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[pensive piano music plays]
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[Keith Kay] A lot of people say
that Vietnam was television's war.
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{\an8}No other war had been shown
in this detail.
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I'm losing too many men.
If we were to stay here too much longer,
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we-- we wouldn't have much left
of this platoon,
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let alone the company.
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{\an8}[Kay] Jack Laurence was
a television correspondent,
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{\an8}and we were working together.
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We decided that the war
could speak for itself
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if the people who were fighting it
could speak for themselves.
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So we focused on the kids in the field.
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{\an8}I can't say that I'm scared stiff,
but I'm scared.
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{\an8}I mean, after a while,
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{\an8}you know what's gonna come,
and you can't do nothing about it,
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{\an8}and you just look to God.
It's about the only thing you can do.
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[Kay] And what they were doing
was following orders.
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They didn't understand the orders,
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but they understood
that they were bound by oath
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to carry out those orders, and they did.
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The rifles have been jamming.
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The-- The mud's been, uh…
slowed everything down,
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and the artillery comes in everywhere,
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and, uh, it just gets pretty futile
and frustrating sometimes.
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{\an8}[Kay] And they were kids,
and we were kids.
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And we felt an affinity for them.
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We were told about these kids
who would sit on top of their bunker
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and sing
"Where Have All the Flowers Gone,"
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so we went up and did a story
on these kids who did it.
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And even in the V-ring,
life goes on at Khe Sanh.
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♪ Young girls, picked them, every one ♪
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♪ When will they ever learn? ♪
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♪ When will they ever learn? ♪
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[plane engine roars overhead]
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[Laurence] I notice you sing out,
"When will they ever learn?"
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Uh, this is probably the favorite song
around the V-ring.
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Do the words have special meaning, or…
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or is it just a good song
for homesick soldiers?
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"Homesick Marines," I'm sorry.
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Well, I suppose it's a little bit of both.
I mean, it sort of makes sense,
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uh, to us anyway,
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that people should catch on
to what's going on here,
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and… all this protesting back home
kind of bothers us.
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But you'd think they'd learn
after a while about these wars and stuff.
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[pensive piano music resumes playing]
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[Kay] We never learn from history.
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You know, history repeats itself.
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When-- When you see Afghanistan and Iraq,
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it's the same scenes
that I shot in Vietnam,
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this time being shot
by some other photographer.
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[sweeping sentimental music plays]
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[camera shutter clicks]
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[camera shutter clicks]
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[Kay] As a journalist, we were trying
to show what this war did to kids.
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[explosion]
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[Kay] We didn't care
about the generals or the commanders.
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We didn't care about the politicians.
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We just wanted to show what it was doing
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to people that we were standing
or crouching beside.
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[intriguing music plays]
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[air raid sirens wail]
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[reporter] What sort of a president
do you think you personally would make
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for South Vietnam?
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[Nguyễn Văn Thiệu] The most important
for me, if I were to be elected,
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{\an8}and as I think for any future leaders,
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{\an8}is, uh, to organize
the stronger political life
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{\an8}in-- in Vietnam.
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{\an8}Because, uh, if we have
a not stronger political life,
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{\an8}we cannot win the war against Communists.
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{\an8}[George J. Veith] In September of '67,
there was an election
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{\an8}for the presidency and vice presidency
of South Vietnam.
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[reporter] Despite well-publicized threats
of Việt Cộng terror tactics,
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83% of the nation's registered voters
flocked to the polling places
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to cast their ballots.
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{\an8}Thiệu wins the presidency,
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{\an8}and former premier Kỳ,
the vice presidency.
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{\an8}[Tuong Vu] President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu
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{\an8}was born of an ordinary family
in southern-central Vietnam.
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[intriguing music swells and intensifies]
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He joined the National Vietnamese Army
under French leadership.
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{\an8}Thiệu, different.
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{\an8}This guy is different.
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{\an8}He's a soldier.
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Poor, like the other soldiers.
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Coming from the rank to become a general,
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Thiệu is the smartest general
in the South.
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The smartest one.
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He was also politically astute.
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{\an8}He was able to bring order
into the country
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{\an8}after four years of chaos,
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after the coup of Ngô Đình Diệm.
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And he also oversaw
the creation of a new republic
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with the most democratic constitution
Vietnam ever had.
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{\an8}[Nhã] When Mr. Thiệu became president,
I became his chief of staff.
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{\an8}I was focused on how we could leverage
the help of the Americans,
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but also tell the Americans,
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"Let's agree on a common strategy
and how to execute that."
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But by that time,
the politics got involved.
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This fella, Thiêu, um,
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most of the people think--
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I'm not very good at evaluating,
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but most of the folks think,
Westmoreland and-- and Bunker and them…
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{\an8}they think that Thiệu
is going to be better than Kỳ.
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And I've been suffering
a terrific onslaught.
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Our own people plucking
that we ought to get out of the war,
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and that they're not dependable,
and that the generals are taking over,
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and-- and, uh, it's been quite a problem
for me in my own group.
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{\an8}Johnson recognizes that the country
is turning against the war.
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[suspenseful classical music plays]
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His public approval,
approval of his handling of the war,
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they're in the 30s by late 1967.
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And so Johnson tries
to get out a better message,
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and he does that
by bringing home William Westmoreland
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to tell the people that the war
really is going better
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than you've been led to believe.
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{\an8}The enemy has not won
a single significant victory in the South
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{\an8}during the last one and a half years.
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{\an8}[Selverstone] Johnson gets a bump
from that progress campaign,
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{\an8}and so he goes into 1968 thinking
that maybe he can turn this thing around.
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And then comes the Tết Offensive.
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[suspenseful music continues]
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{\an8}[horns honking]
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{\an8}[reporter] The Tết Lunar Holiday.
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{\an8}For Asiatics, it's Christmas
and New Year's, and 4th of July,
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all rolled into one,
with a little touch of Memorial Day too.
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[Col. Phạm Bá Hoa, in Vietnamese]
Each side had self-declared a ceasefire
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for people to celebrate Tết.
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{\an8}Half of the army was allowed
to go home on leave for the Tết holiday.
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{\an8}[in English] The Americans,
as well as South Vietnamese,
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{\an8}believed that Communist forces
would respect the Tết holiday truce.
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And in fact, they didn't.
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{\an8}[ominous music plays]
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{\an8}[in Vietnamese] At this time,
I was very well-versed in this mission
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because I was a liaison
for the Deputy Commander.
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The goal was eight points in Saigon.
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The attack on the US Embassy
was approved in the final days,
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so the ninth target was the US Embassy.
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{\an8}[Dũng] All the entry points into Saigon
had many checkpoints.
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This was to tightly control
people coming in and out.
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Anyone who wanted to enter
needed identification documents.
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In just a short period of time,
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there were several hundred
fake ID cards to make.
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{\an8}There would be major events happening.
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I had taken photos of each person.
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I had a premonition
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that this meeting with this person
would probably be the last.
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[people chattering]
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[Peter Arnett, in English] January 30,
the city of Saigon was bustling.
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There were firecrackers exploding,
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and just lots of noise
and traffic flowing around.
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About 3:30 in the morning,
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{\an8}I heard the, uh, rattle
of machine gun fire
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{\an8}and the noise of explosions.
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[guns firing]
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[dramatic music plays]
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The phone goes, and it's the office,
Ed White at the overnight desk.
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And he said, "Peter, get here."
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"The VC are attacking the city.
They're shelling it."
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{\an8}We heard the sound like…
[mimics plane engine whirring]
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{\an8}You know? That means
it's already passed over your house.
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And we heard, "Boom."
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All over the city,
everybody was so scared.
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[automatic weapons fire rapidly]
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[man] I was surprised.
Everybody was surprised.
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We expect they will do something.
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{\an8}But we didn't expect,
uh, so large an operation
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{\an8}that they-- they are able
to-- to penetrate up to that.
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They have spies. They have the Việt Cộng
in-- in place to do things.
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{\an8}The 1968 Tết Offensive was directed
at attacking the urban centers,
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{\an8}and specifically the South Vietnamese
centers of government.
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84,000 North Vietnamese and NLF forces
hit five of the six major cities,
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the major district capitals,
the province capitals.
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[Vu] Suddenly, they just showed up
in large numbers
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{\an8}and attacked the prominent cities,
including the American embassy in Saigon.
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{\an8}[Ngọc, in Vietnamese] To prepare to attack
the US Embassy, we gathered 15 people.
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{\an8}Seventeen, including a male driver
and a female liaison.
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If we didn't have
this woman guide to lead them,
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how on earth would they know
how to find the US Embassy?
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[tense percussive music plays]
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[reporter, in English] About 15 Việt Cộng
commandos were now on the embassy grounds.
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They had rushed in
under a Việt Cộng mortar and rocket attack
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that scored at least two hits on the new,
$3 million, eight-story building.
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{\an8}[Arnett] I started walking
up to the embassy.
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I noticed in the distance the bodies
of three American military police.
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There was a dead American Marine there,
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and a lot of damage,
and a couple of wounded.
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And I take a call from George Jacobson,
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who was living in a wooden villa
in the grounds of the embassy.
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{\an8}I did not see any VC in the building,
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{\an8}except that I knew that there was
at least one VC in my house.
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They put riot gas
into the bottom floors of my house,
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which, of course, would drive whoever
was down, uh, below up top where I was.
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Uh, they had thrown me a pistol
about ten minutes before this occurred.
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And with all the luck
that I've had, uh, all of my life,
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um, I got him before he got me.
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- [man] With the pistol, and he had what?
- I'm sorry.
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- An M16.
- And you got him.
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None of the raiders lived
to tell of their exploit.
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By eight o'clock,
five hours after they first broke in,
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almost all of them were dead.
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[Arnett] General Westmoreland arrived
at the embassy,
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and walking around the carnage,
the VC bodies and wreckage,
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said, "This has been
a great victory for us today."
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The enemy exposed himself
by virtue of this strategy,
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and he suffered great casualties.
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And I was thinking at the time, "Huh?"
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Nearly all 40 province capitals
were attacked by the Việt Cộng
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and North Vietnamese troops.
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It's a real disaster,
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especially after Johnson and his team
have been telling the country
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that there's light
at the end of the tunnel.
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[tape machine clicks]
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I don't think
it's a last-gasp, uh, action.
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{\an8}I do think that it represents,
uh, a maximum effort
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{\an8}in the sense of,
they've poured on all of their assets…
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It's-- It's largely a propaganda effort,
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and a publicity effort,
and I think they'll gain that way.
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I imagine our people across the country
this morning will-- will feel
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that, uh… that, uh, they're much stronger
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than they had previously
anticipated they were.
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And in that sense, I think they gain.
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[reporter] How long
you been fighting in Saigon?
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It's broke out about six, seven days ago.
I've been fighting ever since then.
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- You been fighting out in the field too?
- Right.
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- Which do you prefer?
- The field. [laughs]
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- Why?
- I don't know.
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You can't find 'em around here.
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The Tết attacks lasted
all the way, uh, until March of 1968.
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{\an8}This is the first time
229
00:15:38,646 --> 00:15:41,315
{\an8}that the North had actually captured
230
00:15:41,398 --> 00:15:44,318
{\an8}South territory and held it,
231
00:15:45,194 --> 00:15:46,987
major cities like Huế.
