Vietnam: A Television History (1983) | Couchpile

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Vietnam: A Television History (1983) | Couchpile

Season 1 poster

Season 1

13 Episodes

1983

E01

Roots of a War: 1945-53

10/4/1983·60m

The 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.

E02

The First Vietnam War

10/5/1983·60m

The eight-year battle between the French and Vietminh is examined.

E03

America's Mandarin: 1954-63

10/11/1983·60m

With 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.

E04

LBJ Goes to War: 1964-65

10/18/1983·60m

With 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.

E05

America Takes Charge: 1965-67

10/25/1983·60m

In 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.

E06

America's Enemy: 1954-67

11/1/1983·60m

The 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.

E07

Tet: 1968

11/8/1983·60m

The 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.

E08

Vietnamizing the War: 1969-73

11/15/1983·60m

President 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.

E09

Cambodia and Laos

11/22/1983·60m

Despite 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.

E10

Peace is at Hand: 1968-73

11/29/1983·60m

While 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.

E11

Homefront USA

12/6/1983·60m

Through 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.

E12

The End of the Tunnel: 1973-75

12/13/1983·60m

South 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.

E13

Legacies

12/20/1983·60m

The legacy of the Vietnam War is examined.