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[gloomy music playing]
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[Chic Canfora] Having grown up
with a mother and father
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who both served in World War II,
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for me,
war was like the John Wayne movies.
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{\an8}We're gonna hold this town
till the link-up does come,
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{\an8}whenever it is.
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{\an8}Today, tomorrow, till hell freezes over.
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[crowd cheering]
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[Canfora] It was your duty,
and it was a privilege,
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and we were always fighting
on the side of right.
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America was always the good guys.
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{\an8}But the harsh reality
of what war really was
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{\an8}was very different from what I'd seen
in my mother's Army scrapbooks,
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where my mother was the football queen
at the Army-Navy game.
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War is a very scary thing,
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especially as we faced
high school graduation.
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♪ Gee, I wish… ♪
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[Canfora] I could name
one name after another
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of my brother's friends
who went off to fight.
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And their letters to my brother
and to me were very, very different.
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To me, the letters always had
the number of days left.
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They were counting the days
before they would come home.
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For my brother, they were describing
the realities of what they were doing.
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Horrific realities.
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And the reality
of what that war represented,
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and what conversations
about the war resulted in,
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began to hit us.
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Things were just not right in America.
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Everything that I admired
about our country,
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everything that I associated
with the American dream,
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everything I associated with America,
right or wrong, it was just disappearing.
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And it made it a lot easier
to take a stand against my own government.
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At that point, you had to make a choice.
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Are you willing
to put your life on the line?
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And for many of us, it was.
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It was worth the risk.
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[ominous music playing]
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[air raid siren wails]
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[soldiers chanting indistinctly]
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[jet engine droning]
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[missiles firing]
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[explosions rumbling]
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[jet engine droning]
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[Viet Thanh Nguyen]
The United States did an incredible job
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keeping track of the amount of bombs
it dropped on Vietnam.
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{\an8}That's how we know
the United States dropped more bombs
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{\an8}on Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia
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{\an8}than it did
in all of World War II on Europe.
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{\an8}[explosions rumbling]
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{\an8}[Lien-Hang T. Nguyen] You have around
seven million tons of bombs dropped
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{\an8}over the countries of Indochina.
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{\an8}This included anywhere
from 500,000 to 600,000 tons of bombs
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{\an8}dropped over Cambodia,
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{\an8}two million over Laos,
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{\an8}one million over North Vietnam,
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{\an8}and over four million dropped
over South Vietnam.
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{\an8}I shall not seek, and I will not accept,
the nomination of my party
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{\an8}for another term as your president.
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[Ken Hughes]
After Lyndon Johnson announces
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that he's not gonna seek another term,
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he announces that he is going
to stop bombing North Vietnam
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if the North Vietnamese will agree
to prompt, productive peace talks.
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{\an8}In May,
the negotiating team meets in Paris.
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{\an8}And in October,
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{\an8}Johnson finally gets the North Vietnamese
to accept his conditions.
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[reporter] On the afternoon of October 27,
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word came from Paris
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that Hanoi would accept
the terms for a bombing halt.
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[Hughes] So Johnson agrees
to halt the bombing.
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[Johnson] Good evening,
my fellow Americans.
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I have now ordered
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{\an8}that all air, naval,
and artillery bombardment of North Vietnam
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{\an8}cease… as of 8:00 a.m.,
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{\an8}Washington time, Friday morning.
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[C. Jack Ellis] Those of us
who served in Vietnam,
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we obviously were hopeful.
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[helicopter whirring]
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[Ellis] Every day,
young men getting killed,
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{\an8}young men getting wounded.
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We just want to get out of here now.
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[voice speaks indistinctly on radio]
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- [birds trill]
- [insects chirp]
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[Ellis] We were fighting not for victory,
we were fighting to go home.
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[crowd] Peace!
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- [man] When do we want it?
- [crowd] Now!
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- [man] What do we want?
- Peace!
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- When do we want it?
- Now!
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[Hughes] Americans get excited
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about there being
a bombing halt and peace talks.
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[chanting] …now! Peace now! Peace now!
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Peace now! Peace now! Peace…
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[Hughes] This is
shortly before the 1968 election.
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{\an8}[marching band playing patriotic music]
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{\an8}The President of the United States
and his ambassadors
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{\an8}are making a determined…
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{\an8}major, massive effort
to find an honorable peace in Paris.
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[uneasy music playing]
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[Hughes] At this point,
the major candidates
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are Hubert Humphrey,
Johnson's vice president,
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as the Democratic nominee,
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and Richard Nixon for the Republicans.
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[Dan Rather] Richard Nixon had run
for president in 1960
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{\an8}and been defeated
by President John Kennedy.
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{\an8}But he had slowly and meticulously
fought his way back
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into prominence in the Republican Party.
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It's a heartland state.
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Uh, whoever wins Indiana has a good chance
to win the rest of the heartland
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and therefore the country.
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[Rather] But the biggest thing
that Nixon had to sell,
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and he sold it very well,
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was that he would end the war.
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[Nixon] I say the time has come
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for the American people
to turn to new leadership,
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not tied to the policies
and mistakes of the past.
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[rapid gunfire]
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[Nixon] I pledge to you, we shall have
an honorable end to the war in Vietnam.
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{\an8}But he really is not forthcoming
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{\an8}with-- with any, um, strategy
for ending the war
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{\an8}throughout the course of the '68 campaign.
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If a candidate for president
who might be president says
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that, "If negotiations fail,
I will do this or that,"
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the people on the other side
of the negotiating table
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will say, "Well, we'll wait for him,"
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rather than negotiate
with President Johnson.
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But peace is too important
for politics as usual.
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So I say, let's let
the President of the United States…
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[crowd applauding loudly]
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[Hughes] At the start of October,
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Nixon was 15 points
ahead of Hubert Humphrey.
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He was winning a landslide.
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But the more news came out of Paris
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that these peace talks
were going to start,
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the more people's hopes got up
for the prospect
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of getting some sort of settlement
of the Vietnam War.
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And then Johnson learns
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that Richard Nixon
might be secretly trying
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to torpedo the bombing halt negotiations.
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- [people chattering]
- [man speaks indistinctly]
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Right!
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[tape machine clicks]
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We have found that our, uh, friend,
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the, uh, Republican nominee,
our California friend,
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has been playing on this outskirts
with our enemies and our friends, both,
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our allies and the others.
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One of his associates said
to a businessman
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that we're going to say to Hanoi,
"I can make a better deal than he has
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because, uh, I'm fresh and new,
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and I don't have to demand
as much as he does
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in the light of past positions."
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[helicopter whirring]
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[soothing hypnotic music plays]
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[Hughes] Johnson is stunned.
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He thinks that Nixon was trying
to sabotage the peace talks.
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He starts checking
his sources of intelligence.
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{\an8}The CIA has a bug in the office
of the President of South Vietnam,
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{\an8}Nguyễn Văn Thiệu.
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{\an8}And Johnson orders the FBI
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{\an8}to put surveillance
on the South Vietnamese embassy
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{\an8}to tell him the names
of everybody who enters and exits
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{\an8}and to tail a lady named Anna Chennault,
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{\an8}who is a unique figure
in Republican politics at that time.
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{\an8}She was the widow
of a very famous World War II aviator
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{\an8}who knew President Thiệu.
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[Chennault] The people are
very much concerned.
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And the number one question
they ask is this,
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"Who is going to win this war?"
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[crowd cheering]
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[Hughes] She was one
of a few Asian-American delegates
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to the Republican convention that year.
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{\an8}And she was Richard Nixon's
top female fundraiser.
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Mrs. Chennault is contacting, uh,
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their ambassador from time to time.
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Seems to be kind of the go-between.
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{\an8}[Hughes] Chennault is telling
the South Vietnamese government
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to stay away from these peace talks,
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that Nixon can give them a better deal
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once he's elected president.
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[Johnson] The net of it was
that, uh, if they just, uh, hold out
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a little bit longer,
that, uh, he is a lot more sympathetic,
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and he can kinda--
they can do better business with him
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than they can
with their present president.
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I rather doubt Nixon has done any of this.
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But there's no question
but what folks for him are doing it.
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[somber music plays]
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{\an8}Mrs. Chennault never saw President Thiệu.
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{\an8}Nor did we take it seriously.
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Because, hey, we go
through the US Embassy, okay?
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That's the official conduit.
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{\an8}The Vietnamese knew their future
was being decided in Washington, DC.
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Thiệu always thought that the Americans
are going to screw him somehow,
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that they would, you know,
they would sell him out to Hanoi.
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[Nhã] And frankly, the reason
the South Vietnamese did not send
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a delegation to the Paris talks
at that time was this.
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We said to the US,
"What's the strategy between allies?"
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"We cannot go there
and you guys just take over,
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thinking that, 'This is what is the best
for South Vietnamese.'"
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"We need to be aligned."
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We never got a good answer.
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[Hughes] And on the Saturday
before the election,
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November 2nd,
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Nguyễn Văn Thiệu announces
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that he will not send a delegation
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to the Paris peace talks.
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[music intensifies]
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Up until that point,
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Nixon's lead over Humphrey
has been narrowing.
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By the time
of the weekend before the election,
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Humphrey and Nixon
were only two points apart.
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{\an8}[speaking Vietnamese]
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{\an8}[Hughes] But after Nguyễn Văn Thiệu's
public announcement
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{\an8}that he was boycotting the peace talks,
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all of Hubert Humphrey's momentum stalled.
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{\an8}[tense music playing]
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{\an8}[announcer] Here now at CBS News
Election Headquarters is Walter Cronkite.
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[Cronkite] What emerges is
that Richard Milhous Nixon,
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in a stunning political comeback
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almost denied him in the closing days,
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perhaps even the closing hours
of the campaign,
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has been elected
the 37th President of the United States.
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And that's as close
as any election in our history.
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[crowd cheers]
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[Hughes] Nixon wins
the second-closest election
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of that century so far,
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and changes… changes American history.
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Having lost a close one eight years ago,
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and having won a close one this year,
I can say this,
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winning's a lot more fun.
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[crowd laughing and applauding]
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[tense percussive music playing]
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Ladies and gentlemen…
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Richard Nixon said that he had a plan
to end the war honorably.
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But as soon as he got into office,
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he and those around him,
including Dr. Henry Kissinger,
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were finding ways to escalate the war
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with the belief that they could "win" it.
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{\an8}Henry Kissinger,
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{\an8}who comes in as national security advisor
for Richard Nixon,
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{\an8}is a very important figure
in the latter stage of America's war.
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[Hughes] Kissinger is a Harvard PhD
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00:14:29,743 --> 00:14:31,203
{\an8}and a Harvard professor
241
00:14:31,287 --> 00:14:33,581
and a renowned foreign policy thinker.
242
00:14:34,665 --> 00:14:37,626
{\an8}You think American strategy
should be reevaluated
243
00:14:37,710 --> 00:14:42,172
{\an8}to restore war
as a usable instrument of policy.
244
00:14:42,965 --> 00:14:45,217
{\an8}American strategy has to face the fact
245
00:14:45,301 --> 00:14:47,511
{\an8}that it may be confronted with war,
246
00:14:47,595 --> 00:14:50,139
{\an8}and that if Soviet aggression
confronts us with war
247
00:14:50,222 --> 00:14:52,099
{\an8}and we are unwilling to resist,
248
00:14:52,182 --> 00:14:54,184
{\an8}it will mean the end of our freedom.
249
00:14:54,268 --> 00:14:58,355
{\an8}Nixon and Kissinger were incurably covert.
250
00:14:59,398 --> 00:15:02,359
Both were inveterate manipulators.
251
00:15:03,694 --> 00:15:10,326
Nixon used Kissinger to provide
intellectual heft to his worst impulses.
252
00:15:11,577 --> 00:15:16,582
And Kissinger used Nixon
to accrue unimaginable power.
253
00:15:19,543 --> 00:15:21,378
{\an8}We wish you well personally.
254
00:15:21,462 --> 00:15:22,379
{\an8}More than that,
255
00:15:22,463 --> 00:15:25,132
{\an8}the people of the United States
wish your people well.
256
00:15:25,215 --> 00:15:28,177
{\an8}We look forward to the day
when they can live in peace together.
257
00:15:28,260 --> 00:15:30,095
{\an8}Thank you. Thank you, Richard Nixon.
258
00:15:30,179 --> 00:15:31,931
[marching band plays stately music]
259
00:15:34,141 --> 00:15:36,060
[Veith] After Nixon comes into power,
260
00:15:36,143 --> 00:15:37,353
he knows at some point
261
00:15:37,436 --> 00:15:40,773
he's going to have to begin
withdrawing American troops.
262
00:15:41,565 --> 00:15:43,400
He wants to manage that process
263
00:15:43,484 --> 00:15:46,695
in a way that just doesn't leave
South Vietnam hanging.
264
00:15:46,779 --> 00:15:48,781
[troops singing in Vietnamese]
265
00:15:53,869 --> 00:15:57,748
[Nhã] We know, eventually,
that the US will pull out troops.
266
00:15:57,831 --> 00:16:00,000
We realize that it is our duty
267
00:16:00,084 --> 00:16:04,546
{\an8}to shoulder the responsibility
to fight the war.
268
00:16:04,630 --> 00:16:05,714
{\an8}But we need help.
269
00:16:05,798 --> 00:16:07,800
[suspenseful music playing]
270
00:16:14,598 --> 00:16:19,144
[Hughes] Nixon asks
all of the relevant agencies
271
00:16:19,228 --> 00:16:23,524
how long it will take to train
and equip the South Vietnamese Army
272
00:16:23,607 --> 00:16:28,570
so it can defend South Vietnam
without American combat troops.
273
00:16:29,571 --> 00:16:33,993
The State Department, the Pentagon,
the CIA, the US Embassy,
274
00:16:34,076 --> 00:16:35,160
they all agree,
275
00:16:36,328 --> 00:16:41,417
South Vietnam will never
be able to stand up to the Việt Cộng
276
00:16:41,500 --> 00:16:43,252
and the North Vietnamese Army
277
00:16:43,836 --> 00:16:46,463
without American combat troops
278
00:16:46,547 --> 00:16:48,590
and American military support.
279
00:16:50,467 --> 00:16:54,430
So Nixon decides
to deceive the American people.
280
00:16:55,222 --> 00:16:59,143
He says that his Vietnamization program
281
00:16:59,226 --> 00:17:02,187
will train and equip
the South Vietnamese Army
282
00:17:02,271 --> 00:17:03,856
to stand on its own,
283
00:17:03,939 --> 00:17:06,859
and he will only keep
American troops in South Vietnam
284
00:17:06,942 --> 00:17:11,655
long enough to make South Vietnam
capable of standing on its own.
285
00:17:12,698 --> 00:17:17,953
[Nixon] In the previous administration,
we Americanized the war in Vietnam.
286
00:17:18,662 --> 00:17:21,206
In this administration,
287
00:17:21,290 --> 00:17:24,418
{\an8}we are Vietnamizing the search for peace.
288
00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:26,336
[brooding, pulsing music plays]
289
00:17:26,420 --> 00:17:29,715
The policy of the previous administration
not only resulted in our assuming
290
00:17:29,798 --> 00:17:32,551
the primary responsibility
for fighting the war,
291
00:17:32,634 --> 00:17:33,886
but even more significant,
292
00:17:33,969 --> 00:17:38,265
did not adequately stress the goal
of strengthening the South Vietnamese
293
00:17:38,348 --> 00:17:41,393
so that they could defend themselves
when we left.
294
00:17:42,936 --> 00:17:46,523
Now, this is basically fraud.
295
00:17:48,025 --> 00:17:50,444
Nixon has reason to think
296
00:17:50,527 --> 00:17:53,030
that Vietnamization
is never going to work.
297
00:17:56,700 --> 00:17:58,994
[Lien-Hang] But he was able
to announce troop withdrawal
298
00:17:59,078 --> 00:18:01,371
{\an8}so that it would look
like American boys would come home
299
00:18:01,455 --> 00:18:02,831
{\an8}and no longer fight this war.
300
00:18:02,915 --> 00:18:04,249
[music intensifies]
301
00:18:05,876 --> 00:18:08,545
The Americans proclaim it
as "the Vietnamization."
302
00:18:08,629 --> 00:18:11,381
It's a catchy phrase
to explain everything,
303
00:18:11,465 --> 00:18:14,885
but in my view, it's pretty offensive
to the South Vietnamese.
304
00:18:17,846 --> 00:18:19,848
[Col. Hoa, in Vietnamese]
The US media's description
305
00:18:19,932 --> 00:18:22,017
of the "Vietnamization" of the war
was not accurate.
306
00:18:22,101 --> 00:18:24,311
The war started with us,
307
00:18:24,394 --> 00:18:26,772
{\an8}and we gradually scaled up
308
00:18:26,855 --> 00:18:31,777
{\an8}and matured through and in battles
309
00:18:31,860 --> 00:18:36,073
that built up a force,
relying more on ourselves.
310
00:18:37,866 --> 00:18:40,077
[Tuong Vu, in English]
President Thiệu knew the benefits
311
00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:43,205
of having American troops
fighting on the ground,
312
00:18:43,288 --> 00:18:45,541
but he also knew the disadvantages.
313
00:18:46,792 --> 00:18:49,753
He knew the problem of legitimacy
314
00:18:50,504 --> 00:18:54,800
{\an8}in the eyes of the world
and in the eyes of their own people.
315
00:18:54,883 --> 00:18:58,220
{\an8}They were seen now
as the Communists depicted them,
316
00:18:58,303 --> 00:19:00,139
{\an8}as puppets of the Americans.
317
00:19:01,598 --> 00:19:04,893
[Nhã] Because American go in there,
just like in the cowboy movie,
318
00:19:04,977 --> 00:19:08,730
"Here is the cavalry. They are--
We're going to do the job for you."
319
00:19:09,398 --> 00:19:12,151
"Hey, we will just bomb
the living daylight out of it,
320
00:19:12,234 --> 00:19:13,110
and we're done."
321
00:19:14,111 --> 00:19:17,030
But they don't understand
the country, the attitude,
322
00:19:17,114 --> 00:19:19,241
even the disposition of enemy forces.
323
00:19:20,659 --> 00:19:22,870
The Vietnamese generals understood that,
324
00:19:22,953 --> 00:19:26,415
but they find that American
really didn't want to listen.
325
00:19:29,835 --> 00:19:34,506
{\an8}Some of the young military leaders
felt like now we are independent,
326
00:19:34,590 --> 00:19:36,258
{\an8}now we can prove ourselves.
327
00:19:36,341 --> 00:19:39,678
We will no longer be
in the shadow of the Americans.
328
00:19:39,761 --> 00:19:43,182
- [forlorn music playing]
- [heavy gunfire in distance]
329
00:19:47,686 --> 00:19:50,272
[man 1] The Việt Cộng,
they bombed my family.
330
00:19:56,236 --> 00:20:00,949
{\an8}I was angry, and I vowed to fight
those people who harmed my family.
331
00:20:02,451 --> 00:20:05,370
I was trained
to become a helicopter pilot.
332
00:20:06,079 --> 00:20:12,461
My mission was to insert
and extract the Special Forces.
333
00:20:13,420 --> 00:20:15,923
It was a hazardous mission.
334
00:20:16,423 --> 00:20:20,177
We got shot.
We caught the ground fire every day.
335
00:20:21,386 --> 00:20:25,349
So they named us the Kingbees
because we were not scared of anything.
336
00:20:25,933 --> 00:20:29,102
But many people did not know the truth
337
00:20:29,645 --> 00:20:33,690
because they never followed
our troops into the battlefield.
338
00:20:33,774 --> 00:20:35,025
[guns firing heavily]
339
00:20:35,108 --> 00:20:36,068
[explosion]
340
00:20:42,115 --> 00:20:46,286
[Bửu] They said, "The South Vietnam Army,
they are so coward."
341
00:20:46,370 --> 00:20:48,413
"They didn't want to fight themselves."
342
00:20:49,414 --> 00:20:52,668
But the main forces,
they-- they fought very fiercely.
343
00:20:54,294 --> 00:20:58,924
[Armitage] I volunteered as an advisor
to a combat unit of Vietnamese
344
00:20:59,007 --> 00:21:01,009
{\an8}because I bought into the notion
345
00:21:02,052 --> 00:21:04,513
{\an8}of helping those
who wanted to help themselves.
346
00:21:06,014 --> 00:21:06,848
In my view,
347
00:21:06,932 --> 00:21:10,936
they were worthy of air support,
artillery support, logistic support.
348
00:21:11,019 --> 00:21:13,063
They just didn't need our soldiers.
349
00:21:13,146 --> 00:21:18,402
There were plenty of young Vietnamese
who could do it just as well as we could.
350
00:21:18,485 --> 00:21:20,612
[gun fires rapidly]
351
00:21:21,905 --> 00:21:26,868
{\an8}They achieved a lot of victories
in battles after battles
352
00:21:26,952 --> 00:21:29,997
against the Vietnamese Communists
in the North.
353
00:21:31,081 --> 00:21:33,750
They were the true future of the country.
354
00:21:33,834 --> 00:21:35,168
They were the future.
355
00:21:36,128 --> 00:21:39,339
But I see the danger lurking ahead.
356
00:21:41,300 --> 00:21:44,803
[Vu] Many people were concerned
about the possibility
357
00:21:44,886 --> 00:21:50,809
of American discontinuation
of assistance to South Vietnam
358
00:21:50,892 --> 00:21:54,938
{\an8}because the Communists
were receiving assistance
359
00:21:55,022 --> 00:21:59,109
{\an8}from the Soviet Union,
China, and the Soviet Bloc.
360
00:22:00,527 --> 00:22:03,030
{\an8}So if the Americans left,
361
00:22:03,113 --> 00:22:08,076
{\an8}South Vietnam would be left alone
to fight the whole Soviet Bloc.
362
00:22:09,369 --> 00:22:10,537
They needed weapons
363
00:22:10,620 --> 00:22:14,666
so that they could have a balance
with the Communists in the North.
364
00:22:14,750 --> 00:22:18,545
But we realized
the pressure in the US politics.
365
00:22:19,963 --> 00:22:23,175
[Nho] We are in serious danger
of being alone.
366
00:22:26,470 --> 00:22:28,472
[beating military cadence]
367
00:22:30,057 --> 00:22:32,809
- [doleful rock music playing]
- [crowd shouting angrily]
368
00:22:36,313 --> 00:22:39,691
[crowd chants] US out of Vietnam,
for they're being murdered!
369
00:22:39,775 --> 00:22:43,195
US out of Vietnam,
for they're being murdered!
370
00:22:43,278 --> 00:22:46,948
US out of Vietnam,
for they're being murdered!
371
00:22:47,032 --> 00:22:48,450
[people shout indistinctly]
372
00:23:00,003 --> 00:23:05,133
{\an8}This was an extremely tense and toxic time
in terms of American public opinion.
373
00:23:05,759 --> 00:23:09,388
{\an8}When Nixon came in,
there were 550,000 troops,
374
00:23:09,471 --> 00:23:11,014
{\an8}increasing casualties,
375
00:23:11,848 --> 00:23:14,101
{\an8}and tremendous demonstrations in the war,
376
00:23:14,184 --> 00:23:15,727
which put great pressure on Nixon.
377
00:23:15,811 --> 00:23:18,271
[crowd shouting]
378
00:23:18,355 --> 00:23:22,359
[reporter] Thousands gathered in Chicago,
New York, Boston, San Francisco,
379
00:23:22,442 --> 00:23:25,529
Ann Arbor, New Haven,
and many other cities.
380
00:23:25,612 --> 00:23:28,198
[Weiner] There were thousands,
then there were tens of thousands,
381
00:23:28,281 --> 00:23:31,993
and then there were hundreds of thousands
of people marching against the war.
382
00:23:32,494 --> 00:23:35,705
{\an8}I was there. I was 13 years old.
I went with my dad.
383
00:23:35,789 --> 00:23:39,709
{\an8}[Dick Gregory] For you young folks
have come to the nation's capital today,
384
00:23:39,793 --> 00:23:43,797
{\an8}using the greatest weapon ever been used
in the history of the world,
385
00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:46,007
{\an8}a pure moral dedication…
386
00:23:46,091 --> 00:23:50,595
[reporter] Entertainment, politics,
and rhetoric proceeded nonstop.
387
00:23:52,722 --> 00:23:55,267
{\an8}At the time, music was really powerful.
388
00:23:57,227 --> 00:24:00,021
[man] There were a lot of musicians
who went to anti-war rallies.
389
00:24:00,772 --> 00:24:04,776
{\an8}John Lennon wrote a song with his wife,
Yoko Ono, called "Give Peace a Chance,"
390
00:24:04,860 --> 00:24:06,862
{\an8}which he sang
at an anti-war demonstration.
391
00:24:06,945 --> 00:24:08,572
[Lennon] Everybody now! Come on!
392
00:24:08,655 --> 00:24:12,451
♪ All we are saying ♪
393
00:24:14,035 --> 00:24:17,205
♪ Is give peace a chance ♪
394
00:24:17,289 --> 00:24:19,833
[Kazin] The fact that a member
of the most popular singing group
395
00:24:19,916 --> 00:24:23,587
in the world at the time, The Beatles,
was siding with the anti-war movement
396
00:24:23,670 --> 00:24:26,673
seemed to give us, kind of, legitimacy
as anti-war people,
397
00:24:26,756 --> 00:24:28,758
which we thought was kind of impossible.
398
00:24:29,468 --> 00:24:33,472
Country Joe and the Fish wrote
a very popular song, "Fixin'-to-Die Rag."
399
00:24:33,555 --> 00:24:35,390
{\an8}♪ What are we fightin' for? ♪
400
00:24:35,474 --> 00:24:37,642
{\an8}♪ Don't ask me, I don't give a damn ♪
401
00:24:37,726 --> 00:24:39,394
♪ The next stop is Vietnam ♪
402
00:24:39,478 --> 00:24:41,646
[Kazin] And he sang that song
at the Woodstock Festival
403
00:24:41,730 --> 00:24:45,525
in the fall of 1969,
with 200,000 people present at the time.
404
00:24:45,609 --> 00:24:46,818
{\an8}♪ Glimpses of… ♪
405
00:24:46,902 --> 00:24:48,945
{\an8}[Kazin] We were listening to protest songs
406
00:24:49,029 --> 00:24:51,740
{\an8}by people
like Crosby, Stills and Nash & Young.
407
00:24:53,116 --> 00:24:56,119
{\an8}I'm from England, of course.
I didn't come to America
408
00:24:56,203 --> 00:24:58,455
{\an8}until December of 1968.
409
00:24:58,538 --> 00:24:59,664
{\an8}A lot of people,
410
00:24:59,748 --> 00:25:01,833
{\an8}particularly the young people
in the United States,
411
00:25:01,917 --> 00:25:04,211
{\an8}were very much against the Vietnam War.
412
00:25:04,878 --> 00:25:07,339
It was just a mess, and we all knew it.
413
00:25:09,174 --> 00:25:12,594
Music brings peace to people,
it enrages people,
414
00:25:12,677 --> 00:25:14,471
it makes them love more.
415
00:25:15,597 --> 00:25:19,267
We have to help people wake up
to what's really happening.
416
00:25:19,351 --> 00:25:21,228
That's what protest is about.
417
00:25:21,311 --> 00:25:23,563
["Kick Out the Jams" by MC5 plays]
418
00:25:23,647 --> 00:25:26,399
♪ I, I, I, I, I'm gonna ♪
419
00:25:27,526 --> 00:25:28,860
♪ I'm gonna kick 'em out ♪
420
00:25:30,195 --> 00:25:31,029
♪ Yeah! ♪
421
00:25:31,112 --> 00:25:34,199
{\an8}[Canfora] At the same time,
anti-war protesters had grown weary
422
00:25:34,282 --> 00:25:39,120
of petitioning and marching
and waving the peace signs.
423
00:25:40,914 --> 00:25:42,332
[Kazin] The war kept going on,
424
00:25:42,415 --> 00:25:45,293
so there was a sense
of disbelief, frustration.