232
00:15:47,071 --> 00:15:49,365
[gentle wistful music plays]
233
00:15:52,451 --> 00:15:53,744
{\an8}[Veith] If Huế fell,
234
00:15:53,827 --> 00:15:56,872
{\an8}the historical imperial seat
of South Vietnam,
235
00:15:56,956 --> 00:15:58,457
it would crush morale,
236
00:15:58,540 --> 00:16:00,960
and the whole part
of the country could fall.
237
00:16:04,338 --> 00:16:07,007
{\an8}[reporter] The 324th Division
of the North Vietnamese Army
238
00:16:07,091 --> 00:16:09,343
{\an8}had been given the task of taking Huế.
239
00:16:09,426 --> 00:16:10,761
{\an8}[inaudible]
240
00:16:13,305 --> 00:16:16,934
{\an8}[reporter] The citadel itself was seized
by a North Vietnamese battalion.
241
00:16:19,853 --> 00:16:21,480
[Kay] On one side of the river,
242
00:16:21,563 --> 00:16:27,111
{\an8}there was the citadel
that was surrounded by North Vietnamese,
243
00:16:27,194 --> 00:16:28,779
and very heavy fighting there.
244
00:16:29,446 --> 00:16:32,992
{\an8}And on the other side of the river
was a warehouse building
245
00:16:33,075 --> 00:16:36,745
{\an8}that was the US presence
on that side of the river.
246
00:16:38,080 --> 00:16:42,918
{\an8}And their mission was
to recapture the city.
247
00:16:43,877 --> 00:16:45,045
[bombs exploding]
248
00:16:48,674 --> 00:16:50,259
{\an8}[Mike Nakayama] It was pretty bad.
249
00:16:50,342 --> 00:16:54,304
{\an8}There were something
like 10,000 North Vietnamese.
250
00:16:55,180 --> 00:16:58,892
{\an8}And here you're looking at Marines
that are going in,
251
00:16:58,976 --> 00:17:01,395
not knowing what they're going to face,
252
00:17:01,478 --> 00:17:02,938
what that force was.
253
00:17:03,814 --> 00:17:05,357
And so they got chewed up.
254
00:17:06,150 --> 00:17:07,776
[guns firing]
255
00:17:09,820 --> 00:17:12,239
I was actually a replacement
256
00:17:12,322 --> 00:17:16,410
for so many of, you know,
the Marines that were killed.
257
00:17:19,705 --> 00:17:22,374
[reporter] Colonel Cheatham,
what's the objective and your…?
258
00:17:22,458 --> 00:17:24,001
What are your men about to do?
259
00:17:24,835 --> 00:17:26,503
Well, I've-- I've got two companies here
260
00:17:26,587 --> 00:17:30,132
that are just about to clear
the next two blocks up.
261
00:17:30,215 --> 00:17:32,009
What kind of fighting is it going to be?
262
00:17:32,092 --> 00:17:34,636
It's house to house and from room to room.
263
00:17:35,262 --> 00:17:38,182
- Kind of inch by inch?
- That's-- That's exactly what it is.
264
00:17:40,059 --> 00:17:43,228
They were fighting
just to get across the street.
265
00:17:43,312 --> 00:17:45,314
[soldiers yell indistinctly]
266
00:17:45,397 --> 00:17:47,900
[reporter] As the Marines advance
building after building,
267
00:17:47,983 --> 00:17:50,569
the North Vietnamese retreat
building after building,
268
00:17:50,652 --> 00:17:52,863
giving up nothing without a fight.
269
00:17:52,946 --> 00:17:55,365
You know, this just went on day after day.
270
00:17:56,075 --> 00:17:58,410
{\an8}It's been like this all weekend in Huế,
271
00:17:58,494 --> 00:18:01,288
{\an8}one nasty little firefight
right after another.
272
00:18:01,997 --> 00:18:03,540
{\an8}Rounds going overhead.
273
00:18:03,624 --> 00:18:06,335
[guns firing heavily]
274
00:18:06,418 --> 00:18:08,420
[melancholic music plays]
275
00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:13,884
What do you think of at a time like this?
276
00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:16,136
Well, keeping down.
277
00:18:17,638 --> 00:18:19,932
Bullets are flying over here too fast.
278
00:18:24,228 --> 00:18:26,271
{\an8}[C. Jack Ellis] I was a platoon sergeant.
279
00:18:26,355 --> 00:18:28,482
{\an8}My outfit was gonna defend Huế.
280
00:18:30,734 --> 00:18:33,821
{\an8}And I remember not being able
to get the wounded out.
281
00:18:34,488 --> 00:18:36,782
And that's when I first saw
282
00:18:36,865 --> 00:18:39,368
my fellow soldiers
being wounded in combat,
283
00:18:39,451 --> 00:18:41,120
being killed in combat.
284
00:18:42,746 --> 00:18:45,457
And when you are a small unit leader,
285
00:18:45,541 --> 00:18:48,293
you know,
a part of you gets wounded as well,
286
00:18:48,377 --> 00:18:50,003
and a part of you dies.
287
00:18:51,505 --> 00:18:55,008
Because now you--
you are close to these men.
288
00:19:00,305 --> 00:19:04,351
[reporter] Many homes were entered
and searched for block after block.
289
00:19:04,434 --> 00:19:08,021
Wherever the Communists went,
the people fled.
290
00:19:14,236 --> 00:19:17,156
[woman] Civilians had been kidnapped
by the Communists.
291
00:19:17,239 --> 00:19:19,825
When the Communists first entered Huế,
292
00:19:19,908 --> 00:19:23,704
{\an8}they came into their homes
and then took them away,
293
00:19:23,787 --> 00:19:26,165
{\an8}and they haven't heard from them since.
294
00:19:32,796 --> 00:19:36,049
[Hoa, in Vietnamese]
Thanks to the strong support of the US,
295
00:19:36,133 --> 00:19:39,344
Huế was able
to successfully push out the Communists.
296
00:19:41,138 --> 00:19:46,393
Huế suffered the most
during the Tết Offensive.
297
00:19:49,730 --> 00:19:54,318
{\an8}The fighting in Huế was the most horrific.
298
00:19:55,027 --> 00:20:00,324
[Kay, in English] It was just a…
a very gruesome, ugly battle.
299
00:20:04,036 --> 00:20:05,829
But from my own position,
300
00:20:06,371 --> 00:20:08,624
it was the first time I thought,
301
00:20:08,707 --> 00:20:11,001
"God, we can really lose this war."
302
00:20:12,753 --> 00:20:14,463
And it was all new.
303
00:20:14,546 --> 00:20:19,176
And your thinking of the war
becomes all new.
304
00:20:19,259 --> 00:20:22,137
[soldiers speak indistinctly]
305
00:20:26,099 --> 00:20:28,268
[man] Are you finished?
We want to get the hell out.
306
00:20:29,186 --> 00:20:33,440
{\an8}By the time Communist forces
had to withdraw from the city,
307
00:20:33,523 --> 00:20:37,486
{\an8}Communist forces on the ground
ended up killing off any witnesses
308
00:20:37,569 --> 00:20:40,239
{\an8}in addition to actual prisoners of war.
309
00:20:43,116 --> 00:20:46,620
[Thuy] They were killing those people
on their way out of the city,
310
00:20:46,703 --> 00:20:49,206
and nobody could know where they were.
311
00:20:49,289 --> 00:20:51,124
[tender music plays]
312
00:20:51,208 --> 00:20:56,421
Until a year later,
they discovered three mass graves in Huế.
313
00:20:59,758 --> 00:21:03,428
I accompanied officials
to dig up the grave.
314
00:21:06,848 --> 00:21:10,185
That was the most horrifying scene
I have ever seen.
315
00:21:11,144 --> 00:21:14,314
There was almost 1,300 bodies.
316
00:21:19,653 --> 00:21:24,491
[Vu] Many of them were soldiers
and officers and political leaders
317
00:21:24,574 --> 00:21:25,867
of the province.
318
00:21:28,287 --> 00:21:32,374
{\an8}But they also killed many
who they thought were anti-Communists,
319
00:21:32,457 --> 00:21:34,543
{\an8}even though they were ordinary people.
320
00:21:35,752 --> 00:21:38,171
[Thuy] Even after one year in the grave,
321
00:21:38,255 --> 00:21:44,011
I could see that some dead bodies
were still in high school uniforms
322
00:21:44,761 --> 00:21:47,848
with their arms tied in behind their back.
323
00:21:49,766 --> 00:21:53,520
Here are the people
who claim to come to liberate the South.
324
00:21:54,271 --> 00:21:56,690
Why did they need to kill those people?
325
00:21:59,067 --> 00:22:02,863
[Vu] The Communists tried to claim
that they were killed by American bombs
326
00:22:02,946 --> 00:22:04,406
and South Vietnamese bombs.
327
00:22:05,198 --> 00:22:08,702
But people who had
hands tied behind their backs,
328
00:22:08,785 --> 00:22:11,079
you know, that--
that was not American bombs.
329
00:22:12,372 --> 00:22:15,667
[Lien-Hang] We still don't know
how many were killed by Communist forces
330
00:22:15,751 --> 00:22:18,462
when they left
the imperial capital of Huế,
331
00:22:18,545 --> 00:22:23,175
but anywhere from 2,800 to 6,000
South Vietnamese civilians were killed.
332
00:22:25,594 --> 00:22:27,888
That's one of the most brutal examples
333
00:22:27,971 --> 00:22:30,891
of the Vietnamese civil war
that was taking place.
334
00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:51,995
[Thomas Bass] The Tết Offensive is
a massive and major turning point
335
00:22:52,079 --> 00:22:52,913
in the war.
336
00:22:52,996 --> 00:22:54,956
[droning somber music plays]
337
00:22:55,040 --> 00:22:58,794
{\an8}It's in some ways a great military defeat
for the Communists.
338
00:23:01,546 --> 00:23:03,173
[Vu] It was a suicide attack.
339
00:23:05,092 --> 00:23:08,428
More than 40,000 Communist troops,
340
00:23:09,846 --> 00:23:12,557
ultimately, about a third of their forces,
341
00:23:13,433 --> 00:23:16,269
they exposed themselves,
and they were destroyed.
342
00:23:20,982 --> 00:23:24,820
{\an8}President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu
oversaw military efforts
343
00:23:24,903 --> 00:23:27,072
{\an8}in response to the Tết Offensives.
344
00:23:28,198 --> 00:23:31,493
{\an8}The South Vietnamese military
fought bravely
345
00:23:31,576 --> 00:23:36,790
and regained the territory lost
to the Communist forces on the ground.
346
00:23:38,208 --> 00:23:42,129
The Tết Offensive helped rally
South Vietnamese to the government,
347
00:23:42,212 --> 00:23:46,883
and we could see a spike
in recruitment afterwards
348
00:23:46,967 --> 00:23:49,803
of people volunteering
to serve in the army.
349
00:23:52,973 --> 00:23:55,725
{\an8}The Tết Offensive
has exposed the insurgency.
350
00:23:55,809 --> 00:23:59,813
{\an8}It's to the point where they had been,
if not destroyed, certainly devastated.
351
00:24:00,439 --> 00:24:04,151
The problem is that's not the narrative
that occurs back home.
352
00:24:06,570 --> 00:24:08,071
[Veith] From the American perspective,
353
00:24:08,155 --> 00:24:11,199
you had Westmoreland and the US government
354
00:24:11,283 --> 00:24:13,201
touting how we are winning the war.
355
00:24:13,910 --> 00:24:17,664
Suddenly, you had
this massive attack across the country,
356
00:24:17,747 --> 00:24:18,874
which gave lie to that.
