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00:00Vietnam 1965 a brutal civil war is raging in Southeast Asia now American ground forces
00:12invade to stop communist guerrillas from overrunning the south there's a common
00:17misconception that tanks you know were not used very much of Vietnam the Americans count on
00:23conventional firepower to stop the guerrillas but they face a deadly determined opponent the North
00:32Vietnamese they knew what they were doing by itself a tank is vulnerable in guerrilla and
00:38insurgent operations all of a sudden the RPGs start flying and he screams we're hit the Vietnam
00:51War represents the first great tank versus guerrilla series of battles and that's when all hell broke
00:59the Vietnam Southeast Asia today it is a prosperous and peaceful nation and in every city and town are
01:29images of Ho Chi Minh they remind its people of the man who sought to create an independent country
01:37during decades of terrible fighting in which millions of Vietnamese died throughout Vietnam
01:45are many remnants of that deadly past war cemeteries unexploded bombs and shells and long
01:58abandoned American tanks in early 1965 the United States makes the fateful decision to send ground
02:08troops to Vietnam as tensions rise between the American-backed regime in the south and the
02:14communist north led by Ho Chi Minh March 8 1965 an expeditionary force of 3,500 Marines lands at the
02:249 its mission is to defeat the North Vietnamese who are on the verge of overrunning South Vietnam
02:32the US saw that as part of this controversial domino effect in which if South Vietnam fell next to
02:42follow the Indonesia and the Philippines and all of Asia would become communist whereas in reality the
02:47Vietnamese simply saw this as a nationalistic war to reunite their country landing with the Marines
02:54are two platoons of 3rd tank battalion armor there's a common misconception that tanks were not used very
03:01much in Vietnam the Marines actually had a history of using tanks for infantry support that reached back
03:06to World War two there's no real way to carry a large cannon around the battlefield you know for
03:11direct fire infantry support except time infantry support in Vietnam will be provided by the m48 tank
03:21the m48 a3 patent tank boasts a high-velocity 90 millimeter main gun 110 millimeters of frontal armor and a top speed of 45 kilometers per hour
03:37the m48 was designed for tank-on-tank action the goal of the American tank force 1960s was in effect to destroy Soviet tanks
03:50the Americans are prepared for head-to-head combat with the Russians but in Vietnam their tanks face a
03:59different kind of enemy the Viet Cong or VC the Viet Cong was a local guerrilla force intimately familiar with
04:08the area their specialization was infiltration ambushes the initial role of tanks in Vietnam is to
04:18protect U.S. air bases because the original commitment of the U.S. in Vietnam was to base aircraft in South Vietnam for airstrikes across into North Vietnam
04:30as the VC step up their attacks against the air bases
04:37U.S. commander William Westmoreland adopts a new strategy
04:43Westmoreland was a World War two general with a World War two mentality and his goal as he saw it was to bring the Vietnamese to a conventional battle in which they could be destroyed by conventional firepower in which the U.S. excelled of course
04:56he launches the first major American ground offensive of the war
05:02operation starlight
05:04intelligence indicated formations massing for additional attacks against airfields
05:11so the idea was to go in and break these up
05:14operation starlight involves a preemptive strike against Viet Cong guerrillas who threaten the vital air base at July
05:25the Viet Cong have 1500 men armed with hundreds of light anti-tank weapons
05:33against the VC the Americans deploy an initial force of over 3000 Marines supported by a dozen tanks
05:47in the U.S.
