 General Paul D. Hawkins, Commander of the U.S. Military Assistance Command in Vietnam. Here today, the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines are joined together in a common effort to help this country. Nowhere in the world today are we more aware of the inseparability of the problems of the people involved in fighting a war and building a nation than in Vietnam. So here is the rendezvous of all the historical forces in this century. The communists have long sought a takeover in Vietnam, and the first phase of struggle after World War II resulted in the North-South petition directly reflecting our divided world. Now this young nation, remaining on freedom's side, is engaged in a war which is as hidden and stealthy as it is relentless and exhausting. Responding to the request of the Republic of Vietnam, the United States has come to help as we have helped and are helping all free people who seek to defend themselves from the communist scourge. The U.S. effort to our Vietnamese allies is a vast and comprehensive one. It involves political, economic, psychological, and military measures, all of the armed forces of the U.S. play a part. As our efforts here are so comprehensive, the whole story cannot be told in 30 minutes. Today, our focus is on the U.S. Army's special forces, one important part of our overall effort. During the next 30 minutes, you're going to meet a remarkable group of Americans, members of the United States Army's special forces on duty in South Vietnam. The Republic of Vietnam, on the eastern edge of the Indochina Peninsula, is about as far from home as an American can be while still on Earth. When it's seven o'clock in the morning here in Saigon, it's seven o'clock the previous night in New York City. Army special forces were sent to Vietnam because they're experts, specialists in training men to fight a special kind of war. It's a dirty war, fought without uniforms on a battlefield without boundaries. A war where the friendly farmer you pass in a race patty may become the murderous enemy. In the instant the sun goes down, sunset is beautiful in South Vietnam, but then night comes and at night in Vietnam, men die. The communist guerrilla lives off the people by persuasion if possible, but if propaganda fails by terror. Fear and propaganda have turned the isolated villages of Southeast Asia into a theater of war, a war which can only be won or lost by the villagers themselves. What Americans can do is combat fear by giving them guns and the training they need to defend themselves against terrorism, and we can reply to the propaganda by actions. We can bring to these remote areas some tangible proof that the way of life we propose is a good life worth fighting for. This is the story of a small group of Americans who are quietly trying to do that job. Now in the swamps and jungles of Vietnam, various sizes, wearing different labels, but one thing they all have in common, the innocent suffer. Warfare being conducted against the Republic of Vietnam by the Vietnamese communists, the Viet Cong, isn't new. We saw it with minor variations in China, in Malaya, in Greece, in the Philippines, in Cuba, in Laos. It's a kind of war which recognizes no non-combatants. In Vietnam, the communist guerrillas promise progress, yet their favorite targets for assassination are school teachers, doctors, engineers, anyone trying to do today what they promise for tomorrow. Life will be lived on their terms or not at all. What happens to Vietnam will depend in the end on who wins the villages, and the government of the United States has determined that it won't be communist guerrillas. This is Major General William B. Rosson. He was on a brigadier on a recent visit to a strategic village high in the mountains of central Vietnam. A special assistant to the chief of staff for special warfare, he has come to inspect the village defense system, established here by a 12-man special forces team, a handful of Americans who in a few short months have converted a remote, guerrilla-infested highland plateau into a major training center of anti-communist tribesmen. We ask General Rosson to describe the war in Vietnam and the role of the special forces soldier. There are many terms which might be used to characterize the conflict now occurring in Vietnam. For the general public, the best known probably is guerrilla warfare. However, we refer to it, there can be no question that armed insurgency on a large scale is taking place aimed at the destruction of a people's national independence. It is the policy of the United States government to advise and assist the people of the Republic of Vietnam in their struggle to defeat the communist insurgency which strives to eradicate their freedom. The American soldiers you will see in this film are part of our assistance effort. As members of the U.S. Army's special forces, they are among the most highly trained military personnel the world has known. Each of them has been trained in a variety of skills which in more conventional organizations would be distributed among two or more individuals. These soldiers possess the capability of going to remote primitive regions of the world to live with the people, eat their food or share their lack of it, learn their language, their customs and taboos, and win their confidence and respect. The future of such areas of Southeast Asia ultimately may be determined by events taking place in remote jungle villages which appear on no maps, by acts of violence occurring only under the cover of darkness, by wars which can be won or lost before the world is aware that a war has even begun. This film documents a small part of what the armed forces and particularly your army is doing to assure that such conflicts, wherever they may be forced upon us, can be resisted successfully by ourselves and our allies. I'm Captain Ron Shackleton, the