More than forty years after its conclusion, the Vietnam War is a persistent wound on the American psyche. It is a war that divided families and communities, and sparked massive protests on college campuses across the country. Meanwhile, millions of American military men and women served honorably on the ground in a war that spanned a decade.
American Experience has explored the war from many angles — from the battlefields of Vietnam, to the decision making in Washington, to the protests on college campuses. Explore the in-depth and award-winning documentary films, and related content in this collection.
In fall of 1967 in a jungle in Vietnam, a Viet Cong ambush nearly wiped out an American battalion. On a campus in Wisconsin, a student protest against the war spiraled out of control.
April, 1975. During the chaotic final days of the American involvement in the Vietnam War, those in control faced an impossible decision—who would go and who would be left behind to face brutality, imprisonment, or even death.
In April of 1975, the North Vietnamese Army was closing in on Saigon as South Vietnamese resistance was crumbling. On the ground, American and South Vietnamese took matters into their own hands to evacuate as many people as possible.
A timeline of events leading up to and surrounding the Battle of Ong Thanh and the protests that broke out on the campus of the University of Wisconsin Madison in October of 1967.
Some survived the horror of a deadly ambush in Vietnam. Some were in the thick of student antiwar protests. All continue to be affected by the events of October 1967.
Attitudes shaped by World War II were not always a good fit in the Vietnam era. Decisions that might have previously gone unchallenged now generated substantial protest.
As North Vietnamese tanks rolled into Saigon, eleven U.S. Marines found themselves on the roof of the American Embassy with no U.S. helicopters in sight.
American Experience Executive Producer Mark Samels discusses why the events depicted in Last Days in Vietnam are a critical chapter in American history.
With so many South Vietnamese helicopters landing on the USS Kirk, the crew had no choice but to push the helicopters overboard once they'd unloaded their passengers.
U.S. military men took matters into their own hands to get their South Vietnamese counterparts out of the country before the North Vietnamese reached Saigon.
As news spread that the Americans were leaving Saigon, thousands of South Vietnamese descended upon the U.S. Embassy, desperate for a chance to get out before the North Vietnamese arrived.
After the shelling of Tan Son Nhut Airport by North Vietnamese troops, the U.S. Ambassador was left with only one evacuation option—a helicopter evacuation.