357
00:24:18,957 --> 00:24:20,667
[intriguing music plays]
358
00:24:21,626 --> 00:24:24,504
[news anchor] I think the greatest victory
that the Tết Offensive had
359
00:24:24,588 --> 00:24:26,506
was on the American public.
360
00:24:26,590 --> 00:24:30,760
{\an8}I think it killed once and for all
in the minds of the people of America,
361
00:24:30,844 --> 00:24:33,722
{\an8}and also in the Johnson administration,
362
00:24:33,805 --> 00:24:37,934
{\an8}the idea that a military victory
was possible in Vietnam.
363
00:24:38,894 --> 00:24:41,480
[Dan Rather] As 1968 unfolded,
364
00:24:41,563 --> 00:24:44,941
{\an8}President Johnson felt himself
caught in a vice.
365
00:24:47,819 --> 00:24:49,654
[tape machine clicks and whirs]
366
00:24:51,156 --> 00:24:53,658
I don't admit
that this is a Communist victory.
367
00:24:53,742 --> 00:24:56,495
And I don't think anybody
but a goddamn Communist admits it.
368
00:24:56,578 --> 00:24:58,413
- [man] Yeah.
- [Johnson] That's what I think.
369
00:24:58,497 --> 00:25:02,083
And I just think they're using us,
just playing games around us…
370
00:25:02,167 --> 00:25:04,419
And nearly everybody I talk to
tries to find out
371
00:25:04,503 --> 00:25:07,714
what's wrong with our boys,
our country, our leadership, our men.
372
00:25:07,797 --> 00:25:10,550
Our president's a liar.
Westmoreland's no good.
373
00:25:11,551 --> 00:25:14,513
[Rather] One of the roles
a journalist is supposed to play
374
00:25:14,596 --> 00:25:17,224
is to bear witness
to what's really going on
375
00:25:17,307 --> 00:25:21,978
as opposed to what somebody in power
wants to convince you is going on.
376
00:25:22,062 --> 00:25:24,147
{\an8}[mysterious chiming music plays]
377
00:25:24,231 --> 00:25:28,944
{\an8}Walter Cronkite was managing editor
and anchor of the CBS Evening News.
378
00:25:29,569 --> 00:25:32,822
One of, at the time, three major networks.
379
00:25:34,115 --> 00:25:37,202
More than anybody else
on the air, television,
380
00:25:37,285 --> 00:25:39,746
he was seen as a trusted source.
381
00:25:40,622 --> 00:25:42,749
He had demonstrated time and time again
382
00:25:42,832 --> 00:25:47,128
that he wasn't trying to sell anything
ideologically or politically.
383
00:25:48,213 --> 00:25:52,342
After the Tết Offensive,
his correspondents, including this one,
384
00:25:52,425 --> 00:25:56,471
had time after time told him,
"Walter, this is not going well."
385
00:25:58,515 --> 00:26:02,519
Cronkite finally said, "Well, I want to go
to Vietnam and see for myself."
386
00:26:05,438 --> 00:26:08,024
[announcer] Tonight, "Report From Vietnam"
387
00:26:08,108 --> 00:26:09,818
by Walter Cronkite.
388
00:26:11,194 --> 00:26:14,823
{\an8}If the Communist intention
was to take and seize the cities,
389
00:26:14,906 --> 00:26:17,826
{\an8}they came closer here at Huế
than anywhere else.
390
00:26:17,909 --> 00:26:20,495
The destruction here was almost total.
391
00:26:20,579 --> 00:26:24,207
There's scarcely an inhabitable building
in the city of Huế.
392
00:26:24,791 --> 00:26:26,876
[gentle nostalgic music plays]
393
00:26:35,844 --> 00:26:41,725
{\an8}The boss at CBS News at the time
was a very strict journalism devotee
394
00:26:41,808 --> 00:26:44,102
and would not permit any of us
395
00:26:44,185 --> 00:26:48,773
to ever do anything
like an editorial comment at all.
396
00:26:49,357 --> 00:26:52,694
But now I came back
and suddenly he said, "You know what?"
397
00:26:53,528 --> 00:26:57,574
"We may have a responsibility here
we haven't recognized."
398
00:26:57,657 --> 00:27:00,702
"I think you, Cronkite,
ought to do a piece
399
00:27:00,785 --> 00:27:05,206
saying just exactly what you think
about the situation out there."
400
00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:09,210
And so I sat down and wrote my piece.
401
00:27:12,380 --> 00:27:16,343
{\an8}We have been too often disappointed
by the optimism of the American leaders,
402
00:27:16,426 --> 00:27:18,303
{\an8}both in Vietnam and Washington,
403
00:27:18,386 --> 00:27:19,804
to have faith any longer
404
00:27:19,888 --> 00:27:23,433
in the silver linings
they find in the darkest clouds.
405
00:27:24,392 --> 00:27:26,770
For it seems now more certain than ever
406
00:27:26,853 --> 00:27:31,232
that the bloody experience of Vietnam
is to end in a stalemate.
407
00:27:31,316 --> 00:27:33,735
[helicopter whirring]
408
00:27:33,818 --> 00:27:36,488
It is increasingly clear to this reporter
409
00:27:36,571 --> 00:27:42,577
that the only rational way out, then,
will be to negotiate not as victors
410
00:27:42,661 --> 00:27:44,329
but as an honorable people
411
00:27:44,412 --> 00:27:47,207
who lived up to their pledge
to defend democracy
412
00:27:47,749 --> 00:27:49,459
and did the best they could.
413
00:27:50,502 --> 00:27:52,629
This is Walter Cronkite. Good night.
414
00:27:52,712 --> 00:27:54,381
[soft, sad music plays]
415
00:28:00,345 --> 00:28:02,430
He didn't say we're losing the war.
416
00:28:03,014 --> 00:28:05,475
What he said was, "It's a standoff."
417
00:28:05,558 --> 00:28:08,144
"The US forces can't prevail here."
418
00:28:09,396 --> 00:28:13,733
The fact that Walter Cronkite
would say this directly made a big impact.
419
00:28:15,568 --> 00:28:18,113
[Bass] Lyndon Johnson is reported
to have said,
420
00:28:18,905 --> 00:28:22,951
"If I've lost Cronkite,
I've lost Middle America."
421
00:28:24,035 --> 00:28:29,541
{\an8}Walter Cronkite admitted the obvious,
that our soldiers were dying for nothing.
422
00:28:34,087 --> 00:28:37,257
[Kay] Vietnam was the first war
423
00:28:37,340 --> 00:28:42,303
where mothers could actually see
what their sons were doing at work.
424
00:28:43,263 --> 00:28:49,352
And we talked directly to the mothers,
and they were saying, "Not this."
425
00:28:49,853 --> 00:28:54,607
All I can say is I-- I'm not as patriotic
as I used to be after losing Billy.
426
00:28:55,191 --> 00:28:56,484
And I have a son that's…
427
00:28:57,694 --> 00:29:00,280
Well, he's just determined
he's going to go over.
428
00:29:01,781 --> 00:29:04,325
{\an8}[Kay] The US lost the mothers,
429
00:29:04,951 --> 00:29:07,162
so we lost the war.
430
00:29:09,456 --> 00:29:11,541
{\an8}[news anchor] This morning,
the New York Times revealed
431
00:29:11,624 --> 00:29:16,463
{\an8}that General Westmoreland is asking
for 206,000 more men in Vietnam.
432
00:29:17,046 --> 00:29:20,049
The Times report says
a divisive internal debate has begun
433
00:29:20,133 --> 00:29:23,511
at high levels of the administration
because of this request.
434
00:29:24,512 --> 00:29:28,016
{\an8}The Tết Offensive was a tremendous
setback for the United States,
435
00:29:28,099 --> 00:29:30,101
{\an8}and it was compounded by the fact
436
00:29:30,185 --> 00:29:32,395
{\an8}that Westmoreland then went
437
00:29:32,479 --> 00:29:35,732
and asked Washington
for 206,000 more troops.
438
00:29:37,317 --> 00:29:39,486
{\an8}This is a measure now
of how things have changed,
439
00:29:39,569 --> 00:29:42,530
{\an8}because now this message
is harder to make stick.
440
00:29:45,450 --> 00:29:48,453
[Viet Thanh Nguyen] The Tết Offensive was
very effective in helping to mobilize
441
00:29:48,536 --> 00:29:50,580
anti-war feeling in the United States.
442
00:29:53,208 --> 00:29:56,753
{\an8}And so in 1968, the anti-war movement grew
443
00:29:56,836 --> 00:30:01,090
{\an8}simply out of opposition
to these human consequences.
444
00:30:01,174 --> 00:30:03,551
{\an8}[musical arrangement turns
sweeping and hopeful]
445
00:30:11,726 --> 00:30:15,313
[Chic Canfora] Seeing the graphic images
of the Tết Offensive
446
00:30:15,396 --> 00:30:18,233
marked a turning point
in the American conscience
447
00:30:18,316 --> 00:30:19,734
during the Vietnam War.
448
00:30:21,694 --> 00:30:23,947
It certainly was the catalyst for me,
449
00:30:24,030 --> 00:30:29,994
and, I think, hundreds of thousands
of American students like me,
450
00:30:30,954 --> 00:30:33,957
and millions of young people
around the world,
451
00:30:34,791 --> 00:30:38,002
{\an8}to see those graphic images
and just say, "Enough."
452
00:30:38,086 --> 00:30:40,338
{\an8}- [people scream]
- [sirens wail distantly]
453
00:30:40,922 --> 00:30:44,050
{\an8}[woman] Life and death is--
is a much more serious matter than this,
454
00:30:44,133 --> 00:30:48,054
and if we're-- if we're this confused
as to our objectives and their objectives
455
00:30:48,137 --> 00:30:49,639
and what this whole thing is about,
456
00:30:49,722 --> 00:30:54,018
{\an8}that we've got to stop
the-- the agony of this conflict
457
00:30:54,102 --> 00:30:56,229
{\an8}and try to-- to get some reason into it.
458
00:30:58,481 --> 00:31:00,650
[Lien-Hang] 1968 was a pivotal year,
459
00:31:02,068 --> 00:31:06,364
{\an8}and, of course, the deadliest chapter
in terms of the war in Vietnam.
460
00:31:17,458 --> 00:31:21,880
{\an8}[Haeberle] I was a photographer,
31st Public Information Office.
461
00:31:21,963 --> 00:31:24,132
{\an8}We were attached
to the 11th Infantry Brigade,
462
00:31:24,215 --> 00:31:26,676
{\an8}which was attached
to the Americal Division.
463
00:31:26,759 --> 00:31:28,636
{\an8}[gentle nostalgic music plays]
464
00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:31,431
{\an8}My role in the Army
was to document operations.
465
00:31:32,640 --> 00:31:35,518
{\an8}I went on different patrols
with different units.
466
00:31:36,895 --> 00:31:39,355
{\an8}Usually, a journalist or writer
would accompany me,
467
00:31:39,439 --> 00:31:41,983
{\an8}and then that writer would have
to go ahead and write a story
468
00:31:42,066 --> 00:31:43,610
{\an8}about the photographs that I've taken.
469
00:31:45,028 --> 00:31:47,322
{\an8}It was mainly to show
how good we're doing,
470
00:31:47,405 --> 00:31:49,824
{\an8}what we could do humanitarian-wise.
471
00:31:52,952 --> 00:31:55,079
{\an8}[man] Charlie Company was
in the Americal Division,
472
00:31:55,163 --> 00:31:56,456
{\an8}and they were assigned
473
00:31:56,539 --> 00:32:01,044
{\an8}to a peculiarly troublesome,
rebellious section
474
00:32:01,127 --> 00:32:02,670
in Quảng Ngãi Province.
