stay with c-span for coverage of the presidential race, including campaign stops with hillary clinton and donald trump and key house and senate races with coverage of their candidates, >> each week, american history tv's real america brings you archival films that give you today's-- context for issues. "afghanistan: a new generation," a 1987 u.s. information agency report. the video from the national theives focuses on challenges facing afghan refugees who were children when the soviet union invaded in 1979 and grew to adulthood under soviet occupation. profiling refugee jet -- refugee camps, health clinics, and the efforts of aid workers around the world. >> afghanistan.

[rockets and explosions] >> in 1979, the soviet union determined that afghanistan would be a communist nation forever. the people said no, we will be free. they then picked up their weapons and fought for their freedom the only way they know how, from their mountains. some stayed and continued their traditional way of life. others were forced to flee the bombs and tanks and took refuge. in their decade of war, over

1000 villages and towns have been destroyed by tanks and bombs, 5 million afghans, one third of the population have fled their homes as refugees. in the camps, the people survived and found a fragile security for their family. -- families. and it is here in the camps that one generation has matured and another generation begun. in refuge is afghanistan's future. in refuge is afghanistan's new generation.

in the hot, desolate refugee camp, a young generation's future begins. a girl is going to a makeshift school. she will learn to read and write and once again play games and try to wash away the memories of the terrors of war she has endured. but education is very difficult for these children. there is no real organized school available for them. this small house was loaned to them by a man who saw them sitting idle at home with out anything meaningful to do. the teachers say they have good minds and learn quickly. if they had a real school that they could attend on a regular

basis, they would do well. with education, the girls and teachers know that they can -- could participate in the development of their country as well as anyone. [children singing] the school is organized with nearly 300 students. they are considered large. >> these children have gone through many difficulties. when the atrocities and depression increased, their houses were burned. they were forced out of their homes and villages. they could no longer live there. living conditions were no

longer safe. finally during the last seven years, they had all fled afghanistan and settled here. we respect our social norms and values. it is the responsibility of the teachers to teach them geography and the social structure. wherever we are, we never lose our traditions and way of living. we know they will always remember our country and have some affection for it. we have done this and continue to do so. we want the children to understand and feel the hardship their parents have gone through for the sake of their homeland. we do not want them to forget their country. for children born in refuge, we tell them stories of the country they should never forget so this

-- forget. so, our goal, if this older generation is gone from this world, jihad must not stop. this young generation should carry on until they succeed in their goal. god willing, they do not forget this responsibility. >> one member of the new generation joined jihad as a photojournalist. he learned to use a video camera at the afghan media resource center. on july 20, using an amateur camera, he documented an attack near kabul. the road, where trucks move only in convoys and only with support from soviet tanks. the kabul government outposts

, protecting soviet and afghan troops to protect the highway. a soviet tank leads the convoy down the treacherous highway. the trucks stay near each other to avoid being trapped if one of them gets hit. [gunfire] one of the young mujahadeen fires his rpg and scores a direct hit on the soviet tank. the crippled tank moves to the side of the road, children itselfng to shelter beneath the huge rock. [gunfire] an armored personnel carrier and supply truck are also hit.

the convoy stalls, waiting for more support. another group of tanks appear. they tried to escort and save the convoy. another supply truck is hit and bursts into flames. a nearby government post has now spotted the mujahadeen's position and opens fire with heavy mortar rounds. opent tanks opened fire -- fire from the road below. the fighters pulled back from their position and gathered to discuss the success of their attack. this was a coordinated attack by 11 different commanders on the four mile stretch of highway. this commander was one of the 11.

>> this is the 10th year we have undertaken holy jihad and the eighth year of the russian invasion of our country. at that time, our children were eight and nine years old. now they are 15 and 16 since the russians came. this boy sitting next to me was eight years old during the russian invasion. this year he took part in jihad with me. and never with the people and children of afghanistan, whether he is one year or 100 years old, he will not accept russian soldiers in his homeland. >> after losing many tanks, armored personnel carriers, and trucks soviet tanks retaliated , against a nearby town.

>> on the second day of the operation, which is three or four kilometers from the jet bombers came on our position. both were shot down. one fell in one district, the other fell in another. >> approximately 2 million afghans are refugees inside afghanistan. over one million of them have fled the bombs and destruction in kabul. they seek any kind of work. but even here they cannot escape , the sounds of planes and

tanks. constantlyes dropping for protection against mujahedin rockets. tanks patrol inside and around capital's perimeter. soviet troops protect the presidential palace as well as , major streets, like chicken street, where soviets shop for the famed arts and crafts of afghanistan. many parts of kabul are in ruins.

everywhere, reminders that they are under siege from people who want to keep their freedom. this man lives in refuge, in pakistan. part of the new generation, he was 17 when the war began. >> working in the military committee, there are different jobs we do there. work is i'm responsible for the province. whatever they do, they can -- come directly to me. [indiscernible] because it is much quicker. that involves me, that i have to go there also. [indiscernible] very much to go over their problems. to see their strength in numbers.

we are, i think, a sacrifice generation. fight the soviets and to free our country. we should not think very much about our future. we should think right now what we can do to free our country. >> the camp in pakistan is now the temporary home of over 60,000 refugees. this doctor and nurse help provide medical care for the new generation in the camp. each day they must provide primary health care each day or more than 150 patients. >> according to our program, we have special cards here. when we spot a malnourished child, or someone is brought to the clinic, we will weigh them first.