425
00:25:45,919 --> 00:25:48,797
There's nothing we can do
peacefully anymore, it seemed,
426
00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:50,131
to stop the war.
427
00:25:50,715 --> 00:25:54,052
{\an8}We're gonna have to escalate our tactics.
"We have to bring the war home."
428
00:25:54,135 --> 00:25:55,595
{\an8}That's one of the Weatherman slogans.
429
00:25:55,679 --> 00:25:56,513
{\an8}Right on!
430
00:25:56,596 --> 00:25:59,140
{\an8}[Canfora] The Weathermen were
inspired by the words
431
00:25:59,224 --> 00:26:01,142
{\an8}of the Bob Dylan song that says,
432
00:26:01,226 --> 00:26:04,312
{\an8}"You don't have to be a weatherman
to know which way the wind is blowing."
433
00:26:04,396 --> 00:26:07,148
And they felt
they had to go to war at home.
434
00:26:07,232 --> 00:26:10,443
- [people screaming]
- [whistles blowing]
435
00:26:11,319 --> 00:26:13,488
{\an8}[reporter]
Shortly after yesterday's explosion,
436
00:26:13,572 --> 00:26:16,950
a letter was received
by the Associated Press in New York
437
00:26:17,033 --> 00:26:20,620
taking credit for the bombing
and signed "Weatherman."
438
00:26:21,204 --> 00:26:23,206
[Kazin] Weatherman was a group
of people who said,
439
00:26:23,290 --> 00:26:25,917
"We have to emulate
the Black Panther Party."
440
00:26:28,086 --> 00:26:31,006
{\an8}They were a group
that were in favor of Black nationalism,
441
00:26:31,089 --> 00:26:34,217
{\an8}building their own institutions to get
freedom for Black people in America,
442
00:26:34,301 --> 00:26:36,219
{\an8}who supported the Việt Cộng,
the North Vietnamese,
443
00:26:36,303 --> 00:26:38,013
{\an8}who took up arms themselves.
444
00:26:38,096 --> 00:26:43,059
{\an8}They see our struggle as being,
uh, the beacon light for peace
445
00:26:43,143 --> 00:26:45,979
{\an8}within the confines of fascistic America.
446
00:26:46,062 --> 00:26:48,273
And on the other hand,
we see their struggle
447
00:26:48,356 --> 00:26:51,985
as being the guiding light for peace
on an international level
448
00:26:52,068 --> 00:26:54,654
to put an end to, uh, US imperialism.
449
00:26:55,530 --> 00:26:57,866
[Kazin] I was not gonna be
a soldier for the United States,
450
00:26:57,949 --> 00:27:01,494
{\an8}but I was willing to be
a soldier for the revolution, if you will.
451
00:27:02,704 --> 00:27:05,540
We decided we have to think
about arming ourselves
452
00:27:05,624 --> 00:27:07,167
to try to stop the United States
453
00:27:07,250 --> 00:27:09,961
from being able to continue
the war in Vietnam at home.
454
00:27:10,045 --> 00:27:10,879
[explosion]
455
00:27:10,962 --> 00:27:14,549
Blow up ROTC buildings,
maybe blow up draft boards, for example.
456
00:27:14,633 --> 00:27:17,177
[reporter] 12:56 a.m., the explosion
that ripped through a restroom
457
00:27:17,260 --> 00:27:19,429
on the third floor
of the State Department.
458
00:27:19,512 --> 00:27:20,972
No one was hurt by the blast.
459
00:27:21,056 --> 00:27:24,309
Police who were summoned to the scene
described the bomb as being a big one.
460
00:27:24,392 --> 00:27:26,561
Some people were talking
about getting guns
461
00:27:26,645 --> 00:27:28,605
and fighting the police
in the streets with guns.
462
00:27:28,688 --> 00:27:31,816
[woman on tape] Total resistance
to mind-controlling maniacs,
463
00:27:31,900 --> 00:27:34,486
a culture of high-energy sisters
getting it on,
464
00:27:34,569 --> 00:27:37,030
of hippie acid smiles and communes
465
00:27:37,113 --> 00:27:40,241
and freedom to be
the farthest-out people we can be.
466
00:27:41,284 --> 00:27:44,287
[Kazin] Weatherman began
in the summer of 1969.
467
00:27:44,371 --> 00:27:46,998
Just nine months later,
they went underground
468
00:27:48,541 --> 00:27:52,379
because there was a bomb
that some Weather-people were making
469
00:27:52,462 --> 00:27:54,589
in a townhouse
in Greenwich Village in New York,
470
00:27:54,673 --> 00:27:57,509
which blew up in their faces
and killed a couple of them.
471
00:27:58,259 --> 00:28:00,011
[siren wailing]
472
00:28:00,095 --> 00:28:02,389
I only stayed in Weatherman
for six weeks, to be honest,
473
00:28:02,472 --> 00:28:04,599
because I continued
to support their politics,
474
00:28:04,683 --> 00:28:06,851
but I was afraid of dying.
475
00:28:06,935 --> 00:28:08,937
[sparse, tense music plays]
476
00:28:09,938 --> 00:28:12,524
At this point, the polls showed
477
00:28:12,607 --> 00:28:15,068
that even though most people
were against the war,
478
00:28:15,819 --> 00:28:18,655
even more people were
against the anti-war protesters.
479
00:28:18,738 --> 00:28:22,117
Commies run like rats!
Go ahead, commies! Run!
480
00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:24,035
Did you ever do a day's work in your life?
481
00:28:24,119 --> 00:28:27,372
I don't think so. You didn't have to!
If you woulda been working,
482
00:28:27,455 --> 00:28:30,291
you wouldn't have had time
to grow that there hair on top of you.
483
00:28:30,375 --> 00:28:32,544
[chanting] Hồ, Hồ, Hồ Chí Minh!
484
00:28:33,169 --> 00:28:35,880
[Hughes] Many objected to the disorder…
485
00:28:35,964 --> 00:28:37,757
[crowd chants] Bring them home now!
486
00:28:37,841 --> 00:28:42,178
[Hughes] …the vandalism,
and some criminal civil disobedience.
487
00:28:42,262 --> 00:28:44,514
[Nixon] If he cancels his trip
because of this…
488
00:28:44,597 --> 00:28:46,850
[Hughes] Nixon just knew
that if he was attacking
489
00:28:46,933 --> 00:28:48,268
the anti-war protesters,
490
00:28:48,351 --> 00:28:52,439
he would be appealing
to a majority of Americans.
491
00:28:56,067 --> 00:28:58,695
[Weiner] Lyndon Johnson,
and Richard Nixon after him,
492
00:28:58,778 --> 00:29:02,657
were both convinced
that the anti-war movement in this country
493
00:29:02,741 --> 00:29:05,785
{\an8}were directed and financed
by Moscow and Beijing.
494
00:29:10,123 --> 00:29:15,211
First Johnson, and then Nixon, directed
the American intelligence community
495
00:29:15,295 --> 00:29:19,382
to find the Communist conspiracy
that drove the anti-war movement.
496
00:29:20,216 --> 00:29:21,843
They were bugging phones,
497
00:29:21,926 --> 00:29:23,595
spying on Americans,
498
00:29:23,678 --> 00:29:25,680
warrantless wiretapping,
499
00:29:25,764 --> 00:29:30,059
black bag jobs, burglaries,
break-ins, buggings,
500
00:29:30,894 --> 00:29:34,355
{\an8}some of it directed
by J. Edgar Hoover at the FBI.
501
00:29:36,941 --> 00:29:39,444
[Kazin] FBI agents came
to my dorm room in college
502
00:29:39,527 --> 00:29:42,030
and questioned me
about my anti-war activities.
503
00:29:42,113 --> 00:29:43,782
This is what an FBI file looks like.
504
00:29:43,865 --> 00:29:47,702
This was something released to me in 1978
under the Freedom of Information Act.
505
00:29:47,786 --> 00:29:50,205
What it shows is
there were undercover agents
506
00:29:50,288 --> 00:29:52,457
who were infiltrating
the anti-war movement,
507
00:29:52,540 --> 00:29:55,001
trying to find out
what we were doing in advance.
508
00:29:55,084 --> 00:29:56,878
There were people in our meetings,
509
00:29:56,961 --> 00:29:59,631
even meetings
as small as nine or ten people,
510
00:29:59,714 --> 00:30:01,216
who were FBI agents.
511
00:30:03,718 --> 00:30:07,764
[Weiner] This went on for years
under LBJ and Nixon.
512
00:30:07,847 --> 00:30:09,891
Did they find
the international Communist conspiracy
513
00:30:09,974 --> 00:30:12,310
that was driving the anti-war movement?
514
00:30:14,646 --> 00:30:15,480
Nope.
515
00:30:16,231 --> 00:30:17,440
Because it didn't exist.
516
00:30:18,650 --> 00:30:21,277
They were willing
to violate the Constitution
517
00:30:21,361 --> 00:30:25,698
and to violate the civil rights
of hundreds of thousands of Americans.
518
00:30:26,616 --> 00:30:28,618
[Thomas Bass] We may now
take it for granted
519
00:30:28,701 --> 00:30:33,623
that mass surveillance
of our everyday activities
520
00:30:33,706 --> 00:30:35,792
is standard operating procedure.
521
00:30:35,875 --> 00:30:37,627
[whirring]
522
00:30:37,710 --> 00:30:40,213
The right to privacy, the rule of law…
523
00:30:40,296 --> 00:30:44,551
Our individual acts
used to be considered private affairs.
524
00:30:44,634 --> 00:30:48,388
{\an8}That all began to corrode
during the Vietnam War.
525
00:30:51,307 --> 00:30:53,268
[John Negroponte] The war was unpopular.
526
00:30:53,351 --> 00:30:55,895
The drain on the budget was unpopular.
527
00:30:55,979 --> 00:30:57,021
But I think,
528
00:30:57,814 --> 00:31:01,109
{\an8}foremost, the draft was unpopular.
529
00:31:01,609 --> 00:31:03,444
{\an8}And Nixon understood that.
530
00:31:03,528 --> 00:31:06,739
[ominous music playing]
531
00:31:06,823 --> 00:31:08,908
[Col. Gregory A. Daddis]
By 1969, Nixon has decided
532
00:31:08,992 --> 00:31:11,160
to change the draft system to a lottery,
533
00:31:11,244 --> 00:31:15,456
to tamp down on concerns
that the process is inequal.
534
00:31:17,709 --> 00:31:19,961
And all of a sudden,
535
00:31:20,044 --> 00:31:21,421
{\an8}the conscription system
536
00:31:21,504 --> 00:31:23,923
{\an8}becomes a roll of the dice
based on your birthdate.
537
00:31:24,549 --> 00:31:26,759
April 24th.
538
00:31:29,262 --> 00:31:32,390
{\an8}A bunch of little plastic balls
would be in a canister.
539
00:31:32,473 --> 00:31:36,769
And the first number that came up,
whatever the birthdate was,
540
00:31:36,853 --> 00:31:41,399
you were among the first to be called
to your draft board, to be drafted.
541
00:31:41,482 --> 00:31:45,486
[announcer 1] …31st, February 16th,
March 8th, February 5th,
542
00:31:45,570 --> 00:31:48,448
January 4th, February 10th.
543
00:31:48,531 --> 00:31:51,367
March 30th, April 10th, April 9th.
544
00:31:52,285 --> 00:31:54,370
[Canfora] I was
with my brother and his friends.
545
00:31:54,454 --> 00:31:58,666
Watching all of their numbers called
was just an eerie sort of thing.
546
00:31:59,375 --> 00:32:02,962
When you actually saw
this visual representation of,
547
00:32:03,046 --> 00:32:04,505
"Guess who's next?"
548
00:32:04,589 --> 00:32:06,966
[announcer 1] December 30th.
549
00:32:08,259 --> 00:32:12,931
[announcer 2] December 30, 003.
550
00:32:14,265 --> 00:32:16,559
[Canfora] More people were burning
their draft cards.
551
00:32:16,643 --> 00:32:18,519
And more people were leaving the country.
552
00:32:18,603 --> 00:32:23,983
And more people were willing to go to jail
for defying an order to serve.
553
00:32:24,067 --> 00:32:25,276
♪ Hallelujah ♪
554
00:32:25,360 --> 00:32:28,821
♪ His truth is marching on ♪
555
00:32:29,614 --> 00:32:31,616
[tense music playing]
556
00:32:37,413 --> 00:32:41,042
[Ellis] We began to get
the draftees and replacements.
557
00:32:41,125 --> 00:32:44,712
Now these young men began to protest.
558
00:32:46,547 --> 00:32:48,549
It was a different type of soldier.
559
00:32:48,633 --> 00:32:52,595
Not all, but a lot of them
just couldn't wait to get out,
560
00:32:52,679 --> 00:32:55,306
{\an8}and every day was agitated
for being there.
561
00:33:00,103 --> 00:33:04,107
{\an8}[Osnos] When I arrived in Vietnam in 1970,
562
00:33:04,816 --> 00:33:07,318
the drawdown of troops probably meant
563
00:33:07,402 --> 00:33:10,113
that there were around
a couple hundred thousand left.
564
00:33:10,613 --> 00:33:14,742
{\an8}It wasn't war in the sense
that you could go be a great hero.
565
00:33:15,451 --> 00:33:16,536
{\an8}It was a slog.
566
00:33:16,619 --> 00:33:18,329
[melancholic music playing]
567
00:33:21,749 --> 00:33:26,087
And so it was a troubled time
in the morale of the American GI.
568
00:33:34,053 --> 00:33:36,097
[Veith] It was obvious
to even the lowest soldier
569
00:33:36,180 --> 00:33:38,474
{\an8}that we're getting out.
You know, we're leaving.
570
00:33:38,558 --> 00:33:40,935
{\an8}"Why should I be the last guy killed
on the way out the door?"
571
00:33:42,603 --> 00:33:46,024
[Scott Shimabukuro] You started wondering,
"Damn, well, why are we even here?"
572
00:33:46,899 --> 00:33:52,488
You develop a whole different attitude
once you've been in-country for a while.
573
00:33:52,572 --> 00:33:55,116
You know, when you hear
about somebody getting wounded or killed,
574
00:33:55,199 --> 00:33:57,618
the guys would say,
"Well, hey, better him than me."