475
00:32:06,633 --> 00:32:10,053
{\an8}Captain Medina was
a company commander, respected.
476
00:32:11,346 --> 00:32:13,848
[Haeberle] I knew Captain Medina
from our station in Hawaii.
477
00:32:13,932 --> 00:32:17,393
He was strict,
but he seemed dedicated to the service.
478
00:32:17,977 --> 00:32:20,939
He just… had a good way with the troops.
479
00:32:22,482 --> 00:32:23,733
Medina's the captain,
480
00:32:23,816 --> 00:32:26,152
he's the head honcho, put it that way,
481
00:32:26,736 --> 00:32:28,821
and there were three lieutenants
underneath him
482
00:32:28,905 --> 00:32:30,615
that had platoons assigned to 'em.
483
00:32:32,116 --> 00:32:35,370
Lt. William Calley,
he's in charge of the 1st Platoon.
484
00:32:36,079 --> 00:32:38,456
From my understanding,
he was not well-respected.
485
00:32:39,916 --> 00:32:43,962
[Eckhardt] Lt. Calley was not
a particularly strong leader.
486
00:32:44,045 --> 00:32:46,130
Not a strong person. That's the problem.
487
00:32:49,258 --> 00:32:51,177
[Haeberle] In Vietnam,
a big thing is body count.
488
00:32:51,260 --> 00:32:53,012
Everybody wants to know the body count.
489
00:32:53,096 --> 00:32:55,098
Charlie Company,
they were getting a bit harped on
490
00:32:55,181 --> 00:32:57,141
because they haven't had any kills.
491
00:32:57,642 --> 00:33:01,145
They were taking more casualties
than they were getting enemy kills.
492
00:33:03,231 --> 00:33:06,985
During the operation,
Charlie Company walked into a minefield,
493
00:33:07,068 --> 00:33:09,404
and they lost a few of their men
494
00:33:09,487 --> 00:33:11,614
{\an8}and their favorite sergeant
to a booby trap.
495
00:33:13,157 --> 00:33:14,909
{\an8}It just became a hard situation.
496
00:33:16,369 --> 00:33:17,829
[Eckhardt] Guerrilla war is terrible.
497
00:33:18,579 --> 00:33:22,917
What do you do with the tragedies
when you see your buddies killed?
498
00:33:24,752 --> 00:33:27,171
{\an8}No one belittles the emotion.
499
00:33:28,798 --> 00:33:30,633
{\an8}But you don't kill for revenge.
500
00:33:31,342 --> 00:33:35,138
{\an8}From a sergeant on up,
you expect people to control that.
501
00:33:37,015 --> 00:33:40,810
But Lt. Calley's men were not disciplined,
502
00:33:41,561 --> 00:33:45,523
and in the military,
the slippage of discipline is disastrous.
503
00:33:45,606 --> 00:33:47,608
[ominous music plays]
504
00:33:50,403 --> 00:33:53,573
[Haeberle] They had sub-hamlets.
There was Mỹ Lai 1, 2, 3, and 4.
505
00:33:54,240 --> 00:33:55,366
On March 15th,
506
00:33:55,450 --> 00:33:59,162
we were told a Việt Cộng battalion
was supposed to be in Mỹ Lai 4.
507
00:34:00,955 --> 00:34:04,667
Captain Medina briefed his people
that night, emotionally.
508
00:34:05,460 --> 00:34:08,588
[Haeberle] Charlie Company was expected,
you know, to do some damage
509
00:34:08,671 --> 00:34:10,006
when they hit the village.
510
00:34:13,468 --> 00:34:16,304
{\an8}[sweeping dramatic classical music plays]
511
00:34:18,639 --> 00:34:21,809
[in Vietnamese] I was born
in the village of Sơn Mỹ.
512
00:34:27,148 --> 00:34:30,359
I had just turned 11 years old.
513
00:34:37,700 --> 00:34:39,660
[Mân] I was 13 years old.
514
00:34:40,161 --> 00:34:43,122
I lived with six siblings
515
00:34:43,206 --> 00:34:47,001
and an older sister
who had business far from home.
516
00:34:50,713 --> 00:34:54,342
[Haeberle, in English] Lt. Calley
and 1st Platoon and part of 2nd Platoon
517
00:34:54,425 --> 00:34:55,802
went on the first lift.
518
00:34:56,552 --> 00:34:59,847
They were the ones who went directly
into the hamlet of Mỹ Lai.
519
00:34:59,931 --> 00:35:01,432
[anxious droning music plays]
520
00:35:06,896 --> 00:35:09,482
{\an8}Jay Roberts, an Army reporter, and I
521
00:35:09,565 --> 00:35:11,776
{\an8}were on the second lift
of the choppers going in,
522
00:35:11,859 --> 00:35:15,071
{\an8}and the pilot came over the radio
and said we're entering in a "hot zone,"
523
00:35:15,154 --> 00:35:17,657
{\an8}which means
there's a lot of firing going on.
524
00:35:17,740 --> 00:35:19,700
- [helicopter whirring]
- [indistinct radio chatter]
525
00:35:20,284 --> 00:35:21,619
When the chopper put down,
526
00:35:21,702 --> 00:35:24,705
all I could hear
was enormous amount of gunfire.
527
00:35:24,789 --> 00:35:26,457
So we jumped out of the choppers,
528
00:35:26,541 --> 00:35:29,252
and we tried, you know,
ducking down in a rice field.
529
00:35:30,670 --> 00:35:33,422
But we realized
we weren't receiving any fire.
530
00:35:35,091 --> 00:35:37,844
Everything being fired at
was within the village.
531
00:35:37,927 --> 00:35:39,428
[ethereal music plays]
532
00:35:39,512 --> 00:35:43,266
[Công, in Vietnamese] The US Armed Forces
bombarded the village
533
00:35:43,349 --> 00:35:44,934
with their artillery.
534
00:35:46,018 --> 00:35:49,564
First, they started killing people
walking on the road,
535
00:35:49,647 --> 00:35:52,608
people going to school,
people going to the market.
536
00:35:54,402 --> 00:35:56,612
After that,
they marched in a horizontal line
537
00:35:56,696 --> 00:35:58,281
and advanced into the village.
538
00:36:00,032 --> 00:36:04,370
As they entered each house,
they killed everyone in it.
539
00:36:04,453 --> 00:36:10,168
They consolidated people
and began to kill everyone.
540
00:36:14,797 --> 00:36:18,342
[Haeberle] I noticed a whole group
of people surrounded by a couple of GIs.
541
00:36:18,426 --> 00:36:20,344
They looked more to me like civilians.
542
00:36:21,304 --> 00:36:24,557
As I walked, maybe about five yards ahead,
I heard firing.
543
00:36:24,640 --> 00:36:26,559
[guns fire rapidly]
544
00:36:27,059 --> 00:36:28,811
I looked over my shoulder.
545
00:36:28,895 --> 00:36:30,980
There was two soldiers there,
firing into 'em,
546
00:36:31,063 --> 00:36:32,732
and one was Lt. Calley.
547
00:36:34,358 --> 00:36:35,234
I couldn't understand.
548
00:36:35,318 --> 00:36:37,945
You got somebody captured,
why would you fire into 'em?
549
00:36:38,029 --> 00:36:39,739
You know, you should interrogate 'em.
550
00:36:40,823 --> 00:36:42,742
People were trying to get up and run.
551
00:36:42,825 --> 00:36:45,870
I mean, just killing everything
in their path along the way.
552
00:36:47,330 --> 00:36:49,207
[Công, in Vietnamese]
They captured our relatives
553
00:36:49,290 --> 00:36:51,334
and led them to Mrs. Ly's ditch.
554
00:36:53,878 --> 00:36:57,131
The ditch was completely full
of blood and dead people.
555
00:37:01,219 --> 00:37:05,681
They captured 102 people and led them
to the watchtower at the village gate,
556
00:37:06,265 --> 00:37:11,562
and they killed them there
in Mr. Nhiều's rice paddy.
557
00:37:11,646 --> 00:37:13,522
All 102 of them.
558
00:37:17,443 --> 00:37:19,946
[Haeberle in English] Jay and I started
back toward the village.
559
00:37:20,029 --> 00:37:21,989
And I happened to stumble over this woman
560
00:37:22,073 --> 00:37:24,533
I previously witnessed
being shot in the head.
561
00:37:24,617 --> 00:37:25,993
[somber music plays]
562
00:37:27,536 --> 00:37:28,788
Jay and I looked at each other,
563
00:37:28,871 --> 00:37:30,581
and I said,
"What the hell is going on here?"
564
00:37:30,665 --> 00:37:33,334
"We have to find Medina.
This is all wrong."
565
00:37:33,417 --> 00:37:36,128
Because the GIs
that have done the shooting,
566
00:37:36,212 --> 00:37:40,216
they're like… almost like zombies.
They're not saying anything,
567
00:37:40,299 --> 00:37:42,260
they're just shooting
and shooting and shooting.
568
00:37:43,469 --> 00:37:46,472
{\an8}We spotted Medina
on the outskirts of Mỹ Lai.
569
00:37:46,555 --> 00:37:48,432
{\an8}He was there with his command group.
570
00:37:49,058 --> 00:37:50,351
{\an8}We tried talking to him,
571
00:37:50,434 --> 00:37:53,104
but he was on the radio all the time.
There was no chance.
572
00:37:54,355 --> 00:37:57,900
{\an8}I remember Sergeant Minh,
interpreter, Vietnamese,
573
00:37:57,984 --> 00:37:59,652
{\an8}he was trying to talk to Medina too.
574
00:38:00,444 --> 00:38:02,905
{\an8}He was just standing there,
shaking his head,
575
00:38:02,989 --> 00:38:06,325
{\an8}"Why are they killing my people?
They're not soldiers."
576
00:38:06,909 --> 00:38:09,537
{\an8}Jay and I decided to go into the village
to see what was going on.
577
00:38:10,913 --> 00:38:14,208
That was a nightmare.
Bodies all over the place.
578
00:38:15,751 --> 00:38:19,255
[in Vietnamese] At eight o'clock in
the morning, soldiers came to my family.
579
00:38:20,256 --> 00:38:25,886
They sat us in the front yard
and killed three cows in the barn.
580
00:38:26,470 --> 00:38:29,598
They proceeded to burn
our house and our barn.
581
00:38:29,682 --> 00:38:31,976
They shoved the six of us,
including my mother,
582
00:38:32,059 --> 00:38:33,352
into an underground shelter.
583
00:38:35,187 --> 00:38:39,608
In the moment, my mother sensed
the Americans' intent to kill.
584
00:38:40,109 --> 00:38:43,487
So, she told us, her children,
to go down to the shelter first.
585
00:38:43,571 --> 00:38:46,657
She would enter behind us
to shield us from bullets.
586
00:38:48,117 --> 00:38:51,996
Once everyone was inside,
they threw in grenades to kill us all.
587
00:38:53,164 --> 00:38:56,959
I fainted and blacked out.
588
00:39:01,714 --> 00:39:04,884
I had my four-year-old niece,
my older brother's daughter.
589
00:39:04,967 --> 00:39:07,053
The bullet entered here.
I still have the scar.
590
00:39:07,136 --> 00:39:10,848
I picked her up, and her head
was twitching as the bullet went in here.
