we learned the citadel was already held by the north vietnamese. there were a few marines in a pocket and a few south vietnamese army soldiers. that was the start of operation hway city. we took the city block by block and street by street. they went on to the march 31st. very interesting. i did get to see catherine leroy again. she was alive and well. >> you said she had a photographer with her. >> he's still alive too. catherine leroy passed away in 2007. fast forward into the 1990's, people magazine had an issue dedicated to the vietnam war. if you foe anybody in this magazine, please call this number. i was with the railroad in philadelphia. i called her. i didn't call her, i called the number. i said i knew cath rip catherine leroy. she called me like a week later. hey, people magazine said that you knew me in vietnam and you're the guy who took me in hway. i said that was me. how are you doing? she said i'm fine. i'm still with time life. i'm in shanghai now. she said, how are the boys doing? i said everybody is fine. i said not everybody made

the last home on the street, i saw a north vietnamese helmet on the table, so i knew there was going to be trouble, more trouble was around. did a little more searching in the house. i found an old man and asked him in vietnamese, where are the vc? he said, i speak english, there are no vc here. i asked, whose hat is that? he said, my son brought it home. i said, get outside and fill my canteens. and i gave him my canteens, and he walked over to the well and a north vietnamese soldier came out of the bushes. the north vietnamese soldier had his ak on his back with the strap in front and he was walking right towards me. yards from me, he looked up and saw me. one of the marines watching said, hey, that's in ba, so i fired some rounds at the guy, and they danced around his feet. rather than him run back into the bushes, the jungle, he decided to run straight for another house, and i killed him. i then got the old man and said , you lie to me, and i said, you i dragged with me, so him off the road. i went back down to get my canteens and look over his body, and the body was gone. so a yo

we overcame the north vietnamese. commandame up on that a rocket team.ht man how effective were the grenades on the house? charlie: it was a modern concrete structure. it had a devastating effect. if any of them surrendered, we would have captured them. they refused to surrender. were moving the trucks, and a north vietnamese soldier jumped up. we did not know if he was a soldier at the time. he had something in his aunt. we could not see what it was. he had on civilian clothes. we told him, drop it. we thought it was a grenade for sure. he would not drop it. finally, one of my guys just said kill him. i said, no, let's get a prisoner. let's see what is going on. one of my guys ran over and punched him. 6'3".uy was he hit him so hard his feet flew off the ground. when it was is a bullet had shot him in the back of the hand and came out the front. he was holding onto a bandage. we had no idea what that was. we ripped off the civilian clothes, and he had on a north vietnamese uniformity we said we could shoot you just f

the north vietnamese filed a rifle at us. it lifted me up in the air in a ball of flame, and i'm turning head over heels in a ball of flame, and i land oh, 10, 15 feet down the hi. i realize my shirt is on fire. we literally are borp off the tower and i'm getting myself together and captain harrington told me to get some new troops. i need you to get back up and take your tower again. i said are you sure you want me to do that? don't you have somebody else that you can send up there? he said, no. you know how to get up there. i said, okay. let me catch my breath. if there's anything close to hell it had to be waiting. >> now when you look at the photograph, you can see a number of interesting aspects. you can see his helmet is scorched. you can see he's wearing what appears to be a short sleeve shirt, and the marine corps never issued short cleve combat shirt. his shirt had been burned off him, and once he was back at the base of the tower, he went over to a dead north vietnamese and took his shirts off and cut the sleeves of

that worked out well for the north vietnamese because they can get more weapons. host: who was funding north korea during this time. explain what was happen and how that's relevant to what we're seeing today? guest: in north korea, they had sort of playing both sides against the middle. they had patrons in soviet union and in china. but at the same time, they were always doing their own thing. for example they seized the uss pueblo which was a american ship ship. it was in international waters. beyond the 12-mile limit. what happened in january of 1968 is that the north koreans seized this american naval ship. it was lightly armed. it was ill-prepared. they were unable to fight off the submarine chasers that went after the ship. but the interesting thing about that, neither the chinese nor the severes were aware this would happen. this is really like today something that was instigated by the north koreans. they saw it possibly an opportunity to start another war as they would say liberate the south. south of korea itself. host: politically, you mentioned leon bres

