After nearly a century of French colonial rule, Vietnam emerges independent, but divided.
As a communist insurgency gains strength, JFK wrestles with American involvement in South Vietnam.
With South Vietnam in chaos, hardliners in Hanoi seize the initiative and send combat troops to the South, accelerating the insurgency. Fearing Saigon's collapse, President Johnson escalates America's military commitment, authorizing sustained bombing of the North and deploying ground troops in the South.
US soldiers discover Vietnam is unlike their fathers' war, while the antiwar movement grows.
American casualties and enemy body counts mount as marines face deadly North Vietnamese ambushes and artillery south of the DMZ and army units chase an elusive enemy in the Central Highlands. Hanoi lays plans for a massive surprise offensive, and the Johnson administration reassures the American public that victory is in sight.
Shaken by the Tet Offensive, assassinations and unrest, America seems to be coming apart.
After chaos roils the Democratic Convention, Nixon, promising peace, narrowly wins the presidency.
Nixon withdraws troops but when he sends forces into Cambodia the antiwar movement reignites.
South Vietnam fights on its own as Nixon and Kissinger find a way out for America. The POWs return.
Saigon falls and the war ends. Americans and Vietnamese from all sides search for reconciliation.
A look at creation of the series.
An overview of "The Vietnam War" by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, a documentary series featuring testimony from Americans who fought in the war, some who opposed it, and Vietnamese combatants and civilians.
Series production overview.
