>> announcer: the vice president of the united states. >> i have just been looking over some of the sketches made in vietnam for the motion picture you're about to see. these are wonderfully strong picture. they captured the spirit of the people of that country. now just take a look at this one. throughout vietnam you see strong faces like this, determined, patient. the story and hope and determination and what they are doing to build on their hopes has not been told as offense as has the story of warp in their ravaged land, but it's just as true. here are some others. they are really building something over there. they are building the foundations of a society in which they and their children can live in peace and freedom. they are doing this in the midst of an ugly war, forced on them by aggressors who want to control them they are doing it with that muscle and hard, but doing it at the ballot box, too in hundreds of hamlets, they are demonstrating their faith -- faith in themselves and in their future. they're also proving their faith in us, because we have taken our stand better side them. nobody really knows what the can doubt the rightness of their cause. for we are making possible the conditions under which they can build their nation. it is the story of war's effect on the people who live in this troubled land. but the untold story of this historic moment in vietnam is one of heroic adventure. it is a revolutionary undertaking by the people of the republic of vietnam to transform their national life and construct out of the chaotic legacy of the past a social order that will work for the betterment of all. it is the story of a people building a nation for themselves and building it amid the holocaust of war. ♪ a generation ago not many americans could have said with certainly where or what saigon was. today no city in the world more urgently commands or attention. it's the capital city of a national war. the strangest war in which americans have ever been involved. it is also the capital of a nation in the throes of a social revolution. america's participation in that revolution is just as urgent as its involvement in the war. being the capital city, saigon is the source of south vietnam's revolutionary effort, but you have to come out here in the countryside to see what it's all about. the defense department has asked me tos help bring you this story of vietnam's attempt to build itself into a nation. to do this, i have called on some expert help. this is lieutenant mark nelson, u.s. navy. he's commander of a division of the patrol craft which prevent infiltration of enemy troops and supplies along the cost. these sergeant shelly blunt of the air force. sergeant ken sanders with the 3rd marine am bib news forat danang and spec file -- these fellas are stationed here. they know the country, at least in the special way that american fighting men have come to know it. they know the story, and together we're going to try to give you an informed picture of what it is that's going on over here. we're in the hamlet of neton about 50 miles north of saigon. it's a peaceful-looking rural community. life goes on here much as it has for hundreds of years in this part of the world. there's an operation going on a mile or two from here and the peace of quiet of this little village is shattered by the sounds of war. the drones of helicopters overhead and every once in a while a rumble of artillery. that's one thing you learn after you've been here in vietnam for a while. the war is never very far away. these hamlets and villages are the real soul of the country. four fifths of the people of south vietnam live in them, and it's here in these thatched huts that the thrust of the great social revolution is directed. >> in vietnam, revolution is a double-edged word. the enemy uses it. it's what they call the aggressive war they're using against the people here. >> that's the story, and there's nothing mysterious about the kind of revolution the enemy has in mind. it's the same thing we have seen in many parts of the world ever since the communist revolution 50 years ago, murder p. assassination, terror, and over here they have killed over 20,000 civilian leaders. that is the story of the civilian population. it is public knowledge that these people in their fight for freedom have lost proportionately already more troops than we lost in the whole of world war ii. yet in spite of this there have always been men brave enough in this country to step forward and take the leadership from those who have been killed, and it's these same brave people who have had the will and the guts to conduct their own revolution, a real revolution for the betterment of their people. at the same time, they have been fighting a war for their very survival. what the government of vietnam is launching is a national effort to defeat a pattern of social misery which has plagued the people of vietnam for generations. they intend to replace it in a society in which the needs of the people can be met. they call it revolution, and it certainly is, and they call it nation building, and it's that, too. >> the people over here have never had very much, and they want their share. they want the things that are important to them. that is what they mean by revolution and what it's all about. they want a better life. >> they want social justice, but the guy in the rice paddy wouldn't call it that. as a matter of fact he probably wouldn't know what those words mean, but it's the same thing. he wants to be left alone. he's tired of being frightened, kicked around and beaten up. he wants personal dignity, and he certainly doesn't get much of that over here. >> these people want education. it's key to the future for them. >> health is another big problem. disease is a serious thing. life expectancy is pretty low. >> the war his that along. >> it sure does, but some of these people never seen a doctor. you should see how think crowd around our medics. they want to get their families taken care of. >> social justice, if that's what you want to call it, or simply the desire not to be balesen up, education for the children, health facilities, the hunger for land and to make the land more mountiful. these are the wants of the people. they are the objectives of vietnam. >> the the trouble is the vitt congress have told