it was vietnam. the whole long flight over to the middle east. >> rose: so what was he asking them. >> he was asking them about... >> rose: because this is the core of the legacy. >> exactly. >> the lessons of the war. what is it... if i become president of the united states, he asked the two senators, what is it about vietnam that i really is to know and learn and make it part of me so that i don't make the same mistakes in afghanistan. that was very much on his mind. >> rose: it is that sort of process ao-- you and i were talking about him as a leader-- at made him so attractive as a leader. he was askin questions "what are the lessons here?" >> absolutely. >> rose: and where today h is is a diffentuestion but continue with that. he wanted to know what are the lessons herend how do i avoid whatever the trap of vietnam was? >> right. and as he's been making decisions about afghanistan, he has been... you can see tt vietnam was on h mind when he was making the speech in terms of... >> rose: when he w

the vietnam coast is there all the time. each president operates in his own environment and his own time. so while the overall ghost is there you will get a different response. for example,, 1983, 241 american marines are murdered in beirut lebanon. by a terrorist group known to the president and the people love around the president they knew where they were but yet ronald reagan decided because the american people were spooked by vietnam he did not want to put them through another experience like that. so after the killing of 231 americans coming he did nothing and that was remarkable because of the non but on the other side go to the present like bush i the iraqis go into kuwait and is seen as a direct threat to the united states broke he decides to do something and pursuant to the powell doctrine which is a direct consequence of the vietnam's or he since 500,000 marines and troops to do something powell told us later could be done at 180,000, but because of vietnam he wanted to send in overloading the circuits to make sur

>> guest: if not in vietnam. [laughter] but other places in the world, and the american war in vietnam is the most topic in the modern american history. there are thousands of books and articles, and that is anything about film and television programs and radio and all that sort of thing, so it is the kind of topic where americans can barely turnaround without hearing something about the war but that literature is largely about the nature of the american involvement and the experience of the soldiers who were there with very little attention. in fact come to the kind of realities of the vietnamese with your it is the high policy or people who were experiencing the war aftermath their doorstep. sukarno. surprisingly even after 30 years, the attention of the vietnamese themselves is relatively close. >> host: what surprised you? >> guest: well, i think for me as a historian it was the most recent material most surprising to me and the way that the war has been front and center in vietnam since 1975 as the vietnames

but more recently, it is the explosion of religion in vietnam.during the war itself at least in northern vietnam in the state downplayed religion discouraged people from more traditional religious practices. today, religion is all over the place. and to give you a little bit of a sense of this first went to vietnam in 1989 and zero was the first time the westerners could get back after the war was done and there is a huge french built catholic cathedral in the center, a beautiful cathedral. and i went to mass one morning. i'm not catholic but i was curious who goes and nobody essentially went. older women, maybe a few older men, very, very sparse. i was in hanoi in march. there are ten messages every saturday. i was at one of them. you can barely get in the door and that is the catholicism and its only 10% of the vietnamese who are catholic. most are buddhist and there's a proliferation of the buddhist science and structures and pilgrimage sites and then lineage, family lineage and sort of worshiping the family lineage was an important part of th

, south vietnam fell apart. now, as i said this is kind of a tick-tock book of the last 36 hours, but i think i need to keep akron. so what happens as i'm sure some of you know very well, in 1973, the united states south vietnam and north vietnam, the democratic republican side in paris peace accord. according to those, everybody hoped and wished, especially the united states that we're going to have another korea situation, that is going to be a country divided into. is going to be a tmz, would've. the north vietnamese never had any idea of standing by these of course but they are constantly probing. they were even allowed to leave men, construction workers on the so of the republic of vietnam. finally, in the fall of 1974, led by a charismatic and strategic and tactical genius, and a for joy genius, they decided to invade. they broke the paris peace accords and we knew they were doing this. we have satellites. we have photos. with everything. that congress was just so sick of the work, we were out, we had men,