575
00:33:58,578 --> 00:34:01,914
{\an8}And I thought, "Damn,
that's-- that's pretty cold-hearted."
576
00:34:02,665 --> 00:34:04,959
{\an8}As cold-hearted as it sounds,
577
00:34:05,043 --> 00:34:07,336
{\an8}you start to understand
and get that mentality,
578
00:34:07,420 --> 00:34:11,424
that "Hey, I'll do whatever it takes
to get my ass out of here in one piece."
579
00:34:12,550 --> 00:34:14,302
[helicopter blades whirring]
580
00:34:14,385 --> 00:34:18,473
{\an8}The discipline,
the blind following of orders,
581
00:34:18,556 --> 00:34:19,891
{\an8}everything had changed.
582
00:34:19,974 --> 00:34:22,560
It's the Woodstock generation
coming to Vietnam.
583
00:34:22,643 --> 00:34:24,771
Killing for peace just doesn't make sense.
584
00:34:29,567 --> 00:34:34,614
{\an8}[Kay] One day, I heard a couple of members
of the squad that we were with
585
00:34:34,697 --> 00:34:36,115
{\an8}talking to each other,
586
00:34:36,199 --> 00:34:38,159
{\an8}and I just started rolling on it.
587
00:34:38,242 --> 00:34:40,787
- [soldier 1] Killer, I see…
- [soldier 2 chuckles]
588
00:34:40,870 --> 00:34:43,081
[soldier 1] First time we'll ever be
walkin' down a road.
589
00:34:43,164 --> 00:34:44,332
I'm not gonna walk down there.
590
00:34:44,415 --> 00:34:47,543
[soldier 2] I was talking to 'em, we're
gonna do it. Gonna walk down the trail.
591
00:34:47,627 --> 00:34:49,378
My whole squad ain't walkin'
down that… trail.
592
00:34:49,462 --> 00:34:50,505
- No!
- That's it.
593
00:34:51,089 --> 00:34:53,216
[reporter] The men were taught
by Captain Jackson,
594
00:34:53,299 --> 00:34:54,717
their former commander,
595
00:34:54,801 --> 00:34:58,471
never to move down a trail,
much less a road.
596
00:34:58,554 --> 00:35:02,975
[Kay] They weren't going to obey
the new captain's orders,
597
00:35:03,059 --> 00:35:05,269
which was to walk down a road.
598
00:35:05,353 --> 00:35:07,355
And they just said,
"No, we're not gonna do it."
599
00:35:07,438 --> 00:35:09,649
[soldier 3] We gonna move
out on the road, period.
600
00:35:09,732 --> 00:35:12,235
Either we gonna move out
and they gonna get left behind,
601
00:35:12,318 --> 00:35:14,779
or I'm gonna take point
and they can follow me if they want to.
602
00:35:14,862 --> 00:35:17,323
Now, it's that simple.
Now, we got a job to do, we gonna do it.
603
00:35:17,406 --> 00:35:20,243
It's not half as dangerous as the crap
we've done out here in the boonies,
604
00:35:20,326 --> 00:35:22,495
walking through 'em.
Least we can see what we're doing.
605
00:35:24,288 --> 00:35:28,793
[soldier 4] We don't use trails. We--
We try to do things, you know, with logic.
606
00:35:28,876 --> 00:35:33,214
And, uh, if you want to find gooks,
there's no problem finding, uh, the enemy.
607
00:35:33,297 --> 00:35:36,467
{\an8}You can just walk right down a trail,
and you-- you'll eventually find him,
608
00:35:36,551 --> 00:35:38,010
{\an8}but it'll be on his terms.
609
00:35:38,094 --> 00:35:39,762
We're just gonna refuse to do it.
610
00:35:40,638 --> 00:35:44,100
'Cause it's, uh… You may be in jail,
but you won't be dead. [chuckles]
611
00:35:44,684 --> 00:35:47,854
{\an8}Some called it the war
between the lifers and the grunts,
612
00:35:48,354 --> 00:35:50,815
{\an8}usually verbal, but sometimes violent,
613
00:35:51,566 --> 00:35:55,069
involving the older men
making careers of military work
614
00:35:55,153 --> 00:35:59,824
and the young draftees committed
to a year of military service in Vietnam.
615
00:36:01,117 --> 00:36:03,870
[Shimabukuro] The guys you served with,
it's like a family,
616
00:36:03,953 --> 00:36:05,746
and you're looking out for that family.
617
00:36:05,830 --> 00:36:06,789
[helicopter whirring]
618
00:36:06,873 --> 00:36:09,834
So anybody who's going
to come from the outside
619
00:36:09,917 --> 00:36:12,378
and jeopardize the safety of your family,
620
00:36:13,212 --> 00:36:15,715
I don't care if it's a first sergeant,
621
00:36:15,798 --> 00:36:18,968
somebody's going to have to teach you
a lesson about that.
622
00:36:19,051 --> 00:36:21,721
And if it takes a fragging to do it,
623
00:36:21,804 --> 00:36:24,098
well, it's gonna take
what it's gonna take.
624
00:36:24,182 --> 00:36:26,184
[solemn music playing]
625
00:36:30,146 --> 00:36:33,983
Fragging is essentially assaulting
your officer one way or another.
626
00:36:34,984 --> 00:36:36,194
Killing them, basically.
627
00:36:36,277 --> 00:36:38,863
Or certainly very badly injuring them.
628
00:36:41,699 --> 00:36:46,746
[reporter] "Grenade, hand, fragmentation,
M26A1," it says.
629
00:36:47,288 --> 00:36:49,707
The GIs call it simply "the frag."
630
00:36:51,292 --> 00:36:55,463
{\an8}The core of explosives sends thousands
of tiny metal fragments in all directions.
631
00:36:55,546 --> 00:36:57,632
{\an8}It's very effective against the enemy.
632
00:36:57,715 --> 00:37:00,301
But in recent months, all too often,
633
00:37:00,384 --> 00:37:03,679
GIs have been using them
against their superior officers.
634
00:37:03,763 --> 00:37:04,847
[grenade explodes]
635
00:37:04,931 --> 00:37:10,228
{\an8}There is even, uh, a pool of money
that gets collected too.
636
00:37:10,311 --> 00:37:13,773
So people are, like, putting up
50 bucks, 30 bucks,
637
00:37:13,856 --> 00:37:16,567
and… you get enough people,
638
00:37:16,651 --> 00:37:20,613
that's enough incentive
for somebody to pull the pin.
639
00:37:22,615 --> 00:37:25,952
It happened a couple times
while I was there.
640
00:37:26,994 --> 00:37:30,748
There was a, uh, high-ranking enlisted,
641
00:37:31,582 --> 00:37:33,251
I think he's a top sergeant,
642
00:37:34,377 --> 00:37:37,380
somebody put a Claymore mine
underneath his tent,
643
00:37:37,463 --> 00:37:39,423
and three guys split the money.
644
00:37:39,507 --> 00:37:41,300
No one knows which one did it,
645
00:37:41,384 --> 00:37:44,971
but he was no longer in existence
after that night.
646
00:37:46,138 --> 00:37:49,016
You could kind of call it justice.
647
00:37:49,100 --> 00:37:52,061
So many people were getting killed
because of these guys.
648
00:37:55,481 --> 00:37:57,483
I just don't believe in
anything we're doing here.
649
00:37:57,566 --> 00:37:59,318
I don't like anything that's going on.
650
00:37:59,402 --> 00:38:01,988
And the lifers are shoving
all this shit at me, and…
651
00:38:02,071 --> 00:38:04,198
and, uh, I don't like to play their games.
652
00:38:08,244 --> 00:38:10,579
[Col. Daddis] Most estimates agree
653
00:38:10,663 --> 00:38:15,876
that there are over 90 incidents
of fragging in the US Marine Corps.
654
00:38:17,044 --> 00:38:20,965
There are 600 to 800 incidents
in the US Army, if not more.
655
00:38:23,092 --> 00:38:25,094
[reporter] What about… drugs in the field?
656
00:38:25,886 --> 00:38:27,054
Drugs in the field?
657
00:38:27,596 --> 00:38:28,597
[exclaims nervously]
658
00:38:29,307 --> 00:38:32,560
Uh, gee, can I say this
without getting busted or anything?
659
00:38:33,311 --> 00:38:34,895
Orangutan! Get your hair cut!
660
00:38:34,979 --> 00:38:38,357
[Col. Daddis] Many American servicemen
were using drugs
661
00:38:38,441 --> 00:38:40,318
as a form of self-medication,
662
00:38:40,943 --> 00:38:42,945
as a way to-- to get through this.
663
00:38:43,612 --> 00:38:47,658
[Dennis Clark Brazil] I started smoking
marijuana literally every day, all day…
664
00:38:50,077 --> 00:38:53,831
{\an8}to help mask and hide
the pain and the fear.
665
00:38:54,790 --> 00:38:57,501
- Paul, let me borrow that bowl from you.
- [Paul laughs]
666
00:38:58,002 --> 00:39:00,588
- [soldiers laugh]
- Cool.
667
00:39:01,297 --> 00:39:04,091
I hope this-- This is probably all CIDs
and we're getting busted,
668
00:39:04,175 --> 00:39:05,176
but I don't care.
669
00:39:07,470 --> 00:39:08,429
Shotgun.
670
00:39:11,140 --> 00:39:13,142
[soldiers laugh]
671
00:39:17,188 --> 00:39:19,023
[soldier] That's pretty good
schwag, though.
672
00:39:19,106 --> 00:39:21,734
[spacey ethereal music plays]
673
00:39:21,817 --> 00:39:26,697
[Kay] Opium was, um…
was legal in Laos or Cambodia
674
00:39:26,781 --> 00:39:29,158
and accepted in Vietnam.
675
00:39:30,451 --> 00:39:35,456
With opium, it kills all pain,
psychological and physical,
676
00:39:35,539 --> 00:39:39,210
and you're just in this state
of semi-dreaming.
677
00:39:40,419 --> 00:39:46,550
So a lot of us, myself included,
got very serious opium addiction.
678
00:39:49,095 --> 00:39:51,639
And then heroin became popular,
679
00:39:52,473 --> 00:39:55,267
and in Vietnam, for five dollars,
680
00:39:55,351 --> 00:40:01,607
you could buy, like,
a jam jar full of 99% pure heroin.
681
00:40:01,690 --> 00:40:03,734
[helicopter blades whirring]
682
00:40:03,818 --> 00:40:06,195
[Eldson J. McGhee] I had never had
any experience with drugs
683
00:40:06,278 --> 00:40:07,822
before the military.
684
00:40:07,905 --> 00:40:10,408
No pot, no nothing. I didn't even smoke.
685
00:40:10,491 --> 00:40:13,786
When I was wounded,
they gave me the morphine, right?
686
00:40:13,869 --> 00:40:15,996
{\an8}And when they stopped the morphine,
687
00:40:16,705 --> 00:40:18,416
{\an8}I was introduced to heroin,
688
00:40:19,083 --> 00:40:21,001
{\an8}and it completely ruined my life.
689
00:40:21,085 --> 00:40:23,587
[musical arrangement turns anxious]
690
00:40:23,671 --> 00:40:25,965
[reporter] The GIs are plagued
by low morale,
691
00:40:26,048 --> 00:40:27,800
drug abuse, and drunkenness.
692
00:40:27,883 --> 00:40:29,969
A Congressional investigation reveals
693
00:40:30,052 --> 00:40:34,598
{\an8}10 to 15% of all US troops
in Vietnam are using heroin.
694
00:40:34,682 --> 00:40:38,352
{\an8}Other reports show
as many as 50% are using marijuana.
695
00:40:38,436 --> 00:40:42,231
{\an8}This phenomenon is worrying
to senior military commanders.
696
00:40:43,107 --> 00:40:47,820
{\an8}Drug testing becomes, uh,
part and parcel of the Army experience.
697
00:40:49,947 --> 00:40:51,407
And it's still in existence today.
698
00:40:55,161 --> 00:40:58,789
In Vietnam, they're bringing in
medical officers and psychologists
699
00:40:58,873 --> 00:41:01,625
to try and get a sense
of-- of what the problem is.
700
00:41:03,294 --> 00:41:06,464
{\an8}[Meshad] I was there all of '70
to evaluate the mental health
701
00:41:06,547 --> 00:41:08,132
{\an8}of soldiers in the field.
702
00:41:09,091 --> 00:41:13,512
{\an8}There were about 15 mental health people,
psychiatrists, social workers, in-country
703
00:41:13,596 --> 00:41:15,639
for all these combat vets.
704
00:41:16,765 --> 00:41:18,851
There was just so much chaos.
705
00:41:19,810 --> 00:41:21,353
So much of the hospital,
706
00:41:21,437 --> 00:41:23,856
when I went flying around
to different units,
707
00:41:23,939 --> 00:41:29,403
was heroin overdose, speed, hashish.
708
00:41:30,863 --> 00:41:34,283
The chances of you coming home
in one piece are getting less and less.
709
00:41:35,284 --> 00:41:37,077
So what can I do?
710
00:41:38,829 --> 00:41:40,831
[tense music playing]
711
00:41:41,749 --> 00:41:43,459
[Shimabukuro]
And then you started wondering,
712
00:41:43,542 --> 00:41:45,878
"What's going on
with the Paris peace talks?"
713
00:41:47,338 --> 00:41:49,340
[siren blaring]
714
00:41:51,550 --> 00:41:54,637
To me, and some
of the other guys I was with,
715
00:41:54,720 --> 00:41:56,096
well, we didn't understand.
716
00:41:56,180 --> 00:41:58,849
"Well, if they're having peace talks,
why are we still fighting?"
717
00:41:58,933 --> 00:42:01,227
"Shouldn't there be a ceasefire
while they're doing this?"
718
00:42:04,230 --> 00:42:05,648
{\an8}[reporters speak indistinctly]
719
00:42:07,441 --> 00:42:08,734
{\an8}[inaudible]
720
00:42:09,693 --> 00:42:13,405
{\an8}[Lien-Hang] So the Paris negotiations
to end the Vietnam War had begun,
721
00:42:13,989 --> 00:42:17,743
{\an8}but it became just another
theater of battle in the Vietnam War.
