NARRATOR: This film documents
the Vietnam War in the words of Americans who served there. It features home movies and
rare archival footage collected during a worldwide
search and now presented in high definition. Many scenes are
graphic in nature, and viewer discretion
is advised. [MUSIC - THE CHAMBERS BROTHERS,
"TIME HAS COME TODAY"] (SINGING) Ah! Now the time has come. Time! No place to run. Time! I might get burned
up by the sun. Time! But I had my fun. MAN: What do we want?
Freedom! CROWD: Yeah! MAN: What do we want? Equality! Yeah! I was in World War II,
fella, and I served for years! I know what it's about. What have you been doing? I have a son that's
going to go into the army. [siren blaring] [theme music] LYNDON JOHNSON: We fight
because we must fight if we are to live in a world where
every country can shape its own destiny. PROTESTER: Vietnam
is not our war! We must say no! MAN: We will not be defeated. PROTESTER: We gotta go! Go! Go! [gunfire] [theme music] WOMAN: You have to stand
on those principles. And if it's necessary to
[inaudible] the principles-- RICHARD NIXON: We today
have concluded an agreement to end the war and bring
peace with honor in Vietnam. SOLDIER: Get down! Get down! Get down! [theme music] MAN: We hope that
peace will come swift. But that is in the
hands of others. And we must be prepared for
a long continued conflict. [rolling thunder] JOE GALLOWAY: You know,
they say the World War II guys were the best generation. Well, those who fought
every war since then were the best of
their generation. They went, they served,
they sacrificed, and they fought like tigers. They were noble. [MUSIC - THE SOUND EXPLOSION,
"LITTLE BIT O' SOUL"] (SINGING) Now when
you're feeling low and the fish won't bite, you
need a little bit of soul to put you right. You got to make like you wanna-- ACTOR (AS BARRY ROMO):
Right before school let out, all my teachers wanted
to talk about was the battle between
communism and democracy taking place in Vietnam. Most of us had barely
heard of the place before. I may not know
much about Vietnam, but communism is something else. Growing up during the
red scares of the '50s, we've all heard about the
horrible things that happened in communist countries,
especially kids like me. I was raised-- BARRY ROMO: --a very
strict Catholic. I was an altar boy at eight,
and 12 years of Catholic school. Part of Catholic school was
reading anticommunist books. They would talk about
how the communists would go into villages and chop
the tongues of priests out so that they
couldn't teach the-- ACTOR (AS BARRY
ROMO): --"Our Father." So with that kind of
stuff going on in Vietnam, I can see why they want to
kick the communists out. I suppose it's a
threat, all right. But at the same
time, to be honest, it feels kind of far away. Even for me, it's hard
to imagine how something on the other side of the world
could really affect any of us in San Bernardino. [MUSIC - THE SOUND EXPLOSION,
"LITTLE BIT O' SOUL"] (SINGING) A little bit o' soul,
yeah, a little bit o' soul. MICHAEL C. HALL: America's
involvement in Vietnam began in 1954, when a
political treaty divides the country in two. Communist China and
the Soviet Union support the North, while the
United States backs the South. [gunfire] Fearing the spread of communism
throughout the region, Presidents Eisenhower,
Kennedy, and Johnson provide South Vietnam with
military and financial assistance. [gunfire] [siren blaring] By the spring of 1964,
Vietnam is becoming a hot spot in the Cold War. More than 16,000 US advisors are
training South Vietnam's army to battle a homegrown guerrilla
force known as the Viet Cong or VC. With the support of
the North, the VC are working to overthrow the
South Vietnamese government and reunite the country
under communist rule. But what has been primarily a
Civil War is about to change. [music playing] [radio chatter] [siren blaring] [radio chatter] [music playing] MAN (ON RADIO):
Privilege is 17471. [explosions] ACTOR (AS BOB CLEWELL): The
first time I came out here, it was almost hard to believe
that such a pristine landscape could really be hiding
tens of thousands of enemy infiltrators. Only my South
Vietnamese counterparts were quick to remind
me of the truth-- that they've been
fighting and dying in these jungles
for almost 10 years, struggling to stop the North
Vietnamese and Viet Cong from taking over their country. MICHAEL C. HALL: 24-year-old
Lieutenant Bob Clewell is serving as a military advisor
to the ARVN, South Vietnam's army. ACTOR (AS BOB
CLEWELL): Our orders are to accompany the ARVN
units we're assigned to-- BOB CLEWELL: --on
field operations. Our primary purpose
for being there was not to engage the enemy. Our primary purpose
for being there was to advise the
friendly nation or force and let them engage the enemy. That's how it kind
of got started. [gunfire] MICHAEL C. HALL: By
the fall of 1964, the South Vietnamese government
