© ATOM 2011 © ATOM
A STUDY GUIDE BY BRADLEY WOOD
http://www.metromagazine.com.au
ISBN: 978-1-74295-095-2 http://www.theeducationshop.com.au All the Way. A Screen Australia National Documentary Program produced by November Films in association with the Austra- lian Broadcasting Corporation and !nanced in association with Screen NSW.
How Australia discovered that its biggest battle in the Vietnam War was dealing with its best
All images by Toby Ralph friend, the USA. unless otherwise stated.
SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2011 2 Curriculum Applicability
The documentary All the Way is relevant to the following 5. Civics and Citizenship education – the documentary secondary courses of study: explores issues of political activism and the rights and responsibilities of citizens regarding national 1. The Australian Curriculum: History, conscription. Year 10 History – The Globalising World, Migration Experiences (1945 – present) Suggested learning activities in this study guide help students develop the historical skills recommended in the The impact of at least ONE world event or develop- Australian Curriculum: History. ment and its significance for Australia, such as the Vietnam War and Indochinese refugees. Understanding chronology, terms and concepts
2. Stage 5 NSW syllabus Topic 5: Asking historical questions and research Australia in the Vietnam War Era Analysing and using sources 3. Stage 6 NSW Modern History syllabus topics: Understanding perspectives and developing Part II: National Studies – interpretations Option A: Australia 1945–1983 Explanation and communication of historical knowledge Part III: Personalities in the Twentieth Century – and understanding Option 6: Ho Chi Minh 1890–1969 The content of the documentary and the suggested learn- Part IV: International Studies in Peace and Conflict – ing activities also address in the Australian Curriculum: Option C: Conflict in Indochina 1954–1979 General capabilities – Creative thinking and intercultural 4. Politics and International Studies – a useful resource for understanding senior students because of the controversial questions it raises about the politics of Australia’s participation in Cross-curriculum priorities – Asia and Australia’s the Vietnam War and other conflicts in Indochina. engagement with Asia
SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2011 3 Synopsis/Overview
The documentary All The Way (No- The Vietnam War was the longest war successful independence movements. vember Films, 2011) is based on Paul Australia had ever fought, spanning This left Australia, with its British herit- Ham’s award-winning publication our first official commitment of training age, feeling isolated, abandoned and Vietnam: The Australian War. It exam- troops in 1962 to the withdrawal of our vulnerable. ines Australia’s political motivation in last battalion in late 1971. But it was committing advisers and then troops also a war Australia entered with a The development of the Cold War to a distant conflict, and the entangle- number of self-interested motives, not exaggerated Australia’s alarm, and ments that kept us there. In particular just the intention of saving the people Australia’s participation in the Korean it concentrates on what Ham calls of South Vietnam from invasion. The War and the Malayan Insurgency ’The unravelling of the US-Australian film argues that politically Australia confirmed the rise of communism as alliance at tactical, strategic, diplomat- embraced the war as a means of our principal concern for defence. The ic, political and economic levels during ensuring an American involvement and SEATO Treaty and the ANZUS pact [the Vietnam War]’. In a single hour- interest in our region. During the post- were considered by Australia to be long episode, narrated by Paul Ham, World War Two period former Euro- demonstrations of America’s willing- this little-known aspect of the war is pean colonial powers in the area either ness to accept great responsibilities persuasively told and well examined. withdrew or were expelled by various in the region. However, as this docu- mentary points out, America would interpret its commitments under the treaties as it saw convenient.
The Vietnam War was an outgrowth of the Indochina war. The changing level of American support and involve- ment in the region was a reflection of America’s increasing concern with the success of communism. America started with financial assistance to the French in their fight against Vietnam- ese nationalist forces. They escalated their involvement to providing arms, military advice and money to South Vietnam after the French defeat, and finally direct military intervention.