722
00:42:19,161 --> 00:42:22,248
{\an8}[Veith] There was a lot of discussion
about, "How are we gonna hold the talks?"
723
00:42:22,331 --> 00:42:24,625
"Who's going to be there?
What're we gonna talk about?"
724
00:42:24,708 --> 00:42:29,922
And so the Communists really began
to string the talks out.
725
00:42:30,005 --> 00:42:33,092
[Cronkite] Already official peace talks
were underway in Paris,
726
00:42:33,175 --> 00:42:36,554
but only after a ten-week dispute
about the shape of the table,
727
00:42:36,637 --> 00:42:38,556
who would sit where at the table.
728
00:42:38,639 --> 00:42:41,058
The answer was to make it round.
729
00:42:41,141 --> 00:42:44,645
Everyone was equal,
the United States, South Vietnam,
730
00:42:44,728 --> 00:42:47,398
North Vietnam, and the Việt Cộng.
731
00:42:47,481 --> 00:42:49,441
[Shimabukuro] They spent months arguing
732
00:42:49,525 --> 00:42:51,735
where people were going to sit
at this table.
733
00:42:52,861 --> 00:42:55,239
And our attitude was, "That's bullshit."
734
00:42:55,322 --> 00:42:58,325
"I'll go over there, I'll make you sit
wherever the fuck I want you to sit."
735
00:42:59,451 --> 00:43:02,538
"We're dying over here, and you're arguing
where you're gonna sit?"
736
00:43:04,373 --> 00:43:05,708
[Veith] Nixon recognizes
737
00:43:05,791 --> 00:43:08,419
that the peace talks
are largely dead in the water.
738
00:43:10,212 --> 00:43:15,134
He understood that the attention
afforded to the four-party public talks
739
00:43:15,217 --> 00:43:16,051
was too great,
740
00:43:16,135 --> 00:43:19,805
that nothing could actually be decided
while all four sides are posturing,
741
00:43:19,888 --> 00:43:23,225
that there had to be
secret bilateral talks in conjunction.
742
00:43:23,309 --> 00:43:25,185
[groovy brooding music plays]
743
00:43:25,269 --> 00:43:27,146
{\an8}And these secret talks would only be
744
00:43:27,229 --> 00:43:29,023
{\an8}between the United States
and North Vietnam,
745
00:43:29,106 --> 00:43:31,984
{\an8}cutting out
South Vietnamese parties entirely.
746
00:43:37,323 --> 00:43:38,532
[Nhã] We were not told.
747
00:43:39,408 --> 00:43:43,621
{\an8}Suddenly, you went on-- on your own,
and, you know, "negotiated"
748
00:43:43,704 --> 00:43:47,041
{\an8}what you Americans think
is best for South Vietnam.
749
00:43:49,668 --> 00:43:51,795
It's a betrayal between allies.
750
00:43:54,214 --> 00:43:57,468
{\an8}[Lien-Hang] Richard Nixon and Lê Duẩn
could only send men they trust
751
00:43:57,551 --> 00:44:00,804
{\an8}to negotiate the end
of American military intervention.
752
00:44:02,556 --> 00:44:04,808
{\an8}Kissinger is Nixon's man.
753
00:44:05,517 --> 00:44:07,686
{\an8}Lê Duẩn sends Lê Đức Thọ.
754
00:44:07,770 --> 00:44:11,398
{\an8}He's Lê Duẩn's right-hand man,
and had been since the 1950s.
755
00:44:15,569 --> 00:44:17,863
{\an8}It took a miracle
to keep these things secret.
756
00:44:17,946 --> 00:44:20,866
{\an8}It'd just be Kissinger,
myself, one or two others.
757
00:44:25,037 --> 00:44:27,081
[Lien-Hang] And from what we know
of these talks,
758
00:44:27,164 --> 00:44:29,375
they were highly contentious,
759
00:44:29,458 --> 00:44:32,127
neither of them
really wanting to compromise.
760
00:44:34,338 --> 00:44:36,256
{\an8}[Thành, in Vietnamese]
My father only said,
761
00:44:37,091 --> 00:44:38,926
{\an8}"You have only one mission."
762
00:44:40,511 --> 00:44:41,679
"Just one mission."
763
00:44:42,346 --> 00:44:43,639
"At the end of negotiations,
764
00:44:43,722 --> 00:44:46,225
the US must withdraw its troops,
and Northern soldiers stay."
765
00:44:50,354 --> 00:44:52,356
[Lord] The North Vietnamese
always insisted
766
00:44:52,439 --> 00:44:54,608
not only did we have
to get out unilaterally,
767
00:44:54,692 --> 00:44:57,027
{\an8}we had to overthrow the Saigon government
768
00:44:57,111 --> 00:44:59,822
{\an8}and put in a coalition government
at the same time.
769
00:45:01,073 --> 00:45:02,991
We were not prepared to do that.
770
00:45:03,075 --> 00:45:05,536
[intriguing propulsive rock music playing]
771
00:45:06,286 --> 00:45:08,997
We wanted an agreement
that would at least give
772
00:45:09,081 --> 00:45:12,209
the Saigon government
a chance to survive in the future.
773
00:45:12,292 --> 00:45:15,379
And we certainly weren't going to say
to the world, as an ally,
774
00:45:15,462 --> 00:45:17,506
that not only
will we withdraw unilaterally,
775
00:45:17,589 --> 00:45:20,968
but we'll overthrow our friends
as we exit the scene. [chuckles]
776
00:45:22,594 --> 00:45:24,430
The North Vietnamese were sitting there
777
00:45:24,513 --> 00:45:28,225
{\an8}saying that we were withdrawing
these troops gradually.
778
00:45:28,308 --> 00:45:30,894
{\an8}It was happening anyway,
so why should they negotiate?
779
00:45:30,978 --> 00:45:32,521
{\an8}Why not just wait us out?
780
00:45:34,982 --> 00:45:38,235
{\an8}[Negroponte] But Kissinger had this theory
that every now and then
781
00:45:38,318 --> 00:45:40,696
{\an8}you have to convince people
you're gonna go apeshit.
782
00:45:40,779 --> 00:45:43,741
- [missiles whirring]
- [explosion]
783
00:45:43,824 --> 00:45:46,243
You know, you're a superpower,
you've got all this equipment,
784
00:45:46,326 --> 00:45:48,746
and you-- you might annoy us enough
785
00:45:48,829 --> 00:45:52,416
that we respond
in an absolutely extreme way.
786
00:45:53,250 --> 00:45:55,252
The "madman" theory. He believed in it.
787
00:45:56,086 --> 00:45:58,505
[chuckles] And I guess
Nixon believed in it too.
788
00:46:00,048 --> 00:46:02,050
[wistful music playing]
789
00:46:06,764 --> 00:46:11,602
One of the first things that Nixon does
is to start the bombing of Cambodia.
790
00:46:14,104 --> 00:46:16,023
[Lien-Hang] While Cambodia,
as well as Laos,
791
00:46:16,106 --> 00:46:18,025
had been drawn into the Vietnamese War
792
00:46:18,108 --> 00:46:20,194
from the very start in the late 1950s,
793
00:46:21,320 --> 00:46:24,072
this is really the start
of the deadliest chapter
794
00:46:24,156 --> 00:46:25,949
in terms of Cambodian history.
795
00:46:30,329 --> 00:46:33,123
{\an8}I can't tell you how unprepared
this place was for war.
796
00:46:36,251 --> 00:46:40,756
Cambodia had managed
to remain neutral up until 1970.
797
00:46:41,715 --> 00:46:47,554
{\an8}It was headed by a very popular,
charismatic, and smart, sly leader
798
00:46:47,638 --> 00:46:49,681
{\an8}named Prince Norodom Sihanouk,
799
00:46:49,765 --> 00:46:52,643
{\an8}who realized if Cambodia
gets involved in that war,
800
00:46:52,726 --> 00:46:54,228
it's gonna ruin the country.
801
00:46:54,978 --> 00:46:57,648
So he let the Vietnamese Communists
use the eastern border
802
00:46:57,731 --> 00:46:59,733
for the famous Hồ Chí Minh Trail.
803
00:47:01,944 --> 00:47:03,237
But he also looked the other way
804
00:47:03,320 --> 00:47:06,657
when the South Vietnamese chased
the Communists into Cambodia.
805
00:47:10,494 --> 00:47:12,246
[Veith] So the Communists had used that,
806
00:47:12,329 --> 00:47:15,290
and built base areas in Cambodia
where they stored weapons.
807
00:47:15,374 --> 00:47:16,583
They had hospitals.
808
00:47:16,667 --> 00:47:19,503
They had recuperation.
They had training centers.
809
00:47:20,128 --> 00:47:22,589
{\an8}[in Vietnamese] We had a difficult time,
810
00:47:22,673 --> 00:47:26,802
{\an8}especially after the series
of Tết Offensive battles.
811
00:47:28,011 --> 00:47:30,222
There were groups we had to meet with
812
00:47:30,305 --> 00:47:33,183
in the Cambodian jungles
during those years.
813
00:47:36,395 --> 00:47:38,188
[Lord, in English]
They'd come over the border,
814
00:47:38,272 --> 00:47:40,524
kill South Vietnamese
and American soldiers,
815
00:47:41,275 --> 00:47:44,862
and then go back
to these safe bases in Cambodia.
816
00:47:46,864 --> 00:47:49,324
So Nixon and his military advisors felt
817
00:47:49,408 --> 00:47:52,703
that this was obviously inflicting
huge damage on us.
818
00:47:54,997 --> 00:47:58,000
[Selverstone] The secret bombing
of Cambodia goes on for months
819
00:47:58,083 --> 00:47:59,626
after month after month.
820
00:48:00,168 --> 00:48:05,090
Ultimately, over 100,000 tons of bombs
are dropped on Cambodia.
821
00:48:05,173 --> 00:48:07,593
- [air raid sirens wailing]
- [explosions rumbling]
822
00:48:19,104 --> 00:48:20,606
[bombs explode]
823
00:48:21,398 --> 00:48:24,902
[Rather] Now, one can argue
that the bombing runs were necessary,
824
00:48:25,694 --> 00:48:28,822
{\an8}but to keep them secret, for what reason?
825
00:48:28,906 --> 00:48:31,450
{\an8}The reason being they didn't want
the American public to know
826
00:48:31,533 --> 00:48:32,951
{\an8}that the war was spreading.
827
00:48:33,035 --> 00:48:34,953
[dark enchanting music plays]
828
00:48:35,037 --> 00:48:40,083
[Hughes] Nixon kept this bombing secret
from the public and from Congress.
829
00:48:41,084 --> 00:48:42,377
[bombs explode]
830
00:48:42,461 --> 00:48:46,506
The idea was
that the bombing would interfere
831
00:48:46,590 --> 00:48:51,678
with the smuggling of soldiers
and supplies into South Vietnam.
832
00:48:53,430 --> 00:48:58,268
What he did was inadvertently drive
the North Vietnamese
833
00:48:58,352 --> 00:49:01,480
farther into Cambodia,
834
00:49:01,563 --> 00:49:04,858
where they started to clash
with the Cambodians,
835
00:49:04,942 --> 00:49:07,194
destabilized the Cambodian government,
836
00:49:07,945 --> 00:49:11,156
and accidentally precipitated a coup,
837
00:49:11,239 --> 00:49:13,367
a military coup in Cambodia,
838
00:49:13,450 --> 00:49:16,912
that removed their neutralist leader,
Prince Sihanouk,
839
00:49:17,746 --> 00:49:20,374
{\an8}and replaced him
with a pro-American leader.
840
00:49:21,166 --> 00:49:24,169
[Lord] And now, in the spring of 1970,
841
00:49:24,252 --> 00:49:27,214
Nixon and Kissinger authorize sending
842
00:49:27,297 --> 00:49:31,051
not only South Vietnamese
but American troops into Cambodia
843
00:49:31,134 --> 00:49:34,346
to go after the North Vietnamese
Việt Cộng bases.
844
00:49:34,429 --> 00:49:37,307
[anxious music playing]
845
00:49:37,391 --> 00:49:38,725
{\an8}Tonight,
846
00:49:38,809 --> 00:49:41,603
{\an8}American and South Vietnamese units
847
00:49:41,687 --> 00:49:43,105
{\an8}will attack the headquarters
848
00:49:43,188 --> 00:49:47,359
for the entire Communist
military operation in South Vietnam.
849
00:50:13,260 --> 00:50:16,471
It's hard on all of us.
I know we're all tired of this.
850
00:50:16,555 --> 00:50:18,890
[chuckles ruefully] Tired. But--
851
00:50:18,974 --> 00:50:20,642
[reporter] You want
to get back to Vietnam?
852
00:50:20,726 --> 00:50:22,477
Ah! I never thought
I'd be saying that either.
853
00:50:22,561 --> 00:50:26,648
{\an8}I want to go to Vietnam for a change
instead of staying in Cambodia. [laughs]
854
00:50:26,732 --> 00:50:28,734
[guns firing rapidly]
855
00:50:35,949 --> 00:50:41,455
[Hughes] This was the single
most unpopular escalation of the war.
856
00:50:42,205 --> 00:50:44,207
[crowd shouting angrily]
857
00:50:46,877 --> 00:50:52,049
[Hughes] It brought out
the largest demonstrations against Nixon.
858
00:50:55,635 --> 00:51:01,266
[protesters chant] Out now!
Out now! Out now! Out now!
859
00:51:01,349 --> 00:51:04,561
{\an8}College campuses just went… berserk.
860
00:51:04,644 --> 00:51:06,646
{\an8}[uneasy music playing]
861
00:51:07,731 --> 00:51:10,734
{\an8}[protesters chant] Leave now!
Leave now! Leave now!
862
00:51:10,817 --> 00:51:14,905
Leave now! Leave now!
Leave now! Leave now!
863
00:51:14,988 --> 00:51:18,033
{\an8}[Canfora] Nixon announced
the invasion of Cambodia on the 30th,
864
00:51:18,116 --> 00:51:19,409
{\an8}which was Thursday night.
