This wednesday,April 30,marks 50 years since the fall of Saigon,a pivotal moment that reshaped Vietnam and left an indelible mark on the United States. The takeover of Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City, by North Vietnamese forces signified the end of a decades-long civil war. This conflict claimed over 3 million civilian lives and represented the triumph of one vision for Vietnam’s future, achieved through immense violence and at the expense of countless lives caught in the crossfire.

The American Perspective: Humiliation and Division

For the U.S.,the fall of Saigon symbolized a profound humiliation and the conclusion of its longest war at that time. The conflict resulted in over 58,000 American servicemen deaths, deeply divided the nation, and has become increasingly viewed as a tragic misadventure. Today, the Americanization of the Vietnam War is widely regarded as an extraordinarily costly, poorly managed, and horrific blunder rooted in political deception and questionable intelligence. It is indeed frequently enough taught as a brief, unsettling chapter in American schools, if it is taught at all.

A Lingering Shadow: The War’s Impact on the American psyche

The Vietnam War left a lasting scar on the American psyche, the effects of wich are still felt today. According to Brian Knappenberger, director of the Netflix series “Turning Point: The Vietnam war,”

The America that existed before the United States engaged militarily in Vietnam was a radically different country than the America that emerged after our troops came home. That new America that emerged from this conflict contained the roots of a lot of what plagues our society today – widespread alienation,deep cynicism,profound distrust in goverment,a breakdown of our civic institutions.
Brian Knappenberger, Director, “Turning Point: The Vietnam War”

This cynicism stemmed from the stark contrast between the government’s narrative under Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and ford, and the realities Americans witnessed through news reports, the experiences of loved ones, or the loss of those who never returned.

Conflicting Narratives and the Seeds of War

Belief in the armed forces, once sacrosanct, became fractured, with perspectives on the conflict varying widely depending on the source of details. Historian and writer Viet Thanh Nguyen observes,

There’s history in the sense of facts. But there’s also history as stories, as narratives.
Viet Thanh Nguyen, Historian and Writer

Nguyen’s novel, “The Sympathizer,” opens during the fall of Saigon, exploring the mutable loyalties of a North Vietnamese mole. As a South Vietnamese refugee in the U.S., Nguyen recognized the deeply conflicting histories within both countries, which he believes contributed to the war.

“Turning Point: The Vietnam War”: A Deep Dive into History

Knappenberger’s Netflix series delves into these conflicting histories, layering subjective narratives over a clear timeline of events. The series examines the steadfast binary of communism versus democracy that underpinned U.S. involvement, as well as the lionization of Ho Chi Minh in the North. Covering four U.S. presidential administrations, the series begins with John F. Kennedy,who initially escalated U.S. military involvement under the guise of “advising” the South Vietnamese military.

The War Documented: A Sea Change in Journalism

The conflict in Vietnam marked a significant shift in how war was documented. The series relies heavily on archival footage from CBS, whose reporters often challenged the U.S. military’s official line.Knappenberger notes that the footage

brings us much closer to the reality of what’s happening in a way that people found very, very shocking.
Brian Knappenberger, director, “Turning Point: The Vietnam War”

From interviews with U.S. soldiers questioning their purpose to graphic images of atrocities like the My Lai massacre, the American public was confronted with the brutal reality of war.

Political Maneuvering and Misleading the Public

The series also provides insight into the thinking of American presidents through their recorded Oval Office meetings and phone calls.These tapes reveal that the war

was often fought for political reasons, and that a lot of the decisions around what to do in Vietnam – particularly the peace process – were really being driven by electoral politics in the United States.
Brian Knappenberger,Director,”Turning Point: The Vietnam War”

The Pentagon Papers later revealed that American officials knew by 1967 that the U.S. could not decisively win, yet they misled the public to continue the war. Knappenberger explains,

Nobody wanted to be the president who lost Vietnam, and often that took priority over Vietnamese and Americans dying in a conflict that was never going to resolve the way the United States wanted it to resolve.
Brian Knappenberger, Director, “Turning Point: The Vietnam war”

The Human Cost: A Multifaceted Perspective

The series highlights the toll of the conflict on civilians and soldiers alike through interviews with Vietnamese participants from various factions. Knappenberger emphasizes,

So often the events of this war are told from the American perspective only. but in Vietnam, it’s important to remember that this was very much a civil war as much as anything else. The understanding of these events can’t be separated from the fact that there are two different parts of this country who had very, very different visions of what their future might be.
Brian Knappenberger,Director,”Turning Point: The Vietnam War”

These visions were splintered along complex lines,including Viet Cong volunteers,South Vietnamese loyalists,soldiers haunted by violence,and millions of refugees.

The Veteran Experience: Trauma and Disillusionment

Knappenberger,whose father served in Vietnam,also addresses the experiences of U.S. veterans, many of whom were drafted unwillingly or became disillusioned. The series recounts the atrocities committed by the U.S. in Vietnam. Scott camil, a U.S. soldier who later led vietnam Veterans Against the War, recalls,

you just hunt for people and you kill them.And you kill them any way you want.
Scott Camil, U.S.Soldier and Activist

Public sentiment against the war alienated many traumatized veterans. Knappenberger observes,

It’s just clear that this war is still an open wound of pain and trauma for so many people.
Brian Knappenberger, Director, “Turning Point: The vietnam War”

Lessons Unlearned: Echoes of the Past

The Vietnam War offers clear lessons about American fallibility, political conflict, and the dangers of an unscrupulous executive branch. Yet,the U.S. has repeated many of the same mistakes. Footage of campus protests in the 1960s mirrors those today, and the fall of Saigon foreshadows the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan 46 years later.

The United States of Amnesia?

Knappenberger poses the question,

you just have this growing sense of who are we as a country? What is our role in terms of using our military around the world? And why didn’t we learn? Are we the United States of amnesia?
Brian Knappenberger,Director,”Turning Point: The Vietnam War”

The series aims to re-contextualize memories of Vietnam for those who lived through it and to inform those who grew up in a country shaped by the conflict. Knappenberger hopes that viewers will

see something of our times and of relevance here. That they can understand, and can inform their lives and decisions, as younger and younger people end up continuing this human drama, as the story goes on.
Brian Knappenberger, Director, “Turning Point: The Vietnam War”