from america's news headquarters we're following tropical storm darrell. latest reports on the national weather service has the center of the storm about to move inland. it's about 35 miles east of jacksonville, florida.

the storm near hurricane strength with winds around 70 miles per hour. possible storm warnings in affect from northern florida to south carolina. forecasters saying it could dump up to 12 inches of rain. we'll bring you the latest. and u.s. security council holding a emergency meeting regarding blood shed in sear yachl the council condemning the syrian government's quote, agreejis use of force on the civilian people. the syrian government denied responsibility. they're blaming what they say was heavily armed gunmen who also attacked soldiers in the area z an incred sight on this memorial day. thousands of motorcycles are in the streets of the nation's capital called rolling thunder. the 25th anniversary of the ride into washington. rolling thunder's mission is to honor veterans. one of the estimated 400,000

participants saying these are the people that want to show appreciation for the military and pay respects to those who never came back. now back to "war stories" first leaving you with another look at sights and sounds of rolling thunder.

in a celebration. mere than 150 towns were assaulted with devastating consequences on both sides. some say the beginning of the end of the vietnam war. in the summer of 1967 support

at home for the war in vietnam was eroding. half of those interviewed in a poll said they had no idea what the war was about. the united states had become increasingly involved in vietnam since 1961. and introduced in 1965. 13,000 troops had been killed there. in august, president johnson announced he was sending 50,000 troops to jungles of vietnam. >> and there are delays and disappointments. this must continue. >> and also proposed that americans average household income under $8,000. >> in the summer of 1967, president johnson in order to pay for the war, asked

americans to propose a sur tax on extra 10% on income tax to pay for the war. >> a journalist covering vietnam for nine newspapers and wrote a turning point for the vietnam war. >> so political support for the war diminished sharply. in response, the president tried to convince americans the war was nearly won. and you brought back to this country general wes moreland and appeared before congress and the national press club can and told them was the war was nearly over. and we had almost won. >> 1967 was an election year. the war. the problems continue tonight.

and northern communists accused the crew of spying n vietnam, 6,000 marines and soldiers being held by north vietnamese forces. but one thing both sides agreed upon is celebrating the lunar new year. >> this is the vietnamese lunar new year, biggest holiday in vietnam. and this is a combination of new year's and thanksgiving day all rolled into one. >> there has been a number of people earlier in the vietnam war, both sides agreed not to have any military actions during that time. so focus on both sides to go home and be with their families. >> the 1967 celebration seemed

to be no different. especially since both sides announced there would be a cease fire. >> and came up in 1968 all americans were warned not to be out at night, be cordial with the vietnamese because it was their holiday but there would be a lot of fire work autos edmond fitzgerald recalls the first celebration after arriving in vietnam. >> there was a festive time. if you were lucky they'd invite you for a meal. >> he was a 22-year-old army intelligence officer sent to saigon. >> i was a graduate and went to infantry school and told them i spoke german. they sent me to germany. you're in saigon, you're in uniform you're supposed

to -- there was no war in sigan. they're trying to hang onto the image. >> and not everyone was convinced the cities would remain out of the war. january 5th, 1968 u.s. embassy warning of attacks taken from captured enemy documents warning quote the revolution yairy forces are for the first time going to attempt attacks on major towns and cities including saigon. they did not say whit was going to happen. >> i got a copy of the press release myself. and i wrote in my own handwriting next to it, moon shine. i didn't believe it would happen. it was a problem of belief. >> but that changed in late january just as the holiday began. >> there is attacks in the

northern part of south vietnam on the 30th of january. the main attacks, which took place in saigon and the rest of the country is on the 31. >> in a brazen move the north vietnamese and south vietnamese targeted 100 cities, town pz military bases. one assault would deeply wound the american psyche. a daring attack on the u.s. embassy in saigon. >> american embassy is a place americans can identify with. if you say some other place it just sounds like the words to americans but when you say they're attacking the embassy, people picture that as something important. >> i had a radio and learned they had attacked. and there is nothing like this

envisioned by nine. >> u.s. embassy is attacked and one person out to take it back from the veat congress. next on war stories. when i foy irregular heartbeat put me at 5 times greater risk of a stroke, my first thoughts were about my wife, and my family. i have the most common type of atrial fibrillation,r afib. it's not caused by a heart valve problem.

