearly alarmed Washington,
636
00:41:12,887 --> 00:41:17,558
who was supporting
the regime of President Ngô Đình Diệm.
637
00:41:19,685 --> 00:41:21,395
{\an8}The heart of the matter is
638
00:41:21,479 --> 00:41:23,355
{\an8}that they've established a police state,
639
00:41:23,439 --> 00:41:26,066
{\an8}and that they're interfering
with the liberties of the people,
640
00:41:26,150 --> 00:41:27,943
{\an8}and that you have resentments
641
00:41:28,027 --> 00:41:29,236
born of that.
642
00:41:29,320 --> 00:41:30,529
- [Kennedy] Right, yeah.
- Right?
643
00:41:34,867 --> 00:41:38,120
[Lien-Hang] The United States is watching
in horror as this is playing out
644
00:41:38,204 --> 00:41:39,830
in the summer of 1963,
645
00:41:39,914 --> 00:41:43,959
that they are telling Diệm,
"You need to stop raiding these pagodas."
646
00:41:45,336 --> 00:41:48,380
[newscaster] In Saigon,
President Ngô Đình Diệm's regime
647
00:41:48,464 --> 00:41:51,383
has accused the United States government
of being off base
648
00:41:51,467 --> 00:41:54,845
in denouncing the military crackdown
on his Buddhist opponents.
649
00:41:56,931 --> 00:41:59,225
[suspenseful pulsing music plays]
650
00:41:59,308 --> 00:42:03,646
[man in Vietnamese] President Diệm,
from my standpoint,
651
00:42:03,729 --> 00:42:06,190
was the person who rebuilt the country.
652
00:42:07,483 --> 00:42:13,822
{\an8}But at his side,
Ngô Đinh Nhu brought about events
653
00:42:13,906 --> 00:42:16,575
which made Diệm look bad.
654
00:42:18,744 --> 00:42:23,457
Dissent began to brew
from within the military ranks.
655
00:42:27,962 --> 00:42:29,463
[Kennedy in English] You have to assume
656
00:42:29,547 --> 00:42:32,341
that Diệm has felt that there's going
to be a coup against him
657
00:42:32,424 --> 00:42:34,385
for probably the last couple of months.
658
00:42:40,849 --> 00:42:43,018
[host] The Guiding Light will not
be seen today
659
00:42:43,102 --> 00:42:46,272
in order to bring you
the following CBS News special report.
660
00:42:46,355 --> 00:42:48,107
{\an8}Good day from New York.
661
00:42:48,190 --> 00:42:50,859
{\an8}South Vietnam is
in a state of revolt today,
662
00:42:50,943 --> 00:42:52,444
{\an8}and there are unconfirmed reports
663
00:42:52,528 --> 00:42:55,531
{\an8}that President Ngô Đình Diệm's government
has been overthrown.
664
00:42:55,614 --> 00:42:58,075
[melancholic music plays]
665
00:42:58,158 --> 00:42:59,994
[guns firing]
666
00:43:00,077 --> 00:43:01,120
[soldiers shouting]
667
00:43:07,251 --> 00:43:11,422
{\an8}[Lien-Hang] High-ranking military generals
under Dương Văn Minh carry out the coup.
668
00:43:14,258 --> 00:43:17,678
Diệm and Nhu were able to escape
the presidential palace
669
00:43:17,761 --> 00:43:20,306
by way of secret doorways into tunnels.
670
00:43:20,931 --> 00:43:24,685
{\an8}Eventually, they would regroup
in a Catholic church.
671
00:43:26,687 --> 00:43:30,774
{\an8}They were promised safe passage
back to the palace
672
00:43:30,858 --> 00:43:32,985
{\an8}and to eventually leave the country.
673
00:43:34,820 --> 00:43:38,407
{\an8}[in Vietnamese] They sent a convoy
to Cha Tam Church to pick up Mr. President
674
00:43:38,490 --> 00:43:41,076
{\an8}and Mr. Advisor to bring them back.
675
00:43:41,744 --> 00:43:43,746
{\an8}[music intensifies]
676
00:43:44,580 --> 00:43:49,209
{\an8}Captain Nhung was Lieutenant General
Dương Văn Minh's closest bodyguard.
677
00:43:50,669 --> 00:43:55,591
Later, it was learned
that while sitting in the armored vehicle,
678
00:43:55,674 --> 00:43:57,009
he used a dagger blade
679
00:43:57,092 --> 00:44:02,014
to stab Ngô Đình Nhu once,
causing him to collapse on his seat.
680
00:44:03,015 --> 00:44:07,311
He was about to stab once more,
but he saw Ngô Đình Diệm on the side
681
00:44:07,394 --> 00:44:10,731
slightly leaning toward him,
so he stabbed him once instead.
682
00:44:11,482 --> 00:44:13,734
He stabbed them one more time each,
683
00:44:14,860 --> 00:44:16,779
then shot them with his pistol.
684
00:44:18,989 --> 00:44:20,449
[pistol fires faintly]
685
00:44:20,532 --> 00:44:25,120
That is what's called a "mercy shot."
686
00:44:27,665 --> 00:44:29,041
[gun fires twice]
687
00:44:37,257 --> 00:44:39,301
{\an8}[Hughes, in English]
During the entire coup period,
688
00:44:39,385 --> 00:44:41,345
{\an8}Madame Nhu was in the United States.
689
00:44:42,930 --> 00:44:44,973
That probably saved Madame Nhu's life.
690
00:44:45,974 --> 00:44:48,852
[Nhu] Treason does not pay.
691
00:44:49,978 --> 00:44:52,147
And nobody can rule Vietnam,
692
00:44:52,231 --> 00:44:55,776
can rule Vietnam
with just money and puppets.
