alert. we are awaiting a statement from a u.n. emergency meeting at the u.n. security council. the council gathering moments ago in the aftermath of a reported massacre in syria. u.n. observers on the ground saying 116 people were killed and 300 injured in a syrian village including dozens of children under the age of 10 years old. the assad regime is denying responsibility but u.n. monitors found artillery shells that point the blame at government forces. a severe storm system off the atlantic coast. triggering warnings up and down the coast. now hours away from making landfall. elizabeth pran is in jacksonville, florida where winds are picking up. >> reporter: conditions here continuing to deteriorate. it may look like a beautiful sunny day but we are feeling 30

mile-per-hour wind gusts. you can see the waves swelling eight to ten feet and 20 yards of the beach slowly disappearing because it is we know it's going to be three to six inches of rain. with that rain, storm surge and high tide. many people in coastal homes need to be wary of flooding. another big concern, people behind me in the water, double red flags. people shouldn't be in the water. that being said we saw a number of memorial day vacationers they simply wait out the storm. they want to enjoy the beach for as long as they can even if it's storm any mi. >> arthel: that was elizabeth pran. now, we go back to war stories. flash point vietnam the road to war.

hundreds of thousands of soldiers honed their skills here. american involvement in southeast asia begin years before our first air and ground combat units aarrived in 1965. early in cold war against communists the eisenhower administration spent billions aiding the french against

ho chi min. how then did the united states find itself embroiled in vietnam fighting a war that would last more than a decade? cost more than 58,000 american lives and sear our national soul. tonight, flash point vietnam. the road to war. that is next on on war stories. >> they were talking about this thing ending soon. >> i would say we have a commitment to the vietnamese for freedom. >> we were asked to do it. >> peace is a journey of a thousand miles. >> i'd only been out of the state of west virginia a couple times when i joined the marine

corps. >> in 1960, earn any wallace was a 16-year-old. >> on graduation there were two things to do around our area that was work in the coal mines or construction. i was not very much for work. i wanted to see the world. >> i always wanted to be the marine. >> ed joined the marines on the eve of the war in vietnam. >> i went in the marine corps in december of 1959, went through boot camp in '60. >> three years after he arrived in boot camp, ed martin from ohio tried to join the army. >> the army recruiter wasn't there and then we went over to the marines and marine recruiter wasn't there. the navy chief said hey, step in. we joined the navy. >> had you heard of vietnam? >> i had heard of it when i was in high school but it was just

another country. >> just another country? >> as manyening wills are much like the history, complex and dangerous. >> edwin is professor of history. >> in the mid 19th century catholic missionaries were being persecuted in vietnam and in china and this issue was a part of what brought france into involvement in both vietnam and china. >> french colony of indochina includes cambodiaa, vietnam and laos. thousands migrated to asia in search of wealth. made second class citizens they

resisted french occupation with violence. at the end of world war i, woodrow wilson envisioned a new world forum. founded at paris peace conference the league of nations was intended to be a new arena for people in countries to hash out their differences. this high minded concept appealed to one young man in particular. >> he showed up at the paris peace conference wanting better treatment for vietnam. he was basically said go away, that is for white people. >> he would become known to the world, ho chi minhn. >> born in did 1890 he grew up witnessing his father's

frustration under french rule. he traveled to french as a ship's cook to see how the other half lived. he would dedicated his life to a single purpose, vietnamese independence. ho turned to the world's first communist power, the new russian revolutionary government was the enemy of all capitalist governments. the reason he became a communist it looked like a good avenue for vietnam. >> while still in france he helped founded the french communist party and he soon was living in moscow. >> he was given training by communists in organizational techniques. he is able to create what is officially founded in 1930 as the irndo-china communist party.

he prepared his people to fight for their independence. >> his original name, he got arrested under ho chi min and he was stuck with it. >> some unlikely allies, when france fell to hitler, ho chi joined the fight with america. >> his main goal was to try to win the friendship of the american government. >> i wanted to be part of the world from day one. >> they battled the japanese, 16-year-old billy south of austin, texas made his first attempt to celt into the fight. >> i tried to join the marine corps. i said i'm 18. they said no you are not. they put me in jail.

