Cambodia.
To many Westerners, it seemed a paradise.
Another world, a secret world.
But the war in neighboring Vietnam burst its borders...
...and the fighting soon spread to neutral Cambodia.
In 1973, I went to cover this sideshow struggle...
...as foreign correspondent of The New York Times.
It was there, amidst the fighting...
...between government troops and the Khmer Rouge guerrillas...
...that I met my guide and interpreter, Dith Pran...
...a man who was to change my life...
...in a country that I grew to love and pity.
So here we go with Voice of America...
...news for Southeast Asia.
It's 6:45 and a partly cloudy morning here.
Clouds too in Washington.
President Nixon announced he'll address the nation on Watergate...
...within the next few days.
The speech will be Nixon's first since May.
The scandal has caused resignations and paralyzed the White House staff.
It has also led to intense confrontation and perhaps...
...a constitutional crisis with Senate investigators...
...and a special Watergate prosecutor.
The speech was announced after the Gallup Poll disclosed...
...that Mr. Nixon's popularity had fallen to the lowest point...
...for an American President in 20 years.
A Supreme Court judge, William O. Douglas...
...has ruled against an appeal by the Administration...
...for a stay of the injunction...
...on further U.S. Bombing missions in Cambodia.
Congress has already ruled these bombings illegal...
...and they should cease in one week's time on August the 15th.
Let's go, Sarun! To the hospital!
Information. Information.
Air Cambodia regret delays of arrival of flight number 125...
...from Bangkok because of bad weather.
Mister, you want taxi?
Good taxi.
Shut the fucking blinds, will you?
What's all this shit?
I'm sorry.
I thought you were the houseboy. I was developing some film.
If you're gonna yell, I'll come back. I'm not feeling good.
Don't want to yell. I want to be in a good mood.
The plane was late, no car. I had to take a taxi here.
All I want to do is work. I got you.
What the fuck is that on your head?
It's a sanitary napkin. I had it soaked in ice.
Syd Schanberg. Is Pran there?
No, I just came from the airport.
Well, if he comes in, would you tell him I'm here?
I'll be at the Café Central, tell him.
Thanks a lot.
What do you want to eat?
Want some eggs?
I can't. Somebody told me they faint with fright when you cook them.
- What do you want to eat? - What are you having?
I'm having a café complet.
I'll have that. And some aspirin.
Anything I eat has got to be absolutely dead.
That's why I can never eat an oyster.
I read somewhere that they put...
...that lemon juice on them just to stun them. You know?
What's the difference?
An unconscious oyster's just as horrible as the fucker wide awake...
- My God! Look at this. - Did you see that?
What was it? A rocket?
I don't know. I saw a guy on a motorbike.
I've been looking for you.
I left a message for you.
I didn't get it. I took a cab.
- There is a big accident right now. - What?
I think U.S. Drop many big bombs on little city.
- U.S. Bombs? You're sure? - I think many dead.
- Does anybody else know about it? - Nothing at all.
We're going.
Not possible right now, Sydney. Too dangerous.
Where you going, Schanberg?
Neak Luong.
Neak Luong's closed.
Don't give me that, Reeves. You got nothing to say about this.
I got a right to go wherever I like in this sad little country.
That's the law. You impede me, you're breaking the Cooper/Church Amendment!
Well, up the Cooper/Church Amendment's ass!
Let's go!
So how can I help you, Mr. Schanberg?
I'm looking for information on why my airplane was delayed this morning.
- Your plane was delayed? - That's right.
I don't know. Maybe it's bad weather. Your flight's...
You don't know anything about it?
No, I don't.
All right.
Then I'd like you to listen to something...
...and then I'd like a comment.
This morning, for reasons beyond anybody's control...
...I spend two hours in Bangkok staring at a seat belt sign.
Meanwhile, my sources tell me...
...two Army helicopters are landing here, just across the airfield.
Half the ambulances in Phnom Penh are waiting there to meet them.
And now there's a rumor that the U.S. Air Force dropped a bomb...
...or several bombs, on Neak Luong.
That's a rumor, and I'm not gonna comment on a rumor.
I just want to know if that's the reason why my airplane was delayed!
No comment.
How many killed?
How many wounded?
Thank you for your cooperation, Major Reeves.
When I scrape this story out, I will no doubt be quoting you in full!
I'm sorry.
This is just not good enough.
