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00:00:03The Year of the Monkey began with blood.
00:00:12The enemy struck across the length and breadth of South Vietnam,
00:00:16shattering what had been a holiday truce.
00:00:19The holiday was Tet, the Lunar New Year.
00:00:23For the first time, the Viet Cong invaded the cities in force,
00:00:27including Saigon itself.
00:00:30A suicide attack into the grounds of the American Embassy.
00:00:37In Hue, the ancient imperial capital,
00:00:40communist troops established a revolutionary government
00:00:42and held out for more than three weeks of bitter fighting.
00:00:50At Quezon in the Northwest,
00:00:53American Marines were surrounded and under siege.
00:00:58Depending on airstrikes to hold off a threatened enemy attack,
00:01:02the deadly battles of 1968, the Tet Offensive.
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00:01:51If you had to choose the most important event of the Vietnam War,
00:01:55it certainly would be the Tet Offensive.
00:01:58It changed how people looked at the war, and in doing so, it changed the war itself.
00:02:03Consider what was happening at the start of 1968.
00:02:07Almost half a million American troops were in Vietnam.
00:02:10Our leaders, both civilian and military, were optimistic that the war was being won.
00:02:15The commanding general, William Westmoreland, declared,
00:02:18we have reached an important point where the end begins to come into view.
00:02:25But there had been some unusual developments.
00:02:28The communists, who had been fighting mainly a guerrilla war,
00:02:31had begun heavy attacks on scattered American bases,
00:02:34including the Marine fire base at Con Tien.
00:02:37Military intelligence had picked up signs that the communists were planning a major offensive.
00:02:43They thought the attack might come just before or after Tet.
00:02:47They did not expect it would involve the cities or happen during the New Year's celebration.
00:02:53Tet is the most sacred of Vietnam's holidays, a time for visiting relatives,
00:02:58a time for feasting and firecrackers.
00:03:00As Tet arrived in 1968, a ceasefire was declared in most of Vietnam.
00:03:06President Chu ordered holiday leaves for half of South Vietnam's armed forces.
00:03:11And then the enemy struck all over South Vietnam.
00:03:15More than a hundred cities, provincial capitals, towns, and military bases.
00:03:20You'll see the Tet Offensive as it was reported then by CBS News correspondents and camera crews.
00:03:25The enemy's targets included the American embassy in Saigon, and Robert Shakti was there.
00:03:36Military police got back into the compound of the $2.5 million embassy complex at dawn.
00:03:41Before that, a platoon of Viet Cong were in control.
00:03:44The communist raiders never got into the main chancery building.
00:03:47A handful of Marines had it locked and kept them out.
00:03:50But the raiders were everywhere else.
00:03:52By daylight, Tongue Rock, where the embassy is located, was a battleground.
00:03:57No one, unless identified, was allowed in the street.
00:04:01Get out, dude!
00:04:03Get back!
00:04:05An Australian military policeman was standing guard, firing warning shots to keep the street clear.
00:04:10The bodies of two American military policemen who died as they tried to assault the compound
00:04:16lay near their jeep across the boulevard.
00:04:19This is where the Viet Cong raiders broke in.
00:04:21They'd sneaked up and blasted a hole in the reinforced concrete fence surrounding the compound.
00:04:26They had the big embassy wall to protect them.
00:04:29They were inside before anyone knew it.
00:04:32But none of the raiders lived to tell of their exploit.
00:04:35By 8 o'clock, five hours after they first broke in, almost all of them were dead.
00:04:39All in civilian clothes, they'd been armed with American M-16 rifles and also rocket launchers
00:04:45and rockets.
00:04:45They had explosives, their purpose apparently to destroy the embassy.
00:04:49In that purpose, they did not succeed.
00:04:53A villa on the embassy grounds was the residence of the mission coordinator, George Jacobson.
00:04:59He was trapped there on the second floor.
00:05:01American soldiers tossed him weapons to defend himself.
00:05:05Later, when it was all over, Jacobson told what had happened.
00:05:09What could you see from your window?
00:05:11Were the VC in the buildings?
00:05:12No, I did not see any VC in the building except that I knew that there was at least one
00:05:17VC in my house.
00:05:20I knew that he was on the bottom floor of my house.
00:05:24You had quite an escape at the very end.
00:05:27How did that happen?
00:05:28Well, they put riot gas into the bottom floors of my house, which of course would drive whoever was down
00:05:34below, up top, where I was.
00:05:37They had thrown me a pistol about ten minutes before this occurred.
00:05:42And with all the luck that I've had all of my life, I got him before he got me.
00:05:50With the pistol, and he had what?
00:05:52An M-16.
00:05:53And you got him.
00:05:53The commanding general, William S. Moreland, described the embassy attack as a Viet Cong defeat.
00:06:01General, how would you assess yesterday's activities and today's?
00:06:05What is the enemy doing?
00:06:05Are these major attacks?
00:06:10That's EOD setting off a couple of M-79 duds, I believe.
00:06:15General, how would you assess the enemy's purposes yesterday and today?
00:06:19The enemy very deceitfully has taken advantage of the Tet Truce in order to create maximum consternation within South Vietnam,
00:06:37particularly in the populated areas.
00:06:38In my opinion, this is diversionary to his main effort, which he had planned to take place in Quang Tri
00:06:47Province, from Laos toward Quezon and across the demilitarized zone.
00:06:57This attack has not yet materialized.
00:07:00His schedule has probably been thrown off balance because of our very effective airstrikes.
00:07:06Now, yesterday, the enemy exposed himself by virtue of this strategy, and he suffered great casualties.
00:07:18Other battles were raging in the streets of Saigon, one not far from the presidential palace.
00:07:24An attack on the palace itself had been driven back.
00:07:27The enemy had been planning the Tet Offensive for the past six months.
00:07:31Almost 100 tons of military supplies had been moved into the region around Saigon.
00:07:37The Viet Cong had chosen a number of strategic targets.
00:07:41Don Webster described the battle for one of them.
00:07:45This is the main Vietnamese-language radio station in Saigon, and right now there are an undisclosed number of V
00:07:50.C. inside occupying the station.
00:07:52They are not broadcasting on the air, and they're surrounded by South Vietnamese troops, and they're pinned down inside.
00:08:00We think they're going to be throwing tear gas any moment now to try to get them out that way.
00:08:07There's been a lot of shooting out the windows from inside, up on the second floor.
00:08:20The attack on the radio station started at 2.30 in the morning.
00:08:24The Viet Cong pulled up in cars.
00:08:26They killed the guards outside and stormed the station.
00:08:29The suicide squad of Viet Cong apparently intended to blow up the station rather than just taking it over.
00:08:34The large packages carry plastic, more than enough to blow up the entire station, including the Viet Cong.
00:08:40Even now, eight hours after the attack started, there are still a few Viet Cong hiding inside the station.
00:08:46One by one, the V.C. are located and killed, and their bodies are unceremoniously dragged outside and down the
00:08:52street.
00:08:52The communists did not succeed in broadcasting from the station, but they did destroy much of its equipment before they
00:08:59were killed or captured.
00:09:06Five days after the combat began, the enemy was still fighting.
00:09:10George Severson described the battle in one of Saigon's slums.
00:09:18This neighborhood is called Ban Kho, or the Chess Board, because of the maze of alleys and passageways.
00:09:26Its residents are mostly poor working people, and its slums are a refuge for Saigon's hoodlum and criminal elements,
00:09:32a Southeast Asian version of the Lower East Side, or the Algerian Casbah.
00:09:38Vietnamese rangers and marines moved carefully, blasting buildings in possible Viet Cong hiding places before moving ahead.
00:09:45This was the first time heavy fighting has taken place in Saigon proper.
00:09:50Until now, most of it has been in the Chinese section of Cholong and in the suburbs.