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>> i saw automatic weapons and i saw something was wrong. >> you're listening to the record of apolice radioing his base for help. >> shortly before 3:00 they launched a surprise attack on the u.s. embassy. >> the squad attacked, it's arms, it's borders and dynamite in two batches. one was under a load of fire wood on a truck coming in to saigon. another was mixed with a load of tomatoes coming in from the countryside. >> here is how the attack went down.

aproochlly 20 gur yilas met in an auto shop just five blocks from the embassy and took a truck and taxi cab. they shattered the police department. they turned -- returned fire and radioed for help. the gur yilas blew a hole in the compound's wall, then charged inside. military policemen charles daniel reportedly yelled into his radio "they're coming in" shortly after that transmission, was killed. mts johnny thomas heard daniel radio call and raced to the embassy, dying in a hail of bullets when they asifed. four colleagues were already dead when a 26-year-old frank griffith is awakened after 3:00 a.m. >> someone came into the hotel

and said alert, alert. i got to the second floor. the commander told me i want you to go to the embassy. find out what is going on down there. we're armed with m 16s and 45s. we started to approach the embassy i'm still not sure what is going on. >> and 90 mps and a group of marines surrounded outside and began battling inside. >> from behind the concrete pole and light pole base. i'm looking at the main gate and waiting for them to come out. i lay there i see a black citron coming down the boulevard. i didn't know if he was a civilian. i instrulted him to halt in vietnamese. i could see he was not going to halt. i sent a burst of fire across

his windshield. he didn't stop. at which point i took him under. >> no one knew the fate of the 11 people inside of the embassy. the marines had to fight their way in. >> they ended up ramming the front gate with a jeep, opening it up. then, military police they then finished searching and destroying enemy they encountered there. >> at 9:15 a.m. six and a half hours later the u.s. embassy declared secure, four mps, one marine and a vietnamese civilian had been kill add long with most of the invaders. >> i was relieved. i thanked god for letting me live through. >> general westmoreland

decided to down play the attack. >> the enemy has taken advantage of the troops and in my opinion this is diversion yairy to main efforts which he had planned to take place. >> he was the governor. a lot of people were turned off by it. but it was a smart military man. >> this military historian and author of "fire in the streets". >> and johnson was the guy who took the isolation. >> he faced this man. a former schoolteacher with no formal military training. he had been a soldier since the 40s and helped drive the french out of vietnam. he had a plan to reunite the country. >> the forces would launch

tactical and operational assaults throughout south vietnam. and they could show cause and overthrow the government. take the place over. >> the intelligence officers had the job of questioning prisoners that had been wounded up -- rounded up in attacks. >> we brought them up to see if they had knowledge. once that occurred our area was surrounded all of a sudden. we were interviewing everyone dragged n went from having 40 prisoners to about 250. in hours. a majority of them were 18-22 and not very well educated. not very much military training. but believed in the cause and believed they were fighting for their country. >> and 27 mps lost their lives

in saigon that day. small pockets of fighting continued for weeks. >> that changed saigon. totally. and live for everyone in this city was never the same. >> the true story behind one of the most-shocking photographs taken in vietnam. made front page news and outraged the american people that, is nuft on "war stories".

on february 1, the morning after athe attack, a

34-year-old was working in the associated press office when a camera man stuck his head in the koor we heard there is a fire fight up in the chinese section of saigon. does anyone want to go? i said yeah. i'll go. it's a slow day. >> adams dreamed about becoming a photographer since his childhood in pennsylvania. he went to korea was a marine combat photographer and volunteered to cover the war in vietnam. >> we're walking we see this guy being pulled out of the door. they just grabbed from the second story. we started following him up the street. near the corner out of nowhere to my left i seen this guy walk in. i see him go for a pistol. >> the man was the national police chief. >> he raised the pistol up i raised my a picture. and it turns out it was the

time he shot him. the lieutenant fell to the ground. never have i seen a sight like this, blood up from his head. since he shot him, he walked up against us and put his pistol in the holster and said they kill many of my men and many of your people. i went back to the office and i dropped the film off. and i said to the people in the office that day i think i got a picture i of a guy shooting someone. it's somebody shooting somebody, it's war and happens every day. see you later. >> within 24 hours, the snap shot made front pages around the world. >> it became a big, big deal. it was a dramatic photo. one of the most-important photos of the war. >> several out rajed it showed

grim realities of an unsettling civil war. >> in america condemned him and said he shot someone in cold blood twochl lives were destroyed in that photograph. the person shot and the man who pulled the trigger. >> i know people that worked with general wong and they said he was a good officer. he felt he did what he had to do. they were there, with him. i don't second guess another man he was a good guy fighting for america with america. i think he was a hero. >> the photo won a pew litser prize. >> i don't get it even today. someone blowing someone's head off. a lot of people want an autographed picture of that. i won't hang that in my house. >> that left no major city in south vietnam unscathed. the fighting took place in the

ancient capitol. >> we're happy to be out of the field. >> the marine captain became the commander just a week before offenses started. delta company fighting in remote fields and got the order to move north. >> we had no awareness of what's happening in wae city. just told we're going to move in there for support up there. >> by that time, way city has been invaited by the north vietnamese. >> it was taken over by 12,000 north vaems -- vietnamese army troops. and well trained and supported by the local viet kong. >> how did the nva get in with the city? >> the city from a military point of view was isolated in

the north vietnamese had a egress into the city from mountains from the west. unincome bered. there are no fourseses out there. they may have been listening devices to pick up movement but whatever they had out there they missed. >> the marines had to take it back block by block. but a captain managed to raise the american flag over the ancient capital. that is next on "war stories".

