First Hit: A very interesting film about how this war ended.
I was in Vietnam from 1969 – 1971 and I can still recall our soldiers, my experience, and the people. After arriving there I quickly realized that we, our country, was wrong to be there. In our being there we created fear based thought around what the South Vietnamese could expect if the North Vietnamese took over.
When I returned there after 30 years I discovered a country that seemed at peace with itself and, except for a few people, I was welcomed with there with their open hearts. Watching the fear based thought we instilled in many of the South Vietnamese of what would happen to them if the North took over Saigon (now called Ho Chi Minh City) is what this film shows.
This documentary shows how people did everything they could do to get out of Saigon and get on board US ships sitting off the coast of their country. With hopes of finding freedom in the United States they came anyway they could.
The most dramatic scenes were the ones where people jumped off helicopters and then they pushed them off the ship into the ocean. Billions of dollars were sunk.
This film covered our policies and the stubbornness of our Ambassador to Vietnam. I think getting some of the background to the very graphic and public images of the time was fascinating.
Mark Bailey and Keven McAlester wrote a great logical and descriptive script. Rory Kennedy did a great job of splicing together actual footage of the time.
Overall: This was an amazing film and piece of history.