Propaganda War Film Shows Us Winning In Vietnam. It Doesn’t Show The Cost In Men And Materials

This is a Vietnam era government propaganda film released in early 1968 to show the battle of Dak To. Every part of the film indicates American military success without stating or showing the losses in men and material. In fact this was a horrific battle and mainstream and alternative media began to show the costs of this battle when the military did not. It was a time when many people distrusted the American military’s statements about “winning the war.“ One of my closest colleagues was a cameraman who filmed some of this. When he returned to the USA from Vietnam, he told us what he had witnessed and how horrific it was and how courageous American forces were fighting a powerful and frightening enemy. Each night the news presented the amount of North Vietnamese troops that had been killed versus the amount of Americans killed as though that was an indication that we were winning the war. It became quite horrible for many Americans to see on TV and as I understand it from interviews I have done, unimaginable for those Americans fighting in it. I’m sure that in the government archives (to my knowledge still unreleased) is footage of what actually occurred and how costly and frightening it was. This film does present just a bit of the American military strategy in fighting the battles of Dak To in late 1967 and I found that fascinating particularly when Wikipedia and other descriptions of what occurred give a more accurate picture of the fighting. Below is a portion of the Wikipedia description of the battles. The battle of Dak To took place between 3 and 23 November 1967. The action was one of a series of North Vietnamese Army offensive initiatives that began during the second half of the year. During the summer of 1967, American forces were being attacked by North Vietnamese forces and that led Americans to launch Operation Greeley, a search and destroy effort by elements of the U. S. 4th Infantry Division and 173rd Airborne Brigade, along with the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. The fighting was intense and lasted into late 1967, when the PAVN seemingly withdrew. The battles on the hills became some of the hardest-fought and bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War. In October 1957 the 503rd Airborne Infantry was ordered to occupy Hill 823 for the construction of a Fire Support Base. 120 men of Company B would combat assault onto the hilltop by helicopter alone. After several attempts to denude the hilltop with airstrikes and artillery fire, Company B landed unopposed. Just fifteen minutes later a battle and ensued raged at close quarters until early the following morning when elements of the 66th Regiment withdrew, leaving behind more than 100 bodies. Nine men of Company B were killed and another 28 were wounded. The following day was spent in launching airstrikes and a heavy artillery bombardment against the hilltop, totally denuding it of cover. On 23 November, the 2nd and 4th Battalions of the 503rd were ordered to renew their assault while the 1/12th Infantry assaulted 875 from the south. This time the Americans gained the crest, but the PAVN had already abandoned their positions, leaving only a few dozen charred bodies and weapons.[The battle of Hill 875 had cost 87 Americans killed and 130 wounded. The 4/503rd also suffered 28 killed 123 wounded.  Combined with noncombatant losses, this represented one-fifth of the 173rd Airborne Brigade’s total strength. By the end of November, the PAVN withdrew back into their sanctuaries in Cambodia and Laos, failing to wipe out a major American unit, yet forcing the U.S. Army to pay a high price. 376 U.S. troops had been killed or listed as missing-presumed dead and another 1,441 were wounded, in the fighting around Đắk Tô. U.S. munitions expenditures attested to the ferocity of the fighting: 151,000 artillery rounds, 2,096 tactical air sorties, 257 B-52 strikes. 2,101 Army helicopter sorties were flown, and 40 helicopters were lost. The U.S. Army claimed that 1,644 PAVN troops had been killed by body count, but this figure quickly became a source of contention due to allegations of body count inflation If you found this presentation of interest, I would appreciate your supporting my efforts to continue to present films like this by clicking on the Super Thanks button to the right below the video screen. That support keeps me going. Thank you David Hoffman filmmaker