Produced in 1980 as a Canadian TV documentary consisting of 26 half-hour segments, Vietnam: The Ten Thousand Day War presents a comprehensive review of the Vietnam War from its historical roots to its tragic aftermath. The conflict is traced from the 1945 defeat of Vietnam's Japanese occupiers through the release of American POWs and later challenges faced by veterans. The series was written by Peter Arnett, whose coverage of the war as a reporter predates the earliest deployment of U.S. ground troops and continued beyond the fall of Saigon to the North Vietnamese. In 1966 he was awarded for his Vietnam coverage with the Pulitzer Prize in International Reporting.

During the war, Producer Michael Maclear had visited North Vietnam several times for Canadian television networks. He returned to Vietnam for the production of Vietnam: The Ten Thousand Day War, where he was granted access to war archives. Segments from those archived videos appear throughout the series, intermixed with higher quality recordings. Black-and-white footage documents the extensive organization and sophistication of the logistics network developed over the course of the war, known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail. General Vo Nguyen Giap is shown directing the defense of Hanoi during the B-52 onslaught of December 1972. Captured American pilots are shown working in the courtyard, being interrogated and having meals in an old French prison they called the "Hanoi Hilton".

The Vietnam War from Multiple Perspectives

Every stage of the conflict is presented from multiple points of view, by men who were uniquely qualified to comment on what transpired. Former generals, ground soldiers, diplomats, heads of state and their staff, journalists, intelligence agents and historians contribute insights on events in which they were direct participants. By virtue of this documentary having been produced in 1980, only five years after the fall of Saigon, the movie becomes an irreplaceable resource: It simply isn't possible any more to ask these individuals for their recollections and opinions.

Following is a sampling of topics covered and persons called upon to recount their experiences and to contribute observations: