Waubonsee Community College

A world beneath the war, the secret tunnels of Vietnam, produced and directed by Janet Gardner

eng

videorecording

For High School; College; Adult audiences

A world beneath the war

electronic resource

747798207

produced and directed by Janet Gardner

54

the secret tunnels of Vietnam

In 1965, the villagers of one district of Central Vietnam found themselves on the frontlines of an increasingly brutal war. For these villagers, the war became a struggle for survival. They would choose a remarkable course of action. Rather than flee their ancestral village, they dug a series of tunnels and moved their entire communities underground. Through the personal stories of tunnelers, as well as one American former P.O.W. held in the tunnels, we are transported into this subterranean world.Rare archival footage, much of which has never been seen in the West, reveals miles of catacombs where as many as 2,000 people took shelter. We follow an artist who takes his son back to Vinh Moc village, and explains how markets, theaters, hospitals, and schools were created in those war years. An American Air Force historian gives his perspective. This extraordinary film contains a capsule history of the war, a war which the Vietnamese call "The American War"

general