00:09:56The V.C. were difficult to dislodge.
00:09:58They obviously knew the section well, and had built barricades in key spots.
00:10:03Often, the only way around them was to take to the ruins.
00:10:07The rangers and marines took casualties, mostly from hidden snipers.
00:10:11The enemy was nowhere, and everywhere.
00:10:28As soon as a section had been cleared, more terror-stricken civilians scurried out of their homes.
00:10:32Thousands of them fleeing from the bullets and explosives, and even more dangerous, a fire that began to rage out
00:10:39of control.
00:10:41Residents in nearby buildings began dragging their most precious possessions out of their shops and homes.
00:10:47Saigon's water supply system is operating only at 70% of normal, so fires are a serious menace.
00:10:54For these people, many of them who fled the war from outlying villages, this is the cruelest blow.
00:11:01The curfew has kept them from making a living.
00:11:03Food prices have tripled since the fighting began a week ago, and now, their homes are being destroyed.
00:11:15The fighting is taking place around the Chow Ray Hospital in Chowlan, the Chinese section of the city.
00:11:22The most unnerving part of this kind of fighting is the possibility of snipers popping out of practically every doorway,
00:11:28every window.
00:11:30They're equipped with rifles, machine guns, and rocket launchers.
00:11:36How long have you been fighting in Saigon?
00:11:38It's broke out about six, seven days ago. I've been fighting ever since then.
00:11:42You've been fighting out in the field, huh?
00:11:44Right.
00:11:44Which do you prefer?
00:11:45The field.
00:11:46Why?
00:11:47I don't know. You can't find them around here.
00:11:49In the field, at least you can call in airstrikes or something if something happens.
00:11:55This is Saigon Hospital in downtown Saigon.
00:11:58It's been working overtime since the beginning of the Great Tet Offensive,
00:12:01and it's in hospitals like this all over the country that the real tragedy of the fighting can be seen.
00:12:08Over 3,000 wounded have been admitted to Saigon's nine civilian hospitals.
00:12:13Cases like these, bullet and shrapnel wounds.
00:12:18More than 200 have died in the hospitals.
00:12:20No one knows how many have died without reaching them.
00:12:25Hardly a day is passed in this war without the death or wounding of innocent civilians.
00:12:31But up until now, this has been mainly in the countryside.
00:12:35Now the Viet Cong have carried the war into the cities,
00:12:38and there seems to be no place to hide from the bombs and the bullets.
00:12:43George Severson, CBS News, in Saigon.
00:12:47The fighting was even more savage here.
00:12:50In Hue, the former imperial capital,
00:12:53considered by most visitors to be the most beautiful and serene city in all of Vietnam.
00:12:59Tet changed all that.
00:13:01On the north side of the Perfume River,
00:13:03the enemy took control of much of the citadel,
00:13:06an almost impenetrable fortress built in 1802.
00:13:09But South Vietnamese forces held on to the northeast corner.
00:13:12On the south side of the river,
00:13:15communist forces attacked the U.S. military advisory compound.
00:13:19American marines were called in to break the siege,
00:13:22but the progress was slow and deadly.
00:13:25John Lawrence was there.
00:13:27On the fifth day of the battle for Hue,
00:13:30the marines moved out from the fortified army compound that stood for the original attack,
00:13:35and advanced into the empty, abandoned buildings of what was Hue University.
00:13:41Hue, the ancient imperial city.
00:13:44It is to Vietnamese what old Boston is to Americans,
00:13:48where many of its country's leaders are born or educated,
00:13:51where many return to celebrate Tet a week ago when the fighting began,
00:13:55where many remain hidden in the unknown interior of the resistance.
00:14:02Colonel Cheatham, what's the objective, and what are your men about to do?
00:14:08Well, I've got two companies here that are just about to clear the next two blocks up.
00:14:14I've got one company in this big building here that I guess is the end of the Hue University,
00:14:20and they are going to start firing in support of Foxtrot Company,
00:14:24which will be going up this road here on the left
00:14:26and attempt to take a couple large walled buildings that are on up about 500 or 600 meters.
00:14:32What kind of fighting is it going to be?
00:14:34It's house to house and from room to room.
00:14:37Kind of inch by inch.
00:14:38That's exactly what it is.
00:14:40Had you ever expected to experience this kind of street fighting in Vietnam?
00:14:46No, I didn't, and this is my first crack at street fighting.
00:14:49I think this is the first time the Marine Corps has been street fighting since Seoul in 1950.
00:14:54And a little bit in Santo Domingo.
00:14:55And a little bit there, yes, right.
00:14:57What's going to happen to civilians who might get caught in there?
00:15:01Well, we're hoping that we don't run into any civilians in there right now.
00:15:05If they are, I'm pretty sure there are civilians that are what we would consider the bad guys right now.
00:15:11We have certain areas in here that we have blocked off
00:15:14that we know there are friendly civilians, and we aren't going to take those under fire.
00:15:18The others?
00:15:20The others, if there's somebody in there right now, they're Charlie as far as we're concerned.
00:15:28Contact.
00:15:29The first sniper shots ricochet around the thick walls of the building,
00:15:33taking the first casualties of the first squad.
00:15:35The snipers, maybe only two or three, are visible in the buildings beyond the wall.
00:15:41But there is also a machine gun down the street to the left.
00:15:45They have covered every angle but the few feet of dirt and cactus behind this wall,
00:15:50and the one 40 feet ahead.
00:16:02The platoon leader has called his men forward.
00:16:05There is to be an assault.
00:16:07First, a barrage of cover fire, and then a charge across the street.
00:16:18The assault.
00:16:21But only one Marine runs forward into the fire.
00:16:25Expecting the others to follow, not looking back to find out,
00:16:29disappears behind the cover at the wall before long is shot and wounded.
00:16:34Two other Marines, one of whom is killed, get beyond the wall.
00:16:39And by night and the next day, the Marines have not been fired.
00:16:44It is inch by shattered inch in the five-day battle for Huey.
00:16:52Much of the news filmed during Tet was flown to Tokyo and fed to New York by satellite.
00:16:58In some cases, only those early satellite feeds remained.
00:17:01The picture is less than perfect, but gripping nonetheless.
00:17:04Here, a Marine corporal moves into the line of fire to rescue a wounded corpsman.
00:17:09A few days later, Don Webster witnessed another act of courage.
00:17:17For days now, they've been fighting their way, bloody inch by inch, down Lai Loi Street.
00:17:22And all that time, they could see, down the street, a flagpole.
00:17:26And on it was a Viet Cong flag.
00:17:28Much is left in shambles.
00:17:30As the Marines advance, building after building, the North Vietnamese retreat, building after building,
00:17:36giving up nothing without a fight.
00:17:42Roger, that was some sort of rifle grenade.
00:17:45It came all the way through the building, hit over the wall.
00:17:49Harman!
00:17:50Have you pushed the wall?
00:17:51Harman, out!
00:17:52In the front ranks of the Marines, a man is suddenly wounded.
00:17:58Get him!
00:18:03He's been hit in the eye by Shrapnel from an enemy B-40 rocket.
00:18:07Despite the obvious pain, doctors later told him he will not lose the eye.
00:18:11And although the sound of the blast punctured his eardrum, he will not lose his hearing.
00:18:16But all the time, the Marines have had their eyes on that enemy flag.
00:18:19It's flying on a pole in front of the province capital building.
00:18:24We've got Charlie on the run behind him.
00:18:26They're cutting him down now.
00:18:27As soon as the big one's secure, the flag is dropped.
00:18:30Finally, the assault.
00:18:32They're approaching what used to be the most important government building in the province.
00:18:36Now, with no province government at all, it has no significance at all, except for the flag in front.