693
00:44:56,360 --> 00:45:01,824
And all those whom some of the Americans
intend to settle and to tutor,
694
00:45:02,741 --> 00:45:06,537
for how long will they hold power
695
00:45:07,287 --> 00:45:09,164
if they ever hold power?
696
00:45:11,625 --> 00:45:14,002
{\an8}[newscaster] The new leaders,
General Dương Văn Minh
697
00:45:14,086 --> 00:45:16,171
{\an8}and Premier Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ,
698
00:45:16,255 --> 00:45:19,425
{\an8}want immediate support from the people
and recognition from the West.
699
00:45:22,386 --> 00:45:24,513
[Lien-Hang] There were a series
of declassifications,
700
00:45:24,596 --> 00:45:27,599
and we now know
that the Kennedy administration,
701
00:45:27,683 --> 00:45:31,478
in particular President Kennedy,
had started courting with this idea
702
00:45:31,562 --> 00:45:35,023
{\an8}of removing Diệm
as early as August of '63.
703
00:45:35,899 --> 00:45:40,112
{\an8}So the events that transpired
in the beginning of November, they knew.
704
00:45:40,195 --> 00:45:41,822
[indistinct]
705
00:45:41,905 --> 00:45:42,990
[Logevall] There's no doubt
706
00:45:43,073 --> 00:45:45,951
John F. Kennedy was
the decision-maker on Vietnam
707
00:45:46,034 --> 00:45:48,787
in those fateful weeks in 1963
708
00:45:48,871 --> 00:45:52,916
when the decision was made
to essentially give the green light
709
00:45:53,000 --> 00:45:54,668
to the coup-plotters in Saigon.
710
00:45:54,752 --> 00:45:56,336
[gentle sullen music plays]
711
00:45:56,420 --> 00:46:00,090
[Logevall] One interesting question
is whether John F. Kennedy understood
712
00:46:00,174 --> 00:46:04,178
that Diệm and Nhu would likely be killed.
713
00:46:06,680 --> 00:46:09,183
[Hughes] The South Vietnamese
never received
714
00:46:09,266 --> 00:46:12,102
any sort of caution from the US government
715
00:46:12,186 --> 00:46:16,857
that Diệm or Nhu or anybody else
in the Ngô family was to be protected,
716
00:46:16,940 --> 00:46:19,651
held harmless,
allowed safely to go into exile.
717
00:46:21,278 --> 00:46:23,947
One of the things that I think
is quite clear as a historian
718
00:46:24,031 --> 00:46:26,617
is that the coup-plotters knew
that if Diệm lives,
719
00:46:26,700 --> 00:46:30,204
that there would be constant coups,
and the Americans knew that.
720
00:46:34,917 --> 00:46:38,212
The Kennedy administration
has blood on their hands.
721
00:46:38,962 --> 00:46:41,632
[Osnos] Some of the most poignant things
you can hear from Kennedy
722
00:46:41,715 --> 00:46:44,593
{\an8}is what he dictated
on the Monday morning after the coup.
723
00:46:45,511 --> 00:46:48,222
[Kennedy] I, uh, feel that we must bear
724
00:46:49,431 --> 00:46:51,350
a good deal of responsibility for it,
725
00:46:52,434 --> 00:46:56,313
{\an8}beginning with our cable of early August
726
00:46:56,396 --> 00:46:59,483
{\an8}in which we suggested the coup.
727
00:47:00,484 --> 00:47:02,110
[crowd cheers]
728
00:47:04,863 --> 00:47:09,159
{\an8}[Kennedy] I was, uh, shocked
by the death of Diệm and Nhu.
729
00:47:09,243 --> 00:47:12,246
I met Diệm with Justice Douglas
many years ago.
730
00:47:12,329 --> 00:47:16,166
He was a… an extraordinary character.
731
00:47:16,250 --> 00:47:21,171
While he… became increasingly difficult
in the last months,
732
00:47:21,255 --> 00:47:24,800
nevertheless, over a ten-year period,
he held his country together,
733
00:47:24,883 --> 00:47:27,469
maintained its independence
under very adverse conditions.
734
00:47:28,929 --> 00:47:30,013
He…
735
00:47:30,097 --> 00:47:34,309
The way he was killed
made it particularly… abhorrent.
736
00:47:40,607 --> 00:47:44,361
Ngô Đình Diệm was a controversial figure
for many different kinds of reasons,
737
00:47:45,279 --> 00:47:48,574
but I think that
for some of the South Vietnamese,
738
00:47:48,657 --> 00:47:52,452
he represented the possibility
of nationalist independence,
739
00:47:52,536 --> 00:47:54,955
a country led by a Vietnamese president.
740
00:47:56,081 --> 00:47:58,333
The politics of this
was very, very complicated obviously,
741
00:47:58,417 --> 00:48:01,545
because South Vietnam was
a politically diverse place.
742
00:48:02,087 --> 00:48:04,089
There were people
of different religious backgrounds
743
00:48:04,172 --> 00:48:05,340
and so on.
744
00:48:06,133 --> 00:48:08,176
But he was controversial
to different populations,
745
00:48:08,260 --> 00:48:09,845
again, for different reasons.
746
00:48:10,345 --> 00:48:11,805
Americans were opposed to him
747
00:48:11,889 --> 00:48:15,350
because they thought he stood in the way
of their particular policies.
748
00:48:15,434 --> 00:48:17,394
[church bells ring]
749
00:48:17,477 --> 00:48:19,271
[Viet] At least for some
Vietnamese Catholics,
750
00:48:19,354 --> 00:48:21,231
he was a revered political leader,
751
00:48:21,315 --> 00:48:26,361
nationalist figure,
whose assassination was a tragic event.
752
00:48:27,237 --> 00:48:28,822
[somber droning music plays]
753
00:48:28,906 --> 00:48:32,826
[woman] When President Ngô Đình Diệm
got assassinated, my father came home.
754
00:48:32,910 --> 00:48:36,747
{\an8}He said that, "It not gonna be
a good time anymore."
755
00:48:36,830 --> 00:48:38,248
{\an8}"It can be a lot of chaos."
756
00:48:38,332 --> 00:48:41,126
"Nobody can deal with Hồ Chí Minh,
757
00:48:41,209 --> 00:48:44,630
can deal with the Communists,
like President Ngô Đình Diệm."
758
00:48:51,678 --> 00:48:56,266
{\an8}[Hughes] What happened after the coup
was a series of coups,
759
00:48:56,350 --> 00:49:00,062
{\an8}kind of a revolving-door government
in Saigon,
760
00:49:00,145 --> 00:49:03,398
{\an8}where various generals decided
that they would be the best people
761
00:49:03,482 --> 00:49:05,525
{\an8}to run the war against the Việt Cộng.
762
00:49:06,151 --> 00:49:09,655
So it was a period
of instability in Saigon.
763
00:49:14,993 --> 00:49:17,871
[Lien-Hang] Several weeks after
Ngô Đình Diệm and Ngô Đình Nhu
764
00:49:17,955 --> 00:49:18,997
are assassinated,
765
00:49:19,081 --> 00:49:21,959
the United States goes through
one of the most tragic days
766
00:49:22,042 --> 00:49:23,460
in presidential history.
767
00:49:23,543 --> 00:49:25,462
[melancholic music plays]
768
00:49:27,047 --> 00:49:28,507
{\an8}Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
769
00:49:28,590 --> 00:49:31,259
{\an8}You'll excuse the fact
that I'm out of breath, but…
770
00:49:31,343 --> 00:49:32,636
{\an8}about 10 or 15 minutes ago,
771
00:49:32,719 --> 00:49:35,681
{\an8}a tragic thing, from all indications
at this point, has happened
772
00:49:35,764 --> 00:49:36,640
{\an8}in the city of Dallas.
773
00:49:36,723 --> 00:49:39,059
{\an8}There has been an attempt,
as perhaps you know now,
774
00:49:39,142 --> 00:49:40,686
{\an8}on the life of President Kennedy.
775
00:49:40,769 --> 00:49:42,562
{\an8}He was wounded in an automobile
776
00:49:42,646 --> 00:49:45,315
{\an8}driving from Dallas Airport
into downtown Dallas,
777
00:49:45,399 --> 00:49:47,359
along with Governor Connally of Texas.
778
00:49:47,442 --> 00:49:49,653
They've been taken
to Parkland Hospital there,
779
00:49:49,736 --> 00:49:52,572
where their condition is as yet unknown.
780
00:49:52,656 --> 00:49:54,074
[melancholic music plays]
781
00:49:54,157 --> 00:49:56,201
- [gun fires]
- [people scream]
782
00:49:56,284 --> 00:49:59,329
[reporter] It appears as though something
has happened in the motorcade route.
783
00:49:59,413 --> 00:50:02,290
Something, I repeat, has happened
in the motorcade route.
784
00:50:15,012 --> 00:50:17,389
We just have a report
from our correspondent,
785
00:50:17,472 --> 00:50:18,932
Dan Rather in Dallas,
786
00:50:19,016 --> 00:50:22,728
that he has confirmed
that President Kennedy is dead.
787
00:50:23,770 --> 00:50:28,525
{\an8}Walter, we have some additional film
taken at and near Parkland Hospital,
788
00:50:28,608 --> 00:50:30,610
{\an8}where President John Kennedy died.
789
00:50:31,194 --> 00:50:34,197
Uh, this film is in rough cut form.
790
00:50:36,491 --> 00:50:40,704
These are some of the witnesses
in the area of the shooting.
791
00:50:40,787 --> 00:50:42,748
There was a great deal
of disbelief at first
792
00:50:42,831 --> 00:50:44,833
that the President had even been shot.
793
00:50:46,752 --> 00:50:48,462
[Rather] To be there that day
794
00:50:49,004 --> 00:50:52,549
was pretty much what was reflected
around the country.
795
00:50:53,133 --> 00:50:55,385
{\an8}The first reports were he was shot.
796
00:50:55,469 --> 00:50:58,180
{\an8}Then it was confirmed
he was-- he was dead.
797
00:50:58,263 --> 00:50:59,931
[man] Late afternoon editions…
798
00:51:00,015 --> 00:51:03,602
[Rather] The Kennedy assassination
was a shock to the American psyche.
799
00:51:04,728 --> 00:51:08,940
We believed that those kinds of things
didn't happen in our country anymore.
800
00:51:10,734 --> 00:51:13,487
[reporter] Women here in shock.
Some have fainted.
801
00:51:13,570 --> 00:51:17,240
Grown men, Secret Service men,
standing by the emergency room,
802
00:51:17,324 --> 00:51:19,326
tears streaming down their face.
803
00:51:19,993 --> 00:51:23,914
There's only one word
to describe the picture here
804
00:51:23,997 --> 00:51:26,083
and that's "grief," and much of it.
805
00:51:26,166 --> 00:51:29,878
[sad arrangement
of "The Star-Spangled Banner" plays]
806
00:51:36,176 --> 00:51:38,136
[Logevall] If you look
at Kennedy's even opponents,
807
00:51:38,220 --> 00:51:40,222
many of them in the United States,
808
00:51:40,305 --> 00:51:43,600
even for them,
this was a-- a monumental blow.
809
00:51:46,228 --> 00:51:48,522
{\an8}Today, millions of people
throughout the world
810
00:51:48,605 --> 00:51:51,775
{\an8}are trying to find
words adequate to express
811
00:51:52,275 --> 00:51:55,112
{\an8}their grief and their sympathy
to his family.
812
00:51:55,195 --> 00:51:57,906
[priest] …the souls
of all the faithful departed,
813
00:51:57,989 --> 00:52:00,659
through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
814
00:52:01,159 --> 00:52:04,371
In the name of the Father,
and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, amen.
815
00:52:04,913 --> 00:52:08,667
[Logevall] If we engage
in so-called "what if" speculation,
816
00:52:09,793 --> 00:52:11,920
though we will never know for sure,
817
00:52:13,130 --> 00:52:17,050
I think that the best argument
is that a surviving Kennedy
818
00:52:17,134 --> 00:52:20,428
would have avoided
large-scale escalation in Vietnam.
819
00:52:21,680 --> 00:52:23,473
I think his doubts went deeper
820
00:52:23,557 --> 00:52:27,894
in terms of what
American military power could do.
821
00:52:28,854 --> 00:52:30,355
And maybe most important,
822
00:52:30,438 --> 00:52:34,109
Kennedy would have reached
the critical decisions on Vietnam
823
00:52:34,192 --> 00:52:35,610
in his second and final term.
824
00:52:36,736 --> 00:52:39,406
And at that point,
he could no longer run for re-election.
825
00:52:41,658 --> 00:52:45,495
Anyone can speculate all they want
about what he might have, should have done
826
00:52:45,579 --> 00:52:46,621
had he been re-elected.
827
00:52:46,705 --> 00:52:48,832
But all we have is the record.
828
00:52:48,915 --> 00:52:53,044
And the record is that President Kennedy
got us involved in Vietnam
829
00:52:53,795 --> 00:52:55,422
and escalated the war,
830
00:52:55,505 --> 00:52:58,633
and was escalating the war
when he was assassinated.
831
00:53:00,051 --> 00:53:03,930
And it's very hard for me to believe
that he wouldn't have carried on the war.
832
00:53:04,764 --> 00:53:06,975
[reporter] As always,
democracy finds its strength
833
00:53:07,058 --> 00:53:08,727
in the continuity of the presidency.
834
00:53:09,311 --> 00:53:13,231
{\an8}Lyndon B. Johnson becomes
the 36th President of the United States,
835
00:53:13,315 --> 00:53:15,859
{\an8}just 99 minutes
after his predecessor's life
836
00:53:15,942 --> 00:53:16,860
{\an8}had ebbed away.
837
00:53:17,694 --> 00:53:20,071
[Osnos] Lyndon Johnson became president.
838
00:53:20,155 --> 00:53:21,656
But in that first year,
839
00:53:21,740 --> 00:53:24,826
{\an8}he kept referring to himself
as "the accidental president."
840
00:53:24,910 --> 00:53:26,536
{\an8}[spacey anxious music plays]
841
00:53:27,495 --> 00:53:30,999
{\an8}[Osnos] When it came to domestic politics
and domestic policy,
842
00:53:31,082 --> 00:53:33,168
he was truly in command.
843
00:53:35,795 --> 00:53:38,340
But on Vietnam, he was insecure.
844
00:53:39,299 --> 00:53:41,635
He didn't really understand this issue.
845
00:53:43,720 --> 00:53:46,097
[Hughes] President Johnson started
recording his phone calls
846
00:53:46,181 --> 00:53:49,309
using a Dictabelt system
of his own immediately.
847
00:53:49,392 --> 00:53:54,022
And so we have a great record
of Lyndon Johnson's phone calls.
848
00:53:54,606 --> 00:53:56,149
[button clicks]
849
00:53:56,233 --> 00:53:59,945
I would like to have, for this period
when everybody is asking me,
850
00:54:00,028 --> 00:54:01,613
something in my own words.
851
00:54:01,696 --> 00:54:04,950
I can say, "Well, here are--
here are the alternatives,
852
00:54:05,033 --> 00:54:08,203
and here's our theory,
and here's what we're basing it on."
853
00:54:11,539 --> 00:54:15,669
{\an8}LBJ basically, by his own admission,
854
00:54:15,752 --> 00:54:17,587
{\an8}didn't know what he was doing.
855
00:54:19,089 --> 00:54:22,425
And he was very poorly advised
by his advisors,
856
00:54:23,343 --> 00:54:24,970
especially McNamara.
857
00:54:26,012 --> 00:54:27,347
I do think, Mr. President,
858
00:54:27,430 --> 00:54:30,308
that it would be wise for you
to say as little as possible.
859
00:54:30,392 --> 00:54:33,270
The frank answer is,
we don't know what's going on out there.
860
00:54:33,353 --> 00:54:35,522
The signs I see coming through the cables
861
00:54:35,605 --> 00:54:38,275
are-- are disturbing signs.
862
00:54:40,151 --> 00:54:44,406
[Rather] President Johnson always had
something of a vulnerability
863
00:54:44,489 --> 00:54:45,740
about his education.
864
00:54:46,866 --> 00:54:49,327
When he came to the presidency,
he was surrounded
865
00:54:49,411 --> 00:54:52,122
by President Kennedy's
hand-picked advisors.
866
00:54:52,205 --> 00:54:53,581
And President Johnson,
867
00:54:53,665 --> 00:54:56,459
I know having talked to him,
thought to himself,
868
00:54:56,960 --> 00:55:00,088
"Geez, I just graduated
from this small teacher's college
869
00:55:00,171 --> 00:55:01,464
in South Texas,
870
00:55:01,548 --> 00:55:03,925
and I have around me
the best brains in the country
871
00:55:04,009 --> 00:55:06,052
that President Kennedy brought on."
872
00:55:06,136 --> 00:55:08,430
And the Kennedy advisors, make no mistake,
873
00:55:09,055 --> 00:55:13,893
were almost unanimous in saying,
"You've got to stay in Vietnam."
