Documentaries

Somewhere between thirty to forty thousand Canadians served in the United States military during the Vietnam War, and except for a small fraction, the majority were volunteers.

Most Canadians, then as now, assumed that Canada was neutral in the conflict or only marginally involved. Yet recently released documents show that Canadian industry and government were significantly integrated into the American war machine, with hundreds of millions of dollars in profits flowing north to Canadian industrial suppliers of the American military.

What is also not commonly known is the extent of the involvement of thousands of Canadian youth that flocked to American recruiting centres first in Canada, then later to centres in the United States, in order to participate in the war.

‘Vietnam – Canada’s Unknown War’ explores Canada’s involvement in Vietnam through the eyes of the young Canadians who served in that tragic conflict.

What was the motivation for these thousands of Canadians? What was their experience both in Vietnam and when they returned home from the war? The documentary will explore these and other questions. It will explore Canada’s role as a nation in that conflict, both the official version - that which most Canadians were led to believe - and the real, unofficial version, which included collusion with the American war effort by Canadian industry and government at the very highest levels.

‘Vietnam – Canada’s Unknown War’ fills in a missing piece of our national psyche; it is the story of a forgotten army of Canadians who served in a thankless war and came home to an indifferent and often hostile country.

Vietnam was Canada’s unknown war – This is its story.

*PRODUCER Paul Millar *EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Ron Goetz *DIRECTOR Chris Triffo

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