The Australian government, which desired the reassurance of future American military help in the uncer- tain Cold War future, sought to indebt America to Australia. What better way to achieve this than for Australia to provide support for America’s military intervention in Vietnam? Initially this assistance consisted of the provision of a team of Australian military advis- ers – known as the AATTV (Australian Army Training Team Vietnam). Then on 29 April 1965, and despite contrary advice from the Department of De- fence, Prime Minister Robert Menzies announced the intensification of Aus- L–R: Ted Serong (Australian War tralia’s support. Australia would now Memorial P01508.001); (Barry commit actual combat troops to the Peterson, private collection) Vietnam conflict. However, as former
SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2011 4 Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser says course of Australia’s involvement in wouldn’t listen to the French, the Aus- in the documentary, ’You don’t win the war; he was the first Australian in tralians. The American army knew how brownie points with a superpower’. and the last Australian out of Vietnam. to fight a war and it was determined, Abrasive and opinionated, Serong under General Westmoreland, to fight The documentary weighs up the became integral to CIA operations in the war it knew how to fight.’ military drawbacks to Australia of Vietnam, met and advised American engaging in our longest conflict beside presidents on the course of the war Despite reservations, successive an impatient giant willing to take large and ‘… was aware of [Australia’s entry Australian prime ministers maintained casualties, expend enormous firepow- into the war] before anybody in Can- Australia’s commitment, even as com- er and ignore more gradual tactics. In- berra was aware of it …’ munication channels between Austral- terviews with several Vietnam veterans ia and America became increasingly bring this point home and emphasise Archival footage is used to good clogged. The war had a momentum of the operational independence that effect throughout the documentary its own from which politicians found the Australians demanded, eventually as well as extensive location footage it difficult to extricate Australia even being assigned their own province that includes the sites of some of the though they became increasingly dis- (Phuoc Tuy) to pacify. The Australians major battles fought by Australians. pleased that Australia gained nothing would subdue Vietcong influence in People interviewed include veteran from America in terms of better trade Phuoc Tuy in a gradual campaign of American reporter Stanley Karnow and relations. stealthy patrolling, that the Americans US strategist Dr John Nagl, as well as disapprovingly called ‘inactive’, and Australian politicians and soldiers. Public and political unease gradually thwarted North Vietnamese conven- grew, the war dragged on and America tional forces in an engagement at The picture that builds is one of continued to be negligent in its Long Tan. Australia falling into step with Amer- treatment of Australian sensibilities. ica then finding it hard to break the Australian prime ministers were The Australians fought differently to rhythm, even as doubts, unease and publicly embarrassed when America the Americans, using effective jungle tensions grow and diplomatic niceties failed to advise them of critical events warfare techniques developed with the between the two allies become less such as President Johnson’s decision British while fighting communist guer- well observed. Politically the Ameri- not to run for office again. The final rillas in Malaya. Whereas the Ameri- cans were keen to have Australia on straw came in 1971 when President cans relied more on aerial and artillery board in order to give credence to the Nixon moved towards conciliation with superiority to suppress opposition in war as a multi-national action. How- Chinese authorities without informing an area, the Australians would patrol ever, neither politically, economically the Australian government. By the intensely outside their base areas tak- nor militarily was Australia allowed to time Gough Whitlam was elected ing the fight directly to the Vietcong. be a full partner. As Nagl states, ‘There Prime Minister in 1972 the Australian really were a lot of opportunities along withdrawal was already nearly One remarkable Australian, Colonel the way for the United States to learn complete. Francis ‘Ted’ Serong, is shown to from the experience of our Allies. But have had exceptional influence on the we wouldn’t listen to the Brits, we
SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2011 5 Before watching the !lm
1. Develop your own glossary of to see but were absent from counterinsurgency methods they terms about the Vietnam War. the list? had developed in Malaya. Consider Complete the following definitions; and include the Australian experi- the first one has already been done 4. What was the 17th parallel and ence of American-type war in the for you. why was Vietnam divided along it? Iron Triangle in your answer.
