a 10 part documentary on the vietnam war. here is a cbs report on opposition to the war. [video clip] student of the university of colorado explains one reason for the spread of radicalism. >> if it wasn't for the vietnam war, a lot of people like myself probably never would have reached the level i have. shows six outrvey of 10 parents and non-colleges believe in fighting wars for our honor. only one force of college students say the same. almost two thirds of the parents and more than two thirds of non-colleges say we should fight to contain it communism. of collegerity students agreed. a majority of the dominant say the war in vietnam is imperialism, but only a minority of parents say it is. both generations are aware of the way vietnam has torn america apart. i don't think the problems of american youths are going away until we solve the war in vietnam. one of the greatest problems are on the campuses. in world war ii that hibbler shouldn't be defeated and that we should have france italy, and wed were fighting for the fai

ten-part documentary "the vietnam war." first, here's a cbs report on opposition to the war. >> war and specifically the war in vietnam, troubles all america. it troubles young people more, and the gap is greatest between college students and the rest of society. >> since the war in vietnam began to escalate in 1965, so did the growth of sds. >> a radical student of the university of colorado explains one reason for the spread of radicalism. his audience, a kiwanas club. >> if it wasn't for the vietnam war, a lot of people like myself probably would have never reached the level i have. it was just the vietnam war that began the first conflicts. >> the survey shows that six out of ten parents and noncollege youth believe in fighting wars for our honor. only one-fourth of the college students say the same. almost two-thirds of the parents and more than two-thirds of noncollege youth say we should fight to contain communism. only a minority of college students agree. a majority of the young in college or out say the war in viet

the vietnam war and antiwar protests. mark meadows. and president trump announcing a plan for lowering prescription drug prices. >> we will start the america in turmoil series, exploring the impact of the vietnam more on the homefront and the experience of u.s. soldiers coming home during that tumultuous year. by an author and filmmaker. this is coming up in a moment. 1969, generations of, a profile in dissent. it talked about the different levels of support for the vietnam war. specifically, the war in vietnam troubles all americans. the gap is greatest between college students and the rest of society. >> since the war began to escalate, explainscal student one reason for the spread of radicalism, his audience is a colonoscope. vietnamsn't for the war, it would never reach the level it had. the war began as a conflict. parents andf 10 noncollege youth believe in fighting wars for our honor. only one fourth of the college students say the same. almost two thirds of the parents and more than two thirds of noncollege youth say we should f

my brother served in the amount -- in vietnam in the air force. my brother-in-law was a kc 135 boom operator out of thailand refueling bombers and fighter planes bombing vietnam. host: a question or comment for our guest? caller: i was going to talk about the division of families. i was getting right to the point where i went to visit my father after i'd been kicked out. he said i should be shot for treason. i think to this day the division in america at that point, we see reflections of that today. host: thank you for calling, philip. doug stanton, he brings up the division of families. doug: i had a neighbor who recently passed away. air force academy. was about to go and quit the air force academy because he wanted to go into the service. we cannot live like this. i don't know how you get beyond it. i think storytelling can help it. this is not a productive way to live for a country to have these kinds of divisions. host: we have a caller from michigan. denise. caller: can you hear me on the speakerphone? host: we can. go right ahead. caller: 19

i ask the members of the vietnam helicopter pilots association in attendance today to rise and join thecutive council. [ applause ] >> i ask those who served in vietnam as helicopter pilots and crew members to rise and join those already on their feet. [ applause ] >> if you're a vietnam veteran and we worked for you, please stand and be recognized. [ applause ] >> and lastly, i ask all who served their nation in uniform or loved and supported those in the service to stand and be recognized. [ applause ] >> ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your service. you may be seated. again, on behalf of the vietnam helicopter pilots association, i welcome you to this dedication and thank you for coming to honor our fallen. >> it is a pleasure to introduce major general carl mcnair, an accomplished aviator with 1500 combat hours acquired during three combat tours in vietnam. he is a living legend and his award include four distinguished flying crosses, three awards of the legion of merit and 53 air medals earned one hour at a time. his efforts to place the monument we dedicate here today cannot b

pbs 10 partn the series the vietnam war. he is the author of several books, including the odyssey of echo company. good morning, sandra. caller: good morning. sent.three family members they went over and they joined up. one was my husband, two of my brothers. up goingothers ended to vietnam. to germany and the other state in vietnam. my husband was not part of the war. brother who went to vietnam the lumbertecting yards. he had to be sent out because he had tumors. his or hised where to this day. set 3:00 in the morning. he is never left vietnam. in bay of pigs. to our family,me we went to church. while in church, we became the focus. my husband was dressed in his uniform. my husband told me it was about what he gone through and everything else. it was terrible. i never heard such things in my life. i was told that. he said it was shot up because they were protecting the lumber yards over in vietnam. he knew it because he drove out of it himself. i have a son that was in the service as well. host: thank you for calling. let's

