saigon's troops made a stand. it was a vital one.e cut in two by the north vietnamese and the viet cong. >> the plan that the north vietnamese conceived would be a two-year plan. what happened was that when attacking the central highlands town of ban my thuit the thieu government lost its composure. >> government troops were secretly ordered by president thieu to pull out of the central provinces. >> the withdrawal became a rout, civilians and soldiers fleeing in panic, leaving behind huge supplies of american-made war materiels. >> the north vietnamese never dreamed it would result in such a dramatic decision as to abandon the highlands which had been fought over for 12 years so they reconvened their central military committee and determined that the iron is hot, and this is the time to strike. >> president thieu said he would not abandon the city, but the people are leaving anyway. the president said he would not abandon the city, and that city is gone. >> the world witnessed the tragedy of the overrunning of cities, and the next t

officials see the fall of saigon coming. and so the infrastructure is laid to try to secure the evacuation of close american allies that would really face significant reprisals if they have stayed. about 125,000 evacuated alongside u.s. personnel in 1975. the really significant disparity between the few that leave and the many that were involved in anti-communist efforts, civil and military officials of south vietnam, they face dire straits, the losing side in what was in vietnam a civil war. this precipitates what scholars call the "refugee question." not only are there these statements about people that shows a powerless journey, there are the offspring of american soldiers and vietnamese women that stood out in a homogenous society. and then there are the political prisoners. right now my research focuses on the political prisoners, those that the vietnamese government put into what they call the reeducation camps. steven scully: a big of a story about these children. can you explain that -- how big of a story were the ch

ambassador was leaving saigon. the result heightened the we had missed the plane and bangladesh so the result heightened the dramatic moment. it was me and another quaker staff person and others from the indochina peace campaign, which we worked very closely with. we were in this culminating moment of what had been, for many of us, hourly teens or -- all of our late teens or early 20's's or 30's. what had probably helped to define us in the civil rights movement had already had that. i added the peace corps on that. but then it was the vietnam experience, learning what it meant about what our country was in its ability to not understand history and what it was doing in the world, but also to learn about what motivated folks who had sees history and were determined that that history was theirs. we think of vietnam is a small country. it is of course 90 billion people -- 9 million people. it has never been a tiny country. laos is tiny. cambodia is tiny. vietnam always was and will be a key focal point that tom hayden

i live in orange county these days near little saigon. very successfully, they own restaurants and theirf businesses and children are well-educated. to a person, they will tell you that the war should have been won thing that the americans should have done more. they realize and they will admit that there were weaknesses within their own government. they feel that they were worth supporting longer defend and support came. i don't agree with that viewpoint because i feel that the u.s. had already done much say president eisenhower or president kennedy ever foresaw. had reason that vietnam was what they called a domino that had to be held at, if it had fallen, neighboring with it andght fall that would mean they were be a communist push into southeast asia. eisenhower and kennedy had that idea. kennedy agreed to a peace laos.ment in an important ambassador negotiated that deal. , who had ideas to develop the green beret, the great heroic force that essentially was fighting the early wars in vietnam, even he, towards the end of his third ter

we have to escalate to prove to send a message to saigon then the more we have to escalate to help him transform the bad man policy the idea to pretend we're crazy soar the north vietnamese would think we might do but what ever comes before this the actual act of moral insanity the ravishing and act of lerner neutral country except for that act. nixon and kissinger is bobbing hope to decelerate the country civil war provoke a coup that provokes the invasion that provokes a civil war that there is a bomb so the circle isn't broken over and over in north vietnam, angola, mozambique kissinger repeated the plunges into the four texts of his own circular argument the action has to be avoided to show that it is possible it gave for word a bit of a price after the fall of saigon. but when saigon fell in 35 he gave up piece of advice to ford united states will have to take some action somewhere in the world. some action somewhere. so that continued out of office he urged the clinton to step up the bombing to demonstrate american purpose that is what he and nixon did in southeast asia and wheth

saigon, 1975. the best analogy i can give you for what is happening, what's going to happen in richmond, is a shipwreck. the city, its population, and its garrison will go through every single human emotion possible in the next 36 hours. april 3, 1865. it is the end of an era. these cities are all symbols. cities change hands all throughout warfare. what makes these different? it's the symbolism. it is also the fact that they are watersheds. the fall of singapore ended the british empire in the far east. manila has never been the same since the second world war when the japanese took her in 1941 and the destruction of 1945. for the impact on paris, just watch casablanca for the impact on paris. the global reverberations of that offense, the helicopters going off the embassy roof, that puts a very sharp point. richmond, for the confederates, and for the union, is the same thing. let's talk about what happens to the city of richmond when jeff davis is pulled out of church and told you have six hours.

