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. [explosions] [inaudible] MAN: What are we waiting for? I was in World War II, fellow. And I stayed for years. I know what it's about. I have a son that's
going to go into the army. MAN: We fight
because we must fight if we are to live in a war
where every country can shape its own destiny. [music playing] We will not be defeated. [explosions] NARRATOR: At the start of 1968,
three years after US ground forces first landed
in Vietnam, there are nearly half a million
Americans in country, fighting an estimated force
of nearly 300,000 North Vietnamese regulars and
Viet Cong guerrillas. [guns firing] Go, go. NARRATOR: US military
strategy is a combination of bombing key industrial
and supply sites in the North while launching massive
search and destroy operations in the South. [yelling orders] [guns firing] NARRATOR: Dead enemy
bodies, not territory, is the measure of success. With the numbers tipping
firmly in America's favor, President Johnson and his
top military advisors, including overall commander
General William Westmoreland, assure the American people
that victory is within reach. It is only a matter of time
before the NVA and VC succumb to their losses. The Vietnamese, however,
have successfully battled foreign powers
for over 1,000 years. And with a population
of over 16 million, the North is prepared
and willing to replace their casualties. For US troops in the
field, this means they keep doing the same
thing day in and day out, under the constant
threat of an enemy that is anywhere and everywhere. ACTOR AS BARRY ROMO:
Out here, the tension just builds and
builds until you feel like you're going to explode. Most of these guys would
give anything for an excuse to squeeze off a couple rounds. NARRATOR: 19-year-old Second
Lieutenant Barry Romo has been in Vietnam for six months. He spent most of that
time leading search and destroy missions. ACTOR AS BARRY ROMO:
Guys will do anything to break the tension. It's some of the blackest
humor I've ever seen. Guys play mumblety-peg with
bayonets, throwing them at each other's feet, moving
them closer and closer together. And I told them, I said
if you injure yourself-- BARRY ROMO: You're going to be
walking around here with that. They didn't care. That whole question
of just dealing with the incredible
tension and stuff and jokes and dirty humor, and when you're
in a rear area prostitutes and drugs and other things,
that was-- that was real. [guns firing] [non-english speech] NARRATOR: While Romo and
his men cope with the rhythm of the war, tens of millions
of people throughout Vietnam prepare for the country's
most important holiday, the Vietnamese Lunar
New Year or Tet. Tet marks the arrival
of spring, a time to pay tribute to ancestors and
look forward to good fortunes in the new year. Since the start of the
war, it has also marked a time of peace, when all sides
observe a two-day cease fire. ACTOR AS BARRY ROMO: A lot
of South Vietnamese soldiers have already headed
home, though. But these past
couple days, commands have been trying to
call everyone back. Apparently, we've gotten
wind of the NVA's buildup around some of the cities. That was the first
time I'd heard about-- --about a planned offensive. And people in I Corps, some
of the intelligence people, anyway, the ones I
dealt with believed it was going to happen. BARRY ROMO: Not everyone's
taking it so seriously, though. Some guys are saying there's no
way the communists can launch anything major. They're already all tapped out. But I'm not so sure about that. From what I've seen fighting
these bastards in the bush, they're smart as hell. And they don't give up. NARRATOR: But as the sun
sets on January 30, 1968, many expect this year
will be like every other-- a night of peaceful festivities. [drum roll] [explosions] MAN: Quadrant 372, verify. VOICE ON RADIO:
We've pulled our men. MAN: Go, go, go, go, go. VOICE ON RADIO: This is Alpha 6. We have an extremely large
force moving towards us. MAN: [inaudible] [sirens blaring] MAN: Get back here if you can. Can you move him? MAN: Go. [guns firing] MAN: [inaudible] VOICE ON RADIO: This is Alpha 2. Affirmative. Now people that are
laying down there, we don't know if they're
dead or wounded or not. ACTOR AS BARRY ROMO: All of a
sudden, the radios start going crazy. Guys are calling in attacks
from all over the place. Nobody knows what the hell
is going on, but you can tell it's-- BARRY ROMO:
--something different, that it wasn't isolated,
all these places getting hit at exactly the same time. You sit there and listen. And it's like listening
to a radio program, except that it's reality. NARRATOR: As the sun
rises on January 31, the confused
actions of the night give way to a grim realization. Over 120 cities, towns,
and military bases, including the capital of
almost every province in South Vietnam, are under attack
by an estimated 84,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong. It is the largest coordinated
military action of the war to date. Unknown to the
Americans, the enemy has spent the past seven
months slowly moving hundreds of thousands of
mortars, artillery shells, small arms, hand
grenades, and explosives into the South via
the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Under the guise of
the Tet celebrations, they hid these weapons
inside truckloads of rice and carts of flowers
and carefully moved them into position for their assault.
The incredible scope of the Tet Offensive catches the
Americans by surprise. But it doesn't take long before
they begin to fight back. [guns firing] At the embassy in
Saigon, military police and marine guards begin
clearing out the Viet Cong. MAN: Go, go, go. Get down. Go. NARRATOR: Just outside the
city at Tan Son Nhut Airbase, 905 US ground troops engage
in close-quarters combat with 1,200 NVA-- [guns firing] --while American pilots
lift off under enemy fire to support fighting
elsewhere in the country. 400 miles to the north,
mortar and rocket fire rained down on the 6,000
American Marines at Khe Sanh. An estimated force
of at least 20,000 NVA have the base surrounded. Completely cut off
by ground, they are running low on
supplies, while the Marines on the outer edge
of the perimeter resort to hand-to-hand combat. MAN: Get down. [inaudible] [guns firing] NARRATOR: To the East, in
the ancient imperial capital of Hue, a few hundred US
and South Vietnamese troops are tenaciously holding
what little ground they can against the advancing 8,000 NVA,
who are determined to wipe them out. VOICE ON RADIO: 806
[inaudible] 0, PD to 240. ACTOR AS RAYMOND TORRES:
Nobody says a word, although I'm literally
about to bust I've got so many questions. NARRATOR: Medical corpsman
Raymond Torres and his company from the 26th Marine Regiment
are packed inside a C-130 en route to Hue. Less than 24 hours
into the Tet Offensive, US troops are launching
counterattacks aimed at reversing the
wave of the enemy advances. ACTOR AS RAYMOND TORRES: How
bad is the fighting at Hue? How many wounded are there? What do I do when we land? Ask for instructions or just
run to the nearest casualty and start working? VOICE ON RADIO: We're at 25
north and 15, [inaudible].. ACTOR AS RAYMOND TORRES: But
nobody pays any attention to a hyper medic. They've all got
their game faces on. After all, Marines
don't ask questions. They just do. Right at that moment, the
pilot comes on the radio and says we're not
going to land at Hue. The orders have been changed. They don't tell the Marines
anything until it actually happens. RAYMOND TORRES: We were just
anticipating going to Hue City. And you didn't have time to
think about it because you didn't know until the plane
was ready to land that we were landing at Khe Sanh. That was our mindset. But either way,
we had no choice. ACTOR AS RAYMOND TORRES: The
pilot pops on the intercom and tell us that Khe Sanh
is taking heavy fire. He won't be able to stop the
plane because they're taking mortars from every direction. So once we touch the
ground, he's just going to slow down
a bit and then we'll have to bail out
and head for the trenches. Bail out? What the hell does that mean? It feels like the whole
plane's about to rattle apart. The plane's dropping fast. Everybody's grabbing
a hold of something, getting ready to
get the hell out. We're about to make one
hell of an entrance. [guns firing] [shouting] VOICE ON RADIO: [inaudible] MAN: [inaudible] ACTOR AS RAYMOND TORRES: The
entire base is under siege. Everything's been shot to hell
by enemy mortars and artillery. We're lucky we made
it in here alive. [inaudible] NARRATOR: After landing
under intense enemy fire, Marine corpsman Raymond
Torres is in the thick of the battle at Khe Sanh. Two days into the Tet Offensive,
the 6,000 American Marines are entirely cut off by ground,
surrounded by at least 20,000 North Vietnamese who are
mercilessly pounding them with mortar, rocket,
and artillery fire. MAN: [inaudible]. We're turning to Khe
Sanh [inaudible].. NARRATOR: Their main protection
against being overrun is the precision flying
of American pilots and their accuracy in dropping
one of the most destructive weapons of the Vietnam War-- napalm. MAN: Here it comes. MAN: Incoming. ACTOR AS RAYMOND TORRES:
The NVA is so damn close. The pilots are dropping napalm
right outside the perimeter. VOICE ON RADIO: 5 [inaudible]. MAN: Get down [inaudible]. [explosions] Go, go. [inaudible] ACTOR AS RAYMOND TORRES:
The canisters fall-- RAYMOND TORRES: --just
like balsa wood. It kind of flutters. And it drops a
little differently than a conventional bomb. And when it hits, it's
