In this episode, James, Sean and special guest Steve Guerra review the 2002 film We Were Soldiers, written and directed by Randall Wallace and starring Mel Gibson. Based on the book We Were Soldiers Once… and Young (1992) by Lieutenant General Hal Moore and reporter Joseph L. Galloway, We Were Soldiers dramatizes the Battle of Ia Drang on November 14, 1965.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1965, the ground war in South Vietnam intensified. In June, the ARVN suffered a disaster at the hands of the Viet Cong in the Battle of Dong Xoai. That same year, U. S. President Lyndon Johnson made the fateful decision to greatly expand American involvement in the war, ordering 150,000 new soldiers and Marines to Vietnam right away and another 150,000 to follow them soon afterward.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Sean and James discuss the 2006 film Rescue Dawn, based on the true story of American pilot Dieter Dengler, who was shot down over Laos in 1966 and spent several months in a prison camp before escaping and returning to his unit. As always, your lovable hosts will tell you what the filmmakers got right and what they got wrong.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In August, 1964, three North Vietnamese gunboats attacked an American destroyer. This incident was followed by a perceived (but imaginary) second attack. These attacks, although one was not real, led to the US Congress passing the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which authorized the president to take “all necessary measures to repel armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression.” Johnson then authorized Operation Rolling Thunder, a massive and ongoing bombing of North Vietnam. He also decided to send the first American ground troops to South Vietnam.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In early 1963, the Viet Cong decisively defeated an attacking ARVN force at the Battle of Ap Bac, proving that the guerrillas were a force to be reckoned with. During that same year, much of South Vietnam fell under Viet Cong control, while most of the rest of the country descended into chaos. South Vietnamese cities saw an increasing number of protests, many of which were brutally put down by the Diem regime. Ultimately, Diem was assassinated, and a junta of generals took control. In November, U. S. president John F. Kennedy also fell victim to an assassin’s bullet and was replaced by Lyndon Johnson. What effect on the war would the changes in leadership have? Listen, and Sean and James will let you know.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1959, the government of North Vietnam, now under the direction of Communist Party Chairman Le Duan, decided to initiate a war with the South Vietnamese government led by Ngo Dinh Diem. To help fight Diem’s regime, the North Vietnamese facilitated the formation of a National Liberation Front (later dubbed the Viet Cong by the South Vietnamese government). The NLF/VC began a campaign of terror and assassinations that threatened to bring down the South Vietnamese government. Meanwhile, new U. S. President John F. Kennedy began increasing the number of American military advisors in South Vietnam. Join Sean and James as they discuss this key turning point of the war.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After the Second World War, France decided to reassert control over French Indochina. This policy met strong resistance from both Communist and right-wing political and military organizations in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Resistance grew, leading to the First Indochina War (1946-1954). This conflict ended with the Geneva Agreements, in which the French agreed to depart, the country would be temporarily divided between a Communist North and a non-Commuist south, and elections would be held in 1956…or would they? Join Sean and James as they discuss this “war before the war” that is little known to westerners but is a crucial prelude to the more well-known Vietnam War.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Evan Muxen returns to join James and to help kick off a new series on the Vietnam War. Evan and James give an overview of Vietnamese history from its beginning down through the period of French domination, the Japanese conquest during WW2, and the fight for control of Vietnam after WW2.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.