865
00:51:20,202 --> 00:51:23,080
{\an8}Friday night,
students had started to march
866
00:51:23,163 --> 00:51:26,500
{\an8}in the streets of downtown Kent,
right outside the bars.
867
00:51:26,583 --> 00:51:27,501
{\an8}[fire roaring]
868
00:51:27,584 --> 00:51:30,337
{\an8}There was an action
against the ROTC building
869
00:51:30,420 --> 00:51:31,546
{\an8}on Saturday night.
870
00:51:32,172 --> 00:51:36,676
It was an old army barracks at Kent State
that was scheduled for demolition.
871
00:51:36,760 --> 00:51:38,595
And it went up in flames.
872
00:51:41,640 --> 00:51:44,476
It was then
that the Ohio National Guard came in.
873
00:51:44,976 --> 00:51:46,478
{\an8}[bell rings]
874
00:51:48,230 --> 00:51:52,025
{\an8}On Monday, we were going to join
a national student strike…
875
00:51:52,109 --> 00:51:53,944
[chanting] Strike! Strike! Strike!
876
00:51:54,027 --> 00:51:55,487
[Canfora] …to end the war in Vietnam.
877
00:51:55,570 --> 00:52:00,200
{\an8}[chanting continues]
Strike! Strike! Strike! Strike!
878
00:52:02,786 --> 00:52:06,331
[Canfora] A National Guard commander
drove up in a Jeep
879
00:52:06,414 --> 00:52:07,874
and started reading the Riot Act.
880
00:52:07,958 --> 00:52:09,793
[commander] Leave this area immediately!
881
00:52:11,211 --> 00:52:13,630
[Canfora] And students just started
taunting them back.
882
00:52:13,713 --> 00:52:15,799
"This is our campus. This is our home."
883
00:52:15,882 --> 00:52:19,219
"You're the invaders.
You leave. We're not leaving."
884
00:52:19,302 --> 00:52:20,887
[guns firing]
885
00:52:20,971 --> 00:52:24,808
[Canfora] The National Guard opened fire
with tear gas.
886
00:52:24,891 --> 00:52:26,893
[crowd screaming]
887
00:52:28,895 --> 00:52:32,440
The more militant students,
including my brother and I,
888
00:52:32,524 --> 00:52:35,360
were in the Prentice Hall parking lot
889
00:52:35,443 --> 00:52:38,238
at a time when some students
picked up some rocks
890
00:52:38,321 --> 00:52:41,199
and started throwing them
in the direction of the Guard.
891
00:52:41,783 --> 00:52:44,286
Students then started throwing
tear gas canisters back.
892
00:52:45,328 --> 00:52:49,332
Eventually, one troop
got down on their knees,
893
00:52:49,416 --> 00:52:52,210
it was Troop G of the Ohio National Guard,
894
00:52:52,294 --> 00:52:54,963
and started aiming in our direction.
895
00:52:57,174 --> 00:53:01,803
It was the first time we had seen them
look through the scopes of their rifles.
896
00:53:02,971 --> 00:53:05,640
My first instinct was to stay back.
897
00:53:08,059 --> 00:53:12,147
But I saw my brother doing the opposite.
He was carrying a black flag.
898
00:53:13,607 --> 00:53:16,568
And he began to walk
in the direction of the Guard.
899
00:53:18,778 --> 00:53:23,116
When I saw the rifles then
all kind of line up and point toward him,
900
00:53:23,200 --> 00:53:25,619
I came up behind my brother, and I said,
901
00:53:26,411 --> 00:53:28,580
"Alan, they're aiming right at you."
902
00:53:30,832 --> 00:53:33,001
"Please come back
to the parking lot with me."
903
00:53:35,545 --> 00:53:38,340
And just as I said that to my brother,
904
00:53:39,132 --> 00:53:40,342
Troop G got up,
905
00:53:40,425 --> 00:53:44,387
and then they formed
this kind of circle, a huddle,
906
00:53:45,597 --> 00:53:47,641
and the next thing I knew,
907
00:53:48,225 --> 00:53:50,560
turned in unison and started firing.
908
00:53:50,644 --> 00:53:52,771
- [guns firing rapidly]
- [people screaming]
909
00:54:01,821 --> 00:54:04,366
My brother's roommate pulled me
behind a parked car,
910
00:54:04,449 --> 00:54:06,910
and that's when I realized
it was live ammunition.
911
00:54:07,869 --> 00:54:09,871
We could hear bullets
zipping past our heads
912
00:54:09,955 --> 00:54:11,539
and thumping into the ground.
913
00:54:12,958 --> 00:54:14,709
And… [mutters]
914
00:54:16,127 --> 00:54:19,422
…they continued firing for 13 seconds.
915
00:54:21,383 --> 00:54:24,803
{\an8}Three feet behind me was Bill Schroeder,
who was an ROTC student.
916
00:54:24,886 --> 00:54:28,932
{\an8}He wasn't involved in the protests,
but he was following along. [sniffles]
917
00:54:29,015 --> 00:54:31,685
And there was blood
all over his shoulder and his neck.
918
00:54:31,768 --> 00:54:33,645
[melancholic ethereal music plays]
919
00:54:33,728 --> 00:54:39,067
To my left, I saw a group of students
carrying a girl into the dorm yard.
920
00:54:42,570 --> 00:54:45,198
I saw one boy lying face down.
921
00:54:46,366 --> 00:54:49,869
He was lying in a pool of blood
that was streaming down the pavement.
922
00:54:51,037 --> 00:54:53,123
A friend of mine came up behind me
923
00:54:53,206 --> 00:54:55,959
and said, "Alan and Tom both got hit."
924
00:54:56,042 --> 00:54:57,919
That was my brother and his roommate.
925
00:55:04,259 --> 00:55:07,345
I learned hours later
that he survived the wound,
926
00:55:07,429 --> 00:55:08,638
and so did Tom.
927
00:55:11,308 --> 00:55:13,768
{\an8}Four students were killed,
and nine were injured.
928
00:55:13,852 --> 00:55:15,854
{\an8}[melancholic music intensifies]
929
00:55:19,774 --> 00:55:22,444
[Nash] Can you imagine going to school,
930
00:55:23,069 --> 00:55:26,614
joining a protest
that many other people were joining,
931
00:55:26,698 --> 00:55:28,116
{\an8}and ending up dead?
932
00:55:29,367 --> 00:55:30,660
{\an8}Awful.
933
00:55:30,744 --> 00:55:34,873
{\an8}Those four students went to school
one day and never went home.
934
00:55:35,665 --> 00:55:37,542
{\an8}["Ohio" by Crosby, Stills,
Nash & Young plays]
935
00:55:37,625 --> 00:55:40,920
{\an8}[Nash] You know, we were just four kids,
just like them.
936
00:55:42,547 --> 00:55:44,716
{\an8}Crosby called me. He said, "Well,
937
00:55:44,799 --> 00:55:46,843
I showed Neil this picture."
938
00:55:46,926 --> 00:55:49,637
"I saw him take his acoustic guitar
out into the woods."
939
00:55:49,721 --> 00:55:53,099
"And an hour later, he came back
with this song called 'Ohio.'"
940
00:55:53,183 --> 00:55:55,310
"And we need to record it now."
941
00:55:56,144 --> 00:55:59,356
♪ Tin soldiers and Nixon coming ♪
942
00:55:59,439 --> 00:56:01,900
♪ We're finally on our own ♪
943
00:56:01,983 --> 00:56:05,403
♪ This summer I hear the drumming ♪
944
00:56:05,487 --> 00:56:08,323
♪ Four dead in Ohio… ♪
945
00:56:09,366 --> 00:56:10,450
[Nash] We were angry.
946
00:56:11,326 --> 00:56:14,412
A lot of people were very angry
about what was happening.
947
00:56:15,246 --> 00:56:18,291
♪ Should have been gone long ago… ♪
948
00:56:18,375 --> 00:56:21,127
[chanting] US out of Vietnam,
for they're being murdered!
949
00:56:21,211 --> 00:56:25,507
Well, the appalling thing is that lots
of people said the students deserved it.
950
00:56:25,590 --> 00:56:27,509
{\an8}When I signed up,
I accept the responsibility
951
00:56:27,592 --> 00:56:29,677
{\an8}that I would be out there
quelling any riot
952
00:56:29,761 --> 00:56:32,806
or any particular situation
that they needed me in.
953
00:56:32,889 --> 00:56:35,058
And when those kids came out there
954
00:56:35,141 --> 00:56:37,560
and just were involved
in that particular situation,
955
00:56:37,644 --> 00:56:40,522
they also accept
the responsibility on their shoulders
956
00:56:40,605 --> 00:56:43,525
that they might also be shot.
957
00:56:44,109 --> 00:56:45,652
[clerk] …of the United States.
958
00:56:47,070 --> 00:56:49,447
[Barry] But that was part of the attitude
959
00:56:49,531 --> 00:56:51,908
that Nixon was promulgating.
960
00:56:52,492 --> 00:56:54,119
[Nixon] When they engage in violence,
961
00:56:54,702 --> 00:56:56,287
{\an8}when they break up furniture,
962
00:56:56,371 --> 00:56:58,832
{\an8}when they terrorize their fellow students
963
00:56:58,915 --> 00:57:00,291
{\an8}and terrorize the faculty,
964
00:57:01,042 --> 00:57:03,086
then I think "bums"
is perhaps too kind a word
965
00:57:03,169 --> 00:57:05,171
to apply to that kind of person.
966
00:57:05,255 --> 00:57:07,715
[Kazin] This seemed to be really a sign
967
00:57:07,799 --> 00:57:10,176
that the government was willing
to do anything
968
00:57:10,260 --> 00:57:11,970
to stop the anti-war movement
from growing.
969
00:57:12,053 --> 00:57:14,055
[people chattering and laughing]
970
00:57:15,098 --> 00:57:19,936
[Hughes] Nixon seemed to have realized
that this frightened protesters
971
00:57:20,019 --> 00:57:22,856
because he said to one of his aides,
972
00:57:22,939 --> 00:57:26,192
"You know, it really dampens protests
if you kill a few."
973
00:57:26,860 --> 00:57:27,944
[tape machine clicks]
974
00:57:29,028 --> 00:57:30,405
Remember Kent State?
975
00:57:30,488 --> 00:57:33,241
Didn't that have a hell of an effect,
the Kent State thing?
976
00:57:33,324 --> 00:57:37,287
{\an8}Sure did. Gave them second thoughts.
977
00:57:38,746 --> 00:57:42,208
[Kazin] The right to dissent,
the duty to dissent, is necessary
978
00:57:42,292 --> 00:57:45,128
for a democracy to function
in any kind of healthy way.
979
00:57:45,211 --> 00:57:47,088
[singing indistinctly]
980
00:57:47,172 --> 00:57:50,467
And that's something I think
the Vietnam War helped to legitimate
981
00:57:50,550 --> 00:57:52,552
in a way that had not been true before.
982
00:57:52,635 --> 00:57:54,637
{\an8}[psychedelic ethereal music plays]
983
00:57:55,638 --> 00:57:58,308
{\an8}[Camil] I was angry
about what happened at Kent State.
984
00:58:00,143 --> 00:58:02,687
They were exercising
their constitutional rights.
985
00:58:04,063 --> 00:58:07,901
But veterans not only
inherited those rights,
986
00:58:07,984 --> 00:58:10,820
but we fought and bled for those rights.
987
00:58:10,904 --> 00:58:14,115
{\an8}If I'm gonna go halfway around the world
to defend the Constitution,
988
00:58:14,199 --> 00:58:16,784
{\an8}you better believe that I'm gonna
fucking defend it right here.
989
00:58:18,369 --> 00:58:21,706
After I came back from 'Nam,
I went to the University of Florida.
990
00:58:22,499 --> 00:58:26,920
I had professors that said, "You know,
we're the aggressor in Vietnam."
991
00:58:28,087 --> 00:58:29,923
And they gave me stuff to read.
992
00:58:31,841 --> 00:58:34,886
And so now I'm reading the information
that I didn't have before.
993
00:58:34,969 --> 00:58:39,015
And that information
was actually making me believe
994
00:58:39,098 --> 00:58:41,142
that, "Wow, we are the aggressors."
995
00:58:41,226 --> 00:58:43,061
"We're the bad guys.
We're not the good guys."
996
00:58:44,145 --> 00:58:46,564
It made me lose my respect
997
00:58:46,648 --> 00:58:50,860
for my high school teachers
who said the war was right,
998
00:58:50,944 --> 00:58:52,820
my parents, who said the war was right,
999
00:58:52,904 --> 00:58:54,906
the recruiters who said the war was right,
1000
00:58:54,989 --> 00:58:56,783
and my government,
who said the war was right.
1001
00:58:56,866 --> 00:58:58,785
[psychedelic music intensifies]
1002
00:58:58,868 --> 00:59:01,746
All of those institutions that I trusted,
1003
00:59:01,829 --> 00:59:03,206
they led me astray.
1004
00:59:05,416 --> 00:59:07,710
[Barry] There was a beginning
of a realization
1005
00:59:07,794 --> 00:59:10,755
that this government
was not on our side as veterans.
1006
00:59:12,465 --> 00:59:16,219
I started hearing about,
and running into, veterans
1007
00:59:16,302 --> 00:59:17,804
who were now coming back.
1008
00:59:17,887 --> 00:59:19,430
They were really bitter.
1009
00:59:21,432 --> 00:59:22,850
[Camil] It made me really angry
1010
00:59:22,934 --> 00:59:26,020
because my idea
of how war is supposed to be
1011
00:59:26,104 --> 00:59:27,647
is World War II films.
1012
00:59:27,730 --> 00:59:29,607
And you come home, and there's marches,
1013
00:59:29,691 --> 00:59:32,527
and-- and you're a hero,
and people are throwing flowers
1014
00:59:32,610 --> 00:59:34,779
and are very happy to see you.
1015
00:59:34,862 --> 00:59:36,406
We didn't have any of that.
1016
00:59:37,532 --> 00:59:39,951
[Shimabukuro] To me,
that's one of the biggest tragedies
1017
00:59:40,034 --> 00:59:41,369
of the Vietnam War,
1018
00:59:41,953 --> 00:59:44,455
{\an8}the treatment of the troops.