we will take their medical history to find the reason for the malnutrition. he is then registered as a malnutrition child. we give milk raisins, vitamin a , and vitamin b tablets, multivitamins for the week -- weak children. we give them whatever is available in the clinic. >> here there are epidemics. the camps are occupied by people of different provinces and from different camps. so, different kinds of diseases are spread from one group to the other. many people are affected are this type of sickness, both in their homes and in the outside environment. >> with 4 million refugees living in pakistan, the cities are swollen with people. public health services,

sanitation, electricity, and other public services have been extended to their limits. clean water is a prerequisite for health, although here it looks like fun for all generations on a hot day. this water is part of a giant irrigation is them that these pakistan's western lands. it is water for the land, or animals, for bathing, for washing clothes, and for some a source of cooking and drinking water. when it is their only source of water, it is also water for disease. there are many regional and worldwide organizations like the united nations, the red cross and red crescent that are helping to keep the refugee

problems under control. this clinic is operated by the united medical doctors of -- medical center of afghan doctors. >> usually on days the weather , is hot, we have many people problems such as dysentery, diarrhea, malnutrition. also some with respiratory problems. it increases day by day, particularly among the refugees. tb, skin disease, and other contagious diseases are increasing. those diseases which relate to the living conditions of the refugees do not change. there is no unified preventive program against these diseases for all of the refugees, and

therefore can bring these diseases under control properly. our main problem is maintaining the messes and -- medicines necessary, maintaining supplies. we are not able to treat a patient as it is necessary or required. we are faced with shortages. we do not have enough to treat the refugees. >> mohammed hussein is a commander in northern afghanistan. >> the boys are very brave and strong. they always fight. in many places, when we were fighting with the enemy, these boys did not leave position. many of them have been killed. escape,ld have run and but they stood there, did not step back when they could have run. they do not give up the fight.

>> now, we have obtained heavy antitank weapons. the soviets have been said to increase their air operation. them, theirt soldiers come from the soviet union. every time the russians launch an operation, they come directly from the soviet union. they do not come from the provincial capital in afghanistan. large numbers of planes are coming from the soviet union. there were no planes before, so now we know they cannot find us -- fight us with just soldiers and tanks. we are located on the soviet border. there is only one river between them and us. they have many operations

against us and killed many of our women and children, so we decided to respond. yes, they did not leave us alone on our own land. and yes, we have attacked them and punished them on their soil. >> sufficient medical care is nonexistent inside afghanistan. thousands die up four runs and -- war wounds and disease throughout the country. several international organizations are training members of the new generation as paramedical doctors and surgeons. they provide badly needed medical care in all the provinces. this medical training school is operated by the international medical corps. workededics have already in field clinics inside afghanistan for six months.

with additional training on animals, they will advance their skills and then return to afghanistan once again. this man was 10 years old when the war began. >> >> on the first day of our arrival, the government got the report of our plan to establish the clinic. the next day, government forces shelled the village where we had set up our clinic with long-range artillery. >> this man was 16. >> i saw many dead bodies, many wounded people and many, many people missing one arm or one leg. i used what i had learned. the people lived a very primitive lives. there was no doctor to help them. >> there are no 40 international medical corps clinics inside afghanistan. combined, they treat at least

40,000 patients monthly. one young medic reported that during heavy fighting, he had 200 and 48 -- 248 surgical cases over a two-month period. young afghans are also pursuing other serious vocations. there is a school of journalism operated by the national rescue committee. -- international rescue committee. students first learn an international language and then the craft of objective journalism. their teacher is jean kissel. >> when we first started objectivity was not even on the , scale. but given definition of writing, journalists, and separation of professional action and personal feelings, we can make it through

hours of interviews before anyone becomes less than objective. and that is an incredible step. the importance of remaining objective to be able to do the reporting. i have one student now who wrote a story about his best friend, who asked him to go to jihad with him. this man said no, i have been accepted into the irc journalism course, and i think i will stay here. when it is finished, i will go with you. one day, this man went home for lunch, and his family gathered together and told him to sit down. that the martyr had been brought back from the front. then they told him, they said

gently, that it was his friend and he had been beheaded. and now, before going back to class in the afternoon, he was asked by his father to go with other men and take a grave and -- dig a grave along the road and bury his friend, which he did. and he made it to class that day, and the next day, and he has been very consistent, and he has probably written the most powerful story that i have seen yet. ♪ >> there are hundreds of thousands of powerful stories in afghanistan. stories of bombings, prisons, and torture. and there is a new generational with stories of families lost, hunger, malnutrition, disease, of war, and of a generation of sacrifice.

and there is the beginning of new life and another new generation. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] >> interested in american

history tv? visit our website and look at our upcoming schedule or watch a recent program. at c-span.org/history. >> henry kissinger served as national security advisor and secretary of state for presidents richard nixon and gerald ford. next, neil ferguson discusses the first volume of the henry kissinger biography. "kissinger: the idealist." he argues that his approach to foreign policy is grounded in idealism, rather than the roots of populism that he is known for. the event is an hour and a half. >> good afternoon, everyone. thank you for coming out today.