>> vietnam troubles america, young people more. click since the war in vietnam began to escalate in 1955, some of the growth -- radical student of the university of colorado explains one reason for the spread of radicalism. his audience a kowanis club. >> a lot of people myself have never reached the level i have. this began the first conflict.the survey shows >> six out of 10 parents and noncollege youth believe fighting war's for our honor. 1/4 of college students say the same. of of parents and 2/3 noncollege youth say we should fight to contain communism. only a minority of college students agreed. a majority of the young in college or out say, the war in vietnam is imperialism. only a minority of parents believe it is.most generations are aware of the way vietnam has torn america apart. >> i don't think the problems of america's going away until we solve vietnam. i think this is one of the greatest underlying causes of the problems on -- and world war ii, we believed that hitler's should be defeated, that we should help france and germany and

-- telling the vietnam story? professor bradley: i think as much as we would like to think we can have that credit influence on the general public, i'm not sure we do. >> you mean academic historians? [laughter] present bradley: perhaps it's more compelling of a way to tell up and we could do. they are just absolutely brilliant interviews. one of the things with historians is you would not get a balance. i didn't get a sense that it was particularly balanced in the end. it really did represent a very strong critique of american involvement in vietnam during that period of time. one ways burns does it is using the presidential tapes. he does it for kennedy, nixon, and johnson. essencially, the american state eventually hangs itself. on the one hand, public we saying all is well and privately, it was falling apart. to have that in the words of the actors themselves takes us out , of how to make the argument where the contention often comes, but what do you do when that is what you are hearing? the interviews and tape

welcome to the vietnam helicopter pilot and crew member dedication ceremony. please rise for the posting of the colors and the playing of the national anthem. >> color, halt. out. present arms. [national anthem playing] >> out. right shoulder. out. court. halt. ready, set. >> follow me. bob: please be seated. for our invocation, we are honored to introduce reverend jerome daly, a retired army lieutenant colonel. father daly serves three tour's served three tours flying combat helicopters and is a recipient of the distinguished service cross. reverend daly. rev. daly: about a half a century ago and halfway around the world, thousands of young men engaged in a new kind of warfare. didn't go to war in tanks and trucks but a new machine of battle, that helicopter. many felt it was too vulnerable for combat. too fragile for a shooting war. what those skeptics didn't anticipate, the very difference between victory and defeat was those young men. many just out of their teens and yes, a few slender teens whose skill and bravery made up for ha what the helicopter may ha

on behalf of the vietnam helicopter pilots' association, i welcome you to the dedication of the vietnamelicopter pilot and crew member monument. today we gather to dedicate a marker, a tribute to honor, courage and self-sacrifice. but we're here for much more than that. we're here to remember the thousands of young american helicopter pilots and crew members who as the monument states gave the full measure of devotion to their nation during the vietnam war. the month -- oh. we are here to remember the first helicopter casualties killed in vietnam on july 15th, 1962. robert corneal. joseph goldberg. lance everette and guthrie lee. we're here to rebelwood rumbaugh and richard vandegeer, the last casualties on may 15th, 1975. and we're here to remember all those who died operating helicopters. all 4,877. we salute their service and we'll never forget their sacrifice. the monument now serves as their legacy in this place of honor, arlington national cemetery. it's fitting to place the marker here, surrounded by the heroes of many wars and conflicts. and we are grateful to those who accompli

the most 5000 helicopter and crew pilots killed during the vietnam war. watching this weekend on c-span on thewatch this weekend c-span networks. >> we hear from three veterans who received the medal of honor, the highest military award for valor. two received medals for their actions in the vietnam war, and the third for his actions in the korean war. this hosted by the american veterans center. >> i am the chief operating officer for the congressional medal of honor foundation it is an extreme privilege to be able to work for the recipients of the medal of honor and their foundation to help them perpetuate the legacy of the medal and its values of courage, sacrifice, integrity, commitment, and patriotism. we do that through several different types of education, recognition, and outreach programs. a couple of character education programs i'd like to talk to you about includes our character development program, which since 2010, we have been going across the country and training teachers to teach the values of the medal of honor in their classroom. it is a