874
00:55:13,977 --> 00:55:15,645
[anxious music intensifies]
875
00:55:17,772 --> 00:55:20,483
[Logevall] There's a recognition
on the part of senior US officials
876
00:55:20,567 --> 00:55:22,193
in the summer of 1964
877
00:55:22,819 --> 00:55:25,071
that South Vietnam is in deep trouble.
878
00:55:26,656 --> 00:55:29,200
The insurgency is continuing
to gain strength.
879
00:55:29,284 --> 00:55:32,037
There is infighting
among South Vietnamese officials.
880
00:55:32,620 --> 00:55:34,205
And something needs to happen.
881
00:55:34,831 --> 00:55:37,959
{\an8}Arguably, the United States enters
the month of August
882
00:55:38,043 --> 00:55:41,463
{\an8}looking for a pretext
to flex American muscle.
883
00:55:42,547 --> 00:55:43,798
In a limited fashion.
884
00:55:49,846 --> 00:55:52,766
{\an8}[Weiner] The American war in Vietnam began
885
00:55:52,849 --> 00:55:55,018
{\an8}in the summer of 1964
886
00:55:55,101 --> 00:55:56,936
{\an8}with political lies
887
00:55:57,020 --> 00:55:59,356
{\an8}based on false intelligence.
888
00:55:59,439 --> 00:56:02,067
[tense music plays]
889
00:56:02,150 --> 00:56:05,487
[man 13] USS Maddox,
one of the United States Navy destroyers,
890
00:56:05,570 --> 00:56:07,697
was conducting
signals intelligence patrols
891
00:56:07,781 --> 00:56:10,617
in the Gulf of Tonkin
along the North Vietnamese coast.
892
00:56:11,534 --> 00:56:14,954
{\an8}They were up deep into enemy territory
above the 17th parallel.
893
00:56:16,206 --> 00:56:18,500
Information gathering,
intelligence gathering
894
00:56:18,583 --> 00:56:20,627
through, uh, electronic eavesdropping.
895
00:56:23,046 --> 00:56:24,881
Unbeknownst to the Maddox,
896
00:56:24,964 --> 00:56:29,219
{\an8}the South Vietnamese were conducting
commando raids closer to the coast,
897
00:56:29,302 --> 00:56:33,139
{\an8}firing weapons and mortars
against North Vietnamese installations.
898
00:56:38,561 --> 00:56:41,398
On the afternoon of August 2nd, 1964,
899
00:56:42,107 --> 00:56:46,778
{\an8}three North Vietnamese torpedo vessels
come out and engage the USS Maddox.
900
00:56:50,240 --> 00:56:54,327
{\an8}[Weiner] Three North Vietnamese
patrol boats approached the Maddox,
901
00:56:54,411 --> 00:56:57,163
which both engaged them with fire
902
00:56:57,247 --> 00:57:00,417
{\an8}and called for air support
from a nearby naval carrier.
903
00:57:02,127 --> 00:57:03,962
[naval artillery fires]
904
00:57:04,879 --> 00:57:09,592
[Weiner] The Maddox sustained damage
in the form of one bullet hole.
905
00:57:11,719 --> 00:57:14,139
[Paterson] All three
of the North Vietnamese torpedo vessels
906
00:57:14,222 --> 00:57:15,098
are struck.
907
00:57:15,890 --> 00:57:17,392
One is completely destroyed.
908
00:57:18,351 --> 00:57:22,689
The other vessels managed to drift back
to their bases with some heavy damage.
909
00:57:23,815 --> 00:57:27,110
{\an8}They fired at us.
We responded immediately.
910
00:57:27,193 --> 00:57:30,363
{\an8}And we took out one of their boats,
put the other two running.
911
00:57:30,447 --> 00:57:32,949
We kept… We're putting our boats
right there. We're not running--
912
00:57:33,032 --> 00:57:34,742
[McNamara] Our instructions
are to destroy--
913
00:57:34,826 --> 00:57:35,827
[Johnson] That's right.
914
00:57:35,910 --> 00:57:39,456
Now I want to leave an impression
on the people we talk to over here
915
00:57:39,539 --> 00:57:41,291
that we're gonna be firm as hell.
916
00:57:41,374 --> 00:57:42,792
We oughtn't do anything
917
00:57:42,876 --> 00:57:45,420
that the national interest
doesn't require,
918
00:57:45,503 --> 00:57:48,256
but we sure ought
to always leave the impression
919
00:57:48,339 --> 00:57:50,425
that if you shoot at us,
you're going to get hit.
920
00:57:54,888 --> 00:57:56,931
{\an8}[Paterson] In order to demonstrate
US resolve,
921
00:57:57,015 --> 00:57:59,726
{\an8}the military command center,
and as well as the commander-in-chief,
922
00:57:59,809 --> 00:58:02,395
order the Maddox to return the next day,
923
00:58:02,479 --> 00:58:07,108
now accompanied by USS Turner Joy,
which is another US military destroyer.
924
00:58:07,192 --> 00:58:09,486
{\an8}[dark pulsing music plays]
925
00:58:10,570 --> 00:58:12,822
{\an8}Weather goes south on them very fast.
926
00:58:12,906 --> 00:58:14,782
[lightning crashes]
927
00:58:14,866 --> 00:58:17,327
[Paterson] Wave heights are now
at about six feet.
928
00:58:18,244 --> 00:58:21,247
Low visibility.
Rain squalls moving through the area.
929
00:58:22,332 --> 00:58:24,292
The tensions were pretty high.
930
00:58:25,126 --> 00:58:29,839
When the US Navy destroyers start seeing
radar signals approaching the vessels…
931
00:58:32,217 --> 00:58:35,595
there's some confusion
because the blips are moving really fast,
932
00:58:35,678 --> 00:58:37,347
and they're coming
from different directions
933
00:58:37,430 --> 00:58:38,765
and then sometimes disappearing.
