Vietnam: The Ten Thousand Day War

Changing the Guard (1x18)

Ausstrahlung: Jan 07, 1981

Episode Eighteen emphasizes Vietnamization. President Nixon's policy of having the South fight their war on their own with US assistance instead of Americans fighting it for them. ARVN forces reactivate the Khe Sanh base and use it to invade Laos to destroy an enemy supply base. The mission was an abject failure. Vietnamization was a return to Kennedy's policy of "It is their war to win or lose" The US begins to upgrade the Souths army with latest weapons technology and trains them in their use. resident Nixon officially hands responsibility for the war over to South Vietnam, South Vietnam's leaders blame America's withdrawal for the failure. Nixon assures the south that they will always have American support. Within six months, all the well supplied bases the US leaves behind are stripped down to their bones by black marketeers, nothing remains. In 18 months Nixon will resign and, in two years, the South will surrender.