Vietnam: The Ten Thousand Day War,

Is a 26-part Canadian television documentary on the Vietnam War, was produced in 1980 by Michael Maclear. The series writer, Peter Arnett, was an Associated Press reporter in Vietnam from 1962 to 1975. Maclear visited Vietnam during the production of the series and had access to film material there. He was the first Western journalist allowed to visit that area since the end of the war.
The series aired in Canada on CBC Television, in the United States and in the United Kingdom on Channel 4. CBC aired only 18 of the episodes during the 1980-81 season because the series production was incomplete. The remaining episodes were broadcast during CBC's 1981-82 season. In the US, The documentary series was remastered and consolidated into 13 one hour long episodes By NBC for American television syndication. The Series was released in the UK during the 1984-85 season aired by Channel 4.

The series was released on videocassette format by Embassy Entertainment, in 1987 and  Bonneville Worldwide Entertainment, in 1998. It won a National Education Association award for best world documentary.  The series was released on DVD By Image Entertainment in 2000 and by Time-Life/Star Vista/VSC in 2013.

Vietnam: The Ten Thousand Day War is considered by many as the definitive documentary on The Vietnam conflict. Very broad in scope, some consider it too broad complaining that it doesn't go into enough depth to be considered as a great documentary. In my opinion considering the plethora of documentaries that have come out about Vietnam, this is the only one that give you complete coverage of that 30 year long war. From it's roots in the Japanese occupation of Indochina before WWII to final end in 1975, no other documentary explores the basis and genesis of the war like this one does. It doesn't give an opinion, but allows other to state their opinions so you the viewer can judge the validity of those opinions. The lack of commentary will turn some off, but I find it refreshing to hear those people who were actually there give their ideals  and understandings. It helps you understand the rights and wrongs. Ho Chi Minh was asked after the Japanese surrender, by the US representative, what he wanted from the US government. His answer? NOTHING, given sitting down at the table with a copy of the US Constitution in his hands. An honest appraisal of the war of Vietnamese independence. If I had to recommend a Vietnam documentary to someone, I would recommend this one, the full 26 episode version, not the cut down 13 episode version.

This release comes from my rip of the 2013 VSC Video 4 disc DVD set, It is coded in x264 and AAC sound at 960x720p (4x3) resolution. It is in full color as shown on TV broadcast back in 1980-85 and I have done no alteration to the video or sound..

Soldiering On



Aired, CBC,  December 31, 1980; UK Channel 4, March 11, 1985

The Seventeenth volume of The Ten Thousand Day War examines 1969 the period of peak military involvement in Vietnam. The troops have a breakdown in discipline and moral. Drug abuse becomes rampant. With occasional outbursts of rebellion against authority. the GI's slogan becomes, "Don't be the last GI killed in the war" The average age of an American Soldier in WWII was 26, In Vietnam it was 19. It was a war with no clear objective, no clear mission. For the troops, it was a situation of survival, don't do anything to get yourself killed, you have a year to serve and just survive until your chance to go home. Hamburger Hill, Marines fought for days to take a hill suffering heavy casualties, only to abandon it the next day. One Marine Corps report stated that troop morale was so low that troops in those units that were not on the border of open rebellion were in risk of complete collapse. During this period, 4,000 troops would be admitted to hospitals for combat injuries and 26,000 would be admitted for drug abuse. American withdrawal continues, by late '71 only 45,000  American troops remain in Vietnam. The only heroes of Vietnam are the troops that never left, those that died innocently in belief of a dream that was never real in the first place.

Technical Specs (Ep 01)

Video Codec:         : AVC
Video Bitrate:       : 3,233 kbps
Video Aspect Ratio:  : 1.33, (4x3)
Video Resolution:    : 960x720
Scan type            : Progressive
Audio Codec:         : AAC LC
Audio language:      : English
Audio Bitrate:       : 192 kbps
Audio Channels:      : 2 (stereo)
Run-Time:            : 52 mn
Framerate:           : 29.970 fps
Number of Parts:     : 1
Container            : MP4
Part Size:           : 1.25 GiB

Technical Specs (Ep 02 thru 26)

Video Codec:         : AVC
Video Bitrate:       : 3,226 kbps
Video Aspect Ratio:  : 1.33, (4x3)
Video Resolution:    : 960x720
Scan type            : Progressive
Audio Codec:         : AAC LC
Audio language:      : English
Audio Bitrate:       : 192 kbps
Audio Channels:      : 2 (stereo)
Run-Time:            : 26 mn
Framerate:           : 29.970 fps
Number of Parts:     : 25
Container            : MP4
Part Size:           : 641 MiB
Source:              : DVD-rip
Encoded date         : 2014-10-21
Encoded by:          : Egilman