05:50August 18th 1965
05:53Marine tanks head inland to seek out the enemy
05:57confidence in the mission is high
06:00it's what we're there for
06:02we're all excited to be going to war
06:04as the fighting rages
06:08Marines in the field are soon in need of supplies
06:10and tanks from the first tank battalion are called in
06:15we were going to provide security for five Amtraks that were loaded with sea rations and water
06:23and we were to deliver those sea rations and water to our troops
06:27but the American commanders make a crucial error
06:32supply column 21 heads off without any infantry support
06:37by itself a tank is vulnerable in guerrilla and insurgent operations
06:43to make a tank less vulnerable one has to surround it with protective infantry
06:48infantry support can deter an enemy from getting too close to the tanks
06:53because a tank is relatively blind if you can get up close to it
06:57you can actually you know deploy a number of anti-tank weapons
07:02as the convoy advances deeper into the jungle
07:05it finds itself on a small trail
07:08the nature of the train
07:10restricted the movement of tanks
07:13hundreds of vc guerrillas seize the opportunity to close in on the isolated convoy
07:19we're in a fairly dense dark jungle
07:31it wasn't very long that we were now taking small arms fire
07:37you'd see muzzle flashes
07:41we listened to the thwack thwack thwack of small arms fire hitting our tank
07:49I was terrified
07:51I couldn't see very well
07:54it's like being in a paper bag with a little bitty pinhole to see out of
07:59and you know there's bad stuff out there
08:02I'm using my 30 caliber machine gun
08:09I know that I don't have a lot of ammunition
08:13because I'm trying to literally pick a target and hit it
08:18my tank commander said we're coming to a clearing
08:25I'm looking across a sunny opening I'm looking at a rice paddy
08:34but I see the first tank take either an anti-tank rocket or an anti-tank gun
08:40the Viet Cong have sprung a trap a maneuver ambush
08:47the maneuver ambush involves taking out the lead tank in a convoy
08:52then the rear tank
08:55then targeting the rest of the immobilized column
08:59the first stage has worked
09:02the lead tank has been halted
09:07military warfare training tells you
09:09we're next
09:11and bam
09:16my tank commander screams
09:19we're hit
09:21we're hit
09:22and he said abandon tank
09:25and I see Corporal Vickery's feet going out the top hatch
09:32I get up and I look out the periscopes
09:35and there's two guys just inside the edge of the jungle
09:39he comes up and he fires a rocket
09:43and clangs off and bounces away
09:46I turn back and look and I can't get the gun down on him
09:49it's too close to get down over the fenders
09:54the Viet Cong had a tactic known as hugging their enemy's belt
10:00close in so close that the tank cannot bring its main gun to bear
10:08the Marines are surrounded
10:10and radio communication with headquarters is cut off
10:15the lead tank is out of ammunition
10:17and its crew wounded
10:19so it pulls back to get help
10:21it rolled back into the jungle and was gone
10:24Hearn's lone tank is left
10:27to prevent the convoy from being annihilated by the Viet Cong
10:31I'm getting some black smoke in the turret
10:34it's noxious
10:36I decide it's time to get out
10:38I stand up in there in a crotch position
10:42and now I'm watching this 3.5 rocket launcher over here
10:46he fires around
10:49it hits just below the cupola
10:53clangs off
10:55climbed up and jumped out and jumped right over the back of the tank
10:59there beside me is Corporal Vickery
11:02he's on his hands and knees
11:04he says Hearn I'm hit
11:07Hearn I'm hit
11:08it's obvious sooner or later they're just gonna walk in and get us
11:15supply column 21 is down to a handful of Marines struggling to hold off the VC
11:23the final stage of the ambush begins
11:27the Viet Cong close in for the kill
11:30and as I leaned up there
11:34I take a bullet in the side of my neck
11:39much of the back of my head is blown out of my mouth
11:46Private Hearn is left for dead when the VC withdraw into the jungle
11:53the next day Hearn and the other survivors of supply column 21 are finally rescued
11:59by the time Operation Starlight ends
12:03Viet Cong losses are estimated at over 600 dead
12:07we underestimated them really really badly
12:12that was the case very early on in Vietnam
12:14Operation Starlight was successful in that it did achieve its tactical goal
12:19which was to break up units that were potentially massing for an attack on the airfields