>>reporter: we look at vietnam's dramatic turnaround to become a vibrant modern economy. >>i think the pace of growth in vietnam is quite good, with almost 7.2 percent of gdp growth for over two decades continuously. >>reporter: hello and welcome. i'm raya abirached and this is world business, your weekly insight into the global business trends shaping our lives. china's central government is desperate to avoid inflation as it seeks to rein-in growth and rebalance the economy. the trouble is, to succeed; it needs the regions on board. and away from the capital, there's still an obsession with huge projects andboosting gdp. >>reporter: pengshui clearly isn't at the forefront of china's economic boom. but like thousands of other backwaters across the country, it has big plans for the next five years as it seeks to boost incomes by at least 14 percent annually. >>the most meaningful economic decisions are made far away from beijing, in places like here - pengshui - over 1500 km south west of the capital. few if any here are interested in cooling economic growth or slashing i

too. >> you heard it in vietnam but now it's really serious. in vietnam we didn't know what the end was going to be until we were kicked out. but in afghanistan there are a lot of people who worry right now about step by step what is going to happen and right mow the president has decided to kick the can down the road. you go from the beginning of a withdrawal this month as he promised in december of '09. and and rather than complete that he says the combat portion should be over. but this could be reversible. this is fragile. they are very worried -- not only politically, but as a great nation, which we are. as a great nation how do you leave a bad deal? >> it's also costing american taxpayers over the next three years about $100 billion a year and i'm not sure american taxpayers want to do that. >> this is exactly one of the things that we explore in the book is the way in which vietnam haunts us today. in early 1970s the congress of the united states decided that vietnam was too costly. and they simply decided to cut the money for the war in

>>i think the pace of growth in vietnam is quite good, with almost 7.2 percent of gdp growth for over two decades continuously. and even during the crises in the world and in the region vietnam could still maintain some positive growth, and i think that is quite good. of course we want to see the country develop faster in future. >>reporter: that now seems to be happening, especially in the major cities like hanoi, ho chi minh &danang where growth can be seen everywhere. >>one example is the bitexco financial tower. >>it is 262 metres high with vietnam's first helipad at the 52nd floor...defying gravity on the sideof the building. >>this us$270 million investment was constructed entirely with vietnamese money and ambition, the vision of self-made businessman, mr vu quang hoi. >>prior to this construction project, i felt a strong desire that our generation has to do somethingsignificant to change our country for the better. i asked myself what should this symbol of power be? i decided it must be a sky-high building, which looks fantastic and can clearly demonstrate power >>reporter: po

doing billions of dollars sent back into vietnam. so those families now have a common stature in the economy that they wouldn't have had in an earlier period of time. if they want to be -- if they want their kids to go to college, they want to be involved in government politics, those still tend to be closed. that history peoples involved in the war does smart people in that kind of way. but the economy and changes of economy have leveled the playing field for people in the south south of the week again 10, 15 years ago would've been hard to receive. >> oji described vietnam's current relationship that the u.s.? i want to preface that by saying i remember visiting a couple years ago in saigon and the american war of aggression museum and watching the propaganda films being played at kikuchi tunnels prior to being able to tour them. >> well, it's an interesting case. back this spring in vietnam i was meeting with a friend of my historian who is now the president of the university and also sits on the city council. and he was telling m

vietnam is one of several asean countries that claim disputed islands also claimed by china. the south china sea issue was also on the agenda at last week's asean regional forum. but observers point out that not all asean members share the same level of commitment to standing up to china. with asean nations expecting negotiating with china, a legal binding code of conduct for the south china sea, it's essential for vietnam that all the member countries act in unity. hanoi is likely to deepen cooperation within asean on various levels in aid to keep china in check. akiko ichihara, nhk world, hanoi. >>> and next in remote parts of western thailand, local people depend on river water for many aspects of daily life. but serious pollution in one village has caused sickness and even death. the children of the village recently took to the stage in bangkok to share their tragic story. nhk world has more. ♪ >> reporter: these ethnic children are acting out in their village at an art center in bangkok. the 15-minute performance contains a serious message about threats to thaila's natur

