1
00:01:37,850 --> 00:01:40,182
Hey, it's 104 degrees,
(40C)

2
00:01:40,219 --> 00:01:43,279
and if that doesn't wipe you out,
a jammed weapon will.

3
00:01:43,322 --> 00:01:46,085
Remember, guys, keep it clean
and keep your head low.

4
00:02:06,143 --> 00:02:08,338
"Hi, Mom. Well,
I'm fine today.

5
00:02:08,379 --> 00:02:10,642
And I hope that you're
in good shape also.

6
00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:14,946
Today I am swimming,
washing and taking in the sun.

7
00:02:14,984 --> 00:02:16,474
The beach is great.

8
00:02:16,519 --> 00:02:18,851
The sand is white
and the sky is clear.

9
00:02:18,888 --> 00:02:20,879
Boy, I wish every day
was like this,

10
00:02:20,924 --> 00:02:23,483
then I wouldn't have
any problems while I'm here."

11
00:03:10,669 --> 00:03:13,229
American casualties
in Vietnam,

12
00:03:13,272 --> 00:03:16,536
killed and wounded
now exceed 300,000.

13
00:03:16,574 --> 00:03:18,474
More than 39,000 killed

14
00:03:18,509 --> 00:03:20,909
and more than 258,000 wounded.

15
00:03:20,945 --> 00:03:24,244
"Dear folks, this is your
on-the-spot correspondent

16
00:03:24,282 --> 00:03:26,079
in the Big 'Nam reporting.'

17
00:03:26,117 --> 00:03:29,574
"Hi, honey, I had
a hell of a day yesterday."

18
00:03:29,620 --> 00:03:31,884
"Dear Sue, thank you
for the wingtips.

19
00:03:31,922 --> 00:03:35,756
Only one question:
Where do I wear them in Vietnam?"

20
00:03:53,242 --> 00:03:56,142
"Darling, I am sitting down
to write of my love for you

21
00:03:56,177 --> 00:03:58,111
and the horrors of war."

22
00:03:58,146 --> 00:04:01,138
"Actually, I'm writing because I have
to, or go out of my mind.

23
00:04:01,182 --> 00:04:03,150
Things happen over here
you just can't..."

24
00:04:03,184 --> 00:04:05,516
"Mom, I appreciate
all of your letters.

25
00:04:05,553 --> 00:04:08,248
For a while as I read your letters,
I'm a normal person.

26
00:04:08,289 --> 00:04:11,156
I'm not killing people
or worried about being killed."

27
00:04:11,191 --> 00:04:15,423
"Darling, believe me, I try not
to skip a day in writing you.

28
00:04:15,462 --> 00:04:19,057
Whether or not I get a letter determines
if it's a good day or not."

29
00:04:44,122 --> 00:04:46,749
This is London...
Switzerland calling...

30
00:04:46,791 --> 00:04:49,487
...South America...

31
00:04:49,527 --> 00:04:51,256
And here is the news.

32
00:04:51,295 --> 00:04:54,560
Three Communist P.T. boats
attacked an American destroyer

33
00:04:54,598 --> 00:04:56,793
off the coast of Vietnam
yesterday.

34
00:04:56,834 --> 00:05:00,394
And today, President Johnson's
response was hard and tough.

35
00:05:02,539 --> 00:05:05,975
He has ordered the U.S. Navy
to continue patrolling there,

36
00:05:06,009 --> 00:05:08,876
and if they are attacked
to destroy their attackers.

37
00:05:25,093 --> 00:05:28,256
To any armed attack
upon our forces

38
00:05:28,296 --> 00:05:31,060
we shall reply.

39
00:05:31,099 --> 00:05:34,296
To any in Southeast Asia
who ask our help

40
00:05:34,335 --> 00:05:37,462
in defending their freedom,
we shall give it.

41
00:05:47,514 --> 00:05:49,913
You can't win in Asia.

42
00:05:49,949 --> 00:05:54,249
So I am not going to go along
with this kind of a program

43
00:05:54,286 --> 00:05:57,050
in South Vietnam,
at least with my vote,

44
00:05:57,089 --> 00:06:01,025
that in my judgment is going
to kill needlessly

45
00:06:01,060 --> 00:06:04,722
untold numbers of American boys,
and for nothing.

46
00:06:53,408 --> 00:06:56,934
"Dear Dad, well, here it is.

47
00:06:56,977 --> 00:07:00,469
We've been told that our whole company
will be shipping out to Vietnam

48
00:07:00,514 --> 00:07:02,448
after advanced infantry
training.

49
00:07:02,483 --> 00:07:06,112
Our company commander and our
battalion and brigade commanders

50
00:07:06,153 --> 00:07:09,952
told us there's no sense in trying
to fool ourselves, we're going for sure.

51
00:07:09,989 --> 00:07:11,980
The only thing
that makes me mad

52
00:07:12,025 --> 00:07:14,721
is how do they expect you
to tell your parents."

53
00:07:21,133 --> 00:07:25,536
"I don't mind going, but there are some
guys here who just won't make it.

54
00:07:25,571 --> 00:07:28,039
And I don't think
they'll make it out alive.

55
00:07:28,073 --> 00:07:30,871
Your son, Bob.

56
00:07:30,909 --> 00:07:33,968
P.S., tell Mom not to worry.

57
00:07:34,011 --> 00:07:35,672
It's nothing I can't handle."

58
00:07:44,789 --> 00:07:46,881
All right, settle down,
settle down.

59
00:07:50,060 --> 00:07:51,994
"Dear Uncle and Aunt,

60
00:07:52,028 --> 00:07:54,553
some people wonder why
Americans are in Vietnam.

61
00:07:54,598 --> 00:07:56,566
The way I see the situation,

62
00:07:56,600 --> 00:07:59,830
I would rather fight and stop
Communists in South Vietnam

63
00:07:59,869 --> 00:08:01,894
than in Kincaid, Humboldt,

64
00:08:01,937 --> 00:08:03,427
Blue Mound or Kansas City.

65
00:08:03,472 --> 00:08:05,736
And that's just about
what it would end up being.

66
00:08:05,774 --> 00:08:09,369
The price for victory is high
when life cannot be replaced.

67
00:08:09,411 --> 00:08:12,777
But I think it is far better
to fight and die for freedom,

68
00:08:12,814 --> 00:08:15,305
than to live under
oppression and fear.

69
00:08:15,350 --> 00:08:17,341
Your nephew, Jack."

70
00:08:17,385 --> 00:08:20,218
- What state are you from?
- Charlotte, North Carolina, sir.

71
00:08:20,255 --> 00:08:22,155
North Carolina?
Charlotte, yeah,

72
00:08:22,190 --> 00:08:24,784
- I know it well. Good luck to you, lad.
- Thank you, sir.

73
00:08:24,826 --> 00:08:28,386
"Dear John, well,
in 360 days I'll be home.

74
00:08:28,428 --> 00:08:30,726
Try not to worry
too much about me.

75
00:08:30,764 --> 00:08:33,232
I know that will be
difficult,

76
00:08:33,267 --> 00:08:35,758
but it doesn't do anyone
any good.

77
00:08:35,802 --> 00:08:37,861
Love, Bobby."

78
00:09:10,668 --> 00:09:13,967
"Chris, I finally got
to my unit yesterday.

79
00:09:14,004 --> 00:09:17,166
Our mission is to find V.C.
and kill them.

80
00:09:17,207 --> 00:09:20,301
I should be operating like this
for the next two months

81
00:09:20,343 --> 00:09:23,972
before I get a chance
to take a shower and sleep in a bed.

82
00:09:24,013 --> 00:09:25,571
What a life.

83
00:09:25,615 --> 00:09:28,049
There are absolutely
no comforts in our job.

84
00:09:28,084 --> 00:09:31,985
I carry nothing but a razor
and a bar of soap for comfort.

85
00:09:32,020 --> 00:09:33,988
We wear the only clothes
we have

86
00:09:34,022 --> 00:09:37,788
and wash them in rivers
and streams as we cross them.

87
00:09:37,826 --> 00:09:40,124
You were right.

88
00:09:40,162 --> 00:09:43,619
I managed to get myself
right in the middle of it all."

89
00:09:52,873 --> 00:09:56,808
"Dear Tom, hi, how are you?

90
00:09:56,843 --> 00:09:58,367
I hope all is well at home.

91
00:09:58,411 --> 00:10:00,038
Everything's okay here.

92
00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:03,481
My whole squad is
all a bunch of screwballs.

93
00:10:03,516 --> 00:10:06,144
Eddie's running around
with an insect bomb

94
00:10:06,186 --> 00:10:07,983
cursing the bugs.

95
00:10:08,021 --> 00:10:10,614
The mosquitoes that come out
at night are man-eaters,

96
00:10:10,656 --> 00:10:12,988
but the insect repellent
keeps them off.

97
00:10:14,994 --> 00:10:18,486
It's safe in the daytime. We stand out
in the open or work on the bunker.

98
00:10:18,530 --> 00:10:20,828
We can run up and down
the hill with no worries.

99
00:10:20,866 --> 00:10:24,028
But at night we've got to stay
in the bunkers, as snipers sneak in.

100
00:10:24,068 --> 00:10:25,729
Dennis."

101
00:10:27,138 --> 00:10:30,266
"P.S., send some Kool-Aid.

102
00:10:30,308 --> 00:10:32,299
The water here
tastes like shit."

103
00:10:47,394 --> 00:10:49,451
I think I got
a booby trap here.

104
00:10:49,492 --> 00:10:51,858
Roger Whiskey,
I have a booby trap...

105
00:10:51,894 --> 00:10:54,795
trip wire tied
onto a branch,

106
00:10:54,830 --> 00:10:58,129
grenade on the end of the trip wire.
Spoon is out.

107
00:10:58,167 --> 00:11:01,067
"Dear Mom and Dad, the way
we move without contact

108
00:11:01,102 --> 00:11:03,366
I begin to wonder
if the V.C. are even out there.

109
00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:08,700
All the time
you know they are.

110
00:11:08,743 --> 00:11:12,406
The great frustration is
that they don't come out and fight."

111
00:11:15,616 --> 00:11:17,777
Be careful now!

112
00:11:17,818 --> 00:11:19,149
Watch yourself.

113
00:11:42,708 --> 00:11:46,542
"Dear Red, anyone
over here who walks

114
00:11:46,578 --> 00:11:48,808
more than 50 feet
through elephant grass

115
00:11:48,847 --> 00:11:51,145
should automatically
get a Purple Heart.

116
00:11:55,419 --> 00:11:58,286
Try to imagine grass
possessing razor-sharp edges

117
00:11:58,322 --> 00:12:02,486
eight to 15' high, so thick
as to cut visibility to one yard.