north vietnamese. byk: they were heavily armed the soviet union and china. those countries were heavily at odds. the soviet union and china were competing for greater influence in north vietnam and that worked out well for the north vietnamese because they could play them off against each other and get more weaponry. host: who was funding north korea during this time? explain what is happening and how that is relevant to what we are seeing today. elizabeth: in north korea they were playing both sides against the middle. they had patriot -- patrons in soviet union and in china but at , the same time, they were always doing their own thing. for example, they seized the uss pueblo, an american ship. host: what happened there? elizabeth: it was on a spy mission in what most people consider international waters, beyond the 12 mile limit. what happened in january of 1968 was that the north koreans seized this american ship. it was lightly armed. it was unprepared. they were unable to fight off the submarine chasers and fighters that went after the ship. the interes

the quality of the military officers in the north vietnamese. and also the quality of the individual soldier in that campaign. can you comment about that? we get a lot of the view from our side. but what's your view of their side? >> jim. >> well, i think that north vietnamese army was extremely well trained, well motivated. among the best light infantry in the world at the time. and maybe still to this particular day, at least in the region in which they inhabit. i thought some of their tactics were completely ignorant and wasted a lot of good soldiers. because there was a continual press, many cases, past the point of success that resulted in high body counts, particularly in the tet offensive. tet offensive was a disaster for the other side. somewhere between 40,000 and 50,000 troops were lost by the other side in the tet offensive. even though there were people in the ranks, in the north vietnamese and vietcong ranks saying look this is not a good idea, we're going to get hammered. and they were basically told, you're guilty of subjective th

the search for peace though -- the north vietnamese were not interested. they wanted to win on the battlefield. the soviet union was a different matter. the soviet union began to raise the question of these overtures to the north vietnamese. out thesehould put talks taking place in paris. more from 1968 and the johnson white house. [video clip] on march 31, president johnson had avoided a halt to all bombing programs expect over the dmz, an area where massive numbers continue to fall. as a result of this decision, the much awaited truce talks with hanoi began. december, president johnson's chief negotiator at there stillported had been no substantive discussions. the north vietnamese negotiators clung to their long-held demand that all bombing must stop before they would discuss anything else. the president, in close counsel with his top military and foreign affairs advisors for assuranceed of de-escalation should the stop -- be stopped. no such assurance was forthcoming. host: back to your point --mark kramer, but, elizabeth cobbs, you had richard nixon w

the search for peace though -- the north vietnamese were not interested. they wanted to win on the battlefield. the soviet union was a different matter. the soviet union began to raise the question of these overtures to the north vietnamese. out thesehould put talks taking place in paris. more from 1968 and the johnson white house. [video clip] on march 31, president johnson had avoided a halt to all bombing programs expect over the dmz, an area where massive numbers continue to fall. as a result of this decision, the much awaited truce talks with hanoi began. december, president johnson's chief negotiator at there stillported had been no substantive discussions. the north vietnamese negotiators clung to their long-held demand that all bombing must stop before they would discuss anything else. the president, in close counsel with his top military and foreign affairs advisors for assuranceed of de-escalation should the stop -- be stopped. no such assurance was forthcoming. host: back to your point --mark kramer, but, elizabeth cobbs, you had richard nixon w

turned out, in fact, within two weeks, the americans and south vietnamese had beat back the north vietnamese. it appeared as if it really was it the defeat it was. but then, it turned out the north had a kind of bloody interparty battle about whether to do tet or not. that puts aside more moderate actors in vietnam, more hardline group of actors involved in the war. the war transformed into a much more conventional war after 1968. so, it is one of those things where so many happened thing -- happened as a result of it. it's a good way for people to understand the levels of complexity involved in thinking about what it was to be in vietnam. susan: it is a complex history and we had a brief time to thank you for talking about vietnam then and now. appreciate your time. present bradley: -- professor bradley thank -- professor bradley: thanks for having me. >> a north vietnamese soldier came to the ground. my guy saw him. it was too late. he threw a hand grenade at me. it hit a pole in a hut. it went off. mypeppered my jacket, ripped -- and cut a handle off of my shovel. a piece of shrapnel hit

