it was strategic because it was right between saigon and the sea. what a way tortuous to saigon. saigon was the largest city in south vietnam. where all the materials that would come into commercial activity for the country. ships would have to gather and work their way up the river. invitation to ambush. the enemy was there in force. rifles, grenades, mines. took a toll of some of the ships that worked there. it was called the forest of assassins for good reason. a law to of the bandits in pre-war days lived there and did their dirty work. here is one of the soviet-made minds that was recovered -- mines that was recovered. that could sink a ship. here is an occasion where it did sink a ship. mariners, and merchant mariners did not get a lot of credit but they paid a price to do this run to saigon throughout the war. merchant ships and even ships from other countries made this dangerous run up the river. it was re-floated in and brought back into service temporarily. so, what we had to do, you cannot allow the ships to be attacked. so the navy deployed mind seeking boats. various

they fight is they cannot tolerate the saigon regime. you may be wondering why do we americans support such a regime. they are not communist. they are a lot of bad things but they are not communist. evil wem is the great perceive at that point in time. if you were to get one book from the vc perspective on the war, get a viacom memoir. etcong memoir. was thevation he had occupation of the country by the united states and the corrupt saigon regime. they tried to re-educate the viacom. nva.d no love lost for the once they take over in 1975, they will go to reeducation camps. the bombing in rolling thunder did not suit the character of the war that was then occurring. here's the second part. evaluating rolling thunder. if lyndon johnson's political controls on the bombing had been removed your american air commanders would have done it the same way. exception.y they would've done it in six weeks instead of three and a half years. difference.made no a great constraint on the bombing that america does in vietnam is air force doctrine. if you

these guys fight because they cannot tolerate the saigon regime. you might be wondering, why do we americans support such a corrupt and out of touch regime? -- they ares simple not communist. they are a lot of bad things, but they are not communist. communism is the great evil we perceive at that point in time. if you were to get one book on perspective on the war, you would get a viet cong memoir . the vietnam minister of justice. he will say the reason he fought regimeause of the saigon and the occupation of his country by americans. that was his motivation. when he met his counterparts, they try to reeducate the viet cong. .e had no love lost for the nva when they finally takeover in 1975, many viet cong's will go toeducation camps -- go reeducation camps. that is the first part of my thesis. the bombing in rolling thunder did not suit the character of the war that was occurring. of mys the second part thesis, evaluating rolling thunder. if lyndon johnson's political controls on the bombing had been removed, american air commanders would have do

. >> monday, november 4th, 1963, over the weekend, the coup in saigon took place.that we must bear a good deal of responsibility for it. i should not have given my consent to it without a round table conference. i was shocked by the death of diem. the way he was killed made it particularly abhorrent. >> when that assassination took place, we owned it. it actually started that early in the '60s, in the kennedy administration. >> when kennedy came into office in january of 1961, you had on the order of about 600 u.s. military advisors in south vietnam. by the time he left on that fateful trip to dallas in november 1963, there were more than 16,000. >> john kennedy's death commands what his life conveyed, that america must move forward. >> i think johnson genuinely felt that continuity in the government after this terrible event was essential to retaining the confidence of the american people. >> and now the ideas and the ideals which he so nobly represented must and will be translated into effective action. give yourself the gift of a better network. get up to 50% of

started heading toward the communist capital 200 miles northwest of american military headquarters in saigonnixon extinct if we embrace the right-wing leader of the cambodian coup, a general no one knew well but with a name like could forget, long knoll. president nixon asked me to draft several telegrams containing extravagant expressions of friendship and support required marshall greene, he was secretary of state. i was concerned that long knoll would read into those messages a degree of u.s. military support and commitment that exceeded what our government could deliver on. also regarded long knoll as lacking any qualities needed to lead his country out of its nest. does any of this ring a bell? sms deep and daily in cambodia nixon ordered the cia to the fight, quote i want helms to develop and implement a plan where maximum assistance for assistance in cambodia. helms said that he would support with untraceable money and guns, and arsenal of communist weapons like ak-47 assault rifles. this proved difficult. cambodia had no american ambassador, no station chief, no cia military officers