118
00:12:03,828 --> 00:12:06,091
Then try to imagine
walking through it

119
00:12:06,129 --> 00:12:09,565
while all around you are men possessing
the latest automatic weapons

120
00:12:09,599 --> 00:12:11,533
who desperately want
to kill you.

121
00:12:13,169 --> 00:12:17,435
You'd be amazed at how much
a man can age on one patrol."

122
00:12:24,980 --> 00:12:27,312
"We're all scared.

123
00:12:27,349 --> 00:12:31,842
One can easily see this emotion
in the eyes of each individual.

124
00:12:31,886 --> 00:12:34,081
One might hide it
with his mouth,

125
00:12:34,122 --> 00:12:36,716
while another might hide it
with his actions.

126
00:12:38,059 --> 00:12:40,619
But there is no way
around it.

127
00:12:40,661 --> 00:12:42,959
We are all scared."

128
00:12:53,407 --> 00:12:55,375
Look up in the tree!
Look up in the tree!

129
00:12:55,409 --> 00:12:57,467
Aw, shit!

130
00:12:59,412 --> 00:13:00,743
He's over there!

131
00:13:08,387 --> 00:13:10,377
I'll get you,
son of a bitch!

132
00:13:19,464 --> 00:13:20,863
Go!

133
00:13:20,899 --> 00:13:22,866
"My dearest Bev,

134
00:13:22,900 --> 00:13:26,461
for the last week we've been waiting
for an attack,

135
00:13:26,503 --> 00:13:29,301
and finally it came
in full force.

136
00:13:29,339 --> 00:13:32,536
Honey, I was never so scared
in my whole life.

137
00:13:32,576 --> 00:13:36,033
We got hit by 12 mortars
and rockets.

138
00:13:36,078 --> 00:13:38,911
A mortar landed
about 30' from me.

139
00:13:38,948 --> 00:13:41,678
And I was lucky enough
to have my head down.

140
00:13:41,717 --> 00:13:44,083
But the sergeant
next to me didn't,

141
00:13:44,120 --> 00:13:46,054
and I think
he lost an eye."

142
00:13:48,123 --> 00:13:50,785
I've been hit!
Ahhh, I've been hit!

143
00:13:54,262 --> 00:13:56,560
"This was my first
real look at war.

144
00:13:56,598 --> 00:13:59,226
And it sure was
an ugly sight.

145
00:13:59,267 --> 00:14:02,997
I helped carry
some of the wounded away.

146
00:14:03,037 --> 00:14:06,598
And, boy, I sure hope
I don't have to do that again.

147
00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:10,838
It was an experience you can never
explain in a million words."

148
00:14:14,981 --> 00:14:17,211
I've got a lot of pain
in that left ankle.

149
00:14:17,250 --> 00:14:19,445
That's a good sign.

150
00:14:19,486 --> 00:14:23,684
It's that sharp pain you get
when you've got nerves, you know?

151
00:14:23,723 --> 00:14:26,590
It's that sharp nerve pain,
burning, burning.

152
00:14:26,626 --> 00:14:29,059
They're gonna do
all they can to save that leg.

153
00:14:29,094 --> 00:14:32,723
I know.
I know there's not much left

154
00:14:32,764 --> 00:14:36,996
because I was carrying
that damn thing in my hands

155
00:14:37,035 --> 00:14:38,400
all the way back.

156
00:14:38,437 --> 00:14:41,200
I was afraid the whole thing
was gonna come off.

157
00:14:41,239 --> 00:14:44,538
I said, "Hell, they can't be
right around in here."

158
00:14:44,575 --> 00:14:48,375
So, I didn't call bombs
and nap in on these people.

159
00:14:48,412 --> 00:14:50,642
- Mm-hmm.
- But that's where they were.

160
00:14:50,681 --> 00:14:52,649
I'm sure now that
that's where they were.

161
00:14:52,682 --> 00:14:55,674
God damn it, I...
I hate to put nap...

162
00:14:55,719 --> 00:14:58,187
and...

163
00:14:58,221 --> 00:15:00,018
and on these women
and children.

164
00:15:00,056 --> 00:15:02,820
I just didn't do it.
I just said, "They can't be there."

165
00:15:02,859 --> 00:15:05,384
"Dear Vern,
I talked to Danny,

166
00:15:05,428 --> 00:15:07,418
the man who lost his leg
this morning.

167
00:15:07,463 --> 00:15:09,863
He's a mean bastard.

168
00:15:09,899 --> 00:15:13,391
I've never seen such
bravery and guts before,

169
00:15:13,435 --> 00:15:15,699
and I'm stunned by it.

170
00:15:17,106 --> 00:15:19,630
You should have seen
my men fight.

171
00:15:19,674 --> 00:15:23,667
They were going after wounded men
no one else'd go after.

172
00:15:25,280 --> 00:15:27,714
You should have seen
my brave men.

173
00:15:27,749 --> 00:15:30,411
It'd give you
goose-pimples."

174
00:15:35,989 --> 00:15:39,254
This is Cam Ranh Bay
on the South China Sea.

175
00:15:40,460 --> 00:15:44,623
It is said to be one of the finest
natural harbors in the world.

176
00:15:44,664 --> 00:15:48,100
It will in time be
the chief port of entry

177
00:15:48,134 --> 00:15:50,762
for American men
and materiel in Vietnam.

178
00:15:50,803 --> 00:15:53,601
It is taking on
a look of permanence.

179
00:15:53,639 --> 00:15:56,039
And the activity going on
all around

180
00:15:56,075 --> 00:15:58,133
suggests that
we have recognized

181
00:15:58,176 --> 00:16:00,508
there is not going to be
an easy, painless

182
00:16:00,545 --> 00:16:03,013
or quick way
out of this struggle.

183
00:16:03,048 --> 00:16:05,983
And so, during the past year
our military forces

184
00:16:06,017 --> 00:16:08,178
have grown from 25,000

185
00:16:08,219 --> 00:16:10,778
to nearly 200,000 men.

186
00:16:10,821 --> 00:16:14,120
The possibility of 300,000 men
here by spring

187
00:16:14,158 --> 00:16:15,716
is now considered likely.

188
00:16:44,219 --> 00:16:47,382
"Dear folks, car, bird,
house, et cetera,

189
00:16:47,422 --> 00:16:50,185
new jungle fatigues,
boots, cooling fans,

190
00:16:50,224 --> 00:16:52,192
typewriters, napkins,
silverware,

191
00:16:52,226 --> 00:16:54,456
grass seeds,
all trickle into supply

192
00:16:54,495 --> 00:16:56,292
and are dispersed
as needed.

193
00:16:56,330 --> 00:16:58,628
Jeez, you know,

194
00:16:58,666 --> 00:17:00,395
this is an 'in' war,

195
00:17:00,434 --> 00:17:02,867
one of the hippest things
in this whole world.

196
00:17:04,571 --> 00:17:07,039
I've read where officers
were quoted as saying,

197
00:17:07,073 --> 00:17:09,735
'This is the only war
we've got.

198
00:17:09,776 --> 00:17:11,607
Don't knock it.'

199
00:17:32,296 --> 00:17:35,424
This war is not going to end

200
00:17:35,466 --> 00:17:38,958
by any one single battle
or combination of battles.

201
00:17:39,003 --> 00:17:41,402
It could be a situation

202
00:17:41,438 --> 00:17:44,134
that could drag out for some time.

203
00:17:44,174 --> 00:17:46,938
Certainly, as the war gets
more intense...

204
00:17:46,977 --> 00:17:49,639
and I feel that it will
in coming the months...

205
00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:52,774
we will suffer
more American casualties.

206
00:18:04,293 --> 00:18:05,726
"Dearest Bev,

207
00:18:05,761 --> 00:18:08,820
last night we had the V.C.
all around us.

208
00:18:08,863 --> 00:18:10,956
Bev, don't ever tell
Mother this,

209
00:18:10,999 --> 00:18:13,490
but at times I feel
I will never come home.

210
00:18:13,535 --> 00:18:16,436
The V.C. are getting
much stronger.

211
00:18:16,471 --> 00:18:20,099
So I think this war is going to get
worse before it gets better.

212
00:18:20,140 --> 00:18:23,632
The days
are fairly peaceful.

213
00:18:23,677 --> 00:18:26,510
But the nights
are pure hell.

214
00:18:26,547 --> 00:18:28,845
I look up at the stars

215
00:18:28,882 --> 00:18:32,373
and it's so hard to believe
that the same stars shine over you

216
00:18:32,418 --> 00:18:34,818
in such a different world
as you live in.

217
00:18:36,589 --> 00:18:39,456
All my love, Al."

218
00:19:39,313 --> 00:19:42,714
"Hello, dear folks.

219
00:19:42,750 --> 00:19:45,776
It's going to be hard
for me to write this,

220
00:19:45,820 --> 00:19:49,221
but maybe it will make me
feel better.

221
00:19:49,257 --> 00:19:52,225
Yesterday
my company was hit

222
00:19:52,259 --> 00:19:55,023
while looking for V.C.

223
00:19:55,061 --> 00:19:58,360
They told me that they needed
someone to identify a boy

224
00:19:58,398 --> 00:20:00,559
they'd just brought in.

225
00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:02,534
It was very bad they said.

226
00:20:03,702 --> 00:20:05,795
So I went into the tent

227
00:20:05,838 --> 00:20:08,864
and there on the table
was the boy.

228
00:20:08,908 --> 00:20:11,433
His face was all cut up

229
00:20:11,477 --> 00:20:13,104
and blood all over it.

230
00:20:13,145 --> 00:20:15,238
His mouth was open.

231
00:20:15,281 --> 00:20:17,441
His eyes were both open.

232
00:20:17,482 --> 00:20:19,541
It was a mess.

233
00:20:19,584 --> 00:20:21,779
I couldn't really
identify him.

234
00:20:21,820 --> 00:20:23,788
So I went outside

235
00:20:23,822 --> 00:20:26,188
while they went through
his stuff.

236
00:20:26,224 --> 00:20:29,954
They found his I.D. card
and dog tags.

237
00:20:32,596 --> 00:20:35,497
I went in and they told me
his name...

238
00:20:36,667 --> 00:20:38,498
Rankin."

239
00:20:49,011 --> 00:20:53,971
"I cried, 'No, God,
it can't be.'

240
00:20:54,016 --> 00:20:56,609
But sure enough,

241
00:20:56,651 --> 00:20:59,347
after looking
at his bloody face again,

242
00:20:59,387 --> 00:21:01,355
I could see it was him.

243
00:21:01,389 --> 00:21:04,620
It really hit me hard

244
00:21:04,659 --> 00:21:07,184
because he was one
of the nicest guys around.

245
00:21:07,229 --> 00:21:09,219
He was
one of my good friends.

246
00:21:10,898 --> 00:21:14,664
No other K.I.A. or W.I.A.
hit me like that.

247
00:21:16,804 --> 00:21:18,965
I knew most of them,

248
00:21:19,006 --> 00:21:22,372
but this was the first body
I ever saw.