591
00:39:12,516 --> 00:39:13,809
I just laid there dazed,
592
00:39:13,893 --> 00:39:16,729
and the American soldiers
thought I was dead.
593
00:39:16,812 --> 00:39:18,189
There were no more stray bullets.
594
00:39:19,065 --> 00:39:21,108
Only after they passed me,
595
00:39:21,192 --> 00:39:26,238
I was able to crawl
under the body of a woman.
596
00:39:28,074 --> 00:39:28,949
Sorry.
597
00:39:29,909 --> 00:39:30,785
[breath catches]
598
00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:40,169
[Haeberle] I noticed a small child
that was walking out,
599
00:39:40,252 --> 00:39:42,546
like he was looking
for his mother in the group.
600
00:39:42,630 --> 00:39:45,341
And I was going to take
another photograph.
601
00:39:45,424 --> 00:39:47,885
A GI came right along beside me.
602
00:39:47,968 --> 00:39:50,805
As I was about ready to take the picture,
he shot this kid.
603
00:39:50,888 --> 00:39:51,889
[gun fires]
604
00:39:53,557 --> 00:39:54,809
I asked him why.
605
00:39:56,018 --> 00:39:59,397
He just looked at me, turned around,
walked away. Never said a word.
606
00:40:00,523 --> 00:40:01,607
Never said a word.
607
00:40:08,656 --> 00:40:10,658
[Eckhardt] You always have
villains and heroes.
608
00:40:10,741 --> 00:40:13,828
The villain is Lt. Calley.
The hero is Hugh Thompson.
609
00:40:13,911 --> 00:40:15,913
{\an8}[ethereal music plays]
610
00:40:17,164 --> 00:40:19,375
{\an8}[Haeberle] Thompson realized
what was going on,
611
00:40:19,458 --> 00:40:21,127
{\an8}and he tried to put a stop to this.
612
00:40:21,752 --> 00:40:24,797
He put his little bubble chopper down
in between the American troops
613
00:40:24,880 --> 00:40:27,925
and some people he was
going to try to rescue from a bunker.
614
00:40:28,509 --> 00:40:29,927
Thompson came up and he says,
615
00:40:30,010 --> 00:40:32,763
if he got fired on,
those people got fired on,
616
00:40:32,847 --> 00:40:35,850
the helicopter crew would open up
and start shooting.
617
00:40:36,475 --> 00:40:39,019
Americans against Americans.
618
00:40:41,313 --> 00:40:42,857
[Eckhardt] He flies back to his base,
619
00:40:42,940 --> 00:40:45,234
pounded on the table
and said, "Stop the killings."
620
00:40:45,317 --> 00:40:48,320
And the orders came down
from above to stop.
621
00:40:48,404 --> 00:40:50,322
That occurred about 10:00 or so.
622
00:40:50,406 --> 00:40:51,824
And that's how it ended.
623
00:40:53,367 --> 00:40:55,327
Uh, basically, within two hours,
624
00:40:55,411 --> 00:40:57,455
uh, 500 people were killed.
625
00:40:59,123 --> 00:41:01,083
{\an8}[Công, in Vietnamese]
After the Americans withdrew,
626
00:41:01,167 --> 00:41:03,043
{\an8}relatives from another village came.
627
00:41:05,671 --> 00:41:07,965
When I came to,
628
00:41:08,048 --> 00:41:13,637
I saw the bodies
of my mother and siblings lifted out.
629
00:41:13,721 --> 00:41:16,265
We staged the parts
in a basket in the yard.
630
00:41:16,348 --> 00:41:18,601
We picked up flesh, arms, heads, legs.
631
00:41:21,395 --> 00:41:25,691
No one was left intact.
632
00:41:27,276 --> 00:41:31,238
I was very emotional
and at a loss for words.
633
00:41:32,907 --> 00:41:34,158
I could only cry.
634
00:41:41,665 --> 00:41:44,251
[Mân] At whatever time of day it was,
the Americans left.
635
00:41:44,335 --> 00:41:45,503
When I met my brother,
636
00:41:45,586 --> 00:41:48,714
he told me he heard our father died
in the ditch by the tree.
637
00:41:48,797 --> 00:41:53,594
He was shot dead
where the gas station is right now.
638
00:41:56,180 --> 00:42:01,185
When I arrived,
I carried my niece back home.
639
00:42:01,894 --> 00:42:06,315
We buried her, and I notified others.
640
00:42:07,650 --> 00:42:13,280
There are things that I have forgotten,
but my mind will never forget that event.
641
00:42:13,864 --> 00:42:17,368
The utter destruction,
642
00:42:17,451 --> 00:42:21,288
annihilation, and death was horrific.
643
00:42:22,164 --> 00:42:24,124
[Haeberle] In basic training
and all your training,
644
00:42:24,208 --> 00:42:26,418
you're trained to kill,
you're trained to follow orders.
645
00:42:27,711 --> 00:42:31,340
But they don't teach you anything
about the people you're going to war with.
646
00:42:32,508 --> 00:42:35,469
{\an8}In fact, Westmoreland made a comment
647
00:42:35,553 --> 00:42:37,805
{\an8}that life doesn't mean anything
to these people.
648
00:42:37,888 --> 00:42:38,847
{\an8}Life's cheap to 'em.
649
00:42:39,431 --> 00:42:44,186
{\an8}Well, the Oriental doesn't put
the same high price on life
650
00:42:44,270 --> 00:42:45,771
{\an8}as does the Westerner.
651
00:42:47,022 --> 00:42:48,023
That's bullshit.
652
00:42:48,107 --> 00:42:49,108
They cherish life.
653
00:42:50,359 --> 00:42:54,822
[in Vietnamese] To our knowledge,
no opposing force fought against them.
654
00:42:54,905 --> 00:42:58,867
There wasn't a single semblance
of resistance.
655
00:43:00,411 --> 00:43:02,538
[Haeberle in English]
It's basically poor intelligence.
656
00:43:03,080 --> 00:43:06,625
The Việt Cộng were not at Mỹ Lai 4.
They were at Mỹ Lai 1.
657
00:43:08,460 --> 00:43:13,674
[Mân in Vietnamese] To me, if you say
this village was Việt Cộng,
658
00:43:13,757 --> 00:43:15,050
they weren't here.
659
00:43:17,011 --> 00:43:21,849
If it was Việt Cộng, shoot the Việt Cộng.
Why would you shoot the villagers?
660
00:43:21,932 --> 00:43:25,227
And the little babies in their cribs,
why were they shot?
661
00:43:25,728 --> 00:43:27,896
The cows were not Việt Cộng,
but they were shot.
662
00:43:27,980 --> 00:43:30,441
The pigs were not Việt Cộng.
Why'd they shoot the pigs?
663
00:43:37,740 --> 00:43:39,992
[helicopters whirring]
664
00:43:45,706 --> 00:43:47,708
[melancholic music plays]
665
00:43:51,253 --> 00:43:53,922
[Haeberle] Jay had to go back
and write a story, and the story was,
666
00:43:54,006 --> 00:43:57,092
"128 Việt Cộng killed,
three weapons captured."
667
00:43:57,176 --> 00:43:59,345
- [interviewer] That's the story?
- That's the story.
668
00:44:00,512 --> 00:44:03,182
{\an8}If Jay put anything else in
other than "a great success,"
669
00:44:03,265 --> 00:44:05,267
{\an8}I don't think
that would have been published.
670
00:44:05,768 --> 00:44:08,687
{\an8}But it was… It's all civilians.
671
00:44:09,730 --> 00:44:13,275
I had black and white Leica
to record and document the operation.
672
00:44:14,026 --> 00:44:15,819
All army photographs,
673
00:44:15,903 --> 00:44:18,906
they were sent to our sergeant,
he looked 'em over.
674
00:44:18,989 --> 00:44:21,408
Then they had to be sent
to, uh, an officer,
675
00:44:21,492 --> 00:44:22,701
and he looked 'em over.
676
00:44:24,370 --> 00:44:25,621
So I didn't want to record
677
00:44:25,704 --> 00:44:27,539
any of the killings
that happened there that day
678
00:44:27,623 --> 00:44:28,666
with the black and white.
679
00:44:29,458 --> 00:44:33,087
They seen that, they could have
destroyed that automatically.
680
00:44:34,254 --> 00:44:37,841
I was taking the killing photographs
with my own personal camera.
681
00:44:39,885 --> 00:44:41,595
[interviewer] Did you
immediately understand
682
00:44:41,679 --> 00:44:44,014
the significance of the images
you were taking?
683
00:44:44,098 --> 00:44:45,683
[Haeberle] I don't think at the time, no.
684
00:44:45,766 --> 00:44:49,019
I'm just trying to figure out, "Why is
this happening? Why is this happening?"
685
00:44:49,103 --> 00:44:51,897
"Could I have done anything?" I doubt it.
686
00:44:51,980 --> 00:44:53,899
I could have been fragged, you know?
687
00:44:53,982 --> 00:44:55,818
Where they, uh, don't like somebody,
688
00:44:55,901 --> 00:44:58,362
a grenade would go off
next to 'em and kill 'em.
689
00:44:58,445 --> 00:45:01,740
If I photographed you
shooting somebody, bang, I'm gone.
690
00:45:03,158 --> 00:45:05,369
Jay Roberts and I talked about this.
691
00:45:05,452 --> 00:45:06,704
If we get questioned,
692
00:45:06,787 --> 00:45:10,040
it's our responsibility
to turn the information over to 'em.
693
00:45:10,124 --> 00:45:12,292
But nobody came
to talk to us about anything.
694
00:45:13,711 --> 00:45:16,964
I knew I was about to rotate
out of there in a couple weeks.
695
00:45:17,673 --> 00:45:19,341
And so when I got back home,
696
00:45:19,425 --> 00:45:22,928
I got all the color chemicals,
then I processed it on-- on my own.
697
00:45:25,055 --> 00:45:28,976
[Eckhardt] Mỹ Lai was not
appropriately known or a year.
698
00:45:30,728 --> 00:45:33,105
[news anchor] The villagers' version
of the incident was given
699
00:45:33,188 --> 00:45:34,523
by survivors yesterday.
700
00:45:35,107 --> 00:45:37,401
{\an8}The Army's investigation
apparently was touched off
701
00:45:37,484 --> 00:45:39,820
{\an8}by letters written by a former soldier
702
00:45:39,903 --> 00:45:42,281
{\an8}who was not, however,
an eyewitness to the incident.
703
00:45:42,364 --> 00:45:46,368
{\an8}I first learned of it
from a fellow I had served with.
704
00:45:46,452 --> 00:45:48,579
{\an8}Uh, on my return from Vietnam,
705
00:45:48,662 --> 00:45:51,206
{\an8}I wrote letters to, uh, the President,
706
00:45:51,290 --> 00:45:54,042
{\an8}Secretary of State,
Secretary of Defense, Joint Chiefs.
707
00:45:54,126 --> 00:45:56,128
{\an8}[stately somber music plays]
708
00:45:57,546 --> 00:46:00,174
{\an8}Well, it got to the Army,
and the Army took it seriously,
709
00:46:00,257 --> 00:46:01,759
{\an8}and they investigated.
710
00:46:04,011 --> 00:46:06,180
{\an8}I think I probably was the first one
711
00:46:06,263 --> 00:46:08,974
{\an8}who saw
this criminal investigation report.
712
00:46:14,271 --> 00:46:15,606
It was just appalling.
713
00:46:17,733 --> 00:46:20,110
Sixteen were eventually charged.