. >> who is hunting the north korean government? vietnamese was verily heavily armed that was very heavily armed. oddsnion and china were at at that point. they were competing with each other for a greater influence in northern vietnam. that worked out well for the north vietnamese because they can play them off against each other and get more weapons. >> explain what was happening and how that is relevant to today. in north korea they began playing both sides against the middle. at the same time they were always doing their own thing. they seized the uss pueblo, which was an american shift. a spy mission on in what most people consider it international waters. happened in january of 1968 is that the north korean seized this american naval ship. it was lightly armed, it was ill-prepared, they were unable to fight off the chasers and ultimately fighters that went after the ship. the interesting thing about that is that neither the chinese nor the soviets were aware this was going to happen. like today, was something instigated by the north kore

on the morning of 28 january, 1968, the north vietnamese ministry of defense notified its southern front commands via an encrypted radio transmission that the general offensive was to begin at midnight of between the first and second days of tet. the vietnamese lunar new year and a national holiday. attacks across the country began the next day and continued for three weeks or more, engulfing south vietnam in savage fighting that left thousands dead on both sides and hundreds of thousands of vietnamese rendered homeless and destitute. by any measure the tet offensive was one of the most significant events of the 20th century, and the publication of this book at the 50th anniversary of tet serves two purposes. first, it adds to our continuing national conversation about vietnam, and it helps us to remember the service and sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of army soldiers. this is significant in that our chief historian jof hoffman writes in the book's forward half of the u.s. population now is too young to have a direct memory of the vietnam war. the spirited discussion and strident cri

they began to raise the question of overtures the north vietnamese, but the north vietnamese were not interested in listening to that. >> and these talks were taking place in paris from 1968 and in the johnson white house. >> on march 31, president johnson had ordered a bombing halt in all areas of north vietnam except the immediate panhandle above the dmz, an area where massive numbers of infiltrators continued the war. as a result of this decision a much awaited meeting began in paris on may 15. during september eight ambassador, the president's chief negotiator reported that after four months and 21 formal sessions, there's still had been no substantive discussions. the north vietnamese negotiators held to their demands that all bombing must stop. the president in close counsel with his top military and worn affair advisors repeatedly asked for assurances that hanoi would reciprocate with some form of military de-escalation should the bombing he stopped. no such assurance was forthcoming. >> that was from the johnson white house. but elizabeth cobbs, you had richard nixon who had h

that's the north vietnamese strong point where the rocket firing is coming from.the firing with grenade launch zbleers i had a strong group of marines unwavering in going forward under intense fire. after 24 days of heavy fighting the americans in the south vietnamese troop push the nem out of the sit dell. the estimate was 80% of the city was destroyed and 80% of the population was homeless. in order to preserve the city of hue we had to destroy the city of hue. >> whatever price the communists paid for the offensive the price to allied offensive was high. if the intention was to restore peace ander issent and normalcy to the country. the destruction of those qualities to this city is a setback. >> wamter cronkite had a language audience and when he delivered when he did from vietnam it had an impact. >> it is increasingly clear to this reporter the only rational way to be get out not as victims but as an honorable people who lived up the pledge to defend democracy. >> he felt he had a public obls to share with the merps that our government is not tell us the tru

