Season 1
13 episodes · Oct 3, 1983
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- S1E1
Roots of a War: 1945-53
Oct 4, 198360mThe end of World War II opened the way for the return of French rule to Indochina. Despite the ties he had forged within the American intelligence community, and his professed respect for democratic ideals, Ho Chi Minh was unable to convince Washington to recognize the legitimacy of his independence movement against the French. French generals and their American advisors expected Ho's rag-tag Viet Minh guerrillas to be defeated easily. But after eight years of fighting and $2.5 billion in U.S. aid, the French lost a crucial battle at Dienbienphu -- and with it, their Asian empire.
- S1E2
The First Vietnam War
Oct 5, 198360mThe eight-year battle between the French and Vietminh is examined.
- S1E3
America's Mandarin: 1954-63
Oct 11, 198360mWith a goal of stopping the spread of communism in Southeast Asia, America replaced France in South Vietnam -- supporting autocratic President Ngo Dinh Diem until his own generals turned against him in a coup that brought political chaos to Saigon.
- S1E4
LBJ Goes to War: 1964-65
Oct 18, 198360mWith Ho Chi Minh determined to reunite Vietnam, President Lyndon Baines Johnson determined to prevent it, and South Vietnam on the verge of collapse, the stage was set for massive escalation of the undeclared Vietnam War.
- S1E5
America Takes Charge: 1965-67
Oct 25, 198360mIn two years, the Johnson administration's troop build-up dispatched 1.5 million Americans to Vietnam to fight a war they found baffling, tedious, exciting, deadly and unforgettable.
- S1E6
America's Enemy: 1954-67
Nov 1, 198360mThe Vietnam War as seen from different perspectives by Vietcong guerrillas and sympathizers, by North Vietnamese leaders and rank and file, and by Americans held prisoner in Hanoi.
- S1E7
Tet: 1968
Nov 8, 198360mThe massive enemy offensive at the lunar New Year decimated the Vietcong and failed to topple the Saigon government -- but led to the beginning of America's military withdrawal from Vietnam.
- S1E8
Vietnamizing the War: 1969-73
Nov 15, 198360mPresident Richard Nixon's program of troop pull-outs, stepped-up bombing and huge arms shipments to Saigon changed the war and left GIs wondering which of them would be the last to die in Vietnam.
- S1E9
Cambodia and Laos
Nov 22, 198360mDespite technical neutrality, both of Vietnam's smaller neighbors were drawn into the war, suffered massive bombings, and, in the case of Cambodia, endured a post-war holocaust of nightmarish proportions.
- S1E10
Peace is at Hand: 1968-73
Nov 29, 198360mWhile American and Vietnamese soldiers continued to clash in battle, diplomats in Paris argued about making peace. After more than four years, they reached an accord that proved to be a preface to further bloodshed.
- S1E11
Homefront USA
Dec 6, 198360mThrough troubled years of controversy and violence, U.S .casualties mounted, victory remained elusive, and American opinion moved from general approval to general dissatisfaction with the Vietnam War.
- S1E12
The End of the Tunnel: 1973-75
Dec 13, 198360mSouth Vietnamese leaders believed that America would never let them go down to defeat -- a belief that died as North Vietnamese tanks smashed into Saigon on April 30, 1975, and the long war ended with South Vietnam's surrender.