249
00:21:22,408 --> 00:21:27,072
And being my friend,
it was too much.

250
00:21:29,515 --> 00:21:32,678
After I left the place
I sat down and cried.

251
00:21:32,719 --> 00:21:35,016
I couldn't stop it.

252
00:21:35,053 --> 00:21:38,614
I didn't think I ever cried
so much in my life.

253
00:21:39,992 --> 00:21:42,654
I can still see
his face now.

254
00:21:42,694 --> 00:21:45,424
I'll never forget it.

255
00:21:48,766 --> 00:21:51,564
Today the heavens
cried for him.

256
00:21:52,904 --> 00:21:55,270
It started raining
at noon today

257
00:21:55,306 --> 00:21:57,501
and has now
finally just stopped

258
00:21:57,541 --> 00:22:00,532
after 10 hours of the hardest rain
I've ever seen.

259
00:22:01,945 --> 00:22:04,209
Love, Richard."

260
00:22:10,587 --> 00:22:13,214
What we've just seen,
men fighting for their lives

261
00:22:13,255 --> 00:22:15,223
in the jungles
of South Vietnam,

262
00:22:15,257 --> 00:22:18,021
is what has aroused
such apprehension and debate

263
00:22:18,060 --> 00:22:19,755
throughout the world.

264
00:22:19,795 --> 00:22:22,423
War is brutal,
and the reaction to it is strong.

265
00:22:22,464 --> 00:22:26,456
This week hundreds of people
demonstrated against it.

266
00:22:26,501 --> 00:22:29,800
Others have voiced
their concern by question and dissent.

267
00:22:29,837 --> 00:22:31,862
Public opinion polls
indicate

268
00:22:31,906 --> 00:22:34,170
that the dissenters are
in the minority,

269
00:22:34,208 --> 00:22:35,800
but their number
is growing,

270
00:22:35,843 --> 00:22:39,403
and they are starting
to take more positive actions.

271
00:22:39,446 --> 00:22:42,711
On Saturday,
a march to show solidarity

272
00:22:42,749 --> 00:22:45,775
with American servicemen
in Vietnam was held in New York City.

273
00:22:45,819 --> 00:22:48,413
The marchers carried
American flags.

274
00:22:48,455 --> 00:22:51,480
Flags were hung
from apartment house windows.

275
00:22:53,025 --> 00:22:55,892
Against this background
the battle continues,

276
00:22:55,928 --> 00:22:59,694
and in it this week,
274 Americans were killed,

277
00:22:59,732 --> 00:23:04,532
1,748 wounded,
18 listed as missing.

278
00:23:04,569 --> 00:23:06,901
There's no end to the war
in sight.

279
00:23:17,614 --> 00:23:20,276
"Dear Ma,

280
00:23:20,317 --> 00:23:23,809
Vietnam has my feelings
on a seesaw.

281
00:23:23,854 --> 00:23:26,288
This country is
so beautiful.

282
00:23:26,323 --> 00:23:29,121
When the sun is shining
on the mountains,

283
00:23:29,159 --> 00:23:33,595
farmers in their rice paddies
with their water buffalo,

284
00:23:33,629 --> 00:23:36,598
and palm trees,
monkeys, birds,

285
00:23:36,632 --> 00:23:38,827
and even
the strange insects,

286
00:23:38,868 --> 00:23:41,769
for a fleeting moment
I'm not in a war zone at all,

287
00:23:41,804 --> 00:23:43,270
just on vacation.

288
00:23:43,305 --> 00:23:46,274
But still missing you
and the family.

289
00:23:48,477 --> 00:23:50,536
There are a few kids
who hang around,

290
00:23:50,579 --> 00:23:51,876
some with no parents.

291
00:23:51,913 --> 00:23:54,746
I feel so sorry
for them.

292
00:23:54,783 --> 00:23:58,741
I do things to make them laugh,
and they call me 'dinky dau.'

293
00:23:58,786 --> 00:24:00,913
That means crazy."

294
00:24:00,955 --> 00:24:04,254
- Okay!
- Okay!

295
00:24:04,291 --> 00:24:07,658
"I hope that's one reason
why we're here,

296
00:24:07,695 --> 00:24:10,993
to secure
a future for them.

297
00:24:11,031 --> 00:24:13,363
Your son, George."

298
00:24:16,970 --> 00:24:18,733
"Dear Mom and Dad,

299
00:24:18,772 --> 00:24:21,399
you know that joke about
how hard it is to tell

300
00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:23,908
the good guys
from the bad guys over here?

301
00:24:23,942 --> 00:24:27,605
Well, it's funny in Bronxville
or Dorset, but it isn't over here.

302
00:24:27,646 --> 00:24:29,807
The enemy in our area
of operation

303
00:24:29,848 --> 00:24:32,681
is a farmer by day
and V.C. by night.

304
00:24:32,718 --> 00:24:34,378
Every man we pick up says,

305
00:24:34,419 --> 00:24:36,046
'Me Vietnamese number one.

306
00:24:36,087 --> 00:24:38,021
V.C. number 10.'

307
00:24:38,056 --> 00:24:40,286
So we have to let him go.

308
00:24:40,324 --> 00:24:42,690
By the way,
number one means real good,

309
00:24:42,727 --> 00:24:44,354
and number 10
means real bad.

310
00:24:44,395 --> 00:24:48,728
Other handy phrases are:
'titi,' very little;,

311
00:24:48,765 --> 00:24:50,733
'boo koo,'
which means very much;

312
00:24:50,767 --> 00:24:53,065
'didi mow,'
get out of here.

313
00:24:53,103 --> 00:24:55,071
What more do you need
to know?"

314
00:24:55,105 --> 00:24:56,402
Didi mow.
Go, go.

315
00:24:56,440 --> 00:24:58,431
"Love always, Mike."

316
00:25:34,108 --> 00:25:36,076
Roger.
1st Battalion's coming in.

317
00:25:54,226 --> 00:25:56,786
All right!

318
00:26:46,874 --> 00:26:50,002
Come on, get out of here.

319
00:26:52,313 --> 00:26:55,908
Come on, get up!

320
00:27:07,727 --> 00:27:10,160
"Dear Red,

321
00:27:10,196 --> 00:27:12,164
the frightening thing
about it all

322
00:27:12,198 --> 00:27:14,666
is that it's so very easy
to kill in war.

323
00:27:14,700 --> 00:27:17,863
There's no remorse,
no theatrical washing of the hands

324
00:27:17,903 --> 00:27:20,804
to get rid of non-existent blood,
not even any regrets.

325
00:27:20,839 --> 00:27:23,306
Get killed because
that little son of a bitch

326
00:27:23,341 --> 00:27:25,502
is doing his best
to kill you?

327
00:27:25,543 --> 00:27:29,843
When it happens you're more afraid
than you've ever been in your life.

328
00:27:29,881 --> 00:27:32,850
And you desperately
want to live

329
00:27:32,884 --> 00:27:35,317
to go home,
to get drunk,

330
00:27:35,352 --> 00:27:38,253
or walk down the street
on a date again."

331
00:27:58,374 --> 00:27:59,841
"Dear Mom and Dad,

332
00:27:59,875 --> 00:28:02,900
1st Cavalry moved in here
a few weeks ago,

333
00:28:02,944 --> 00:28:05,276
and what a rowdy bunch.

334
00:28:05,313 --> 00:28:08,510
These guys have been out
in the mud in the boonies for months.

335
00:28:08,550 --> 00:28:11,485
They just wandered around
staring at everything,

336
00:28:11,519 --> 00:28:13,544
trying out all
the chairs,

337
00:28:13,588 --> 00:28:14,884
flushing the toilets.

338
00:28:14,922 --> 00:28:16,913
It was funny to watch."

339
00:28:29,135 --> 00:28:32,832
"But I guess when you've had
to do without clean clothes,

340
00:28:32,872 --> 00:28:35,363
good food and shelter
for as long as they have

341
00:28:35,408 --> 00:28:37,569
you might believe
your eyes either.

342
00:28:37,610 --> 00:28:41,101
Oh, God, it must be awful
for them out there.

343
00:28:41,146 --> 00:28:43,876
Love always, me."

344
00:29:19,048 --> 00:29:21,915
"Dear Mom and Dad,
and everyone...

345
00:29:21,950 --> 00:29:26,114
oh, I had my first baptizing
with Saigon tea."

346
00:29:29,858 --> 00:29:32,155
"This is the usual approach
of a bar hog.

347
00:29:32,193 --> 00:29:34,127
You walk in and sit down
at the bar.

348
00:29:34,162 --> 00:29:37,063
Before you get to order a drink,
a girl will be sitting next to you

349
00:29:37,098 --> 00:29:40,295
and she'll begin with...
'Hello, what is your name?

350
00:29:40,335 --> 00:29:42,428
Would you like a drink?'
You order one.

351
00:29:42,470 --> 00:29:45,267
Then she'll say,
'I've not see you here before.

352
00:29:45,305 --> 00:29:46,932
You're very handsome.

353
00:29:46,973 --> 00:29:49,134
You look young.

354
00:29:49,176 --> 00:29:50,905
How old are you?'

355
00:29:50,944 --> 00:29:54,778
They usually like you to be 21 and 23,
but I tell them 19.

356
00:29:54,815 --> 00:29:56,942
Then they say,
'You baby-san!'

357
00:29:56,983 --> 00:30:00,008
Which means, 'Have you ever been
to bed with a woman?"'

358
00:30:04,490 --> 00:30:07,459
"A baby-san's a virgin.
Ha, come on!"

359
00:30:25,008 --> 00:30:27,272
I wish I could report to you

360
00:30:27,311 --> 00:30:29,142
that the conflict is
almost over.

361
00:30:29,179 --> 00:30:32,114
This I cannot do.

362
00:30:32,149 --> 00:30:35,812
We face more costs,
more loss,

363
00:30:35,853 --> 00:30:38,082
and more agony,

364
00:30:38,121 --> 00:30:40,954
for the end is not yet.

365
00:30:40,990 --> 00:30:44,926
I cannot promise you
that it will come this year...

366
00:30:46,662 --> 00:30:49,357
or come next year.

367
00:30:49,398 --> 00:30:53,095
Our adversary still believes,
I think, tonight

368
00:30:53,135 --> 00:30:56,696
that he can go on fighting
longer than we can,

369
00:30:56,738 --> 00:31:00,174
and longer than we
and our allies

370
00:31:00,208 --> 00:31:03,472
will be prepared to stand up
and resist.

371
00:31:08,215 --> 00:31:10,342
Roger. If they come up
to where you are,

372
00:31:10,384 --> 00:31:12,875
I'll be going at them
in the same direction.

373
00:31:12,920 --> 00:31:14,717
I want to try
to flank them.