. >> b-52 bombers today made six raids on north vietnamese positions around the united states marine's a marine base up in the northwestern corner of south vietnam. the forces started attacking. >> 6,000 american marines and 5,000 vietnamese rangers are surrounded by 40,000 communist troops. >> and general westmoreland says, this is great. this is the big culminating battle that we wanted. >> johnson is very worried that the outcome of this battle could change the outcome of the war. >> the eyes of the nation and of all history itself are on that brave band of defenders at khe sanh, and the area that is around it. [ gun shots ] >> it's hard for me to imagine that the '60s would have turned out the way they did had there been no war in vietnam. [ chanting ] >> they raised their voices, their placards, and they marched against the government. >> 1968 is the culminating moment for a generation of young people who couldn't understand with so much unrest at home, why there were so many resources going into the vietnam war. >> i had a big sign on my bulletin board at home that said "aliena

it's a strong north vietnamese force. they just saw something happening and said we are going after these guys. >> watch the entire program at 10 a.m. eastern on sunday. american history tv, only on c-span three. >> sunday night on afterwards. , which with her book explores how the body ages and dies. she is interviewed by new york times science reporter natalie injure. >> that's one of the jobs of being old. passing the torch. passing it on to younger hands. >> on c-span book tv. >> next on american history tv, historian mark philip bradley from the university of chicago discusses the vietnam war. he explains why teaching the vietnam war has changed and reflects on u.s. vietnam relations today. we interviewed him at the american historical association in washington dc. this is about 15 minutes. >> mark bradley teaches history forhe university of chicago the history of vietnam and human rights. i want to talk about the unum. a good year to be a vietnam historian. how has america's understanding of the war change over 50 y

it was a strong north vietnamese ce. spiri >> they acted without permission?t said we are going to go after these guys. announcer: watch the entire program at 10:00 a.m. sunday, american history tv, only on c-span3. ,nnouncer: sunday on q&a university of virginia history professor on the age of eisenhower in america and the world in the 1950's. >> well, i call it the discipline presidency. eisenhower the way he carried himself and the man he was was a great athlete when he was young, unorganized man am a very methodical, but that is how he ran the white house too, he was extremely organized. especially the young senator, future president, john kennedy criticized eisenhower's touching as for being organized and predictable, but for eisenhower it meant that when crises came, he had a plan. he knew how to respond. he used to say plans are worthless, but planning is everything, so you are always thinking what is over the hill, what crisis might a rep, and we should be thinking about it. so he was very systematic in the way he governed. he met the president every w

the search for peace though -- the north vietnamese were not interested. they wanted to win on the battlefield. the soviet union was a different matter. the soviet union began to raise the question of these overtures to the north vietnamese. out thesehould put talks taking place in paris. more from 1968 and the johnson white house. [video clip] on march 31, president johnson had avoided a halt to all bombing programs expect over the dmz, an area where massive numbers continue to fall. as a result of this decision, the much awaited truce talks with hanoi began. december, president johnson's chief negotiator at there stillported had been no substantive discussions. the north vietnamese negotiators clung to their long-held demand that all bombing must stop before they would discuss anything else. the president, in close counsel with his top military and foreign affairs advisors for assuranceed of de-escalation should the stop -- be stopped. no such assurance was forthcoming. host: back to your point --mark kramer, but, elizabeth cobbs, you had richard nixon w

in 1968, in the thick of the conflict with vietnam, the north vietnamese lost in offensive on the vietnamese holiday of the new year. entirely unexpected. traditionally, this had been a day of truce. they blew a hole in the compound, the embassy. there was a wall surrounding it, and they planted a bomb in it and they blew a hole in it, and in this way, the vietnamese forces were actually able to enter the courtyard. this put american diplomats in extreme danger, but they were held in the courtyard and never actually made it inside the embassy. they were finally driven out by some helicopter reinforcements coming in, but the american diplomats inside were very brave. they kept up the line of communications with the united states the whole time, and they never left their posts. so the gentleman who retrieved that has an interesting narrative about going in 2003 and noticed they were ripping up the sidewalk, and that is actually right near where the hole was blown into the embassy compound. katie: right. and as the gentleman who retrieved the sidewalk for us pointed out, this attack spilled out