my mother hauled me back to texas. >> billy would have to wait for his chance. >> the end of world war 2 brought peace and jubilation to many but when paris sent him back to vietnam. >> he said you will kill ten of us for every one of you that we kill. you will get tired of it first. >> during the late 1940s as he fought the french, america was focused on ace own postwar problems. >> vietnamese are communist led and that is not nice but the only nice thing it's not our problem. they start getting military aide from china at the beginning of 1950. the intensity of combat and

scale of combat goes way up. >> america was at war against north korea and communist china. we supported the fight against ho chi to the tune of $2 billion. >> the american tarps are costing, taxpayers more than french were. >> ragtag army surrounded the french and took over 9,000 prisoners. the victory came with a steep price. 100,000 fighters, 8,000 were killed and 15,000 were wounded. >> french paratroopers being dropped in there. >> evidence ert was a student in salinas, california, dreaming of flying. vietnam would make him one of

the most famous pilots. >> i don't care what i do or what happens but i wanted to fly jets. >> mcnamara called them advisors but they did much more how to fight. they found themselves in the heat of battle. that is next on war stories. does your phone share what you are seeing and hearing right now

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it's the ultimate status update. get a droid razr maxx by motorola for only $199.99. >>. >> oliver: in the summer of 1954 marilyn monroe filmed her famous moments. in vietnam, french colonial rule was zblengsd it ended with the battle of the town. president eisenhower helped broker the geneva accord of

1954. >> oliver: the author of der licks of duty the lies that led to vietnam. >> it marked an end for the french but a beginning for the united states. >> oliver: 54 geneva agreement split it at parallel and called for a nationwide election. it was to be united under the winner. the ballots never occurred and they held on to power what was widely perceived to be a rigged vote. >> you have a role of dominoes set up and you knock over the first one, that will happen to the last one the sert it will go over very quickly. >> vietnam fell to the communists. all southeastern asian counties would also fall. >> publicly the eisenhower administration applauded the anti-communist regime and gave

them hundreds of millions of aid. privately there were serious concerns. >> nobody felt the government could survive. it was almost as if it was a miracle. he had consolidated power in the south, communist activity was reduced the economy was beginning to develop. >> oliver: it had more to do with what ho chi minh was doing. ho was consolidating his power and preparing for the next war. >> so in effect, he and the american backers had a free ride for a couple of years. >> oliver: a new democratic president took office and faced the same old enemies. in his address, j.f.k. let friend and foe know where he soda. >> we support any friend to ensure the survival and success of liberty. >> he confronts the insurgency

in south vietnam. >> when did you make your first deployment in southeast asia? >> in 1960. i went to laos and then vietnam. >> billy wall was a non-commissioned officer. he and his team were some of the first americans to see combat in southeast asia. >> special oregon trained their men and then these men into combat troops killed the enemy. we went there to train and get them in good shape and go kill. >> by the end of kennedy's first year in office, there were over 3,000 military advisors like billy. >> the reality the americans are starting combat. >> here is a report from robert mcnamara. >> world war ii veteran robert

mcnamara. >> he had a reputation of a brilliant analyst. he came in with a charge to clean up the department of defense and came in with hundreds of initiatives. lots of requirements. he met a lot of resistance and built a great deal of animosity zblaofr8 it was strained at best. leaders of our government was forced to face the biggest challenge, 1962 october missile crisis. >> the soviet union has put nuclear weapons in the island off the u.s. coast. >> many times, they start sticking missiles down in cuba that is too close. >> oliver: it heats up the cold war. that is next on war stories. with the spark miles card from capital one,

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>>. [ gunshots ] >> oliver: october 14, 1962, they took these photographs of nuclear missiles in cuba, a direct threat to america. two days later j.f.k. attempts meeting with his advisors including brother bobby. chairman man of chiefs of staff and robert mcnamara. >> we have to do is figure a plan. >> the chief felt full scale invasion was most likely option. secretary mcnamara thought we

needed to increase. >> kennedy sided with mcnamara and pushed the americans and russians to the brink of war. soviet leader nikita krushchev agreed to remove the missiles. secretly kennedy promised to withdraw u.s. jupiter missiles from turkey. >> mcmcnamara came out emboldened but the deal to betray u.s. missiles in turkey is what was really decisive. >> he applied a increase of forces to another looming crisis vietnam. a little over two months after the missile crisis, three american advisors were killed at battle, a hamlet 30 miles south of saigon. in february 196340-year-old advisor robert net from new

haven, connecticut arrived. he was a medal of honor recipient served in korea. by the end of 196316,000 advisors were serving in south vietnam. >> how much combat were they seeing at that point? >> i would say three to four months a year. >> they were up against who? >> i felt they were well-prepared because they had our equipment. they were being trained by us. they were getting a taste of combat. >> oliver: the north vietnamese regular army. and then there were communist guerillas and they were both formidable enemies. >> when you are going out on a patrol, you are predominantly in the hands of the troops that you have trained. any anxieties about how reliable

these guys at all? >> none because we were paying them very good money. >> oliver: but the embattled president. they weren't the only problems. >> his brother ahead of the secret police, brutally present re presentsed any opposition to the government. this was true in connection with the buddhist monks. they begin to light themselves on fire in protest against the government. this put kennedy and his advisers in a difficult position. >> this crisis turned the united states very hesitantly against me. >> and as problems mounted. robert net was with south vietnamese troops near the demilitarized zone and agreed for w it, but they didn't play by the rules.