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[ shouting in japanese ] we work wherever you work. now, that's progressive. call or click today. this is a fox news extreme weather alert. tropical storm beryl made land fall in northeastern florida and is bringing heavy rain and strong winds with near hurricane force winds but will likely lose strength now that its over land. these are scenes from jacksonville, florida. tropical storm warnings in affect for parts of the state. south carolina and the entire georgia coastline. and in new mexico 1500 national guard troops are now securing the area, 100 acres have been torched. reports say winds there are becoming lighter meaning water

dropping helicopters can be used z iran's nuclear chief says his anything will continue enriching uranium to 20% despite demands for tehran to stop. u.s. inspectors think it's being enriched in this facility inside of a mountain. many say it could be quickly turned into weapons-grade material. iran insists it's for energy purposes. talks with iran over this program are set to resume next month. >> and boy and girl scouts honoring fallen heroes. 3,000 scouts placed american flags in los angeles. together the kids planted 87,000 flags in several cemeteries. in tennessee a similar tribute, boy scouts placing flags on 42,000 graves at memphis national cemetery. and his name in the record books after winning the indy

500. he is taking the checkered flag after a crash only seconds earlier. he won at least three times. now back to "war stories". >> this is the place. it is a place where many of the leaders of north vietnam went to school. where many of the leaders in south vietnam went to school. >> this is already a veteran of world war ii and became a military advisor in vietnam. and. >> i took off the morning

after the first hit of the holiday. >> the general told me that he dmot use that for nine month autos the job was to advise a south vietnamese general head quartered in a citadel on the north side of the river. >> there used to be hundreds of thousands of people on his trail during the night. >> and this is a network of roads and trails. used to bring tens of thousands of troops. some thought it was a road to victory. on january 31, 1968 brown's suspension was confirmed. one of the primary targets for

the north vietnamese army was a command kpoud housing some 200 advisors including richard brown. >> in a war stories exclusive there is reporting brown made of that horrific assault on the compound. >> whoever happened to be there at that time manned the walls. and they held it to say... through the night. and they came close to reaching it but they didn't. >> late in the afternoon i heard the roar of tanks in the

town. >> i can never forget approaching the compound. it almost looked like rocks like cowboys and indians. they're holding the fort. >> ron christmas was a 28-year-old marine captain from pennsylvania when arriving in vietnam in 1967. and he got the order to move hotel company into play. he discovered they were facing a new kind of battlefield for vietnam. you arean terrain. >> the marine corps encountered strong points and fighting positions. and if you looked at it you're expecting it in a vietnamese city no, u.s. force that's

vietnamese would come. we went at them house by house. to get confused and they won't hold because they knew they're going to take them out one by one. >> second marines battled their way through the streets of the city. february 6th secured a complex through university library. their next objective had special significance. >> this is really very, very heavily and there is tear gas and they had to put theirs on it. they gave us just enough time to cross the courtyard and go go into the building. >> they made it into the building but there is something that had to go. >> and there is a flag was

gone. and i said find an american flag. there is a small group, fighting was snore balling around, tore down the flag and ran outside. i would pity him. that was the most exhilarating moment in my life. the battle scene could stop. i kept hearing cheers from marines inside of the building. >> but a week after raising stars and stripes they sustained 23 casualties in just one day. >> we fought on the 13th. i saw a soldier come up with a grenade and fire it. i could think to myself what if he fire that had on my tank?

a mortar round by that time i was just to two platoon commanders. wounded both of them. wounded me. >> after the capitol was secured fighting on south side of the city began to wayne. they had a new mission on another side of the river. >> when did you get to cross? >> we got the orders to cross the river during the rest of the ba tallin in the citadel on the evening of the 13th of february. joining that day was a 19-year-old from california fresh out of high school, enjoying marines and sent to vietnam and assigned to alpha company. >> we're proceeding up the river and came under enemy fire. i realized marines had to hit those beaches.

>> and until the offensive, realities of the vietnam war disturbed the residents. but as the long, bloody battle raged on, the city lay in ruins and back at home, president johnson decided he'd had enough.