714
00:46:21,111 --> 00:46:22,863
{\an8}Lt. Calley was charged
715
00:46:22,946 --> 00:46:25,032
with killing about 100 individuals.
716
00:46:25,699 --> 00:46:27,743
[Bass] And as the rumors got out,
717
00:46:27,826 --> 00:46:32,873
{\an8}this young, scrappy journalist
by the name of Seymour Hersh
718
00:46:32,956 --> 00:46:34,666
{\an8}decides to investigate it.
719
00:46:36,210 --> 00:46:39,046
{\an8}So he tracks down Lt. Calley,
720
00:46:39,129 --> 00:46:42,090
{\an8}and he, uh, gets the story out of him
721
00:46:42,174 --> 00:46:43,801
and writes it up.
722
00:46:45,803 --> 00:46:49,264
[Eckhardt] And, uh, what really put
gasoline on the fire
723
00:46:49,348 --> 00:46:51,433
was, uh, Haeberle's photographs.
724
00:46:53,143 --> 00:46:55,312
[Haeberle] A warrant officer came
to talk to me
725
00:46:55,395 --> 00:46:58,023
'cause he knew there was
a photographer on the mission,
726
00:46:58,106 --> 00:47:00,901
and explained to me
what more happened there that day.
727
00:47:02,277 --> 00:47:03,237
Gang rapes?
728
00:47:04,571 --> 00:47:06,907
Raping a young girl as young as ten?
729
00:47:08,450 --> 00:47:10,327
It was disgusting.
730
00:47:10,410 --> 00:47:15,040
So I thought, "Well, it's time
to let the public know about this."
731
00:47:15,916 --> 00:47:18,961
I took 'em to a friend I had
at the, uh, Cleveland Plain Dealer.
732
00:47:19,044 --> 00:47:20,254
They published 'em.
733
00:47:23,549 --> 00:47:24,716
And all hell broke loose.
734
00:47:31,473 --> 00:47:33,642
[reporter] With us, also,
the man who took the pictures,
735
00:47:33,725 --> 00:47:36,019
{\an8}former Army combat photographer
Ronald Haeberle.
736
00:47:36,103 --> 00:47:38,480
{\an8}Was there an order
to destroy the entire village?
737
00:47:39,022 --> 00:47:42,359
I did not hear this order,
just from general talk among the soldiers,
738
00:47:42,442 --> 00:47:44,736
"We had to do it. It had to be destroyed."
739
00:47:45,654 --> 00:47:49,741
Haeberle's photographs
are… repulsively graphic.
740
00:47:49,825 --> 00:47:56,331
And it, uh, churned America,
as it undoubtedly should have.
741
00:47:59,459 --> 00:48:01,336
Captain Ernest Medina was charged
742
00:48:01,420 --> 00:48:04,131
with the responsibility
for the entire thing,
743
00:48:05,090 --> 00:48:07,634
because he didn't intervene to stop it.
744
00:48:07,718 --> 00:48:09,761
I did not order a massacre,
745
00:48:10,596 --> 00:48:13,432
and I did not see a massacre take place.
746
00:48:14,016 --> 00:48:17,728
[Eckhardt] Captain Medina was acquitted,
and the only person convicted was Calley.
747
00:48:18,312 --> 00:48:20,731
[Haeberle] And Calley,
he was sentenced to life.
748
00:48:20,814 --> 00:48:22,983
But it was reduced down and down and down.
749
00:48:23,901 --> 00:48:26,320
He spent some time in the brig, not much.
750
00:48:26,820 --> 00:48:28,780
But mainly it was house arrest.
751
00:48:29,990 --> 00:48:33,952
The facts are
only about 10% of the unit actually shot.
752
00:48:34,578 --> 00:48:36,788
90% didn't because there was no other--
753
00:48:36,872 --> 00:48:39,333
there was no reason to shoot,
so they didn't.
754
00:48:39,416 --> 00:48:44,254
{\an8}Calley was far, far from representative
of the larger American experience.
755
00:48:44,338 --> 00:48:46,173
[solemn ethereal music plays]
756
00:48:46,840 --> 00:48:49,301
That said, I think what is common
757
00:48:49,384 --> 00:48:52,137
is the damage
that war does to participants
758
00:48:52,679 --> 00:48:59,394
and the dehumanization that is
almost a necessary component of war,
759
00:48:59,478 --> 00:49:01,647
that pushes away empathy
760
00:49:02,147 --> 00:49:04,816
and pulls in aggressive violence
761
00:49:05,317 --> 00:49:08,695
that is dehumanizing
for all who are involved.
762
00:49:13,283 --> 00:49:17,829
{\an8}Actually, we were surprised
that anybody cared,
763
00:49:17,913 --> 00:49:19,331
'cause it was normal.
764
00:49:20,082 --> 00:49:23,001
The stuff that was going on,
"Why are they picking Mỹ Lai?"
765
00:49:24,086 --> 00:49:26,713
You know, go in a village
and shoot what moves,
766
00:49:27,464 --> 00:49:29,174
and there's no consequence.
767
00:49:30,926 --> 00:49:34,054
Mass executions, that was abnormal.
768
00:49:34,721 --> 00:49:38,058
But I saw what were
just downright war crimes
769
00:49:38,141 --> 00:49:39,810
quite often when I was in the infantry.
770
00:49:39,893 --> 00:49:41,895
[solemn music intensifies]
771
00:49:45,816 --> 00:49:49,277
{\an8}[Camil] I thought that Lt. Calley
was a scapegoat.
772
00:49:50,320 --> 00:49:53,490
{\an8}I thought basically he was doing
what he was supposed to be doing.
773
00:49:53,573 --> 00:49:55,200
He was doing what we all did.
774
00:49:56,493 --> 00:50:01,039
{\an8}The only difference between what
Lt. Calley did and what I did is,
775
00:50:01,707 --> 00:50:04,084
me, I'd walk into a village,
and as we're walking,
776
00:50:04,167 --> 00:50:06,294
I'm shooting whoever I see to shoot.
777
00:50:07,087 --> 00:50:09,506
What he did
is they gathered all the people,
778
00:50:09,589 --> 00:50:12,843
they lined them up next to a ditch,
and then they shot them down.
779
00:50:16,179 --> 00:50:18,765
Now, in both instances,
the people are dead.
780
00:50:23,270 --> 00:50:27,065
My feeling is we're all guilty, all of us.
781
00:50:27,149 --> 00:50:28,525
I'm guilty of a cover-up.
782
00:50:28,608 --> 00:50:31,820
Other people have more serious, uh, crimes
against them than that,
783
00:50:31,903 --> 00:50:35,657
but the whole group,
and I'll take it right up to the top,
784
00:50:36,908 --> 00:50:37,868
we're all guilty.
785
00:50:37,951 --> 00:50:39,953
We'll include Westmoreland on that too.
786
00:50:43,373 --> 00:50:46,752
{\an8}America's hero of Vietnam,
General William Westmoreland,
787
00:50:46,835 --> 00:50:49,838
{\an8}was told that he's to return
to a desk job in Washington,
788
00:50:49,921 --> 00:50:52,299
{\an8}and the world speculated
that this was the first move
789
00:50:52,382 --> 00:50:56,511
{\an8}in a new assessment of our role
in a savage and unpopular war.
790
00:50:57,596 --> 00:50:59,598
[Bass] After the Tết Offensive,
791
00:50:59,681 --> 00:51:01,850
Westmoreland is removed.
792
00:51:01,933 --> 00:51:06,313
He gets kicked upstairs
to become the Army Chief of Staff,
793
00:51:06,396 --> 00:51:10,317
in other words,
a paper-pushing job in Washington, DC.
794
00:51:10,400 --> 00:51:12,360
{\an8}[droning morose music plays]
795
00:51:13,028 --> 00:51:15,572
{\an8}He's replaced by Creighton Abrams.
796
00:51:17,115 --> 00:51:20,744
[Selverstone] And at this point,
Johnson himself is under siege.
797
00:51:22,454 --> 00:51:23,789
[tape machine clicks]
798
00:51:24,664 --> 00:51:27,626
I'm afraid the people
are going to interpret this
799
00:51:27,709 --> 00:51:29,961
as representing a change in strategy
800
00:51:30,045 --> 00:51:32,255
and tactics and everything else…
801
00:51:32,339 --> 00:51:37,928
I've got to find some alternatives to turn
some of this thing around a little bit.
802
00:51:38,011 --> 00:51:41,306
If we don't, uh,
we're going to be in trouble,
803
00:51:41,389 --> 00:51:44,309
and Vietnam is the only thing,
and it's just murdered me.
804
00:51:44,392 --> 00:51:46,103
[gentle bittersweet music plays]
805
00:51:46,186 --> 00:51:47,604
{\an8}The country begins to wonder,
806
00:51:47,687 --> 00:51:50,440
{\an8}"Wait a second,
have you sold us a false bill of goods?"
807
00:51:52,317 --> 00:51:55,362
People begin to doubt
Johnson's credibility
808
00:51:55,445 --> 00:52:01,284
at a time when Johnson is heading
into a presidential election campaign.
809
00:52:02,744 --> 00:52:06,998
Already the anti-war forces
have mobilized around a candidate,
810
00:52:07,582 --> 00:52:10,293
{\an8}Senator Eugene McCarthy from Minnesota.
811
00:52:12,546 --> 00:52:14,172
But it's a real black eye for Johnson,
812
00:52:14,256 --> 00:52:16,466
the sitting President
of the United States,
813
00:52:16,550 --> 00:52:20,679
who's being challenged for the nomination
by a member of his own party.
814
00:52:22,264 --> 00:52:25,851
And then Bobby Kennedy
announces his candidacy.
815
00:52:28,603 --> 00:52:31,148
{\an8}[Kennedy] I am announcing today
my candidacy
816
00:52:32,065 --> 00:52:34,359
for the presidency of the United States.
817
00:52:35,652 --> 00:52:38,989
I do not run for the presidency
merely to oppose any man,
818
00:52:40,282 --> 00:52:41,700
but to propose new policies.
819
00:52:42,534 --> 00:52:45,537
[Selverstone] So now Johnson has
to confront not only McCarthy,
820
00:52:45,620 --> 00:52:47,205
but the entire Kennedy mystique.
821
00:52:48,373 --> 00:52:50,500
{\an8}[Baca] When I worked at the White House,
822
00:52:50,584 --> 00:52:52,961
{\an8}I was so grateful to President Johnson
823
00:52:53,044 --> 00:52:56,339
{\an8}for-- for responding to the needs
of Mexican-Americans
824
00:52:56,423 --> 00:52:58,008
and other people of color.
825
00:52:59,384 --> 00:53:01,595
{\an8}The Voting Rights Act,
the Civil Rights Act,
826
00:53:01,678 --> 00:53:04,681
{\an8}the housing assistance,
you know, all of that.
827
00:53:05,515 --> 00:53:09,769
But when he started pursuing
the war in Vietnam,
828
00:53:09,853 --> 00:53:13,315
and more and more
of our young people were being killed,
829
00:53:13,940 --> 00:53:16,234
I was getting very concerned.
830
00:53:19,154 --> 00:53:21,156
So I had a-- a conflict,
831
00:53:21,239 --> 00:53:24,201
which is probably why
it wasn't so difficult for me
832
00:53:24,284 --> 00:53:26,578
to quit my job and go work for Bobby.
833
00:53:26,661 --> 00:53:28,121
[crowd cheers]
834
00:53:30,790 --> 00:53:35,754
[Canfora] Bobby Kennedy became
what all of us were hoping for in America.