the people they would give them the same thing. >> and they shoot anybody who doesn't believe them. >> but at sometimes people don't know who to believe. that's why the government needs to make good on their promises right now. >> we can't wait on it. we've got to get this war won. if we don't, there won't be a nation to build. >> yes, we in the south vietnamese must win this war. the social revolution cannot be successful unless the people feel secure and safe from communist aggression. the enemy was proud of the technique developed for pursuing what he called his wars of national liberalization. who could stop him? not the americans, or so he thought. the leaders of the north vietnamese military forces said the organization, composition and training of american forces were not fit to tackle a revolutionary war. i guess they forgot 1776. anyway, we americans who knew something about revolution developed a revolutionary answer in the field to these cutthroats and terrorists. the myth of vitt congreevietcon foundation for that decision, when it recognized aggress against the weak would never be permitted if free gop was to survive. on the fighting men in vietnam are the inheritors of that decision, and now they are its agents. accolades in war are easy to give, but there is a general agreement that never before in its history has america put into combat a force so composed of men ready for their job. they serve the cause of freedom well. they're fighting men and not philosophers, so they don't talk much about freedom, but they know their job and they know how it figures in vietnam's effort to xwld a nation. >> we've got to get this war won. if we don't, there won't be any nation to build. the final outcome of the vietnam story will not be determined in the cities or even in the places of open conflict with the enemy. but out here in these small clusters of rice farmers and fishermen. that captain over there is peter dawkins. just a few years ago he was making all-american at we westpoint. now he's up to his eyeballs in a really historic adventure, the effort of the vietnamese government to create a nation where no real sense of nation has ever existed before. with his help, i hope we'll be able to show you what nation building means in thousands of hamlets across the country like this. pete? you're on. >> well, you know, this nation building is an abstract term. so is social revolution, which is the other term the vietnamese use for what they're trying to do. what these terms really boil down to essentially is an effort to bring a better way of life to the millions of vietnamese. >> this is a staggering undertaking, but one of vital importance. the president of vietnam is well overdue his claim to a better shake. >> the unusual thing is the government is trying to gift the peasant that better shake even while the war is going on. when you look at that fact closely, you discover something truly unique about this war. improving the lives of these people is not just a humanitarian idea, it's a military necessity. every american who comes over here to fight soon becomeses aware of that. >> tomorrow about midnight, you will certainly round the village and completely seal it off. you encounter any v.c., you will take your normal combat action. after you seal off this village, it's going to be different, however. at first light we're going to take the vietnam to the town. there will be a large group of people going into the vittage that you have surrounded. it's going to be their job to show them that the government of vietnam is the best choice, and your job is just as important, in that you've got to convince these people that you as soldiers are on their side you're going to gain their confidence by working with them to build a little better life. >> basic kindness and generosity are not unknown in the tradition of the american fighting menover cease, but no one expected they would become military weapons as well, but that's the kind of a war this is. ♪ nonmilitary assistance is also a major part of america's contribution to vietnam's struggle, and has been from the beginning. >> i'm with the united states agency for international development here in vietnam. i've been here about three years now working in this province. my work has involved almost everything that is nonmilitary, from the building of schools, dispenseiaries, roads and bridgesly. basically we've been trying to work with the people and hem them as much as they can to realize their aims and wishes. basically we're trying to help the government of vietnam respond to these needs and these wishes, helping the golf respond to the needs of the people. >> the u.s. is not alone, either in the contributions it's making, this is a nub better of social centers used as schools today, which the west germans have set up in the crowded and poor districts of saigon. an iranian surgical team provided badly needed hospital service in thes districts. such activities document the very important fact that 39 nations of the free world today are helping or have promised to help the republic of vietnam in one way or another. >> all of this is enormously important and helpful to the common cause, but these activities did only be considered as the initial steps to help get the process started. no matter how successful our troops or a.i. dishes representatives are in winning the support of the people, in the end that job can only be done by the vietnamese themselves. we can help strengthen the tying of the people to their government, but we can only help. vietnamese know this and are doing something about it the as a matter of fact, what they are doing constitutes the heart and soul of their evidence toward building a nation. this is a training center, a very special training center. it's for what the vietnamese called revolutionary development academy. the 5,000 men at a time, 20,000 a year literally hold the hopes for vietnam's social revolution in their hands. they come here to assimilate the principles of the government's plan to revitalize the country and learn the skills and techniques with which to translate thor principles into effective action. s. >> you may not believe it to look at me, but i'm captain gene, united states army. this is the uniform here. i'm an adviser here, but only that. you see, the vietnamese are