is in political disarray, while its military is crumbling
under the advances of nearly 150,000 Viet Cong soldiers
who control nearly half of the South
Vietnamese countryside. [ominous music] Supplied with weapons and
reinforcements from the North, the Viet Cong are farmers
by day and fighters by night, capable of
launching hit-and-run attacks and then melting back into
the jungle undetected. Both the Viet Cong and
the North Vietnamese viewed the Gulf of
Tonkin Resolution as a declaration of
war by the Americans. And they intend to fight. [angry yelling] In the predawn hours
of November 1, 1964, the Viet Cong launch
a surprise attack on one of the four US air
bases in South Vietnam. It is their first direct
assault against US personnel inside the country. Four Americans are killed. ACTOR (AS JOE GALLOWAY): We had
advisors and military assets in South Vietnam for years. The Viet Cong had never
intentionally tried to destroy them. MICHAEL C. HALL: 23-year-old
Joe Galloway is a correspondent for United Press International. For years, he's been closely
following America's growing involvement in Vietnam. JOE GALLOWAY: We were
getting more deeply involved in that situation in that it
was going to become America's war, my generation's war. And I had always said to
myself that if a war came along during my time, I
wanted to cover it. I started driving my
bosses absolutely crazy, demanding, begging, pleading for
a transfer to get in position for the war I was
sure was coming. [music playing] [siren blaring] REPORTER (ON RADIO): An allied
force of more than 8,000 men today-- MICHAEL C. HALL: On
February 7, 1965, Viet Cong forces strike
a second US air base. [explosion] Eight Americans are killed,
and another 126 wounded. [ominous music] [explosion] Weeks after the Pleiku
attack, President Johnson authorizes a large scale bombing
campaign inside North Vietnam. Code named Operation
Rolling Thunder, the strategy is twofold-- cripple the North
Vietnamese war effort by destroying military
and industrial targets, and crush their will to
fight by demonstrating the awesome extent
of American power. US command believes both
objectives can be accomplished in just eight weeks. ACTOR (AS KEITH CONNOLLY): This
operation may be only scheduled the last eight weeks, but I
intend to get in as much flight time as I can before it's over. MICHAEL C. HALL: 31-year-old
Captain Keith Connolly is flying an F-100 Supersaver
with the 416th Tactical Fighter Squadron as part of
Operation Rolling Thunder. KEITH CONNOLLY: I had
never been to war. In fact, I didn't understand
what war was all about. So, obviously, we were very,
very apprehensive about this. But everybody thought in
the back of their mind that the war was
going to be over. It wouldn't take long
for us to show up with our awesome firepower
and do the things that we had demonstrated out in our
training ranges that would bring the enemy to his knees. They weren't going to be
able to sustain themselves with this awesome capability
of the American forces. [explosions] MICHAEL C. HALL: But the
start of the Rolling Thunder has brought an
unexpected problem. [radio chatter] The American pilots and planes
stationed inside South Vietnam are vulnerable to
Viet Cong attack. So to protect
them, US commanders want ground troops sent to
Vietnam for the first time. They ask President
Johnson to approve. Johnson knows that
the ground troops will be seen by the American
public, as well as North Vietnam, as a step
towards a larger war. [ominous music] LYNDON JOHNSON: Every night,
before I turn out the lights to sleep, I ask
myself this question. Have I done everything I
can to help unite the world, to try to bring peace and
hope to all the peoples of the world? Have I done enough? [music playing] MICHAEL C. HALL: On
March 8, 1965, at 8:15 AM, 3,500 Marines with the
9th Expiditionary Brigade land in South Vietnam. For the first time
since the Korean War, battle-ready American
ground troops are setting foot on
the Asian mainland. SOLDIER: Yup. Down that way. [inaudible] ACTOR (AS JOE GALLOWAY):
Half of these guys never even heard of Vietnam
before they got here. Now they're getting
one heck of a tour. MICHAEL C. HALL: United Press
International correspondent Joe Galloway is with a platoon
of 40 Marines patrolling outside the US air
base at Da Nang. Their orders are
strictly defensive. SOLDIER: Woo! Woo! Shit! I see 'em landing. ACTOR (AS JOE GALLOWAY):
I nagged the hell out of my bosses to get here
and cover this conflict. But now that I'm here,
the VC don't really seem like that much of a threat. I don't think any
one of these Marines has even seen a communist yet. I know I sure as hell haven't. But, then again, the VC
are guerrilla fighters. They know how to
hide in plain sight. SOLDIER: Woo! [music playing] Back at base, guys are hanging
out in each other's hooches, screwing around and
listening to music. It feels more like
