Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Stumbled upon this during my internet searches a while back (within the last year in fact). This two-part documentary was made by PBS and, predictably, only aired once due to being sued for their earlier Vietnam "documentary" The Truth About Vietnam, which as the person who posted it and as the videos point out, not only blatantly broke its stated promises of an accurate account of the Vietnam War for the historical record, serve as an antidote to misuse of history, and contribute to healing America's national esteem for the post-Vietnam War era, and contribute to historical methodology, but if anything doubled down on the falsehoods. It also had conservative actor Charlton Heston hosting the documentary.

Lots of interesting tidbits were included in the documentary. For example, did you know that the third-largest parade in America's entire history at the time was in fact a pro-Vietnam War rally? That goes to show the Vietnam War was pretty popular among people, despite the leftist history that's being fed. Also, there's a scene in there that covers John McCain, 31:24, I believe, and he makes it very clear he is NOT fond of how the media demonized POWs or their aiding in propaganda efforts by the Vietcong (and bear in mind, this was LONG BEFORE McCain disgraced himself by turning into a huge RINO, to say little about his last action in the future basically destroying any chance at ending Obamacare in the near future out of spite towards Trump over a "sleight" that the media may have just made up.). If nothing else, this bit shows that he's redeemable compared to Jane Fonda and especially John Kerry, who didn't even try to support America in any way during that war and if anything openly rooted for them, and most certainly would NEVER have made any attempt at condemning the VC. Heck, better than Roger Stone, even, who despite being a Vietnam War veteran had the audacity to try and use VC propaganda in his Platoon movie.

The documentary is in two parts. The first part gives the actual facts about the war itself primarily, as well as perception among Americans at home (the silent majority). The second part deals with the media impact of perception of the war both during and after the war.

This definitely needs to be shown everywhere. However, as noted above, you can only watch the videos through those links, as the video tapes are no longer available anywhere, not even through AIM (which was one of the reasons this documentary even exists), and you can forget Amazon carrying them, either. And obviously, PBS refuses to even acknowledge the documentary's existence on their website, let alone let people actually watch it on there.

1 posted on 03/29/2020 10:03:20 AM PDT by otness_e
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies ]


To: otness_e

More betterer Linky thingy:

Part I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsYwdCoOIEI

Part II
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaECqmMYtxM


2 posted on 03/29/2020 10:08:46 AM PDT by HippyLoggerBiker (Always carry a flagon of whiskey in case of snakebite and furthermore always carry a small snake.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: otness_e

I can’t quite remember who my father hated more, Walter Crankcase or that lowlife LBJ. It was a close race.


4 posted on 03/29/2020 10:10:56 AM PDT by dainbramaged (That information is classified. Request denied.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: otness_e

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Vietnam_War_Veterans_Day

March 29th is VIET NAM VETERANS DAY.

503rd Infantry 173rd Abn - Nov 1965 to Nov 1966

Never thought I would live so long...


5 posted on 03/29/2020 10:13:45 AM PDT by CIB-173RDABN (I am not an expert in anything, and my opinion is just that, an opinion. I may be wrong.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: otness_e

“’Cause I know that’s the *popular* version of what went on there.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9DO26O6dIg


7 posted on 03/29/2020 10:22:54 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: otness_e

Thanks for posting. Still a sore spot after all these years.


8 posted on 03/29/2020 10:27:52 AM PDT by Excellence (Marine mom since April 11, 2014)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: otness_e

The legacy of this war lives on.

There is a great sense of shame among the generation who came of age during this war.

The people sent to re-education camps. The massive escape of the survivors on rickety boats. The Killing Fields.

That shame should have been used. It should have caused a great self-analysis by this generation. The military did go through a huge self-analysis after this war.

But, there was no self-analysis by the press or the entertainment industry or the universities.

There was no self-analysis by the American culture.

So the shame lives on, deeply hidden....highly medicated...expressed in harmful ways.

Vietnam was just one front in the War Against Communism/Tyranny.

The enemy successfully replaced one group of Vietnamese people living in palaces and riding in government limousines with a different group of Vietnamese people living in the palaces and riding in the government limousines.

Wow.

Big change.

We are ahead on points at this time.

I see the Clintons as an example of how this war continues to plague this country.

I give them the benefit of the doubt that they truly believed in communism when they were young. They had the revolutionary fire in their bellies.

Then, they saw how foolish they had been. Communism was just another name for tyranny.

Their foolishness made them angry.

If they couldn’t help people, then they would help themselves.

And they did and do so to this day.


9 posted on 03/29/2020 10:36:32 AM PDT by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer”)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: otness_e

Too bad they are stretched to fit 16:9 TVs. I am downloading it, and will see if I can correct the aspect ratio later.


11 posted on 03/29/2020 10:55:42 AM PDT by Sans-Culotte (With every passing day, I am a little bit gladder that Romney lost in 2012.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: otness_e
17th AHC 67 68 🇺🇸
14 posted on 03/29/2020 11:09:11 AM PDT by easternsky
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: otness_e

thank you


17 posted on 03/29/2020 11:47:50 AM PDT by conservativeimage (A gun that is hidden is one that will endure oppression rather resist it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: otness_e

Thanks for posting. “Fake news” is nothing new.