she was 20 years old and starring in miss saigon. in a world that's moving too fast in a world where nothing can last i will hold you >> reporter: she went on to twice star in les miserables. i dreamed a dream in time gone by >> reporter: she, her husband and daughter live in the philippines. she's moved back to new york to play this role in allegiance. here's something that most people don't know about her. >> my husband and i share this love. we both love video games. sometimes we'll play different ones. at other times he'll be like you've got to play this. and that was like the best thing ever. tomb raider is another favorite. assassin's creed for me. >> reporter: what will she be doing 10 years from now? >> people like frank sinatra and tony bennett, they're still at it. they have long careers. i'd like to have that, too. ernie: talk about a great talent, isn't she wonderful? amazing. another great talent, meet alex brightman, star of school of rock the musical. so good to have you here. >> nice to be here. ernie: a lot of good t

michelle here earlier that i think when you have culture-specific communities, you have your little saigons, chinatowns, japantowns and so on and the broader diaspora which is basically saturated the population, the overarching kinds of things that can draw people together would be music, dance, the arts. and so i think in terms of what aaci is doing right now, they're bringing more of the arts into their program approaches and i think that's wonderful. >> you're right. a well-rounded, comprehensive thing is really important. thank you both for being here. have fun at your event. i hope i can drop by. >> you'd better be there. >> aaci, asian americans for community involvement is having its annual fund-raiser better together october 10th at the santa clara convention center. for more details and information, go to nbcbayarea.com. >>> coming up, a unique tribute to the heroines and heroes of the lgbt community next. ♪ ♪ yoplait. the smooth and creamy yogurt your whole family loves. yoplait original with no artificial sweeteners, no artificial flavors, and no high fructose corn syrup. my name

today research engineer a big fan who came to the united states when his family escaped the fall of saigon. he wouldn't trade this future for the movie version ever. >> worked out okay i guess. the future has a lot to offer. we have -- a great opportunity in this country and the future -- the possibilities are endless. >> reporter: in reston. >> i was a baby when that movie came out. >> i was a grown man. >> were you a young man -- you were a young man a major film festival features modern productions kicks off the weekend. >>> a scandalous acquisition. several women saying handy man gave them a lewd ultimatum if they needed something repaired. >> a very mild night. here are the low temperatures overnight which you can get by down loading our free app. go to the app store and search. only 46 -- 45 leesburg and fairfax. we will come back. we had a cold front we are tracking. see what that means for your high school football game and the weekend. >> superheros band together to remember one of their one. the touching way they paid tribute to the route 29 batman is coming up on wusa9 and your

"terror in little saigon." >> go to pbs.org/frontline for more from filmmaker martin smith about hisfrom syria. >> smith: is it necessary for... can president assad bring the country back together? >> no place in syria is safe. we're not safe in our homes. >> explore our full archive of reports from the war zone. then connect to the frontline community on facebook and twitter. visit us on youtube for even more original frontline reporting. and if stories like this matter to you, then sign up for our newsletter at pbs.org/frontline. >> frontlinis made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. and by the corporation for public broadcasting. major support for frontliis provided by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information is available at macfound.org. additional support is provided by the park foundation, dedicated to heightening public awareness of critical issues. the john and helen glessner family trust, supporting trustworthy journalism that informs and insp

. >> i'm going to see "miss saigon" and i went to get the tickets.icture taken with a topless eleanor roosevelt look alike. >> what a thrill that must have been. what tip did you give her? >> two tips. >> okay. >> so you have come up with in addition to water to senator marco rubio, you want to give gifts to others. >> i wrote them down. >> i put a christmas list together. i like rubio. that's how you should take it. they are important people. they lost their sense of humor. i like that he was cool. the first thing i will give all 20 candidates and there are -- >> counting the democrats. i have 24-bottle case, 16.9 ounces in each bottle. i got all 20 of them a case of john boehner's tears from the last two days. the rest of it, we took down to panama and filled up. >> that's a collector size. you can get money on ebay for that. >> that's what i got everybody. donald trump got a bumper sticker saying my other plane is air force one. he's the only guy who will be president, slumming it on the plane. bernie sanders, a bill for half of what he has. >> he

he saigon in '75. and he wants to dump in the lap of the next president. >> i want to play a sound byte from defense secretary ash carter on the difference of combat mission and counterterrorism. >> the combat mission has ended. and our mission now on a day-to-day basis is train, advise and assist in counterterrorism and only to undertake other kinds of operations either to protect our own forces or in an extremist situation. our mission on a day-to-day basis is and will continue to be first of all, counterterrorism. >> our pentagon team points out there have been 328 u.s. air strikes through september. but the combat mission lure apparently is over. >> i think most people watching this have no idea what's going on in afghanistan. they see we've been there for years and years and the old thing, it's a graveyard of empires. i think just talking politically here, not militarily, there could be a scenario whereof course if this blew up, hillary clinton's a nominee, it's a disaster for her. i'm not saying