00:18:41Will you, uh, will you let me know it's, uh, good enough to let, uh, Gabby Hayes, uh, run it
00:18:47up a little bit?
00:18:50With fighting still going on, just a few yards away, Marines have risked their lives to pull down this symbol.
00:18:58No one is quite sure where the American flag came from in the middle of a battle.
00:19:03Like so many things, when you need something, someone just happens to have it.
00:19:07There was no bugler, and the other Marines were too busy to salute.
00:19:11But not often is a flag so proudly raised.
00:19:13All right, all right, give me this.
00:19:26Hungry, hard, hotel company.
00:19:29Keep it.
00:19:30Are you finished?
00:19:31We want to get the hell out.
00:19:36That's certainly a surprise.
00:19:51Hey, get over here and help me drag this man out of here.
00:19:58Rimming the edge of the courtyard, someone noticed small holes camouflaged.
00:20:01In almost every one, there's an enemy soldier.
00:20:04A few dead from the day shooting, but some still alive.
00:20:08Others are not so lucky.
00:20:21Freeze fire into the holes.
00:20:26Another one is lucky.
00:20:27He stuck his arms out of the hole and surrendered as the Marine approached.
00:20:31And he's pulled out alive and uninjured.
00:20:33He's got a blindfold.
00:20:35He's got the fascist on there.
00:20:39Oh, there he goes.
00:20:41All right, he ain't going.
00:20:43Somebody find a piece of blindfold, a piece of rag over there.
00:20:46Get some of those back here over there.
00:20:52Hey, jump.
00:20:54Get some of that clothing over there.
00:20:58Sometimes these prisoners can be very useful, giving valuable intelligence information.
00:21:02But in this battle in Hue, it's been going on for so long now, and there are so many prisoners,
00:21:07there's really nothing left to be learned.
00:21:10For one of the few times in the Vietnam War, the U.S. Marines are really in their element in
00:21:14this battle in Hue.
00:21:15For right now, this province headquarters is the front line, and they're holding an assault much like those that have
00:21:21made them famous in other wars.
00:21:22And to a great extent, this assault is being won or lost on the basis of sheer courage.
00:21:27And there's no shortage of that among the Marines.
00:21:30Don Webster, CBS News, in Hue, South Vietnam.
00:21:35While the battles were raging in Saigon and Hue and elsewhere in South Vietnam, the Marines at Khe Sanh were
00:21:42waiting for a showdown.
00:21:44Khe Sanh was an isolated base in the northwest corner of South Vietnam.
00:21:48It was built to control enemy infiltration, and 6,000 men were there to defend it.
00:21:54Waiting in the mountains around them were 20,000 to 40,000 North Vietnamese.
00:21:59As time went on, Khe Sanh took on an almost mystical significance.
00:22:04It reminded some experts of Dien Bien Phu, where the French were defeated in 1954.
00:22:10The Marines at Khe Sanh were under orders to defend the base at all costs.
00:22:14President Johnson had declared, I don't want any damn Dien Bien Phu.
00:22:19He'd ordered his Joint Chiefs of Staff to pledge that Khe Sanh would not be lost.
00:22:24But Khe Sanh was surrounded, and few there doubted the enemy would attack.
00:22:29So they dug in, and watched, and waited, as American airstrikes pounded the hills nearby.
00:22:38Already the guns in those hills had been pouring fire on Khe Sanh.
00:22:42The question now, would the Communists try to overrun the base?
00:22:46Peter Kalischer reported.
00:23:02This is the first clear day in weeks, and Marine and Air Force pilots celebrate it by working over the
00:23:09slopes of Hill 1015 that dominate the camp.
00:23:16This is Khe Sanh, the dartboard of northwest-south Vietnam.
00:23:20The usual quick step of landing and taking off under enemy fire.
00:23:27A 105 howitzer coming in.
00:23:37Do the Communists seem to work on a schedule?
00:23:40You get fire more at one period of the day than another?
00:23:44Well, myself, I think it's just when the 130s are coming in, planes are coming in.
00:23:49Of course, you can't always count on that either, but that's when we all head for cover, when a 130
00:23:55comes in.
00:23:55You'll always hear somebody yell, here comes a mortar magnet, and everybody heads for the holes.
00:24:01We stay down there until we hear them take off, and then we'll come back up and try to go
00:24:05back to work.
00:24:06And there's sometimes you do, it's a half-hour job to do, and you take two hours doing it, just
00:24:10doing five minutes' work, running the holes, wait 15 minutes, run back out, do another five minutes' work, and then
00:24:15run back to your hole.
00:24:22The Marines are long on courage and short on dug-in positions.
00:24:27How much of the day's work is this sandbag stuff?
00:24:30Just about a full day for a long, long time.
00:24:35How come you fellas haven't got a thicker cover of this stuff?
00:24:39You've got about two layers here.
00:24:42Well, we've got about, this makes about the fourth or fifth layer we've got right now, besides the helium mats,
00:24:46which is made out of steel.
00:24:48No, this is six layers, right?
00:24:49Six layers, excuse me.
00:24:51What'll that keep out?
00:24:53Right now, it should stop a small mortar.
00:24:56What about a big one?
00:24:58I hope so.
00:25:00I'm not sure, though.
00:25:01What do you think of the, uh, what do you think of the chance, what do you think of the
00:25:06chances of, um, this place getting overrun?
00:25:10I would not say, sir.
00:25:11Uh, I couldn't say.
00:25:13I know every night we stand 100% watch all night long and try to get sleep during the daytime.
00:25:18And, uh, working parties, also when the fog comes in, everybody starts building bunkers up there just like they do
00:25:22here.
00:25:23Filling sandbags, digging trenches deeper.
00:25:25That's about all is to it.
00:25:28Well, thanks, and I hope you have a good R&R.
00:25:30Uh, I'd like to say hi to Mom back there at home.
00:25:33I know she's worried about me.
00:25:35I had no mail to be supplied.
00:25:37So, uh, to Mama back there in Greenfield, Tennessee.
00:25:40Hello, Mama.
00:26:01Do you worry at all with, uh, with the enemy that close to the, to the edge of this place?
00:26:08Yeah, you gotta be an idiot not to worry.
00:26:11What are you thinking now?
00:26:12Well, right now, maybe a little jumping on account of the audience, uh, rockets that they're throwing in here, being
00:26:19that I am short.
00:26:20What do you mean by short?
00:26:21I'm ready to go home.
00:26:23Maybe about 20 days.
00:26:2520 days to go and, and a big attack's supposed to be coming.
00:26:29Well, if it come, we'll fight our battles.
00:26:32If it don't, that's it.
00:26:35What do you think's gonna happen if they try to take this place?
00:26:38You're gonna get waxed.
00:26:40You're gonna get hurt bad.
00:26:41Real bad.
00:27:03The Marines waited at Kaysan.
00:27:06A few of them strummed guitars and sang about war and talked with John Lawrence.
00:27:12When will they ever learn?
00:27:16When will they ever learn?
00:27:24This is the part of Kaysan known as the V-Ring, the impact zone for most of the incoming enemy
00:27:30mortars, rockets, and artillery.
00:27:32It's the home of 3rd Recon Bravo Company.
00:27:36And even in the V-Ring, life goes on at Kaysan.
00:27:42When will they ever learn?
00:27:46When will they ever learn?
00:27:56How do you manage to survive in the V-Ring?
00:28:00How do you keep your spirits up?
00:28:03I don't know, I guess we play cards and sing at night.
00:28:11How about you?
00:28:12How do you manage to keep your spirits going?
00:28:14There's not many ways, really.
00:28:17Sometimes it gets pretty irritating down there.
00:28:19You have a lot of guys look close together and everything.
00:28:21It gets kind of crabby and everything.
00:28:23You start biting everyone.
00:28:24But we manage.
00:28:26How one beer at night helps.