HLB (Sgt, USMC, 1970-1974)


22 posted on 03/29/2020 12:06:10 PM PDT by HippyLoggerBiker (Always carry a flagon of whiskey in case of snakebite and furthermore always carry a small snake.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: otness_e

After the Buddhist monk Duc set himself on fire in the main road intersection in Saigon and the photo of it was printed in the New York Times, Kennedy made the decision and issued memos to pull our “advisers” out of Vietnam.

Kennedy realized that this was a French Catholic war against Buddhism.

Ho Chi Minh sent a letter to Truman asking for his help against the French, but Truman refused. At that time North Vietnam was not communist. They turned to the communists for help after turned down by the USA.

Kennedy was assassinated November 22nd, only 20 days after our CIA had President Diem and his brother assassinated. Kennedy was furious about this happening.

Johnson reversed Kennedy’s decision to pull out and the CIA destroyed the memos, except for the blue carbons that survived, supporting Kennedy’s decisions to pull out.

Then Johnson used a fake attack on the Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin to get the resolution through congress and then attack North Vietnam.

It was another Deep State war.


23 posted on 03/29/2020 12:06:50 PM PDT by tired&retired (Blessings)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: otness_e

4 L8R


27 posted on 03/29/2020 12:16:52 PM PDT by The FIGHTIN Illini (Wake up fellow Patriots before it's too late)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: otness_e

Roger Stone equals Oliver Stone?


29 posted on 03/29/2020 12:20:13 PM PDT by Jakarta ex-pat (.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: otness_e
Please read and try to refute this narrative in Wiki. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_crisis Shortly after midnight on August 21, on the instructions of Nhu, troops of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces under Colonel Lê Quang Tung executed a series of synchronized attacks on the Buddhist pagodas in South Vietnam. Over 1400 Buddhists were arrested. The number killed or "disappeared" is estimated to be in the hundreds. The most prominent of the pagodas raided was that of Xá Lợi, which had become the rallying point for Buddhists from the countryside. The troops vandalized the main altar and managed to confiscate the intact charred heart of Thích Quảng Đức, the monk who had self-immolated in protest against the policies of the regime. The Buddhists managed to escape with a receptacle holding the remainder of his ashes. Two monks jumped the back wall of the pagoda into the grounds of the adjoining US Aid Mission, where they were given asylum. Thich Tinh Khiet, the 80-year-old Buddhist patriarch, was seized and taken to a military hospital on the outskirts of Saigon.[36] The commander of the III Corps of the ARVN, Tôn Thất Đính soon announced military control over Saigon, canceling all commercial flights into the city and instituting press censorship.[37] Once the US government realized the truth about who was behind the raids, they reacted with disapproval towards the Diệm regime. The Americans had pursued a policy of quietly and privately advising the Ngos to reconcile with the Buddhists while publicly supporting the alliance, but following the attacks, this route was regarded as untenable. Furthermore, the attacks were carried out by American-trained Special Forces personnel funded by the CIA, and presented incoming Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., with a fait accompli.[38][39] The State Department issued a statement declaring that the raids were a "direct violation" of the promise to pursue "a policy of reconciliation".[36][40] Main article: Cable 243 On August 24, the Kennedy administration sent Cable 243 to Lodge at the embassy in Saigon, marking a change in American policy. The message advised Lodge to seek the removal of Nhu from power, and to look for alternative leadership options if Diem refused to heed American pressure for reform. As the probability of Diệm's sidelining Nhu and his wife was seen as virtually nil, the message effectively meant the fomenting of a coup.[41][42][43] The Voice of America also broadcast a statement blaming Nhu for the raids and absolving the army of responsibility.[44]
52 posted on 03/30/2020 1:13:07 AM PDT by tired&retired (Blessings)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: otness_e

Bottom line

Even though JFK was Catholic, he recognized the persecution of the Buddhists was wrong.

JFK changed his position against the Deep State (CIA). He was already angry at the CIA and fired the director Dulles after the Bsy of Pigs fiasco. He made a statement the he would smash the CIA into a million pieces so events like this could never happen again.

JFK realized his mistakes and issued orders to withdraw troops from Vietnam. He was furious over the assassination of Diem and his brother.

The CIA needed Kennedy dead. And it happened just 20 days after Diem was assassinated on November 22, 1963.

Johnson escalated the was to please the CIA and win the 1964 election against Goldwater.


54 posted on 03/30/2020 1:26:21 AM PDT by tired&retired (Blessings)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: otness_e

Thank you for this information and link.

“It shows how the Mainstream Media, with Cronkite in the lead, not only politically Spun the news they reported, but outright lied - big, wide and continuous...”

I recall watching a news cast on youtube about the Ia Drang Valley battle - our first major fight. While we took many losses, the enemy lost a bunch more (10x?)

At the end of the video was some famous reporter saying something like “While the battle is considered a victory, I only wonder how long the mothers and fathers of our young men will put up with an endless line of body bags coming home from the jungles of a country so far from home.”

Crap like this, after the first major battle of the war!


62 posted on 03/31/2020 12:22:54 AM PDT by 21twelve (Ever Vigilant. Never Fearful.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson