I served in the Marine Corps (E-5) during the Vietnam Era and lost a good High School friend September 16, 1970. His name was L/CPL William J. Franklin (0351) from Southgate, Michigan. He was with I Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines. He succumbed to his wounds from a box mine in the Quang Nam Province, Quassan Valley.. I miss him dearly!! Please be kind to all us veterans and remember them all for their sacrifices!!

This is my amazing Dad’s documentary film made when I was only eight years old. Dad had a natural gift for telling stories through the lens and direction of his work. Miss him deeply.

I served in Vietnam with the U.S. Army. I was sent over in July 1969, just after the moon launch. I was badly wounded by a mortar round on December 14, 1969, one month before my 21st birthday. I got back to the states at the end of January, 1970. Wasn't well enough to get released from army hospital until September, 1970, when I finally became a 'PFC' again. Whenever you hear that 'war is hell', believe it.

I've read autobiographies of Vietnam vets. People don't realize how arduous it was to be a grunt. 90lbs on your back in searing, boiling heat. Day after day of slogging. Sleeping on the ground in mud and bugs. Sometimes dying of thirst and others soaking wet. 30 days in the bush, then back to base for a few days where you cut down logs, string wire, dig and fill sandbags. That war was HARD labor on top of the fighting.

The real Vietnam. This is the best period documentary I’ve seen about the Vietnam war. Quality journalism right there. Great work.

As a young Brit, the Vietnam war is something I only had a vague knowledge of until recently but now thanks to YT I appreciate that it was the most brutal and difficult war in recent human history and those US servicemen who fought in the field and also some of them who sadly suffered when they got home have my utmost respect and admiration. Just young men in their early 20s who should have been enjoying the best days of their lives were shipped half way across the globe to fight in a another peoples war..and they gave they're all despite not enjoying the full support of their country. Several times whilst watching the accounts of these men I've welled up..God bless them.

Excellent video.....it captured the essence of Viet Nam....My tour in Vietnam was as a combat assault pilot with the Kingsmen/101st division june 69-june 70. It has affected so many of us....Thanks for this documentary.

It’s crazy how clear this footage is. Makes it seem like it happened so much more recently.

Brilliant doco. Watching a lot of Vietnam ver interviews recently. This has to balance the picture a bit..to show the perspective of average, real Vietnamese. Thank you for the upload.

Outstanding! Best I've seen yet. Thank you!

Excellent. The best documentary on Vietnamese people during the war. I love that beautiful country and it’s beautiful people. In fact, I’m married to one.

My uncle left Ireland and fought in this war , his stories gave me nightmares

Great doc, so human about ordinary Vietnamese lives during the war. The best I have ever seen.. Since the last six years I went a lot of times in this country and I like it, the people more than landscapes (which are beautiful anyway). I have been very moved to watch this one.

I remember the news on TV about the Vietnam war. I was young and didn’t take much notice then. This is a riveting documentary.

Back to Saigon for dinner in a nice restaurant. I could have used some of that. 3rd Force Recon, Dong Ha, Quang Tri 68-69.

This is better than most U.S. documentaries. This shows unfiltered opinions.

Dear Richard, While I have mixed emotions about Peter Arnett I do appreciate him bringing attention to everything our vets had to go through. Thank you for sharing.-Paul

I've always loved that part of the world. I always will. This was powerful. What can I say

wow this is so crazy. I served in the Army two deployments to Iraq and see so many similarities in this video to my experience. Military Industrial complex is out of control. My heart goes out to all the innocent people caught up in these illegal wars.

Interesting documentary The best thing is listening to the men and women who fought it always fascinating

I have only watched 15 min of this.....from a former combat slick pilot northern I corp ....This is how it was....Thanks for showing how life was for

Great, honest, and objective documentary from the BBC. Free of spin and propaganda, and presenting the conflict from the point of view and experience of both sides especially the Vietnamese people. As always with the BBC, they shoot straight and to the point.

Great reality as seen through the eyes of someone who has no agenda other than to tell the truth......

Lâu lắm rồi.....rất lâu rồi mới được nhìn lại những hình ảnh xưa chỉ tồn tại trong ký ức . Tôi không hiểu hết tiếng Anh thuyết minh, nhưng những hình ảnh này đã ăn sâu vào tiềm thức của tôi, những hình ảnh mô tả rất thật từ cuộc sống nông thôn cho đến thành thị của miền Nam xưa .

