watch victory and concession speeches in key senate house and governors' races starting live at 8:00 p.m. eastern and throughout the following 24 hours watch live >> each week, american history tv brings you films that provide context for today's public affairs issues. afghanistan, a new generation, is a report from 1987 on the soviet intervention in afghanistan. the video from the national archives focuses on the challenges facing refugees who are children went soviet troops invaded the country in 1979 and grew to adulthood during occupation. it focuses on refugee camps in pakistan at health clinics and the efforts of eight workers from around the world. -- aid workers from around the world. >> afghanistan.

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 the only way they know how, from their mountains. some 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. 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 generations future begins. a girl is going to make shift 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. 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 nothing 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 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. we have done this and continue to do so. >> we want the children to understand and feel the hardship their parents had gone through. 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 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 is 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 on the jogging near kabul. trucks move in convoys and only with support from soviet tanks. the kabul government outposts posting soviets 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 tank moves to the side of the road, children itself near a -- trying to shelter itself itself near a large rock. [gunfire] >> and armored personnel carrier

and supply truck are also it. 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 mortar rounds. soviet tanks opened 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 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 characters -- carriers, soviet tanks retaliated against a nearby town.

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

tanks patrol inside and around the capital's perimeter. soviet troops protect the presidential palace as well as major streets, like chicken street, where soviets shop for the 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. part of the new generation, he was 17 when the war began. >> working in the military, there are different jobs we do there. one of my work is i'm responsible for -- whatever they do, they can direct it to me. [indiscernible] because it is much quicker. that involves me that i have to go there also. [indiscernible] to see their strength in numbers. we are a sacrifice generation. we're here to fight to free our

country. we should not think very much about our future. we should thank right now what -- 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 they 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 get no, raisins, vitamin a and vitamin b tablets, multivitamins for the week 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. different 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 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 problem under control. this clinic is operated by the united medical doctors of

afghanistan. >> on days the weather is hot, we have many people with congestion problems such as dysentery, diarrhea, malnutrition. also somewhat 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 were all of the refugees, and therefore can bring these diseases under control properly.

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. >> mohammed is the northern commander in afghanistan. >> the boys are very brave and strong. they always fight. in many places, one where we're -- one where fighting with the enemy, these foisting on the deposition. many of them have been killed. they could have brunch and escaped, but they stood there, stepped back.

now we have obtained some have a antitank weapons. instead they have increased their air operation. when we fight them, their soldiers come from the soviet union. every time the russians launched 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 with just show -- 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 their own land, and yes, we have attacked them and punish them on their soil. sufficient medical care is nonexistent inside afghanistan. thousands die up four runs 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 the provinces. this medical training school is operated by the international medical co-op. the medics already work in field clinics inside afghanistan for six months. with additional training on animals, they will advance their skills and then returned to afghanistan again.

one 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. >> i saw many dead bodies, many wounded people and many, many people missing one arm or one leg. the people live very primitive lives, no doctor or health worker. 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 248 surgical cases over a two-month period. young afghans are also pursuing other serious locations. there is a school of journalism operated by the national 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. that is an incredible step. they realized the importance of remaining objective, to be able to do the reporting. i have one student now who wrote the story about his best friend, mohammed, andy 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. one day, this man went home for lunch, and his family gathered and told him to sit down and 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. 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 bury his friend, what you did, and he made it to class that day, and the next day, and he has been very consistent, and he is 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 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. ♪

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upcoming schedule or watch a recent program. >> henry kissinger served as secretary of state for richard nixon in gerald ford. professoriversity discusses the first volume of his kissinger a biography. thaterguson argued kissinger's foreign-policy is grounded in compassion. the wilson center cohosted this event. it is an hour and a half.