12:24however the US Marines suffer 45 dead
12:28and a quarter of their tankers are wounded or killed
12:381967 the United States has increased its military forces in Vietnam to 400,000 troops and hundreds of tanks
12:47William Westmoreland was one of the main drivers in that
12:50and that he saw this as a conventional struggle
12:53and was constantly asking for more and more troops to expand these operational areas
12:57Ho Chi Minh counters the US build-up by reinforcing Viet Cong insurgents
13:03with units of the regular North Vietnamese Army or NVA
13:08the NVA were highly motivated
13:11their motto was recruited in the north to die in the south
13:16they were extremely disciplined and they were better equipped than the Viet Cong
13:21the Soviet weapons complete with artillery and things like this
13:26the Americans must now stop thousands of NVA soldiers from infiltrating across the border into South Vietnam
13:37they establish a series of fire bases along the 100 kilometer border
13:41that divides North and South Vietnam
13:43known as the Demilitarized Zone or DMZ
13:47the Demilitarized Zone was an area that was supposed to be devoid of military forces
13:53and not used for military operations effectively to separate North and South Vietnam
13:58the Marines started moving North to defend the areas around the DMZ and the major infiltration rounds
14:04so what you ended up with then was a face-off between the regular North Vietnamese formations
14:09and the Marine units along the DMZ
14:18near the eastern end of the border is the Jawlin firebase
14:24it is protected by five M48s from the Marines 3rd Tank Battalion
14:30as the US began to establish a more far-flung network of bases particularly along the DMZ
14:36one of the things that would happen is they were subject to constant attacks by the NVA
14:41there was one time up at Geolin where we were getting hammered by artillery fire more so than usual
14:50incoming was constant
14:57one of the chronic problems they faced was that the North Vietnamese artillery
15:01the Soviet made artillery out ranged even the larger American artillery
15:05and frequently the tank cannons were the only things that could reply to that fire at extremely long ranges
15:12my tank commander came to us one morning and said
15:19oh we've got a we've got a crazy mission
15:26and he said we're gonna take our tank and one other tank
15:29and we're gonna run into North Vietnam we're gonna run through the DMZ
15:36both forces were to remain outside and not operate within
15:42but they were somewhat selective in their adherence to the treaty
15:46there were crack regiments of NVA in the area
15:57we ended up perching ourselves in a little rise
16:00overlooking a huge expanse in North Vietnam
16:07and our orders are to pick out any targets that seem suspicious
16:14and fire
16:16now the 90 millimeter cannon was frequently used for harassment interdiction fire
16:21where you would fire at long ranges against a fixed target
16:24that could not necessarily be hit by artillery or air power
16:28the range firing went up to 4400 yards
16:31and I saw something on the other side of this old dried up rice field
16:35and I put the crosshairs on as best I could
16:41and it landed well short
16:51so I raised the crosshairs up and took another shot
16:54and the second round or so hit
16:58even from three miles away or so secondary explosions were tremendous
17:08and we knew that we had hit something
17:14we were there for maybe three minutes
17:16turned around and hightailed it back to GLN
17:20we had knocked out the enemy artillery site
17:24that had been pounding the hill
17:28we felt like the heroes of the hill
17:30and it was something to be able to do that
17:47July 2nd 1967
17:50from their fire base at Contien
17:52Alpha and Bravo Company's 1st Battalion 9th Marines
17:55set out towards the DMZ on an operation codenamed Buffalo
18:02their mission is to head northeast from Contien
18:06cross the trace
18:09and then sweep the area south of the demilitarized zone
18:13the role of the Marines changed from defense
18:16to aggressive patrolling and seeking out the enemy
18:19along what they called the trace
18:20which was a clear belt of terrain that ran parallel to the border
18:24between north and south Vietnam
18:26simply because they knew that they could not defend these base areas
18:28unless they went out into the countryside and sought out the enemy
18:32as they advance
18:34Bravo 1-9 has no idea
18:36they are walking towards a much larger force