attachment commander of the special forces personnel in this area. American advisors first began laying the groundwork for village defense in this region in September 1961. At that time the villagers in this area were almost completely defenseless against the predatory tactics of the Viet Cong, the Vietnamese communists. Out of fear these mountain people were forced to both feed and house roving Viet Cong patrols and their young men were often forced into Viet Cong activities in order to protect the lives of their families. Our effort during the months we have been here have been to teach the mountaineers who call themselves the raw day people that they are capable of defending themselves against such tactics that they need not be afraid. We have shown the raw day how to build stockade type fences and how to maintain 24-hour security. This is Master Sergeant John Slower who has just returned from observing a patrol. Through an interpreter, he will comment on his observations. Dr. Son Le Ha, each way you tell the patrol that they did a very good job today. Dr. Son Le Ha, each way you tell the patrol that they did a very good job today. They're just one point I want to stress. Some carry their weapon down like this. Dr. Son Le Ha, each way you tell the patrol that they did a very good job today. They carry their weapon out through ready at all times. Dr. Son Le Ha, each way you tell the patrol which is down like this. Where their eyes are, so is the muzzle of their weapon. Dr. Son Le Ha, each way you tell the patrol which is down like this. Dr. Son Le Ha, each way you tell the patrol which is up like this. Not all our advisors rely on interpreters. Here we see Sergeant Bill Belch instructing the carbine in fluent Vietnamese. Basic instruction in the care and use of a weapon familiar to any veteran of the U.S. Army. In this class, one of our raw day instructors is teaching his men a technique in search and seizure for arresting Viet Cong agents. Many such agents conceal themselves in friendly villages disguised as ordinary workmen. These men are from surrounding villages. They have come to our village seeking training which will enable them to provide their own defense against guerrilla bans. It is not unusual to see 200 or more of these people each week. Outside the village gate is a sign which says here no Viet Cong need apply for rice or any other assistance that this is a free village which is no longer afraid. We have taught our friends small unit tactics and given them modern equipment with which to defend themselves. People who once defended their freedom with a crossbow are now learning to use rifles, submachine guns and grenades. Today, these raw day people are in some ways very primitive by American standards and are the best anti guerrilla fighters in Southeast Asia. As our program expands, new special forces teams are moving into other villages always with the same goal to teach people who value their independence how to preserve it. Okay, Odie, your boys got all your equipment you're all set to go just about now, aren't you? Okay, fine. Well, you know that we're going to have trouble to the south when we first set the circle up up here. Viet Cong didn't know what we're doing. I took him about a month to really figure out just what we're about to do there. So when we move to the south, they already know just about what we're going to do. And once we start building up the same defensive systems we had up here, they're going to try and hit us as soon as we start. So we're going to have to watch that. Well, Odie, for the past couple of weeks, you and your team have been here observing my team work with the raw day people in village defense. You've been exposed to some of our training problems, our logistical problems that arise from working through interpreters. If there are any questions that you or your team have at this time or any other way that we can help you, please feel free to ask. Thank you, Ron. The last two weeks have been very beneficial as far as our team is concerned. We've learned a lot as far as you mentioned, the interrogation and so forth and the training with the raw day working through interpreters. One point that you can help us with though is on this field headquarters there where we're going we'll probably be working decentralized training rather than centralized and the results you have may help us down there. When we go to the other area, I'm afraid that we're going to have a few more problems down there that we don't have here. For example, a different tribe and plus we're working with two different types of group people, dips and male tribes. And we can take what you have given us here and then modify it to meet the situation down there. As far as equipment wise, I think we've pretty well got everything you had. How about lesson plans and training schedule there? We're OK on that, but we'll probably have to make some changes as our situation goes along. OK, Van, how about the common situation? It's pretty well done. Well, we'll try the same system they're using here. If that doesn't work, we'll change it. The villages of Southeast Asia were old in the days of Julius Caesar. Throughout their long history, they've been regularly conquered, depressed, liberated and invaded again. In the best of times, lives here are neither long nor easy. Maybe it's not surprising that the villagers of Vietnam have simple ideas about what makes a friend. Friends are people who help. Medics of a rather special kind are part of a special forces team to care for their own men. But in isolated, often disease-ridden hamlets where no doctor has ever gone, a special forces medic that is extensive specialized training may be the only contact with modern medicine the people will ever have. OK. The use of military personnel to win friends as well as to fight is gaining ground in Vietnam. A villager