The Weight of Memory (Explicit Language Version)
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
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Riding the Tiger (Explicit Language Version)
S1 E22 - 1h 26m
President Kennedy inspires idealistic young Americans to serve their country and wrestles with how deeply to get involved in South Vietnam. As the increasingly autocratic Diem regime faces a growing communist insurgency and widespread Buddhist protests, a grave political crisis unfolds.
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Riding the Tiger (Vietnamese Subtitles)
S1 E12 - 1h 25m
President Kennedy inspires idealistic young Americans to serve their country and wrestles with how deeply to get involved in South Vietnam. As the increasingly autocratic Diem regime faces a growing communist insurgency and widespread Buddhist protests, a grave political crisis unfolds.
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Riding the Tiger (1961-1963)
S1 E2 - 1h 26m
President Kennedy inspires idealistic young Americans to serve their country and wrestles with how deeply to get involved in South Vietnam. As the increasingly autocratic Diem regime faces a growing communist insurgency and widespread Buddhist protests, a grave political crisis unfolds.
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Déjà Vu (Explicit Language Version)
S1 E21 - 1h 25m
After a long and brutal war, Vietnamese revolutionaries led by Ho Chi Minh end nearly a century of French colonial occupation. With the Cold War intensifying, Vietnam is divided in two at Geneva. Communists in the north aim to reunify the country, while America supports Ngo Dinh Diem’s untested regime in the south.
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Déjà Vu (Vietnamese Subtitles)
S1 E11 - 1h 25m
After a long and brutal war, Vietnamese revolutionaries led by Ho Chi Minh end nearly a century of French colonial occupation. With the Cold War intensifying, Vietnam is divided in two at Geneva. Communists in the north aim to reunify the country, while America supports Ngo Dinh Diem’s untested regime in the south.
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Déjà Vu (1858-1961)
S1 E1 - 1h 25m
After a long and brutal war, Vietnamese revolutionaries led by Ho Chi Minh end nearly a century of French colonial occupation. With the Cold War intensifying, Vietnam is divided in two at Geneva. Communists in the north aim to reunify the country, while America supports Ngo Dinh Diem's untested regime in the south.
Extras + Features
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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.
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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
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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.
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Some Peace
S1 E10 - 2m 33s
Seeking reconciliation and peace, veterans from Vietnam and the United States meet in Vietnam years after the war.
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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.
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Rolling Thunder
S1 E4 - 1m 10s
President Johnson and Defense Secretary McNamara discuss the bombing campaign and strategy by phone.
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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.
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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.
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A Mother's Worry (Vietnamese Subtitles)
S1 - 46s
A mother wonders how she'll be informed if her son is injured in combat. One of many perspectives in The Vietnam War.
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Combat is an Enormous High (Vietnamese Subtitles)
S1 - 1m 12s
A soldier describes the enormous high and enormous cost of being in combat. One of many perspectives in The Vietnam War.
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Everybody's Special (Vietnamese Subtitles)
S1 - 1m 2s
A Marine phones his mother when he doesn't think he'll make it out of Vietnam alive. One of many perspectives in The Vietnam War.
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Living is the Difficult Thing
S1 E6 - 2m 10s
A captured Army doctor recounts his experience of being taken prisoner by the Viet Cong.
Schedule
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Image
The Vietnam War
Riding the Tiger
Saturday
Apr 5
1 Hour 30 Minutes
President John F. Kennedy and his advisers consider how deeply the U.S. should get involved in South Vietnam, as a communist insurgency and Buddhist protests intensify. -
Image
The Vietnam War
Riding the Tiger
Sunday
Apr 6
1 Hour 30 Minutes
President John F. Kennedy and his advisers consider how deeply the U.S. should get involved in South Vietnam, as a communist insurgency and Buddhist protests intensify. -
Image
The Vietnam War
Riding the Tiger
Sunday
Apr 6
1 Hour 30 Minutes
President John F. Kennedy and his advisers consider how deeply the U.S. should get involved in South Vietnam, as a communist insurgency and Buddhist protests intensify. -
Image
The Vietnam War
The River Styx
Saturday
Apr 12
2 Hours
Fearing Saigon's collapse, President Lyndon B. Johnson authorizes the bombing of North Vietnam, and sends U.S. ground troops to the south. -
Image
The Vietnam War
The River Styx
Sunday
Apr 13
2 Hours
Fearing Saigon's collapse, President Lyndon B. Johnson authorizes the bombing of North Vietnam, and sends U.S. ground troops to the south. -
Image
The Vietnam War
The River Styx
Sunday
Apr 13
2 Hours
Fearing Saigon's collapse, President Lyndon B. Johnson authorizes the bombing of North Vietnam, and sends U.S. ground troops to the south.
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