''Two Days in October'' is a 2005 documentary film about the Battle of Ong Thanh and the protest at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. Both events occurred in October 1967. The film aired on the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

series ''

American Experience ''American Experience'' is a television program airing on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. The program airs documentaries, many of which have won awards, about important or interesting events and people in American his ...

'' during season 18. The film is based on the book, '' They Marched Into Sunlight'' written by David Maraniss. The film won a Peabody Award in 2005. The film consists of interviews with American soldiers, their families, Viet Cong soldiers, protesting students, police officers, and university faculty and administrators. Soldiers discuss the deadly jungle ambush of American troops by a much larger Viet Cong force, while those who were at the University of Wisconsin-Madison describe how a protest against

Dow Chemical The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. The company was among the three largest chemical producers in the world in 2021. It is the operating subsidiary of Dow Inc., ...

, the maker of

napalm Napalm is an incendiary mixture of a gelling agent and a volatile petrochemical (usually gasoline or diesel fuel). The name is a portmanteau of two of the constituents of the original thickening and gelling agents: coprecipitated aluminium ...

, turned violent when police began clubbing protesters. Both the soldiers and students were surprised to see news stories telling a very different version of events than what they had experienced.

References

American Experience Documentary films about the Vietnam War 2005 films 2005 television films University of Wisconsin–Madison {{Vietnam-war-documentary-film-stub

See also

References