Did any of the forward operating infantry ever get to use the swimming pools, ice cream parlours, massage?? Or was that mainly the back echelons and desk workers looking after themselves?

Very interesting. Thanks.

Very good BBC docu in the same manner like " the other side of suez" BBC docus are really worth to look at

Thank you, Richard Taylor for your excellent program. 2Plt, C Co.1-20 11Bde AMERICAL 1971.

"C" company 1/7 Chu Lai, Phu Bai, 1965-66 Combat Engineer/ Tunnel rat.

ty, for not playing fortunate son during the helicopter footage

I was in I Corp. Based in Vandergrift combat base. We didn’t have luxuries up north in 1969

Incredible footage someone had a real good eye.

Read Dispatches by Michael Herr. It was written by a war correspondent who became addicted to that horror show kept going back over and over. It was, along with "Heart of Darkness" the Novel by Joesph Conrad the basis of Apocalypse Now.

An excellent documentary done by the BBC during those days of my country at war. Great representation

great film .Very hard to find colour stories like this and all aspects of the war well most of it anyway .Arnett was a well respected journo

This Asian Lt. is interesting. He is obviously of Asian descent, is from Hawaii, and talks with a southern accent.

With the current conditions in the United States the reporter’s quote makes sense. “You can’t win political wars with guns.”

Broadcast on BBC Two on Tuesday 3rd June 1969.

Thank you to all veterans.

I was in the central highlands 4th inf div. In 1969. RIP ARNETT he was right on the money, about the truth!

2 BIG THUMBS UP. EXCELLENT PRODUCTION. VISITED VIETNAM TWICE. TERRIBLE WAR.

Thank you for the upload Richard, this is a brilliant documentary. I only wish I knew who the actress was at 54:15.

"How do you know who's friendly and who's an enemy on the ground" He should have said " Anyone who runs is a VC, anyone who don't run is a well disciplined VC"

Thanks

Những hình ảnh VN xưa thật quý giá. Tôi nhớ quá về ký ức tuổi thơ

Should pass a law if u want to be in Congress then u are the first to go

Good journalism in this documentary a gem of a reality programme

Start at 4:06 if you want to hear some real bullshit. On my very first patrol we fired 105s into a village we couldn't even see. When I asked the bosses how we knew who was being shelled, he looked at me and said, "does it matter". Firing into positions without regard for civilians was done many times. There were also many times when we took casualties because we would not fire into occupied areas. It all depended on who had the radio in their hands. The VC and NVA also killed people who had little to do with the war but to say that our firing into targets that were not confirmed was rare, is just not true.

love this

Takes the good old BBC to give us a sound, unbiased documentary...

Outstanding film .. All three reporters so well informed, and as history as showed, correct in their conclusions. Sad thing is .. with the ' imbedded reporters ' the military have dumped on us, we will probably never have that truthful type of reporting again.

20 yr war 55 to the fall of Saigon 1975.

Powerful old men sending poor young men off to war. Some things never change.

My dad was a there..1969 Marine Nicholas novellino..

The problem with that war . The people you were building a school with in daylight were shooting you at night...

So this is where the A-Team got their stock chopper insertion video at the start of the show intro .... cool

Love that this doc featured the 187th assault helicopter company. My dads helicopter company. Don't care for the opinions of the journalist.

From Hanoi, Vietnam: Many thanks Richard Taylor for an amazing document like this. It funny but true at 8:00: "GI doesn't nkow much about Vietnam and not his fault, usually the only Vietnamese he sees are the ones he's killed....... Even when he does get out when say he gets to Saigon for little fun for some human companionship he sees the worst side of the country ...."

@54:23sec Holly shit, that's paul mauriat's Love is Blue playing in the background !!!!!

Many if not most arvn's were search & avoid rather than search & destroy. But who could blame them, we could look forward to the end of our 365 days tour, the only out for them was death or trying to survive until hostilities ended.

Arnette reported on the first gulf war great journalist

Amazing documentary. Even more amazing is the underestimation of the enemy on the American part. They say they've learned from their mistakes... yet they made these very same mistakes in Afghanistan and Iraq. No surprise they lost all three wars, then.

I have a very vague memory of this being on television in black and white. I remember being shocked at the explosions and the noise of the guns. I was only 2 or 3.

Another good one; Richard Taylor directed.