374
00:31:14,755 --> 00:31:17,314
That's why I'm asking
what direction you're firing in.

375
00:31:17,357 --> 00:31:19,348
It sounds to me like
you're firing east. Over.

376
00:31:19,392 --> 00:31:21,622
This is Elmo, did not copy.
Repeat, over.

377
00:31:21,661 --> 00:31:24,323
What direction
are you firing in?

378
00:31:27,866 --> 00:31:30,699
- Come in on the other flank. Over.
- That's affirmative.

379
00:31:45,216 --> 00:31:47,275
You can fire that way.

380
00:31:47,318 --> 00:31:50,776
Negative! Don't fire any way.
We're surrounded by friendlies.

381
00:31:50,822 --> 00:31:53,949
Return incoming fire
from there!

382
00:31:53,990 --> 00:31:56,049
- Returning fire, sir!
- What did he say?

383
00:31:56,092 --> 00:31:59,220
Escort platoon, they're trying
to overrun these woods.

384
00:32:19,081 --> 00:32:20,707
"Dear Madeline,

385
00:32:20,748 --> 00:32:23,444
it's good to have someone
to tell your troubles to.

386
00:32:23,485 --> 00:32:26,784
I can't tell them to my parents
or Darlene 'cause they worry too much,

387
00:32:26,821 --> 00:32:29,915
but I tell you truthfully
I doubt if I'll come out of this alive.

388
00:32:29,958 --> 00:32:32,687
In my original squad
I'm the only one left unharmed."

389
00:32:32,726 --> 00:32:35,820
"In my platoon there's
only 13 of us.

390
00:32:35,863 --> 00:32:39,196
It seems every day another young guy,
18 or 19 years old

391
00:32:39,233 --> 00:32:41,201
like myself,
is killed in action.

392
00:32:41,235 --> 00:32:43,203
Please, help me, Mad.

393
00:32:43,237 --> 00:32:47,639
I don't know if I should stop
writing my parents and Darlene or what."

394
00:32:47,673 --> 00:32:49,163
Come on!

395
00:32:54,013 --> 00:32:55,981
"Oh, and one more favor,

396
00:32:56,015 --> 00:32:57,448
I'd like the truth now.

397
00:32:57,483 --> 00:32:59,973
Has Darlene been
faithful to me?

398
00:33:00,018 --> 00:33:02,248
I know she's dating
other guys,

399
00:33:02,287 --> 00:33:04,448
but does she still
love me best?

400
00:33:05,690 --> 00:33:07,988
See if it's God's will.

401
00:33:08,026 --> 00:33:10,426
I have to make it out
of Vietnam though,

402
00:33:10,462 --> 00:33:12,486
because I'm lucky.

403
00:33:12,530 --> 00:33:14,225
I hope.

404
00:33:14,265 --> 00:33:17,325
Ha ha.
Love, Ray."

405
00:33:49,598 --> 00:33:52,088
Okay, watch out.

406
00:33:54,802 --> 00:33:56,963
Okay, up!

407
00:33:57,972 --> 00:33:59,633
I've got it.

408
00:34:04,077 --> 00:34:05,704
"Dear Doug,

409
00:34:05,745 --> 00:34:07,713
we were cut off
from our base

410
00:34:07,747 --> 00:34:10,477
and requested a helicopter
evacuation with a priority.

411
00:34:10,517 --> 00:34:13,179
We were
all in sad shape now.

412
00:34:13,219 --> 00:34:17,279
I know that at one point,
my feet about to crack open,

413
00:34:17,323 --> 00:34:21,259
my stomach knotted by hunger
and diarrhea,

414
00:34:21,293 --> 00:34:25,024
my back feeling like a mirror made
of nerves shattered in a million pieces

415
00:34:25,064 --> 00:34:28,556
by my flack jacket pack, and extra
mortars and machine-gun ammo...

416
00:34:29,901 --> 00:34:33,564
my hands a mass of hamburger
from thorn cuts,

417
00:34:33,605 --> 00:34:37,041
and my face a mass of welts
from mosquitoes,

418
00:34:37,075 --> 00:34:41,977
I desired greatly
to throw down everything and sob.

419
00:34:42,012 --> 00:34:44,776
I remember a captain,

420
00:34:44,815 --> 00:34:47,249
an aviator, who observing
a group of grunts

421
00:34:47,284 --> 00:34:49,514
toasting the infantry
in a bar said,

422
00:34:49,553 --> 00:34:53,614
'You damned infantry think
you're the only people who exist.'

423
00:34:53,657 --> 00:34:56,056
You're damned right
we do."

424
00:35:17,112 --> 00:35:19,740
- How many men did you have?
- Ten, sir.

425
00:35:19,781 --> 00:35:21,771
- How many came out of the battle?
- Four, sir.

426
00:35:21,815 --> 00:35:24,147
- Four. Rest of them killed or wounded?
- One killed.

427
00:35:24,184 --> 00:35:27,517
One killed, rest wounded. Some of the
wounded will be back for duty, I assume?

428
00:35:27,554 --> 00:35:29,852
Yes, sir. We got them all out.
All of them came back.

429
00:35:29,890 --> 00:35:32,188
- Uh-huh. All your weapons too?
- Yes, sir.

430
00:35:32,226 --> 00:35:34,022
What were
you doing, lad?

431
00:35:34,060 --> 00:35:36,085
Sir, I was a medic
on a point.

432
00:35:36,129 --> 00:35:38,427
- Mm-hmm. Think you saved some lives?
- Yes, sir.

433
00:35:38,464 --> 00:35:40,432
"September 1967.

434
00:35:40,466 --> 00:35:44,095
David, morale's very high

435
00:35:44,137 --> 00:35:48,232
in spite of the fact that most men think
the war's being run incorrectly.

436
00:35:48,273 --> 00:35:50,503
One of the staggering facts

437
00:35:50,542 --> 00:35:54,034
is that most men here believe
we will not win the war,

438
00:35:54,079 --> 00:35:56,775
and yet they stick
their necks out every day,

439
00:35:56,815 --> 00:35:58,908
and carry on as if
they were fighting

440
00:35:58,950 --> 00:36:01,417
for the continental security
of the United States."

441
00:36:01,452 --> 00:36:04,421
Were you men in the battle? I know you
were, weren't you, Fitzgerald?

442
00:36:04,455 --> 00:36:06,150
- Yes, sir.
- What did you do?

443
00:36:06,190 --> 00:36:08,920
What did I do? I ran around and shot
just like everybody else.

444
00:36:08,959 --> 00:36:10,927
What did you shoot?
What type of weapon?

445
00:36:10,961 --> 00:36:12,518
- I'm on an M-60, sir.
- An M-60.

446
00:36:12,562 --> 00:36:15,588
"We were taking
a fierce beating over here.

447
00:36:15,632 --> 00:36:18,294
They don't have
enough men.

448
00:36:18,334 --> 00:36:20,427
We must have more men.

449
00:36:20,470 --> 00:36:22,961
At least twice as many,
or we are gonna get

450
00:36:23,006 --> 00:36:26,270
the piss kicked out of us this winter
when the rains come."

451
00:37:28,500 --> 00:37:31,593
Ever since Hill 80-81 and 86-20

452
00:37:31,635 --> 00:37:33,296
you feel something
in the air...

453
00:37:33,337 --> 00:37:36,238
uh, about the build-up.

454
00:37:36,273 --> 00:37:41,108
I don't know. You can almost feel them
working around you at night.

455
00:37:46,749 --> 00:37:48,717
"Dear Ellen,

456
00:37:48,751 --> 00:37:52,278
we really have been preparing
for this all-out offensive by the gooks.

457
00:37:52,321 --> 00:37:54,721
I guess you might have read
about it in the papers.

458
00:37:54,757 --> 00:37:56,690
There's supposed
to be a truce in Vietnam

459
00:37:56,725 --> 00:37:58,693
during the Chinese
Tet New Year.

460
00:37:58,727 --> 00:38:01,252
Khe Sanh is the only area
not observing it

461
00:38:01,296 --> 00:38:02,923
because of the build-up.

462
00:38:02,964 --> 00:38:05,262
I'll try to write again soon.

463
00:38:05,300 --> 00:38:07,234
Love, Jim."

464
00:38:20,714 --> 00:38:22,544
Incoming!

465
00:38:39,765 --> 00:38:41,562
"Dear Mom and Dad,

466
00:38:41,600 --> 00:38:45,161
I guess by now you're
worried sick over my safety.

467
00:38:45,204 --> 00:38:47,637
Khe Sanh village
was overrun,

468
00:38:47,672 --> 00:38:49,867
but not the combat base.

469
00:38:49,907 --> 00:38:54,776
The base was hit and hit hard
by artillery, mortars and rockets.

470
00:38:54,812 --> 00:38:59,272
All my gear and the rest
of the company's gear was destroyed.

471
00:38:59,317 --> 00:39:01,876
I am unhurt
and have not been touched.

472
00:39:01,918 --> 00:39:05,251
But with all the death
and destruction I've seen

473
00:39:05,288 --> 00:39:08,280
in the past week
I've aged greatly.

474
00:39:08,325 --> 00:39:11,556
I feel like an old man now.

475
00:39:11,595 --> 00:39:14,392
I've seen enough of war
and its destruction.

476
00:39:16,065 --> 00:39:19,523
I'm scared by it,
but not scared enough to quit.

477
00:39:19,568 --> 00:39:23,095
I'm a Marine and I hope someday
to be a good one.

478
00:39:25,374 --> 00:39:29,207
Please pray for us all
here at Khe Sanh.

479
00:39:29,244 --> 00:39:32,509
Your son and Marine,
Kevin."

480
00:39:44,124 --> 00:39:46,456
It's Tet,
the Oriental New Year,

481
00:39:46,493 --> 00:39:48,825
and it's a new war.

482
00:39:48,862 --> 00:39:51,330
The Vietcong
simultaneously attacked

483
00:39:51,365 --> 00:39:54,333
just about every major city
and town in South Vietnam.

484
00:39:54,367 --> 00:39:58,394
In one day, they'd increased
the scope of the war dramatically.

485
00:39:58,437 --> 00:40:00,337
Howard Tuckner was there.

486
00:40:00,373 --> 00:40:02,933
The war came to Saigon

487
00:40:02,975 --> 00:40:05,169
early in the morning
of January 31st.

488
00:40:05,210 --> 00:40:08,543
The first target was the symbol
of the American presence in Vietnam,

489
00:40:08,580 --> 00:40:10,548
the United States embassy.

490
00:40:10,582 --> 00:40:14,143
About 20 Vietcong had
invaded the embassy compound

491
00:40:14,185 --> 00:40:17,245
and were now battling American
Marines and military police.

492
00:40:17,289 --> 00:40:19,518
There are two men
over in that direction.

493
00:40:21,158 --> 00:40:24,093
The Vietcong had
penetrated to the center

494
00:40:24,128 --> 00:40:28,462
of what was supposed to be
the most secure city in Vietnam.