18:38of battle hardened troops
18:40of the North Vietnamese Army's 90th Regiment
18:42waiting to ambush them
18:44Operation Buffalo represented 9 to 1 odds in favor of the North Vietnamese
18:53which meant they could literally overwhelm the American company
18:58the NVA spring a trap on the American patrol
19:03the Marines take heavy casualties
19:05and radio back for help from the tanks at Contien
19:08amongst them is the crew of tank B-23
19:13they called on our four tanks that were stationed at Contien
19:18Bravo 1-9 was getting overrun
19:23they got themselves into a situation where they walked into an ambush
19:29what the tank force doesn't know
19:32is that NVA troops are now waiting to ambush them
19:36the North Vietnamese knew very well
19:39their reaction force usually built around tanks
19:42would be sent out to help support and protect them
19:44so they would lie and wait for that
19:53the beleaguered marines of Bravo 1-9
19:56have taken heavy casualties when the tanks arrive
19:59we got to the troops
20:02they were still left
20:04we were taken dead and severely wounded
20:08throwing them on the tank
20:11as Marines we don't leave the bodies behind
20:24the North Vietnamese they knew what they were doing
20:27Bravo 1-9 had walked into an ambush
20:30closed around them and circled them
20:33as soon as we got up near that circle
20:36the North Vietnamese had a bigger circle
20:38which closed around us
20:40and that's when all hell broke loose
20:45operation Buffalo represents
21:00perhaps an inefficient number of tanks to truly make the difference against a much larger force
21:06Incoming artillery and mortars started dropping all over us
21:13we got across a creek and a spider airplane radioed down to us to turn around and we were in North Vietnam
21:30I just went in and swung around and came back
21:37that's when my tank hit a mine
21:43but when the mine goes off
21:47you're jerked up and down
21:50you're taking a 52 ton tank
21:54which is a lot of weight
21:56and blowing it up in the air
21:58probably
21:59two three foot
22:01and it blew off a couple road wheels
22:04and the track
22:05you're sitting there the radios don't work
22:09and you got a road wheel missing
22:10and the track is off
22:11and you know you're in trouble
22:13the crew of tank B-23
22:15now need rescuing themselves
22:18Gunny Eckler he's in the other tank
22:20and he's not disabled
22:22but he's going to try to get us out of there
22:25Gunny Eckler he's in the other tank
22:27and he's a
22:28he's not disabled
22:29but he's going to try to get us out of there
22:37I'd attach a tow cable which is a
22:40probably a two inch thick steel cable
22:43from tank to tank
22:47Gunny started dragging us out
22:49and I remember being in that driver's hatch
22:52the heat coming off of that engine
22:54off the other tank was just
22:56I thought I was going to be cooked alive
23:00It was a short time later
23:01as we're getting ready to leave
23:03a couple of RPG teams got up close to us
23:09I remember them yelling
23:10saying there's an RPG team
23:11and I'm in the driver's hatch
23:12and I look out the vision block
23:16and they let loose with a round
23:18The RPG 2 is the NVA's primary anti-tank weapon
23:27It is a rocket propelled grenade launcher
23:29that fires a 1.8 kilogram shaped charge
23:32that can bore through 200 millimeters of armor
23:35and the first RPG hit our gypsy rack
23:44We got hit in the gypsy rack
23:45and our brass was flying all over the place
23:50While we were being towed out
23:52we started to go up a slight little dike
23:54One of the guys saw an RPG team come out
24:02And that RPG was aiming at us
24:05The tank was actually being dragged like this
24:08and it was up in the air
24:09It was going up over that dike
24:11They were aiming for the bottom of the tank
24:14Just as he fired, we started to come down from that dike
24:21And the RPG bounces off the slope plate
24:26The RPG usually was not capable of destroying a tank
24:29but it was absolutely deadly to cruise
24:31You could get what's called a spalling effect
24:33where fragments of the tank's own armor
24:35break loose and ricochet around the interior
24:37and that's what does most of the damage
24:39to personnel inside the tank
24:41It's bits and pieces of the tanks on armor
24:44The loader's hatch was open
24:46It was sitting up like this
24:47and they hit the loader's hatch
24:51And then shrapnel from that
24:53hit me in both legs
24:55and hit Terry Hunter in the back
24:58I was literally blown halfway up out of the hatch
25:02And the shrapnel came down inside
