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VIETNAM: A TELEVISION HISTORY, NO. 11: HOMEFRONT USA (TV)

Summary

The eleventh in this thirteen-part documentary series about the Vietnam War. Linked from its conception to the book by Stanley Karnow, this series presents an historical overview of Vietnam and provides an understanding of the country and its people at war, from the period of French colonial rule through U.S. involvement in the conflict. Interspersed throughout with news footage and archival film, and drawing on exclusive interviews with French, American, and Vietnamese diplomats, military and government officials, soldiers, and civilians who provide critical analysis of the war, this documentary chronologically portrays the Vietnam War equally as a political, social, and tragic national experience for the United States. This installment examines the anti-war movement in America, which divided the country's political leaders and citizens about ending the war in Vietnam. The philosophy of the anti-war movement and its role in the nation's politics is addressed in interviews with peace activists and anti-war organizers, as well as supporters of the war. Highlights of the civil rights movement -- featuring excerpts from speeches delivered by the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. -- are included to show how the anti-war movement modeled itself on the fight for civil rights. Footage of early peace demonstrations, student sit-ins, and anti-draft protests is shown along with pro-war marches in which clergymen remark on the necessity of the war. This part also examines the Vietnam War as a major issue in the 1968 presidential race and reviews the rival campaigns of Sens. Eugene McCarthy and Robert F. Kennedy. The turmoil underlying the election year, coupled with the unrest following the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, exploded with the riots at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which are shown with commentary about the anti-war movement's alleged manipulation of the media. Additional topics include the following: the draft; President Richard M. Nixon's mishandling of the anti-war movement; the argument that the movement ultimately prolonged the war; growth of popular support for the anti-war movement following the 1970 invasion of Cambodia; the effect of the My Lai massacre on the homefront; and the increasing number of Vietnam veterans speaking out against the war. Those interviewed include John Chancellor of NBC News; the Rev. William Sloane Coffin, Jr.; civil rights activist Bayard Rustin; anti-draft organizer David Harris; anti-war organizer David Dellinger; student peace activist Sam Brown; former national security advisor Henry Kissinger; draftee James Fallows; and Vietnam veteran John Kerry. Included in clips are President Lyndon B. Johnson, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, black civil rights activist Stokely Carmichael, entertainer Martha Raye, Sen. J. William Fulbright, Undersecretary of State Nicholas Katzenbach, Sen. John Stennis, Gen. Lewis Hershey (Selective Service director), Tom Hayden of Students for a Democratic Society, Chicago police spokesman Frank Sullivan, Officer Robert Garver, Paul O'Dwyer (New York delegate to the 1968 Democratic Convention), Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago, Jerry Rubin of the Youth International Party, Vice President Spiro Agnew, Dr. Benjamin Spock, Nixon aide Ray Price, Steve Bell of ABC News, San Francisco Federal Attorney Cecil Poole, the pop music group Peter, Paul and Mary performing at a peace rally, Robert Kennedy's statement on the death of King, the reaction to Kennedy's assassination as filmed from the McCarthy headquarters, a home movie filmed in Vietnam by Lt. John Kerry, the October 1967 peace demonstration at the Pentagon, and still photographs of the Kent State killings.

Acquisition and cataloging of this program was made possible by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Details

  • NETWORK: PBS WGBH Boston, MA
  • DATE: November 16, 1985
  • RUNNING TIME: 0:58:51
  • COLOR/B&W: Color
  • CATALOG ID: T91:0139
  • GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
  • SUBJECT HEADING: Vietnam War - 1968; Democratic National Convention - 1968; Republican National Convention - 1968; U S - Elections - 1968; U S - Civil Rights; Military Service, Compulsory - Resistance; Cambodia - History - Civil War, 1970-1975; U S - Officials - Talk/Interviews
  • SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1985
  • COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

  • Richard Ellison … Executive Producer, Writer
  • Elizabeth Deane … Producer, Writer
  • Marilyn Hornbeck Mellowes … Producer, Writer
  • Will Lyman … Narrator
  • Ngo Vinh Long … Translator
  • Mickey Hart … Music by, Composed and performed by
  • Billy Kreutzman … Music by, Composed and performed by
  • Vic Firth … Music (Misc. Credits), Performed by
  • Zakir Hussain … Music (Misc. Credits), Performed by
  • Airto Moreira … Music (Misc. Credits), Performed by
  • Merl Saunders … Music (Misc. Credits), Performed by
  • Bobby Vega … Music (Misc. Credits), Performed by
  • Phil Kaffel … Music (Misc. Credits), Recorded by
  • Stanley Karnow … Reporter, Chief Correspondent
  • Spiro Agnew
  • Steve Bell
  • Sam Brown
  • Stokely Carmichael
  • John Chancellor
  • William Sloane Coffin, Jr.
  • Richard Daley
  • David Dellinger
  • James Fallows
  • J. William Fulbright
  • Robert Garver
  • David Harris
  • Tom Hayden
  • Lewis Hershey
  • Hubert H. Humphrey
  • Lyndon B. Johnson
  • Nicholas Katzenbach
  • Robert F. Kennedy
  • John Kerry
  • Martin Luther King, Jr.
  • Henry Kissinger
  • Eugene McCarthy
  • Richard M. Nixon
  • Richard M. Nixon
  • Richard M. Nixon
  • Paul O'Dwyer
  • Peter, Paul and Mary (music group)
  • Cecil Poole
  • Ray Price
  • Martha Raye
  • Jerry Rubin
  • Bayard Rustin
  • Benjamin Spock
  • John Stennis
  • Frank Sullivan