 This is the countryside in Vietnam. Quiet, pastoral, peasants growing rice as they've done for centuries. Eight out of ten South Vietnamese live here in the country, tending their crops, their cattle, trying to live in peace. But it's a fragile peace. What may be a quiet rice patty this morning is a battlefield this afternoon. The war in Vietnam has many sounds and the people know most of them well. But today, in a small hamlet near these marines, it will be a new sound. The village is surrounded. Stay in your home. Do as you are told. This is Operation County Fair. County Fair is a unique type of operation pioneered by the United States Marines. It is now being used by all the free world forces in their combined effort to halt communist aggression in Vietnam. County Fair is basically a clearing operation, but it includes much more. Before dawn, this hamlet was surrounded by Marines. Then came the surprise announcements. Your government is here to help you to remove the threat of Viet Cong terrorism. Do not be afraid. This is a combined operation. Marines providing security and support, Vietnamese local officials and troops dealing with their own people. To protect them from possible harm, the people are removed from their village. They are told to take their identification papers and gather at a collection point nearby. County Fair is beginning to take shape. The countryside streams with people leaving home for the day. As they walk to the collection area, the people are reminded the government of South Vietnam, their government has come to help them. As the people leave their hamlet, they see a Marine making sure the cattle don't stray. That's part of County Fair too. At the collection area, tents go up, tables and chairs come out, and County Fair picks up temple. Local authorities screen the villagers and check their papers. Viet Cong agents trying to blend in with the people are weeded out. After the screening, new ID cards are issued to everyone who passes. Next, indoctrination, an important part of County Fair. This man is a former Viet Cong agent. He tells the villagers why he quit the VC, how the government's Chuy Hoi or open arms program helped him start a new life. The people also see information movies and hear lectures from local officials. The theme is simple. Your government is here to help you and free you from the Viet Cong. There are many ways of proving to the people the government means what it says. One way is very simple, to feed them. A clearing mission inevitably means that villagers are dislocated from their homes for a day, maybe longer. In Vietnam, where the economy is so marginal, keeping a person from his crops and fields for just one day, could force his entire family to go hungry for that day. So marine cooks serve hot food, sometimes 1200 meals a day. A simple bowl of soup or a handful of rice can win friends. There's another way to show the people their government can help them. It's by giving medical aid. In Vietnam, there is an appalling shortage of doctors, something like one doctor for every 25,000 people. There are many diseases. Infection is common. For many of these people, it's the first time a doctor has ever checked them or their children. Navy corpsmen and Vietnamese doctors and nurses work together, treating the people. This is another example of the combined nature of county fair operations. Besides the medical and dental care, the people are given bars of soap purchased with funds obtained through the Marine Corps Reserve Care Program. Nothing is more important to good health in Vietnam than soap and personal cleanliness. Every county fair needs a pied piper. While their parents see movies and listen to lectures, the children are led away to sing songs and play games, not all fun. This is the marine blocking force. While the villagers are at the collection point, the marines keep their cordon tight so no communists trapped in the operation can escape. The marines search for bunkers and tunnels and Viet Cong. County fairs are not intended as combat missions, but in Vietnam, every operation can mean contact with the enemy. An observer plane spots the enemy position. As quickly as it started, the firefight is over and the marines move toward the enemy positions. Prisoners are taken. Evidently, the Viet Cong here had something to protect or hide, something they were ordered to fight over. But they refuse to tell what. They talk sullenly to their captors. Finally, the reason for the fight becomes clear. The Viet Cong were paying their troops and agents. This man is the pay master. Now he's been captured, money and all. The marines continue stalking the VC. They find a tunnel that will be searched, then blasted shut. Vietnamese troops and police concentrate on searching the hamlets. They look for weapons, explosives, tunnels, anything the Viet Cong can use. In one village alone, 29 tunnels were found. In this village, they find rice, Viet Cong tax rice. Most of it was taken from the people here, but some had been collected in nearby villages. The doctor comes in to get part of the rice. It will be returned to the people it was taken from. This county fair is almost over. The day that started with an atmosphere of doubt and fear becomes an afternoon of festivity. For the band, there's enthusiastic assistance from local sidemen. Even the music and county fair is a combined effort. These are the people we are fighting for in Vietnam. And county fair operations are just one of the ways we fight for them. If the operation has been successful, the people return to their village with faith in their government maybe for the first time. Their village has been freed from Viet Cong control, and the people can now lead the type of life they want. Most of the troops are leaving now, but a combined action company is staying behind. United States Marines and local Vietnamese forces will defend this village together from now on. This county fair is completed, and one more step has been taken towards victory in Vietnam.