Elizabeth Allen (3:11)
Psychiatric nurse Elizabeth Allen volunteered for the Army and requested frontline duty in Vietnam.
Videos (21)
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Elizabeth Allen
Elizabeth AllenVideo Clip (3:11)
Video Clip (3:11)
Psychiatric nurse Elizabeth Allen volunteered for the Army and requested frontline duty in Vietnam.
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On Patrol
On PatrolVideo Clip (4:14)
Video Clip (4:14)
In the field, many soldiers spent their time on patrol, seeking out communist forces, and avoiding lethal booby traps.
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Search and Destroy
Search and DestroyVideo Clip (3:01)
Video Clip (3:01)
Search and Destroy missions were a crucial part of the American war strategy in Vietnam.
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The Seawolves
The SeawolvesVideo Clip (4:56)
Video Clip (4:56)
A surprise phone call reunites two Vietnam war veterans, George Heady and Al Billings, with films of their service in the Navy Seawolves helicopter unit.
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A Soldier's Story: Khe Sanh
A Soldier's Story: Khe SanhVideo Clip (3:06)
Video Clip (3:06)
Amid a siege that would last 77 days, medic Raymond Torres was dropped into central Vietnam.
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A Soldier's Story: Hamburger Hill
A Soldier's Story: Hamburger HillVideo Clip (4:41)
Video Clip (4:41)
In 1969, Arthur Wiknik found himself in one of the Vietnam War's most notorious battles.
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Tet Offensive
Tet OffensiveVideo Clip (4:53)
Video Clip (4:53)
This massive North Vietnamese surprise attack during the 1968 Tet holiday was a crucial turning point in the war.
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Arthur Wiknik
Arthur WiknikVideo Clip (3:42)
Video Clip (3:42)
As an 18-year-old draftee, Arthur Wiknik was rushed through officer candidate's school. After one month in Vietnam he found himself in the middle of the battle of "Hamburger Hill"--one of the most notorious battles of the war.
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Karl Marlantes
Karl MarlantesVideo Clip (3:26)
Video Clip (3:26)
Marine Karl Marlantes left behind a Rhodes scholarship to volunteer for service in Vietnam.
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Bob Clewell
Bob ClewellVideo Clip (3:35)
Video Clip (3:35)
Bob Clewell dropped out of college to join the Army, and arrive in Vietnam just weeks after the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964. During his third tour, he was trained as a helicopter pilot, providing air support for ground troops during the Lam Son 719 offensive.
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Raymond Torres
Raymond TorresVideo Clip (2:52)
Video Clip (2:52)
Navy medic Raymond Torres joined the Navy to attend medical school and was assigned to a Marine Corps company. While tending to wounded Marines during the Khe Sanh battle, Torres was critically injured when a grenade exploded near him.
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Keith Connolly
Keith ConnollyVideo Clip (4:31)
Video Clip (4:31)
Air Force pilot Keith Connolly was among the first USAF units to be stationed within South Vietnam. During his second tour, he flew F-4 Phantoms targeting the Ho Chi Minh Trail and witnessed two of his men go missing after his plane had been hit.
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Gery Benedetti
Gery BenedettiVideo Clip (3:18)
Video Clip (3:18)
Gery Benedetti was a member of the "Brown Water River Rats," whose missions were a crucial but dangerous component of the American combat operation in Vietnam.
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Joe Galloway
Joe GallowayVideo Clip (3:49)
Video Clip (3:49)
Reporter Joe Galloway covered the Vietnam War from the frontlines while embedded with the Command Unit of the 1st Cavalry Division.
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Donald Devore
Donald DevoreVideo Clip (3:22)
Video Clip (3:22)
in the summer of 1968, Donald Devore was drafted and sent off to basic training. Devore was assigned to an artillery unit in Vietnam and after four months, was granted leave to attend the birth of his first child.
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Barry Romo
Barry RomoVideo Clip (3:24)
Video Clip (3:24)
Fresh out of high school, Barry Romo enlisted in the U.S. Army to serve in Vietnam. Romo was awarded a bronze star for his efforts but grew disillusioned with the war and later joined a controversial group called Vietnam Veterans Against the War.
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Cu Chi Tunnels: Deconstructed
Cu Chi Tunnels: DeconstructedVideo Clip (1:29)
Video Clip (1:29)
Find out more about the elaborate network of underground tunnels used as hideouts, living quarters and supply routes for the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War.
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Anne Purcell
Anne PurcellVideo Clip (3:57)
Video Clip (3:57)
As a military wife, Anne Purcell had already sent her husband off to war once before, in Korea. But less than six months after her husband Ben volunteered for Vietnam, he was reported "missing in action."
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Charles Brown
Charles BrownVideo Clip (3:07)
Video Clip (3:07)
Raised in the segregated South, Charles Brown thought his best shot at a better life was to join the Army. He was stationed with the 101st Airborne Division and quickly appointed platoon sergeant, leading search and destroy missions through the jungles of Vietnam.
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Veteran's Home Movies
Veteran's Home MoviesVideo Clip (2:44)
Video Clip (2:44)
Find out why more veterans came home with home movies from Vietnam and how they helped give Vietnam in HD a unique perspective of the war.
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Vietnam
VietnamVideo Clip (1:42)
Video Clip (1:42)
Whether they volunteered or were drafted, 1 out of 10 soldiers did not survive Vietnam.
Photo Galleries (2)
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Vietnam War
Vietnam War(14 Photos)
14 Photos
The Vietnam War lasted longer than any other war in U.S. history and cost 58,000 American lives
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Vietnam War: Leaders
Vietnam War: Leaders(15 Photos)
15 Photos
View images of the Presidents, politicians, and military leaders who influenced American involvement in the Vietnam War.
Speeches & Audio (5)
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LBJ on Resumption of Air Strikes in North Vietnam
LBJ on Resumption of Air Strikes in North VietnamAudio Clip (1:20)
Audio Clip (1:20)
In a broadcast from the White House on January 31, 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson informs the nation that U.S. airstrikes on Vietnam have resumed after a 37-day pause in bombing.
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McNamara on Instability in South Vietnam
McNamara on Instability in South VietnamAudio Clip (2:18)
Audio Clip (2:18)
Robert McNamara, the U.S. secretary of defense since 1961, testifies at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings in February 1966 on escalating U.S. military involvement in Vietnam.
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McNamara on the Bombing of North Vietnam
McNamara on the Bombing of North VietnamAudio Clip (1:43)
Audio Clip (1:43)
The secretary of Defense Robert McNamara appeared before the press to defend the bombing so the Major North Vietnamese cities of Hanoi and Haiphong. The bombings were supposed to deprive the military of essential supplies.
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South Vietnamese Forces at the Battle of An Loc
South Vietnamese Forces at the Battle of An LocAudio Clip (1:09)
Audio Clip (1:09)
A mid-battle war report describes the frustration of South Vietnamese forces as they struggle to take control of Highway 13, the main artery into the city of An Loc, in April 1972.
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Westmoreland on the Vietnam War
Westmoreland on the Vietnam WarAudio Clip (2:01)
Audio Clip (2:01)
On April 28, 1967, Gen. William Westmoreland, commander of U.S. operations in Vietnam, describes to a joint session of Congress the challenges of fighting a relentless enemy.
Interactives (1)
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Vietnam Veterans Memorial: Infographic
Vietnam Veterans Memorial: InfographicInteractive
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During the Vietnam War, Communist forces dug an extensive network of tunnels in the Cu Chi district northwest of Saigon.
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