[TV] The Vietnam War - on iPlayer documentary

[Bozza]

I don't feel as though I know enough about Vietnam as I should do so thanks for this - I'll make sure I catch up with this.

 

[MattBackHome]

The latest episode I saw, highlighted Clinton and Bush dodging the draft because of their wealth.

I'm guessing the series was made before Trump came to power, as he was also guilty of using his father's wealth. (Whereas Cassius Clay was being threatened with a Jail term).

And what a contrast as well against the examples of McCain and Kerry amongst others. I had never seen nor heard any of John Kerry's testimonial to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and found it extraordinarily powerful.

 

[daveinprague]

When I was a kid, I saw the film Green Berets. Years later..75.. im on HMS Lowestoft and we get a signal to to proceed to Da Nang for the evacuation. Never thought I would end up there during the crap. Was landing party and boarding party. My biggest thought was, how do I explain to a NVA or Vietcong fighter that, although I look American, there are significant differences in our uniform. Before they blew my brains out. Thankfully, they decided against their plan of leaving me and a couple of Marines in the dock yard for the radio liason whilst they came in, took up people fleeing, and taking them out to the big ships in the bay.

Met an ex RAF guy at American Express who told me it was him that sent the signal. Small world.

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

Another one here to give it the thumb's up.

I remember it on the TV as 6 o-clock news in the 60's but I was just a kid so didn't really get the big picture - I remembered names like Saigon and Hanoi, Laos, Cambodia, Ho Chi Mien etc. but this documentary put all those loose pieces in to a bigger picture. Stories like US marines battling to take a hill, losing 100's of killed or injured, only for the VC to slip away in the night [down the other side in to Cambodia] - all for what?

Also evidenced that air supremacy alone does not win wars - and boots on the ground might not either [no matter how many thousands you send] . I recall Bush 1 (I think) saying when committing troops into Iraq "America won't stand for another Vietnam" - a lesson was learned from Vietnam

 

[The Hon Sec]

When I was a kid, I saw the film Green Berets. Years later..75.. im on HMS Lowestoft and we get a signal to to proceed to Da Nang for the evacuation. Never thought I would end up there during the crap. Was landing party and boarding party. My biggest thought was, how do I explain to a NVA or Vietcong fighter that, although I look American, there are significant differences in our uniform. Before they blew my brains out. Thankfully, they decided agains their plan of leaving me and a couple of Marines in the dock yard for the radio whilst they came in, took up people fleeing, and taking them out to the big ships in the bay.

Met an ex RAF guy at American Express who told me it was him that sent the signal. Small world.

Our government has always denied any involvement in the Vietnam conflict. I didn't realise that elements of the Royal Navy was tasked with anything like this. Must have been tough.

 

[daveinprague]

Our government has always denied any involvement in the Vietnam conflict. I didn't realise that elements of the Royal Navy was tasked with anything like this. Must have been tough.

Ive only seen it referenced in one book about the history of the war, and they managed to spell the name of our ship wrong. We ended up mainly boarding ships that had thousands of people on them. We then travelled down to Qhui Nhon, but there was just smoke rising from the place. It didnt end. we then went down to the jungle coast of Cambodia during the beginning of the killing fields time. Found that scarier as we were close the the coast, and all I could see was jungle. Our helo went in and out to the capital for reasons I never found out...with laughably, a big white ensign hanging beneath it, as though the Khymer Rouge fighters who had been fighting in the jungle for years had been on flag recognition classes..a point I made to the pilot that he didnt particularly appreciate.

 

[Blackadder]

Ive only seen it referenced in one book about the history of the war, and they managed to spell the name of our ship wrong. We ended up mainly boarding ships that had thousands of people on them. We then travelled down to Qhui Nhon, but there was just smoke rising from the place. It didnt end. we then went down to the jungle coast of Cambodia during the beginning of the killing fields time. Found that scarier as we were close the the coast, and all I could see was jungle. Our helo went in and out to the capital for reasons I never found out...with laughably, a big white ensign hanging beneath it, as though the Khymer Rouge fighters who had been fighting in the jungle for years had been on flag recognition classes..a point I made to the pilot that he didnt particularly appreciate.

Good point, bearing in mind that anyone with any sort of education was out to the sword.

 

[Albion my Albion]

Yep agree an brilliant series...1968 not a great year!!!

Unless you're were 7 years old and saw your first picture of a nude bird.

 

[Albion my Albion]

Quality. It would be nice if Trump would sit down and watch it.

Trump spent his time avoiding that war.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/02/us/politics/donald-trump-draft-record.html


This quote from presidential candidate Trump may turn out to be very ironic in the end.

“I thought it was ridiculous,” he said. “I thought it was another deal where politicians got us into a war where we shouldn’t have been in. And I felt that very strongly from Day 1.”

 

[Two Professors]

Our government has always denied any involvement in the Vietnam conflict. I didn't realise that elements of the Royal Navy was tasked with anything like this. Must have been tough.

I don't suppose soldiers building extremely long airfields in Thailand,or exchange troops with the Australian Army,counted as British boots in the war.

 

[AZ Gull]

Yep agree an brilliant series...1968 not a great year!!!

Au contraire - there was one event that made 1968 a very special year.

 

[Weststander]

Yep, great series, I never really knew how it started. You would have thought that after the Nazi occupation of France that the French would have been against their own occupation of Vietnam and given it back to them.

The French were very aggressive in not wanting to give up their colonies. They didn't deal with the inevitable, which the UK did.

This went on long after Indo China. I'm not anti-West or revisionist in the slightest, but the modern times French carried out atrocities in Algeria and the Sahara in general - dropping opponents out of planes at high altitude, soldiers group raping natives, etc. Covered in some excellent books by renowned historians.

 

[Weststander]

Au contraire - there was one event that made 1968 a very special year.

Was that the birth year of the Albion's greatest fan?

 

[Bold Seagull]

The duplicity of Nixon to destabilise a peace process simply to get elected – and we thought Watergate was bad enough. I wonder if any other Republican presidents made similar dirty deals with foreign powers?

 

[Peter Grummit]

Quality. It would be nice if Trump would sit down and watch it.

Exactly what i found myself thinking.

Thanks for the heads up, have just watched 3 straight. Terrifically done, horrifically real.

 

[AZ Gull]

Was that the birth year of the Albion's greatest fan?

I have no idea, but it's the year I was born.

 

[Lower West Stander]

Fantastic documentary. That footage of the Viet Cong soldier being shot was really harrowing.

The only thing I'm mildly surprised about is that it didn't mention My Lai. Although from what I've watched that was far from the only abuse which took place.

 

[Weststander]

The duplicity of Nixon to destabilise a peace process simply to get elected – and we thought Watergate was bad enough. I wonder if any other Republican presidents made similar dirty deals with foreign powers?

It went beyond party politics. Democrats JFK and LBJ escalated the Vietnam War massively.

It went far beyond the theatre of war shown in the progs. A global battle of Soviet-Sino communism, versus the West.

 

[portlock seagull]

Been telling [MENTION=12796]Lindfield by the Pond[/MENTION] to watch this series for an age and to download before it goes from iplayer.

Might now believe me seeing this thread! Yes - it's THAT good folks!!

 

[Pevenseagull]

First 2 episodes expire from BBC iPlayer tomorrow at 10pm.

This is an incredible 10 episode documentary exploring every facet of Vietnam from the French colonial occupation through to 1973 and beyond. 10 years in the making, it is well worth a watch if you haven't already. From the very personal to the larger political motivations, it is a superbly balanced and engrossing bit of film making.

Thanks for the prompt to hurry ups and start watching this. Three episodes in, compelling.