934
00:58:38,848 --> 00:58:40,850
But also, the sonar operators
are starting to hear
935
00:58:40,934 --> 00:58:43,144
propeller noises and torpedo noises
in the water.
936
00:58:43,728 --> 00:58:46,397
And so the crew
and the officers on board the two ships
937
00:58:46,481 --> 00:58:48,983
were getting pretty nervous
that they were under attack.
938
00:58:50,735 --> 00:58:52,695
Mr. President,
we, uh, just got a, uh, report
939
00:58:52,779 --> 00:58:54,781
from the commander
of that task force out there
940
00:58:54,864 --> 00:58:57,617
that they have sighted
two unidentified vessels
941
00:58:57,700 --> 00:59:02,622
and three unidentified prop aircraft
in the vicinity of the destroyers.
942
00:59:04,666 --> 00:59:06,751
[Johnson] Uh, what else
do we have out there?
943
00:59:06,834 --> 00:59:09,462
[McNamara] We have ample forces to respond
944
00:59:09,546 --> 00:59:11,548
not only to these attacks
on the destroyers
945
00:59:11,631 --> 00:59:13,174
but also to retaliate,
946
00:59:13,258 --> 00:59:16,886
should you wish to do so,
against targets on the land.
947
00:59:19,764 --> 00:59:23,434
{\an8}The message traffic back and forth was,
"Give me proof
948
00:59:23,518 --> 00:59:26,145
{\an8}that there was a torpedo there."
949
00:59:26,229 --> 00:59:28,648
{\an8}"Give me some flotsam, a cushion,
950
00:59:28,731 --> 00:59:31,234
anything that would say
that there was a torpedo boat."
951
00:59:33,319 --> 00:59:35,446
We did not see one torpedo boat.
952
00:59:37,824 --> 00:59:40,076
[Paterson] At this point,
there was some uncertainty
953
00:59:40,159 --> 00:59:42,912
about whether or not
an attack had actually occurred.
954
00:59:42,996 --> 00:59:45,707
This is now late at night on August 4th.
955
00:59:46,457 --> 00:59:50,086
And the signals intelligence
on board the ships pick up messages
956
00:59:50,169 --> 00:59:52,922
{\an8}from the North Vietnamese Navy
that they had struck
957
00:59:53,006 --> 00:59:55,425
{\an8}some of the enemy vessels
that were in the area.
958
00:59:55,508 --> 00:59:58,595
{\an8}And it validates everything
that they had suspected at this point.
959
01:00:00,138 --> 01:00:03,683
{\an8}I think I might get, uh, Dean Rusk
and Mac Bundy, have 'em come over here,
960
01:00:03,766 --> 01:00:06,102
{\an8}and we'll go over
these retaliatory actions.
961
01:00:07,854 --> 01:00:12,358
{\an8}[Alvarez] I was attached
to a squadron of A-4 Skyhawks.
962
01:00:14,068 --> 01:00:16,863
{\an8}The next thing I know,
I was going on a mission.
963
01:00:17,614 --> 01:00:19,449
{\an8}[ominous music plays]
964
01:00:19,532 --> 01:00:23,202
{\an8}[Alvarez] Our targets were
along the coast of Vietnam,
965
01:00:23,911 --> 01:00:26,998
the naval bases on the northern part,
966
01:00:27,081 --> 01:00:30,293
like around Hải Phòng
and north towards China.
967
01:00:35,465 --> 01:00:36,924
[jet engines roar]
968
01:00:37,008 --> 01:00:39,052
[Alvarez] I went in and hit my target.
969
01:00:40,386 --> 01:00:42,889
And as I was exiting, I got hit.
970
01:00:45,933 --> 01:00:48,478
And I pulled the ejection curtain.
971
01:00:48,561 --> 01:00:50,938
I felt the chute pop open.
972
01:00:51,814 --> 01:00:53,524
And I was in the water.
973
01:00:54,817 --> 01:00:56,569
And as I tried to swim away,
974
01:00:56,653 --> 01:00:58,905
looked around,
and here was a fishing boat.
975
01:00:58,988 --> 01:01:03,493
And it had about three rifles…
pointing at me.
976
01:01:04,410 --> 01:01:06,788
{\an8}They hauled me aboard. They stripped me.
977
01:01:06,871 --> 01:01:10,333
{\an8}They wrapped me up
with a rope like a-- a knot.
978
01:01:10,416 --> 01:01:14,671
That was the beginning
of a… a long captivity.
979
01:01:15,880 --> 01:01:18,091
[reporter] The Pentagon said
two pilots were lost.
980
01:01:18,174 --> 01:01:20,635
One was reported
to be a prisoner of the Reds.
981
01:01:23,346 --> 01:01:26,599
{\an8}[Paterson] All this message traffic
and all these accounts were top secret
982
01:01:26,683 --> 01:01:29,977
{\an8}and kept classified
for the better part of about 40 years.
983
01:01:30,520 --> 01:01:32,438
{\an8}But as it turns out,
984
01:01:32,522 --> 01:01:34,899
{\an8}the attack on August 4th never happened.
985
01:01:36,818 --> 01:01:40,530
{\an8}Their radars reflecting off the sea waves
and the low cloud level…
986
01:01:43,157 --> 01:01:45,034
the sonar operators were picking up
987
01:01:45,118 --> 01:01:47,954
their own rudder noises
and own propeller noises.
988
01:01:49,247 --> 01:01:51,124
As President Johnson later said,
989
01:01:51,207 --> 01:01:54,043
"The damn sailors were shootin'
at flying fish."
990
01:01:56,087 --> 01:01:58,423
[Paterson]
As for the North Vietnamese message,
991
01:01:58,506 --> 01:01:59,632
they were transmitting
992
01:01:59,716 --> 01:02:02,677
a follow-up message
to the August 2nd attack
993
01:02:02,760 --> 01:02:04,429
in which they had
the initial confrontation
994
01:02:04,512 --> 01:02:06,055
just with USS Maddox.
