Product Details

• Producers: JUDY CRICHTON & MARGARET DRAIN , THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
• Studio: WGBH EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: B000V9EJFW
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #367,821 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

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7 VHS SET / 1983 / Each video is approx. 60 minutes.

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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Saga -- Louis J Sheehan, January 1, 2008

By 

Louis J. Sheehan "Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire" (Harrisburg, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: VIETNAM: A TELEVISION HISTORY (Complete 7 vhs set) (VHS Tape)

Vietnam was before my time, so this was a good introduction for me. I'm sure it can't cover everything and I accept same. For me, the show leaves unaddressed one important question/decision. First, a quick review of some facts from the show:

1. Tonkin in summer of 1964; the communists might have assumed they were attacking South Vietnamese and/or the CIA so these facts don't matter for my question. However, the Americans DID retaliate by bombing the North.
2. On the eve of the November 1964 elections, the Communists attacked an American airbase near Saigon that was being used against them; this was the first Communist attack against an American installation. The Americans did NOT retaliate.
3. December 24, 1964, the Communists bomb the Brinks Hotel which hotel was occupied/used by high-ranking American Officers. The Americans did NOT retaliate ("who could bomb Santa Claus?").
4. The Communists attack an American airbase in the Central Highlands ("Pleiku") killing 8 and wounding 126 (it is not clear from the show how many of the forgoing casualties were Americans). The Americans DID retaliate AND planned sustained bombing but the bombing was postponed because of a coup attempt in Saigon in February of 1965.
5. Sustained bombing does begin as Operation Rolling Thunder.
6. On March 8, 1965, 3,500 Marines are brought in to defend the three jet-capable American airbases (these 3,500 are mentioned in the context of DaNang).
7. Three weeks after these Marines land, the Communists attack the American embassy in Saigon.
8. Less than one month after landing, the Marines' mission is expanded to engage in offensive patrols (" ... don't sit on your dittyboxes ....").
9. 72,000 American troops are "committed" by the end of Spring. 200,000 American troops are "committed" by the end of the year.

The question(s): Did the Communists think that these pinpricks would dissuade the Americans from entering the War? Or what did they think the probability was that these attacks would dissuade the Americans rather than cause them to escalate their efforts? Surely the Communists did NOT want the Americans to escalate their presence/effort?
Louis J Sheehan