495
00:40:41,744 --> 00:40:44,712
What's the hardest part of it?

496
00:40:44,746 --> 00:40:47,180
Trying to know where they are,
that's the worst.

497
00:40:47,215 --> 00:40:50,275
Riding around, they run in the sewers,
in the gutters, anywhere.

498
00:40:50,319 --> 00:40:53,516
They can be anywhere. Just hope you
can stay alive from day to day.

499
00:40:53,555 --> 00:40:56,149
Everybody just wants
to go back home and go to school.

500
00:40:56,191 --> 00:40:58,750
- That's about it.
- Have you lost any friends?

501
00:40:58,793 --> 00:41:01,159
Quite a few.
We lost one the other day.

502
00:41:01,195 --> 00:41:03,789
The whole thing just stinks,
really.

503
00:41:10,570 --> 00:41:12,970
Awful of sick it.
I'll be so glad to go home.

504
00:41:14,541 --> 00:41:17,374
I don't know.
This is the worst area we've been in

505
00:41:17,410 --> 00:41:19,037
since I've been
in Vietnam.

506
00:41:19,079 --> 00:41:20,603
Do you think
it's worth it?

507
00:41:20,647 --> 00:41:22,705
Yeah...
I don't know.

508
00:41:22,748 --> 00:41:25,478
They say we're fighting
for something. I don't know.

509
00:42:26,207 --> 00:42:29,175
General, there's a lot
speculation on the Hill

510
00:42:29,209 --> 00:42:31,734
that ultimately we may have to use
nuclear weapons.

511
00:42:31,779 --> 00:42:33,576
What can you say
on that subject?

512
00:42:33,614 --> 00:42:37,744
I do not think that nuclear weapons
will be required

513
00:42:37,785 --> 00:42:40,275
to defend Khe Sanh.

514
00:42:43,389 --> 00:42:45,448
Incoming!

515
00:42:50,730 --> 00:42:53,163
Marines just sitting here
taking it like dopes.

516
00:42:53,198 --> 00:42:54,927
Yeah,
that's what gets me.

517
00:42:54,966 --> 00:42:56,866
That's not they way
we're supposed to...

518
00:42:56,902 --> 00:42:58,665
We're supposed to be
hard chargers.

519
00:42:58,703 --> 00:43:00,568
We're supposed to
go out and get them.

520
00:43:00,605 --> 00:43:04,041
If they pulled a good search
and destroy, we could clear them away.

521
00:43:04,076 --> 00:43:06,600
I don't know.
You get out there 50',

522
00:43:06,644 --> 00:43:08,612
you're lost already
in the jungle.

523
00:43:08,646 --> 00:43:10,705
It looks pretty clear
from here, but...

524
00:43:10,748 --> 00:43:12,739
It's just a constant siege
here.

525
00:43:12,783 --> 00:43:16,412
And you don't know exactly
when the incoming's coming.

526
00:43:16,454 --> 00:43:19,081
And you don't know how much
it's gonna be from day to day.

527
00:43:19,122 --> 00:43:21,750
And...

528
00:43:21,791 --> 00:43:25,283
How would you compare it to other places
that you've served in Vietnam?

529
00:43:25,328 --> 00:43:28,764
Well, this is the worst
I've been at.

530
00:43:30,767 --> 00:43:33,098
Most of the time
you can't get anything done

531
00:43:33,135 --> 00:43:35,603
because there's
too much incoming.

532
00:43:35,637 --> 00:43:37,400
You can't get out
much at all.

533
00:43:37,439 --> 00:43:39,566
It's just too dangerous
to get out.

534
00:43:39,608 --> 00:43:41,974
And, um...

535
00:43:42,010 --> 00:43:44,274
it just gets on your nerves,
that's all.

536
00:43:44,313 --> 00:43:48,510
Either that, or just have the B-52s
go up one side, back.

537
00:43:48,549 --> 00:43:50,813
The only thing they hit
is the ground.

538
00:43:50,852 --> 00:43:53,082
"Dear Dad and Mom,

539
00:43:53,121 --> 00:43:55,487
well, they haven't
gotten me yet.

540
00:43:55,523 --> 00:43:57,752
I'm sitting here
in my new bunker underground

541
00:43:57,791 --> 00:44:00,817
with many sandbags and metal skids
between me and the surface.

542
00:44:00,861 --> 00:44:04,422
But the men and I will be
all right no matter what comes.

543
00:44:04,464 --> 00:44:07,490
We are all well
and morale is high.

544
00:44:07,534 --> 00:44:10,502
You know I've never really
regretted coming over here,

545
00:44:10,536 --> 00:44:13,562
even yesterday
when my favorite turd got it,

546
00:44:13,606 --> 00:44:16,370
the little guy with
my platoon sergeant's radiomen.

547
00:44:16,408 --> 00:44:18,774
I really loved the kid.

548
00:44:18,811 --> 00:44:20,836
He was the hardest
little worker,

549
00:44:20,880 --> 00:44:23,643
and never complained.
Do anything for you.

550
00:44:23,681 --> 00:44:26,081
After they had
taken him away,

551
00:44:26,117 --> 00:44:29,450
it almost kicked my ass,
as the saying goes.

552
00:44:29,487 --> 00:44:32,581
I almost cracked."

553
00:44:32,624 --> 00:44:34,319
Ready? Fire!

554
00:44:34,359 --> 00:44:37,054
"But there are 75 others
to worry about

555
00:44:37,094 --> 00:44:40,860
and I snapped myself out of my cheap
civilian bull and got back to work."

556
00:44:44,768 --> 00:44:47,362
"You learn every day
the mistakes you're making

557
00:44:47,404 --> 00:44:50,861
and the biggest one is to get too
attached to any one person.

558
00:44:50,907 --> 00:44:52,966
Over here, at least.

559
00:44:53,009 --> 00:44:57,605
Things happen so quickly. One minute
he's fine and the next he's not.

560
00:45:01,083 --> 00:45:04,483
But old Don is pretty lucky.
Knock on wood.

561
00:45:04,519 --> 00:45:06,953
And home I'll come,
I'm sure.

562
00:45:06,988 --> 00:45:08,956
Maybe after we wipe
them up here

563
00:45:08,990 --> 00:45:11,925
they'll go to the bargaining tables
and we can come home...

564
00:45:11,960 --> 00:45:14,428
all of us.
Love, Don."

565
00:46:41,175 --> 00:46:43,336
"Dear Aunt Fanny,

566
00:46:43,378 --> 00:46:45,743
this morning one of my men
turned to me

567
00:46:45,779 --> 00:46:48,509
and pointed a hand
filled with cuts and scratches

568
00:46:48,548 --> 00:46:51,244
at a plant
with soft red flowers,

569
00:46:51,285 --> 00:46:53,719
and said,
'That's the first plant I've seen today

570
00:46:53,754 --> 00:46:55,722
that didn't have thorns
on it.'

571
00:46:55,756 --> 00:46:59,122
The plant was also
representative of Vietnam.

572
00:46:59,158 --> 00:47:02,753
It is a country
of thorns and cuts,

573
00:47:02,795 --> 00:47:07,129
of guns and marauding,
of little hope and of great faith.

574
00:47:07,166 --> 00:47:09,930
Yet in the midst of it all,
a beautiful thought,

575
00:47:09,969 --> 00:47:12,698
a gesture and even person
can arise among it

576
00:47:12,737 --> 00:47:16,332
waving bravely at the debt
that pulls down upon it.

577
00:47:16,374 --> 00:47:19,002
Someday this place will be
burned by napalm,

578
00:47:19,044 --> 00:47:22,946
and the red flower will crackle up
and die among the thorns.

579
00:47:24,115 --> 00:47:26,639
Yet that flower
will always live

580
00:47:26,684 --> 00:47:30,279
in the memory of a tired
wet Marine.

581
00:48:16,262 --> 00:48:20,028
With American sons
in the field far away,

582
00:48:20,066 --> 00:48:22,432
I shall not seek...

583
00:48:23,770 --> 00:48:26,034
and I will not accept

584
00:48:26,072 --> 00:48:28,097
the nomination of my party

585
00:48:28,141 --> 00:48:30,631
for another term
as your president.

586
00:48:32,911 --> 00:48:34,776
What happened
to you?

587
00:48:34,813 --> 00:48:36,747
Oh, I got kind of
messed up.

588
00:48:36,782 --> 00:48:39,842
My unit was dropping...
caught some, uh...

589
00:48:39,885 --> 00:48:42,318
well, I don't...
exactly, I don't know

590
00:48:42,353 --> 00:48:44,651
if it was a fire base.
They was always shooting.

591
00:48:44,689 --> 00:48:46,657
And then I was out
pulling guard.

592
00:48:46,691 --> 00:48:49,091
And some hot rounds
got too hot.

593
00:48:49,127 --> 00:48:50,822
And they started
getting close.

594
00:48:50,862 --> 00:48:53,592
The next thing I know,
I couldn't hear out of this ear.

595
00:48:53,631 --> 00:48:57,430
They kind of blowed it out. Next thing
I know, I was catching shrap metal.

596
00:48:57,467 --> 00:49:00,197
And then that was it.
Then they started evacuating me out.

597
00:49:00,237 --> 00:49:02,364
This is my fifth hospital
they put me in.

598
00:49:02,406 --> 00:49:04,772
I don't know if they're
gonna send me home or what.

599
00:49:04,808 --> 00:49:07,935
I sure hope they do 'cause I've had it.
I don't want no more Vietnam.

600
00:49:22,090 --> 00:49:24,752
"Dear Mom and Dad,
Peach and Fuzzy,

601
00:49:24,793 --> 00:49:27,694
as I suppose you can see
by my new stationery

602
00:49:27,729 --> 00:49:30,095
this is not
my normal letter.

603
00:49:30,131 --> 00:49:32,725
While walking
down the road one day

604
00:49:32,767 --> 00:49:34,734
in the merry, merry month
of September

605
00:49:34,768 --> 00:49:37,566
my squad got into a hell of a fray
and lost one member.

606
00:49:37,604 --> 00:49:39,435
Mm-hmm. Me.

607
00:49:40,941 --> 00:49:43,307
I'm all right.
I am all right, I'm all right!

608
00:49:43,343 --> 00:49:46,005
Carbine round hit me
where it would do the most good,

609
00:49:46,046 --> 00:49:48,070
right in the butt.

610
00:49:48,114 --> 00:49:50,548
It hit no bone,
blood vessels, nerves

611
00:49:50,583 --> 00:49:53,950
or anything else of importance.
Except my pride.

612
00:49:53,986 --> 00:49:57,683
It was, however,
a little bit closer to my pecker

613
00:49:57,723 --> 00:50:01,283
than was comfortable,
but that's as good as ever.