00:28:27Where have all the young been gone?
00:28:30A long time has it seen.
00:28:34Where have all the young been gone?
00:28:38A long time ago.
00:28:41Where have all the young been gone?
00:28:45Gone to soldiers, everyone.
00:28:48When will they ever learn?
00:28:52When will they ever learn?
00:28:59Do you learn to take the danger of death, which is kind of present all around you?
00:29:05Can you take that in stride?
00:29:06Yeah, you just, you grow used to it.
00:29:08You just accept it.
00:29:10You know, still you jump and everything when mortars and rockets come in.
00:29:12But you just accept it after a while.
00:29:14Some of your buddies get blown away.
00:29:16And you just, the next day, you just, you know,
00:29:18It's just like you have a wall between yourself and reality, just love.
00:29:22It's beautiful.
00:29:23Where have all the gravelows gone?
00:29:26A long time has seen.
00:29:29Where have all the gravelows gone?
00:29:33A long time ago.
00:29:37Where have all the gravelows gone?
00:29:41A long time has seen.
00:29:44When will they ever learn?
00:29:48When will they ever learn?
00:29:59By the end of the first week of the Tet Offensive,
00:30:02the enemy had been driven back from most of South Vietnam's cities.
00:30:06But the fighting continued in Saigon,
00:30:09where the Viet Cong blended with the population by day
00:30:12and launched new attacks by night.
00:30:14Here's another report from John Lawrence.
00:30:17It is the 10th day of the fighting for Saigon,
00:30:20and although the official military word is that these are only mopping up operations,
00:30:25a pitched running battle has been fought in these streets last night and today and is continuing.
00:30:30And the area beyond is still held by the Viet Cong.
00:30:33In five separate actions last night,
00:30:37at least 100 Viet Cong,
00:30:39seven Americans and an unannounced number of government troops were killed
00:30:43within five miles of the downtown section of Saigon.
00:30:46These are local force enemy troops,
00:30:49some of whom have never before been committed to battle,
00:30:53recruited, organized, trained, and deployed within a mile of the presidential palace.
00:30:58They were armed with the latest Chinese weapons,
00:31:01AK-50 assault rifles,
00:31:04up-to-date B-40 rockets.
00:31:05How long has he been a VC?
00:31:08How long have he been a VC?
00:31:1915 days.
00:31:2115 days.
00:31:23Only 15 days.
00:31:24Nguyen Van Thuan, 28,
00:31:27says he was picked up a week ago in his home in the Jodin suburb of Saigon
00:31:31and forced to carry ammunition for the Viet Cong.
00:31:35Thuan says there are many Viet Cong in Saigon,
00:31:38but for himself, he wants to go home to Jodin.
00:31:42He will go to a prison instead.
00:31:44It was the toughest battle for the 35th Ranger Battalion
00:31:47in the seven months Captain Robert Reitz has been its advisor.
00:31:51Did you see a lot of the snipers?
00:31:54Right, we saw a lot of them in the alleys.
00:31:56I saw more this time than I've seen before in all the fights.
00:31:59In all of Vietnam?
00:32:01Right, seven months here.
00:32:03A government medical team races up,
00:32:06and although they must wait for last,
00:32:08the captured prisoners get as serious attention
00:32:10as any civilian or friendly soldier.
00:32:14The afternoon siesta in Saigon today
00:32:16is not a time for fighting, but fingerprinting.
00:32:21The military commander of the Operation to Secure Saigon,
00:32:25General Nguyen-Lok Luan, arrives for an inspection.
00:32:29General Luan gets special attention from the troops.
00:32:33He often leads his national police in action,
00:32:35and last week he showed them just how tough he is
00:32:38by shooting and killing a prisoner in cold blood.
00:32:51General Luan does not want to talk into the microphone.
00:32:54My mother, he says, told me a long time ago
00:32:57the best way to stay alive is to keep my mouth shut.
00:33:01Is the general afraid to die?
00:33:04What is life, he laughs,
00:33:06and what is death to a military man?
00:33:09John Lawrence, CBS News, Cholong.
00:33:14In Huey, meantime, American forces had secured
00:33:17much of the south side of the river,
00:33:19but communist troops were still holding out in the citadel.
00:33:22The fire from both sides of the river was murderous,
00:33:25and much of Huey was being destroyed in the process.
00:33:28Murray Frompson described the combat.
00:33:42U.S. Marines are trying to sweep
00:33:44North Vietnamese troops from the citadel
00:33:45toward the banks of the Perfume River
00:33:47and into a gauntlet of fire.
00:33:49You see that causeway bridge?
00:33:51Yes, sir.
00:33:52Okay, you see those houses all along there right below that?
00:33:54Yes, sir.
00:33:55Okay, put about three in there,
00:33:56and then you see that wooded area to the right of that?
00:33:59Yes, sir.
00:33:59Just throw those in there, car.
00:34:01Yes, sir.
00:34:17Almost all restraint is off.
00:34:19For the first time,
00:34:20the Vietnamese are seeing the holocaust of conventional war,
00:34:23the kind that leveled much of Korea
00:34:25and destroyed dozens of cities in World War II.
00:34:29Correction, you go right, about 150 meters.
00:34:32To the right.
00:34:33You see a whole bunch of brush,
00:34:35and then you see this one little tin roof sticking out.
00:34:37Right, right in the center.
00:34:38See it right through there?
00:34:39Which tin roof?
00:34:40The one that's just to the bottom.
00:34:41About one finger to the right or the other.
00:34:42Okay, you see this tall tree standing all by itself there?
00:34:45Come left to that about 100 meters.
00:34:47To the left,
00:34:48and there's one little building sitting there by itself.
00:34:50Right.
00:35:01The way is being systematically destroyed,
00:35:03and there is no haven for the spectators.
00:35:05The communists return mortar and sniper fire,
00:35:08trying to silence the American guns.
00:35:10Instead, they hit civilians,
00:35:12who run, but often not fast enough.
00:35:18It will be a long time
00:35:20before normalcy ever returns here.
00:35:22Hue, once Vietnam's diamond in the rough,
00:35:25has lost all of its glitter.
00:35:27It will never be the same.
00:35:30On the far side of that river,
00:35:32the citadel was demonstrating
00:35:34how well an ancient fortress
00:35:36can stand up to modern weapons.
00:35:38This, again, is an early satellite feed,
00:35:41so the picture quality suffers.
00:35:43But I think you'll get the idea.
00:35:44The correspondent is Robert Shackney.
00:35:48Fire!
00:35:49Fire!
00:35:50Fire!
00:35:52Fire!
00:35:54Fire!
00:35:54Fire!
00:35:54Fire!
00:35:55Fire!
00:35:55Fire!
00:35:56Fire!
00:35:57Fire!
00:35:58What remains of an old tower fortress
00:36:00built more than a century ago
00:36:02again is put to combat use.
00:36:04That's the North Vietnamese strong point.
00:36:07That's where the snipers are.
00:36:09That's where the rocket firing
00:36:10had been coming from.
00:36:11Now the Marines are trying to silence
00:36:13the firing with grenade launchers.
00:36:19One inside there!
00:36:21A medieval battleman
00:36:22turns out to be a formidable strong point
00:36:24against 20th century guns.
00:36:26A tank is no more successful
00:36:28than the grenades
00:36:29or the artillery
00:36:30or the infantry.
00:36:31Charlie is still in there.
00:36:43The Viet Cong were still holding out
00:36:45four days later
00:36:46when this correspondent
00:36:47reported from Hue.
00:36:50We're in an observation point
00:36:52overlooking a house
00:36:54some mile and a quarter
00:36:56across the hills there
00:36:57where it is believed
00:36:58120 B.C.
00:36:59are holed up
00:37:00and perhaps a large supply
00:37:01of ammunition.
00:37:02A major booth here
00:37:03is calling down artillery fire
00:37:05from some 10 miles back there
00:37:06on that target.
00:37:08The battle for Hue
00:37:10has taken an odd turn here.
00:37:13They still hope that in a day
00:37:15or two or three days
00:37:17the Marines will have cleared
00:37:18that section
00:37:19across the Perfume River
00:37:20over there
00:37:20in the Citadel
00:37:22but they're waiting
00:37:23for air power
00:37:24to give them
00:37:25a little assist
00:37:26and the weather
00:37:27has been frightful here
00:37:28for three weeks.
00:37:31American Marines
00:37:32had crossed the Perfume River
00:37:34to help attack the Citadel.
00:37:35John Lawrence
00:37:36went with them.
00:37:39The American flag
00:37:40flies on the Citadel wall
00:37:41but there is no breeze
00:37:43to blow it
00:37:43and the job is far from done
00:37:45for Delta Bravo Company.
00:37:48The last 200 yards
00:37:50are the toughest.
00:37:51The North Vietnamese
00:37:52are deeply entrenched
00:37:53in buildings and bunkers
00:37:55carefully camouflaged
00:37:56waiting for the Marines
00:37:58to move forward
00:37:59to gun them down
00:38:00in the open.
00:38:01They have been holding up
00:38:03for three weeks
00:38:04in what has become
00:38:04the longest,
00:38:05bloodiest battle
00:38:06of the war.
00:38:08In the week of fighting
00:38:09inside the Citadel
00:38:10the Marines have had
00:38:11an average of one tank
00:38:13a day knocked out.
00:38:16This is not the first
00:38:17big battle
00:38:18for 1st Battalion 5th Marines.
00:38:20In the last six months
00:38:22since the Quaison Valley ambush
00:38:24so many men
00:38:25have been killed
00:38:25or wounded
00:38:26out of an original
00:38:27800-man force
00:38:28fewer than 20
00:38:30are veterans.
00:38:31The men on the line,
00:38:33the Marine grunts
00:38:34have had enough
00:38:34of the Citadel.
00:38:35Many people are hurting
00:38:36real bad right now.
00:38:37We lost
00:38:392nd Battalion.
00:38:40They were wiped out
00:38:42in part of the 1st Battalion.
00:38:44They lost a lot of people.
00:38:46We probably have to
00:38:47drop back today
00:38:47to regroup.
00:38:49How do you feel yourself?
00:38:52I'm scared, I guess.
00:38:54Could this just as easily
00:38:55be another time
00:38:56in another place
00:38:57maybe 25 years ago
00:38:58in another part of the world?
00:39:00Yeah, I thought of that.
00:39:02I really have.
00:39:03I really have.
00:39:04This is really
00:39:05a formidable
00:39:08fortified position.
00:39:09I just can't imagine
00:39:10one being any more difficult
00:39:12than this right here.
00:39:14But we'll get it
00:39:15sooner or later.
00:39:16Just take a little time.
00:39:18Hopefully the weather
00:39:18will improve
00:39:19and we can get
00:39:20the maximum amount
00:39:21of air support
00:39:22and the support
00:39:23that we really want.
00:39:24And then I don't think
00:39:26it'll be tough at all.
00:39:27On the 21st day
00:39:29of the Battle for Puey
00:39:30the commanders decided
00:39:31that this battalion
00:39:32had suffered enough.
00:39:34Plans were made
00:39:35to take it out
00:39:35and send in replacements.
00:39:37And the advance
00:39:38in the citadel stopped
00:39:39200 yards from the wall.
00:39:45It would take
00:39:46three more days
00:39:47to capture the citadel.
00:39:48When South Vietnamese
00:39:49troops moved in
00:39:50they would find
00:39:51the enemy had fled.
00:39:54Much of the city
00:39:55was destroyed.
00:39:56refugees were everywhere.
00:39:58More than
00:39:59100,000 homeless.
00:40:01Many crowding
00:40:02into the shambles
00:40:03of what had been
00:40:03Hue University.
00:40:07The backyard
00:40:08became a graveyard.
00:40:15There were other
00:40:16graveyards in Hue
00:40:17but they were not
00:40:18discovered till later.
00:40:19Searchers found
00:40:20the bodies of almost
00:40:213,000 civilians.
00:40:23Intellectuals,
00:40:24religious and political
00:40:25leaders, foreigners,
00:40:27most apparently
00:40:28executed by the Viet Cong.
00:40:30Some bound and shot
00:40:31or bludgeoned to death.
00:40:33Others buried alive.
00:40:42As the Tet Offensive
00:40:43ground to a halt
00:40:44in most of South Vietnam,
00:40:46attention was focused
00:40:47back on Khe Sanh,
00:40:48still braced
00:40:49for a major attack.
00:40:50The biggest problem
00:40:52was resupplying the base.
00:40:53There was no access
00:40:54by road.
00:40:55Everything had to be
00:40:56brought in by air.
00:40:59The North Vietnamese
00:41:01pounded Khe Sanh
00:41:02with mortars,
00:41:03rockets,
00:41:04artillery.
00:41:05This is an Air Force
00:41:06transport hit as it
00:41:07tried to take off.
00:41:09Another round
00:41:09hit a CBS News crew
00:41:11filming the fire.
00:41:12Two wounded.
00:41:14Increasingly,
00:41:15the North Vietnamese
00:41:15were zeroing in
00:41:16on the airstrip,
00:41:17leaving behind the wreckage
00:41:19of planes and helicopters.
00:41:23Resupplying Khe Sanh
00:41:24became one of the most
00:41:25dangerous missions
00:41:26of the war.
00:41:29Jeff Grounder
00:41:30described one flight.
00:41:36All of this
00:41:37is bound for Khe Sanh.
00:41:39Tons of ammunition
00:41:40and other supplies
00:41:41to be parachuted
00:41:43into the Marines
00:41:43sometime later today
00:41:45or tomorrow.
00:41:46Resupply from the air,
00:41:47now just about
00:41:49the only way
00:41:49to get material
00:41:50into the Marine outpost.
00:41:54After takeoff,
00:41:56loadmasters
00:41:56check the cargo.
00:41:57Each man has made
00:41:59eight runs over Khe Sanh
00:42:00in recent days,
00:42:01being shot at every time,
00:42:03having their planes
00:42:04hit once or twice,
00:42:05but so far,
00:42:06staying lucky,
00:42:08getting back
00:42:08every time.
00:42:09And now,
00:42:10into the final run
00:42:12over Khe Sanh.
00:42:13Okay,
00:42:14Brian,
00:42:14did you get any
00:42:15pops up there
00:42:16where you were?
00:42:18We took a couple
00:42:19incoming rounds
00:42:19near the air freight ramp
00:42:20about a minute ago.
00:42:22They are,
00:42:22be advised,
00:42:23they are taking
00:42:23incoming rounds
00:42:24at this time.
00:42:25You can probably
00:42:25see some of them.
00:42:27The 130 is now
00:42:28doing just about
00:42:29170 miles an hour,
00:42:31only 500 feet
00:42:32over the ground,
00:42:33low and slow,
00:42:35a perfect target.
00:42:37Five seconds.
00:42:38Ready,
00:42:40ready,
00:42:42green light.
00:42:49just after the drop,
00:42:50a wild,
00:42:51twisting climb
00:42:52for altitude,
00:42:53Khe Sanh falling
00:42:54away behind us,
00:42:55the pilot taking
00:42:56violent evasive action
00:42:57to keep from being hit
00:42:59now that the job
00:43:00is done.
00:43:01But the enemy gunners
00:43:03had their problems too.
00:43:04They continue to take
00:43:05a terrible pounding
00:43:06from the air,
00:43:08especially from
00:43:08the giant B-52s.