25:06and it wounded Braywell
25:08I had shrapnel in my leg, my shoulder, my arm
25:17He looked like a Martian
25:19He had all these pieces of shrapnel sticking out of his helmet
25:23We were smoking and on fire inside
25:27And it was really funny
25:29We were trying to put out what we thought was a fire
25:31with a fire extinguisher
25:33Well, it was an empty fire extinguisher
25:35Well, it was an empty fire extinguisher
25:36because we had used the CO inside of it
25:39to cool down some beer the night before
25:42And all of a sudden there's green tracer rounds
25:45that are coming at us
25:48Denny Eckler just put his foot to the floor
25:55And we made it out
25:57Made it out to the landing zone
26:06Later on, three of my crew members
26:10including myself
26:12were medevaced to Cam'ron Bay Hospital
26:15During the first day of Operation Buffalo
26:21at least 55 North Vietnamese soldiers are killed
26:26But on that same day
26:29the Americans lose 86 men killed in action
26:32and another 190 wounded
26:35making it their costliest day of the war so far
26:38Despite the losses
26:42U.S. Commander General Westmoreland
26:45is determined to increase his forces in South Vietnam
26:49It was constantly asking for more and more troops
26:52to draw them into a climactic conventional battle
26:54in which he could destroy the North Vietnamese forces in Vietnam
27:00January 1968
27:04The North Vietnamese have their own plan to escalate the war
27:11The Communists launch a New Year or Tet Offensive
27:16Simultaneously attacking over 100 cities, towns and villages
27:21throughout South Vietnam
27:24Major Tet Offensive in early 1968
27:27was that trigger for what they saw as the potential uprising
27:31in which they would finally throw out the invaders
27:35Tet is a major setback for the U.S. war in South Vietnam
27:39It did provide a political tipping point
27:41because it turned American public opinion against the war
27:44The American public and increasingly the political leaders
27:47no longer saw it as a winnable war
27:50After weeks of vicious fighting, the offensive is crushed
27:54Tet was an absolute disaster for the Viet Cong
27:56because these units were exposed to American and South Vietnamese firepower
28:02a lot of them were wiped out
28:04There was no alternative for the Communists
28:07but to send down increasing numbers of units that have been raised and equipped in the North
28:11regular units of the North Vietnamese Army
28:13equipped with more sophisticated anti-tank weapons
28:16and it was just a fundamental change in the nature of the war
28:18to a more conventional war against the North Vietnamese Army
28:241968 is turning out to be the bloodiest year of the war
28:33U.S. intelligence pinpoints areas where the enemy is massing its forces
28:38One of these is Go Noi Island, where the NVA has a divisional headquarters
28:44They would come in and establish secure areas
28:47from which they could make forays and attacks against the surrounding areas
28:51and one of those was Go Noi Island, which was the objective of Operation Allen Brook
28:55Go Noi is 24 kilometers south of Da Nang
29:00surrounded by two rivers and bisected by an old railroad bridge
29:04May 4th, 1968
29:09The Americans send a Marine force to eliminate the enemy entrenched on Go Noi
29:14including M-48s from the 1st and 5th Tank Battalions
29:21At the head of the armored column is the crew of Tank B-24
29:25We moved across onto the island
29:28and within hours the infantry that we were supporting
29:33started taking fire and taking heavy fire
29:36We encountered small arms, machine gun fire, mortar attack
29:42The communists were taking full advantage of knowing the terrain on which they were fighting
29:48and being able to choose where they would fight
29:50The heavy machine gun fire from the 51 caliber Russian machine guns were
29:56shooting a tremendous volume of fire at the helicopters
30:00and we decided it was very unsafe for them to come in
30:03and so we actually had to, to the first 4 or 5 days without resupply
30:11That meant they were going to run out of food
30:15They were running out of water
30:16and of course we were certainly running out of ammunition
30:21To get supplies for the main force
30:23the crew of Tank B-24 lead 3 M-48s and 2 Amtrak's back to their base
30:29So that morning on the 6th day I was forming a column
30:39We crossed the tree line, didn't encounter anything
30:44About 400 yards later was another tree line
30:53And you never knew when you approached the tree line
30:57Was it safe or not?
30:59We did something that's called recon by fire
31:02And the tanks would start using a machine gun
31:08And taking that tree line under fire
31:10The enemy doesn't know you don't know they're there
31:16And so they would start firing
31:21All of a sudden the RPGs start flying and machine guns start flying
31:29We were taking a lot of fire
31:34We effectively had been ambushed
31:37And we started to return fire immediately
31:41And we started to return fire immediately
31:47We were firing the cannon
31:49Firing a lot of cannon around
31:55Eventually we ran out of 90mm ammunition
31:59When the NBA saw that the big gun wasn't shooting anymore
32:04Then they attempted to get on the tanks
32:07Which was a specialty of the NBA
32:09They had no qualms at all about climbing on a tank
32:12And to jam things like a satchel charge up under the rack at the rear of the turret
32:16To jam the turret, try to get a grenade inside the vehicle
32:19Or simply try to kill the crew with small arms fire
32:21I said scratch my back or got the NBA on me or something like that
32:26Scratch my back
32:28When the tank turns that means you turn the machine guns on another tank
32:32He swung his turret around
32:35He fired a flechette round
32:39Which had little tiny darts in it
32:42But it took the enemy off the tank
32:46The communist attack on the resupply convoy is taking a toll
32:54The marines are desperately low on ammunition
32:57And in danger of being overrun
33:04A break in the fighting finally allows a helicopter to land
33:09That afternoon a helicopter tried to come in to pick up the dead
33:12As the American chopper approaches the enemy watches
33:18And waits
33:25We didn't think we had anyone around us
33:28Any enemy around us at that point
33:32They just started to get off the ground
33:35When all hell opened up
33:37The helicopter took a hit and started auto-gyrating
33:50At that point you said, my God, we're surrounded
33:56The marines are ordered to protect the downed chopper
34:00So it can be salvaged and not fall into enemy hands
34:04So they said, we'll stay with the chopper that night
34:07So we set a 360 up
34:09It was starting to get dark
34:11We knew we were going to get hit that night
34:13There was no question in our minds
34:14The NVA used a number of techniques that we might consider psychological warfare
34:18The NVA used a number of techniques that we might consider psychological warfare
34:22The main one was to present the image that they own the countryside and the night
34:29This meant that any American force out in the countryside could reasonably expect
34:32To have a series of probes and attacks throughout the night
34:46Deny them rest
34:48And to keep them on edge throughout the time
34:51We're sitting there watching NVA that was probably 50 yards away from us
34:56A young Marine came over and said, hey, Sarge, there's people in front of your tank with the rockets
35:05And I said, well, start shooting them
35:09And all of a sudden out in front of us
35:16There was this explosion
35:20Explosion
35:23And that RPG, we can see it rotating
35:26It comes right over between the two of us
35:30And landed behind the tank
35:34Hit between my feet
35:37And knocked me down
35:3915 or 20 RPGs camp over the tank, the side of the tank
35:42I'm now down inside the tank
35:52I'm now down inside the tank
35:56And my driver, he was probably 18 or 19
36:04He said, are we going to make it out of here?
36:08Are we going to make it out of here?
36:16But the North Vietnamese again break off their attack
36:20Disappearing into the night
36:22And thousands of hidden tunnels that crisscross Go Noy Island
36:29The problem is that the enemy simply just kind of melts away from in front of you
36:33And goes underground
36:34Dawn breaks, and the American tankers wonder when the next assault will begin
36:40As they wait, they suddenly receive new orders
36:44The morning after the ambush, we were ordered to destroy the helicopter that we had guarded the night before
36:51U.S. commanders determined that another air rescue is too dangerous
36:56Not wanting to leave anything the NVA can use, the Marines are ordered to destroy the chopper
37:02They said, blow the helicopter in place and move back towards the Liberty Bridge
37:13Two weeks into Operation Allen Brook, the U.S. Marines continue to search Go Noy Island for the enemy
37:23And from their fortified bunkers, the NVA continue to find deadly new tactics to harass the Americans
37:34We moved just off and out into this field
37:39And as we did that, the infantry platoon leader called in an artillery strike
37:52A voice on the radio is calling for American artillery to shell the exact location of the American tanks
37:54Everybody's looking around in a tank, saying, that's not right, that's not right
38:09But it's an American voice, and it clearly was not our guys
38:15The NVA is using the American infantry's radio frequency to call in an artillery strike