pbs 10 partn the series the vietnam war. is the author of several books, including the odyssey of echo company. good morning, sandra. caller: good morning. sent.three family members they went over and they joined up. one was my husband, two of my brothers. up goingothers ended to vietnam. to germany and the other state in vietnam. my husband was not part of the war. brother who went to vietnam the lumbertecting yards. he had to be sent out because he had tumors. his or hised where to this day. set 3:00 in the morning. he is never left vietnam. in bay of pigs. to our family,me we went to church. while in church, we became the focus. my husband was dressed in his uniform. my husband told me it was about what he gone through and everything else. it was terrible. i never heard such things in my life. i was told that. he said it was shot up because they were protecting the lumber yards over in vietnam. he knew it because he drove out of it himself. i have a son that was in the service as well. host: thank you for calling. let's h

julie kink, the vietnam helicopter pilots' association gold star family coordinator. she sought out the families many combat, many of whom are with us today. speaking now on their behalf, ms. julie kink. [applause] julie: thank you, bob. when i was growing up, the sound of a helicopter was the sound of sadness. gazing up at the sky, my mother would put her hand on her heart and lower her head. without a word, i knew she was grieving for the son she lost to the skies over vietnam. i know now what that sound meant to the men who were fighting the war. it was the sound of hope. it meant someone was coming to push back the bad guys, to bring supplies and ammo, to rescue their wounded, and eventually to carry them out of hell. those of you who were crazy enough to fly around in those wobbly thin-skinned machines, what can i possibly say but thank you. i'm proud to say -- [applause] julie: thank you. thank you. i'm proud to say my brother was one of you. warrant officer david kink lost his life in the summer of 1969 after one month in vietnam. he was 19 years old. and i was

to use vietnam and the history of vietnam as a search for blame. and i would suggest as a historian that that may not be the best value of history. that history isn't an opportunity for us to place blame. rather it's an opportunity for us to gain perspective. i think one of the best things that we can take out of the ken burns and lynn novak documentary is an opportunity for us to empathize with folks with whom we mite dght disagree. one of the beauties of the documentary is to see this complex conflict through the eyes of so many people that disagreed, anti-war activists, journalists, fighters from the national liberation front, propaganda officers, south vietnamese officers and civilians, american military commanders, young marines, families who lost their sons, women who served as nurses and in the red cross, that many of these voices often times during the war itself were in conflict with each other. and the value of history as we are farther and farther removed from those events is to empathize with those voices, not to seek blame. and i think

the unum. a good year to be a vietnam historian. how has america's understanding of the war change over 50 years? >> i think the crucial shift has been more recent in certain ways. the reagan era brought a different way of thinking about the war. of notion thatd may be in fact it was a necessary war. there was a strategic point of being in vietnam. that set up a relatively contentious set of debates between historians who want to recover something out of vietnam , and then what has continued to be a mainstream historical then what has continued to be a mainstream historical perspective. a younger generation comes into all of this. the debate is about our generation. the first set of kids was teaching, the parents may have been in the war. it's a long time ago. it is a blank slate. they are able to think about it. not emotional for them. >> afghanistan has that sort of moniker. that's the way the war has been exceptional lysed. now you have a generation of people who have gone to .fghanistan >> it's a difference of course. all that th

that wasn't the case with north vietnam. e interest of the soviet union and china, particularly china, were starkly at odds with those in the united states. in this case, it's in some ways an easier issue to try to deal with, there is greater room for negotiation it would be helped by the russians and the chinese. host: if you're registered, design part series, american turmoil, looking back in 1968 is available as a podcast and you can check it out at c-span.org or wherever you get your podcast. vicky is joining us from twin falls, idaho. period of time, i lived it. i was born in 1951 and a little while ago, the lady said that war has been on the decline. soldiers, american soldiers have been dying for my whole life in some place in the world, somewhere. all the time. and the building of this international socialist system -- i feel like i was deceived my whole life. while we are told we have a capitalist country here, we don't. we have a central planned economy. and this international socialist system they are building, glo

it is a terrible tragedy, for the north vietnam's -- the north vietnamese and vietnam. host: 1968, -- "1968: america in turmoil." joining us here as we wrap up our nine-part series, mark kramer from harvard university and elizabeth cobbs from the hoover institution, and texas a&m university. stewart is joining us from mechanicsville, virginia. good morning. caller: good morning. happy mother's day. i was born in -- i went to high school in 1968 at the age of 17. i asked my father if he would sign me out for the corps. he told me in bold the labels to remove my head from another part of my anatomy. i turned 18 in july. i signed up. at any rate, the army took me, but talking bout the cold war. i will tell you what the cold war was. the guys that did serve, they came back, if you had short hair, you were shunned. i had one friend come to the airport in california, and somebody asked him, said, how many babies did you kill? he said i did not kill one soul, but if you do not get off my face, you will be the first. host: from your standpoint, why was that sentiment so prevalen

that wasn't the case with north vietnam. e interest of the soviet union and china, particularly china, were starkly at odds with those in the united states. in this case, it's in some ways an easier issue to try to deal with, there is greater room for negotiation it would be helped by the russians and the chinese. host: if you're registered, design part series, american turmoil, looking back in 1968 is available as a podcast and you can check it out at c-span.org or wherever you get your podcast. vicky is joining us from twin falls, idaho. period of time, i lived it. i was born in 1951 and a little while ago, the lady said that war has been on the decline. soldiers, american soldiers have been dying for my whole life in some place in the world, somewhere. all the time. and the building of this international socialist system -- i feel like i was deceived my whole life. while we are told we have a capitalist country here, we don't. we have a central planned economy. and this international socialist system they are building, glo

of south koreans fighting on the vietnam side. there are australians fighting in this war, in addition to chinese and soviet assistance. ,e have to consider temporarily, we talk about 1968. we have to understand, the cost of this war goes past 1968. the united states pays for this war still. american involvement in vietnam, they just assumed everyone had agent orange. everyone who served in the military in 1958 has health care because of the assumption they have been exposed to agent orange. if you did not know that, aliens of dollars, we continue -- billions of dollars, we continue to pay for that. thealso have to understand legacy of this for the individuals. letter, webout this do not know how many times this guy lived 1968 in his head. that's very relevant. >> it's interesting you bring up agent orange, because the lieutenant dies in 1976, and from his family's perspective, they see that at least partially as down to his exposure to agent orange. that is at least the story they are telling about that particular experience of wa

but it'sthat history is tied in with the vietnam war. that history has almost been completely obliterated. now,w, i talk about cambodia and laos because i think a lot of americans don't even know the war was fought in cambodia and laos, , don't know thahat 3 miln vietnamese people died i in the war. but 3 million cambodians and laotians died during the war and afterwards. and it's important to bring this up, because americans,s, when ty feelel guilty, will l say, "ok,e know that t in vietnam it's cacd the american war. so maybe we should call it that." and i'm saying even that is not sufficient, because the vivinamese who call it thehe american war don't want to think about what they did in laos and cambodia, and what they still do there today. so, thinking of war in just these binary terms of vietnam and the united states just completely simplifies the history of what happened there. amy: pulitzer prize winning writer viet thanh nguyen, professor of english at the university of southern california. just two and a a half weeks afar the my

joe: what was your sense of the vietnam war before you decided to enlist? john: i looked at the news one morning, and i saw an article that was involving the vietnam and i saw some of the people, and some of the kids. i just said to myself, i wish there was some way i could help them out. that was a contributing factor -- one of the contributing factors as to why i decided to volunteer. i volunteered, i was very pleased to get into the aviation field versus combat arms. joe: all right. doing what? john: i was 67 november, helicopter mechanic. joe: working on the hueys. models.d the delta and eventually the culvers. and the cranes, little bit. joe: and the schnucks. where did you do your training, basic and advanced? john: basic training was fort bragg, north carolina. d41. you never forget those numbers. that was the unit i was assigned to. my number when i volunteered was on the sign, that is correct. [laughter] joe: i'm sure it is. what training did you get for your mos? john: i received training at fort eustis, virginia. the school was very high-tech, and

we had the vietnam war. the political turmoil i was lyndon johnson announcing he's not seeking another term. soviet expansion into czechoslovakia. guest: bad year. a year it seems like all these strands seem to come together at once. north korea trying to actually launch a kind of situation where they might be able to open up a southern front. taking advantage of the vietnam war. then czechoslovakia. which was this moment where like so much 1968. it seem like everything might change for the better. then the cold war comes in and slams it all down. host: explain what happened with the soviet moving into czechoslovakia. why that was such a significant milestone. guest: in a way czechoslovakia was important. had helped start the cold war. united states creates a marshall. what happened in czechoslovakia after world war ii. when czechoslovakia seems to start a program of reform lifting sensorship creating more open government. the soviets shuts that down. what happens after that, breshnev doctrine. all this possi

sense of the your vietnam war before you decided to enlist? john: i looked at the news one article and i saw an that was involving the vietnam and i saw some of the kids and i thought to myself, i wish there was some way i could help them out. that was a contributing factor -- one of the contributing factors. when i volunteered, i was very pleased to get into the aviation field versus combat arms. joe: doing what? i was 67 november, helicopter mechanic. joe: working on the heelys? ." ." working on the hueys. and the schnucks. where did you do your training, basic and advanced? john: basic training was fort bragg, north carolina. my number when i volunteered was on the sign, that is correct. [laughter] joe: what training did you get for your mos? i received training at fort eustis, virginia. ,he school was very high-tech and they taught me the basic skills as to how disassemble a uh one helicopter, reassemble, and how to work on various components. joe: you must have thought you were going to never get out of virginia. john: you are absolutely r

the american vietnam -- the american veterans center hosted this talk. [applause] >> oh boy, tough cro

the u.s. was going to bomb north vietnam. that started the whole idea that the u.s. would be using air power to go directly against north vietnam. that started with the gulf of tonkin resolution passed in congress. at that time is set that the id that the- it sa president of the united states to take any action anywhere in the defense of america's interests against the communists. that was a big statement. most of the reporters, did not, i am sorry to say, take that up. the people at cbs and the washington post did. host: the tet offensive in 1968, the chinese new year, proved the u.s. government was lying to the american people. why? guest: at that time, remember, it was already 25,000 american deaths into the war. we had been experiencing over a period of three years what it was like to fight that war and to realize that you could take a mountaintop and lose 100 marines doing so. and that night willingly pull out from that mountaintop. the question was, why did you take it in the first place? questions about strategy came up. the credibility gap came up. the america

i got beat up by both the cops and the demonstrators, it was equal opportunity. in vietnam, the soldiers loved it when somebody like me showed up. an outsider that did not have to be there. contrary to what you may here, we had a very good relationship with gi's and the officers, they wanted to tell their story, it was important to them. that was another facet of what i did when i was there. >> our focus is 1968. this program is the media in particular, martin kalb and david hume kennerly are our guests. dan is killing from our independent line. >> in 1968, you could not tell whether a journalist was liberal or conservative. it seems more flagrant, that's more of a comment than anything else, that the journalism today is more liberal but back then you could not tell if they were liberal or conservative. >> clearly you do not watch fox, for me, photographers, i will say, speaking for myself but knowing a lot of them. we really do not take sides, i was brought up that way, i think that we have brochured the lines between commenters, people like sean hanity are definitely not

if you look at the vietnam veterans, many were children of veterans of world war ii. different generation fighting a different war and the different time in a country with a very different reaction. >> unlike world war ii, where essentially a lot of our allies were threatened and freedom was threatened, perhaps they felt like vietnam was something different, more of a complex attempt to turn the tide of communism. for many, it just did not resonate the same level that world war ii did, and secondly, the changes going on in the country to break away from the puritanical history of the country and rebellion in general and the since the government cannot be trusted. i guess all those things came together to essentially create this resistance to the war. ,> with more recent conflicts iraq and afghanistan and was 9/11, it seems like what we are dealing with now are veterans that survived but often come back with a beer long-term injuries. >> they often do. they come back with mythic and injuries. ptsd is of course a big thing. my experience has been all wars produce those t

mostly by the north vietnam people. it was a failed military offense but it had a huge effect at home. we felt that the war was lost. >> where did this put the vice president at the time, humphrey. >> he was a classic liberal. he supported civil rights legislation and had support among liberal groups, when he became vice president, he became a loyal supporter of johnson. he was a bigger supporter of the war than johnson in some respect. this created a lot of problems with his party. liberals thought he turned his back on the party and among some, they believed that he lost his beliefs. >> kathleen kennedy townsend, we want to talk about your father but first i wanted to ask you about senator mccarthy, he announced to challenge the sitting president, president johnson, what was your father thinking about as he was ramping up his campaign. >> as you know, a number of people were asking my father to run for president and my father was ambivalent about it because he thought it would be seen only as a fight against president