This is a big story...
...a major story, you understand that? We've got to get down there!
- I know, but... - I don't want to hear "no"!
I want to get down that river!
We should be down there now!
I'll be here.
Good night, Sydney.
- Messages? - No, sir.
No, sir.
I'd talk, but it's been a heavy day and I've got to go.
Let's get together again soon, okay?
- Bob? - See you.
Bob?
Hello, Sydney. Good night, Sydney.
- Listen, I can't talk with you. - You can talk to me.
The embassy is jittery. Get information from a press officer.
Let's not start insulting each other.
Good night, Sydney.
All right, good night.
You've heard of pilot error?
Computer malfunction?
They screwed up on the coordinates.
A single B-52 dropped its entire load on Neak Luong.
There's a homing beacon in the middle of the town.
- Casualties? - You'll be briefed tomorrow.
We estimate 55 military, something like 35 civilians.
How many?
I hear it's in the hundreds. Don't quote me on that.
Will there be a dreadful bloodbath
When the Khmer Rouge hit the town?
Will there be a dreadful bloodbath...?
Beer! We haven't had this for four weeks.
New York Times probably had it flown in.
- They keep it in their suite. - We got a cellar. Don't you know?
Americans take themselves so seriously.
Don't be hard on the man. He's just trying to get to the top of the heap.
We'll just have to pay more to get our telexes to the top of the heap.
The man has just bought you a beer. Now drink up.
- Cheers. - Cheers, Syd.
- Enjoy it. - Off to see the telex operator?
- New York Times goes to bed early. - Sure!
Khmer Rouge in the sunset
The Yanks all at sea...
- All right? - Very possible.
Let's go then!
This is good work.
- How much? - Hundred fifty.
One hundred!
- All right? - All right.
Nice going, Pran.
- What is he saying? - He wants you to look at his family.
To take a photograph and help him because his child was wounded.
Tell me what she's saying.
She needs help.
Her shop was destroyed last night.
Her husband killed.
How many bombs?
She doesn't know.
Does she know where the hospital is?
"Just over there."
She wants to know, "Did someone arrest the pilot?"
Mister, you wanna buy? Mister, you wanna buy?
- One dollar? You wanna buy? - I'm out of film. I'm sorry.
Ask her how many kids she's got in her family.
"Five."
Her husband was killed already.
What's this?
What are these guys over here?
In the jeep, prisoners. Khmer Rouge prisoners.
They kill a lot of villagers.
She says Khmer Rouge soak rags in gasoline...
...and push them down villagers' throat...
...then set the rags alight.
Film! No film!
I know there's no film.
No camera!
It's all right.
Just take it easy.
Tell them we're jour...
Come on! Get in!
I'm worried.
I'm the guy who bring you over here.
They accuse me and they arrest me.
How can they arrest you? You're already arrested.
They phone Phnom Penh about me.
I want some cigarettes.
And I need to take a leak.
Would you tell them I need to piss?
He said, "No piss."
What does that mean?
That's no piss.
I've had enough of this bullshit.
I got a story to get to New York!
Don't leave me!
I won't leave you.
They brought in the whole press corps!
They want to sanitize the story! Bastards!
I am going to tell you something.
I'm walking out of here.
What are you gonna do? Blow my head off?
You got a general out there, this is an American passport...
...and I am walking out of here!
- He wants to get higher officer. - Then get him! Get him!
I'm sorry we couldn't show you the minor bomb damage in the city itself.
It's still a restricted area.
Now, if you look across the river...
...you'll see positions held by Khmer Rouge...
...who moved in over the past few days.
But the Cambodian Republican Army is moving in on them.
They'll have the K.R. Out before you can say "Jack Robinson."
Get in the chopper now!
No, Schanberg! You came on a boat, you go back on a boat!
That won't stop my story!
What is this?
If you weren't down here, I wouldn't be down here.
And I don't want to be down here! What good is it doing?
If anybody ever reads about this...
...you won't be able to look them in the face!
Good morning.
What time is it?
Six o'clock.
Shit.
Telex for you.
You been to the telex?
We made the front page.
Sure.
We must be doing something right.
My wife is very worried.
She thinks all foreign journalists are going to leave Cambodia.
Well, Pran...
...l'd feel kind of stupid trying to cover this war from a desk in Bangkok.
And she said if the war keeps going like this...
...the future could be very bad.
What do you think?