>> the nba could cross it any time? >> think we crossed it several times, sometimes accidentally. >> i know by the time i got there, there was enormous frustration with the fact we weren't allowed to go in. >> oliver: were you seeing that same frustration among americans as early as '63? >> no. >> oliver: did you get a sense this was going to work? >> until president zim was assassinated. >> we knew it was going to fall. >> when a planned coup by rebel south vietnamese generals, kennedy promised not to cut aid to south vietnam. >> november 4, 1963. over the weekend and crew in

saigon took place. i feel that we must bear a good deal of responsibility for it beginning with our early in which we suggested a coup. >> it didn't affect us at all. he didn't care who was running the country. >> only three weeks after he and his brother knew, were assassinated. kennedy himself was assassinated in dallas. so this is huge turning point in the vietnam war because the new president now has to confront this very difficult situation. >> i can't get out. i just can't be the architect of surrender. >> oliver: the vietnamese atack u.s. destroyers. the gulf of tonkin incident when war stories returns. don't wait. go to afibstroke.com for a free discussion guide

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>>. >> arthel: this is a fox news weather alert. severe storm upgraded. tropical storm beryl picking up speed around warnings are in effect for the entire georgia coast. up to six inches of rain, coastal flooding and powerful thunderstorms are expected in that region. latest storm track has beryl making landfall tonight.

and start your air-conditioners. soaring at indy 500, hottest day was in 1937 when it hit 92 degrees, today may shatter that record. here is a look at high temperatures around the rest of the country for the memorial day weekend, mercury reaching into the 90s from texas to illinois. with all this heat more severe storms, large hail damaging winds and thunderstorms and even isolated tornadoes forecast across the central u.s. stretching from minnesota to kansas and oklahoma. stay tuned for fox with the latest weather updates. now shocking new details in a syrian massacre. a as we await a statement from emergency meeting at u.n. security council, the head of the observers says 116 people killed and 300 injured in an attack on syrian village. dozens of victims were reported as children.

it's most deadly incident n. evidence at the scene implicates government security forces. today, more killings reported over in that area. we'll keep you posted a 6 all developments and all the latest headlines, tune in to foxnews.com. right now, back to war stories with oliver north. >>. >> oliver: president john f. kennedy in south vietnamese's president were both murdered in november of '62. both assassinations profoundly affected the course of events in vietnam. >> there was nobody really ready to take over the job. this begin a period of later revolving door governments? >> vice president lyndon johnson

became the 36th president of the united states. >> johnson had bad feelings about vietnam. if he didn't continue the struggle in vietnam. he would be seen as betraying the legacy of kennedy. >> what johnson wants most in 1964 is to be elected in his own right as president. he views vietnam as a danger to that goal. he said vietnam is the biggest damn mess i have ever seen. >> oliver: in january 1964 the man who would command the troops william westmoreland arrives in saigon. >> he needs a larger commitment to stabilize the situation. >> do you think it's a mistake to explain? >> i think what the president, it would be wise to say as a little possible. >> the u.s. arrival of the beatles was met with youthful

frenzy but in washington, lb objective had bigger things on his mind. it would really foul up his campaign strategy. >> if we're going to stay in there, we haven't done so yet. i'm not sure if it's exactly the right time. >> if you start doing it you will be called a war amonger. >> it was a war that was lost in slow motion. >> despite his growing concern over the affect on his campaign, a covert operation sent asian percent nears to carry out attacks on the communists. >> u.s. navy destroyers were on top secret gathering missions along the north vietnamese coast two august 1964 one of destroyers were attacked. >> two torpedo boats went out.

they lost the fight. >> washington called the attacks unprovoked and claimed the maddux was on a routine patrol in international waters. two days later, maddux accompanied by sea turner joy picked up what seemed to be high speed vessels on the radar. both ships opened fire. >> i am confident there was no attack but what they were seen was ghosts on the radar. generated by the weather. >> when the smoke cleared, they cabled pearl harbor, review of action makes many reports contact and torpedoes fired doubtful. lbj thought he needed to respond. >> for years of hostile actions, today required me to take action.