995
01:02:06,723 --> 01:02:08,641
So it was not about the events
996
01:02:08,725 --> 01:02:11,728
that supposedly occurred
on the night of August 4th.
997
01:02:13,062 --> 01:02:15,940
I think Secretary of Defense
Robert McNamara had doubts
998
01:02:16,023 --> 01:02:17,859
about the attack on August 4th.
999
01:02:19,527 --> 01:02:22,947
But instead of being honest
and truthful about what happened,
1000
01:02:23,030 --> 01:02:24,991
McNamara misrepresents it to Congress
1001
01:02:25,074 --> 01:02:27,285
as well as misrepresents it
to members of the press.
1002
01:02:28,828 --> 01:02:30,955
They were reporting
they were avoiding torpedoes
1003
01:02:31,038 --> 01:02:34,375
and that they had sunk
one of the attacking patrol craft.
1004
01:02:35,501 --> 01:02:38,963
And so he really opens the door
for President Johnson to escalate the war.
1005
01:02:39,046 --> 01:02:41,048
[droning music plays]
1006
01:02:52,310 --> 01:02:56,606
Even though attacks didn't transpire
on August 4th, 1964,
1007
01:02:58,024 --> 01:03:02,528
LBJ used the pretense of these attacks
to go to Congress
1008
01:03:02,612 --> 01:03:06,991
to seek what we now know as a blank check
to go to war in South Vietnam.
1009
01:03:07,074 --> 01:03:09,494
That is the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.
1010
01:03:09,577 --> 01:03:13,664
[Johnson] In each house, the resolution
was promptly examined in committee
1011
01:03:13,748 --> 01:03:15,166
and reported for action.
1012
01:03:15,750 --> 01:03:18,961
In each house,
the resolution was passed on Friday last,
1013
01:03:19,796 --> 01:03:24,050
with a total of 502 votes in support
and two opposed.
1014
01:03:25,218 --> 01:03:27,303
[Bass] The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
is unusual
1015
01:03:27,386 --> 01:03:30,389
because it is not a declaration of war,
1016
01:03:31,516 --> 01:03:33,601
but it gave full authority
to the United States
1017
01:03:33,684 --> 01:03:36,395
to assist the South Vietnamese government
1018
01:03:36,479 --> 01:03:40,316
in defending its territories
from aggression from the North.
1019
01:03:43,236 --> 01:03:47,657
[Johnson] To any armed attack,
our forces will reply.
1020
01:03:48,407 --> 01:03:52,411
{\an8}To any in Southeast Asia who ask
our help in defending their freedom,
1021
01:03:53,496 --> 01:03:54,580
we're going to give it.
1022
01:03:56,582 --> 01:03:59,418
{\an8}I have ordered to Vietnam
the Air Mobile Division
1023
01:04:00,336 --> 01:04:04,674
{\an8}and certain other forces which will raise
our fighting strength almost immediately.
1024
01:04:09,387 --> 01:04:12,014
[Daddis] Operation Rolling Thunder
was a strategic bombing campaign
1025
01:04:12,098 --> 01:04:13,432
against North Vietnam…
1026
01:04:14,267 --> 01:04:16,269
[haunting music plays]
1027
01:04:24,777 --> 01:04:28,364
[Daddis] …to use
massive amounts of air power
1028
01:04:28,447 --> 01:04:31,409
{\an8}to break the enemy's willpower.
1029
01:04:31,492 --> 01:04:33,369
[inaudible]
1030
01:04:33,452 --> 01:04:35,788
[Hughes] In public,
the Johnson administration,
1031
01:04:35,872 --> 01:04:37,331
like the Kennedy administration,
1032
01:04:37,415 --> 01:04:41,627
was officially optimistic
about their ability to win the war.
1033
01:04:43,254 --> 01:04:46,299
Even though they entertained doubts
at the highest level.
1034
01:04:47,925 --> 01:04:52,805
It's going to be difficult for us
to, very long, prosecute effectively
1035
01:04:52,889 --> 01:04:54,682
a war that far away from home.
1036
01:05:00,354 --> 01:05:02,356
{\an8}[ominous music plays]
1037
01:05:10,948 --> 01:05:13,659
[Alvarez] I arrived about a week
after I was shot down.
1038
01:05:14,577 --> 01:05:19,081
I was the first American pilot
captured in North Vietnam.
1039
01:05:19,749 --> 01:05:23,878
{\an8}I was flown-- flown my last mission
on, uh, 5 August 1964.
1040
01:05:24,670 --> 01:05:27,673
{\an8}I was, uh, put
into a seven-foot by seven-foot cell
1041
01:05:27,757 --> 01:05:32,887
{\an8}with high walls
and, uh, a little ventilation window.
1042
01:05:34,430 --> 01:05:39,060
The concrete beds had wooden blocks
like-- like leg restraints.
1043
01:05:40,561 --> 01:05:44,857
Sitting there five, six days
without sleep, food, and water.
1044
01:05:45,483 --> 01:05:46,984
Some guys didn't survive.
1045
01:05:50,196 --> 01:05:52,365
[reporter] Hanoi has used
the prisoners of war
1046
01:05:52,448 --> 01:05:53,991
for its propaganda purposes
1047
01:05:54,075 --> 01:05:56,953
{\an8}almost from the day
the first captive was shot down
1048
01:05:57,036 --> 01:05:59,705
{\an8}on the first day
of US bombing of the North.
1049
01:06:01,374 --> 01:06:04,251
[Alvarez] Then there was the Hanoi March.
1050
01:06:06,462 --> 01:06:07,838
They took 50 of us.
1051
01:06:09,048 --> 01:06:10,883
They loaded us up in trucks.