the vietnamese were fighting a war for independence, for that get linked to the cold war because north vietnam has a communist association and the chinese are supportive. the fundamental war for the vietnamese was about independence. domino theories, and that's way, don't signify the ways in which they did for johnson or nixon. the extent around it, you get to the other side of it, and in 1975, the communists were victorious and today, we have a market economy that looks much like it was in their wildest in hopes of what the vietnam war would become and it never did. a wayu know, history has and moving directions people to understand. how important was normalization? >> we can sometimes overestimate the impact of the united states on places like vietnam and others as well. duringa trade embargoed the vietnam war which we did not lift until the 1990's and once we did, that is what moved toward diplomatic relations. in the meantime, everybody what was successful there. in talking about why the vietnamese economy has been successful of this market economy, one has to look toward europe an

were knocked out fifty years ago the north vietnamese and the americans shot at one another. today at the veterans shake hands the vietnamese speak the more united and the americans listen . the roles are clear cut it's time for a history lesson at a military cemetery. thousands of vietnamese soldiers are buried here killed by american weapons in the hands of american soldiers. there's a feeling of guilt in the air but the words unspoken. promise for sergeants here all the people who died. this week it's pretty heavy oh ok off the top of them and all about what is it what are all spoilt for a marriage of around us in a family where i was still more than. it just shows you the tragedy. of who it is gary was a sergeant twenty one years old at the time now at seventy one he says doctors weren't able to help him overcome his trauma. but maybe this journey can. memories continue to resurface along with images and old wounds. the veterans long for reconciliation both with their own past and their former enemies. it was exactly fifty years ago that u.s. combat troops landed in vietn

it was time the north vietnamese opened fire on melvin and his team. another sergeant commanding another special forces team has been killed by another enemy bunker. wenttwo volunteers, he through an enemy minefield to recover his fallen comrade. upon reaching the fallen soldier, milton said a quick prayer and the enemy opened fire on them. just to comment were immediately wounded. -- his two comrades were immediately wounded. he grabbed two grenades, ran back into enemy fire and destroyed four enemy bunkers. he ran back into enemy fire to matte case that complaint -- that contained classified information. at that time, he was matte hit e chest and right arm. it was two hours before a navy light helicopter could respond to drop explosives to create an opening for melvin to get home safely. he was transferred to a hospital in japan. for his actions, melvin was awarded the distinguished service cross in april 1970. four years later, melvin received a phone call from a "senior" military leader who told him after review, his award was being upgraded to the

. ♪ >> i approached some abandoned site and when i got to the of the hut, a north vietnamese soldier the ground. my guy's saw him, but it was too late. he threw a hand grenade at me. hand grenade hit one of the p oles of the hut, a large oak beam or whatever is there, mahogany beam, and then it bounced off. jacket,red my flak ripped my -- i had a trenching tool in the back, a shovel, and it cut the handle off of that and threw me to the ground. and my leg -- a piece of shrapnel hit my leg. >> watch our five-week series with vietnam war veterans, send it -- sunday at 7:00 p.m. eastern on c-span3. because we were going to get a flat word -- no. because of fear. this was a dangerous little town during that area. anything, i do not want to know. if you step out of line, you could be killed. your house could be burned down, your family could be put in jail. you could lose your job, everything you own. everyone was so fearful during that time, but we had kids. sides ofn the other the railroad tracks because we were poor kids. so we didn't have anything to lose, but we did not tell our pare

it was at that time the north vietnamese opened fire on melvin and his team. he learned over the radio that another sergeant commending a different team had been killed near an enemy bunker. he immediately moved his men forward and with two volunteers, he went through an enemy minefield to recover his fallen comrade. upon reaching the fallen soldier, melvin said a quick prayer and the enemy opened fire on them. his two comrades were immediately wounded. he helped the wounded back to a safe position, grabbed 20 grenades, ran back into enemy fire and destroyed four enemy bunkers. he recovered his fellow green beret's body, then ran back into enemy fire to retrieve a matte -- a map case that contained classified information. at that time, he was hit in the chest and right arm. he was able to take cover behind a tree. it was about two hours before a navy light helicopter could respond to drop explosives to create an opening for melvin to escape safely. it took him two days to get with field hospital. he was transferred to a hospital in japan. for his actions, melv

