ANNOUNCER: 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 playing] [explosions] Who got hit? Who got hit? [shouting] [gunshots] (SINGING) Now
the time has come. Time! No place to run. Time! I might just burn up by the sun. Time! But I've had my fun. PROTESTER: When do want freedom? When do want equality? [interposing voices] 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. [sirens] LYNDON B. 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! LYNDON B. JOHNSON: We
will not be defeated. [men shouting] [dramatic music] WOMAN: You have to
stand on that principle, and if it's necessary,
to die on the principle! RICHARD NIXON: We today
have concluded an agreement to end the war and bring
peace with honor in Vietnam. [gunfire and shouting] MAN: Get down! Get down! [dramatic music] LYNDON B. JOHNSON: We hope
that peace will come swiftly-- but that is in the
hands of others, and we must be prepared for
a long, continued conflict. [thunder crashing] 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 - MUSIC EXPLOSION,
"LITTLE BIT OF SOUL"] Now, when you're feeling
low and the fish won't bite, you need a little bit of
soul to put you right. You gotta 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 happen in communist countries,
especially kids like me. I was really raised-- BARRY ROMO: I was raised
a very strict Catholic. I was an altar boy at 8, and
12 years of Catholic school. Part of Catholic school was
reading anti-communist books. They would talk about
how the communists would go into villages and chopped
the tongues of priests out so that they
couldn't teach-- ACTOR AS BARRY ROMO: --couldn't
teach the "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. (SINGING) A little bit of soul. Little bit of soul, yeah. A little bit of-- [ominous music] NARRATOR: 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. 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 hotspot 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. [non-english shouting] [dramatic music] [radio chatter] [alarm blaring] MAN (ON RADIO):
[inaudible] 1-7-4-7-1. [artillery firing] [engines roaring] 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 had 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. NARRATOR: 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-- BOB CLEWELL: --units
we're assigned to 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 and shouting] NARRATOR: 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. 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 view the Gulf of Tonkin
Resolution as a declaration of war by the Americans,
and they intend to fight. [men shouting] [fire crackling] 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. [helicopters whirring] ACTOR AS JOE GALLOWAY: We had
advisors and military assets in South Vietnam for years,
and the Viet Cong had never intentionally tried
to destroy them. NARRATOR: 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 and 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. [dramatic music] [explosion] [siren blaring] NEWSCASTER: An allied force
of more than 8,000 men today-- NARRATOR: On February 7,
1965, Viet Cong forces strike a second US airbase. Eight Americans are killed
and another 126 wounded. [engine roaring] [explosion] Weeks after the Pleiku
attack, President Johnson authorizes a large-scale bombing
campaign inside North Vietnam. Codenamed 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. [ominous music] [explosion] ACTOR AS KEITH CONNOLLY: This
operation may be only scheduled to last eight weeks, but I
intend to get in as much flight time as I can before it's over. NARRATOR: 31-year-old
Captain Keith Connolly is flying an F-100 Super Sabre
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] [engines roaring] [alarm blaring] NARRATOR: But the start
of Rolling Thunder has brought an
unexpected problem. 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. LYNDON B. 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? NARRATOR: On March
8, 1965 at 8:15 AM, 3,500 Marines with the
9th Expeditionary 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. [grass rustling] MAN: Yep. Going that way. [indistinct chatter] 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. NARRATOR: United Press
International correspondent Joe Galloway is with a platoon
of 40 Marines patrolling outside the US
airbase at Da Nang. Their orders are
strictly defensive. MARINE 1: Whoo! Whoo, shit! MARINE 2: What's here, baby? Ah. 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. [indistinct chatter] [electric guitar music] 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. (SINGING) You know you
made me wanna 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 grunts-eye view in World War II. I'd read Ernie Pyle's
columns and I thought-- JOE GALLOWAY: --I
thought if you're gonna cover a war,
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. [prog rock music] 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. [men shouting] [engines roaring] [radio chatter] ACTOR AS KEITH CONNOLLY: 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 I was. [suspenseful music] NARRATOR: 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. [jets whooshing] [explosion] [gunfire] [radio chatter] [gunfire and artillery firing] [fire roaring] ACTOR AS KEITH
CONNOLLY: 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. [jets whooshing] 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] NEWSCASTER: An allied force
of more than 8,000 men today tightened its hold on the-- NARRATOR: 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. [dramatic music] On July 28, 1965, in a
press conference televised to the nation, Johnson
announces his decision. [applause] [camera clicks] [papers rustling] 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. [dramatic music] 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. [dramatic music] NARRATOR: 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. But the newly-arriving
Americans are about to get more than
they bargained for. [shouting and engines rumbling] ACTOR AS JOE GALLOWAY: God,
you can feel the excitement building. We finally got intelligence
that 200 NVA soldiers are in the hills of
the Chu Pong Mountain. NARRATOR: UPI reporter
Joe Galloway has 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
commander's 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 closed, the landing zone is closed. And whoever's in there dies. [artillery firing] NARRATOR: 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. At 10:35 AM, the first
US choppers lift off and begin the 13-minute
flight to the landing zone. [helicopters whirring] 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 ordnance. 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. [helicopters whirring] JOE GALLOWAY (VOICEOVER): I
was staying close to the tent where the radios were-- ACTOR AS JOE GALLOWAY:
--tent where the radios were at brigade headquarters so
that I could hear if anything started happening. [radio chatter] MAN: No, another 200! ACTOR AS JOE GALLOWAY: Bravo
Company is sweeping the area around the LZ. So far, all is quiet. [helicopters whirring] Already, the choppers are
delivering the second load of soldiers. Everything seems to be
going according to plan-- until 11:15 AM. [insect buzzing] [radio chatter] Bravo's first platoon captures
a single unarmed NVA soldier. He's immediately taken
to the command center for interrogation. 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 8 to 1. MAN (ON RADIO): Roger. Say again? [gunfire and explosions] Go, go, go, go! [men shouting] NARRATOR: Within minutes, US
and North Vietnamese forces are locked in vicious combat. [gunfire] 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. [men shouting] [explosion] There are things about battle
that movies cannot teach you, and that is the true
horrendous noise of battle. [gunfire] Bullets cracking, bombs landing,
artillery shells exploding-- [explosion] --people screaming. Just a cacophony that's
almost deafening. [gunfire and explosions] NARRATOR: After nearly
eight hours of battle, casualties are mounting and
supplies are running low. [radio chatter] 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. [birds chirping] [twigs snapping] [radio chatter] ACTOR AS JOE GALLOWAY:
Last night, the enemy launched several small
attacks against our lines. The dead still lay
where they were killed. It's too dangerous
to try and move them. NARRATOR: Joe Galloway is the
only correspondent at Landing Zone X-Ray. 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. NARRATOR: At the
base of the Chu Pong mountain are nearly
1,600 enemy soldiers. A few hundred 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 breach them, and they are preparing to
put this knowledge to use. [birds chirping] [indistinct chatter] [radio chatter] [gunfire and shouting] ACTOR AS JOE GALLOWAY: 6:50 AM-- 200 NVA soldiers hit C
Company's 1st and 2nd platoons. [gunfire] Company Commander Bob Edwards
is 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] [gunfire and shouting] MAN: This way! This way! ACTOR AS JOE GALLOWAY:
At 7:15, NVA soldiers hit Delta Company right where
they connect with Charlie Company. The line is starting
to break down. [gunfire and shouting] Enemy's bullets
are passing right-- --passing right through the
command area where we were sitting. [bullets whizzing] And I just fell over on my belly
and got as flat as I could. [gunfire] And finally, Colonel 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 that 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] [jets whooshing] [gunfire and shouting] [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!" [jets whooshing] And I looked up, and there
are two F-100 Super Sabre jets like this. They're coming directly at us. [engines roaring] The lead plane has already