just a big explosion. And it's just a ball of fire. And it just keeps
traveling and just burning everything in its path. [explosions] Yep? MAN: [inaudible] NARRATOR: Torres and
his company of 150 men immediately move out to one of
the small hilltop outposts that ring Khe Sanh. Only a few thousand yards
from enemy positions, these outposts are the
last line of defense against the advancing
NVA and have been the site of bitter fighting
since the start of the battle. ACTOR AS RAYMOND TORRES: Our
orders are to hike our asses up to the top of hill 861A to
reinforce the company that's up there. [guns firing] Everyone's nervous as hell. There's no telling how bad
the situation really is. But rumor has it
that most of the guys up there got their throats
slit with knives or their guts spilled out by bayonets. The smell is sickening. It's all I could do to keep
from retching right on the spot. Dead North Vietnamese
are strewn everywhere, shot dead only a few feet
outside the perimeter. No one says a word,
but they don't have to. The look on their
faces says it all. It was something-- RAYMOND TORRES: --you're not
really really prepared to see. And that's when it sinks
in that how did we get here and what are we
doing here, you know? And is this for real? And it sinks in that
yes, this is for real. MAN: [inaudible] NARRATOR: While Torres joins
the struggle at Khe Sanh, throughout South Vietnam,
US and ARVN forces are launching a series
of counter offensives. Hey, hey, the priority
is shoot for the ammo. NARRATOR: Although the initial
surprise of the Tet Offensive resulted in quick victories
for the enemy, within days, the NVA and VC are being driven
out of almost every major city hit during the attack. But while the American
military begins to triumph, the real cost of the Tet
Offensive is becoming clear. One, possibly two
armed personnel carriers that preceded us in
here have been blown. NARRATOR: Unlike World War
II, news coverage of Vietnam is not subject to
government censorship. So as hundreds of
war correspondents cover the battle, the images
are broadcast into the homes of millions of Americans. The infantry will move
back into the tree line, hoping to re-establish
contact with the Viet Cong. [guns firing] NARRATOR: Vietnam gives
the American public their first unrestricted view
of the graphic images of war. On February 1, 1968,
an NBC cameraman is filming South Vietnam's chief
of national police in Saigon when a Viet Cong prisoner
is brought to him. The ensuing image becomes a
symbol of the war's brutality. Dad? Daddy. Mommy. Daddy. Ah, [inaudible]. Did you hear that, honey? ANNE PURCELL: No,
come on, come on. Let's say Daddy. Daddy. ANNE PURCELL: Come home. [babbling] Quick, quick. Mommy-- ACTOR AS ANNE PURCELL: This
past week, the children and I recorded seven audio
letters to send to Ben. That seems to be the best
way to keep their minds off what's happening in
Vietnam, keep them away from all the coverage on TV. NARRATOR: Anne Purcell's
husband, Ben, deployed to Vietnam seven months ago. She is at home with
her five children as graphic news coverage
of the Tet Offensive fills the airwaves. ANNE PURCELL: There was a lot
of coverage of actual battles and seeing the man wounded
and that kind of thing. And we watched TV. But when that started happening,
we didn't watch TV very much. Our son, second son that
was in second grade, he started having a
lot of stomachaches and this kind of thing. And the doctor
finally determined that it was his nerves, because
he told me one day after he had watched TV, he said "Mother,
I'm afraid Dad will never come home." ACTOR AS ANNE PURCELL:
Everywhere we go-- school, church, even out shopping--
all anyone wants to talk about is the war. I'm just so grateful
that in a few weeks, we're going to take a trip
to Hawaii to see Ben in R&R. Hi, Darling. I can't wait until
we meet in Hawaii. Take care of yourself. Remember that I love
you with all my heart. I miss you with all my heart. I'll be so glad when
this tour is over. And I hope we never have
to be separated again. [explosions] ACTOR AS RAYMOND TORRES: The
ground never stops shaking. The mortars and
artillery are constant. Everyone's exhausted.
