I'm Rebecca Levoy, and this is You Can't Make This Up.

You Can't Make This Up is the podcast where we uncover the true stories behind your favorite Netflix documentaries and films.

On today's episode, we take a closer look at the Netflix documentary series, Turning Point,

the Vietnam War.

I thought, wow, I'm in this place, and the people who live here is their job to kill me.

This is really serious, and if I don't pay attention, I'm not going home.

Today we're talking to director and executive producer, Brian Knappenberger.

Throughout the 1960s, the U.S. further entangled itself in the war between the South Vietnamese

and the communist fighters of the North.

And though the Americans took heavy casualties and the Viet Cong took more land,

leaders refused to withdraw troops, even though there was no clear path to victory.

Meanwhile, the war roiled on the home front as it spawned mass protests,

so doubt in the government, and took down a president.

The Netflix documentary series, Turning Point, the Vietnam War, covers how American involvement

went from advisory role to full-on combat in Southeast Asia.

It dives into the key battles and the many opportunities to withdraw from the fight ignored

by leaders.

Soldiers, protesters, journalists, and civilians from both

the U.S. and Vietnam explain how the war affected their nations and the wounds that linger

to this day. Wars last long after the war itself is open. The American war in Vietnam did not

end in early 1973 with the signing of the Paris Peace Accords.

Peace did not follow war.

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