what about the returning veterans from everything after vietnam? we are trying to do everything we can. looking back 40 years ago compared to what is happening today -- there is a big difference. there are lots of wonderful organizations that have popped up. we learned some hard lessons from vietnam about how not to treat our service members. we can never do enough. we can always try to do a little bit more. >> this is a variation of the same question. what is the most troubling deficiency you have seen in the treatment and assistance given returning soldiers? is there one particular thing that stands out? >> returning soldiers who are injured -- >> whether they are finished with their service or whether they come home rather rapidly. >> there are all kinds of stories. i know good stories and i know some not so good stories. let's say you are a returning veteran. your service is going to be over when you get back. you have been in the mountains of afghanistan. you saw 10 or 15 of your brothers killed before your eyes and many more wounded. you come

with reports from brazil and vietnam, we show why an agency like u.n. women is needed. >> we are at that time center of at the union for domestic workers where many women come to fight for their rights. many are housemates. they report their employers treat them unfairly. >> translator: i was fired. >> translato they said they didn't care about my rights. >> reporter: among their claims, abrupt dismissal and unpaid wages. some also report sexual harassment. the u.n. says that in brazil 6 million people were as housemates. most are poor women. housemates are usually hired directly by the families they work for. so the women are easily exploited and suffer a variety of human rights abuses. 38-year-old anna paola santos started working as a housemate when she was 15. she supports her five children with a monthly salary of $350. anna says her wages were not paid regularly. and that the employer's son assaulted her. >> translator: his mother called me a liar and beat me. she ordered me to get out of the house. helpless people like me can do nothing but cry o

it is something you did not see a long time ago during the vietnam war.e appreciate the young people are making an extraordinary sacrifice for their country and we are very proud of that. i am sorry your caller does not feel that way or feel that politicians are responding. but for the most part americans really do value this extraordinary act of sacrifice these servicemen are making. host: we also will talk about the next segment u.s. naval academy professor about why people are called to serve and what a military has a clear purpose. battue rouge -- baton rouge, louisiana. lay on the republican line. caller: the reason young people don't have any patriotism any more is what they teach them in school. they don't teach them history anymore. you can't find the history it -- a history book in a school that is worth a flip. and the other thing is what they see on tv when people protest and people waving the flag and saying god, and they can't do what is necessary in a cemetery. this country is going to the dogs. guest: well, i certainly agree with the caller

how do i get out of vietnam? the other thing that is interesting as we read the article, for someone who was mentioning the article, there is a dog who isn't working. there's almost no mention of the soviet union. whatever thinking that was going on was not communicated but in the most elliptical fashion where mr. nixon had talked about the need to engage china and so that it would not persist in its posture of angry isolation. the article did not gain much attention and what is fascinating about the subsequent history is the thing that gained world attention was a ping-pong ball. president nixon, within two weeks of his inauguration, had henry kissinger in and said that he wanted to try to engage the chinese. he started sending messages to beijing, peking first through the romanians and then through the pakistani said. initially, those messages did not elicit much of a response. at that point, the chinese and soviet feud led to a series of military clashes along the river. that signal to the differences between

it's about vietnam. >> yet, we seem to be in a steal mate. >> most of the presidents, all of them have the speck tor of lynn don johnson hovering over them. they don't want to be in a situation of having to jet their domestic policy priorities because of an international situation. >> it's fascinating, pat. we'll open it up to everybody. politically, i may have disagreed with lbj, but he knew the house, the senate and domestic policy. somebody as wise as lynn don johnson, if he gets tripped up on vietnam, somebody like president obama who doesn't have that experience. >> you saw him talking about richard russell on the tapes. get involved in this thing. why did obama, with this knowledge and background triple his forces in afghanistan? joe biden and others saying don't do it. >> pat, a very simple reason. vietnam represented a lost war. obama comes into office with that legacy of republicans harping on any democratic president saying you lose the war, you lose the election. obama doesn't want to lose the