a college dorm room than barracks in a war zone. [MUSIC - THE ISLEY BROTHERS,
"SHOUT"] (SINGING) You know you
make me want to shout! Kick my heels up and shout! Throw my hands up and shout! Throw my head back and shout! Come on, now. Shout! Don't forget to say you will. Don't forget to say yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Say you will. Say it right now, baby. Say you will. Come on, come on. ACTOR (AS JOE GALLOWAY): A lot
of guys keep coming up to me, wanting to tell me their
names and hometowns, so hopefully I'll mention
them in an article and their folks back in
the States will see it. I think it's kind of cool. Sort of makes me
feel like Ernie Pyle. He won a Pulitzer for
reporting on the grunt's eye view in World War II. I'd read Ernie Pyle's columns
and I thought if you're going to cover a war-- JOE GALLOWAY: --that's
the way to do it. I was very impressed with how
he covered his generation's war. And I wanted to do
it the same way-- covering the soldiers as
far forward as you can get. [music playing] ACTOR (AS JOE
GALLOWAY): These guys all fully expect
to get the job done and be home in a
couple of months. Although, for my
sake, I kind of hope it doesn't end too quickly,
before I get a chance to write about some real action. [playful chatter] [engines roaring] [radio chatter] When I first left
for this assignment, I told my wife I'd be home
before the summer's over. I figured there was no
way a little third world country would even come close
to competing with our firepower. Now I'm starting to
see how wrong that was. [music playing] MICHAEL C. HALL: Captain Keith
Connolly and his fellow pilots are three weeks into
Operation Rolling Thunder. The eight week long air campaign
intended to bomb North Vietnam into submission. So far, the results are
falling short of expectations. [engines roaring] [explosion] [gunfire] [radio chatter] [explosions] [gunfire] [faint explosions] ACTOR (AS KEITH
CONNOLLY): It doesn't seem to matter how much
destruction we inflict. The North Vietnamese
rebuild everything. And then we get sent back
up here to hit it again. There's a frustration
level on behalf-- KEITH CONNOLLY: --on
behalf of the pilots. Sometimes we'd be going
back to the same areas, hitting the same targets
repeatedly, and not understanding why we were being
targeted into the same areas over and over. And it dawned upon us
that this war was not going to be over in
a short few months. [sirens blaring] REPORTER (ON RADIO): An allied
force of more than 8,000 men today tightened
its hold on the-- MICHAEL C. HALL:
On March 30, 1965, the Viet Cong explode a car
bomb in front of the US embassy in Saigon. 22 people are killed,
and 183 more are injured. Over the next three
months, VC forces continue to attack US and
South Vietnamese installations throughout the country, while
the South Vietnamese army proves powerless to stop them. [gunfire] With South Vietnam
nearing collapse, the head of US
operations in Vietnam, General William Westmoreland,
makes a momentous request. He asks President
Johnson for permission to take the offensive
and, for the first time, use US ground troops
to seek out the enemy and drive them out of the South. [music playing] On July 28, 1965 in a
press conference televised to the nation, Johnson
announces his decision. [applause] I have asked the commanding
general, General Westmoreland, what more he needs to meet
this mounting aggression. He has told me, and we
will meet his needs. [music playing] I have today ordered to
Vietnam the Air Mobile Division and certain other forces,
which will raise our fighting strength from 75,000 to
125,000 men almost immediately. Additional forces
will be needed later. And they will be
sent, as requested. This will make it necessary to
increase our active fighting forces by raising
the monthly draft call from 17,000, over a period
of time, to 35,000 per month. [music playing] MICHAEL C. HALL: By
the fall of 1965, 150,000 American soldiers have
descended upon South Vietnam. 250,000 North
Vietnamese and Viet Cong are poised to meet them. The newly arriving
Americans are about to get more than they bargained for. ACTOR (AS JOE GALLOWAY): My
god, you can feel the excitement building. We finally got intelligence
that 200 NVA soldiers are in the hills of
the Chu Pong Mountain. MICHAEL C. HALL: UPI
reporter, Joe Galloway, joined up with the 1st Cavalry,
one of the Army's new Air Mobile Assault Units. After months of fighting
small, frustrating skirmishes, US forces are
preparing to launch their first major
assault against 200 North Vietnamese soldiers, using
an experimental new tactic-- air mobility. Equipped with UH-1
Hueys, the 1st Cavalry is designed to insert soldiers
into combat using helicopters. For this encounter, they
will make their first attempt at inserting a force of 450
Americans to fight the 200 NVA. But as the men
prepare for battle, a potentially serious