- Fire. Fire. Fire. ACTOR AS RAYMOND TORRES:
It's not even so much the physical work as the
mental strain of it all. NARRATOR: Medical corpsman
Raymond Torres and his company of 150 Marines are at the
defensive outpost atop Hill 861A on the outer
perimeter of Khe Sanh. Below them, enemy
mortars and rockets continue to pound
the base's airstrip, making it increasingly
difficult to land planes. More and more, the
Marines are forced to rely upon aerial drops
for food, fuel, and most importantly, ammunition. For the pilots and
crews of cargo planes, the normally routine
operation is suddenly transformed into one of
the most dangerous missions of the entire war. 600 feet above Khe
Sanh, the planes come under intense enemy fire. While the pilot
attempts to hold steady, a crewman inside the
belly of the aircraft crawls within feet of the open
door and releases the supplies. For the Marines at Khe
Sanh, the pilots and crews of these cargo planes are the
unsung heroes of the battle. ACTOR AS RAYMOND TORRES:
Nightfall is even worse than the chaos of the
day, because out here, where it gets so dark that you
can't even see a hand in front of your face, Charlie
owns the night. And he'll slip up on you to
slit your throat before you even have a chance to scream. NARRATOR: At night,
the frontline marines are at their most vulnerable. Supporting air
and artillery fire is less effective in the dark. ACTOR AS RAYMOND
TORRES: All around us, I hear marines screaming
and rapid firing. Roger, we [inaudible]. ACTOR AS RAYMOND
TORRES: NVA is trying to break through the
line, only nobody knows where they're coming from
and nobody can see a thing. Mortars and grenades
are exploding right outside the trenches. [explosions] [screaming] I scramble toward the
screams of a wounded marine. Just as I'm hunching over him,
trying to stop his bleeding, something hits the
dirt a few feet away. It's a grenade. And in that short
amount of time-- RAYMOND TORRES:
--everything just seemed to flash through my mind. I started backing away. And when I backed
away, I put my hand up to my face to
protect my face. And the grenade exploded. ACTOR AS RAYMOND
TORRES: For a moment, everything goes silent
from the concussion. And I realize that now I'm
the one who needs to be saved. NARRATOR: 200 miles to the south
at the American base at Pleiku, the nurses and doctors of
the 71st Evacuation Hospital are rallying to save the lives
of critically-wounded troops from battles all
over South Vietnam. Among them is Captain Elizabeth
Allen, a 26-year-old nurse stationed in the trauma
intensive care unit. ACTOR AS ELIZABETH
ALLEN: The first time I heard the hum of the chopper
coming in low, I thought it was the most soothing
sound in the world. But now, standing on the
medevac pad of an army hospital, that same sound makes my heart
race and my stomach tighten up. NARRATOR: Since the start
of the Tet Offensive, the number of wounded Americans
in need of hospitalization has nearly doubled from
that of a month earlier. ACTOR AS ELIZABETH ALLEN:
It's the pace of it all that really wears you down. Back home, massive trauma and
multiple amputees are rare. But out here, it's
run in the mill. The only way to deal
with it is to go into sort of like robotic mode. You take the first
one and you fix it. And then you go on-- ELIZABETH ALLEN: --the
say one and you fix it. And you keep going
until that's over. You learn to use
all of your senses. If it smells bad, it's infected. If it's bleeding, you stop it. And you do the best
you can with that, because you don't have another
choice except to crumble. And I have to tell you,
crumblin' ain't my style. BEN PURCELL: Honey, I wish
you a belated happy birthday. And have many, many
more happy birthdays. And I'll be there
for your next one. ACTOR AS ANNE PURCELL:
All week long, we've been replaying
Ben's latest letter. Hearing the sound
of his voice, it's the only thing keeping us
sane amidst the horrible news of Tet. NARRATOR: Anne Purcell
is awaiting news from her husband, Ben. She continues to send
him audio letters. But for the first time,
he is not writing back. ACTOR AS ANNE PURCELL: Our best
distraction is always church. Being there among
friends is comforting. After the service is
over, I saw the pastor-- ANNE PURCELL: --standing in the
hall with Major Jim Statler. And I knew that they had