how do i get out of vietnam? the other thing that is interesting as we read the article, for someone who was mentioning the article, there is a dog who isn't working. there's almost no mention of the soviet union. whatever thinking that was going on was not communicated but in the most elliptical fashion where mr. nixon had talked about the need to engage china and so that it would not persist in its posture of angry isolation. the article did not gain much attention and what is fascinating about the subsequent history is the thing that gained world attention was a ping-pong ball. president nixon, within two weeks of his inauguration, had henry kissinger in and said that he wanted to try to engage the chinese. he started sending messages to beijing, peking first through the romanians and then through the pakistani said. initially, those messages did not elicit much of a response. at that point, the chinese and soviet feud led to a series of military clashes along the river. that signal to the differences between

nixon had a broad vision for asia after vietnam, which meant that he saw a conclusion to vietnam, which he wasn't permitted to than conclude as promptly as he would like, peace with honor. but he saw something very profound. he opened the door to china, no question about it. no one else could have done it. but i do think that were he alive today, richard nixon would be having some very serious second thoughts about where that relationship has led and some of the overhanging dangers inherent in it. >> thank you>> thank you. my colleagues have touched on a number of key points i had wanted to make. i will put them in a framework. as we look at richard nixon's contributions to our national security and our strategic positioning, it is clear that the opening to china and the subsequent arms control negotiations with the soviet union, the china opening fracture the dynamic of the cold war. it restructured our dealings with the two major communist powers. there is a long history to that kind of maneuvering. the nixon initiative really stands out. you can go back to george washington's time. h

but by then nixon's plan of work south vietnam boycotted the peace talks the war continued and nixon won the white house thanks to it gerald ford was the next republican after nixon left office the same way he entered it by breaking the law jerry ford took over the jury four was never elected and would never have been president had it not been for richard nixon's treason so that's two republicans in office thanks to cold hard trees and then there was ronald reagan elected in one nine hundred eighty one thanks to a little something called the october surprise when his people sabotaged then president jimmy carter's negotiations to release american hostages in iran reagan's people promised the iranians that if they held off on releasing the american hostages and sold after the election when reagan would give them a sweet weapons deal i had investigative journalist robert perry on my radio show earlier today because he just obtained some of the explosive documents from the george h.w. bush library pretty clearly show that ronald reagan's campaign did the same thing that richard nixon's d

found out about this political move or maneuver to prolong the vietnam war just three days before the nine hundred sixty eight election he phoned the republican senate leader ever dirksen there was. i don't get it right. america. crying repurchase or strike. is important. but chris. are growing. and. the second. is in the camp. and this is creased. those tapes were just released by the l.b.j. library last year it's amazing it's richard nixon that lyndon johnson was accusing of treason. but by then nixon's plan it worked south vietnam boycotted the peace talks the war continued and nixon won the white house thanks to it gerald ford was the next republican after nixon left office the same way he entered it by breaking the law jerry ford took over was never elected and would never been president had it not been for richard nixon's treason so that's two republicans in office thanks to cold hard treason and then there was ronald reagan elected in one nine hundred eighty he won thanks to a little something called the october surprise when his people sabotaged then president jimmy carter's n

vietnam war-- strongly affected by it, strongly affected the outcome, strongly affected the length of that war. we know that now. we looked at this, and we said, "jeez, you know, nobody's looking at it as what it is." how did it get here? where did it-- nobody mandated, "there shall be benefits," you know? how did this come about? well, right away, you run into the name pete seeger. right away you run into woody guthrie. we--i asked david to research it, and david came back with, there is no other work written on this subject, and that was irresistible to us. you know, we feel very strongly about it. we knew we had an advantage if we went to speak to the people who do it, you know? i don't have to walk in cold. i'm not, you know--it's like, "how did you boys meet?" i know, you know, who i'm talking to, and generally, we're at least acquaintances if not close friends, and we're talking about events that we did together or that we've done, you know, separately, but the same event, you know, at different times. and it gave us a window into these people that other people didn't have. we a

