A Bright Shining Lie Page #5

We're not fighting a conventional war here.

You can't roll out the tanks

like it's World War II.

I mean, God damn, hasn't the Pentagon

learned anything in three years?

John, you gotta learn to keep your mouth shut.

It was a hell of a job to get you over here,

even as a civilian.

You're here to work

with the aid programme, right?

You're right, Fred.

I read your briefing and I agree with you.

We gotta win these people over.

That's why I want you in charge

of the aid programme around Bau Trai.

I'll get a good man to work with you.

Let's try to put your ideas into practice.

OK, you're the boss.

No, John, Westmoreland's the boss.

Is that Vann? John Vann. John Vann.

Hell, I thought they buried you.

They tried, Steven. Hey, Nick.

- Are you part of this US aid programme?

- We sure are. Doug Elders, Steven Burnett.

- Oh, it's a pleasure.

- (Order yelled)

(# Trumpet salute)

(Man) Ten hut. Gentlemen,

General Westmoreland.

Fred.

At ease, gentlemen.

The aid programme is a, er, noble effort

to bolster the civilian population in the hamlets

and particularly to help them

resist Vietcong infiltration.

Gentlemen, you are part

of a great new mobilisation.

We now have at our disposal the best army

that the world has ever known.

We have the men, we have the materials

and we are going to stomp

the Vietcong into the ground.

Thank you. Thank you.

We'd now like to take this opportunity

to introduce you to your various counterparts.

- Fred.

- (Man) General, can I ask a quick question?

I'd like you to meet John Paul Vann

and Doug Elders. Colonel Dinh.

- Mr Vann, Mr Elders, welcome.

- Thank you.

I am your regional commander.

We have a very good region, you and I.

- We will do well together.

- I look forward to it.

Thank you.

(Horns beeping)

(Woman) How are you?

(Students) Fine.

- I'm fine, thanks.

- (All) I'm fine, thanks.

- What's your name?

- What's your name?

- My name is.

- My name is.

- Can I help you?

- Can I help you?

Can I help you?

(Speaks Vietnamese)

- (All) Goodbye.

- Goodbye.

What happened to the schoolgirls?

Times change, John.

They have more needs now.

It's good to see you again.

Look at you, you look different.

You, too.

(Horns hoot, dog barks)

Howdy. Welcome to Bau Trai, guys.

- Terry Pike.

- John Vann.

- Doug Elders.

- Nice to meet you.

Do you know there's a Jeep

outside of town with a body in it?

- Nobody buries them?

- They're too afraid to go out there.

Now I don't mean to discourage you guys

but this place is gone.

See that bunch of kids standing over here?

(Child crying)

They're Vietcong. Our defenders

either work for 'em or pay 'em off.

- So who's in charge?

- That'd be Colonel Dinh.

I don't know if Charlie works for him

or he works for them.

Don't matter much, though,

cos nobody works for us.

Well, maybe we should just hand it all over

to the Communists right now.

Mr Vann, these people don't have any money

and they don't get a chance to vote.

That sounds Communist to me.

(Speaks Vietnamese)

Now if you don't mind, it cost me 50 bucks

to get Colonel Dinh to get me

a military escort out of here.

I better get before the price

goes up. It's all yours.

Stay alive, gentlemen.

(Doug) Jeez, what a mess.

(Thunder)

OK. Each family of six or more

gets one five-gallon can of cooking oil,

- 100lb sack of flour per month.

- Yes, sir.

Doug, check the manifest,

see when this stuff's due in Tam Huang.

All right, we do what we call an inventory.

That means everything that goes

in and out of here gets accounted for...

(Children speaking Vietnamese)

(Teacher speaks, children repeat)

Sorry. Sorry.

OK, you tell these men to put these ladders

here and pull down any loose tiles.

- Yes, sir.

- Replace it with this corrugate.

- One there, rip out all the tiles around...

- (Speaks Vietnamese)

- You tell them.

- Yes, sir.

(Speaking Vietnamese)

- What'd she say?

- She said to stop, she cannot pay.

You tell her she does not have to pay.

- What was that?

- She says somebody will always have to pay.

Who needs a treat, huh?

Oh, OK, OK, OK, OK.

Here you go. Here you go.

Here you go. Here you go.

Chiclets, gentlemen. The secret

of the children's revolution.

No, it's just candy. No, it's OK, it's just gum.

For you, for the school.

(John) Presents for the teacher, eh?

(Engine outside)

(Speaking Vietnamese)

- What's going on?

- You have used my material without paying.

I'm sorry, Colonel, but this is aid material.

Yes, my aid material. This is my region.

It is my aid material and you must pay.

(Speaks Vietnamese)

- Whoa, whoa.

- Put that down.

Colonel, if you do not leave, I will disgrace you

in front of your men and this village.

Tell the men.

(Speaks Vietnamese)

Jesus, John.

Uh. Uh. What the f*** was that?

(Doug) It's blood.

What the hell is it?

It's a tongue.

Come on.

- (Dog growls)

- (Doug) Ah.

(Doug) God.

(Shouts in Vietnamese)

- Get Dinh.

- He's not here.

- Where is he?

- Bau Trai. He's gone to punish the village.

(Soldiers laugh)

(John) Dinh knows the VC have fled the village.

What the hell is he playing?

(Soldier) Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down.

- What's going on?

- Colonel Dinh's holding an air strike.

- God damn, call it off!

- Wait.

(Muted cries)

(Screaming)

(Screaming, shouting)

It's OK. It's OK. It's OK.

Look, I'm sorry.

Sorry.

(Screaming, crying)

Fred. God damn it,

I want that murdering bastard arrested.

Look, I just came back from la Draug

where four companies of air cavalry

went smack into the North Vietnamese army.

We lost 230 men.

So don't come here telling me

about one corrupt ARVN colonel.

- 230?

- It's all over in the boonies.

I want you back here in Saigon, working here.

You know the locals? Get together

your own squads and clean out these villages.

(Sighs) I'll give you all the authority you want.

Excuse me, gentlemen, I need a shower.

(Broadcaster) Our casualties

in Vietnam in a single week

had exceeded the average weekly rate

of dead and wounded in the Korean war.

240 Americans killed, 470 wounded.

Most of these casualties were suffered

in the battle of la Draug Valley.

The United States is indeed at war,

a full-dress war against a formidable enemy.

(Burnett) Vann threw himself into the war effort

with a passion few others could muster.

He ran pacification programmes,

mobilised his allies among

the South Vietnamese forces,

coordinated American support and still

found time to bombard friends and foes alike

with his theories

on how to turn the war around.

(John) December 23rd, 1966.

Dear sir, despite the fact that we now have

385,000 American soldiers on the ground,

the Saigon government remains corrupt

on all levels. If it were not for the fact...

(Burnett) Vann worked twenty hours,

slept four.

He never stopped, on all fronts.

(Arguing in Vietnamese)

(Bicycle bells)

May I be of assistance?

What happened here?

Wrecked bicycle? Yes?

Orchids. This is what you need.

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