Anybody watched it already?
Not streaming in Taiwan and finding a working proxy is a pain in the butt. Managed to watch the first few minutes of the first episode so far…
I want to but haven’t found a good option. Basically the entire history of the war is pretty well burned into my brain from various sources so no rush 
Caught the first one. Well done
Watched 20 minutes so far. Interesting that the CIA (or what it was called then) supported Ho Chi-Minh in 1945 (training and weapons).
Finished the first episode. What a mess it was before it started.
That was a simpler time 
Interesting take
2 Likes
Saw that, didn’t open it. Wanted to watch the whole damn thing first without reading reviews. But most certainly, talking to the civilians is definitely important. Maybe the can add an episode some day focusing on the plight of the civilians.
Would love to get a link for a reliable stream if anyone comes across one. It’s not on Netflix yet either.
No simpler than the 1980s when they did the same with OBL and the Mujies, no?
I’d actually say no. We still had the Japanese army to beat. There wasn’t much else to think about at the time. Afghanistan was just to give the Russians’ nose a twist. There wasn’t really much reason to think either bunch of ragtag revolutionaries would ever cause us much trouble. Certainly it should have been clearer in the 80s that these things have a way of getting out of hand.
The interesting question is what Ho was thinking back then. In the excitement did he really buy the Rooseveltian vision? Without a doubt he knew that the capitalist powers could be expected to seek to crush them sooner or later, and presumably was just playing us.
2 Likes
Three hours in…
Some take-aways
– The Frenchies got out before it got hot after doing a lot of things to alienate the people there.
– That SV president’s wife was a bitch. That early leadership and the end of it was a big part of SV inability to contain the Viet Cong. JFK on holiday, OK’ing the coup (was he really outside in shorts when he took that call?)
– Hard to point to one or a few events where it really went wrong. Was a slow process of sinking into this mess. LBJ seemed to be very reluctant to get more involved.
– Torpedo attacks on American ships. Always a good idea if you want to get the US military rolling?
– Underestimating the Viet Cong’s abilities lead to loss of men and choppers giving the VC confidence
– VC getting supported by the more aggressive Chinese not the Russians
– More moderate Ho Chi Minh losing against the more aggressive Le Duan
Enjoying it so far. Had no idea of the scale of the war and the devastation. Did I hear 2 million Vietnamese in total (incl. civilian deaths)?
The footage takes your right into the action, but the stills are even more powerful.
1 Like
I agree. There’s nothing original in the story, which is presented in a rather haphazard manner, but the photographs (and video footage) are stunning, and really give the viewer a feel for the experience of the war.
Just like CIA supported Pol Pot through Henry Kissengers orders.
Also, by going into battles one by one, you get a good idea of how the soldiers on both sides must have felt. In the fifth episode for example, the battle for Hill 875, all those casualties, all that suffering, for what? I know its hindsight, but the strategies failed miserably for the most part, its seems.
If you haven’t already, be sure to read A Bright Shining Lie by Neil Sheehan (who appears in episode two…maybe more, I’ve just made it to episode two so far). He does an excellent job of explaining the failed strategies that lost the war.
1 Like
You mean reading, like a… a book? 
Just kidding, I love reading.
That’s the John Paul Vann story??