38:18The NVA is using the American infantry's radio frequency to call in an artillery strike
38:24It was somebody who could speak perfect English
38:27Knew our frequencies, knew how to call in artillery
38:32And in 15 seconds, we've got 105mm cannon shells, artillery shells, dropping right amongst us
38:45It's landing on our perimeter
38:51We now are under barrage from our own artillery
38:57When the Vietnamese communists could set the time and place of battle, they tended to be a step ahead
39:14Using another radio channel, the American tankers are finally able to stop the artillery barrage
39:20As I understand, we lost 70 marines, either killed or seriously wounded, in that attack
39:37That concept of battle represents what we would call attrition
39:42That is, grinding down your opponent's will to fight
39:46By grinding down their forces and inflicting casualties
39:48This was clearly an indication of us that, man, guys, things have changed
39:58These guys are good
40:00These guys are real good
40:06The marines are ordered to pull back to the western end of Gonoi Island
40:13The only route passes under a disused railroad bridge
40:16And the North Vietnamese would certainly know
40:21There was only one way out of there
40:26There was a tunnel
40:31The opening is just wide enough for a tank and three or four feet on each side
40:36There was no question that that underpass would be mined
40:45There was no question that that underpass would be mined
40:50The U.S. military developed a very healthy respect for the creativity, ingenuity, and lengths to which the North Vietnamese Army would go to inflict casualties upon them
41:08The infantry called in engineers, who had mine detectors and what have you, and they probed the entire area under the bridge
41:17They swept, swept through, got to the other side
41:20And discovered nothing
41:23Staff Sergeant Abizi said, no, I just, I don't believe that, check again
41:30I had them sweep it four or five times, I know there's a mine there, oh no, it's all clear
41:36So I said, well, I'm not going to go through there, I need my tank to, to, for the commands
41:40I took my other section tank, I said, okay, they said it's clear
41:49The first tank starts to go through
41:56They started through there
42:01As they begin to roll under the trestle
42:03The track begins to roll out from underneath this trestle
42:16It wasn't a device that was an anti-tank mine that you would expect from the military
42:23This was a homemade thing that was in a wooden box
42:26So it was undetectable, if you will
42:28And that's why the engineers missed it
42:29They came to be called IEDs in later wars
42:33These had the capability of actually lifting a tank into the air
42:36And completely destroying it and killing the crew
42:42It killed all three of the engineers that had, that had swept in front of us
42:53It's far more common now to counter tanks with IEDs
42:56The idea any insurgent has is to transform their enemies' strengths into weaknesses
43:02They teach their adversary to think of tanks not as a strength, but as a liability
43:08In effect, the insurgent force is trying to teach the conventional force to stop using them
43:13Operation Alan Brook continues until August 1968
43:30Communist losses are heavy, with close to 1,000 dead
43:33By the time it's over, the Marines suffer more than 1,100 casualties
43:38America's appetite for the war is waning
43:48In 1969, they negotiate with the North for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from South Vietnam
43:54Before the end of the year, the first American tanks are headed home
44:03In the end, the mobile firepower of U.S. tanks proves no match for the unconventional tactics of the Communists
44:12The Vietnam War represents the first great tank versus guerrilla series of battles
44:18What we can learn about tank warfare coming out of Vietnam
44:22Was the exact lesson the Communist insurgents wanted to teach
44:26That tanks represented a weakness in an insurgency as opposed to a strength
44:31Americans and other foreigners tend to forget that Vietnam has a very long history of resistance to foreign invaders
44:42They were just one more colonial power that was trying to seize control of the country
44:49By 1972, most American forces have withdrawn from South Vietnam
44:53The U.S. loses over 58,000 killed and 300,000 wounded during the war
45:05April 30th, 1975
45:09North Vietnamese tanks smash down the gates of the Presidential Palace in Saigon
45:13North and South Vietnam are finally united
45:25After fighting that costs millions of lives
45:43The U.S. is played in 10 years
45:47At the end the war, the U.S. has ever returned to theica, the V.S. has the responsibility of the world
45:51When the U.S. and the U.S. has the same movement, the V.S. and the aufge-dict
45:57The U.S. has the same movement as the Nasrists
46:01� in the war
46:04With the U.S. we had to fight
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