1019
00:59:45,582 --> 00:59:49,252
{\an8}A lot of the guys were telling me
that people would call 'em names.
1020
00:59:49,794 --> 00:59:52,088
[somber dreamy music plays]
1021
00:59:52,171 --> 00:59:53,881
[people chatter]
1022
00:59:53,965 --> 00:59:58,428
You know, "Oh, you're baby killers."
And, you know, "You're murderers!"
1023
01:00:01,556 --> 01:00:03,099
{\an8}I got spit on coming back.
1024
01:00:04,809 --> 01:00:07,645
And, uh, people got that right to protest.
1025
01:00:08,980 --> 01:00:10,023
But I didn't thinks
1026
01:00:10,106 --> 01:00:13,818
that they should be protesting
against me, against us.
1027
01:00:15,028 --> 01:00:17,363
{\an8}[Whitehurst] They sent us out there,
they paid for the taxes,
1028
01:00:17,447 --> 01:00:18,823
{\an8}they put the guns in our hands,
1029
01:00:18,906 --> 01:00:22,619
{\an8}they-- they reveled in all the life
we took and everything.
1030
01:00:22,702 --> 01:00:23,911
And we came home,
1031
01:00:25,496 --> 01:00:28,541
and they literally
and figuratively spit on us.
1032
01:00:28,625 --> 01:00:30,918
[doctor] Gonna need
the elbow straighter than it is now…
1033
01:00:31,002 --> 01:00:33,379
[Bửu] I felt very sorry for them.
1034
01:00:36,549 --> 01:00:40,011
To tell the truth, I always appreciate
1035
01:00:40,970 --> 01:00:45,558
{\an8}the Americans who came to Vietnam
to fight for the South Vietnam.
1036
01:00:47,644 --> 01:00:50,730
[Col. Hoa, in Vietnamese] Even if we're
from two different countries,
1037
01:00:50,813 --> 01:00:53,399
we can empathize with each other.
1038
01:00:57,362 --> 01:01:01,449
You brothers have regained
the dignity of being a soldier,
1039
01:01:01,532 --> 01:01:04,494
not only as soldiers
protecting your country,
1040
01:01:04,577 --> 01:01:09,207
but also as soldiers
defending another country.
1041
01:01:09,290 --> 01:01:14,379
{\an8}Your spirit is very noble and respectable,
no matter the circumstances.
1042
01:01:17,006 --> 01:01:19,133
{\an8}[Brazil, in English]
When I got out of Vietnam,
1043
01:01:19,217 --> 01:01:24,055
{\an8}the plane pulled up to the tarmac,
and I come down the stairs.
1044
01:01:25,556 --> 01:01:29,477
{\an8}And then my mom and my dad
and all my brothers and sisters…
1045
01:01:29,560 --> 01:01:31,437
{\an8}[breath catches]
1046
01:01:31,521 --> 01:01:33,523
…they came running out…
1047
01:01:34,607 --> 01:01:36,401
[sniffles] …on the tarmac
1048
01:01:37,735 --> 01:01:39,987
and start hugging me and kissing me.
1049
01:01:40,863 --> 01:01:41,739
[sniffles]
1050
01:01:42,448 --> 01:01:46,244
And I was so happy to see them,
and they were so happy to see me.
1051
01:01:48,871 --> 01:01:51,541
But I wasn't the same person anymore.
1052
01:01:52,875 --> 01:01:54,210
[sniffles and sobs]
1053
01:01:58,256 --> 01:02:00,341
The first couple of nights
that I was back,
1054
01:02:00,425 --> 01:02:02,427
my brother said I tried to kill him.
1055
01:02:02,510 --> 01:02:04,679
[sobs, sniffles]
1056
01:02:04,762 --> 01:02:06,764
I don't remember. [sniffles]
1057
01:02:06,848 --> 01:02:09,267
He said he woke up, and I was choking him.
1058
01:02:14,313 --> 01:02:15,982
How can you be subjected
1059
01:02:16,065 --> 01:02:18,276
to what you've been
subjected to for a year
1060
01:02:18,359 --> 01:02:20,319
and then come back and be normal?
1061
01:02:26,534 --> 01:02:28,411
[McGhee] So I was at my mom's house again.
1062
01:02:28,494 --> 01:02:30,079
I'm-- I'm back home.
1063
01:02:32,790 --> 01:02:35,877
I'm fighting in my sleep.
I'm hollering in my sleep.
1064
01:02:37,128 --> 01:02:38,546
She heard my nightmares.
1065
01:02:40,423 --> 01:02:44,051
It had everything to do with where
I just came from, back from doing.
1066
01:02:46,053 --> 01:02:47,597
So she cried out.
1067
01:02:48,765 --> 01:02:51,225
{\an8}She suffered with me.
1068
01:02:55,062 --> 01:02:56,856
{\an8}And that is the truth
1069
01:02:56,939 --> 01:02:59,400
of every combat veteran
1070
01:02:59,484 --> 01:03:02,361
that don't want to talk about it,
that won't talk about it.
1071
01:03:03,488 --> 01:03:08,284
And, you know, the inhumanity of it all,
who'd wanna listen to it?
1072
01:03:10,077 --> 01:03:14,373
A lot of times, it-- that-- that--
those issues leads to suicide
1073
01:03:15,541 --> 01:03:20,087
because they feel like
they have failed… themselves,
1074
01:03:20,171 --> 01:03:23,299
they have failed their families,
they have failed their communities.
1075
01:03:27,094 --> 01:03:30,181
[Meshad] When I came back in '71,
after I left Vietnam,
1076
01:03:30,264 --> 01:03:31,974
they hired me to develop a unit,
1077
01:03:32,058 --> 01:03:35,019
the Vietnam Vet Resocialization Unit,
I called it.
1078
01:03:35,603 --> 01:03:37,897
{\an8}I came out to California.
1079
01:03:37,980 --> 01:03:41,734
{\an8}At that time, there were thousands
of Vietnam Air Vets in LA County.
1080
01:03:41,818 --> 01:03:42,860
[pensive music playing]
1081
01:03:42,944 --> 01:03:44,445
I went all over the city,
1082
01:03:44,529 --> 01:03:49,283
and they kept describing this thing,
which we now call PTSD,
1083
01:03:49,367 --> 01:03:51,744
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
1084
01:03:52,703 --> 01:03:55,748
The symptoms were very obvious.
It's traumatic stress.
1085
01:03:56,666 --> 01:04:00,628
It's delayed, and when it hits,
you see violence from the anger.
1086
01:04:00,711 --> 01:04:03,422
You see isolation. You see divorce.
1087
01:04:03,506 --> 01:04:04,966
You see alcoholism.
1088
01:04:05,049 --> 01:04:06,342
You see drug addiction.
1089
01:04:06,425 --> 01:04:08,094
[pensive music continues]
1090
01:04:10,513 --> 01:04:13,015
We had to battle to get that definition.
1091
01:04:14,517 --> 01:04:18,229
[McGhee] I was diagnosed
with PTSD in prison.
1092
01:04:18,312 --> 01:04:21,732
And that was because of the people
that started being concerned
1093
01:04:21,816 --> 01:04:24,402
{\an8}about the number of Vietnam veterans
1094
01:04:24,485 --> 01:04:27,697
{\an8}that's wound up in prison
and on drugs and homeless.
1095
01:04:29,615 --> 01:04:30,908
I was robbing banks.
1096
01:04:30,992 --> 01:04:31,951
[prison gate unlocks]
1097
01:04:32,034 --> 01:04:34,996
But now, my rehab started in prison.
1098
01:04:36,706 --> 01:04:40,877
I was able to apologize
to my family and to my community.
1099
01:04:42,169 --> 01:04:46,340
And accept responsibility for my… conduct.
1100
01:04:48,968 --> 01:04:52,847
{\an8}And the only way you going to change
is you've got to face facts.
1101
01:04:53,931 --> 01:04:56,225
You've got to be able to tell the truth.
1102
01:04:56,893 --> 01:05:00,271
You can face the truth,
and you can change things.
1103
01:05:00,354 --> 01:05:02,481
[gloomy droning music plays]
1104
01:05:02,565 --> 01:05:04,400
{\an8}[Barry] After I had been home a while,
1105
01:05:04,483 --> 01:05:07,111
{\an8}the vets
that I was interacting with decided,
1106
01:05:07,194 --> 01:05:09,822
{\an8}"We gotta organize this
in such a way people can understand us."
1107
01:05:10,615 --> 01:05:12,450
Father of all life…
1108
01:05:12,533 --> 01:05:14,911
[Camil] Vietnam Veterans Against the War
was made up of people
1109
01:05:14,994 --> 01:05:16,370
who'd been to Vietnam,
1110
01:05:16,454 --> 01:05:19,457
who came back from Vietnam during the war,
1111
01:05:19,540 --> 01:05:20,958
and protested the war.
1112
01:05:26,213 --> 01:05:28,424
{\an8}[Barry] We spent years
trying to convince the public
1113
01:05:28,507 --> 01:05:31,010
to listen to GIs who had been in Vietnam.
1114
01:05:31,510 --> 01:05:33,346
And then in 1971,
1115
01:05:33,429 --> 01:05:36,390
so they started having
what were called Winter Soldier Hearings.
1116
01:05:37,141 --> 01:05:39,018
{\an8}[Shimabukuro]
The Winter Soldiers Investigation
1117
01:05:39,101 --> 01:05:41,979
{\an8}was to expose
what was happening in Vietnam,
1118
01:05:42,063 --> 01:05:43,564
{\an8}what really was going on.
1119
01:05:45,858 --> 01:05:49,737
[Camil] I got a telephone call
inviting me to go to Detroit
1120
01:05:49,820 --> 01:05:52,531
to testify
at the Winter Soldier Investigation.
1121
01:05:52,615 --> 01:05:53,908
[captivating music plays]
1122
01:05:53,991 --> 01:05:56,786
And they said, "If there are
any Vietnam veterans that would be willing
1123
01:05:56,869 --> 01:06:00,998
to tell the truth about what they did
in Vietnam, come forward."
1124
01:06:02,041 --> 01:06:03,000
So I went forward.
1125
01:06:04,293 --> 01:06:07,880
[Shimabukuro] Whatever we could say
or do to-- to hopefully end this war
1126
01:06:07,964 --> 01:06:09,382
would be a good thing.
1127
01:06:10,216 --> 01:06:12,885
[young Shimabukuro] We wanna get
into the atrocities, but we also want
1128
01:06:12,969 --> 01:06:16,430
to get into, you know, "What are we
doing over there in the first place?"
1129
01:06:16,514 --> 01:06:18,808
{\an8}How do these atrocities
get to be committed?
1130
01:06:18,891 --> 01:06:20,393
{\an8}You know, they just don't happen.
1131
01:06:20,977 --> 01:06:23,479
[young Camil] I saw one case
where there were two prisoners,
1132
01:06:23,562 --> 01:06:26,857
and one prisoner was, uh,
staked out on the ground,
1133
01:06:27,608 --> 01:06:31,737
{\an8}and he was cut open while he was alive,
and part of his insides were cut out.
1134
01:06:31,821 --> 01:06:33,864
{\an8}And they told the other prisoner,
1135
01:06:33,948 --> 01:06:36,867
{\an8}if he didn't tell them what they wanted
to know, that they would kill him.
1136
01:06:36,951 --> 01:06:39,036
{\an8}I don't know what he said
because he spoke Vietnamese,
1137
01:06:39,120 --> 01:06:41,580
{\an8}but then they killed him
after that anyway.
1138
01:06:41,664 --> 01:06:45,626
[Camil, present day] I came home
from Vietnam in-- in November of '67.
1139
01:06:46,335 --> 01:06:48,546
I became against the war in '71.
1140
01:06:49,714 --> 01:06:52,299
And I'm embarrassed that it took so long.
1141
01:06:52,383 --> 01:06:54,677
You have to be able to live with yourself.
1142
01:06:54,760 --> 01:06:59,015
I couldn't live with myself
supporting a lie. How could I do that?
1143
01:07:01,142 --> 01:07:02,893
[Nash] When I heard his story,
1144
01:07:03,811 --> 01:07:06,605
{\an8}burning houses with people inside,
1145
01:07:07,356 --> 01:07:10,359
{\an8}cutting off their ears
and wearing them on his belt,
1146
01:07:10,443 --> 01:07:12,069
{\an8}decapitating people,
1147
01:07:12,862 --> 01:07:14,905
{\an8}it was a horrible, horrible story.
1148
01:07:16,741 --> 01:07:20,286
And one that I felt
needed to be spoken about,
1149
01:07:20,369 --> 01:07:22,288
and that's when I wrote "Oh! Camil."
1150
01:07:22,371 --> 01:07:24,373
["Oh! Camil" playing]
1151
01:07:24,457 --> 01:07:26,667
♪ Oh, Camil ♪
1152
01:07:27,251 --> 01:07:29,962
♪ Tell me, what did your mother say ♪
1153
01:07:31,505 --> 01:07:35,718
♪ When you left those people
Out in the fields ♪
1154
01:07:35,801 --> 01:07:38,012
♪ Rotting along with the hay…? ♪
1155
01:07:39,096 --> 01:07:40,931
[Camil] My mother hated it,
1156
01:07:41,015 --> 01:07:44,143
uh, because there's a line that says,
"What did your mother say
1157
01:07:44,226 --> 01:07:47,271
when you left all those people
in the fields dying along with the hay?"
1158
01:07:47,354 --> 01:07:48,314
Something like that.
1159
01:07:48,898 --> 01:07:50,107
I just couldn't believe it,
1160
01:07:50,191 --> 01:07:52,985
that this famous person
is singing a song about me.
1161
01:07:53,069 --> 01:07:55,821
I'm a nobody,
and he's singing a song about me.
1162
01:07:57,823 --> 01:08:02,578
[Nash] It was Scott Camil,
who was a very decorated American soldier,
1163
01:08:02,661 --> 01:08:06,791
who finally realized that his heart
was telling him that it was wrong.
1164
01:08:07,500 --> 01:08:10,127
What incredible courage
to make that change.