punched the pickle switch and turned loose
canisters of napalm. [explosions] Hal was trying to stop the
second guy from dump his on us. [jet whooshing] 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 them 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. [helicopters whirring] MAN (ON RADIO):
Screamer to medevac. We got a live one. We got a live one. [radio chatter] [solemn music] ACTOR AS JOE GALLOWAY:
I'm sitting here watching the last grisly
moments of this battle. NARRATOR: UPI
reporter Joe Galloway is surveying the aftermath at
Landing Zone X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley. 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. Battalion surgeon Captain
Carrera performs an emergency tracheotomy. A few yards away is Clinton
Poley, a farm boy from Iowa. He took grenade shrapnel
and gunshot wounds but never left his post
at one of the M60s that kept the second platoon alive. These are some of the bravest,
most dedicated soldiers I have ever seen. NARRATOR: 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 it on 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 on to 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. War is 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's 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. [gunfire and radio chatter] NARRATOR: 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. [helicopters whirring] [ominous music] [radio chatter] The US victory over the North
Vietnamese in the Ia Drang Valley, measured by a
kill ratio of 12 to 1, convinces US commanders to
implement a new strategy-- search and destroy. The plan is brutally simple-- search out the enemy
in South Vietnam, and then destroy them
in numbers so high they will no longer be
able to continue fighting. For the first time in
modern US military history, victory in war will be
measured not by territory taken but by body count. [gunfire] [dramatic music] [explosion] [men shouting] But as US and South
Vietnamese forces battle through the vast
countryside and winding rivers, they quickly discover that the
enemy has a plan of their own. The Viet Cong have meticulously
planted tens of thousands of mines and booby traps. They have dug hundreds
of miles of tunnels to move soldiers and weapons
and launch surprise attacks. And perhaps worst of all,
they hide in plain sight, indistinguishable from
the 17 million civilians. If they are to win
the war, US leaders realize they need an enormous
number of boots on the ground. 1966 becomes the
year of escalation. [dramatic music] Go faster! Walk faster! [dramatic music] [helicopter whirring] [crowd shouting] [jet whooshing] ACTOR AS BARRY ROMO:
When we graduated, one of the commencement speakers
quoted President Kennedy saying we should ask not what
our country can do for us, but ask what we can
do for our country. Well, the more I
hear about Vietnam, the more I think I'm finally
starting to understand what those words mean. NARRATOR: In San
Bernardino, California, Barry Romo is feeling the
effects of the growing war. ACTOR AS BARRY ROMO:
And this sort of led me to thinking about-- BARRY ROMO: --thinking about,
well, if I believe in the war, then I have to actually join
the military and go and fight, really put my
principles into action. When I told my father I was
going to enlist, he said, "I don't want you to go." And I said, "Well, you served." He said, "But your
brother and I went to war to fight people who were putting
other human beings in ovens. All you're going to do is go
fight some poor farmer that doesn't want to be
bothered with you, and I don't want you to die." [suspenseful music] ACTOR AS BARRY
ROMO: But he doesn't know what he's talking about. We're in Vietnam to save those
farmers from the communists. That's what this war is about. Everybody knows that, and
everybody's behind it. So I tell him, "Sorry, Pops. Regardless of what you think,
I'm enlisting in the Army, and I'm volunteering
to go to Vietnam." [shouting cadence] NARRATOR: As Romo undergoes
his 12 months of training, he has no idea what Vietnam
will really be like-- no more than 28-year-old
Charles Brown has, even after serving eight
years in the peacetime Army. [helicopters whirring] ACTOR AS CHARLES BROWN: A
few months ago, I didn't even know any of these men existed. Now we're headed
into combat together, and we're going to have
to depend on each other to survive. [men shouting] Well, back when I was at
Fort Benning training up young men that was going to-- CHARLES BROWN:
--going to Vietnam, one of my favorite
slogans was, (SINGING) I'm gonna go to Vietnam. I'm gonna kill some Viet Cong. Ha! Well, this takes effect on you. Remember, now, I had been
drilled for a good eight years with nothing but
talking about combat-- not that I wanted to
experience, but it had became a way of life. There's certain things
you do and how you do it. And, actually, combat