30:50 what a beautiful person. Such a shame her husband was killed and in that culture then a widow was not so valued.

R.I.P All American , Korean, Australian, and all Allied troops in Vietnam including the Vietnamese. RIP. Long live ROK and USA

What song did that girl sing at the end? 😢

trung thực & tuyệt vời

What isn't understood about Ho Chi Minh was that he wasn't so much a communist as a nationalist. He penned a nieve letter to D.D. Eisenhower saying how he admired George Washington and desired national sovereignty and independence from France. The Vietnamese hated the French colonial occupation. So we lost the war when we supported the French.

the soldiers are very lovely

The Bravest 19 year Old Men, on Planet Earth..........Step off a Huey into a Firefight.......1969..

Anybody that knows the artist at 50:36 playing music please leave info. Thanks

as an ex-army sniper (1968) saw many unforgettable things....

Hay có ai làm phụ đề Việt sub hoặc thuyết minh cảm ơn nhiều.

Would anyone tell me who is the doctor at 17:00 🕔

Anyone ever heard of “Combined Action Program” ?

That reporter is In love ❤️ with that Vietnamese woman.....and so am I !!!! Whew

Impressive

Peter Arnett went on to become a very well know TV reporter in the USA. When watching this excellent film, I feel sorry for the innocent civilians, in particular the little kiddies, who were caught between the terror of the VC and coercion of the South Vietnamese government and the Americans, who often could not determine who was friend and who foe.

My uncle Moore was killed in that province in 69, nickname Butch , if any veterans remember him make a comment.

Who was the pretty young woman being interviewed? I remember her face as a child. Thanks

I was never in Vietnam just let you know I was maybe afterwards cuz NVC when what is the village do they ever really show their weapons and how would you know that they did have weapons in the first place in that Village

Simper war afather of my tour 1968-1972 our brother the song my one kill 55 years father a war my walk my boots

I was there from May 1969 to July 1969.I served with thev1st Cav. Division til I was wounded in July.Luckily it was a leg wound which was good enough to get me out of Nam.

Peter Arnett was an AWESOME reporter!!

If your lower middle class in the sixtys,and male,when you graduate high school your going to Viet Nam

Does anyone know what the song is at 50:43? It's not linked to in the description above.

our life brothers our song the hill 55 years my brother a father my war

34:00 so basically there much politer and more tolerant than we are.

1:50 - that's probably "HOW IT SHOULD NOT TO BE" in the first place... Would You, MR VIP Reporter, wished such a conflict in Your own country, (whatever that is?) I do not think so... Yes - if theye wre left alone long enough time ago - there would not be any internal conflict! So called "civil wars" have been always raised, kindled - by foreign powers... Even in Europe...

👋

Arnett, doesn't hide his opinions does he? The beginning of the end of journalism.

Hello sir I am your new subscriber, there is no harm for trying but I would like to ask your help to look an photo of this person : RICHARD CHARLES VALDEZ his parents are Roberto or Robert Valdez and Lila Valdez from Jacinto city texas.. Richard Charles Valdez was an US army and was assigned in vietnam war..he is already dead,he has one son and now my Husband,my husband is looking for his picture,he never seen his dad as his mom and dad separated when his mom two months pregnant.. He really wished to see his dad's photo.my husband is not in free world he does against the law and he is now paying for it,this is his request to find a photo of his birth dad,please help me I'm begging you sir, I would appreciate whatever you can do for this matter,thank you so much.im Elsie from Philippines

Phóng sự hay quá

The guy playing that guitar at 47:09 is amazing.

BTW, I was 7 years old. Watching this on the news with my family.

14:40 This guy sounds more like a pimp than a officer.

On my arrival in Vietnam Jan 1968 I was surprised that villagers chose to ignore us. No welcome cheers, no happy waves. Told they were frightened VC would hurt them if they smiled or waved at us. After a month or so I knew we were not welcome. Their government, the one we supported, was obviously corrupt. Their officers and soldiers were decent but “the head of the fish was rotten”. We won the TET Offensive battle but lost the war in 1968. Excellent documentary.

I have an admittedly dumb, but serious question. How did the soldiers not fall out of the helicopters? I mean, I have seen some with their legs hanging out, and it just seems like any sort of turn by the helicopter, the man would fall out. I know its a stupid question, just something that I have been wondering.

When has war ever been pretty