Unlock access with a DW+ membership today.

Part 12: The Liberators

A change of command comes too late to reverse the situation in Southeast Asia as Richard Nixon's program of 'Vietnamization' eases America out of its worst-directed war. But long before the last American serviceman leaves Vietnam, a new generation of liberators rise to the challenge of saving American tactics, weaponry and doctrine from themselves. Fighting an uphill battle against arrogance, ignorance and intransigence, an uncouth warrior’s legendarily irrefutable Pentagon briefings will forever change the way America builds the fighter aircraft. And a kid who grew up hunting in his native Arkansas, will revolutionize American ground tactics through sheer courage and willpower, ushering in the age of Special Forces.