835
00:53:36,254 --> 00:53:39,257
He was youthful. He was fun.
836
00:53:41,927 --> 00:53:44,679
And he didn't believe
that we should be in Vietnam.
837
00:53:44,763 --> 00:53:47,140
And that was-- that was it for us.
838
00:53:47,224 --> 00:53:51,269
And we wanted him
to succeed in his candidacy.
839
00:53:51,811 --> 00:53:52,979
I have traveled,
840
00:53:53,063 --> 00:53:55,565
and I have listened
to the young people of our nation
841
00:53:56,066 --> 00:54:00,362
and felt their anger about the war
that they are sent to fight
842
00:54:01,154 --> 00:54:04,407
and the-- about the world
that they are about to inherit.
843
00:54:07,202 --> 00:54:11,081
[Baca] Bobby Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson,
they did not like each other.
844
00:54:12,582 --> 00:54:14,125
It was really emotional.
845
00:54:17,212 --> 00:54:19,339
{\an8}[Kennedy] He's mean, bitter,
846
00:54:20,090 --> 00:54:23,468
{\an8}a vicious… animal, in many ways.
847
00:54:24,219 --> 00:54:27,222
{\an8}He's got this other side of him
in his relationship with human beings,
848
00:54:27,305 --> 00:54:29,975
{\an8}which make it very difficult
unless you want to kiss his behind
849
00:54:30,058 --> 00:54:31,434
{\an8}all the time.
850
00:54:33,228 --> 00:54:35,647
All of it makes Bobby look
like a great hero
851
00:54:35,730 --> 00:54:37,399
and makes me look like a son of a bitch,
852
00:54:37,482 --> 00:54:40,902
and 95% of it is completely fabricated.
853
00:54:41,778 --> 00:54:45,407
{\an8}So for Johnson, the only thing
worse than not being re-elected
854
00:54:45,490 --> 00:54:50,745
{\an8}was actually running against Bobby Kennedy
and losing the Democratic nomination.
855
00:54:51,454 --> 00:54:54,374
[Selverstone] Johnson was just being
hammered by the public
856
00:54:54,457 --> 00:54:56,334
because of the way
he was handling the war,
857
00:54:56,418 --> 00:54:59,170
but also because of the way
that he was handling everything else
858
00:54:59,254 --> 00:55:01,006
that was going on in the country.
859
00:55:01,756 --> 00:55:04,759
[Baca] Johnson was
an incredibly smart politician.
860
00:55:05,844 --> 00:55:08,513
And he knew there was danger
of him losing the primary.
861
00:55:12,475 --> 00:55:15,603
And then Johnson announced
that he was going to give a speech.
862
00:55:16,479 --> 00:55:20,483
{\an8}[announcer] Now we switch to Washington
and the President of the United States.
863
00:55:22,777 --> 00:55:26,031
With America's sons in the field far away…
864
00:55:26,114 --> 00:55:28,700
[gently suspenseful classical music plays]
865
00:55:28,783 --> 00:55:32,620
With America's future under challenge
right here at home…
866
00:55:34,289 --> 00:55:40,086
With our hopes and the world's hopes
for peace in the balance every day,
867
00:55:41,254 --> 00:55:46,926
I do not believe that I should devote
an hour or a day of my time
868
00:55:48,053 --> 00:55:50,764
to any personal partisan causes
869
00:55:51,473 --> 00:55:53,099
or to any duties
870
00:55:53,183 --> 00:55:59,814
other… than the awesome duties
of this office,
871
00:55:59,898 --> 00:56:02,984
the presidency of your country.
872
00:56:03,693 --> 00:56:04,736
Accordingly,
873
00:56:06,738 --> 00:56:08,073
I shall not seek
874
00:56:10,033 --> 00:56:11,618
and I will not accept
875
00:56:12,827 --> 00:56:16,498
the nomination of my party
for another term as your president.
876
00:56:16,998 --> 00:56:19,793
[music intensifies]
877
00:56:19,876 --> 00:56:23,380
[Logevall] All across the country,
in America's living rooms,
878
00:56:24,339 --> 00:56:26,633
{\an8}people look at each other,
husbands and wives and others,
879
00:56:26,716 --> 00:56:29,511
{\an8}look at each other and say, "Did he
just say what I think he just said?"
880
00:56:29,594 --> 00:56:32,138
Wow. [clears throats] Excuse me. Wow.
881
00:56:32,222 --> 00:56:33,139
[chuckles]
882
00:56:33,223 --> 00:56:34,933
How do you feel as you're watching this
883
00:56:35,016 --> 00:56:36,684
when President Johnson said he was done?
884
00:56:36,768 --> 00:56:39,104
I think it's one
of the great dramatic moments
885
00:56:39,187 --> 00:56:40,522
in American political life.
886
00:56:40,605 --> 00:56:43,525
I don't agree with Mr. Johnson
on so many things,
887
00:56:43,608 --> 00:56:47,278
but tonight I think he realized, himself,
888
00:56:47,362 --> 00:56:49,781
that this country is deeply divided.
889
00:56:49,864 --> 00:56:51,491
He took the only course he could.
890
00:56:52,450 --> 00:56:54,411
{\an8}[Logevall] He had said to Lady Bird,
891
00:56:54,494 --> 00:56:58,123
{\an8}"I'm going to be crucified on Vietnam,
whichever way I go."
892
00:56:59,124 --> 00:57:00,917
"Vietnam will be the end of me."
893
00:57:02,168 --> 00:57:04,045
This, in a way, showed that he was right.
894
00:57:11,469 --> 00:57:15,473
1968 is a year of-- of tremendous turmoil,
895
00:57:15,557 --> 00:57:17,684
really from the beginning to the end,
896
00:57:17,767 --> 00:57:20,145
but especially in the middle months,
897
00:57:20,228 --> 00:57:21,604
and there are people who wonder
898
00:57:21,688 --> 00:57:24,816
if the, sort of, edifice
can be kept intact.
899
00:57:24,899 --> 00:57:26,025
[sad ethereal music plays]
900
00:57:32,866 --> 00:57:35,869
{\an8}[reporter] This is Gary Shepard
in New York with a late bulletin.
901
00:57:35,952 --> 00:57:38,455
{\an8}Civil rights leader
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
902
00:57:38,538 --> 00:57:39,539
was shot in the head
903
00:57:39,622 --> 00:57:43,168
and is now in critical condition
in a Memphis, Tennessee hospital.
904
00:57:43,251 --> 00:57:46,880
The latest reports from Memphis say
Dr. King was hit by gunfire
905
00:57:46,963 --> 00:57:49,549
while standing on the balcony
of his hotel room
906
00:57:49,632 --> 00:57:52,469
just before seven o'clock
Eastern Standard Time.
907
00:57:54,012 --> 00:57:56,556
I have some very sad news for all of you,
908
00:57:57,265 --> 00:58:01,394
and I think, uh, sad news
for all of our fellow citizens,
909
00:58:02,228 --> 00:58:05,273
and people who love peace
all over the world,
910
00:58:06,107 --> 00:58:09,944
and that is that Martin Luther King
was shot and was killed
911
00:58:10,028 --> 00:58:11,571
tonight in Memphis, Tennessee.
912
00:58:11,654 --> 00:58:13,114
[people wail and exclaim]
913
00:58:13,907 --> 00:58:17,285
Can you tell me what effect
Martin Luther King's death has had on you?
914
00:58:18,077 --> 00:58:19,871
Well, it shook me up pretty good.
915
00:58:19,954 --> 00:58:22,457
- You ashamed it happened in America?
- No, uh…
916
00:58:24,250 --> 00:58:26,419
It shouldn't have
never happened anywheres.
917
00:58:27,170 --> 00:58:29,714
I've, uh, lived overseas, and, uh…
918
00:58:31,674 --> 00:58:34,636
people aren't-- aren't real proud
of we Americans overseas,
919
00:58:34,719 --> 00:58:36,513
and to have something like this happen
920
00:58:36,596 --> 00:58:39,432
doesn't make us look any better
in the eyes of the other people.
921
00:58:40,225 --> 00:58:43,228
{\an8}I hate to hear about, uh, everybody
getting killed back in the world
922
00:58:43,311 --> 00:58:45,813
{\an8}because it's just like fighting
in two worlds.
923
00:58:45,897 --> 00:58:49,359
{\an8}We fight one war over here,
we get back, we have to fight another one.
924
00:58:50,777 --> 00:58:52,987
{\an8}[Ellis] Now, I'll never forget,
we had been on a mission,
925
00:58:53,071 --> 00:58:55,073
{\an8}and we came back to the base.
926
00:58:56,533 --> 00:59:01,329
{\an8}He had already been assassinated
f-four or five days when I got back.
927
00:59:02,997 --> 00:59:04,916
And when I heard about it,
928
00:59:04,999 --> 00:59:08,211
it was like my heart, like, just sunk.
929
00:59:08,962 --> 00:59:15,260
He had been speaking
for us, uh, young, Black soldiers,
930
00:59:15,343 --> 00:59:17,679
speaking on our behalf.
931
00:59:18,972 --> 00:59:25,228
He had been killed not on the battlefield
in the jungles of Vietnam,
932
00:59:25,937 --> 00:59:28,273
but on-- on the streets of America.
933
00:59:29,357 --> 00:59:31,651
[Eldson J. McGhee]
You know, we was, uh, children,
934
00:59:31,734 --> 00:59:34,696
so we wasn't involved
in the Civil Rights Movement,
935
00:59:34,779 --> 00:59:37,490
and we wound up
in the military being drafted.
936
00:59:38,575 --> 00:59:40,952
{\an8}We didn't feel like
there was any justice at all
937
00:59:41,035 --> 00:59:45,081
{\an8}killing this man
that was a-- a nonviolent advocate
938
00:59:45,164 --> 00:59:48,209
{\an8}for basic civil rights.
939
00:59:50,962 --> 00:59:52,338
[Ellis] After Dr. King's death,
940
00:59:52,422 --> 00:59:56,467
that's when I think this whole thing
about communism went out of the window.
941
00:59:57,427 --> 01:00:01,806
There's no communist worse
than what's happening back in our--
942
01:00:01,889 --> 01:00:03,099
in-- in our country.
943
01:00:17,155 --> 01:00:18,740
[pastor] Grant, O lover of peace,
944
01:00:19,449 --> 01:00:23,703
that we will effectively negotiate
for a peaceful settlement in Vietnam.
945
01:00:25,038 --> 01:00:28,708
To end the brutal slayings
and criminal atrocities committed
946
01:00:28,791 --> 01:00:30,918
in the name of democracy.
947
01:00:35,006 --> 01:00:38,885
What we need in the United States
is not violence and lawlessness,
948
01:00:40,053 --> 01:00:44,432
but is love and wisdom
and compassion toward one another,
949
01:00:44,515 --> 01:00:49,395
and a feeling of justice toward those
who still suffer within our country,
950
01:00:49,979 --> 01:00:52,940
whether they be white
or whether they be Black.
951
01:00:54,984 --> 01:00:56,736
- [distant singing]
- [crowd cheers]
952
01:00:56,819 --> 01:00:58,404
[dialogue inaudible]
953
01:01:04,702 --> 01:01:07,121
♪ …is Robert Kennedy ♪
954
01:01:08,081 --> 01:01:09,374
[audio fades]
955
01:01:12,001 --> 01:01:15,380
[Baca] After Lyndon Johnson
pulled out of the race,
956
01:01:15,463 --> 01:01:17,382
it was a-- a close campaign.