is the only way this is going to be tested. [explosion] [radio chatter] NARRATOR: Brown is
now second in command to a platoon of 30 men with
the 173rd Airborne Brigade sweeping through Tay Ninh
province, a known Viet Cong stronghold. ACTOR AS CHARLES
BROWN: A lot of my guys are from places like
New York and Chicago-- boys who had barely
been out the city, let alone been out in the
middle of a jungle like this. No matter how much
training they got, Vietnam was a whole
different world to them. [suspenseful music] NARRATOR: Summer daytime
temperatures average over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, while
a 100% humidity is like being in a steam bath 24/7. The men must cut
their way through 8-foot-tall, razor-sharp
elephant grass and bamboo covered in thick, thorny vines. [indistinct chatter] But this is only
part of the problem. The countryside is also
infested with thousands of poisonous insects and snakes,
including one of the deadliest in the world known as
the two-step snake, for the number of steps a bite
victim can take before dropping dead. [jet whooshing] Brown and his men must navigate
this treacherous terrain under the constant threat
of ambushes and booby traps, looking for any signs of
the elusive Viet Cong. [radio chatter] ACTOR AS CHARLES BROWN:
Couple of hooches up ahead. I tell my radio man to call
back to camp and tell them we're going to search it
fast before nightfall. Keep going. ACTOR AS CHARLES BROWN: Couple
of my guys start bitching, want to know why the hell
we can't just skip it. Well, I tell them this
is a job, so they better buckle down and get it done. NARRATOR: As Brown and
his men enter the area, they quickly realize it's an
abandoned Viet Cong encampment. The VC have a
sophisticated network of scouts and sympathizers who
alert them to the Americans' presence, allowing them to
choose when and where they want to fight. The best the
Americans can do now is destroy any hidden
enemy weapons or supplies they can find. ACTOR AS CHARLES BROWN:
I always tell these guys, you gotta go slow. You gotta take your time,
go through these things. But none of them listened to me. All they want to do is get
done and get back to camp. [men shouting] Move! Move it! ACTOR AS CHARLES
BROWN: This one guy, he thinks he's been
out here so long, he knows everything
there is to know. So what does he do? Instead of him going down
into the rice slowly-- CHARLES BROWN: --slowly to
see if anything was in there, he tilt the rice, immediately
seeing what we would call a pressure release booby trap. [explosion] [men shouting] NARRATOR: The booby trap
blasts Brown and two of his men with shrapnel. Within minutes,
a medevac chopper is en route to take them to one
of the 18 military hospitals in Vietnam. The emergency call
indicated that there are three injured or wounded GIs. We're on our way flying above
what has to be considered insecure, hostile territory. [suspenseful music] [coughs] Hurry up! Hold on. [radio chatter] OK, we've got our
wounded GIs on board. At least one of them
is his pretty bad. We took a little fire away
way out of this pickup area. [gunfire] [radio chatter] [engine roaring] [helicopters whirring] BARRY ROMO: We had
heard about search and destroy missions
and ambushes, and even practiced them in
officer candidate school and in other places. But the reality of
actually going out is a totally different thing. It's not like the movies,
where you go out in the field, and then that evening
you're back in a base camp drinking beer or smoking dope. We would go out 30, 35,
40 days at a time, 24/7. [ominous music] NARRATOR: In July of 1967,
19-year-old Second Lieutenant Barry Romo arrives in Vietnam. He replaces a platoon
leader who was critically wounded by a landmine during a
search and destroy operation. Now Romo is in
Quang Nam province, 300 miles north of where Charles
Brown was wounded leading his platoon of
approximately 30 men on a similar mission
with similar dangers. Get down! Take cover! Get down! ACTOR AS BARRY ROMO: It's the
not knowing that gets to you-- the feeling that you're never
safe anywhere at any time. All clear! Let's move it! [gunfire] [men shouting] ACTOR AS BARRY ROMO:
Suddenly, mortars and gunfire are flying in from everywhere. [gunfire and artillery firing] No one knows what
the hell is going on or where the enemy is even at. I start screaming at my
men to get down and form a defensive perimeter,
but everyone's yelling and shooting. [gunfire and shouting] And then I realize-- one of my squads got stuck
between us and the enemy. They're caught in the
crossfire, getting hit from both directions. [bullets whizzing] I gotta do something,
so I yell for cover, and I run forward as fast
as I can to my squad. [men coughing and shouting] They're all injured,
and every man-- BARRY ROMO: --was badly wounded. And two of my men were dead. And one of my men had been
