Name: The Vietnam War
Released: 2017-09-17T00:00:00.000Z
Cast: Ken Burns, Peter Coyote

TV Show · Documentary · History

Firsthand accounts of the Vietnam War from over 60 eyewitnesses, including both participants and citizens. Also includes archival footage, providing an examination of the war from a different angle.

2017 · 1h 22m

Starring Ken Burns, Peter Coyote

Director Lynn Novick, Ken Burns

EPISODE 1

Déjà Vu

After nearly a century of French colonial rule, Vietnam emerges independent, but divided.
EPISODE 2

Riding the Tiger

As a communist insurgency gains strength, JFK wrestles with American involvement in South Vietnam.
EPISODE 3

The River Styx

With South Vietnam in chaos, hardliners in Hanoi seize the initiative and send combat troops to the South, accelerating the insurgency. Fearing Saigon's collapse, President Johnson escalates America's military commitment, authorizing sustained bombing of the North and deploying ground troops in the South.
EPISODE 4

Resolve

US soldiers discover Vietnam is unlike their fathers’ war, while the antiwar movement grows.
EPISODE 5

This Is What We Do

American casualties and enemy body counts mount as marines face deadly North Vietnamese ambushes and artillery south of the DMZ and army units chase an elusive enemy in the Central Highlands. Hanoi lays plans for a massive surprise offensive, and the Johnson administration reassures the American public that victory is in sight.
EPISODE 6

Things Fall Apart

Shaken by the Tet Offensive, assassinations and unrest, America seems to be coming apart.