957
01:01:17,465 --> 01:01:19,467
[tense music plays]
958
01:01:20,551 --> 01:01:25,098
Bobby could carry that primary,
but he had to win California.
959
01:01:25,973 --> 01:01:28,851
{\an8}That night, I was at the Ambassador Hotel.
960
01:01:28,935 --> 01:01:29,852
{\an8}[crowd] We want Bobby!
961
01:01:29,936 --> 01:01:32,021
{\an8}[Baca] But when he was declared
the winner,
962
01:01:32,105 --> 01:01:34,190
you know, we knew we were
going to go all the way.
963
01:01:34,273 --> 01:01:36,734
We knew that he was
going to be our president.
964
01:01:37,777 --> 01:01:39,612
[Kennedy] What I think is quite clear
965
01:01:40,488 --> 01:01:43,366
is that we can work together
in the last analysis.
966
01:01:43,449 --> 01:01:45,910
We are a great country,
an unselfish country,
967
01:01:45,993 --> 01:01:47,453
and a compassionate country,
968
01:01:47,537 --> 01:01:50,039
and I intend to make that
my basis for running
969
01:01:50,123 --> 01:01:51,833
over the period of the next few months.
970
01:01:51,916 --> 01:01:52,875
[crowd cheers wildly]
971
01:01:54,961 --> 01:01:56,087
My thanks to all of you.
972
01:01:56,170 --> 01:01:58,381
And now it's on to Chicago,
and let's win there.
973
01:01:58,464 --> 01:01:59,757
Thank you very much.
974
01:01:59,841 --> 01:02:02,218
[news anchor] Kennedy left
the platform quickly.
975
01:02:02,301 --> 01:02:06,264
He went through a side door
into a pantry next to the hotel kitchen.
976
01:02:07,140 --> 01:02:11,394
[Baca] As soon as he finished his remarks,
I made my way to the second ballroom.
977
01:02:13,104 --> 01:02:16,107
By the time I got downstairs,
it had happened.
978
01:02:16,190 --> 01:02:19,026
- [man 1] No!
- [man 2] A doctor! A doctor!
979
01:02:19,110 --> 01:02:20,945
[people scream and exclaim]
980
01:02:29,537 --> 01:02:31,164
[Baca] I lost my hero.
981
01:02:32,248 --> 01:02:33,875
My hero had been killed.
982
01:02:38,379 --> 01:02:40,882
I can't talk about Bobby Kennedy.
[inhales sharply]
983
01:02:43,050 --> 01:02:45,094
[tender music plays]
984
01:02:45,178 --> 01:02:46,888
[sighs and sniffles]
985
01:02:46,971 --> 01:02:49,056
I'll probably need a Kleenex, but…
986
01:02:49,140 --> 01:02:51,350
[tender music plays]
987
01:02:51,934 --> 01:02:54,812
- [man 1] What happened? Do you know?
- [man 2] Somebody said he's been shot.
988
01:02:55,313 --> 01:02:58,566
[Canfora] The reality
of what that war represented
989
01:02:58,649 --> 01:03:03,404
and what conversations about the war
resulted in began to hit us.
990
01:03:04,906 --> 01:03:07,992
{\an8}Imagine being 18 years old, as I was,
991
01:03:08,659 --> 01:03:10,745
and having witnessed, at the age of 13,
992
01:03:10,828 --> 01:03:13,581
the assassination
of President John F. Kennedy.
993
01:03:15,500 --> 01:03:19,253
Not long after,
the assassination of Martin Luther King,
994
01:03:20,296 --> 01:03:21,506
and then Bobby Kennedy.
995
01:03:30,348 --> 01:03:32,433
It was a tough pill to swallow
996
01:03:32,517 --> 01:03:37,605
that anybody who was effective
at speaking out against war,
997
01:03:37,688 --> 01:03:40,650
anyone who was effective
at change, was killed.
998
01:03:57,583 --> 01:04:01,170
Robert Kennedy had fueled
the hopes of a great many people,
999
01:04:01,879 --> 01:04:03,130
maybe especially young people.
1000
01:04:03,214 --> 01:04:06,384
And there are deep divisions
in the Democratic Party,
1001
01:04:06,467 --> 01:04:09,136
and these are
for everybody to see in Chicago.
1002
01:04:10,012 --> 01:04:12,682
[Baca] I was convinced to go to Chicago.
1003
01:04:12,765 --> 01:04:16,060
You know, I didn't have a job
after Bobby's death.
1004
01:04:17,144 --> 01:04:19,230
You know, it was like a powder keg.
1005
01:04:19,313 --> 01:04:20,523
It really was.
1006
01:04:22,650 --> 01:04:26,112
[Rather] You had
two almost literal battlefields.
1007
01:04:26,946 --> 01:04:28,948
{\an8}One was the convention center itself,
1008
01:04:29,031 --> 01:04:33,077
where they were trying
to control reporters, including myself.
1009
01:04:33,160 --> 01:04:34,996
- Take your hands off me.
- [Cronkite] Dan Rather?
1010
01:04:35,079 --> 01:04:37,623
Unless you intend to arrest me,
don't, uh-- don't push me, please.
1011
01:04:38,165 --> 01:04:41,711
I know, but don't push me. Take your hands
off me unless you plan to arrest me.
1012
01:04:41,794 --> 01:04:43,546
Wait a minute. Wait a minute!
1013
01:04:43,629 --> 01:04:45,256
[spacey music plays]
1014
01:04:45,339 --> 01:04:46,716
Walter, as you can see…
1015
01:04:48,551 --> 01:04:50,553
[Cronkite] I don't know what's going on,
but this…
1016
01:04:50,636 --> 01:04:53,890
These are security people,
apparently, around Dan.
1017
01:04:53,973 --> 01:04:56,475
- We tried to talk to the man.
- He's obviously getting roughed up.
1018
01:04:56,559 --> 01:04:58,394
We got bodily pushed out of the way.
1019
01:04:58,477 --> 01:05:01,272
This is the kind of thing
that's been going on outside the hall.
1020
01:05:01,355 --> 01:05:03,691
This is the first time
we've had it happen inside the hall.
1021
01:05:07,069 --> 01:05:09,196
[Rather] On the outside
of the convention hall,
1022
01:05:09,280 --> 01:05:11,782
there was a virtual civil war going on
1023
01:05:11,866 --> 01:05:15,703
between the Chicago police
and the protesters who had come,
1024
01:05:15,786 --> 01:05:18,122
and the police responded brutally.
1025
01:05:18,915 --> 01:05:21,167
[reporter] At nightfall,
hundreds of helmeted police
1026
01:05:21,250 --> 01:05:22,543
closed in on Lincoln Park
1027
01:05:22,627 --> 01:05:24,837
as the demonstrators surged
through the streets,
1028
01:05:24,921 --> 01:05:26,547
protesting the park curfew.
1029
01:05:28,132 --> 01:05:31,928
Police used their nightsticks,
tear gas, and chemical mace freely.
1030
01:05:32,970 --> 01:05:35,806
[Baca] One night,
I joined in on this big march.
1031
01:05:35,890 --> 01:05:37,516
We were marching to headquarters,
1032
01:05:38,434 --> 01:05:43,147
and then later I saw the police rushing
the crowd and swinging their batons.
1033
01:05:43,773 --> 01:05:46,901
There had been no warning,
and I started to cry
1034
01:05:46,984 --> 01:05:50,237
'cause I thought,
"Oh, my God, I was just in that crowd."
1035
01:05:50,321 --> 01:05:52,114
[crowd chants]
The whole world is watching!
1036
01:05:52,198 --> 01:05:53,824
The whole world is watching!
1037
01:05:53,908 --> 01:05:55,701
The whole world is watching!
1038
01:05:57,703 --> 01:06:01,123
[Rather] The saying at the time was,
"The whole world is watching,"
1039
01:06:01,207 --> 01:06:03,626
and indeed, the whole world was watching.
1040
01:06:05,044 --> 01:06:09,382
[Canfora] We saw the brutality
in graphic images on television
1041
01:06:09,465 --> 01:06:12,843
of the Chicago police
beating anti-war protesters.
1042
01:06:14,720 --> 01:06:18,182
It was the moment
that we knew this was dangerous work,
1043
01:06:18,265 --> 01:06:25,189
that the silent, peaceful anti-war marches
and protests were ineffective.
1044
01:06:26,190 --> 01:06:29,902
But we also saw
that… more militant actions
1045
01:06:29,986 --> 01:06:32,405
and the growing strength
of the movement in numbers
1046
01:06:32,488 --> 01:06:35,950
was going to be met
with excessive police force.
1047
01:06:36,033 --> 01:06:38,285
[people shouting]
1048
01:06:38,369 --> 01:06:42,415
[Baca] That made me even more committed
to opposing the Vietnam War.
1049
01:06:44,125 --> 01:06:48,170
But it looks as if the forces
that wish to continue that war
1050
01:06:48,254 --> 01:06:51,048
are going to win the election
and be put in power.
1051
01:06:51,841 --> 01:06:54,010
[Canfora] I didn't understand at the time
1052
01:06:54,093 --> 01:06:56,762
that there would be
war policies far more dangerous
1053
01:06:56,846 --> 01:06:59,432
than the policies
we were seeing out of Lyndon Johnson.
1054
01:06:59,932 --> 01:07:02,435
[Nixon] I say the time has come
for the American people
1055
01:07:02,518 --> 01:07:04,437
to turn to new leadership,
1056
01:07:04,520 --> 01:07:07,398
not tied to the policies
and mistakes of the past.
1057
01:07:07,481 --> 01:07:12,361
I pledge to you, we shall have
an honorable end to the war in Vietnam.
1058
01:07:12,445 --> 01:07:14,447
[bold tense music plays]
1059
01:07:15,364 --> 01:07:18,951
{\an8}[Ken Hughes] Nixon promised
the American voters one thing,
1060
01:07:19,035 --> 01:07:20,953
{\an8}that he was putting peace first.
1061
01:07:21,537 --> 01:07:22,872
{\an8}But behind the scene,
1062
01:07:22,955 --> 01:07:27,418
{\an8}he was throwing a monkey wrench
into the prospects of peace
1063
01:07:27,501 --> 01:07:30,046
{\an8}in order to win the 1968 election.
1064
01:07:33,340 --> 01:07:37,303
It's important for us all to learn
these terrible lessons of history
1065
01:07:37,386 --> 01:07:41,766
to protect ourselves
from the most unscrupulous politicians.
1066
01:07:41,849 --> 01:07:43,100
{\an8}[announcer] Richard M. Nixon.
1067
01:07:43,893 --> 01:07:46,854
[Hughes] The ones who would
put their careers
1068
01:07:46,937 --> 01:07:49,690
over the lives of American soldiers.
1069
01:07:49,774 --> 01:07:51,984
[crowd cheering]
1070
01:07:54,153 --> 01:07:57,907
America's in trouble today
not because her people have failed,
1071
01:07:57,990 --> 01:07:59,700
but because her leaders have failed.
1072
01:07:59,784 --> 01:08:04,455
And what America needs are leaders
to match the greatness of her people.
1073
01:08:04,538 --> 01:08:06,540
[cheering]
1074
01:08:08,626 --> 01:08:11,879
Tonight, I, again, proudly accept
1075
01:08:11,962 --> 01:08:14,924
that nomination
for President of the United States.
1076
01:08:15,007 --> 01:08:17,093
[people cheer wildly]
1077
01:08:30,314 --> 01:08:34,235
[spacey forlorn music plays]