00:43:10They were part
00:43:11of Operation Niagara,
00:43:13a name chosen
00:43:14appropriately to indicate
00:43:15a cascade of destruction,
00:43:17the most intensive
00:43:18bombardment
00:43:19in the history
00:43:20of warfare.
00:43:23More than 75,000 tons
00:43:26of explosives
00:43:27were dropped
00:43:27on enemy positions
00:43:29around Khe Sanh.
00:43:30But simpler weapons
00:43:32also were at work,
00:43:33as George Severson
00:43:34reported.
00:43:35They're using
00:43:36all kinds of
00:43:37sophisticated devices
00:43:38in this war,
00:43:39but here at Khe Sanh,
00:43:40they've got one of the
00:43:40old black magic
00:43:41witch's tools,
00:43:43the divining rod.
00:43:44They use them
00:43:45for detecting
00:43:46enemy tunnels,
00:43:46and they say they work.
00:43:49The North Vietnamese
00:43:50have been digging furiously
00:43:51in the Khe Sanh area.
00:43:53The Marines here know
00:43:54they dug tunnels
00:43:55several miles in length
00:43:56into the French perimeter
00:43:58at Den Bien Phu,
00:43:59and they're on their guard.
00:44:01Every day,
00:44:02they sweep the area
00:44:03in front of their wire,
00:44:03and frequently,
00:44:04they hit something.
00:44:06Have you found
00:44:07anything out there yet?
00:44:08Well, yes sir,
00:44:09we found places
00:44:12we thought were tunnels,
00:44:13and we'd dig for them.
00:44:13We'd dig down
00:44:14about six feet
00:44:15below the deck
00:44:16and figure there was
00:44:17nothing there
00:44:17and quit.
00:44:19So we're kind of skeptical.
00:44:20But then about
00:44:21a week ago,
00:44:22one of the incoming rounds
00:44:23down here right in front
00:44:23of our wire
00:44:24uncovered one,
00:44:25and we discovered
00:44:26the reason we hadn't
00:44:26been finding them
00:44:27is because they're
00:44:27about seven feet down,
00:44:29not six,
00:44:29and we were just getting,
00:44:30weren't patient enough,
00:44:31and we were quitting
00:44:32too quick.
00:44:33The divining rods
00:44:34are made of two lengths
00:44:35of gas welding rods
00:44:36about two feet long.
00:44:38The Marines
00:44:39have scrounged
00:44:40other devices
00:44:40for tunnel detection
00:44:41as well,
00:44:42including the old-fashioned
00:44:43doctor's stethoscope.
00:44:45Put on top of
00:44:46eight-foot stakes
00:44:47driven into the ground,
00:44:48they sometimes produce
00:44:49clear digging noises.
00:44:52Another way
00:44:53of discouraging
00:44:53the North Vietnamese
00:44:54tunnel builders
00:44:55is air power.
00:44:57Air strikes with napalm
00:44:58and high explosives.
00:44:59burns off the protective
00:45:01cover for the entrances
00:45:02and in some cases
00:45:03have caved-in
00:45:04hidden bunkers
00:45:05and tunnels.
00:45:08Digging tunnels
00:45:08around here
00:45:09is dangerous business
00:45:10as you can see,
00:45:11but the enemy
00:45:12has determination
00:45:12and no one here
00:45:14doubts he'll keep
00:45:15right on digging.
00:45:20When the enemy
00:45:21wasn't digging,
00:45:22he was shooting.
00:45:24Jeff Gronick
00:45:24described what became
00:45:25a ritual at Kaysan.
00:45:28From this position
00:45:30at the east end
00:45:30of Kaysan's perimeter,
00:45:32the war is not
00:45:33a long-range fight
00:45:34between unseen enemy
00:45:35mortar crews
00:45:36and marine artillery.
00:45:37It is a short-range duel.
00:45:39The North Vietnamese
00:45:40out there,
00:45:41only 200 yards
00:45:42or less away.
00:45:44They are in those
00:45:45bomb craters
00:45:46and trenches
00:45:46behind those piles
00:45:48of dirt,
00:45:49what appears to be
00:45:50a machine gun barrel
00:45:51poking out of one hole.
00:45:53From out there,
00:45:54the communists
00:45:54shoot at and hit
00:45:55almost every helicopter
00:45:57and cargo plane
00:45:58that flies into
00:45:59or over Kaysan.
00:46:01Getting these pictures
00:46:03difficult.
00:46:04The North Vietnamese
00:46:05sniping at cameraman
00:46:06Mike Marriott
00:46:07and Nguyen Vu
00:46:07as they filmed.
00:46:09But when they open fire,
00:46:11the communists
00:46:12run a risk.
00:46:13Forward observers
00:46:14sit here and wait,
00:46:15watching for the gun flashes,
00:46:17and then they shoot back.
00:46:19Fire.
00:46:20Target.
00:46:20X-ray delta 063.
00:46:21Direction 1-600.
00:46:23Direction 1-600.
00:46:24Enemy machine guns firing.
00:46:26Two guns,
00:46:27two rounds,
00:46:27fire for effect.
00:46:29Beautiful.
00:46:29Tell them repeat.
00:46:32Whiskey 6-2 repeat.
00:46:33Over.
00:46:36Then a right 2-5 repeat.
00:46:44Outstanding.
00:46:46Okay, tell them,
00:46:47tell them intermission.
00:46:48Forward observer here,
00:46:50Marine Lieutenant
00:46:50Hank Norman.
00:46:51In Kaysan
00:46:52since before
00:46:53the communists
00:46:54closed in.
00:46:55This time,
00:46:56he's trying to knock out
00:46:57a North Vietnamese
00:46:58machine gunner
00:46:59who has bounced
00:47:00several shots
00:47:00off the dirt
00:47:01piled up
00:47:02around his bunker.
00:47:04Does this go on often?
00:47:06It's kind of a duel
00:47:07between the NVA
00:47:08and ourselves.
00:47:09They shoot at us
00:47:10and they get down
00:47:10their holes
00:47:11and we shoot back at them.
00:47:12It goes on like this
00:47:14day after day.
00:47:15This kind of dueling
00:47:16has been going on
00:47:17for weeks now.
00:47:18The only measure
00:47:19of success
00:47:20for Lieutenant Norman,
00:47:21whether the planes
00:47:22get in without
00:47:23being shot at.
00:47:24The last on this day
00:47:26does,
00:47:27which means he either
00:47:28got the North Vietnamese
00:47:29out there
00:47:29or they have decided
00:47:31to wait until tomorrow.
00:47:32But tomorrow,
00:47:34they or others
00:47:35will be back
00:47:35and the duel
00:47:36will go on.
00:47:41The war of nerves
00:47:43at Quezon
00:47:43and the shock
00:47:44of the Tet Offensive
00:47:45became important
00:47:46political issues
00:47:47back home.
00:47:491968 was a
00:47:50presidential election year.
00:47:52Polls taken after Tet
00:47:54showed approval
00:47:54of President Johnson
00:47:55dropping sharply.
00:47:57On March 12th,
00:47:58he barely won
00:47:59the New Hampshire primary
00:48:00against an anti-war
00:48:01candidate,
00:48:02Senator Eugene McCarthy.
00:48:04Four days later,
00:48:05Robert Kennedy
00:48:06announced his
00:48:07candidacy for president.
00:48:08On March 31st, 1968,
00:48:11President Johnson
00:48:12went on television
00:48:13to announce a partial halt
00:48:15to the bombing
00:48:16of North Vietnam
00:48:16and to add
00:48:18a surprise announcement.
00:48:21I have concluded
00:48:23that I should not
00:48:25permit the presidency
00:48:26to become involved
00:48:28in the partisan divisions
00:48:31that are developing
00:48:33in this political year.