thrown 100 feet, maybe, by a concussion. And his insides were jellified. And I saw that I had to
get him out of there-- ACTOR AS BARRY ROMO: I have
to get them out of there, or more people are gonna die. Medevac doesn't
want to land 'cause we're taking too much fire. But I scream into the
radio and I tell them, "I'm gonna stand up in the
middle of this damn field, and you better get in
here and get my men out!" [shouting] [radio chatter] [bullets whizzing] [ambient music] When it's finally over and
we get back to the platoon-- BARRY ROMO: --my
company commander said, "I'm gonna put you
in for a Bronze Star." In my mind, I could only picture
a Bronze Star for my dead men, and it didn't seem worth it. It didn't seem fair
that people should die for me to get a medal. NARRATOR: As US
losses begin to mount, President Johnson reminds
the American people that the war is not
only about stopping the spread of communism. There is an even greater cause
worth fighting for in Vietnam. LYNDON B. JOHNSON:
Every American must know exactly what
it is that we are trying to do in Vietnam. Our greatest resource,
really, in this conflict is your understanding. NARRATOR: By the summer
of 1967, the United States is sending more than
$500 million in aid to South Vietnam. More than 1.5 million children
are attending hundreds of new schools. And for the first time,
hundreds of thousands of poverty-stricken
civilians are receiving modern medical care. LYNDON B. JOHNSON:
--is a goal that's worthy of the deeds
of our brave men. The people of Asia do matter. And I pledge to all those
that are counting on us, you can depend upon us, 'cause
all Americans will do our part. [laughter] [soft music] [singing] [laughter] ACTRESS AS ANNE PURCELL: As long
as Ben and I have been married, our lives have been
run by the Army. But I guess that's the
price you pay for falling in love with a military man. NARRATOR: Anne Purcell married
Ben, a career military officer, in 1951. After 16 years of marriage,
five children, and many moves, they are living in Boonville,
Missouri, where he is stationed as a colonel. ACTRESS AS ANNE
PURCELL: Ben and I both know he'll be going to
Vietnam sooner or later, so we figure if he volunteers-- ANNE PURCELL: --we figured if
he volunteered to go to Vietnam, the family had a choice
as to where they stayed and we would stay in Boonville. Because it was already like home
having lived there four years. I dreaded seeing him go, but
I knew that was his duty, and so I just
accepted it that way. [children playing] ACTRESS AS ANNE PURCELL: Right
before we leave to see Ben off, he surprises me with a
pair of audio recorders. He's going to take one
to Vietnam with him, and I'll keep the other, so we
can record tapes and mail them back and forth. When we get to the airport,
I give Ben one last kiss and tell him he'd better
try out that recorder as soon as he gets there and let
me know that everything's OK. NARRATOR: But the
war Colonel Purcell is about to join is
not going as planned. Although US forces
conduct hundreds of search and destroy operations,
including massive sweeps involving up to 30,000
soldiers at a time, the North Vietnamese
and Viet Cong are elusive, refusing to engage
in locked-down, drawn-out combat. Finally, near the
end of October 1967, US forces locate 6,000
North Vietnamese soldiers massing near the American base
at Dak To in Kon Tum Province. More than 6,500 US and
South Vietnamese soldiers along with attack
helicopters, fighter bombers, and the mightiest aircraft
in the US arsenal, the B-52 bomber, are deployed
to the region. [dramatic music] On November 3, 1967,
shortly after mid-morning, the first group of
three B-52s prepares to unleash nearly six
tons of high explosives before the ground
troops move in. The largest clash with the
NVA since the Ia Drang Valley begins. [explosions] ACTOR AS CHARLES BROWN:
All morning long, bombers have been coming in over here. You can feel the ground
shaking like Jello. [bombs rumbling] NARRATOR: Sergeant Charles Brown
has recovered from his wounds and is back with the
173rd Airborne Brigade on his way to relieve American
units engaged in heavy combat outside of Dak To. [gunfire] ACTOR AS CHARLES BROWN:
You can hear the gunfire as we get closer-- the sounds of M16s and AK-47s
ripping through the jungle-- the sounds of trees
splintering, men scream. [distant screaming] [radio chatter] A few paces ahead, the
recon team radios back. "We've walked right
into an ambush!" [gunfire] Now they're stuck out there
only a few meters ahead of us, screaming for help. [men shouting] We got to do something fast
before they all get killed. The CO jumps on the radio and
tells them to hit the ground and stay down. Then he turns to me
and instructs me to-- CHARLES BROWN: --to take
the rest of the platoon in to see what was going on. Knowing that my men
in there was down, we went in firing
from the waist up. Just spraying the whole area. [gunfire and shouting] "Brown, Charles J.
