History

The Vietnam War

The Vietnam War is a ten-part, 18-hour documentary film series directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. In an immersive 360-degree narrative, Burns and Novick tell the epic story of the Vietnam War as it has never before been told on film. The Vietnam War features testimony from nearly 100 witnesses.

The Weight of Memory (Explicit Language Version)

1h 51m

While the Watergate scandal rivets Americans’ attention and forces President Nixon to resign, the Vietnamese continue to savage one another in a brutal civil war. When hundreds of thousands of North Vietnamese troops pour into the south, Saigon descends rapidly into chaos and collapses. For the next 40 years, Americans and Vietnamese from all sides search for healing and reconciliation.

Episodes

  • The Weight of Memory (Explicit Language Version): asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Weight of Memory (Explicit Language Version)

    S1 E30 - 1h 51m

    While the Watergate scandal rivets Americans’ attention and forces President Nixon to resign, the Vietnamese continue to savage one another in a brutal civil war. When hundreds of thousands of North Vietnamese troops pour into the south, Saigon descends rapidly into chaos and collapses. For the next 40 years, Americans and Vietnamese from all sides search for healing and reconciliation.

  • The Weight of Memory (Vietnamese Subtitles): asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Weight of Memory (Vietnamese Subtitles)

    S1 E20 - 1h 50m

    While the Watergate scandal rivets Americans’ attention and forces President Nixon to resign, the Vietnamese continue to savage one another in a brutal civil war. When hundreds of thousands of North Vietnamese troops pour into the south, Saigon descends rapidly into chaos and collapses. For the next 40 years, Americans and Vietnamese from all sides search for healing and reconciliation.

  • The Weight of Memory (March 1973-Onward): asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Weight of Memory (March 1973-Onward)

    S1 E10 - 1h 50m

    While the Watergate scandal rivets Americans’ attention and forces President Nixon to resign, the Vietnamese continue to savage one another in a brutal civil war. When hundreds of thousands of North Vietnamese troops pour into the south, Saigon descends rapidly into chaos and collapses. For the next 40 years, Americans and Vietnamese from all sides search for healing and reconciliation.

  • A Disrespectful Loyalty (Explicit Language Version): asset-mezzanine-16x9

    A Disrespectful Loyalty (Explicit Language Version)

    S1 E29 - 1h 53m

    South Vietnamese forces fighting on their own in Laos suffer a terrible defeat. Massive U.S. airpower makes the difference in halting an unprecedented North Vietnamese offensive. After being re-elected in a landslide, Nixon announces Hanoi has agreed to a peace deal. American prisoners of war will finally come home – to a bitterly divided country.

  • A Disrespectful Loyalty (Vietnamese Subtitles): asset-mezzanine-16x9

    A Disrespectful Loyalty (Vietnamese Subtitles)

    S1 E19 - 1h 52m

    South Vietnamese forces fighting on their own in Laos suffer a terrible defeat. Massive U.S. airpower makes the difference in halting an unprecedented North Vietnamese offensive. After being re-elected in a landslide, Nixon announces Hanoi has agreed to a peace deal. American prisoners of war will finally come home – to a bitterly divided country.

  • A Disrespectful Loyalty (May 1970-March 1973): asset-mezzanine-16x9

    A Disrespectful Loyalty (May 1970-March 1973)

    S1 E9 - 1h 52m

    South Vietnamese forces fighting on their own in Laos suffer a terrible defeat. Massive U.S. airpower makes the difference in halting an unprecedented North Vietnamese offensive. After being re-elected in a landslide, Nixon announces Hanoi has agreed to a peace deal. American prisoners of war will finally come home – to a bitterly divided country.

  • The History of the World (Explicit Language Version): asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The History of the World (Explicit Language Version)

    S1 E28 - 1h 52m

    With morale plummeting in Vietnam, President Nixon begins withdrawing American troops. As news breaks of an unthinkable massacre committed by American soldiers, the public debates the rectitude of the war, while an incursion into Cambodia reignites antiwar protests with tragic consequences.