and they said, "if you're a good guy, you don't get sent . you get sent to vietnam. if you're a bad guy, you have a little stigma against you and you don't go to vietnam. " not that they did not love the country, but they didn't want us to be involved there. it was a dishonorable war and it was an unwinnable war. so when i raised my hand and told mrs. johnson what those boys had told me and also how i felt about our involvement in vietnam, it seems that within two hours i was out of work in the united states, according to my dossier that was given to me not just . not the whole thing, just a smidgen. it said that i was on the cia list in the united states of america. q: now you spoke up during a . a discussion that was largely devoted to the beautification of america. ek: well, her idea, and according to the ladies there, too, was to plant wild seeds along route 66. (laughter) ek: and i thought, that's all very well and good. but what we need is education for everyone, equal education for all, and why is it that our schools are so dilapidated and our educational syst

. >>> my dad was a boy scout and in vietnam. he made it back strong. >> keep up the vigil.p up the search because they have not given up hope. >> the daughter of the only person confirmed dead after a boating accident in mexico shares memories of the man she calls her best friend. good evening, i'm dana king. >> i'm allen martin. former chronicle employee, lesli ye is the first confirmed death in the capsizing of a fishing boat near baja. seven men are still missing. yee retired after nearly 37 years with the newspaper and the 65-year-old finally made time for the fishing trip. >> initially he didn't want to go, but a bunch of friends from high school, 12 to 17 of them, they all decided to go and usually go every year and they would constantly bug him about going and he never could find the time to do so, but finally now that he is retired from the chronicle and all this free time, he figured why not? he was my best friend. he actually successfully guided me, you know, into being a mature adult while maintaining a best friendship. >> one family member waiting for word calls

and of course there are some echoes in our own time because in the vietnam era the question of the vietnam war was something that divided many, many families in this country. so i went looking for other divided families in the britain of that time and i found some. one was a family which i'm sure some of you know, the famous panghurst family of the women's sufferage movement. emily,. the more shown under arrest here prior to the war and her two daughters, were leaders of the most militant wing of the british women's sufferage movement. on the eve of the war emily pankhurst was arrested literally throwing the a rock through the window of 10 downing street the prime minister's residence. at the time the first shots of the war was fired she was a fugitive from british justice living overseas. the moment the war began she activity, came back to england, put herself at the service of the british government which dispatched her on speaking tours throughout england and to the united states and in fact in early 1917 sent her to russia to rally russian women to the war effort. meanwhile her daughte

vietnam era. and saw the moon come on. we're going to turn the whole world around. but what can the world can't survive with with just wars going on and on no this has to happen it's our duty to be. there is a changing tide in america and you're part of it today we're sending a mandate from the people to the government of the united states and to the representatives of utah specially the utah does not support a war we support peace and we support a plan for. this morning to become real to the american people the military is a war america is not and then needs to change. the . way. i get time here because my my dad is a neat combat and the way to work that did him. made her. some. he says it violent childhood in my house and so i hope that this will be a place for instance of unity about finding another way i see as being like gandhi's. gandhi's walk is walk to the sea this is a big deal i think you told call attention to the fact that a lot of people feel similar you know similarly to the way he feels deep down inside but maybe they're afraid to voice their opinion

when public opinion really shifted against the war and it marked the beginning of the end of the vietnam war and he said that was kent state police. part and i could discuss a little bit more at the border in you miles but i really wanted to walk through zion national park the native americans who live there are considered holy but it's . even the mormon manias when they came to the first explorers said surely this is god's first home was the stake. oh in a used car i spent nearly every summer a minute. or so i couldn't walk for was on. the. street with the. key to everything certainly changed a lot of people short of the weather god but he's still the bill if it was a good cancer or not but there was some reasonable doubt. or some reasonable hope that she'd her parents are. really sort of that. you could make a difference this was worth so i think i just like the idea of no more bombs no more screaming no more care no more deaths from like bombs in the nuclear warfare nuclear north korea nuclear warfare my dad always gets around that nukes to me here . she seems good cook well she was m