is likely to be more interested in a new roof for his house than in the outcome of the Cold War or the threat of Communism. The training and advising of Vietnamese civic action teams for work in the villages of Vietnam may be one of our major contributions to the development of the Vietnam War. In the past, maybe one of our major contributions to the defeat of Communism in Southeast Asia. But if good works are an answer to Communist propaganda, they're not enough to repel the guerrilla terrorism which invariably follows when propaganda fails. This is the village of Huk Thien near the coast of the South China Sea. By refusing food and volunteers to Vietnamese guerrillas, these villagers subject themselves to 250 guerrilla attacks in five years. That's an average of one a week. They're about to show an American visitor how they survived. A typical alert which here is more often real than practiced as into a small fort. When the alert sounds, every man, woman and child has either a place to hide or a post to defend. They've defended it so well that guerrilla attacks have virtually ceased. The price of extorting food and supplies have become too big and it's worth remembering that they did this all on their own. Americans are now giving them weapons and technical advice. But in this case, we're only making a good thing better. And maybe making life a little easier for a town full of brave people. Or from behind a stockade fence. Sooner or later you have to take the fight to the enemy. Whether he's an army or only a band of guerrillas prowling the surrounding jungle. But a special forces training camp outside Saigon, volunteers from the village of Huk Thien are training to carry their war outside the gates. These training missions can be interesting. The jungle is never safe. When you practice searching for guerrillas hiding in jungle villages, you're always level to find some. In this school, nobody has trouble keeping the students awake. A moment's carelessness can lead to disaster. Across a clearing, pass a temple or walk through a cemetery without making sure. But they do need help in mastering the tactics and using the modern weapons which communist trained guerrillas are using against them. And of the Nung Chinese training at a special forces camp near the town of Da Nang. Already some of the most experienced anti-guerrilla fighters in Southeast Asia. In 1954, 25 of these same men turned back an assault by 1,000 Viet Minh soldiers. Killing 600 in a process. These are mountain people of the Khatang tribe. They and their U.S. instructors are drawing rations of dried shrimp and rice for a week-long jungle patrol. A joint training exercise with soldiers of the regular Vietnamese army. It will have the added practical advantage of making life difficult for a battalion of Viet Cong guerrillas who happen to be using the same jungle. The main problem in taking a fight to the guerrillas in Vietnam or anywhere else in Southeast Asia is the lack of communication. Ordinary means of travel are too slow to counter the hit-and-run tactics of communist guerrillas. One answer to that problem is the helicopter. It can bring troops into a guerrilla-occupied area the moment their presence becomes known. The helicopter also increases the staying power of the anti-guerrilla patrols. With fresh supplies of food and medicine available in the heart of the jungle itself, patrols like these can cover a lot of territory. That's what they came for. Guerrillas are beginning to learn that there are fewer places to hide in the jungles of Vietnam. Some of the Viet Cong guerrillas are hardcore communists prepared to die for a cause in which, unfortunately, they sincerely believe. And like this young Rod A. Trabsman who a few days ago deserted the guerrillas and came to a special forces team seeking protection. His name is a drunk 22 years old. What's with the VC? He has been with the VC two months since January. Why did he join the VC? He joined the VC to join the jungle. Why did he deserve the VC? He joined VC because we see force him, price him to go in the jungle. Why did he deserve the VC? He joined VC because we see force him to go in the jungle. He joined VC because we see force him to go in the jungle. He joined VC because we see force him to go in the jungle. He deserved VC because he does not like the life of VC. And he trapped badly many people still right and work hard. Why did he come to our specific training area? Why did he come to our specific training area? Why did he come to our specific training area? Why did he come to our specific training area? Why did he come to our specific training area? He came here because he know that program in Brunei now is for Rady people and for Rady benefit and he went to work here to help Rady people to help better life. How large was the group of VC that he was with? In Vietnam. In Vietnam, there were 40 people with him. It will be a long while in Vietnam before any swords are beaten into plowshares. But the time will come. What the people want is peace. Peace and a chance for a better life. Miss Viet Cong promises them progress. But in the meantime, creates a world where peaceful citizens must go armed in fear of their lives. Rady wants his power. What he can't control, he tries to destroy. In South Vietnam, the old promises don't work as well as they used to. And so the guerrilla resorts more and more into terrorism. Is at war with his own people. The Vietnamese are an ancient race and an independent one. This is not the first time they've fought for the right to decide their own destiny. For 2000 years, they've defended that right against all the emperors of China, against the cavalry of Kubla Khan, against modern armies and machine guns and airplanes. Given time, they will send today's would-be oppressors to join the others and defeat. Our purpose in Vietnam is to give them that time.