Staff Sergeant E6 awarded Bronze Star Medal first
oak leaf cluster for V device. Reason-- for heroism
in connection the military operation against
a hostile force near Dak To, Republic of Vietnam." [gunfire] NARRATOR: After three
weeks of fighting, US and South Vietnamese
forces have stopped the NVA from destroying the
American base at Dak To. But of the 6,000 enemy soldiers
spotted in the area, only an estimated 600 were killed. The remaining 5,400 are making
a strategic retreat toward Laos and Cambodia. Diplomatic policy
prohibits US ground troops from crossing the border. Hoping to stop the NVA
before they escape, the Americans give chase. [helicopters whirring] MAN: Let's go, brother! Fire! [artillery firing] [gunfire] --over to that building
starting from that end. [tense music] NARRATOR: On November 19, 1967,
US soldiers pinned down 2,000 NVA on an 875-meter-high hill
known as Hill 875 just six kilometers from Cambodia. MAN (ON RADIO): Do you have
any idea what kind of fire we have on this-- NARRATOR: They are immediately
ordered to take the hill. ACTOR AS CHARLES BROWN:
Ain't no such thing as rest for the weary out here. 2,000 NVA are on Hill 875. Command wants us to
go hunt 'em all down. [gunfire] NARRATOR: Hours into the
assault, Sergeant Charles Brown and his battalion are
helicoptered to Hill 875 to join the fight. They are dropped in
a safe zone just out of range of enemy fire. ACTOR AS CHARLES BROWN:
The entire place already looks like hell from
all the fighting. Trees are splintered and broken. Smoke billows in the distance. You can see this
is a completely-- CHARLES BROWN: --completely
destroyed area. Trees gone. Nothing to hide on. Just a whole-- [sighs] Unbelievable how
it had been destroyed. NARRATOR: As Brown and
his men make their way towards the American
units, they have no idea of the horrors that lay ahead. The NVA have transformed Hill
875 into a heavily fortified stronghold brimming
with pre-built bunkers and carefully carved
out escape routes. It's a cunning trap that the
Americans are walking right into. [ominous music] ACTOR AS CHARLES BROWN: As
we head into the twilight, we can hear the mortar and
artillery shells exploding a few miles out in front of us. Up ahead, men start
whispering back whenever they come across a dead body. (WHISPERING) Body. (WHISPERING) Body. ACTOR AS CHARLES
BROWN: Pretty soon, it seemed like all
you hear is, "Body. Body. Body!" [MUSIC - JEFFERSON AIRPLANE,
"SOMEBODY TO LOVE"] When the truth is
found to be lies, and all the joy within you-- ACTOR AS BARRY ROMO: Five
hours ago, we were out there in the middle of the bush. Now I'm cracking open a warm
beer while some chick shakes her butt. (SINGING) --need
somebody to love? Wouldn't you love
somebody to love? You better find
somebody to love. NARRATOR: 300 miles to the
north, Second Lieutenant Barry Romo and his platoon
are on a two-day break after being in the field for
30 straight days of search and destroy. [indistinct chatter] ACTOR AS BARRY ROMO: I guess
this is one of the crazy things about Vietnam. One minute you're out there
freaking out about trip wires and booby traps, and
the next thing you know, they fly you into a rear
area where they take away our weapons and
our hand grenade-- BARRY ROMO: --and
our hand grenades. And they would plop us on
a beach like in "Apocalypse Now" and have a big barbecue. And you would drink, and they
would bring in tons of alcohol. And then after two days,
they would pour you back into the helicopters and
give you your weapons back-- ACTOR AS BARRY ROMO:
--weapons back and fly you out to an area for another
operation for another 30 days. [helicopters whirring] It's so bizarre. All anyone knows is that no one
has any idea what will happen next. [dramatic music] [thunderclap] [suspenseful music] I had an officer in training
