American Experience: Last Days of Vietnam

[YoUDeeMan]

Saw it for the first time last night.

Well done documentary.

It is a story of the last days of Vietnam, and the evacuation of our people (and many Vietnamese). If you get a chance to see it, see it.

I remember when I was a small child watching Walter Cronkite talk about the Tet offensive, pictures and videos of the monks burning themselves, the picture of the guy about to get shot in the head is still fresh in my memory, as well as the picture of the naked girl running along the road with the smoke of napalm in the background. War brought straight to our living room...TV, newspapers, magazines. Mrs. Cluck, 2 years younger than me, did not follow the war as intently as I had when I was young, so a lot of the film was new to her.

I was almost 12 when Saigon fell. Lil' Cluck, who watched most of it with me last night, just turned 12. He had thoughtful questions (Example: "Is that what it is like for the Syrian refugees?") which deserve answers that need more time than we had last night.

Who got out? Who was left behind? How were people chosen? Why were we there?

He woke up this morning and the first question he asked at breakfast was, "Did those last 400 people get out?"

I gave him a quick summary before I took him to school, but that discussion will continue for quite some time.

Edit: it was on PBS.

[Ursus A. Horribilis]

Man, I've been meaning to watch this for a long time now. Haven't heard anything but good about it either. Thanks for the reminder, gonna get this one watched this week.

[CID1990]

I met a lot of the guys in it- MGySgt Valdez came to the Consulate in Saigon and I showed him around. He wound up giving ME a tour. He showed me some photos he took from the roof of the Embassy that day that have never been published

[AZGrizFan]

Walter Cronkite---the man who almost singlehandedly de-romanticized war.

[SDHornet]

Good flick, its on Netflix if anyone wants to check it out.

I like how Congress had the balls to cut support to Vietnam after the Paris Accord during the NV's final push to overrun SV. I wish Congress would have the balls to do the same with some of the countries we are currently propping up that have no signs of hope.

Boy did that ambassador really drop the ball. Talk about having your head in the sand.

[Grizalltheway]

Walter Cronkite---the man who almost singlehandedly de-romanticized war.

And Faux News did their best to re-romanticize it

[kalm]

Saw it for the first time last night.

Well done documentary.

It is a story of the last days of Vietnam, and the evacuation of our people (and many Vietnamese). If you get a chance to see it, see it.

I remember when I was a small child watching Walter Cronkite talk about the Tet offensive, pictures and videos of the monks burning themselves, the picture of the guy about to get shot in the head is still fresh in my memory, as well as the picture of the naked girl running along the road with the smoke of napalm in the background. War brought straight to our living room...TV, newspapers, magazines. Mrs. Cluck, 2 years younger than me, did not follow the war as intently as I had when I was young, so a lot of the film was new to her.

I was almost 12 when Saigon fell. Lil' Cluck, who watched most of it with me last night, just turned 12. He had thoughtful questions (Example: "Is that what it is like for the Syrian refugees?") which deserve answers that need more time than we had last night.

Who got out? Who was left behind? How were people chosen? Why were we there?

He woke up this morning and the first question he asked at breakfast was, "Did those last 400 people get out?"

I gave him a quick summary before I took him to school, but that discussion will continue for quite some time.

Edit: it was on PBS.

I obviously won't let my boys watch this. It might alter their views on current future wars...which would be good for support.