so reasonable that i drove into him as a vietnam veteran who's been in this real care for almost four years it's an honor to call you my dear and my friend and so forth and so. good luck to you know if you honestly. think that. i'm driving down right now to go turn in all my equipment and so i can get out of the army the army offered me a twenty thousand dollars reenlistment bonus in iraq so there's been one lump sum tax-free twenty thousand dollars after iraq and you how my loyalties can be abused and so while i still feel that my service is honorable and still for other people service is honorable i. could not realist no matter how much money they offered me the shift in numbers that we've seen recently says that it does indeed like the rest of the country are starting to grow tired of course starting to question the war and starting to question bush's leadership of the war and it happened especially almost coinciding with marshall's watch and i don't i don't know how many utahns arsehole himself swayed to the other side it certainly wasn't just the walk but there were tons of other

so reasonable the liberal didn't see him as a vietnam veteran who's been in this real care for almost four years it's an honor to call you my friend and my friend if someone did something. good like you no longer. can. i'm driving right now you go turn it all mike but it means i can get out of the army the army offered me a twenty thousand dollars reenlistment bonus in iraq so there's been one lump sum tax-free twenty thousand dollars after iraq i knew how my loyalties can be abused and so but i still feel that my service is honorable and still for other people service is honorable i could not realist no matter how much money they offered me i just. shift in numbers that we've seen recently says that it ivy johns like the rest of the country are starting to protect her a little more starting to question the one starnes question bush's leadership of the war and it happened especially almost coinciding with marshals walking and i don't i don't know how many utahns are told himself swayed to the other side it certainly wasn't just the walk but there were tons of other people doing things

when public opinion really shifted against the war and it marked the beginning of the end of the vietnam war and he said that was kent state walked until he came in there. and i could have just gotten a little bit more throughout the border and you miles but i really wanted to watch these in the us the native americans who live there consider that it's. even the most of them made news when they came for the first six words that truly this is god's first this is taking. carol in the news i spend nearly every summer a minute since our emissions are so i couldn't walk you through for kids was on. facebook at the. everything started. with the people showed the weather got good and still of those if it was a had parents earlier on but there was some reasonable doubt. and some reasonable hope this year her parents were clinging to the. really sort of the hope again that you could make it if this was worth so i think i just like the idea of no more forms no more screaming no more care no more get stuff from like pawns in the nuclear warfare nuclear north for nuclear warfare my dad always histor

healing this nation and committing ourselves to never allow what happened in the iraq war in vietnam to never happen again i told him that i'd seen before the fourth of july in iraq and it really made him happy to write you one of the corner if you're going to iraq yeah and i seriously doubt put it like the whole interview can come full circle. that you're sitting in iraq. and watch it for the fourth of july about rome prove it. and see how he dealt with the ghosts of war but protesting that it just hit with such force and that's exactly why i didn't think you. would so is following his example. because it's only. so reasonable that i had written to him as a vietnam veteran who's been in this real care for almost forty years and it's an honor to call you my dear and my friend and someone who is so. good like the only thing wrong in. thinking that. i'm driving right now a good friend and all my but i'd. like to get out of the army the army offered me twenty thousand dollars to be a muslim bonus in iraq so there's been one lump sum tax free twenty thousand dollars after iraq and knew h

what about vietnam? >> in vietnam, it was the first use of helicopters landing right on the battlefield, under fire, to take wounded troops out of there and get them to medical care. the so-called golden hour began to emerge. what you've reported on, getting somebody off the battlefield. getting them to care within an hour. now we sort of take it for granted. if you get injured, if you're in a traffic accident on the highway, hopefully not. if you're in an accident in a building or a factory, a helicopter from your local emergency room, may come land very quickly and take you away. that's the lesson from vietnam. >> and from the battlefields, it's interesting, because you still see it, you know, in daily life at big hospitals, but even on the battlefields, they have started taking medical commodities, these forward tents and moving them further forward for that same reason. there's been a lot of lessons more recently from iraq and afghanistan. you've been talking to people about that. what have you been

they were concerned about no more of vietnams but given limited military means and exchanges of fire in u.s. casualties, we do not believe that the 1973 congress intended that its resolution should be construed so rigidly as to stop the present from directing supporting action in a nato-led security council authorized operation with international approval as -- at the express request of nato, the arab league, the gulf cooperation council, and libya's on transitional council for them narrow and version purpose of preventing the slaughter of innocent civilians in libya. we fully recognize reasonable minds may read the resolution differently. that would not be a surprise. scholars have spent their entire careers debating these issues. these questions of interpretation are matters of important public debate. , reasonable minds can certainly differ. we acknowledge there were power -- there were steps we could have taken to foster better communication on these very difficult questions. none of us believes that the best way forward now is for moammar khaddafi to prevail and resume his attac

one of the things about the war's we have got accustomed to with vietnam, iraq, afghanistan is they are fraught mostly and there are very few among fed dead and wounded who were sensa and daughters of ceos, senators, members of congress or anything like that. it was the exact opposite and avert -- first world war the death toll fell proportionally higher on the upper class. the main reason for that was it was customary four sons of the upper class and aristocracy to have military careers. one major reason for this is that armies are not only there to fight wars against other countries but to maintain order at home. the 19th century was a tumultuous time in europe so was yearly 20th century and european armies were used to break strikes with the british army put down rebellions in ireland and so therefore the officer was generally reserved for those of the upper class is meeting when the country's went to war in 1914 come in the upper class is suffer the enormous toll. for example,, for the 30 graduates of the 10 killed in a single day, the first day of the battle in 1916 come the men wh

somehow, that was going to solve the vietnam war.ow robbing the bank of hanoi was going to end the vietnam war. when the commanding officer is killed, they don't have any proof that they were ordered to rob the bank of hanoi, so they're sent to prison by their government. so the government is very evil, the government's ordering them to do ridiculous, evil things, and they are incarcerated improperly. .. >> they survive as soldiers of fortune. >> they are still wanted by the government, can maintain an excellent security prison or shut down a geographically confined underground, can't catch them. they survive as soldiers of fortune. here's the last line. >> so what is the same? no one else can help. here are services that the 18 must provide in their episodes because the government can't. these are literally from the show. they conduct high level military operations rescue a hijacked 747 while being chased by the government. they bring a rogue cia unit to justice. they're also protecting small businesses from larger bowling, includin

that's the lesson of vietnam. >> the battlefields. interesting because you still see it, you know, in daily life at big hospitals. but also even on the battlefields they've started taking medical commodities, these forward tentsz and moving them forward for that same reason. there's been a lot of lessons more recently from iraq and afghanistan. you've been talking to people about that. >> what doctors are telling us, and it's sad to think but it's a basic fact, tens of thousands have been wounded in this war. so you have this giant population that they are learning from. and what they're basically learning they will tell you, i think, is dynamic innovative, fast-moving medical care. try new things. try and see what you can accomplish with new techniques, new procedures, because they can't stick to just the old way of doing business. these kids are coming back with traumatic injuries that are very, very tough. they got to find a way to deal with them. and you find doctors and nurses out there trying new things. things that may be in yo

i have vietnam veteran friends in the chicago area.ot very involved with the vietnam vet raps group -- veteran groups through the theater company. i have a theater company there, steppenwolf. we have started the veterans programs. i played a vietnam veteran in forest gump and i got involved with the disabled veterans. played a disabled vet. i was con evacuated by d.a.v. and i got actively involved with them. along came september 11, and i dove in the active duty folks. trying to help them. serve their needs and draw attention to what they are going through. >> shannon: reading through the things that you have done and all you do and plan to do, it's exhausting. it's a passion for you that you care about folks serving the country and who have served. you launch a foundation that does many different things. what is it all about? >> i have been very busy over the years. participated in the programs through the other organizations, having gone to help raise money for the organizations that are doing good things for the troops. the military