that once said, "The Viet Cong guerrillas are the fish
in the sea of the people, and our job is to
dry up that sea." I thought he was
crazy for saying that, but now that I've been
out here for a few months, I'm starting to
see what he meant. NARRATOR: Second Lieutenant
Barry Romo is back in the field searching a South
Vietnamese village. Civilians sympathetic
to the Viet Cong hide weapons and supplies,
while those who side with the Americans
stay silent for fear of brutal communist reprisals. As a result, the Americans
cannot tell friend from foe, leaving the villagers
caught in the middle. ACTOR AS BARRY ROMO: We're told
the VC threatened these people with their lives
unless they help them, so you gotta figure it's
not really their fault. But at the same time, when you
find a bunch of AK-47s hidden in some villager's
chicken pen, you can't help but feel like they're
the reason your buddies are dead. I mean, these are supposed to be
the people we're here to help, only it seems like they don't
give a shit about helping us. I've never once had
a Vietnamese say-- BARRY ROMO: --say, "Don't go
down this trail because there's a mine," or, "Don't
go over to this area because the North Vietnamese
are going to ambush you." Your morality wears down. Your patience wears down. After a while, people started
blaming the Vietnamese for our casualties,
all the Vietnamese. And there was a genuine
dehumanization of the people we were supposedly there to help. [rock music] ACTOR AS BARRY ROMO: This
isn't like my dad's war. We aren't fighting uniformed
Nazis on our way to Berlin. Out here, we gotta figure
things out every day as it's happening. So given a choice
between your buddy living and one of those
villagers living, you know who you're gonna pick. 'Cause that's just
the way it is. And all any of us want
to do is get out of here and get back home alive. [helicopters whirring] [explosion] [shouting over radio] I think I got some pedal back. I'm gonna try to put
it down right now. ACTOR AS CHARLES BROWN:
Every time one of these birds tries to come in with
supplies, NVA shoots them up. [gunfire] [radio chatter] [explosion] We already got two
birds shot down. [fire roaring] NARRATOR: Sergeant Charles Brown
and the 173rd Airborne Brigade are pinned down on
the side of Hill 875. [gunfire] Over the past 48 hours, US
and South Vietnamese forces have made several
attempts to take the hill. So far, all they have to
show for their efforts are mounting numbers
of dead and wounded. Hold on. Hold on. [gunfire] CHARLES BROWN: The North
Vietnamese were dug in and dug in deep. We were going to have
to burn them out. Each platoon was ordered
to send a man forward to our little rear
camp to learn to be familiar with the operations
of a flamethrower. [men coughing] And I ordered one of my
replacements, Billy Cupid. He was kind of stocky. Black kid from Chicago. And I told him, get familiar
with the flamethrower. Whew! That one's a strong-- [fire roaring] [indistinct chatter] NARRATOR: With
flamethrowers in hand, US forces prepare for their
final push up Hill 875. ACTOR AS CHARLES
BROWN: I ordered my men to get into position. [gunfire] All of a sudden,
mortars and rocket fire start coming down on us. 105s are screaming overhead,
and men are shouting and firing. [artillery firing] Let's go! ACTOR AS BARRY ROMO: Smoke
starts clogging my lungs, and the sounds of small arms
and machine gun fire rips. [bullets whizzing] CHARLES BROWN: As we charged
the hill with the flamethrower on his back, that
pressure tank was hit with a piece of shrapnel. And the concussion
of it killed Billy. [fire roaring] ACTOR AS CHARLES
BROWN: For a moment, I'm frozen with the unbelievable
sight of a man dying right in front of me. [gunfire] [men shouting] But then the incoming