running the show and it's an arduous one. >> about half the total training is taken up with military subjects. the jobs will be to move into areas where american troops have cleared, and their first responsible will be to take up where the military had to leave out of in providing security for the area. they are the sons of famplers and fish erbilmen and have lived all their lives closing to the soil. they don't knee much instruction in mow to harvs a ride crop, but techniques for improvement are parts of the curriculum. they become well schooled in the causes and progress of the war. probably as much as any national spokesman. one fact is drilled in constantly -- the necessities of reaching the hards and minds of the people among whom they already working. when their training is completed, they are formed to cadre groups, to takes the social revolution to the countryside. the program in which they cadre groups are involved happens well before they move into a village. first of all regular forces, either you are our south vietnamese, sweep through the area to clear it, destroy, capture or chase out any main force units. then regional forces, companies of troops embroiled within a province, and popular forces, platoons and squads within a distribute secure the air with their patrols and small-sized operations. then the cadre groups move in, dressed in the black pajamas of the peasant, trained to look at the world as a peasant sees it, but also as a soldier must. >> this black uniform is very important. because it is the traditional garb of the peasant, it's easy for the peasant to identify them will have is the cadre grapes. it complicates or problems of i had fix, of course, for this is made considerably easier by them being assigned to the districts they grew up in, among the people who know them. >> they're not left entirely on their own s military united states on the periphery help to deter the enemy from coming back, but these men care a heavy share of the responsibility for village security. >> with this this screen of secure, they root out the v.c. infrastructure if one exists. >> at the same time the spade work of the social revolution begins, with a full explanation to the people of just what they are in the village for and what they hope to plik. >> this is not always an easy step. the overwhelming majority of people of south vietnam are dead opposed to everything that the enemy stands for, but their experience has made them wary. too even they have seen the v-c murder anyone who is cooperative with the government. they have to be persuaded that won't happen gpg. >> and to persuade them their welfare is of deep concern to their emerging nation. one team works to find what the particular problems are and what is needed to improve the life in the village. once the problems have been determined, another team starts organizing the effort to solve them. this is where the people's first commitment takes hold. what the cadres must do is encourage them into tackling the projeb themselves. the team will find the necessary materials and supplies to be used, obvious from u.s. sources, but the people have to crib their labor and their energies. as their work prorged, they are encouraged. when a village gripped with people or mired in apathy and feels at the stirrings in faith in itself. >> that is the transformation of social re68 lose. it is precisely this which the revolutionary cadres are endeavoring to bring to the villages of vietnam. s. >> whether their job is through, if they've done it well, they will leave behind them a community of people who are able to believe in their future. who are derld to work for it. one of the final missions is to train a self-defense force from among the able-bodied villages. when this happens, the people's commitment is complete. ♪ >> vietnam has a lot riding on these men. >> we all have. >> that's right, we all have. ♪ >> no one is certain that -- is building the nation it wants during the hardships and trials of war. but power selfideas generate their own growth, even if the most bitter of climates. one of these is the belief in individual man's dignity and his right to determine his own course. it is this idea which animates vietnam's spirit today. it is an idea with which we americans are familiar. it is to honor or commitment to this idea that we take our stan, but wield hold you are the stand of at worthy and brave ally. i'd like to leave you with one thought in mind, to understand, to really understand what the vietnamese are trying to do today. we can think of our own country, just less than two centuries ago. we had won or revolution, won it on the battlefield. it took from 1776 to 1787, 11 years for our founding fathers to build the substance and structure that is now our great nation. the vietnamese are trying to do both of these things at one form not because they want to, but because they must, because history will not give them the luxury of the time it once gave us. ♪ ♪ you're watching american history tv all weekend every weekend on c-span3. to join the conversation, like us on facebook. fort knox was chosen because it was america's most impenetrable location. it was the gold bullion repository, so the secretary of the treasury gives permission to use a portion of the depository for these documents. sunday night on q&a, author steven poolio talks about the decision to move the most important documents to fort knox. >> mcleash has to make a decision, what documents will be there? the original engrossed declaration, the articles of confederation pre-constitution for sure. the go aheadies burg address considered critical. so he masse this decision very methodical on what will go to fort knox. these are considered the most valuable documents in the, and the mag in a carta is the document that he's been asked to preserve for the brits. >> sunday night on q&a. in april 1775 the british arm marched from boston to concord, to -- including some stolen from the british. along the way, the patriots met the british troops in lexington where the first shots of the revolutionary wear were fired. just ought thor j.l. bell talks about his "the road to concord." he discussion the events leading up to the start of the revolutionary war, and the british plan to get them back. the society of the cincinnati hosted this hour-long event.