614
00:50:01,326 --> 00:50:04,523
Although, it's now going through
a year's hibernation."

615
00:50:10,502 --> 00:50:12,992
"So I'm lying in bed here

616
00:50:13,037 --> 00:50:15,938
and it comes time for
that most thrilling event

617
00:50:15,973 --> 00:50:19,272
when the general gives out
the Purple Hearts.

618
00:50:20,544 --> 00:50:24,537
All in all, it was a dreadful
performance by everyone.

619
00:50:24,582 --> 00:50:27,345
But in a way,
a classic stereotype,

620
00:50:27,383 --> 00:50:30,352
one of the large number
of stereotyped characters

621
00:50:30,386 --> 00:50:34,618
and situations I have watched
acted out, much to my growing concern.

622
00:50:34,657 --> 00:50:37,626
They finally left me
sicker than I was before,

623
00:50:37,660 --> 00:50:39,957
and with a medal
I never wanted anyway.

624
00:50:39,995 --> 00:50:42,862
Love, Sandy."

625
00:50:46,435 --> 00:50:49,962
"Dear Mom, it's official.

626
00:50:50,005 --> 00:50:53,440
Would you believe
a Silver Star?

627
00:50:53,474 --> 00:50:57,240
But I'm no hero.
Heroes are for the late show.

628
00:50:57,278 --> 00:51:00,736
I was just trying to help a couple
of guys who needed help.

629
00:51:00,781 --> 00:51:02,908
That's all.

630
00:51:02,950 --> 00:51:07,716
The heroes over here
are the guys trying to do their job

631
00:51:07,754 --> 00:51:10,917
and get home
from this useless war.

632
00:51:12,492 --> 00:51:14,790
Love, Phil."

633
00:51:32,911 --> 00:51:34,776
"Dear Dad,

634
00:51:34,812 --> 00:51:38,009
I've been listening to the Vietnam
radio's news report special

635
00:51:38,049 --> 00:51:41,143
on the assassination
of Martin Luther King in Memphis."

636
00:51:43,954 --> 00:51:47,014
"But now I have
a story to tell.

637
00:51:47,057 --> 00:51:51,118
On Friday March 29
in our A.O. just south of Hue,

638
00:51:51,161 --> 00:51:53,823
we received small arms fire
from a village."

639
00:51:56,899 --> 00:52:00,596
"My platoon leader Gary Scott
and one other man were killed.

640
00:52:00,636 --> 00:52:03,469
I was very close
to Lieutenant Scott.

641
00:52:03,506 --> 00:52:06,100
I was his radio operator.

642
00:52:08,510 --> 00:52:12,742
He was a fine man,
a good leader.

643
00:52:12,781 --> 00:52:14,373
Yet he could not
understand

644
00:52:14,416 --> 00:52:17,010
the whys of this conflict
which killed him."

645
00:52:17,052 --> 00:52:19,612
Ready!

646
00:52:19,654 --> 00:52:21,553
Aim!

647
00:52:21,589 --> 00:52:23,181
Fire!

648
00:52:26,327 --> 00:52:29,296
"They will say he died
for his country,

649
00:52:29,330 --> 00:52:32,060
keeping it free."

650
00:52:32,099 --> 00:52:34,158
"Negative."

651
00:52:39,439 --> 00:52:42,135
"This country has no gain
that I can see, Dad.

652
00:52:42,175 --> 00:52:47,135
We're fighting, dying for a people
who resent our being over here.

653
00:52:47,180 --> 00:52:50,410
Oh, I'll probably get
a Bronze Star

654
00:52:50,449 --> 00:52:52,041
for the firefight.

655
00:52:52,084 --> 00:52:54,609
Lieutenant Scott will get
a Silver Star.

656
00:52:54,653 --> 00:52:57,520
That will help me get
a job someday,

657
00:52:57,556 --> 00:53:01,582
and it is supposed to suffice
for Lieutenant Scott's life.

658
00:53:03,194 --> 00:53:06,163
I guess
I'm bitter now, Dad.

659
00:53:06,197 --> 00:53:09,724
This war is all wrong.

660
00:53:12,536 --> 00:53:15,698
Your loving son, Phil."

661
00:54:33,544 --> 00:54:37,412
"Debbie, my dear honeycake,

662
00:54:37,448 --> 00:54:39,939
my health
is much better now.

663
00:54:39,983 --> 00:54:42,713
The more I dream of the love
we have shared,

664
00:54:42,753 --> 00:54:44,811
the more I love you.

665
00:54:44,854 --> 00:54:48,415
These dreams make feel
as if I'm still with you.

666
00:54:48,458 --> 00:54:53,225
Please keep a full and complete diary
so we can reminisce.

667
00:54:53,262 --> 00:54:56,095
Debbie, I'll surely have
much love and lots of joy

668
00:54:56,132 --> 00:54:57,928
with you in our future.

669
00:54:57,966 --> 00:55:01,424
I'll remember your youthful
and lovely face always.

670
00:55:02,437 --> 00:55:06,066
Please pray for me,
Debbie.

671
00:55:06,108 --> 00:55:07,735
Alan."

672
00:55:40,539 --> 00:55:42,700
"Merry Christmas,
my darling.

673
00:55:42,741 --> 00:55:46,268
Indeed for me
a very Merry Christmas this year.

674
00:55:46,311 --> 00:55:50,337
My values have changed
over these many long years.

675
00:55:50,381 --> 00:55:52,611
I've searched
very carefully

676
00:55:52,650 --> 00:55:54,174
for lasting happiness,

677
00:55:54,218 --> 00:55:56,186
for what life
really means to me,

678
00:55:56,220 --> 00:55:58,211
and I found it.

679
00:55:58,256 --> 00:56:00,656
I found it in a family
in a home,

680
00:56:00,691 --> 00:56:03,488
the dream home we'll soon
build together.

681
00:56:03,527 --> 00:56:07,293
I found it in the beautiful New England
that I love so well,

682
00:56:07,330 --> 00:56:09,821
that I miss so much.

683
00:56:09,866 --> 00:56:12,130
But most of all, Debbie,

684
00:56:12,169 --> 00:56:15,001
I found it in you."

685
00:56:59,378 --> 00:57:01,778
"Dear Mom,

686
00:57:01,814 --> 00:57:04,112
well, I'm spending
Christmas Eve

687
00:57:04,150 --> 00:57:06,344
in good old bunker 110.

688
00:57:06,384 --> 00:57:08,579
I've got
guard duty again.

689
00:57:08,620 --> 00:57:11,953
I always wondered what it
must be like to be at war

690
00:57:11,990 --> 00:57:14,390
and far away from home
on Christmas.

691
00:57:14,426 --> 00:57:16,690
Now I know.

692
00:57:16,728 --> 00:57:20,128
I can imagine how Pop felt
during World War ll.

693
00:57:20,164 --> 00:57:22,428
Love and kisses,
Ray."

694
00:57:32,208 --> 00:57:35,371
Vietnam, this is where it's at.

695
00:57:36,813 --> 00:57:39,304
It's what's happening,
or to put it another way,

696
00:57:39,349 --> 00:57:41,340
who needs it?

697
00:57:45,320 --> 00:57:47,845
"Dear Mom and Dad,
on Christmas

698
00:57:47,890 --> 00:57:50,916
the whole company was loaded
onto a two and a half ton truck

699
00:57:50,959 --> 00:57:53,689
and carted off to Bien Hoa
to see Bob Hope.

700
00:57:53,729 --> 00:57:56,562
Imagine! I've looked
at Bob Hope for years

701
00:57:56,598 --> 00:57:58,895
entertaining the troops,
and never once thought

702
00:57:58,933 --> 00:58:00,901
that he'd someday
be entertaining me!"

703
00:58:00,935 --> 00:58:04,063
This is Miss World,
from India.

704
00:58:08,075 --> 00:58:10,736
- He missed his cue.
- This is Miss World from India.

705
00:58:13,780 --> 00:58:16,544
How.

706
00:59:33,020 --> 00:59:34,988
"Dear family,

707
00:59:35,022 --> 00:59:37,490
Christmas out there
was really something.

708
00:59:37,524 --> 00:59:39,424
At midnight
on Christmas Eve,

709
00:59:39,460 --> 00:59:41,552
the mortars
and tracks and tanks

710
00:59:41,594 --> 00:59:43,562
and all of the
1st Cavalry Artillery

711
00:59:43,596 --> 00:59:45,928
sent up an absolutely
thunderous barrage

712
00:59:45,965 --> 00:59:47,933
of high-altitude
flares.

713
00:59:47,967 --> 00:59:49,935
It was quite a show.

714
00:59:49,969 --> 00:59:53,132
I believe few people
have seen fireworks like these.

715
00:59:54,439 --> 00:59:56,407
Then, when all had
quieted down

716
00:59:56,441 --> 00:59:58,568
and the flares
had gone out,

717
00:59:58,610 --> 01:00:02,011
the whole area calmed and hushed
and we could just hear

718
01:00:02,047 --> 01:00:04,515
one of the fire bases
start singing

719
01:00:04,549 --> 01:00:06,210
'Silent Night.'

720
01:00:07,585 --> 01:00:09,177
Then it was picked up

721
01:00:09,220 --> 01:00:11,916
by the other positions
around us and by everyone.

722
01:00:11,956 --> 01:00:14,447
It echoed through
the valley for a long time

723
01:00:14,492 --> 01:00:16,460
and died out slowly.

724
01:00:16,494 --> 01:00:19,122
I'm positive
it has seldom been sung

725
01:00:19,163 --> 01:00:22,154
with more gut-feeling
and pure homesick emotion...

726
01:00:22,198 --> 01:00:24,666
a strange
and beautiful thing

727
01:00:24,701 --> 01:00:27,295
in this terribly
death-ridden land.

728
01:00:27,337 --> 01:00:29,965
It is something
I will always remember.

729
01:00:30,006 --> 01:00:32,304
Love, Peter."

730
01:01:18,417 --> 01:01:22,410
For the average frontline
infantry soldier in Vietnam,

731
01:01:22,455 --> 01:01:25,116
war is a bore,
interrupted only

732
01:01:25,156 --> 01:01:28,216
by moments of sheer terror
when men die.

733
01:01:28,259 --> 01:01:29,954
Contact with the enemy

734
01:01:29,994 --> 01:01:32,588
seems to be more infrequent
than ever before.

735
01:01:32,630 --> 01:01:34,393
The soldiers like that.

736
01:01:34,432 --> 01:01:36,400
They sense,
rightly or not,

737
01:01:36,434 --> 01:01:39,231
that the war
is almost over.

738
01:01:39,269 --> 01:01:42,397
I'd rather go out myself
and not find anything...

739
01:01:44,041 --> 01:01:45,838
come back in
empty-handed.

740
01:01:45,876 --> 01:01:48,174
Why is that?
The object of the war

741
01:01:48,212 --> 01:01:50,236
is usually to find
people and kill 'em.