1052
01:06:11,842 --> 01:06:14,261
{\an8}[gently bold classical music plays]
1053
01:06:15,054 --> 01:06:18,474
{\an8}And the next thing we know,
we were on the perimeter of a park.
1054
01:06:18,975 --> 01:06:21,435
[people speaking excitedly]
1055
01:06:21,519 --> 01:06:23,729
And they started marching us.
1056
01:06:24,230 --> 01:06:27,274
As far as you could see
is thousands of people.
1057
01:06:27,358 --> 01:06:28,567
They were shouting.
1058
01:06:28,651 --> 01:06:31,320
[reporter] North Vietnam paraded
this group of prisoners
1059
01:06:31,404 --> 01:06:33,030
through the streets of Hanoi.
1060
01:06:33,114 --> 01:06:37,868
A parade designed to depict them
as humbled and impotent air pilots.
1061
01:06:40,037 --> 01:06:42,665
[Alvarez] Somebody hit me,
and I staggered down.
1062
01:06:44,208 --> 01:06:46,293
I remember looking
at the guys ahead of me,
1063
01:06:46,377 --> 01:06:48,671
that they were getting
the hell beat out of 'em.
1064
01:06:49,839 --> 01:06:51,590
It just went on and on,
1065
01:06:51,674 --> 01:06:54,010
and I didn't know
if we were going to make it.
1066
01:06:57,680 --> 01:07:02,309
And I realized that these are
not good-- good times coming up.
1067
01:07:04,854 --> 01:07:07,940
[Rather] The longer we stayed,
the worse it got.
1068
01:07:11,736 --> 01:07:17,408
It was the first real shock Americans got
of what the reality of war is.
1069
01:07:18,909 --> 01:07:20,411
[bold music intensifies]
1070
01:07:22,955 --> 01:07:24,331
[Logevall] What's our role?
1071
01:07:25,958 --> 01:07:29,086
What does it mean to be the United States?
1072
01:07:30,671 --> 01:07:32,548
What does it mean to be an American?
1073
01:07:33,466 --> 01:07:36,969
To be the most powerful nation
on the globe?
1074
01:07:38,554 --> 01:07:42,058
Vietnam forced a reckoning
around those questions.
1075
01:07:46,896 --> 01:07:49,648
["Gimme Shelter"
by The Rolling Stones plays]
1076
01:07:52,068 --> 01:07:54,945
[Viet] In the United States,
we call it the Vietnam War.
1077
01:07:55,738 --> 01:07:58,407
But in Vietnam,
they call it the American War.
1078
01:08:00,034 --> 01:08:04,663
There are vastly different interpretations
of the same set of facts.
1079
01:08:05,873 --> 01:08:07,458
[Hayslip] To the West, it's just a movie.
1080
01:08:07,541 --> 01:08:08,751
{\an8}Put it on the camp!
1081
01:08:08,834 --> 01:08:10,461
{\an8}[Hayslip] A John Wayne movie.
1082
01:08:11,587 --> 01:08:13,589
{\an8}[guns fire]
1083
01:08:14,131 --> 01:08:16,425
But to the village, it's real.
1084
01:08:19,720 --> 01:08:23,015
It's just so sad and suffering,
1085
01:08:23,099 --> 01:08:26,268
the people who have nothing to do
with the politics.
1086
01:08:28,229 --> 01:08:29,897
Everybody killing everybody.
1087
01:08:35,611 --> 01:08:39,323
♪ Ooh, a storm is threatening ♪
1088
01:08:39,406 --> 01:08:42,535
♪ My very life today ♪
1089
01:08:43,410 --> 01:08:46,914
♪ If I don't get some shelter ♪
1090
01:08:47,414 --> 01:08:50,501
♪ Ooh yeah, I'm gonna fade away ♪
1091
01:08:51,627 --> 01:08:54,255
♪ War, children ♪
1092
01:08:55,214 --> 01:08:59,176
♪ It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away ♪
1093
01:08:59,260 --> 01:09:02,346
♪ War, children ♪
1094
01:09:03,472 --> 01:09:07,351
♪ It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away ♪
1095
01:09:15,901 --> 01:09:19,446
♪ Ooh, see the fire is sweepin' ♪
1096
01:09:20,072 --> 01:09:23,159
♪ Our very street today ♪
1097
01:09:24,118 --> 01:09:27,830
♪ Burns like a red coal carpet ♪
1098
01:09:27,913 --> 01:09:31,125
♪ Mad bull lost your way ♪
1099
01:09:32,126 --> 01:09:34,753
♪ War, children ♪
1100
01:09:34,837 --> 01:09:35,838
♪ Yeah ♪
1101
01:09:35,921 --> 01:09:39,675
♪ It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away ♪
1102
01:09:39,758 --> 01:09:43,053
♪ War, children ♪
1103
01:09:44,096 --> 01:09:47,766
♪ It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away ♪
1104
01:10:28,682 --> 01:10:32,102
♪ Rape, murder ♪
1105
01:10:32,603 --> 01:10:36,315
♪ It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away ♪
1106
01:10:36,941 --> 01:10:40,361
♪ Rape, murder, yeah ♪
1107
01:10:40,444 --> 01:10:44,365
♪ It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away ♪
1108
01:10:44,990 --> 01:10:47,701
♪ Rape, murder ♪
1109
01:10:48,494 --> 01:10:52,456
♪ It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away ♪
1110
01:10:52,539 --> 01:10:55,918
♪ Yeah ♪
1111
01:11:01,006 --> 01:11:04,343
{\an8}♪ Mmm, the floods is threatening ♪
1112
01:11:04,885 --> 01:11:07,763
{\an8}♪ My very life today ♪
1113
01:11:08,931 --> 01:11:12,434
♪ Gimme, gimme shelter ♪
1114
01:11:12,935 --> 01:11:15,854
♪ Or I'm gonna fade away… ♪