♪ ♪ (whirring) (birds chirping) (water dripping) ♪ ♪ NARRATOR: My mother often told stories of her childhood, when the only invasions were ants that came looking for food.

Of carefree afternoons, spent rescuing them from bowls of sugar water.

(loud crash) (footsteps) (glass shattering, footsteps) Adapting and evolving, ants have lived on Earth for over 140 million years.

♪ ♪ (crunching) (dirt shifting) Their resilience has made them one of the most successful species on earth.

Faced with annihilation, ants become protective, risking all to ensure the safety of the colony.

(gasps) (distant shouting, dogs barking) (rustling, barking, shouting) As a last resort, ants will abandon their nest and scatter in all directions.

(engine running) (car approaching) (distant shouting) Lost and separated from their colony, an ant will run in circles until it dies of exhaustion.

(grass rustling) ♪ ♪ (rustling) ♪ ♪ (insects chirping) ♪ ♪ (distant dog barking) As ants age, their roles evolve with experience, progressing from nurse to forager and solider.

♪ ♪ As the last line of defense, senior ants take on the greatest risk.

Remaining behind, they buy time for the colony to flee.

(muffled thunder rumbling) No individual ant can survive on its own.

(rainfall, thunder crackling) (shouting, grunting) (thunder rumbles) As water rises, they weave their bodies together, grasping one another's legs with their claws or jaws.

(thunder crackling, waves rolling) (rainfall fades) (boat creaking) A colony can float and flow on water for weeks.

(creaking) (humming) Some species are even able to survive underwater.

While submerged, they exist in a comatose state.

(waves crashing) (seagulls squawking) ♪ ♪ (indistinct chatter) (insects buzzing) Survival is instinctive among ants.

Their roles are constantly shifting and adjusting to the conditions they encounter and the needs of the colony.

♪ ♪ (footsteps) Unlike humans, ants are not weighed down by loss.

(distant babies crying) Collectively, they demonstrate the most complex behaviors found in nature.

(fire crackling) But individual ants are very simple.

The root of every action is the impulse to protect their family.

(passing traffic) (distant sirens) (door opens) (door shuts) I was two when my family fled Vietnam.

For years I did not understand the sad silence that followed when I asked about the war and their journey across the South China Sea.

(door opens and shuts) All I knew were the stories told by my mother.

How the ants she rescued as a little girl saved her in return.

But over time, I wanted more than a story.

(striking match) Why did you leave Vietnam?

You.

Three letters that held so much weight and heartache.

But I finally understood what was buried and left unsaid.

(child gasps) How will I answer my daughter when she asks me about Vietnam?

For now, I will tell her about the determination and sacrifice of one of nature's smallest creatures.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