>> i think it was time to pull blow the hell out of north vietnam and all the restrictions we were put on was off. i said about time. >> they weren't off. air group commander walked in to the ready room, he said. >> 26-year-old lieutenant edward alvarez was stationed in the gulf of tonkin. pilots and nearby u.s. ticonderoga was to carry out the missions, his mission to fly his jet to bomb the north vietnamese naval base in the harbor. >> i think the most was on my mind, this is real. this is war. we might even make the evening news. >> oliver: he would, indeed,

make the evening news. after successfully heading back to the target. his plane was hit by enemy fire. >> i've been hit. i guess my wing must have come off because i couldn't control it. >> oliver: he bailed out. after being picked up by north vietnamese fishing boat he was turned over to the enemy. he was the first pilot to be shot down over north vietnam. >> i would have to say we achieved our objective. i think we got the torpedo boats out. >> any effort to interrogate you? >> of course, i gave them my name, serial number and date of birth. but that is for a prisoner of war. the united states has declared on us. we have declared war on you. >> after a week of grueling interrogation he was hustled into a jeep and driven eight

hours to hanoi. >> next thing i know i'm entering this old big prison compound. i was the first occupant. we later gave it the name henry hill. >> robert mcnamara and joint chiefs of staff knew that was very likely that a second incident in the gulf of tonkin did not occur but they were anxious to support the president in getting this resolution through congress and avoiding a debate on vietnam. >> the gulf of kontin resolution would allow lbj to use forces without declaring war but mcnamara would have to answer tough questions in closed door hearings. >> he brings with him. chairman of the chief of staffs

and they lie about the a.m. but guitsz surrounding the second attack. >> he briefed lbj on the hearings. >> i think the hearings are very satisfactory. it was just near unanimous supported. >> congress overwhelmingly passed the gulf of tonkin resolution. it gave lbj the power to take, quote, all necessary measures to repel any armed attacks against the forces of the united states and prevent further aggression. it was basically a blank check. it would be cashed in vietnam. >> when america bombs north vietnam, it's not understood that they will respond by increasing infiltration into south vietnam. >> viet cong were growing larger at the same time they are stealing the con tri-side in the slow seepage of guerilla warfare

>> oliver: lbj was elected president of the united states and edward alvarez endured three months of starvation at the hanoi hilton. >> somehow i rael was really convinced that someone was going to come along and open my cell, come on you are going home. the fact i would be left there didn't enter my name. >> the first troops hit the beach in vietnam. that is next on war stories. [ w] for the london olympic games, our town had a "brilliant" idea. support team usa and show our olympic spirit right in our own backyard. so we combined our citi thankyou points to make it happen. tom chipped in 10,000 points. karen kicked in 20,000. and by pooling more thankyou points from folks all over town, we were able to watch team usa... [ cheering ] in true london fashion. [ male announcer ] now citi thankyou visa card holders

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demanded of conviction and of our enduring covenant. >> oliver: when he gave his inaugural address there were 20,000 troops in vietnam and 400 had died there. both those numbers were about to rise dramatically. ♪ >> oliver: in february eight americans were killed. lbj responded with flaming gun. they bombed a north vietnamese army base. from his cell, downed pilot knew the war was escalating. >> i would look out in my cell and i would look up this way and there were three tracers. >> this is decision point for the president. this is rolling thunder bombing campaign against north vietnam. >> it begin on two march, 1965.

president and his advisors bombing would force the north to back down. white house maintains strict control over targets. that in fear of a wider war with china or the soviets muted the effectiveness of rolling thunder. >> there will be followed very closely by the introduction of marines initially under the auspices, thought from the very beginning, to make offensive killing operations. >> make it late in the day and miss some of the morning additions. it will minimize it. >> marines came ashore and thousands were on the way. they landed two months later on 7 may with second battalion. >> how are you g.i. joe. >> they made landing with the

greetings of hanoi anna. >> and guys in your squad say about this. >> don't worry about this, you are trained. we're going to take them out. >> we an unopposed landing. we were met on the beach with all the locals, lots of kids. everybody thought this was going to be great. >> i got a 65 pound pack, it was 110 degrees in the shade. >> may '65 brought the first rolling thunder. lbj hoped to negotiate and ho chi minh ignored the overture and repaired damage to air defenses. billy was plenty busy.