00:48:37with America's sons
00:48:39in the field far away,
00:48:43with America's future
00:48:45under challenge
00:48:46right here at home,
00:48:49with our hopes
00:48:50and the world's hopes
00:48:52for peace and the balance
00:48:53every day,
00:48:55I do not believe
00:48:58that I should devote
00:48:59an hour or a day
00:49:01of my time
00:49:01to any personal partisan causes
00:49:05or to any duties
00:49:07other than the awesome duties
00:49:11of this office,
00:49:14the presidency
00:49:15of your country.
00:49:18Accordingly,
00:49:21I shall not seek
00:49:24and I will not accept
00:49:27the nomination
00:49:28of my party
00:49:29for another term
00:49:30as your president.
00:49:34Shortly before
00:49:35the president's announcement,
00:49:37a new military campaign
00:49:38began in Vietnam.
00:49:40It was called
00:49:40Operation Pegasus
00:49:42and its purpose
00:49:43was to open the road
00:49:44to Quezon.
00:49:45Don Webster reported
00:49:46the progress of Pegasus.
00:49:51The Marines
00:49:52are blasting open
00:49:53Route 9,
00:49:54which runs between
00:49:55Dong Ha and Quezon.
00:49:56So far,
00:49:57they've had only
00:49:58sporadic contact
00:49:59with the North Vietnamese,
00:50:00but they're taking
00:50:01no chances,
00:50:02blasting away
00:50:03at every suspected
00:50:04enemy position.
00:50:05Here,
00:50:05some caves
00:50:06are spotted
00:50:06halfway up a hill.
00:50:08The communists
00:50:08may have been using them
00:50:09to shell Quezon,
00:50:10and the caves
00:50:11are located
00:50:12so that airstrikes
00:50:13can't reach them.
00:50:14No American
00:50:15has been down this road
00:50:16since last August.
00:50:17The communists
00:50:18have blown up
00:50:19the bridges,
00:50:19planted landmines,
00:50:20and somewhere
00:50:21between here
00:50:22and Quezon
00:50:22are probably waiting
00:50:23for a showdown
00:50:24with the Marines.
00:50:26While the Marines
00:50:26are clearing the road
00:50:27and guarding it,
00:50:28the Army's
00:50:29First Air Cavalry
00:50:29is invading
00:50:30and taking the hills
00:50:31on each side.
00:50:32The sky is filled
00:50:33with Army choppers
00:50:34flying over the heads
00:50:35of the Marines.
00:50:37The biggest chore
00:50:38for the Marine engineers
00:50:39is the bridges.
00:50:40The communists
00:50:40blew up almost all of them.
00:50:42Not only are new bridges
00:50:43being built,
00:50:44but bypass roads
00:50:45around the bridges
00:50:46are also being
00:50:47constructed.
00:50:47So even if the communists
00:50:49do blow up the bridge again,
00:50:50it won't block
00:50:51the road to Quezon.
00:50:52Using modern bridge
00:50:53building techniques,
00:50:54the work is going swiftly.
00:50:56A new 35-foot bridge
00:50:58will be built
00:50:58across this chasm
00:50:59in less than two days,
00:51:01strong enough
00:51:01to carry tanks.
00:51:03To make the road
00:51:04all weather,
00:51:04metal storm drains
00:51:05are also being installed.
00:51:07Further east,
00:51:08where Route 9
00:51:09is more secure,
00:51:10it's turned into
00:51:10a busy highway.
00:51:11It's jammed with
00:51:12Army and Marine convoys.
00:51:14They carry in supplies
00:51:15not only to bases
00:51:16along the way,
00:51:17but also to the men
00:51:18on Operation Pegasus
00:51:19and supplies
00:51:20that they hope
00:51:21will eventually
00:51:22go all the way
00:51:22to Quezon by truck.
00:51:26The reinforcements
00:51:27arrived in April
00:51:28as the 1st Air Cavalry
00:51:30moved into Quezon.
00:51:32The siege was ended
00:51:33after two and a half months
00:51:34and the men
00:51:35of the 1st Cav
00:51:36were jeweler.
00:51:38How do you think
00:51:39the Marines feel
00:51:39about you being here?
00:51:40Well, I don't know
00:51:41how the Marines feel,
00:51:42but I'll tell you one thing,
00:51:43they don't have to worry
00:51:43about anything.
00:51:44The cab is here now.
00:51:45Do you think they had
00:51:46something to worry about
00:51:46before?
00:51:48I guess so,
00:51:48they did.
00:51:49They were,
00:51:50well, for one thing,
00:51:50we cleared Highway 9.
00:51:52One time they were
00:51:53surrounded,
00:51:53now they're not
00:51:54because we have an opening,
00:51:55Highway 9,
00:51:56by the 2nd and 7th
00:51:59B Company.
00:51:59We did that.
00:52:02One final irony remained.
00:52:05Two months after
00:52:06the siege ended,
00:52:07Quezon was being
00:52:08torn apart,
00:52:09the base abandoned.
00:52:12The official explanation
00:52:13was that Quezon
00:52:14was no longer needed.
00:52:16North Vietnam
00:52:17had found new
00:52:18infiltration routes,
00:52:19and American strategy
00:52:20was moving back
00:52:21to mobile operations.
00:52:23George Severson
00:52:24and David Culhane
00:52:25described the last days
00:52:26of Quezon.
00:52:27When these films
00:52:29were made,
00:52:29the operation
00:52:30was still a secret.
00:52:32Marine officers
00:52:33refused to discuss
00:52:34the evacuation.
00:52:36But privately,
00:52:37there was consternation
00:52:39and some bitterness
00:52:40among the Marines.
00:52:42Why did we fight
00:52:43so hard to keep it
00:52:44if we were going
00:52:45to give it up like this
00:52:46was the question
00:52:47some asked themselves.
00:52:49Others were relieved
00:52:51because they privately
00:52:52believed Quezon
00:52:53was of marginal
00:52:54strategic importance
00:52:56anyway.
00:53:00the North Vietnamese army
00:53:02has been trying
00:53:02for months
00:53:03to do just this,
00:53:04to blow up
00:53:05and burn out
00:53:05all the American bunkers
00:53:07at Quezon.
00:53:08Now what the enemy
00:53:09could not accomplish,
00:53:10the Marines themselves
00:53:11are doing.
00:53:13At first,
00:53:14the Marines
00:53:14tore the bunkers apart
00:53:15and bulldozed
00:53:16earth into them.
00:53:17but for the past week
00:53:19they've been in a bit
00:53:19of a hurry
00:53:20so they set charges
00:53:22and blow the bunkers
00:53:23to pieces.
00:53:29The Marines are determined
00:53:30that Quezon
00:53:31will be of no use
00:53:32to the enemy
00:53:32when the Allied forces depart.
00:53:34Anything that cannot
00:53:35be salvaged
00:53:36is burnt.
00:53:37Cement bunkers
00:53:38are exploded
00:53:39and wooden shelters
00:53:40are burnt out.
00:53:42Material that is not
00:53:43worth carrying away
00:53:44by helicopter
00:53:45or truck
00:53:46is thrown into the fires.
00:53:48And if the fire
00:53:49doesn't do a complete job
00:53:50then that bunker
00:53:52too is blown up.
00:53:58Men with gas masks
00:53:59continue to work
00:54:00in the area
00:54:01of the fire
00:54:01throwing more
00:54:02expendable items
00:54:03into the blaze
00:54:04and making sure
00:54:05no one gets hurt.
00:54:06The combination
00:54:07of explosives
00:54:08and fire
00:54:09leaves virtually
00:54:10nothing that could
00:54:10be of any use
00:54:11to the enemy.
00:54:20That's the last bunker
00:54:21on this base.
00:54:22Now that the American
00:54:23troops have blown it up
00:54:24there's nothing
00:54:25to protect them
00:54:25from enemy artillery.