a. Viet Cong – The irregular 5. Examine the timeline and find out: 4. On 7 April 1954, American communist force fighting President Eisenhower said ‘You against the South Vietnamese. a. For how many years did have a row of dominoes set up, Cong is short for Cong-san Australia commit troops to you knock over the first one, and which means communist. Vietnam? what will happen to the last one b. Indochina is the certainty that it will go over c. Cold War b. How many different Australian very quickly.’ d. Communism prime ministers and American e. Guerrilla warfare presidents were in office over a. Explain what Eisenhower meant f. Nationalism this period? by this analogy and how it af- g. Counter insurgency fected American and Australian h. Conscription ALL THE WAY thinking about South East Asia. i. Domino theory 1. Describe the Malayan Insurgency b. Present an argument as to 2. Look at a map of South East Asia and explain how it influenced whether or not the domino that also includes Australia. List Australian tactics in Vietnam. theory was proved or disproved the countries located between by the end of the Vietnam War. Vietnam and Australia and 2. Describe the Tet Offensive and Take into account the defeat estimate the distance between explain why it was a turning point of communist insurgencies in these two countries. in the Vietnam War. Malaya, the Philippines and Indonesia prior to 1965. 3. List the countries that sent troops 3. The documentary lists American to the Vietnam War. military methods during the 5. There is an old saying that in war Vietnam War as including ‘free- truth is always the first casualty. a. Which countries did you not ex- fire zones’, ‘tethered goats’, and Do you think this applies to the pect to be on the list and why? ‘massive firepower’. Explain Vietnam War? Justify your opinion each of these terms and why with historical evidence. b. Which countries did you expect Australians preferred to use the
SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2011 6 6. Consider Malcolm Fraser’s state- emergence of true superstates – Howard Zinn, A Power the Govern- ments and other evidence present- [the US and the Soviet Union] after ment Cannot Suppress, City Lights ed in the documentary in light of 1945 both guaranteed their mutual Books, San Francisco, 2007, p.54. the quote below. What explanation antagonism and meant that the for America’s attitude and ac- gain or loss of an ally would be The North Vietnamese and the tions towards Australia during the unlikely to upset the balance. Viet Cong in the south appeared Vietnam War would you draw from to most Americans as but new this? – Colin S. Gray, ‘Strategy in the manifestations of the creeping Nuclear Age: The United States Asian Communism which had to The United States has faced criti- 1945-1991’ in Williamson Murray, be forcibly contained before it did cism for focusing its grand strategy Macgregor Knox and Alvin Bernstein even further damage. unduly upon the military instru- (eds), The Making of Strategy: ment to the detriment of alliance Rulers, States and War, Cambridge – Paul Kennedy, The Rise and diplomacy. Indeed in its competi- University Press, USA, 1994, p.579. Fall of the Great Powers, Fontana tion with the Soviet Union the US Press, Great Britain, 1990, p.521. bowed to the influence of its allies 7. Examine the following three quotes to a remarkably small extent. The below. Select the one you think We’re all susceptible to wanting to best explains the motives of the maintain face. President Richard United States during the Vietnam Nixon, like John Kennedy and LBJ War and give reasons for your [President Lyndon Johnson] before choice. him, tried to save face over Vietnam long past any sustainable point. The idea is horrifying yet we can see in history a pattern of presiden- – Michael Caulfield, tial behaviour that placed personal The Vietnam Years: From the ambition high above human life. Jungle to the Australian Suburbs, The tapes of John F Kennedy Hachette, Australia, 2007, p.386. reveal him weighing withdrawal from Vietnam against the upcom- 8. Write a brief biography (100 words) ing election. Transcripts of Lyndon of the following personalities em- Johnson’s White House conversa- phasising their role in the Vietnam tions show him agonising over Viet- War. nam (‘I don’t think it’s worth fighting for …’) but deciding that he could a. Sir Robert Menzies not withdraw because: ‘They’d b. President Lyndon Baines impeach a President – wouldn’t Johnson they?’ Did millions die in Southeast c. Ho Chi Minh Asia because American Presidents wanted to stay in office?’ 9. Examine the cartoon by John
TOP: John Eaton (personal collection); SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2011 7 ABOVE: John Eaton Vo Xuan Chu
Dr John Nagl
Members of the 7RAR wait to be taken back to Nui Dat, the Australian base. (Australian War Memorial: EKN/67/0130/VN) Barry Peterson
Frith in the Museum of Australian 11. Classroom Conscription exercise. 50/50 into supporters and op- Democracy’s website. Explain the posers of the Vietnam War and message of the cartoon and give Write down the names of also give their reasons. reasons as to whether it would the twelve months on twelve have been drawn before or after different pieces of paper. Remember that early in the the Tet Offensive. Vietnam War many people sup- Put the pieces in a hat/bag/ ported the government’s action http://moadoph.gov.au/exhibitions/ bowl. Draw out pieces one at a and many national servicemen online/frith/theherald-05.html time and announce the month. agreed to go to Vietnam. Every student whose birthday 10. The Australian Vietnam Forces is in that corresponding month Afterwards a general discus- National Memorial in Canberra must step out. sion of the pros and cons of includes some lines from the conscription and the method of Redgum song ‘I was only Nineteen Stop drawing the pieces once selection for conscription can (A Walk in the Light Green)’ on a several students of the class take place – can students think wall of quotations. have been selected. Those stu- of a better method? dents selected are now national Read the lyrics at the following service conscripts and must website and select the lines provide reasons why they do, or that you would have put on the do not wish to go to Vietnam. memorial and then explain why you chose them. The rest of the class are the public, and should be divided http://www.schumann.com.au/ john/lyrics.html
SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2011 8 Timeline
10 February 1930 Yen Bay uprising marks the start of the modern Vietnamese struggle against French colonialism.
22 September 1940 France is occupied by Germany in World War Two and the French sign a treaty with Japan allowing Japan to occupy Indochina.
May 1941 The Viet Minh organisation formed by Vietnamese communists to pursue independence from France.
2 September 1945 Ho Chi Minh proclaims the democratic Republic of Vietnam in Hanoi.
22 September 1945 French return to Vietnam following defeat of Japan in World War Two.
October – February 1946 French reconquer South Vietnam.
19 December 1946 Viet Minh attack the French near Hanoi. The First Indochina War begins.
18 June 1948 – 12 July 1960 Malayan Emergency. Communist insurgency against which British, Australian and other Commonwealth forces fought successfully.
1 October 1949 Mao Tse-Tung and communists victorious in China.
8 May 1950 US President Truman announces it will supply economic and military aid to the French in Indochina.
25 June 1950 Korean war begins with communist North invading South. US commits troops as part of UN action.
1 September 1951 ANZUS treaty signed by Australia, New Zealand and USA.
37 July 1953 Korean War ends with division of Korea under an armistice.
7 April 1954 US President Eisenhower states the Domino Theory of communist takeovers.
7 May 1954 French surrender to Viet Minh at Dien Bien Phu.
21 July 1954 Geneva Accords divide Vietnam at 17th parallel into communist North and independent South.
8 September 1954 SEATO pact for defence of South East Asia signed by USA, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Thailand, France and Pakistan.
23 October 1954 US President Eisenhower promises to provide military and economic aid to South Vietnam.
20 July 1955 President Diem of South Vietnam refuses to participate in reunification elections as called for by Geneva Accord.
May 1959 North Vietnam decides to reunify by force and sends the first of tens of thousands of soldiers south along the Ho Chi Minh trail to establish the Viet Cong.
14 November 1960 US President John Kennedy begins to raise the number of US military advisers in South Vietnam from 900 to 16,000 by 1963 in the face of increased communist attacks.
25 May 1962 Australian government announces military advisers will be sent to Vietnam.
6 June 1962 Australian Colonel Francis ‘Ted’ Serong arrives in Saigon on a private intelligence gathering mission for the CIA.
3 August 1962 The first thirty members of the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV) arrive in Saigon.
August 1963 Captain Barry Petersen of the AATTV begins mission for the CIA to raise an army of Montagnard tribesmen in the Central Highlands to block the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
1 November 1963 South Vietnamese President Diem overthrown and executed in a coup and replaced by a military government.
22 November 1963 US President Kennedy is assassinated.
SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2011 9 2–4 August 1964 Following reports of attacks by North Vietnamese patrol boats on US ships in the Tonkin Gulf President Lyndon Johnson orders airstrikes against North Vietnam.
7 August 1964 The Tonkin Gulf Resolution by the US Congress authorises President Lyndon Johnson to use all necessary force to deter North Vietnamese.
10 November 1964 Prime Minister Robert Menzies announces the introduction of national conscription to increase the size of the army.