. >> i approached some abandoned huts, and when i got to the side of the hut, a north vietnamese soldier came out of the ground. my guys saw him, but it was too late. he threw a hand grenade at me. the grenade hit one of the poles in the hut, one of the mahogany beams, bounced off, then it went off. it peppered my flak jacket, ripped my entrenching tool in the back, my shovel -- ripped the handle of the back. a piece of shrapnel hit my leg. more than 100,000 votes were posted on issues ranging from the vietnam war to the president's election. you can tweet us questions and comments during live events, see video previews of upcoming programs or look back at what happened on this day in american history. >> there is no constitutional issue here. the command of the constitution is plain. it is wrong, deadly wrong to deny any of your fellow americans the right to vote this country. up next, we her from one woman as she describes life in selma before the act was passed. >> i remember when i became of age to vote. my mother said, let's go. it is time to register. i remember when i went to vote

abandonedached some huts, and when i got to the side of the hut, a north vietnamese soldier came out of the ground. my guys saw him, but it was too late. he threw a hand grenade at me. the grenade hit one of the poles in the hut, one of the mahogany went, bounced off, then it off. it peppered my flak jacket, ripped my entrenching tool in the back, my shovel -- ripped the handle of the back. a piece of shrapnel hit my leg. >> watch our series with the vietnam war veterans on american history tv on c-span3. weekend, american history tv is joining our spectrum cable partners to showcase the history of selma, alabama. to learn more about the city's on our current tour, visit c-span.org/citiestourr. we continue now with the history of selma. ♪

. >> good evening, there was nothing encouraging in today's session with north vietnamese. >> there wereon lasted 2 1/2 hours. like the others before it, it ended without any visible sign of progress toward peace. >> johnson was trying to get the north vietnamese at the negotiating table. he thought, if i can do that, not only will it varnish my own legacy, but that will help hubert humphrey tremendously. >> north vietnam's top negotiators said there will be no breakthrough in the peace talk until the bombing has stopped unconditionally. >> the united states have dropped more bombs on north and south vietnam than they'd used in the entire world war ii. >> north vietnam would not enter into any negotiations until all bombings stopped in vietnam. >> for the last two weeks word of a breakthrough in peace has swept the world. there's been no official announcement by this country until the one the president is about to make right now. >> i have now ordered that all airmail and artillery bombardment of vietnam cease. >> there are people who are going to speculate how the president was able to

of the offenses is not what the north vietnamese or south vietnamese carmen national liberation front hoped for. people, analysts, editorial writers, trying to grapple with the impact of tet. they understand and are repeating information from the american military. vietnamese are our allies. no units went to the other side. there is no uprising. communistsngs expected to happen did not happen be on that surprise of seeing people in saigon and capturing these provincial capitals, but they had to yield them all eventually. , the americans when they assess the impact of the offenses on their effort in the theyryside, they find were back to where they were two years ago, their attempts to build support in the countryside had been undermined because they could not provide for the security of those people. that is where you see a sense of, well, this is also a military defeat for the united they.have lost time they don't have any more. united states. they have lost time they don't have any more. the american public had turned against the war by autumn 1967. that is why lbj brought we must m

forces dropped bombs an agent orange the powerful herbicide that destroyed the forests where north vietnamese fighters hid it also destroyed their crops fifty years later the water and the soil in these areas are still contaminated. meat. this is the third generation of agent orange survivors there doing their best to make the foreigners feel welcome. to be a medical center here a subsidized by donations mostly from the united states. when the veterans make donations they receive something priceless in return you know has this is my body that keeps rescuing me. is i guess if adopted. at all. it's a paradox that this war of half a century ago brings these people together today especially in the face of such heavy loss on both sides it's a huge tragedy lost opportunity for recruiting avoided with that of averted so many. military engagements and so much pain suffering and death and destruction but we didn't learn the lessons. that are. there for many of these veterans the decision to make this journey was difficult but now. i have no regrets. this time coming to vietnam was the right thing to d