fire snaps me out of it. Go, go, go! [men shouting] ACTOR AS CHARLES BROWN:
It's constant and coming from everyone. [bullets whizzing] Seemed little strategy
left other than move forward and kill
anything in front of you. Incoming! [gunfire] [helicopters whirring] ACTOR AS CHARLES BROWN: Only
a couple choppers have landed since we took the hill,
and all they brought is the bare necessities-- ammo, water, rations,
and body bags-- lots of them. NARRATOR: On November
23, 1967, after five days of harrowing, close-quarters
combat, US forces, including Sergeant Charles
Brown and his company, finally take Hill 875. 115 Americans have been killed
and another 253 wounded. Combined with the casualties
from the previous three weeks, Brown's 173rd Brigade
has lost nearly one-fifth of its total fighting strength. ACTOR AS BARRY ROMO:
Medics are making their way to wounded troopers, giving
them sips of water or shots of morphine. You gotta admire 'em. These boys ain't no more
than 18, 19 years old, but they fought better
and harder than anything I could have ever hoped for. They fought like the
well-disciplined professional soldiers they were trained
to be, just like the soldiers I had trained them to be. NARRATOR: Despite their
success in courageously taking the hill, the
American soldiers are unable to achieve
the primary goal-- killing all of the enemy
soldiers in Kon Tum Province. Of the 6,000 North Vietnamese
originally spotted, only some 1,400 were killed. The rest escaped into Laos
and Cambodia the night before the final
assault. Six days after spilling so
much blood to take it, US forces leave Hill 875. In the strategy of
search and destroy, victory is measured by
enemy bodies, not territory. Hill 875 is now
considered worthless. ACTOR AS CHARLES BROWN:
Didn't take us long to realize ain't no Iwo Jimas in Vietnam. We don't get to plant our
flag and claim victory. But we know we've done-- CHARLES BROWN: --we had done
what we was assigned to do. We knew we were superior. We knew we had killed
all that was up there. We didn't know at that
time that some had left, but that was one of
the myths of Vietnam. Each time you take a piece
of ground, we left it, and they'd return to that
same piece of ground. But we left the hill as heroes. We finally captured Hill 875. That's the way we left it. We were heroes. Lost some buddies. Lost some men, yes. But we defeated the
enemy on Hill 875. [MUSIC - BOB DYLAN, "THE TIMES
THEY ARE A CHANGING"] (SINGING) Come gather 'round,
people, wherever you roam, and admit that the waters
around you have grown, and accept it that soon-- NARRATOR: Faced with only the
cold, hard numbers of body count, the American public
has a difficult time seeing measurable progress in Vietnam. [crowd shouting] But with nearly half a
million soldiers overseas, President Johnson
and his generals are convinced that they
have turned the corner. They launch a massive campaign
designed to reinvigorate public support for the
war and demonstrate that victory is on the horizon-- so long as the American public
doesn't give up so close to the finish line. I could quote a number
of meaningful statistics, such as roads that
are being opened, the number of weapons
being captured, and other statistical
information which suggests that we are making progress
and we are winning. Today I can tell you
that military progress in the past 12 months has
exceeded our expectations. [radio chatter] [explosion] LYNDON B. JOHNSON: And so I
report to you that we are going to continue to press forward. We will provide all that
our brave men require to do the job that must be done. Let the world know that
the keepers of peace will endure through every trial,
and that with the full backing of their countrymen, they
are going to prevail.