something to tell me that I probably didn't want to know. Our pastor said Anne,
come into my study. And we all walked in. And he closed the door. And Major Statler said Anne,
Ben's missing in action. ACTOR AS ANNE PURCELL: All of
these horrible thoughts started racing through my mind. Is he dead? IS he wounded? Is he out there in
the jungle all alone? Or is he being held prisoner
somewhere, beaten and tortured at this very moment? REPORTER: The Tet Offensive made
it clear that the communists had changed their tactics. But they didn't do it overnight. Despite optimistic
reports to the contrary, it's been changing
for a long time. REPORTER: US and
Vietnamese troops-- NARRATOR: Three weeks after
the January 31st surprise Tet Offensive began, US and
South Vietnamese forces have successfully
driven the NVA and VC out of almost every major
city hit during the attack. Khe Sanh still
remains embattled. But for the most
part, the US military is returning to its strategy
of search and destroy, chasing the retreating
enemy into the countryside. [helicopter blades whirring] [guns firing] [inaudible] NARRATOR: Second
Lieutenant Barry Romo is back in the field
outside Chu Lai, where it is believed that
several hundred enemy soldiers who fled the
city are now hiding. ACTOR AS BARRY ROMO:
All of a sudden, I hear a huge
explosion behind me. Everyone hits the ground. [inaudible] OK, let's go. [inaudible] VOICE ON RADIO: Roger that. How is the show on the road? ACTOR AS BARRY ROMO:
When I look up, I see my platoon sergeant
laying in a pool of blood. He stepped on a mine. We were just headed
to LZ for pickup. Another 15 minutes and we
would have all made it out of here just fine. As we're getting
loaded, one of my men tells me there's
someone looking for me. I head over to the
chopper he points towards. And as I get close, I see
this major hold up a sign. And he had written your
nephew Robert has been killed. Your brother, Harold, requests
that you escort the body home. Will you escort the body home? He didn't say I'm sorry. He didn't verbally say it to me. He didn't have the decency
of a human connection. He had to write it down. ACTOR AS BARRY
ROMO: I can barely process what just happened. My brother had written to
tell me that Bobby got drafted and was sent over here. But I was never able to see him. And now he's dead. When we get back to base, the
staff sergeant comes up to me. BARRY ROMO: He told me
how Bobby had been killed. He'd been in a major operation
at a place called [inaudible] where they were working
with the Marines. A friend had been shot. And just like in the
movies, he had stood up and ran to help his friend
and he got shot in the throat, drowned in his own blood. ACTOR AS BARRY ROMO:
As the news sinks in, I started to realize
something else. I'm leaving Vietnam. And I'm never going to
see any of my guys again. What's going to happen to
them when I'm not here? Who's going to take care of
them and make sure they get through this thing alive? After everything
I've been through, after everything all of
us have been through, it kills me to know that
I'm leaving them behind. When I went to Vietnam,
we thought we could win. Anyone who goes now
after the Tet Offensive knows that they are going
to fight for a lost cause. NARRATOR: The Tet Offensive
becomes a turning point, not only for the US military,
but for journalists covering the war. On February 27, CBS
anchor Walter Cronkite, known as the most
trusted man in America, returns from a week-long
trip to Vietnam and steps out of
his role as reporter to offer his personal
view on the war. WALTER CRONKITE: To say that
we are closer to victory today is to believe, in the face of
the evidence, the optimists who have been wrong in the past. To suggest we are on
the edge of defeat is to yield to
unreasonable pessimism. To say that we are
mired in stalemate seems the only realistic, if
unsatisfactory conclusion. But it is increasingly clear
to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be
to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people
who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy and
did the best they could. NARRATOR: Two days after Walter
Cronkite's somber analysis of the war, Secretary of
Defense Robert McNamara, one of the Johnson
administration's key architects for the Vietnam War--