I don't know.
I don't know either.
- Is Sarun downstairs? - Sure.
Let's get going.
All right.
Don't go back to sleep.
I won't.
K.R.'s making a push for the airport road.
If they cut it, the city could be lost.
We hype these people up. "You'll be all right with us," we say.
Now look at all this fucking mess!
In America, everybody got a good car.
He ask you what car you drive in United States.
I don't have a car in America, only the Mercedes here.
Mercedes, number one!
Ask him where he learned to speak his English.
American advisor with his unit teach him.
Mercedes, number one, okay?
What did he say?
He said he thought all American people left already.
Made in the USA.
Are we winning?
No, you're not winning.
What should we do?
Well, you make sure they don't cut off the airport road.
The first section came by Route number 36.
And the second one came down by Route number 26.
Khmer Rouge will come down Route 3.
He doesn't know how many.
They expect an attack today.
- Where's your commander? - Phnom Penh.
- Why there? - Don't know.
How many mortar rounds you have...?
Rockoff, get your ass out here! Get out here!
Come on, let's get him out of here!
- Fuck this! - They pulling out?
I'm not happy here, Syd.
Jon, I'm leaving.
Syd, come on!
Come on!
Sydney, this way!
Sydney, look! Khmer Rouge!
In Washington, the Cambodian ambassador...
...in a speech to the Washington Press Club said:
"Let's face it, you took advantage of us."
I can't eat.
"You are cleverer than we are, and you induced us into this fighting."
Indeed, the Khmer Rouge insurgents in Cambodia...
...have tightened their ring around the capital, Phnom Penh...
...now swollen with some two million refugees from the fighting.
Reports from government troops talk of the field situation being so bad...
...that soldiers are having to siphon gas from jeep to jeep...
...in order to be able to get the wounded back to the capital.
No more electricity.
And now I get a message to try for negotiations.
Well, it's just too goddamn late!
Alan, this country's split apart.
We put this ship to sea, and it breaks my heart not to help it back to port.
Any port.
What pisses me off is, this country has faults and strengths...
...and we have done nothing but play to the faults.
I tell you, I will be damn glad to get out of here.
This thing has dragged on too long for it to end in all sweetness and light.
After what the Khmer Rouge have been through...
...they won't be exactly affectionate toward Westerners.
- Where do you want this? - On the floor. Anywhere.
- Mr. Schanberg... - Oh, Christ, my dependents! Six.
Dith Pran and family.
Right.
"Dear sir, my family and I are planning a touring vacation of Southeast Asia...
...and anticipate two weeks in Cambodia touring the country.
Would you please send tour information and brochures?
Thanking you in advance, Wendell Payne."
Wendell lives in Wisacky, South Carolina.
What about the airlift?
We're taking it with us.
- People will starve to death. - I know, but what can we do?
Look, there could be a bloodbath here.
Excuse the pun, but we're either staying or we're living.
Hello, leaving a sinking ship then, are we, Carver?
President Ford, in his foreign policy speech, hardly referred to Cambodia...
...except to say that, as of now, it may be too late.
I'm sorry. I'm late.
Where you been?
- They stop me because of the curfew. - The curfew, huh?
Yes. I'm sorry.
Get started on this. Tell them to start sending this out...
...but hold the last two paragraphs. I'll have corrections in an hour.
They don't transmit today. The transmitter at Kambol got hit.
They say 6 p.m. We can file.
6 p.m.
What do you think this is? A monthly magazine?
This is a newspaper.
How about update tomorrow?
Yeah, sure. We can file an update tomorrow.
I was over at the American Embassy yesterday.
Good news?
No, not good news.
They say that when this place goes up...
...they think a lot of people will be killed. A lot of people.
I've arranged for the evacuation of you and your family.
So now it's up to you. What do you want to do?
Do you want to stay or leave?
And how about you?
That's none of your business.
Do you want to stay, or do you want to leave?
I know.
You love my family.
But me, I'm reporter too.
You know what I mean?
All right, we don't have to decide this right now.
Take it easy.
But we'll have to make up our minds pretty soon, right?
All right, this is it! Is the floor clear?
This is the last check.
Last check. This is the last check!
Mr. Kincaid is not here.
Mr. Kincaid is gone. You keep Mr. Kincaid's money.
Now, I want you to go right now!
I want you to leave now!
You won't see Mr. Kincaid again!