. >> i approached some abandoned huts and when i got to the site of the hut, a north vietnamese soldier came out of the ground, my guy saw him but it was too late, he threw a hand grenade at me. the grenade hit one of the poles in the hut, large oak beam or whatever the wood is there. mahogany beam, and bounced off and then it went off and it peppered my -- my flak jacket, ripped -- i had an entrenching tool in the back, shovel, and it cut the handle off of that and threw me to the ground and my leg, piece of shrapnel hit my leg. >> watch our five-week series with vietnam war veterans starting sunday at 7:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span3. >> sunday on "q&a," university of virginia history professor william hitchcock on his book "the age of eisenhower." >> i call it the disciplined presidency and eisenhower, the way he carried himself and the man he was was a disciplined man, a great athlete when he was young, an organized man in every respect, very methodical but that's how he ran the white house, too. he was extremely organized and a lot of people, especially the young

. >> his north v nieves -- vietnamese captors interrogated him.d not cooperate. >> the only information you are obligated to give was your name, rank, serial number, and date of birth. >> mccain's injuries were left untreated. he would be left with infection and subsequent fever. the north vietnamese had a change of heart and decided to treat mccain went they realized who his father was. >> his father was in charge of all u.s. armed forces in the pacific. it made john mccain a valuable reasoner, someone who could possibly be exploited for propaganda purposes. >> his broken bones, arms put in bulky tests. mccain was offered an early release from captivity. but he refused. citing the military code of conduct. >> the code of conduct required prisoners of war to be released in the order that they were captured. >> i understood that the vietnamese didn't single me out for an offer of release because of in the act of charity on their part. it would be an issue of exploitation on their behalf. there wasn't any doubt about that. >> john mccain made it --

uts, and aandoned h north vietnamese soldier came out of the ground. he threw a hand grenade at me and the hand grenade hit one of in the hut and bounced off, and then it went off. and it peppered my flak jacket, i had a trenching tool in the back and it cut the handle off of that and threw me to the ground. and a piece of shrapnel hit my leg. our five-week series with vietnam war veterans, starting at 7:00 p.m. eastern sunday on c-span3. california congressman adam schiff comes to newsmakers this week. he is the ranking democrat on the house intelligence committee and has been a point person on the russia investigation. he is in his ninth term in congress and his position on the intelligence committee makes him part of congress' gang of eight, the group that has access to the most secret intelligence information in congress. executived by the political letter of the washington journal. congressman, on the one-year anniversary of the mueller investigation, we start with jerry and questions about korea. looked for the past several weeks that president t

many of the people who died were killed by north vietnamese or vietcong, but american munitions did a lot of that killing. that is partly what is fueling the sense of the need to stop the war. it was not just to save american lives and hopefully stop our country from disintegrating, but also to stop our country and our policy from killing vietnamese people who had not done anything to us. host: more calls in a moment, but here is a trailer for that new documentary called "hit and stay." it runs about two minutes. [video clip] >> i believe we are in times that make it increasingly impossible for christians to obey the law of the land. and to remain true to christ. >> at the height of the vietnam war, nine catholics entered there is building in catonsville, maryland. selective service files and brought those files into this parking lot and burn them with the help of homemade napalm. >> they stood around and were talking amongst themselves and they were praying and waiting for the feds to show up. it was a big new story. >> we were about publicity. we knew that this was drama, this was n

1975, television viewers watched their tv's as the last refugees are removed from saigon as north vietnameseorces take over the south. the 1976 campaign, gerald ford finds himself pitted against a fellow by the name of jimmy carter, another southerner. not just a southerner, but a southerner from georgia. jimmy carter, this is the time magazine cover from 1971, had been in the united states navy. he was from plains, georgia, grew up on a farm. in the navy, he had been an engineer, done submarine duty, and when he gets back, he decides that he has a responsibility to run for office. his early campaigns are notable. first, he runs for state office in georgia. in the 1960's he decides to make a run for the governorship of georgia and he is essentially defeated in the democratic primary by lester maddox. maddox runs a fairly racial campaign, leaving carter on the outside as a moderate. in 1970, when carter comes back running against carl sanders, it is carter who in the campaign takes the more extreme position. in fact, carter will draw off voters who had voted for wallace, nixon, and others. it