he saigon in '75. of the next president. >> i want to play a sound byte from defense secretary ash carter on the difference of combat mission and counterterrorism. >> the combat mission has ended. and our mission now on a day-to-day basis is train, advise and assist in counterterrorism and only to undertake other kinds of operations either to protect our own forces or in an extremist situation. our mission on a day-to-day basis is and will continue to be first of all, counterterrorism. >> our pentagon team points out there have been 328 u.s. air strikes through september. but the combat mission lure apparently is over. >> i think most people watching this have no idea what's going on in afghanistan. they see we've been there for years and years and the old thing, it's a graveyard of empires. i think just talking politically here, not militarily, there could be a scenario whereof course if this blew up, hillary clinton's a nominee, it's a disaster for her. i'm not saying that's why he made the decision.

afghans are under real pressure from the taliban and now even from isis, we can have a scene like saigon975 with a storming of the embassy, americans being air lifted and catastrophe. he can't have that happen on his watch. he would rather have if on the next watch. so i think he will be careful about evacuation. i suspect he will keep the troop level where it is. >> latest fox news poll, marah, president obama on foreign policy. the president's leadership on foreign policy weak and indecisive at 52%. strong and decisive at 32%. we have seen these numbers upside down for a while now. but there are, with with syria, now with afghanistan, the question is whether a thousand troops is still too few. >> well, that's a good question but is he taking the advice of his military advisors who announced not long ago that they thought that the levels they were talking about were too low and they were recommend ago higher level. we are hearing the number 5,000 which would keep it at a steady state. as much as the president wanted to get out, he doesn't want to leave chaos behind either. >> steve? >>

afghans are under real pressure from the taliban and now even from isis, we can have a scene like saigoning of the embassy, americans being air lifted and catastrophe. he can't have that happen on his watch. he would rather have if on the next watch. so i think he will be careful about evacuation. i suspect he will keep the troop level where it is. >> latest fox news poll, marah, president obama on foreign policy. the president's leadership on foreign policy weak and indecisive at 52%. strong and decisive at 32%. we have seen these numbers upside down for a while now. but there are, with with syria, now with afghanistan, the question is whether a thousand troops is still too few. >> well, that's a good question but is he taking the advice of his military advisors who announced not long ago that they thought that the levels they were talking about were too low and they were recommend ago higher level. we are hearing the number 5,000 which would keep it at a steady state. as much as the president wanted to get out, he doesn't want to leave chaos behind either. >> steve? >> look. we saw the

south vietnamese greets someone else at sign saigon airport during a brief goodwill visit.is part of the controversial southeast asian tour. the four hour stopover included a private conference on the war. a very carefully avoided criticizing the north vietnamese, but added that peace is not possible until hanwell -- hanoi decides to accept u.s. offers to negotiate. 150 gallons of motor fuel spread over 600 feet, becomes a gigantic tool of flames. it is a demonstration of the navy's newest fire extinction -- fire extinction. tragic fires aboard aircraft carriers led to its invention. it may be the answer for a recommended massive fire extinction system. one man and 25 seconds proves its power. >> join american history tv for chores and live interviews from the national world war ii museum in new orleans saturday, november 7. will explore the road to berlin and the african american story. we will take your questions from historians

before the tet offensive when cia headquarters failed to pass along the warning from cia's station in saigon that an unprecedented enemy offensive was at hand. but the fact remains that cia estimates of the enemy's order of battle and staying power will consistently more ominous and as events would prove, more accurate than those produced elsewhere. senior white house staffers occasionally express concern over the pdb's perceived negativism on vietnam. bromley smith, the nfc's executive secretary during the johnson administration told an agency officer at the time that you're going to break the president's heart. he thinks things are much better today, but that's no reason for not writing it as you see it. in covering the world in 2015, we at cia are still writing it as we see it. our contributions to the pdb, which today is published under the auspices of the office of the director of national intelligence at cia headquarters benefit from the enormous range of talents, skills, and disciplines that cia brings to bear in fulfilling our global mission. drawing on the intelligence and ground tr