>> did it change your missions at all, increase in troops? >> definitely we moved from the coast area up to the cambodian to the border and special forces started building. >> we cannot be defeated by force of arms. we will stand in vietnam. >> in july, president johnson announced that troop involvement would go to 125,000. >> johnson still wants to avoid a debate on vietnam. what johnson does he under states the number of troops that general westmoreland wants and under states the money it's going to take. >> oliver: initial contact was light. but they needed to be aware of booby traps. >> it was a cakewalk. >> did you have good maps? >> not very good maps. vietnam has bunch nice things

like leaches and other things. >> you get into a fresh water stream and time to wash up a little bit. you have all these leaches hanging on places you don't want to talk about. >> and there would be far more than leaches to worry about. location of 2,000 vietcong. marines were ordered to take them on. >> it was totally hush, hush. >> what is going through your head? >> what the hell are we in to? >> oliver: operation starlight takes a bloody toll when war stories continues. does your phone share what you are seeing and hearing right now

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>>. >> oliver: in august of '65, los angeles exploded. on 18th, marines begin first emergencies in vietnam. the navy begin to pound the first vietcongs. >> intelligence heard the first vietcong legend was preparing. >> he joined the company second battalion just before operation starlight. as a medical corpsman his job was to save lives. >> i don't think any of us slept that night. >> oliver: operation starlight called for a landing nine miles south of an airfield. another unity would come in from the north and they would conduct an assault west of the enemy. corpsman landed at slsm lsm v

wright. >> we got to the top and we got mortar fire. >> no cover. no cover at all. >> how many casualties did you take? >> we had four initially. >> how badly were they hurt? >> my first casualty was dead. i stock my financing other his eyeball. there was no reaction i closed his eyes zbloovm they were under fire. despite the incoming they had to move across open ground and assault from 43. >> from where we landed, open rice paddy all the way out 400 to 500 meters and to the left was a village and a large open trench in between. >> not a lot of cover. >> not a lot of cover to get in to. >> as we were getting close to

it, i was the last man back. i looked down the trench line and the trench line was full of the bad guys coming up behind the platoon. i opened up, ran out of ammo and i ran across and caught up with the rest of the platoon. >> oliver: if you hadn't done what you did the lead element of the company would have been annihilated. >> they would have come in. they had body counted of 25. >> oliver: shortly you come to this village and you really take casualties? >> they opened up. several guys got hit right away. >> despite the fire he went to work on the wounded. >> every one of these guys, all these young marines, 17, 18-year-olds. >> a little lance corporal in the middle of it.

>> tell me about what doc martin did? >> he raced in there with very little cover and said to hell with it. ran out to marines to stop the bleeding as best i could. >> oliver: lance corporal died six six days later in the hospital. operation starlight ended the same day. 44 other marines made the ultimate sacrifices but the enemy was far more bloody, 600 vietcong were also dead. >> i walked out and saw the blood and got sick. commander came. he said are you okay. he said today you are a marine. >> oliver: more on the road to the war in vietnam as war

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how much coffee are you fellows dogoing to need today? three...four cups? [dumbfounded] well, we... doesn't last long does it? listen. 5-hour energy lasts a whole lot of hours. so you can get a lot done without refills. it's packed with b-vitamins and nutrients to make it last. so don't just stand there holding your lattes, boys. make your move. we'll take the 5-hour energy. smart move. 5-hour energy. hours and hours of energy. >>. [ gun shots ] >> oliver: after starlight many more battles, broadcast to the world it was the first living room war. before the end, it would drive lbj from office, divide the nation and scar yet another presidency. >> i wanted to end this war. >> oliver: in 1973 the last

combat troops left vietnam. that february edward alvarez was released. he chronicled his eight and a half years in the book "chained eagle." south vietnamese fell in 1975 but ho chi minh died in 1969 so he wouldn't be able to see the victories. billy retired in 1972. total time in vietnam, seven and a half years. he wrote about life as a warrior in his book hunting the jack will. >> we could have ended that so easy. >> oliver: he received navy cross for his heroism for his operation starlight. they would return to second tours in vietnam. navy corpsman received a bronze star after starlight and left the navy in 1968.

>> a lot of men died and were wounded. we didn't get to do the job we could have done. >> oliver: in the early days, vietnam was the longest military engagement and the only conflict where we won all the byes but still lost the war. years after it was over, robert mcnamara, december of 1965 he told johnson america couldn't win the war militarily. it didn't stop vietnam to drag on for ten nor years. vietnam has to seen the broader context of the cold war. the people that fought in vietnam cloud shrouded mountains and rice paddies, this war was anything but cold. it's easy to point to errors in washington but for those that fought there, there is something more important. it's honoring the three million that served in southeast asia

and more than 58,000 who didn't come home. theirs is a war story that deserves to be told. i'm oliver north, good night. >>. >> gregg: this is a fox news alert. moving fast a terrify and getting stronger. that is beryl hours away from making landfall on the southeast coastline, parts of georgia and florida sitting right in the path. i'm greg gutfeld generator. welcome to a brand-new hour. >> arthel: i'm are a they will nevil and packing -- a arthel neville