Okay, sergeant, let him in!
Have you got Pran here? Have you got Pran on there?
- And his wife? - Yes, sir, they are.
- Did they come in yet? - No, sir, they haven't arrived yet.
Have you seen Pran?
No, I haven't.
Where is he?
Well, it's been real.
They're gonna miss it.
Why don't you check around the other side?
If he comes here, I'm looking for him in the back.
Beth! Have you seen Pran?
No, have you looked at the hotel?
He's at the post office!
The post office!
Get the fuck out! Get out of here now!
Move your asses out of here!
Hold those doors!
- Where do you think you're going? - To embassy.
Yes, sir, what's your name?
Dith Pran family, sir.
Dith Pran family?
- Sydney Schanberg. - They've been through.
- Check one more time, please.
- You made a mistake, sir. - No mistake.
Rockoff, help me!
Run!
There's no time!
Wait a minute.
Smile.
Jon.
Hello, Sydney.
If the going gets rough, I heard our best bet's the French Embassy.
Who told you that?
The British Embassy.
Khmer Rouge coming.
Look like government soldiers give them big welcome.
No more fighting!
I be right back!
No more fighting! No more war!
What do you think?
I don't like the look of this.
I was in Keng Kang this morning. Practically got my ass shot off.
I just don't think these guys are for real.
I'm going to the hospital. You want to come with me?
Tetracaine, 50 milligrams, please.
Jesus, what am I supposed to do? Sing her a lullaby?
Pentothal, 150 milligrams, quick.
Jesus, another shrapnel in the spine here.
Okay, let's have her over.
This is blood group A. We've had one unit of blood in the last two days.
Plasma substitute, please, quick.
We've plenty of blood, gentlemen. Plenty of blood.
The problem is, it's all in the wrong fucking place.
Why do corpses have to pile up before people decide it's time to go home?
For God's sake, back up the car! Sarun, back it up!
For God's sake, back it up now!
- Why doesn't he get his ass in here? - He's trying to get in!
They won't let him in.
All right?
Okay?
Looks all right.
I'm coming!
Just a minute! He's with me!
He's with The New York Times!
Wait just a minute! He's a journalist and he's with me!
Where is the consul? I want to talk to the consul. Let me see him!
You tell me where he is. I want to speak to him!
The picture in Cambodia is increasingly unclear.
Journalists who have flown from Thailand over Phnom Penh...
...report that the Khmer Rouge have attempted...
...a mass evacuation of the entire population.
Radio contact with the French Embassy reveals that some 200 Europeans...
...and an undisclosed number of Cambodians have taken refuge.
As yet, no statement has been made by the new rulers of Cambodia.
The whereabouts of Prince Sihanouk and the Khmer Rouge leadership...
...are not clear.
- Okay? - Yes. He's sleeping.
That's the consul.
- Did you see that, Dennis? - The Russians are coming.
Look, piss off! Please!
Get out! You won't get anything here! Out!
First, the main points of the news.
BBC, Dougal.
- Daily reports of fighting around the airport...
...14 kilometers outside Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.
And now, an on-the-spot report from our correspondent in Thailand...
...Hugh Elder.
Where do they get this crap?
Do you see that guy across the gate? The little guy?
Could we not all look at once, please?
I have it on reliable sources that that's Hugh Elder.
You're kidding.
He's disguised, but I got suspicious about him. You know what I mean?
- How does he get copy out? - How does he get his copy out?
With specially trained hens.
The BBC has, like, commissioned them to walk past the Khmer Rouge...
...like their regular fowl.
They've been crossing the border into Thailand every day and every night.
I told you.
Unconfirmed reports say the Khmer Rouge are demanding...
...that any officials of the defeated Lon Nol government...
...especially the so-called Six Traitors of the Cabinet...
...be handed over to them.
It is not known whether any of the ex-ministers...
...may have taken refuge in the embassy...
...where, in the words of a UNICEF representative in Bangkok...
...the situation is said to be "increasingly precarious."
And when I tried to go just a kilometer further, no.
The only sense I can make of it is that there's...
...some sort of internal power struggle going on.
Different groups seem to be holding different parts of the city...
...and they all appear to be equally nervous over losing power and control.
Half of them are under 15.
Some Red Cross instruction sheets want translating.
Can you help?
Use Pran. He speaks French better than I do.
I'd prefer it if it was you.