to come across this one produced by the u s army no that's it's called the big picture why vietnam because from nineteen seventy four and that is a very good question why vietnam we lost and there we go domino effect like if if goes communist then something else something else something else something else than the whole world becoming this thing you know the whole cold war mentality but i think it's important to remind ourselves why you wanted to get into the vietnam struggle what was behind all of that so on today show from the public domain files of greatness we bring you why vietnam why indeed indeed so it's just something that i don't understand why this meeting will long be remembered for it opens the door to the dreams of dictatorship were to guard the agreement signed last night and the anger of german navy agreement as symbolic of the desire the lesson had been learned and president johnson had phrased its meaning well aggression on challenge to his aggression on leash to fire most young americans born into a land is not an easy one but it echoes player away from the painful lessons of half a century three times in my lifetime and two world wars and korea americans have gone too far and to fight for freedom we have learned a terrible and a brutal cost that retreat bring safety and weakness as not bring peace and it is this lesson that has brought us to vietnam supply it only by air completely surrounded by the opposing vietnamese french troops are fighting the last battle of a long war over what had been called french indochina it's a strange three cornered struggle noncommunist vietnamese fighting communist vietnamese and some of both fighting the french over hanoi as the communist forces moving at a conference in geneva an agreement has been reached it divides vietnam into north and south turns over the north to the communists and marks the end of french colonial rule the agreement also provides the machinery for bringing true peace to vietnam if the communists act in good faith this is a bright victory for the communist world and there are a smile but not on the faces of the more than one million vietnamese who desert their homes and flee southward rather than live under a communist regime in one nine hundred fifty four we have now is divided at the seventeenth parallel as korea was the thirty eighth she faces the future with an imaginary line running from border to border symbolizing a separation which is far from imaginary in south vietnam peace springs of fresh beginning the people set about building new homes new hope elections are held in the south when it becomes clear that the communist regime in the north has no intention of permitting genuinely free elections in its half of the country with american economic aid south begins to prosper in the hopes of the people off a piece but even as the people of the south build north vietnam is creating in their villages political action centers with trained e communist plan also includes acts of terror and subversion to disrupt the legitimate government if the south cannot be brought under hanoi is controlled by less forcefully as a new phase of the communist plan is ready to go into action open guerrilla warfare furtive and remorseless aimed at destroying the government an subjugating the people it is called by hanoi the war of liberation does not seem so to the hundreds of anti communist leaders teachers and their wives and children who are visited in the night by  this is the price the communists are after south vietnam rich in rice and standing at the gateway to the rice rich nations of cambodia laos thailand burma and  the asian communists who say a grain of rice is worth a drop of blood are also natural resources phosphates sinks manganese the raw materials on which to base industrialization or feed a war machine natural rubber south vietnam has this too and the latex processing facilities which make a few or rubber vitally important material it is today's world this then is another aspect of the south vietnam which the north a nation moving toward greater industrialization a rich prize indeed in the eyes of communist strat at gettysburg college in one nine hundred fifty nine president eisenhower clearly recognizes the danger we have learned through but the cost of defending freedom of defending america must be paid in many forms and in many they are assessed in all parts of the world in berlin in vietnam in the middle east here at home unassisted vs can not at this time  america promises substantial military and technical machines and equipment to resist aggression and the trained men to teach vietnamese fighting forces how to put them into effect of  instructors and advisers willing and able to teach fine men whose freedom is at stake eager and quick to learn at this time however the americans in vietnam are there only as advisors there are no united states com the advisors primary job is to train and encourage the south vietnamese fighting men they have come to respect and admire this guerrero warfare is the latest tactic in the global communist korea showed the free invasion must be faced so close people's war of liberation as months go by the communists lose a lot of men but there are many more in the north will be sent south to replace them and others can be kidnapped and forced to serve under pressure of a growing communist aggression the flow of american equipment and advisors has increased it is the only means of meeting the rising tide of infiltration and attack from the north especially since aggressive guerrillas with no citizenry to protect can tie up forces ten times their own number the vietnamese soldier is quick to grasp the techniques involved in copter borne counteraction to go raids on country