  • The History of the World (Vietnamese Subtitles): asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The History of the World (Vietnamese Subtitles)

    S1 E18 - 1h 51m

    With morale plummeting in Vietnam, President Nixon begins withdrawing American troops. As news breaks of an unthinkable massacre committed by American soldiers, the public debates the rectitude of the war, while an incursion into Cambodia reignites antiwar protests with tragic consequences.

  • The History of the World (April 1969-May 1970): asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The History of the World (April 1969-May 1970)

    S1 E8 - 1h 52m

    With morale plummeting in Vietnam, President Nixon begins withdrawing American troops. As news breaks of an unthinkable massacre committed by American soldiers, the public debates the rectitude of the war, while an incursion into Cambodia reignites antiwar protests with tragic consequences.

  • The Veneer of Civilization (Explicit Language Version): asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Veneer of Civilization (Explicit Language Version)

    S1 E27 - 1h 51m

    Public support for the war declines, and American men of draft age face difficult decisions and wrenching moral choices. After police battle with demonstrators in the streets of Chicago, Richard Nixon wins the presidency, promising law and order at home and peace overseas. In Vietnam, the war goes on and soldiers on all sides witness terrible savagery and unflinching courage.

  • The Veneer of Civilization (Vietnamese Subtitles): asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Veneer of Civilization (Vietnamese Subtitles)

    S1 E17 - 1h 50m

    Public support for the war declines, and American men of draft age face difficult decisions and wrenching moral choices. After police battle with demonstrators in the streets of Chicago, Richard Nixon wins the presidency, promising law and order at home and peace overseas. In Vietnam, the war goes on and soldiers on all sides witness terrible savagery and unflinching courage.

  • The Veneer of Civilization (June 1968-May 1969): asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Veneer of Civilization (June 1968-May 1969)

    S1 E7 - 1h 50m

    Public support for the war declines, and American men of draft age face difficult decisions and wrenching moral choices. After police battle with demonstrators in the streets of Chicago, Richard Nixon wins the presidency, promising law and order at home and peace overseas. In Vietnam, the war goes on and soldiers on all sides witness terrible savagery and unflinching courage.

Extras + Features

  • Fellow Warriors: Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Fellow Warriors: Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam

    S1 - 20m 46s

    John Musgrave is a Marine veteran who served at Con Thien in Vietnam where he was wounded. After returning home, Musgrave struggled with survivor’s guilt and depression. Today, he counsels active-duty soldiers and other veterans who are having trouble adjusting to life after their service in Iraq and Afghanistan.

  • The Reviews Are In: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Reviews Are In

    S1 - 30s

    America's top critics are unanimous in their praise for The Vietnam War. Find out what they're saying about Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s ten-part, 18-hour documentary series. #VietnamWarPBS

  • The Diaspora: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Diaspora

    S1 E10 - 50s

    A Vietnamese-American comments on being displaced from his country, and his desire to go back there to live out the last years of his life.

  • Some Peace: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Some Peace

    S1 E10 - 2m 33s

    Seeking reconciliation and peace, veterans from Vietnam and the United States meet in Vietnam years after the war.

  • Moratorium Protests, 1969: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Moratorium Protests, 1969

    S1 E7 - 1m 44s

    On November 15, 1969, half a million demonstrators turned out in Washington, D.C., to protest the war.

  • Rolling Thunder: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Rolling Thunder

    S1 E4 - 1m 10s

    President Johnson and Defense Secretary McNamara discuss the bombing campaign and strategy by phone.

  • The Nightlight: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Nightlight

    S1 E2 - 1m 37s

    A Marine remembers being afraid when assigned a listening post at night near the DMZ and how that fear stays with him today.

  • JFK on the Diem Coup: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    JFK on the Diem Coup

    S1 E2 - 1m

    Days after President Diem and his brother were killed in Saigon, President Kennedy dictated his own rueful account of the coup and his concerns for Vietnam's future.

Schedule

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