13 February 1965 President Johnson authorises Operation Rolling Thunder, the aerial bombardment of North Vietnam.
29 April 1965 Prime Minister Menzies announces that South Vietnam has requested Australian military assistance and troops will be sent.
June 1965 First Australian national service conscripts begin their training.
September – October 1965 Operation Iron Triangle involving US and Australian forces.
20 January 1966 Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies resigns.
May 1966 1st Australian Task Force (1ATF) arrives in Phuoc Tuy province.
29 June 1966 Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt visits the US and promises to go ‘All the way with LBJ (President Lyndon Baines Johnson)’.
18 August 1966 Australian troops fight the battle of Long Tan in Phuoc Tuy province.
20-23 October 1966 President Johnson visits Australia.
July – October 1967 America requests more Australian support and Prime Minister Holt grants fresh Australian troops for service in Vietnam.
17 December 1967 Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt drowns.
10 January 1968 John Gorton sworn in as Australian Prime Minister.
30 January 1968 Communist forces launch Tet Offensive. A military victory for the US but also a propaganda defeat.
12 February 1968 Prime Minister John Gorton indicates Australia will not increase its commitment to Vietnam.
12 May – 6 June 1968 Battle for Australian Fire Support Bases Coral and Balmoral.
31 March 1968 President Johnson announces he will not run for re-election.
4 May 1968 Four Australian journalists killed by VC in Saigon.
8 June 1969 US President Nixon announces start of withdrawal of forces from Vietnam.
November 1969 The public learns of the massacre at My Lai which occurred on 18 March 1968.
8 May 1970 The Vietnam moratorium in Melbourne attracts 70,000 anti-war protesters.
10 March 1971 John Gorton resigns Prime Ministership after a tied vote of confidence and is replaced by William McMahon.
July 1971 Australian Opposition Leader Gough Whitlam flies to China for talks with the Chinese Prime Minister.
18 August 1971 Prime Minister William McMahon announces withdrawal of remaining Australian troops from Vietnam.
December 1971 Last Australian combat unit is withdrawn from Vietnam.
21–28 February 1972 President Nixon visits China.
5 December 1972 Gough Whitlam becomes Australian Prime Minister. Withdrawal of the last Australian military advisers is announced.
27 January 1973 Peace Agreement signed in Paris.
Jan – Feb 1973 Australia recognises North Vietnamese regime and opens diplomatic relations.
29 March 1973 Last US combat troops leave Vietnam.
9 August 1974 President Nixon resigns over Watergate scandal.
28 April 1975 Ted Serong evacuated from Saigon.
30 April 1975 Saigon falls to North Vietnamese attacks. South Vietnam is conquered.
SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2011 10 Further information
All the Way on IMDb: Department of Veterans Affairs website on Australia and the http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2078527/ Vietnam War: http://vietnam-war.commemoration.gov.au Paul Ham, Vietnam: The Australian War, Harper Collins, Australia, 2007. Australian War Memorial site with links to online sources and other materials: Barry Petersen, Tiger Men, White Orchid Press, Thailand, http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/vietnam.asp 1994. Excellent resource material at Shrine of Remembrance Jeff Doyle, Jeffrey Grey and Peter Pierce, Australia’s Melbourne website. Includes timeline, news clippings from Vietnam War, Texas A & M University Press, 2002. the era and activities in downloadable PDF form for VCE: http://www.shrine.org.au/content.asp?Document_ID=1886 Tim Page and John Pimlott (consultant eds), Nam. The Vietnam Experience 1965-75, Hamlyn Publishing Group An online companion to a PBS documentary Vietnam: Ltd, Hong Kong, 1990. A Television History about the American experience: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/ Vietnam War Timeline: http://www.vietnamgear.com/war1963.aspx Lyrics to the song ‘I was only Nineteen (A Walk in the Light Green)’ recorded by the band Redgum in 1983: The Vietnam Centre and Archives. A large American site http://www.schumann.com.au/john/lyrics.html with considerable digital and other materials: http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/events/
All the Way ISAN: 0000-0002-D658-0000-B-0000-0000-4
SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2011 11 ABOVE: Paul Ham in Nui Dat Cemetary
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