- Mr. President-- NARRATOR: --steps down. --I cannot find words to
express what lies in my heart. NARRATOR: Although he had
announced his intended resignation three
months earlier, McNamara's departure
in the wake of Tet is seen by many as confirmation
that the administration's Vietnam policy is failing. How will this
help end the war? Well, this hopefully
is a democracy. NARRATOR: What becomes known as
the credibility gap is vastly widening, as many
American people see a strikingly
different view of the war than the optimistic
pronouncements of the Johnson administration. All the statements
are very different. It's very hard to believe. One says this way, the other
one says the other way. And I don't know
what to believe. I have a brother
that's over in-- that just came
back from Vietnam. And he talked about it. And it's a lot rougher
than what they said. NARRATOR: National politicians
seize the opportunity and openly speak
out against the war. The Senator from
Minnesota, Eugene McCarthy, challenges President
Johnson, his fellow Democrat, for the party's nomination
for the coming election, and nearly defeats him in
the New Hampshire primary. In our history,
this war in Vietnam, no matter what we call it, has
been one of continued error and of misjudgment. And many of us in the
Congress followed patiently-- NARRATOR: With his
administration in turmoil and public support for
the war at just 41%, Johnson addresses the nation. LYNDON B. JOHNSON: Good
evening, my fellow Americans. Tonight, I want to
speak to you of peace in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. No other place-- NARRATOR: He orders a halt to
the bombing of North Vietnam in the area where
90% of the population resides and announces an effort
to start peace talks to settle the war. LYNDON B. JOHNSON: --50
million human beings-- NARRATOR: He then drops
a political bombshell. LYNDON B. JOHNSON: With
America's sons in the field far away, with America's future
under challenge right here at home, with our hopes and
the world's hopes for peace in the balance
every day, I do not believe that I should devote
an hour or a day of my time to any personal partisan
causes or to any duties other than the awesome duties
of this office, the presidency of your country. Accordingly, I shall
not seek and I will not accept the nomination
of my party for another term
as your president. NARRATOR: Eight
days after Johnson's stunning announcement,
the siege at Khe Sanh, the final remaining battle
of the Tet Offensive, officially ends. The Air Force's
relentless bombing succeeded in finally forcing the
NVA to pull back and eventually open the way for soldiers
from the 1st Air Cavalry to break through to the base. The 77-day-long battle is
the longest ever fought by US troops during the Vietnam
War and one of the costliest. Of the 6,000 Americans at Khe
Sanh, 274 have been killed and another 2,500 wounded. Of the estimated 20,000 NVA who
originally encircled the base, 12,000 are dead. ACTOR AS RAYMOND TORRES:
I suppose part of me is still in shock. I thought for sure I was
going to die up on that hill. But somehow, we
held off the attack. NARRATOR: Medical
corpsman Raymond Torres suffers shrapnel wounds to
his face, torso, and legs. ACTOR AS RAYMOND TORRES: They
always say no marine left behind. And they really mean it. Those marines hauled
my ass to safety. They were there for
me when I was so hurt I couldn't do a thing for them. I suppose that's the
hardest part of it all, the fact that I lived
and so many of them died. I was the medic. I was the guy that was
supposed to take care of them. They weren't supposed
to take care of me. It's just very-- RAYMOND TORRES: --very hard,
you find it, emotionally, because you do
everything that you can. And it's not enough. And that's always weighed on
me throughout my whole life. NARRATOR: In their
final analysis, the US military reports that 69%
of the 84,000 NVA and Viet Cong troops who fought during the
Tet Offensive are killed. The VC guerrillas suffer
such devastating losses, both in numbers and to
their command structure, that they are essentially wiped
out as an effective fighting unit. Militarily, Tet is an
unquestionable American victory. But for much of the
American public, it will be the graphic images
of death and destruction that continue to
resonate the loudest. Tet has changed the war.