problem weighs on the mind of the commanding
officer, Colonel Hal Moore. The spot where they will land,
a small clearing designated Landing Zone X-ray, was chosen
because of its close proximity to the enemy. It is too small, however,
to land more than eight helicopters at a time. With each chopper able to
carry only about six men, it will take several hours
to get all 450 soldiers on the ground. JOE GALLOWAY: Any commanders
fear, in a case like that, if you land and you've only
got a few of your troops, less than 100, and the enemy comes
on you, you're in a bind. If you go down, the LZ is-- the landing zone is closed. And whoever's in there dies. [explosions] MICHAEL C. HALL: At 10:19
AM, Firebase Falcon-- five miles from
the landing zone-- lets loose a vicious
barrage of artillery into the enemy positions. The 28 minute onslaught
is meant to clear the LZ so the helicopters
can land safely. [explosions] At 10:35 AM, the first
US choppers lift off and begin the 13-minute
flight to the landing zone. [radio chatter] Four miles outside of
LZ X-ray, the choppers drop to treetop level. In front of them
lays a landscape of smoke and exploding
US ordinance. The barrage is intricately
timed to stop just one minute before the soldiers
hit the ground. If the timing is off
by even a few seconds, they will risk being hit
with their own artillery. [faint explosions] JOE GALLOWAY: I was
staying close to the tent where the radios were at the-- ACTOR (AS JOE GALLOWAY):
--at brigade headquarters, so that I could hear if
anything started happening. [radio chatter] No! Number 200! ACTOR (AS JOE
GALLOWAY): Bravo company is sweeping the
area around the LZ. So far, all is quiet. Already, the choppers are
delivering the second load of soldiers. Everything seems to be
going according to plan, until 11:15 AM. [faint explosions] [radio chatter] Bravo's first platoon captures
a single unarmed NVA soldier. He's immediately taken
to the command center for interrogation. [radio chatter] At 11:20, the prisoner makes
an incredible revelation. He tells the interpreter there
are three full battalions of North Vietnamese
soldiers on the mountain, and that all of them want
very much to kill Americans. It's unbelievable. Three battalions-- that's
almost 1,600 soldiers. No one can believe
what they're hearing. We've got less than
200 men on the ground, meaning we're
outnumbered eight to one. [radio chatter] [explosion] [gunfire] MICHAEL C. HALL: Within minutes,
US and North Vietnamese forces are locked in vicious combat. [gunfire] [explosion] While the men on the
ground desperately attempt to keep the North
Vietnamese from overrunning the LZ, the pilots
of the 1st Cavalry continue to ferry in the
remainder of the 450 men amid a vicious torrent of
enemy bullets and rockets. There are things about battle
that movies cannot teach you. And that is the true,
horrendous noise of battle. [gunfire] Bullets cracking,
the bombs landing, artillery shells exploding-- [explosion] --people screaming. It's just a cacophony
that's almost deafening. [explosions] MICHAEL C. HALL: After
nearly eight hours of battle, casualties are mounting and
supplies are running low. [music playing] But with night fast approaching,
all further landings must be called off until dawn. The 450 battered Americans
are on their own, and will have to survive
the night in the face of an overwhelming enemy. [crickets chirping] [radio chatter] ACTOR (AS JOE GALLOWAY):
Last night, the enemy launched several small
attacks against our alliance. The dead still lay
where they were killed. It's too dangerous
to try and move them. MICHAEL C. HALL: Joe Galloway
is the only correspondent at Landing Zone X-ray. All of the 450 soldiers
on the battlefield, 85 are already dead or wounded. Those still alive
are desperately in need of ammunition
and supplies. ACTOR (AS JOE GALLOWAY): Word
is that reinforcements are going to try and land a few miles away
and try to fight their way over to us. God, I hope they make it. MICHAEL C. HALL: At
the base of the Chu Pong Mountain are nearly
1,600 enemy soldiers. A few yards in front of
them stands only a thin line of Americans, pounded and
exhausted from nearly 24 hours of constant fighting. The enemy's sporadic
attacks during the night were to determine the most
vulnerable points in the US lines. Now they know the best
way to reach them, and they are preparing to
put this knowledge to use. Yup. We're going that way. [inaudible] [radio chatter] [gunfire] [radio chatter] [explosions] ACTOR (AS JOE
GALLOWAY): At 6:50 AM, 200 NVA soldiers hit C Company's
first and second platoons. [gunfire] Company Commander
Bob Edwards was shot through the
shoulder leading his men in a counterattack. His XO, Lieutenant
Arrington, runs up to assist. But within minutes, he is also
shot right through the chest. The enemy is within 75
yards of their lines. Some of the men are down