i am not saying that people did not do this in saigon and whatever, not picking on saigon. but we did not have the opportunity for that. we had good troops, good american soldiers. they were fighting men and i admire them very much. i think they took of him rep and i hope this helped -- bum wrap and i hope this helps show the public we had some tremendous show men on our side. host: ok. one of years from now and some is watching this, listening to this. what do you want to tell them about the battle? what you wanted to tell them about the men there in yourself? -- and yourself? major freeman: i would hope somebody finds a solution other than war. but i don't believe they will. i will tell you a quick story about my grandson. he is my fishing buddy. and he is now a schoolteacher. he went to college on a scholarship and played baseball. when he was about nine years old we were going up the river fishing in my truck. out of the blue sky he says, grandpa, do they fight wars on weekends? i said yes. we drove around a couple more curves. he said grandpa, to they fight wars on hol

saigon under fire. >> the enemy in vietnam has demolished the myth that a live military strength controlstry. >> the american embassy is under siege. inside are the vietcong terror squads that charged in during the night. >> the tet offensive was an enormous game changer. they were shooting up the american embassy. they had hit dozens of cities all over vietnam. it was a tremendous shock. >> we have known for several months now that the communist planned a massive, winter-spring offensive. we do not think that our military operations are going to be at all materially affected. >> he was unable to be honest with the american people, because, of course, he was unwilling to simply say, this is an unwinnable war. >> cronkite's vietnam report, reel one, take four. >> these ruins are in saigon, capital of the largest city of south vietnam. >> when he went to vietnam during tet, it was the first time, and maybe the only time, that walter had shown any kind of bias in his public broadcast. >> it is increasingly clear to this report, that the only rational way out would be to negotiate, not as vic

so when, the fall of saigon, april 30th of 1975. and when you look at some of those cables that are coming out of saigon at that very moment, it's chaos. it's absolute chaos. there's enough work that has to be done to evacuate american personnel, the south vietnamese is really, they're very secondary if on the radar at all. nevertheless, given the refugee crisis that we're looking at in europe, this is an instructive time to be thinking about what we did do, 130,000 south vietnamese were evacuated from april to december of 1975. that's a large number in a short time, given the fact that we had no refugee resettlement process established yet. we had none of the social services established yet like we do now. and that over the subsequent decades we did resettle over 1 million southeast asian refugees, not only from vietnam but from laos. and my hometown has been transformed. >> i agree with what erica said, but the other angle is that the civil rights legislation, both in terms of the civil rights act and the hart-celler act, they're

i got syphilis in a saigon whorehouse. still. brave. how'd you fake your way into this job? what makes you think i faked my way into... didn't turn off the main water valve, did you? didn't wear a condom, did you? a lot of entrees stacking up here. it's okay, i got it. uh... table six, please. thank you. great job. uh... table two, please. thank you. great job! uh... (gasps) those are hot. thanks for the heads up. thanks for the yellow broccoli! i am c. plunkett, manager. i am c. plunkett, manager. be right with you! ah! careful, hot plates. (clears throat) (quietly): c. plunkett, manager. whoa! uh... ramone, can you do me a favor and please mop this up? no habla. oh, you totally habla! i am so sorry. let me just get your menus... hey, i've been waiting 45 minutes for my car. yeah, we're a little short-handed at the valet station. while you wait, why don't you have a drink on the house? you want me to drink and drive? oh, i'm sure you'll sober up by the time you get your car. please, follow me. woman: excuse me, i have a problem. uh, here-- your table's right over there. you

. >> i know that my sisters came from saigon, vietnam, and they both came at a time where adoption wassed over in vietnam. i know that my parents fought very hard to get both of them. >> are you pretty happy about having these sister sns. >> exceptionally. >> jennifer far land and her husband adopted gillian 14 years ago. >> i was about three to four months. >> reporter: have you been to vietnam? >> one last christmas. it was very fun. >> they had quinn three years later. a few years after that, they decided to adopt again. >> you came into a family that already had a couple of kids, huh? how did that feel? >> well, i was having less attention. >> reporter: jennifer far land says the adoption expo can help. >> if anything, that was the peace that when i look back that i miss and i wish i would have had. >> reporter: that missing piece you will probably find here. the adoption expo is this saturday at the carnegie library in d.c. it begins at 11:00 a.m. for more information, search adoption expo on nbcwashington.com. if you have room in your home and heart for any of our wednesday's chi