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surrounded by the enemy they tried to hold their ground. >> this is tightly packed building. there are areas you couldn't fire because you'd take down important national artifacts. i'm sure he would have preferred getting used to taking back. and he had turned out to be having a great relationship with the american people. one of the few who was for the americans. >> the job to take back the citadel fell to the nearly 200 troops. >> we moved into the citadel area and join us with major thompson. at the ba tallin meeting lee tell meez there is a heavily fort my philadelphia position

obstructing the advance and that it needs to be taken out. and that in the morning delta company will take it out. >> there is a big power on the wall. and a very, very bad situation. and it. >> for days marines tried to take out snipers. now, captain harrington and delta company's job. >> we conducted a major attack basically 1% of the command of, as i say, everything that could go wrong, went wrong. and i lost communications. one opportunity was until 3:00 in the afternoon, several hours later before you're able to regain communication with them. >> took them eight long hours to secure the tower. but the victory didn't last

long. about 4:00 the next morning they counter attacked. took over the tower again. we had to force them back out again. and it's been hours in taking the tower, we weren't about to give it up. so we marched back up there and did that. so it was difficult but i was surrounded by this magnificent marines and they made it easy. >> who are the closest? >> we were in constant contact with them in a very, very short range, 20-30 meters. snipers as close as 10 meters to us. they're firing in mortars on us. i just don't know why. the lord allowed me to go through that and escape. but he did. >> this is a good example of the soldier. he was in the traditional officer, a war hero.

he joined because he believed. >> and right of the bat they respected him. >> and i was the only officer left in the company. we had a 50% casualty rate. in both ba tallins. >> and they would spend the next two weeks fighting in vicious street battled throughout the citadel. >> there is snipers set up. and sometimes in man holes. sometimes, there are holes bug dug and covered up with leaves of different types. >> every day, during that confrontation was a day we

thought we may die. and it my have quieted down. >> we saddled up over last together and there is a mortar just between my leg that's didn't go off. i realized the guy next to me wasn't firing. it killed him. >> february 26th after 25 days citadel was declared secure, 80% of the houses had been destroyed. 142 marines killed in action. this is one of the blood yesest and longest battles of the vietnam war. >> this is carrying a lot of guilt. i wasn't responsible for the

death death and wounding of a lot of marines that is something you carry with you. but then, that is why we were there. to kill or be killed and we worked hard getting them before they got us. >> and there is the second highest award. he was also awarded a silver star. >> remember the faces and names. and this is as if it's yesterday. >> coming up next, after the battle is over residents struggled and a series of discoveries made that next to impossible. ♪ how are things on the west coast? ♪

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in the weeks and months the people made gruesome discoveries, mass graves containing the bodies of 2800 of their citizens, shot, stabbed and burn add live by the north vietnamese army. >> this is a side of war. killed futures. >> and any level you're not

safe. >> terror campaign. >> relatives came to find what they could. some people found them close to where they had been killed but the mass of those killed were marched off far away from the city, then exsuited. -- executed. >> vietnam was the first war to be televised in america every night on the evening news and had a profound affect on how persons -- americans reacted to the war. >> there is in this country normally a rally around the flag. however, in this case they spent months trying to convince people the war was nearly won. and the attacks seem to continue in this idea the war

is almost over. >> but most knew the war wasn't almost over n march, they asked for 206,000 additional troops and claiming it had been a great victory for the mirn side and a great defeat for the communist attackers if this had been such a great success why do you need 200,000 more troops? >> the president rejected sending adecisional troops, 63% of americans disapproved of his handling of the vietnam war in a gallup poll. three months to the day after the u.s. embassy was attacked president johnson made a shocking announcement. >> i shall not seek and i will not accept the nomination of my party for another term as your president. >> he was extremely ang rism

he had a son-in-law over in vietnam. he had been thinking for a while about whether he was going to run again. and this is the biggest battle of the vietnam war. the only battle people remembered for very long. the north vietnamese suffered terrible losses. extraordinary losses. maybe as many as a half million killed so in that sense, it was for the vietnamese. >> they had their hands cutoff and beaten in a battlefield the way they'd never been beaten before. it's apparent to everybody. >> this didn't matter to me. >> the soldiers and airmen and marines participated in the vietnamese war depicted in something less than what they

were. >> and marines i was blessed to fight with any battle any time in our history. and they talk about uncommon valor. every day, you saw a marine do something he didn't need to do. >> to see something as an individual i am proud of my service. and remembrance of those marines and sailors and corpsmen were magnificent. and you think about them on a daily basis. you can't help but do that. because at that time they meant so much to you.

they still mean so much to me. >> i'm oliver north and you're watching "war stories" stay with us. thanks for babysitting the kids, brittany. so how much do we owe you? that'll be $973.42. ya know, your rates and fees aren't exactly competitive. who do you think i am, quicken loans?

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soldiers, sailors airmen and marines know they won their bloody battle yet casualties broke the spirit not of the warriors in vietnam but politicians in washington. it had the affect and despite terrible losses inflicted on the north vietnamese they launched a reoffensive that would win them the war. fighting went on seven more years but those of us were there after 68, the men or extraordinary heroes. theirs is a war story that deserves to be told. good night.