villages and he uses his new knowledge well even with superior equipment however this is a difficult war to prosecute no front lines here the war is everywhere against an enemy that is seldom clearly seen in the scenes of casualty of actuation enemy is not far away certainly within shouting distance the enemy is not seen but american and vietnamese fighting men they are on their bodies the painful evidence that he throughout this time the combat capability of south vietnam his military forces is growing american advisors work to bring the level of training and combat readiness of these forces as high as possible but as north vietnam continues to send in fresh there is a growing need in south vietnam for fighting men the losses suffered by the south in combat are cruel and heavy for a nation appellation is no larger than that of new york state the fact is in proportion the population south vietnam's losses in combat are ten times as great as those suffered by the united states and korea greater even than our total losses in world war two then in august of one nine hundred sixty four the communists again and large the scope of the conflict bring you the hostile actions against united states ships on the high seas in the have today required me to order the military forces of the united states to take action and with five that reply is being given as i speak to you tonight never until now have american men and machines struck directly at communist north vietnam later in august secretary of defense mcnamara sets the record straight we were strength of size we think no wider war our response will depend upon the action of the aggressors in this case the north vietnamese the key to the situation remains the cessation of infiltration from the north into the south we seek no wider war but we find ample evidence there is no remembering on the part of the north in this one captured shipment of yet come there are a million rounds of small arms ammunition thirty five hundred rifles submachine guns and some four thousand and i tank and mortar rounds and there's no doubt about the source the chinese markings are a mistake general of the united nations of the time considered a peace mission himself to bring about peace but and i am typing to tell him not to come britain has made many efforts to find a path to a settlement first by working toward a new conference in geneva and then by a visitor one of their senior statesman mr patrick gordon walker but the effort for  possibilities of peace we welcome that initiative but how i'm typing it told him not to come we met a number of efforts on our own both publicly and private president johnson baltimore for example offered unconditional discussion with the government concerned about how and piping call this offer of a hoax seventeen president of india made a constructive suggestion that there be an end of hostilities and and afro asian police force established in viet nam to us  proposal is full of interest and help but by an iron red china it was rejected as a but trail so all these abrupt and violent rejections a peaceful settlement i just want to appear to be clear proof that an eye is not yet prepared for discussions and i said be accepted in advance the south it man be subjected to communist domination as all the reich it seems very clear to us and i is presently resisting the road to peace piping even more so the declared doctrine and purpose of the chinese communists remain clear the domination of all of southeast asia and indeed if we listen to what they are saying to us the domination of the great world beyond the united states will continue to make every effort toward reasonable we will always insist that the people of sas be at night shall have the right of choice their right to shape their own destiny and free election and the south i threw out all viet nam under international supervision and they shall not have any government imposed upon them by force and terror so long as we can prevent surrender and we will not retreat the answer to american offers to move from the battlefield to the conference table continues to come in the form of high explosives aimed at american air bases and other troop installations in the south including the barracks of american servicemen it is all part of a carefully planned and continuing campaign of terror against both american and south vietnamese civilians increasingly now americans are functioning directly in the fight for freedom in this forum corne the risks of real justice the stakes for which they are taken are real we're americans risk and sometimes give all that they have half a world away from home because they know that once again half a world away has become a front door if freedom is to survive in any american hometown it must be preserved in such places as south vietnam and as president johnson has pointed out it is up to us most of the non communist nations of asia cannot by themselves and alone mounting aggression he has told me and we will meet is need combat units of the united states marine corps arrive in vietnam joining other marines already there it is  the first time that marines in full combat gear is hit the beach in an active combat zone since korea so the war goes on clearly it is the communists who have made that choice and as always the children of vietnam and of all southeast asia the future is in the balance would surrender in viet nam bring peace because we learned over eleven years have committed themselves and have promised to help defend this small and valiant nation strengthened by that promise the people of south vietnam have fought for many long years thousands of them have died thousands more have been crippled and scarred by war and we just cannot now dishonor our words o