to hand-to-hand combat. [explosion] Go this way! This way! That way! ACTOR (AS JOE GALLOWAY):
7:15, NVA soldiers hit Delta Company right where
they connect with Charlie Company. [explosion] The line is starting
to break down. Enemy's bullets are passing
was passing through the command center-- --was passing right
through the command area, where we were sitting. [gunfire] And I just fell over on my belly
and got as flat as I could. [gunfire] And, finally, Colonol Moore
looked at the Air Force Liaison Lieutenant, Charlie Hastings. Moore looks at him and
says call Broken Arrow. Broken Arrow was a code
at that time, meant that an American unit was
in dire danger of being overrun and wiped out. And when that call was given,
every available fighter bomber in Vietnam diverted to that
place to deliver their bombs. [radio chatter] [gunfire] [explosion] It was about then that I heard
Colonel Moore yelling, "Get him off of us, Charlie! Get him off of us! Call that SOB off!" And I looked up, and there
are two F-100 Supersaver Jets like this. They're coming directly at us. [music and vocalizing] The lead plane has already
punched the pickle switch that'll turned loose
canisters of napalm. [explosions] Hal was trying to stop the
second guy from dumping his on us. But, unfortunately for two or
three engineer demolition guys, they were right in the path. And in that flame I could
see these two men, dancing and screaming. And someone yelled,
"Get this man's feet! And I reached down and picked
him up and his boots crumbled. The flesh on his
ankles just peeled off. I could feel the ankle bone
in the palm of my hands. And we carried him over
to where the wounded were. He was a young specialist named
Jim Nakayama out of Rigby, Idaho-- married. Wife had a baby that week. He died two days later. That boy is my nightmare. [chopper blades whirring] [radio chatter] [music playing] ACTOR (AS JOE GALLOWAY):
I'm sitting here watching The Last grisly
moments of this battle. MICHAEL C. HALL: UPI
reporter, Joe Galloway, is surveying the aftermath and
Landing Zone X-ray in Ia Drang Valley. [music playing] ACTOR (AS JOE GALLOWAY):
A young specialist named Arthur Viera is bleeding
from wounds all over his body. The most serious is a bullet
hole right through his throat. The battalion surgeon,
Captain Carrera, performs an emergency
tracheostomy. [music playing] A few yards away is Clinton
Polley, farm boy from Iowa. He grenade shrapnel
and gunshot wounds, but never left his post
at one of the M-60s that kept the 2nd platoon alive. These are some of the bravest,
most dedicated soldiers I have ever seen. MICHAEL C. HALL: Despite
the friendly fire incident, the close in bombing
support from US aircraft succeeded in pushing
the enemy back, and allowed the Americans
to regain the offensive. America's first major battle
with the North Vietnamese has ended in victory. ACTOR ( AS JOE GALLOWAY): One
soldier pulls a small American flag from his pack and hangs a
shattered, blown up tree stump. He looks at his
buddies and grins. "Just like Iwo Jima,"
he says, "Another battle won for the United States." You're damn right. These men have accomplished
something extraordinary. Just like their fathers on the
beaches of Tarawa or Normandy, they fought an incredible
battle against incredible odds and came out on top. Now I've seen for myself
what war is really about. It's about how a
farm boy from Iowa hangs onto a machine
gun for eight hours so he can protect
his injured buddies, even when he himself is
wounded and bleeding. Or how an African-American
boy from Charlotte and a white boy
from Houston decide they'd rather die together than
abandon the other in the midst of battle. Or it's about men who love
their country, but even more than that, love one another. I left that Landing Zone X-ray-- JOE GALLOWAY: --battlefield
knowing that young Americans had laid down their lives
so that I might live. They had sacrificed themselves
for me and their buddies. What I was learning was that
there are some events that are so overwhelming, that you
can't simply be a witness. You can't be above it. You can't be neutral. You can't be untouched
by it, simple as that. You see it, you live
it, you experience it, and it will be with
you all of your days. [radio chatter] [gunfire] MICHAEL C. HALL: Over
the following two days, additional battles will be
fought in the Ia Drang Valley, engaging even more NVA soldiers. By the time the fighting
ends, a total of 234 Americans lay dead. With enemy deaths
estimated at nearly 3,000, US commanders come up
with a new strategy. The lopsided 12 to 1
kill ratio convinces them that in this war
without a front, body count will be the
measure of success. And the helicopter, which has
proven capable of operating in the midst of intense battle,
will be an important weapon in executing this strategy
US commanders now believe they have found the blueprint
for total victory in Vietnam. [chopper blades whirring]