the u.s. involvement in vietnam. and then submitted nsm 263 to deescalate entirely by 1965, and then was apparently assassinated by high-level aspects, the dulles brothers, edward lansdale, israeli intelligence, and then immediately policy reversed. that coup has never been rooted out in a constitutional fashion. it continues to today. so i am interested in your perspective of how we are going to -- first of all, back then, did you know that this kind of high-level treason was going on in this country? and then now a days, what is your awareness of september 11th treason and that whole mess? >> okay, i'd like to answer that please. first of all, this is a panel about the experiences of the individuals you see sitting here that served in vietnam. i was 23 years old. i was not interested in what was going on at strategic levels. i was trying to stay alive for the next 24 hours. that was my emphasis then. some of the charges you make there are questionable at best. and perhaps are better suited for another forum. next qu

particularly over the war in vietnam and not just the war over the vietnam. there was a whole series of issues on the rights and crimes. some one like bobby kennedy, he had a lot of oppositions in the party. labor did not like him and democrats could not stand him. there was some serious of fault line in the parties. you do see the debate of bernie sande sanders, i don't go on the scale of 268. the difference is fundamentals and there is a big wing of the party. i think mccarthy -- who viewed democratic party is illegitimate in general. you had antiactivists that' that's -- last year people always asked me, this is nothing like '68. as divisive as politics have become in our country, it can barely hold a candle and the animosity between the two parties. >> book is called "american maelstrom" from michael cohen and fairfax, virginia is where our next caller. >> caller: i want to say hi to kathleen. so good to see you, you and your family have been very much in my heart. my husband was a high school senior in 1968. last night, he was showing the so long bobby pi

the vietnam war began the first conflict. john: the survey shows that six out of 10 parents and noncollege youth believe in fighting wars for our honor. only one fourth of the college students say the same. almost two thirds of the parents and more than two thirds of noncollege youth say that we should fight to contain communism. only a minority of college students agree. a majority of the young in college or out say the war in vietnam is imperialism. but only a minority of parents believe it is. both generations are aware of the way vietnam has torn america apart. >> i really don't think the problems of american youth going away until we solve the war in vietnam. i really think this is perhaps one of the greatest underlying causes of the problems on the campuses. during world war ii, we believed in world war ii. we believed that hitler should be defeated. we believed that we should help france, germany and italy. that we were fighting for the freedom of america. >> this country, i don't know, it is a great country, i really

problems of american you'll are going away until we solve the war in vietnam. i really think this is one of the greatest underlying causes of the problems on the campuses. during world war ii, we believed in world war ii. we believed that hitler should be defeated. we believed we should help france and germany and italy and we believed we were fighting for the freedom of america. >> this country i don't know it's a great country. i really believe that. when it's fighting for something as it was in world war ii, possibly, there's a cause for men to die. but today in vietnam i don't see any cause for anybody to die. >> i don't think that any of the kids understood what the war is all about. i don't understand what the war is about myself. you hear speeches and talks but they're evading somehow of the direct point of the why we're there >>well, i suppose it goes back. you have to have a head of a family and you have to have a head of a community. you have to have a head of a nation. and then you go one step further and some nation has to more or less head up the wo

he begins by outlining steps to limit the war in vietnam. >> each week american history tvs reel america brings you archival films that provide context for today's public affairs issues. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> although it started like so many others, for president johnson the month of march would call for a momentous and far-reaching decision. the president had been aware of a growing divisiveness within the country, at the same time he clearly knew what the america of tomorrow could be if americans would work together playing aside their differences to realize the nation's true potential. for the president march would sharpen the contrast between america's problems and america's promise. it would be a period devoted to healing the country's ills and the country's divisions, culminating with an announcement on the final day of the month that would both shock and sadden the nation. this dramatic decision would leave march 1968 to be remembered as one of the most significant months in the history of american politics and the american presidency. the month began for president johnson at the swearing in c