00:54:27So now it's time
00:54:28for the final departure
00:54:29from Quezon.
00:54:31The Marines
00:54:32have carefully
00:54:33allocated shells
00:54:33for this last day
00:54:34at the base
00:54:35and they get
00:54:36their final shots in.
00:54:40Then they quickly
00:54:41break down
00:54:41the gun emplacements
00:54:42and trucks
00:54:43and trucks hauled
00:54:44the weapons away
00:54:44to join the last convoy out.
00:54:47One or two bulldozers
00:54:49were left until the last day
00:54:50to cover over
00:54:51these gun positions.
00:54:53The long runway
00:54:54at Quezon
00:54:55was left in place.
00:54:56It was decided
00:54:57that the expense
00:54:58of removing it
00:54:59would not be justified
00:55:00in any future use.
00:55:02Now many people
00:55:03expect the enemy
00:55:04to cart it away
00:55:05bit by bit
00:55:06for use in building bunkers.
00:55:09The last convoy
00:55:11is ready to leave.
00:55:12Any troops
00:55:13left behind
00:55:13after this
00:55:14will either march out
00:55:15or be taken off
00:55:16by helicopter.
00:55:17But in these last weeks
00:55:19the enemy
00:55:20has also been
00:55:20keeping tabs
00:55:21on the departure schedule.
00:55:23As the convoy
00:55:24shapes up
00:55:25at the assembly point
00:55:26incoming artillery shells
00:55:28force the Marines
00:55:29to run for cover.
00:55:30A scarce commodity
00:55:32after all the bunkers
00:55:33have been destroyed.
00:55:35Finally
00:55:35the convoy
00:55:36moves off.
00:55:42The day after
00:55:43the departure
00:55:44of the Marines
00:55:44the base seemed
00:55:45from the air
00:55:46like some country garden
00:55:48abandoned just
00:55:49after plowing.
00:55:50The only reminders
00:55:52of the war
00:55:53were the lonely
00:55:53airstrip
00:55:54a few shell holes
00:55:56and one burnt out
00:55:57American truck
00:55:58hit by artillery
00:55:59on the afternoon
00:56:00of the last day.
00:56:02Time usually
00:56:04reserves to itself
00:56:05the leisurely task
00:56:06of stripping
00:56:07a battleground
00:56:08of its emblems
00:56:09of suffering
00:56:09and valor.
00:56:11But now
00:56:11as perhaps
00:56:12befits the strangest
00:56:13of wars
00:56:14one of the most
00:56:15celebrated battlefields
00:56:17of Vietnam
00:56:17in a few days
00:56:19has been reduced
00:56:20once again
00:56:21to a simple meadow.
00:56:25It is possible
00:56:26it is possible
00:56:27the communists
00:56:27never intended
00:56:28to capture
00:56:29Kaysan.
00:56:30They say now
00:56:30the siege
00:56:31was a diversionary
00:56:32tactic
00:56:33to draw American troops
00:56:34away from the cities.
00:56:36There's still much
00:56:37disagreement
00:56:37about the Tet Offensive.
00:56:39There's also debate
00:56:40about the role
00:56:40of journalists
00:56:41during that period.
00:56:42Some critics argue
00:56:43that after Tet
00:56:44the enemy was on the ropes
00:56:46and might have been defeated.
00:56:47Instead they say
00:56:48the media painted
00:56:49such a discouraging picture
00:56:51that America
00:56:52lost its will
00:56:53to fight
00:56:53and thereby
00:56:54lost the war.
00:56:56The argument
00:56:56is even made
00:56:57that newsmen
00:56:58took a Viet Cong defeat
00:56:59and portrayed it
00:57:01as a victory.
00:57:02Let me show you
00:57:03what we did report.
00:57:04An analysis
00:57:05filmed in Saigon
00:57:06on February 14th, 1968
00:57:08and broadcast
00:57:10on the CBS
00:57:10Evening News.
00:57:12First and simplest
00:57:14the Viet Cong
00:57:15suffered a military defeat.
00:57:17Its missions
00:57:18proved suicidal.
00:57:19If they intended
00:57:20to stay in the cities
00:57:21as a negotiating point
00:57:22they failed at that.
00:57:24The Vietnamese army
00:57:25reacted better
00:57:26than even its
00:57:27most ardent supporters
00:57:28had anticipated.
00:57:29There were no
00:57:30defections from its ranks
00:57:31as the Viet Cong
00:57:32apparently had expected
00:57:33and the people
00:57:35did not rise
00:57:36to support the Viet Cong
00:57:37as they also
00:57:38were believed
00:57:39to have expected.
00:57:41But as we also
00:57:42pointed out
00:57:43the Communists
00:57:44had proven
00:57:44there was no security
00:57:46in Vietnam
00:57:46even in the cities.
00:57:48They had disillusioned
00:57:50those who hoped
00:57:50the war was almost over.
00:57:52They had set back
00:57:53the pacification program.
00:57:55Two weeks later
00:57:56at the end
00:57:57of a special broadcast
00:57:58on Tet
00:57:58I offered some
00:57:59further thoughts
00:58:00of my own.
00:58:01I described them then
00:58:02at the time
00:58:03as analysis
00:58:04that must be
00:58:05speculative,
00:58:06personal,
00:58:07subjective.
00:58:08And here is
00:58:09the conclusion
00:58:09of what I said.
00:58:10To say that we are
00:58:12closer to victory today
00:58:13is to believe
00:58:14in the face
00:58:15of the evidence
00:58:16the optimists
00:58:17who have been wrong
00:58:17in the past.
00:58:19To suggest we are
00:58:20on the edge of defeat
00:58:21is to yield
00:58:22to unreasonable pessimism.
00:58:24To say that we are
00:58:26mired in stalemate
00:58:27seems the only realistic
00:58:29if unsatisfactory
00:58:31conclusion.
00:58:32On the off chance
00:58:33the military
00:58:34and political analysts
00:58:35are right.
00:58:36In the next few months
00:58:37we must test
00:58:38the enemy's intentions
00:58:39in case this is
00:58:40indeed his last
00:58:42big gasp
00:58:43before negotiations.
00:58:44But it is increasingly
00:58:45clear to this reporter
00:58:47that the only
00:58:48rational way out
00:58:49then
00:58:50will be to negotiate
00:58:51not as victors
00:58:53but as an honorable
00:58:54people
00:58:55who lived up
00:58:56to their pledge
00:58:56to defend democracy
00:58:58and did
00:58:59the best they could.
00:59:01It is believed
00:59:03the enemy
00:59:03lost at least
00:59:0458,000 dead
00:59:06during Tet
00:59:06perhaps three times
00:59:08that many wounded.
00:59:09The communist death toll
00:59:10was roughly six times
00:59:12that of Americans
00:59:13South Vietnamese
00:59:14and other friendly forces.
00:59:15But the communists
00:59:17did demonstrate
00:59:18their ability
00:59:18to plan
00:59:19and coordinate
00:59:20a massive nationwide attack
00:59:22striking in surprisingly
00:59:23large numbers.
00:59:25In doing so
00:59:26they gave new ammunition
00:59:27to American peace groups
00:59:29who argued that we
00:59:30had been deceived
00:59:31about enemy strength
00:59:32and about the prospects
00:59:33for victory.
00:59:34For years
00:59:35there had been optimism
00:59:36talk about light
00:59:38at the end of the tunnel.
00:59:39That light would never
00:59:41seem bright again
00:59:42after Tet.
00:59:44This is Walter Cronkite
00:59:45and this has been another
00:59:46in a continuing series
00:59:48of videocassettes
00:59:49on the Vietnam War.
01:00:02The Isle of the
01:00:03The Isle of the
01:00:05The Isle of the
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