. >> reporter: police saigon members would -- gang members would get their girlfriends to rent cars so the vehicles couldn't be traced and then they would go to parking lots. they used a simple tool like this one to shatter car windows and steal electronics. sometimes they were well haden and that is when they turn -- haden and that is when -- hidden and that is when they turned to bluetooth. . >> you could see there is an electronic device in the car. your app in your phone would pair with that device so it is easy to identify cars with electronics. . >> reporter: [ inaudible question ] >> i am not going to leave it in my car. >> reporter: 12 people have been arrested and 9 are being sought. he was hurt after he tried to run over a police officer in february. prompting the officer to open fire. another defendant has been charged in connection with a robby of two news -- robbery of two news crews, including ktvu. many suspects are being lumped together. >> nobody likes to be burglarized but at the same time everyone expects a sense of fair play in the law. >> reporter: police were able

. >> i know that my sisters came from saigon, vietnam. >> jennifer and her husband adopted gill jan 14>> you don't remember very much? >> no. >> have you been there? >> once last christmas, it was fun. >> they had quinn three years later, but a few years after that they decided to adopt again. >> you came into a family that already had a couple of kids, huh? how did that feel? >> well, i liked the attention. >> the adoption expo can help. >> i think if anything that was the piece that when i look back that i missed and i wish i would have had. >> that missing piece you'll probably find here. >> the adoption expo is this saturday at the carnegie library in d.c. that begins at 11:00 a.m. and for more information just search adoption expo on nbcwashington.com. as always, if you have room in your home and heart for any of our children please call the special adoption hotline. the number is 1-888-2-adopt-me. >> a happy-looking family there. >> indeed. so nice to have so many people to answer so many questions all at one place at one time. >> it works for a lot of people so we expect a lot o

campaign focused on the man growth forests --mangrove forests and the two most affected were outside of saigon and -- so, a wide swath of destruction with agent orange. here is an area targeted by agent orange before and after. so, it not only destroys the trees. it can lead to the calcification of the soil depending on what kind of soil type it is or the lateralization of the soil, meaning that it becomes infertile. so it's long-term impact for many of the areas affected by agent orange. so, victor, to your question about the protocol -- that was signed by all european powers, but the united states did not sign. in part because of a powerful lobbying effort by the u.s. armed forces that did not want to lose a potential weapon or means of defense and the chemical industry. so you had to major groups working against the signing of the geneva protocol. the u.s. failed to ratify it, even though it was one of its original proponents. and in 1966, the u.s. claimed it did not use chemical weapons in vietnam. it instead used chemical agents, and not against personnel. so, they are not weapons if they

so when, the fall of saigon, april 30th of 1975.nd when you look at some of those cables that are coming out of saigon at that very moment, it's chaos. it's absolute chaos. there's enough work that has to be done to evacuate american personnel, the south vietnamese is really, they're very secondary if on the radar at all. nevertheless, given the refugee crisis that we're looking at in europe, this is an instructive time to be thinking about what we did do, 130,000 south vietnamese were evacuated from april to december of 1975. that's a large number in a short time, given the fact that we had no refugee resettlement process established yet. we had none of the social services established yet like we do now. and that over the subsequent decades we did resettle over 1 million southeast asian refugees, not only from vietnam but from laos. and my hometown has been transformed. >> i agree with what erica said, but the other angle is that the civil rights legislation, both in terms of the civil rights act and the hart-celler act, they're ta

future we'll see american helicopters in kabul taking out pro-american afghans just like we saw in the saigon's? i'm painting an extreme picture here, but is it a possibility? >> i think if there are any such people still around, they ought to get out now. because by the time a new president comes in, it may be that our troops at fw bagram or wherever they're placed, will be cordoned off from the rest of the country. i don't think that the troops remaining can make a difference. the hope has to be to avoid a catastrophic reversal in afghanistan and isis, which is establishing a presence in the country, don't act before a new president can take corrective action, is a very near-run thing in my view. stuart: ambassador john bolten, thank you very much indeed. we appreciate you being here. >> thank you, stuart. stuart: just, okay, let me do this sports story. tamara is waiting for us in south beach. the nfl is now launching an investigation into that report that peyton manning -- the report didn't say that he was using human growth hormones, it didn't say that, but it did report that human growt