. >> the president is disappointed that the north vietnamese today were unwilling to discuss anythingas going to drag on a lot longer than they thought. >> it is already saturday in vietnam, and the latest communist offensive is now in its sixth day. it may be that the communists are trying to remind the negotiators that the vietcong must have a seat at the conference table when the future of vietnam is discussed. >> well, it's a real horse race out in oregon, and in that democratic primary there that could mean so much to the presidential hopes of senator robert kennedy and senator eugene mccarthy, it's too close, a cbs news estimate says to call. senator kennedy did make clear over the weekend that the outcome in oregon he felt was crucial to his hopes for the nomination. >> i can't lose. i mean, i can't afford the lose if i'm going to remain a very viable candidate. >> oregon was just as bad a state as you could imagine for bobby. very few minorities, very suburban, middle class, was progressive but kind of polite, and he never clicked there. >> oregon was a mccarthy victory. we we

the north vietnamese leadership believe large scale military action in the cities will stimulate a populard basically make the american position obtainable. >> we hope that when they mangle with the people and tell nated them, terrorized them they would join his ranks. >> the biggest fact is the stated purposes of the general uprising, a military victory or psychological victory have failed. >> the defense may have been a huge military defeat for the nlf but psychologically, it was an enormous victory because it suggested this war had no end. >> a lot of people. we probably have to drop back today. >> how do you feel yourself? >> scared, i guess. but i'm hopeful because i lost my engineer and helped me with my job. >> there was something corrupt and evil in our involvement and i'll tell you the moment that defined ted all over the world. it was the moment when general who was the chief of police of the saigon police department pulled out a snub nose 38 revolver and held it up to the temple and shot him, bang. eddie adams of the a.p. took the picture. it was the next day all over the world

lieutenant general who endorsed trump, repeating a debunked claim that mccain gave information to his north vietnamesertured him. lt. gen. thomas mcinerney (ret.)/ donald trump supporter: "the fact is, is john mccain, it worked on john. that's why they call him 'songbird john.'" fox says they won't have that general on again, but the bipartisan uproar keeps raging. former democratic vice president joe biden says the trump administration has hit "rock bottom."republican speaker of the house, paul ryan...paul ryan:"look, john mccain is a hero. no two ways about it." mccain has criticized trump's leadership, his policies, and he cast the deciding vote to stop a repeal of obamacare...among his many maverick moves his family and fans say will far outlast his critics.meghan mccain/ daughter of sen. john mccain "my father's legacy is going to be talked about for hundreds and hundreds of years. these people - nuthin' burgers. nobody's gonna remember you." ((vicki))that was tom forman reporting.kelly sadler is still employed at the white house. ((grant/me 3 vo))new tonight at nine...if you plan on visiting pea

. >> so yes, the vietnam war was the north vietnamese were aligned with china and the south vietnamese were the capitalist part of it so i was saying is that there are two pieces to thithis end and a lot of our des during those years were assuming that the vietnam was a pawn of communist china, that is just a puppet. the wealthy people in vietnam were not actually vietnamese. the. are you ethnic chinese and they will say we are vietnamese. thank you all for coming. [applause] [inaudible] [inaudible conversations]

lieutenant general who endorsed trump repeating a debunked claim that mccain gave information to his north vietnameseim. >> it worked on john. that's why they call him song bird john. >> fox says they won't have that general on again, but the bipartisan uproar is raging. joe biden says the trump administration has hit rock bottom. republican speaker of the house, paul ryan? >> look, john mccain is a hero. >> reporter: mccain has criticized trump's leadership, policies and cast the deciding vote to stop the appeal of obamacare, among his many maverick moves, his family and friends will far outlast his critics. >> my father's legacy is going to be talked about for hundreds of years. these people, nothing burgers. >> all of that said, there is still no word on whether this staffer will face any real consequences for her comments or even what president trump thinks about what she said. >> tom foreman, thank you. while meghan mccain wonders how the white house staffer who joked about her father ee brain cancer has a job, let's look at the unprecedented number of officials who have left this administration