we had the escalation of the vietnam war. and the heightened tensions with the cold war and the extangs into czechoslovakia. >> it was a sad year. [ laughter ] yeah, no, it was a year where it seems like all of these trans, they seem to together -- come together at once. north korea, you know, they became more opportunistic, trying to, you know, launch the kind of situation where they might be able to open up the southern front. it is a big moment, everything might change for the better. >> now explain what happened, moving into czechoslovakia, why it was a significant milestone in 1968. >> they had always been so important because it would help start the cold war in the united states, where they will create a plan. you know, just partly around what happened originally after world war ii. so then when they seem to start a program of reform, lifting the censorship, you know, creating more of an open government. they will need to come in and shut that down. and then what happens right after that, that we see them announcing the

we look at the impact of the vietnam war in-home. while the war was fought in the jungles of vietnam, acts of disobedience on streets dominated u.s. headlines. joining us to talk about the turbulent time . most recentwhose project with ken burns was a 10 part documentary, "the vietnam war." turmoil68: america in on c-span's washington journal and c-span3. next on american history tv, university of illinois professor adrian burgos talks about the history of race and baseball in america. this 15 minute interview was recorded at the american historical association annual meeting in washington, d.c. historical association annual susan: adrian burgos is teaching history in a specialty that people may not think of as a historian subject. baseball. thank you for being with us. you have written baseball is essential to the hispanic experience in history. adrian: baseball provides an identity for many, especially coming from cuba to puerto rico, venezuela, it goes back to the 19th century. in some cases, for cubans, before there was even cuba

it is not a fair treatment of the vietnam veteran. in my judgment and the judgment of the vietnam veterans i have been with an talked to since the documentary came out. i can go on and on about it. i guess that is enough said. you are with my son. he was a mess, right? he made it though. he made it through west point. that is the key. that is what i tell every young academy person. we speak to the ones in texas every year that are going to the academies. think about that certificate that says you graduated. then you become a made person for the rest of your life. i think it is the greatest education anyone can ever have. >> he was a bit of a nonconformist. >> my son? i knew that. tremendously have busy travel schedules. going all around the country speaking to young people like we have here. groups aboutother values of the mental. -- values of the medal. why is that important for you all to continue doing that? why is it important? people expected to do it. next week, i go taking spin, new york for four days. the week after next, i go

that wasn't the case with north vietnam. e interest of the soviet union and china, particularly china, were starkly at odds with those in the united states. in this case, it's in some ways an easier issue to try to deal with, there is greater room for negotiation it would be helped by the russians and the chinese. host: if you're registered, design part series, american turmoil, looking back in 1968 is available as a podcast and you can check it out at c-span.org or wherever you get your podcast. vicky is joining us from twin falls, idaho. period of time, i lived it. i was born in 1951 and a little while ago, the lady said that war has been on the decline. soldiers, american soldiers have been dying for my whole life in some place in the world, somewhere. all the time. and the building of this international socialist system -- i feel like i was deceived my whole life. while we are told we have a capitalist country here, we don't. we have a central planned economy. and this international socialist system they are building, glo

we look at the impact of the vietnam war. while the war was fought in the jungles of vietnam. civil disobedience dominated u.s. headlines. joining us to talk about that turbulent time are doug stanton the author of odyssey. the epic battle to survive the vietnam war. and film maker novick. watch 1968 america in turmoil live sunday at 830 eastern. and an american history tv on c- span three -- 3. >>> up next on real america. california governor ronald reagan appears on cbs face the nation to take questions from journalists. he discusses the 1968 presidential candidates including nixon, nelson rockefeller, and george wallace. he also discusses liberalism and conservatism. student protests, and the assassination of robert kennedy. and what he argues are the failures of democrats in congress and the white house. >>> governor reagan, at the republican governors conference in tulsa. the consensus was that for two days you conducted yourself

the u.s. was going to bomb north vietnam. and that started the whole idea that the u.s. would be using airpower to go directly against north vietnam and that started with that resolution passed right here in congress and at that time the president of the united states could take any action anywhere in defense of america's interests against the communists. and that was of statement. but most of the reporters did not pick that up. the people at the washington post knew it. >> he began the conversation by saying that in january 1968, that proved the u.s. government was lying to the american people. why? >> because at that time -- it was already 25,000 americans were dead into the work we had experienced over a period of three years what it was like to fight that war and to realize that you could take a mountaintop and lose 100 marines and that night pull out and the question was why did you take it in the first place. and questions about strategy came out and a credibility gap came up in the american people were beginning to realize when the people who were dying, the man wh