The Television War

I spent the last few days in the Nation's capitol attending a graduation. Yesterday morning was quiet and rainy, and we needed something to do. We went to the Newseum, the museum dedicated to journalism. Its very impressive. They have a great collection of Pulitzer Prize winning photos, among many other things. The Newseum also has a huge exhibit on the Vietnam War. News clips, still photos, interviews, and lots and lots of video.

That's when the memories came flooding back. No, I didn't serve in Vietnam. Never been near the place. And I was 15 when Saigon fell. 
What I'm referring to is the the little war that occurring in living and dining rooms all over America.

When I was a kid, my father, like a lot of fathers all across America, moved a TV into the dining room. If my mom didn't like it, she kept it to herself. And every night we'd eat dinner while watching the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite. With his understated manner, and quiet professionalism, Cronkite became, most probably, the most trusted man in America. And each night, over my meatloaf and mashed potatoes, I watched the Vietnam War. There were sweaty, dirty troops drinking from canteens, reporters shouting into microphones. There were officials describing battles, confidently quoting body counts of "VC". There were politicians warning about "dominos" and "reds". There was the weekly American death toll. And helicopters. Everywhere. Every night the coverage of war was accompanied by a soundtrack, the whomp whomp whomp, of the Huey helicopter.

The weekly American death toll went on and on, and on. A sad marker of every Friday. The military gave encouraging reports. The public started having doubts. And the press coverage turned negative. On Aug. 5, 1965, CBS News correspondent Morley Safer - on TV - reported on the burning of the village of Cam Ne, Vietnam, by U.S. Marines. The Marines used lighters and flamethrowers on huts in the village because enemy fire came from the area. It depicted some of the first negative images of U.S. forces in the war. Viewers saw American troops acting in a way people had never seen American troops act before, and couldn't imagine. Those people were raised on World War II, in which virtually everything we saw was heroic. And so much of it, indeed, was. And there was plenty in Vietnam, too, that was heroic. But this conjured up not America, but some brutal power — Germany, even, in World War II. To see young G.I.s, big guys in flak jackets, lighting up thatched roofs, and women holding babies running away, wailing — this was a new sight to everyone. The public was outraged. Some, like my older brother, were outraged that US forces would do such a thing. Some, like my father were outraged that the press would cover such a thing. My brother was a young man. My dad was a blue collar, silent majority guy. And this was no theoretical fight. In my neighborhood, there weren't a lot of rich kids getting deferments. The draft hung over every family.





President Johnson was outraged,,,, at the news coverage. Johnson  called Frank Stanton, the president of CBS, whom he knew quite well. The president said, "Frank?" "Yeah, who is this?" He said, "This is your president." "Yes, Mr. President?" "You know what you did to me last night?" "What did I do, sir?" "You shat on the American flag."
http://www.pbs.org/weta/reportingamericaatwar/reporters/safer/camne.html

The tension only worsened over time. My father cursed the "commies" and the press. My brother cursed LBJ. They nearly came to blows once. It was scary to a young kid. And, as I watched the news, the same sort of civil war seemed to be occurring all across the streets and college campuses of America. father vs son, politician vs politician, black vs white, students vs their teachers. The scene grew ever more ugly. US Senator George McGovern spoke out against the war. His opponents called him a hippie,  a whimp,  Un-American. My dad agreed. (It was only years later that I learned that McGovern had flown 35 combat missions over nazi occupied Europe. He was a anything but unamerican.) There was violence on the streets of America. There was hate and discord.

The press coverage grew ever more critical. We weren't winning. We were brutalizing a population, they said. LBJ and the military denied it. We were winning. We were stopping the world-wide march of communism. The enemy was on the ropes. There was light at the end of the tunnel.

Then, on January 31, 1968 this defeated enemy launched the Tet Offensive. It came as a complete surprise to the US forces, and the American people. It was one of the largest campaigns of the Vietnam War. The communists made coordinated attacks all over the country, including in Saigon itself. The Americans fought well. At Khe Sanh, for instance the Marines made a stand for the ages.

The Tet offensive resulted in a major US tactical victory. But, with the public it was a disaster. We all saw that this enemy was far from defeated. That the government had been lying to us. Support for the war plummeted.

Then, on February 27th, the most trusted man in America, spoke up.





After Walter Cronkite's broadcast, Lyndon Johnson reportedly buried his face in his hands, and said "That's it. If I've lost Walter, I've lost middle America". The Pentagon angrily condemned the press for "undermining the war effort".

There was even more killing to come, both in Southeast Asia, and at home. But the Turning Point had come.
Johnson, of course declined to run for re-election, his presidency wrecked on the shoals of Vietnam.
Richard Nixon stepped up the bombing while pursuing first a doomed attempt at Vietnamization, then "peace talks" designed as a fig leaf to disguise defeat.

Direct U.S. military involvement ended on 15 August 1973. The capture of Saigon by the North Vietnamese Army in April 1975 marked the end of the war, and North and South Vietnam were reunified the following year. Estimates of the number of Vietnamese soldiers and civilians killed vary from 800,000 to 3.1 million. Some 200,000–300,000 Cambodians, and 20,000–200,000 Laotians died as well.

58,220 U.S. service members died in the conflict, with a further 1,626 missing in action.
Their names are on a wall in Washington.


To this day a debate rages in some circles.
Did the press lose Vietnam? Or did the press show America that we were losing the war, and our souls in Vietnam?

The debate is over in that little house I grew up in. Time imposed a sort of peace.
My brother stormed out one day, and rarely returned.
The house was torn down in the late seventies, taken as part of a dike system built to prevent another hurricane Agnes type flood.
My Dad has been taken by alzheimers.


But, I remember.
Did the press get everything right about the war? Of course not. But, they did some great, difficult, and at times heroic work. At least 63 journalists died while covering the war. And, I think that they got the story mostly right.
Journalism is the first rough draft of history. 


The Newseum is located at 555 Pennsylvania Ave.
http://www.newseum.org/visit/tickets/?gclid=CjwKEAjwsYW6BRCTzvu5y8DPhi0SJABnGLlHpCheUNV8F8mBVhJv-vM4UJFcbkgR2zimqXdGnQ1mVRoC0Yvw_wcB

Unfortunately, it is not part of the Smithsonian, so admission is not free.

Last edited by Goose (5/22/2016 7:22 am)