1165
01:08:10,211 --> 01:08:12,338
And being able to realize,
1166
01:08:12,421 --> 01:08:15,549
"What I did, as horrible as it was,
1167
01:08:16,383 --> 01:08:21,347
can be somewhat rectified
if I fight with all my might against it."
1168
01:08:21,430 --> 01:08:24,141
[crowd clamoring]
1169
01:08:24,225 --> 01:08:26,769
[Camil] If you have demonstrations,
if you block the streets,
1170
01:08:26,852 --> 01:08:27,895
if you raise hell,
1171
01:08:27,978 --> 01:08:29,480
you can get your word out.
1172
01:08:29,563 --> 01:08:32,608
And so we decided to march in Washington.
1173
01:08:33,192 --> 01:08:34,819
{\an8}- [man] What do we want?
- [crowd] Peace!
1174
01:08:34,902 --> 01:08:36,612
{\an8}- [man] When do we want it?
- [crowd] Now!
1175
01:08:36,695 --> 01:08:38,197
{\an8}- [man] What do we want?
- [crowd] Peace!
1176
01:08:38,280 --> 01:08:40,991
- [man] When do we want it?
- [crowd cheers and applauds]
1177
01:08:41,075 --> 01:08:43,077
[bold classical music plays]
1178
01:08:48,833 --> 01:08:52,002
[man 2] We're trying to bring home
the fact that the Vietnam veterans
1179
01:08:52,086 --> 01:08:55,297
who served in that war
are disgusted with it, are sickened by it,
1180
01:08:55,381 --> 01:08:58,759
and want it ended now
before another person dies,
1181
01:08:58,843 --> 01:09:02,346
before any more Vietnamese die,
and before any more GIs die.
1182
01:09:02,429 --> 01:09:04,014
…United States Marine Corps…
1183
01:09:04,098 --> 01:09:08,060
[Camil] Vietnam veterans marched
on their capital, denounced the war,
1184
01:09:08,144 --> 01:09:10,062
and threw their medals away.
1185
01:09:10,688 --> 01:09:12,690
Tim Bagwell from Sacramento, California,
1186
01:09:12,773 --> 01:09:15,442
still on active duty,
and I say, get the hell out!
1187
01:09:15,526 --> 01:09:16,861
[crowd] Yeah!
1188
01:09:16,944 --> 01:09:18,070
One Purple Heart.
1189
01:09:19,113 --> 01:09:20,489
[crowd cheers]
1190
01:09:20,573 --> 01:09:23,200
This is for the brothers
and sisters at camp.
1191
01:09:27,621 --> 01:09:30,207
[Ellis] We had each other,
and we had each other's backs,
1192
01:09:30,291 --> 01:09:33,210
{\an8}but our country didn't have our back.
1193
01:09:35,171 --> 01:09:38,757
{\an8}This weekend, portions
of a highly classified Pentagon document
1194
01:09:38,841 --> 01:09:40,968
{\an8}came to light for all the world to see,
1195
01:09:41,051 --> 01:09:43,429
{\an8}brought cries of outrage from Washington.
1196
01:09:43,512 --> 01:09:47,057
{\an8}The New York Times began publishing
parts of a voluminous report
1197
01:09:47,141 --> 01:09:48,559
that the Pentagon had drawn up
1198
01:09:48,642 --> 01:09:52,771
on the causes and conduct
of American involvement in Vietnam.
1199
01:09:52,855 --> 01:09:55,482
{\an8}[suspenseful music playing]
1200
01:09:59,236 --> 01:10:00,905
{\an8}[Weiner] Back in 1967,
1201
01:10:00,988 --> 01:10:04,992
{\an8}Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara
ordered up the Pentagon Papers,
1202
01:10:05,075 --> 01:10:06,202
{\an8}as we know them…
1203
01:10:09,038 --> 01:10:11,165
which was a massive study,
1204
01:10:11,248 --> 01:10:12,875
an encyclopedia,
1205
01:10:12,958 --> 01:10:16,420
of the history
of American involvement in Vietnam.
1206
01:10:17,755 --> 01:10:21,926
{\an8}And it concluded that the United States
was not going to win the war in Vietnam.
1207
01:10:24,178 --> 01:10:25,971
{\an8}And then in 1971,
1208
01:10:26,055 --> 01:10:27,973
{\an8}some of that information
began to leak out.
1209
01:10:28,057 --> 01:10:31,852
[man] I think the, uh, publication
of those documents is long overdue,
1210
01:10:31,936 --> 01:10:35,522
and to my mind it indicates
that, uh, something far from the truth
1211
01:10:35,606 --> 01:10:38,442
has been disclosed to the American public
in the last, uh, decade.
1212
01:10:38,525 --> 01:10:42,321
[Rather] For journalists,
it was the kind of solid information
1213
01:10:42,863 --> 01:10:46,075
that's almost impossible
to come by on a regular basis.
1214
01:10:47,409 --> 01:10:49,912
The Pentagon Papers demonstrated the fact
1215
01:10:49,995 --> 01:10:54,083
{\an8}that those in power
had continually been lying to people
1216
01:10:54,166 --> 01:10:56,919
about what they knew
was the situation in Vietnam.
1217
01:10:57,002 --> 01:10:59,046
I feel like everybody
should know what's going on,
1218
01:10:59,129 --> 01:11:01,298
and I don't like the idea
of our government having
1219
01:11:01,382 --> 01:11:06,303
all these, um, secrets,
separate secrets from the people.
1220
01:11:06,387 --> 01:11:07,972
We-- The people that repre--
1221
01:11:08,055 --> 01:11:10,557
that are in the government
are supposed to represent us.
1222
01:11:11,392 --> 01:11:13,769
{\an8}[Morton Halperin] We learned
how big the gap was
1223
01:11:13,852 --> 01:11:17,439
{\an8}between what presidents were saying
and what they believed.
1224
01:11:17,523 --> 01:11:18,899
{\an8}[discordant music playing]
1225
01:11:18,983 --> 01:11:21,610
{\an8}That every American president,
from Truman on,
1226
01:11:21,694 --> 01:11:23,404
{\an8}lied to the American people.
1227
01:11:26,615 --> 01:11:29,493
The thing, though, that, Henry,
that to me is just unconscionable,
1228
01:11:29,576 --> 01:11:32,496
this is treasonable action on the part
of the bastards that put it out!
1229
01:11:32,579 --> 01:11:33,414
[Kissinger] Exactly.
1230
01:11:33,497 --> 01:11:35,249
[Nixon] Doesn't it involve
secure information,
1231
01:11:35,332 --> 01:11:36,709
a lot of other things?
1232
01:11:36,792 --> 01:11:39,253
What kind of people would do such things?
1233
01:11:39,795 --> 01:11:41,964
[Hughes] In 1971,
1234
01:11:42,047 --> 01:11:46,844
Nixon becomes the first president
to have really wall-to-wall recording
1235
01:11:47,553 --> 01:11:50,222
of all his conversations
in the Oval Office.
1236
01:11:52,182 --> 01:11:56,687
{\an8}H.R. Haldeman decides
that Nixon needs a voice-activated system
1237
01:11:57,313 --> 01:11:59,815
'cause Nixon just will never remember
to turn it on
1238
01:11:59,898 --> 01:12:02,067
and will never remember to turn it off.
1239
01:12:02,151 --> 01:12:05,029
So this is a great boon for historians
1240
01:12:05,112 --> 01:12:07,781
because Nixon put in the system
and more or less forgot about it.
1241
01:12:08,490 --> 01:12:09,366
[tape machine clicks]
1242
01:12:11,952 --> 01:12:15,247
The prime suspect, according to
your friend Rostow you're quoting,
1243
01:12:15,331 --> 01:12:17,207
is a gentleman by the name of Ellsberg,
1244
01:12:17,291 --> 01:12:20,794
{\an8}who is a left-winger
that's now with the RAND Corporation,
1245
01:12:20,878 --> 01:12:23,339
{\an8}who also has a set of these documents.
1246
01:12:24,089 --> 01:12:26,091
{\an8}[Nixon] Subpoena them. Christ, get them.
1247
01:12:27,634 --> 01:12:31,972
[Bass] Daniel Ellsberg was one
of the authors of the Pentagon Papers.
1248
01:12:32,556 --> 01:12:34,558
[people shouting]
1249
01:12:35,976 --> 01:12:38,062
{\an8}[Cronkite] In Boston, Dr. Daniel Ellsberg,
1250
01:12:38,145 --> 01:12:40,481
{\an8}the man named
as the source of the Pentagon copy
1251
01:12:40,564 --> 01:12:42,232
{\an8}that appeared in the New York Times,
1252
01:12:42,316 --> 01:12:45,027
turned himself in today
to federal authorities.
1253
01:12:45,611 --> 01:12:47,780
[ominous music playing]
1254
01:12:47,863 --> 01:12:49,823
[Ellsberg] How can you measure
the jeopardy I'm in,
1255
01:12:49,907 --> 01:12:52,451
whether it's 10 years,
20 years, 115 years,
1256
01:12:52,534 --> 01:12:54,995
rather ludicrous, uh, amounts like that,
1257
01:12:55,079 --> 01:13:00,709
to the penalty that has been paid already
by 50,000 American families here
1258
01:13:01,335 --> 01:13:03,921
and hundreds of thousands
of Vietnamese families?
1259
01:13:04,004 --> 01:13:06,465
[fire crackling]
1260
01:13:06,548 --> 01:13:09,635
And it also was a test
of journalists' freedom and independence
1261
01:13:09,718 --> 01:13:13,055
because the Nixon administration
made a tremendous effort
1262
01:13:13,138 --> 01:13:15,766
to keep the Pentagon Papers
from being known.
1263
01:13:16,683 --> 01:13:19,311
{\an8}[reporter] How do you characterize
this suit by the government?
1264
01:13:19,853 --> 01:13:21,980
{\an8}As a suit for censorship.
1265
01:13:26,318 --> 01:13:28,153
[Rather] And in a famous court decision,
1266
01:13:28,237 --> 01:13:33,700
the Supreme Court ruled that the papers
could be published in newspapers.
1267
01:13:34,326 --> 01:13:36,495
[intriguing rhythmic music playing]
1268
01:13:43,168 --> 01:13:45,129
We're up against an enemy, a conspiracy.
1269
01:13:45,212 --> 01:13:46,755
They're using any means.
1270
01:13:46,839 --> 01:13:49,716
We are going to use any means.
Is that clear?
1271
01:13:51,927 --> 01:13:53,512
[Weiner] Nixon was paranoid.
1272
01:13:54,221 --> 01:13:57,099
Now, even paranoids have enemies,
and he certainly had them.
1273
01:13:57,808 --> 01:13:59,893
He made lists of his enemies.
1274
01:14:00,978 --> 01:14:05,649
{\an8}Nixon sets up his own little bucket shop,
the White House Plumbers,
1275
01:14:06,442 --> 01:14:09,069
{\an8}to conduct political warfare
against the American people
1276
01:14:10,112 --> 01:14:14,324
through espionage, through sabotage,
through bugging, through burglaries.
1277
01:14:16,368 --> 01:14:18,579
Plumbers break into the office
1278
01:14:18,662 --> 01:14:23,083
{\an8}of Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist
in California…
1279
01:14:27,129 --> 01:14:31,508
{\an8}in order to steal
Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatric files,
1280
01:14:31,592 --> 01:14:35,053
which would then be used
to blackmail Daniel Ellsberg.
1281
01:14:36,638 --> 01:14:40,601
Fortunately for Ellsberg,
the, uh, Plumbers found nothing.
1282
01:14:44,688 --> 01:14:48,484
{\an8}Ellsberg releasing
the Pentagon Papers to the public
1283
01:14:48,567 --> 01:14:50,944
was an extremely important event.
1284
01:14:55,449 --> 01:14:58,327
I think we live
with the consequences today.
1285
01:14:59,536 --> 01:15:01,997
We don't believe
a word the government says.
1286
01:15:03,332 --> 01:15:05,209
[anxious droning music plays]
1287
01:15:05,292 --> 01:15:09,588
[Canfora] When you have American leaders
admitting that the war was unwinnable,
1288
01:15:09,671 --> 01:15:12,508
it's a bitter pill to swallow
that they knew.
1289
01:15:12,591 --> 01:15:13,967
They knew all along.
1290
01:15:23,352 --> 01:15:26,438
We realized that our heroes
were just liars.
1291
01:15:27,981 --> 01:15:30,984
I think we recognized
we'd lost our moral compass,
1292
01:15:31,068 --> 01:15:32,653
and we haven't recovered.
1293
01:15:35,948 --> 01:15:39,159
[Bass] The Pentagon Papers
helped turn the tide in the war.
1294
01:15:43,413 --> 01:15:46,166
It also leads directly to Watergate.
1295
01:15:48,585 --> 01:15:51,672
{\an8}[Halperin] Well, Nixon sets up
the Plumbers to go after Ellsberg,
1296
01:15:51,755 --> 01:15:53,966
{\an8}and then the Plumbers are involved
1297
01:15:54,049 --> 01:15:55,717
in the break-in at the Watergate.
1298
01:15:55,801 --> 01:15:58,512
{\an8}[reporter 1] On the sixth floor
of the building behind me,
1299
01:15:58,595 --> 01:16:00,931
{\an8}five men with electronic gear
1300
01:16:01,014 --> 01:16:04,768
were caught in the offices
of the Democratic National Committee.
1301
01:16:06,019 --> 01:16:08,355
[Weiner] Less than a year later
is the Watergate break-in.
1302
01:16:08,939 --> 01:16:11,066
Many terrible things happen
in the interim,
1303
01:16:11,149 --> 01:16:13,402
but that's when the clock starts ticking.
1304
01:16:13,485 --> 01:16:17,656
[reporter 2] The Army One, the helicopter,
just before the Nixons appeared…
1305
01:16:17,739 --> 01:16:21,201
[Weiner] So, the road to Watergate
begins in Vietnam.
1306
01:16:22,494 --> 01:16:24,454
[Nash] It's the empire crumbling.
1307
01:16:25,914 --> 01:16:30,419
[bold droning synth music plays]
1308
01:18:41,341 --> 01:18:43,969
[protesters shouting indistinctly]