742
01:01:50,279 --> 01:01:53,214
Yeah, but that's not my...

743
01:01:53,249 --> 01:01:57,208
I just don't care
too much about that.

744
01:01:57,253 --> 01:01:59,221
"Dear Tom,

745
01:01:59,255 --> 01:02:01,246
about morale?

746
01:02:01,290 --> 01:02:03,348
Americans do have
many things to be proud of.

747
01:02:03,391 --> 01:02:06,189
Among these is the ability to create
a means of survival

748
01:02:06,228 --> 01:02:08,696
in an absurd situation.

749
01:02:08,730 --> 01:02:11,392
Because the tour here
is one year long,

750
01:02:11,433 --> 01:02:13,867
you're able to count
the days until 'DEROS'...

751
01:02:13,902 --> 01:02:16,665
'Date Eligible
to Return from Overseas.'

752
01:02:16,704 --> 01:02:19,867
You're able to say
'This time next year,

753
01:02:19,907 --> 01:02:22,239
I will be home.'

754
01:02:24,011 --> 01:02:27,310
After careful consideration
with my senior civilian

755
01:02:27,348 --> 01:02:29,907
and military advisors,
and in full consultation

756
01:02:29,949 --> 01:02:31,917
with the government of Vietnam,

757
01:02:31,951 --> 01:02:33,680
I have decided to reduce

758
01:02:33,720 --> 01:02:36,553
the authorized troop
ceiling in Vietnam

759
01:02:36,589 --> 01:02:39,456
to 484,000 by December 15.

760
01:02:39,492 --> 01:02:42,085
Defense Secretary
Melvin Laird

761
01:02:42,127 --> 01:02:44,095
said the U.S.
3rd Marine Division

762
01:02:44,129 --> 01:02:46,723
will be one of the units involved
in President Nixon's

763
01:02:46,765 --> 01:02:48,596
most recent
redeployment order.

764
01:02:48,634 --> 01:02:51,000
This afternoon,
the U.S. Command announced

765
01:02:51,036 --> 01:02:53,004
departing units
will include:

766
01:02:53,038 --> 01:02:55,699
supporting elements
of the 1st Marine Airwing

767
01:02:55,740 --> 01:02:59,107
plus the 3rd Brigade
of the 82nd Airborne.

768
01:03:21,764 --> 01:03:24,995
"Dear civilians, friends,
draft-dodgers, et cetera,

769
01:03:25,034 --> 01:03:27,002
in the very near future,

770
01:03:27,036 --> 01:03:29,266
the undersigned will
once more be in your midst,

771
01:03:29,305 --> 01:03:31,273
dehydrated and demoralized

772
01:03:31,307 --> 01:03:33,366
to take his place again
as a human being

773
01:03:33,409 --> 01:03:36,206
with the well-known forms
of freedom and justice for all,

774
01:03:36,244 --> 01:03:38,041
engage in life, liberty,

775
01:03:38,079 --> 01:03:40,309
and the somewhat delayed
pursuit of happiness.

776
01:03:40,348 --> 01:03:42,316
In making your
joyous preparations

777
01:03:42,350 --> 01:03:44,910
to welcome him back
into organized society,

778
01:03:44,953 --> 01:03:46,749
you might take
certain steps

779
01:03:46,787 --> 01:03:49,153
to make allowances
for the past 12 months.

780
01:03:49,189 --> 01:03:51,020
Abstain from saying anything

781
01:03:51,058 --> 01:03:53,788
about powdered eggs,
dehydrated potatoes,

782
01:03:53,827 --> 01:03:56,762
fried rice, fresh milk
or ice cream.

783
01:03:56,797 --> 01:03:59,731
Do not be alarmed if he should jump up
from the dinner table

784
01:03:59,765 --> 01:04:03,132
and rush to the garbage can
to wash his dish with a toilet brush.

785
01:04:03,169 --> 01:04:05,364
Also, if it should
start raining,

786
01:04:05,404 --> 01:04:08,305
pay no attention to him
if he pulls off his clothes,

787
01:04:08,341 --> 01:04:12,004
grabs a bar of soap and a towel,
and runs outside for a shower.

788
01:04:12,044 --> 01:04:15,103
Pretend not to notice if,
at a restaurant, he calls the waitress

789
01:04:15,146 --> 01:04:17,444
'number one girl,'

790
01:04:17,482 --> 01:04:19,780
and uses his hat
as an ashtray.

791
01:04:19,818 --> 01:04:22,480
Be watchful if he is
in the presence of women,

792
01:04:22,520 --> 01:04:24,886
especially
a beautiful woman.

793
01:04:24,923 --> 01:04:26,890
Last, but not least,

794
01:04:26,924 --> 01:04:29,119
send no more mail
to the A.P.O.,

795
01:04:29,159 --> 01:04:31,218
fill the icebox with beer,

796
01:04:31,262 --> 01:04:33,992
get the civvies out of the mothballs,
fill that car with gas

797
01:04:34,031 --> 01:04:36,363
and get the women and children
off the street, baby,

798
01:04:36,400 --> 01:04:38,993
because the kid
is coming home!"

799
01:04:49,579 --> 01:04:51,910
Come to see me 'cause I will
be looking out for you.

800
01:04:51,947 --> 01:04:53,744
- Yeah.
- I'll be lookin' for you.

801
01:04:53,782 --> 01:04:55,807
- No sweat, man. Take it easy.
- Take care.

802
01:05:01,556 --> 01:05:04,183
I feel that the 9th Marine...
they have been

803
01:05:04,225 --> 01:05:07,023
doing a good job
for quite a while now.

804
01:05:07,061 --> 01:05:09,029
It is about time
for them to go home,

805
01:05:09,063 --> 01:05:11,463
but I would also like for
the rest of the men in Vietnam

806
01:05:11,499 --> 01:05:14,093
to go home just as much
as the 9th Marines.

807
01:05:14,135 --> 01:05:15,864
I would like to see
all this end.

808
01:05:15,903 --> 01:05:17,870
My friend,
he would've, uh,

809
01:05:17,904 --> 01:05:20,964
been pulled out
of the bush here

810
01:05:21,007 --> 01:05:23,271
two days
after his death.

811
01:05:23,310 --> 01:05:25,938
And it just seems
kind of a shame

812
01:05:25,979 --> 01:05:28,174
that he died needlessly.

813
01:05:33,886 --> 01:05:37,117
Get down, come on.

814
01:05:47,131 --> 01:05:49,099
"Hey, brother,

815
01:05:49,133 --> 01:05:51,829
this place is sort of
getting to me.

816
01:05:51,869 --> 01:05:55,736
I've been seeing
too many guys getting messed up

817
01:05:55,772 --> 01:05:58,969
and I still can't
understand it.

818
01:05:59,009 --> 01:06:02,308
It's not that I can't
understand this war.

819
01:06:02,346 --> 01:06:06,214
It's just that I can't
understand war, period."

820
01:06:10,152 --> 01:06:12,950
"You just sort of sit back
and ask yourself

821
01:06:12,988 --> 01:06:14,956
'Why?

822
01:06:14,990 --> 01:06:16,958
What the hell is this
going to prove?'

823
01:06:16,992 --> 01:06:20,450
And, man, I'm still looking
for the answer."

824
01:06:23,665 --> 01:06:25,656
"It's a real bitch."

825
01:06:30,004 --> 01:06:32,632
"I just can't believe

826
01:06:32,674 --> 01:06:35,665
half of the shit I've seen
here so far."

827
01:06:37,845 --> 01:06:41,246
- How many bodies...
- How many did you see killed?

828
01:06:41,281 --> 01:06:44,409
Myself, I saw
approximately 100 bodies... dead bodies.

829
01:06:44,451 --> 01:06:46,442
That's a conservative
estimate now.

830
01:06:46,487 --> 01:06:48,454
I know one group
specifically,

831
01:06:48,488 --> 01:06:51,582
they had rounded up
about 20, maybe 30 people

832
01:06:51,624 --> 01:06:53,592
and most of 'em were
women and children.

833
01:06:53,626 --> 01:06:56,618
There might have been
a few old men in the group.

834
01:06:56,662 --> 01:06:59,426
But they'd rounded them up
right over a ditch bank

835
01:06:59,465 --> 01:07:01,455
and shot 'em all
with a machine-gun

836
01:07:01,500 --> 01:07:03,092
and left 'em in the ditch.

837
01:07:26,023 --> 01:07:27,649
"Dear John,

838
01:07:27,690 --> 01:07:30,557
the physical and human damage
done over the last few years

839
01:07:30,593 --> 01:07:33,027
is much greater
than I realized,

840
01:07:33,062 --> 01:07:36,122
not just the dead,
but the G.I.s who can't talk

841
01:07:36,166 --> 01:07:38,498
in coherent sentences
anymore.

842
01:07:38,535 --> 01:07:41,799
Bomb and artillery craters,
the ruined villages,

843
01:07:41,837 --> 01:07:45,933
these things you can understand
as the byproduct of war.

844
01:07:45,974 --> 01:07:48,966
But I can't accept the fact
of the human damage.

845
01:07:50,946 --> 01:07:54,039
I feel like I'm at the bottom
of a great sewer."

846
01:07:59,887 --> 01:08:01,184
"Dear Mrs. Perko,

847
01:08:01,222 --> 01:08:04,248
what can I say to fill
the void?

848
01:08:04,292 --> 01:08:06,350
I know flowers and letters
are appropriate,

849
01:08:06,393 --> 01:08:07,826
but it's hardly enough.

850
01:08:07,861 --> 01:08:10,159
I'm Johnny Boy.

851
01:08:10,197 --> 01:08:12,631
And I'm sick both physically
and mentally.

852
01:08:12,666 --> 01:08:15,863
I smoke too much.
I'm constantly coughing, never eat,

853
01:08:15,902 --> 01:08:17,733
always sit around
in a daze.

854
01:08:17,771 --> 01:08:20,671
All of us are
in this general condition.

855
01:08:20,706 --> 01:08:23,266
We're all afraid to die,

856
01:08:23,309 --> 01:08:25,675
and all we do is count
the days till we go home.

857
01:08:25,711 --> 01:08:30,546
When we go to Saigon we spend
all our money on women and beer.

858
01:08:30,583 --> 01:08:33,574
We're all in desperate need
of love."

859
01:08:46,663 --> 01:08:50,599
"Some nights I don't sleep.
I can't stand being alone at night.

860
01:08:50,634 --> 01:08:53,865
The guns don't bother me.
I can't hear them anymore.

861
01:08:53,904 --> 01:08:57,134
I want to hold my head
between my hands,

862
01:08:57,173 --> 01:08:59,334
run screaming away
from here."

863
01:09:05,648 --> 01:09:07,878
"I'm hollow, Mrs. Perko.
I'm a shell.