but they just need to not have one of -- not have it be a saigon 1975 situation where guys are being pulled off the roof of the embassy, right. militarily, probably, unfortunately, the tactical reality at the ground has been undercut at the strategic level by this image of irresoluteness almost from the begin of the afghan surge in 2010 with an artificially imposed withdrawal date. even when the president has made bold military moves, it's been undercut by the needs of his sort of domestic political theater at home. >> when you talk about bold military moves, that's what the cite rix saying. in fact, far from it. >> a little bit just plays into the overall strategy right now for the administration of trying to avoid disaster, right. probably 5,000 guys -- >> perhaps let's say to isis moving in to afghanistan? >> the isis thing is interesting because when i first heard about the reports of isis, we've been waiting for the insurgency to splinter and start fighting each other since virtually our first guys were on the ground there, right? what concerns me about the isis thing now is isi

to his credit, it was simply the fall of saigon.not say that kissinger did not try and try sincerely. that cameration o in age in 1968, the baby boomers, it was an conference call that he and richard nixon sought to use force to try to achieve peace. this is one of the keys to the story. a huge generational gap between the men who had fought in world war ii and the next generation that came to college in late two 1960's and early 1970's. that would be the big theme of the second volume. it is striking how quickly he lost illusions about the world. that is turn the following weeks were to travel around in the hair-raising locations held by the vietcong. tom: could he be a quickie -- could het to be possibly want to be secretary of state in 2015? niall: i think in 1992, he would be the first to admit. tom: he could do it. i was with him six weeks ago. at 92 years old, he could do it. niall: there is no question he has astonishing energy and thought power still there. the one considers difficulty of u.s. foreign-policy and 2015, there

offensive in january 1968 when cia headquarters of the pass along the warning from cia's station in saigon that an unprecedented enemy offensive was at hand. but the fact remains that the cia's estimates were consistently more ominous and, as events would prove, more accurate than those produced elsewhere. senior white house staffers occasionally expressed concern over the pdb's conceived negativism on vietnam. told an agency officer at the time that, you are going to break the president's heart. he thinks things are much better today, but that is no reason for not writing it as you see it. and covering the world in 2015, we at cia are still writing it as we see it. ,ur contributions to the pdb which today is published under the offices of the office of director of national intelligence at cia headquarters, benefit from the enormous range of talents and disciplines that the cia brings to bear in for filling our global mission. drawing on the intelligence and ground truth by the agencies worldwide network, as well as the expertise and insight of our source analysts at headquarters and overs

aid in 1974 and the fall of saigon a year later.n't maintain aid these governments, they will collapse. they might not collapse, in the whole country but in large parts of it. then the question is simply why should we provide assistance to these governments are relatively dysfunctional and corrupt? the answer comes back to our own national security and the s inibility of seeing isi afghanistan. the question of putin sending his own troops afghanistan, i don't think he will. he's got a commitment in the ukraine right now and i don't see that happening in the near term. host: the house is about to gavel in any second. what you watching for the coming days? telegram has put -- taliban has put the government under pressure. they tried to -- not just in kunduz, they've been holding the province for months now. without taking the capital itself. and they had done various plans and kandahar and then you have the isis branch during attacks in the east now. is the anniversary of the national unity government. commander, the new commander is

south vietnamese greets someone else at sign saigon airport during a brief goodwill visit.is part of the controversial southeast asian tour. the four hour stopover included a private conference on the war. a very carefully avoided criticizing the north vietnamese, but added that peace is not possible until hanwell -- hanoi decides to accept u.s. offers to negotiate. 150 gallons of motor fuel spread over 600 feet, becomes a gigantic tool of flames. it is a demonstration of the navy's newest fire extinction -- fire extinction. tragic fires aboard aircraft carriers led to its invention. it may be the answer for a recommended massive fire extinction system. one man and 25 seconds proves its power. >> join american history tv for chores and live interviews from the national world war ii museum in new orleans saturday, november 7. will explore the road to berlin and the african american story. we will take your questions from historians

the south vietnamese premier ky meets the japanese premier saathoff at saigon airport during a goodwill visit, part of saathoff's controversial southeast asia tour. the four hour stop over included a private conference on the war. saathoff carefully avoided criticizing the north vietnamese, but added that peace is not possible until hanoi decides to accept u.s. offers to negotiate. one hundred 50 gallons of motor fuel spread over 600 feet become a gigantic pool of flames. it is a demonstration of the navy's newest fire extinguisher. three tragic fires aboard aircraft carriers led to its development. navy officials said the fires should not have happened. for a be the answer recommended massive fire extinction system. one in 25 seconds dramatically proved its power. onjoin american history tv saturday, november 7 for tours and mike interviews from the national world war ii museum in new orleans. we will explore the submarine experience, the road to berlin, and the african american story. we will take your questions for historians joining us throughout the day. world war ii, 70 years late