864
01:09:07,917 --> 01:09:11,352
When I'm scared I rattle.
I'm no one to tell you about your son.

865
01:09:11,386 --> 01:09:14,253
I can't, I'm sorry.
Johnny Boy."

866
01:09:51,423 --> 01:09:53,152
Come, say it.

867
01:10:07,171 --> 01:10:08,900
"Hi all,

868
01:10:08,940 --> 01:10:12,376
Christmas came and went...
marked only by tragedy.

869
01:10:12,410 --> 01:10:15,810
Christmas morning
I got off duty

870
01:10:15,845 --> 01:10:18,075
and opened
all my packages alone.

871
01:10:18,114 --> 01:10:20,139
I missed you all so much.

872
01:10:20,183 --> 01:10:22,811
I cried myself to sleep.

873
01:10:22,852 --> 01:10:25,343
It"s ridiculous.

874
01:10:25,388 --> 01:10:27,855
I seem to be crying
all the time lately.

875
01:10:29,291 --> 01:10:32,419
I hate this place.

876
01:10:33,529 --> 01:10:35,724
This is now
the seventh month

877
01:10:35,764 --> 01:10:39,666
of death, destruction
and misery.

878
01:10:39,702 --> 01:10:44,138
I'm tired of going
to sleep and listening

879
01:10:44,172 --> 01:10:47,232
to outgoing and incoming
rockets,

880
01:10:47,275 --> 01:10:49,539
mortars, artillery.

881
01:10:49,577 --> 01:10:52,671
I'm sick
of facing every day

882
01:10:52,714 --> 01:10:55,705
a new bunch of children
ripped to pieces.

883
01:10:55,749 --> 01:10:57,808
They're just kids.

884
01:10:57,851 --> 01:11:00,411
18, 19.

885
01:11:01,688 --> 01:11:05,351
Their whole lives
ahead of them cut off.

886
01:11:05,392 --> 01:11:08,656
I'm sick to death of it.

887
01:11:08,694 --> 01:11:11,128
I've got to get
out of here.

888
01:11:12,398 --> 01:11:15,629
Peace, Linda."

889
01:11:33,851 --> 01:11:37,150
Kent State University
in Ohio has had campus violence

890
01:11:37,187 --> 01:11:39,280
for three nights,

891
01:11:39,323 --> 01:11:41,450
causing the National Guard
to be called in.

892
01:11:41,492 --> 01:11:45,825
And today the guardsmen opened fire
on the students, killing four of them,

893
01:11:45,862 --> 01:11:47,853
two young men
and two young women.

894
01:11:49,866 --> 01:11:53,563
The National Guard was called in over
the weekend by Governor James Rhodes.

895
01:11:53,603 --> 01:11:55,901
Today when 1500 students

896
01:11:55,938 --> 01:11:58,303
started an antiwar rally
on the commons,

897
01:11:58,340 --> 01:12:00,308
the guardsmen
surrounded them.

898
01:12:00,342 --> 01:12:02,833
Then when some students
started throwing rocks,

899
01:12:02,878 --> 01:12:04,812
the guard moved in
with tear-gas.

900
01:12:36,209 --> 01:12:38,005
"Dear Editor...

901
01:12:40,145 --> 01:12:41,772
This letter is
from the men

902
01:12:41,814 --> 01:12:44,248
who daily risk their lives
in Vietnam.

903
01:12:46,652 --> 01:12:49,916
In regards to the recent killings
at Kent State University,

904
01:12:49,954 --> 01:12:54,288
we are... we are sorrowful
and mourn the dead.

905
01:12:54,325 --> 01:12:57,488
But it grieves us no end
and shoots pain into our hearts

906
01:12:57,528 --> 01:12:59,723
is that the, quote,
biggest upset is over

907
01:12:59,764 --> 01:13:02,732
the kids who got killed
at Kent State, unquote!

908
01:13:02,766 --> 01:13:06,293
So why don't your hearts
cry out and shed a tear

909
01:13:06,336 --> 01:13:09,635
for the 40-plus thousand
red-blooded Americans

910
01:13:09,673 --> 01:13:11,800
and brave, fearless,
loyal men

911
01:13:11,842 --> 01:13:13,776
who have
given their lives?

912
01:13:13,810 --> 01:13:15,868
During my past 18 months
in hell,

913
01:13:15,911 --> 01:13:19,176
I've held my friends during
their last gasping seconds

914
01:13:19,215 --> 01:13:21,149
before they succumbed
to death.

915
01:13:23,319 --> 01:13:25,753
Do not judge us wrongly.

916
01:13:25,788 --> 01:13:28,312
We are not pleading
for your praise.

917
01:13:28,356 --> 01:13:31,985
All we ask is
for our great nation to support us,

918
01:13:32,026 --> 01:13:34,153
to help us end the war.

919
01:13:34,195 --> 01:13:35,890
Damn it!

920
01:13:35,930 --> 01:13:38,592
Save our lives."

921
01:15:09,483 --> 01:15:12,042
At Clark Air Force Base
in the Philippines

922
01:15:12,085 --> 01:15:14,747
there were no speeches,
no bands, no bunting.

923
01:15:14,788 --> 01:15:17,416
Homecoming was gentle.

924
01:15:18,825 --> 01:15:21,692
The first man off was
Captain Jeremiah Denton,

925
01:15:21,728 --> 01:15:23,753
a man who had been
in prison so long

926
01:15:23,797 --> 01:15:26,060
his own teenage son
had grown up,

927
01:15:26,098 --> 01:15:27,725
gone to Vietnam himself,

928
01:15:27,766 --> 01:15:29,734
served and gone home again.

929
01:15:29,768 --> 01:15:32,999
And only now was his father
coming home

930
01:15:33,038 --> 01:15:35,268
after eight years.

931
01:15:37,842 --> 01:15:40,003
We are honored

932
01:15:40,044 --> 01:15:43,104
to have had
the opportunity

933
01:15:43,147 --> 01:15:46,207
to serve our country

934
01:15:46,251 --> 01:15:49,516
under difficult
circumstances.

935
01:15:49,554 --> 01:15:51,987
We are profoundly grateful

936
01:15:52,022 --> 01:15:54,991
to our Commander-in-Chief

937
01:15:55,025 --> 01:15:58,688
and to our nation
for this day.

938
01:16:00,130 --> 01:16:03,822
- God bless America.
- God bless America.

939
01:16:30,891 --> 01:16:33,257
"Dear Bill,

940
01:16:33,294 --> 01:16:35,922
I came to this
black wall again

941
01:16:35,963 --> 01:16:38,591
to see
and touch your name:

942
01:16:38,632 --> 01:16:41,226
William R. Stocks.

943
01:16:41,268 --> 01:16:43,895
And as I do,

944
01:16:43,937 --> 01:16:47,600
I wonder if anyone ever
stops to realize

945
01:16:47,640 --> 01:16:50,700
that next to your name
on this black wall

946
01:16:50,743 --> 01:16:53,541
is your mother's heart...

947
01:16:54,714 --> 01:16:58,308
a heart broken
15 years ago today

948
01:16:58,350 --> 01:17:00,545
when you lost your life
in Vietnam.

949
01:17:02,020 --> 01:17:04,614
And as I look
at your name,

950
01:17:04,656 --> 01:17:07,818
I think of how many, many times
I used to wonder

951
01:17:07,858 --> 01:17:10,759
how scared and homesick
you must have been

952
01:17:10,795 --> 01:17:14,322
in that strange country
called Vietnam.

953
01:17:14,365 --> 01:17:17,198
And if and how

954
01:17:17,234 --> 01:17:19,202
it might have changed you,

955
01:17:19,236 --> 01:17:23,899
for you were the most
happy-go-lucky kid in the world,

956
01:17:23,940 --> 01:17:27,205
hardly ever sad
or unhappy.

957
01:17:27,243 --> 01:17:29,871
And until the day I die,

958
01:17:29,913 --> 01:17:33,076
I will see you
as you laughed at me

959
01:17:33,116 --> 01:17:35,743
even when I was
very mad at you,

960
01:17:35,784 --> 01:17:39,311
and the next thing I knew
we were laughing together.

961
01:17:41,423 --> 01:17:43,550
But on this past
New Year's Day,

962
01:17:43,592 --> 01:17:46,617
I talked by phone to a friend of yours
from Michigan

963
01:17:46,661 --> 01:17:48,856
who spent
your last Christmas

964
01:17:48,896 --> 01:17:51,524
and the last four months
of your life with you.

965
01:17:53,368 --> 01:17:55,802
Jim told me how you died,

966
01:17:55,837 --> 01:17:58,271
for he was there

967
01:17:58,306 --> 01:18:01,331
and saw
the helicopter crash.

968
01:18:01,375 --> 01:18:04,674
He told me how your jobs
were like sitting ducks.

969
01:18:04,711 --> 01:18:09,011
They would send you men out
to draw the enemy into the open

970
01:18:09,049 --> 01:18:12,484
and then they would send in
the big guns

971
01:18:12,518 --> 01:18:14,179
and planes to take over.

972
01:18:15,788 --> 01:18:18,655
He told me how after a while
over there

973
01:18:18,691 --> 01:18:21,819
instead of a yellow streak,
the men got a mean streak

974
01:18:21,861 --> 01:18:23,226
down their backs.

975
01:18:23,262 --> 01:18:25,821
Each day
the streak got bigger

976
01:18:25,864 --> 01:18:27,855
and the men became meaner.

977
01:18:28,867 --> 01:18:30,926
Everyone but you, Bill.

978
01:18:30,969 --> 01:18:35,406
He said you how stayed the same
happy-go-lucky guy

979
01:18:35,440 --> 01:18:38,068
that you were
when you arrived in Vietnam.

980
01:18:38,109 --> 01:18:42,135
And he said how
you of all people

981
01:18:42,179 --> 01:18:44,511
should have never been
the one to die.

982
01:18:46,350 --> 01:18:48,978
How lucky you were
to have him for a friend.

983
01:18:49,019 --> 01:18:52,784
And how lucky he was
to have had you.

984
01:18:54,791 --> 01:18:58,454
They tell me the letters I write to you
and leave here at this memorial

985
01:18:58,494 --> 01:19:01,429
are waking others up
to the fact

986
01:19:01,464 --> 01:19:04,899
that there is still
much pain left

987
01:19:04,933 --> 01:19:07,424
from the Vietnam War.

988
01:19:09,104 --> 01:19:11,072
But this I know,

989
01:19:11,106 --> 01:19:14,974
I would rather to have had
you for 21 years

990
01:19:15,010 --> 01:19:17,637
and all the pain
that goes with losing you

991
01:19:17,678 --> 01:19:20,078
then never to have had you
at all.

992
01:19:23,350 --> 01:19:24,681
Mom."

993
01:21:19,878 --> 01:21:28,834
Sync, fix: titler