Re KB's "The War": We don't need to be reminded that our soldiers can be great; we need...

[arendt]

to be reminded that our leaders can be disastrous.

We don't need to confuse the viewers any more than they already might be about the distinction
between soldiers and their leaders.

We need, instead, to see a good documentary about Viet Nam. About the anti-Communist hysteria
that got us involved in yet another anti-colonial war as early as 1953. (Watch "The Quiet American")
About the Cold War domino theory lies behind the Gulf of Tonkin resolution. About the mendacious
body counts and press conferences ("Four o'clock follies"). About the corrupt gangsters we wound up
backing (Thieu and Ky). About the total impossibility of fighting a guerilla war in a country where you
didn't speak the language or understand the culture. About how brave people like Daniel Ellsberg
(the guy who wrote TODAY that a coup has taken place in the US). About a real free press and an honest
Supreme Court who made sure that the Pentagon Papers got published.

Viet Nam is so much more relevant to our current situation than WW2. I guarantee you no one would
dare to make that documentary.

In addition to the above, there are other reasons why I am not bothering to watch this series:

0) Way too busy trying to stop Bush from starting WW3 to hear yet another rehash of WW2, no matter how good.

1) Nothing new for me. It is all about the "personal" side of the war. But I have heard about that since I learned to talk.

My father-in-law, who fought his way across France is still alive. I have the memorabilia
from my uncle, who was with the AAF all across France. My brother's father-in-law was
a bomb disposal expert (quietest guy you ever met). I spent my childhood hearing stories
from the mouths of the people who fought.

2) It is being used as a hook to show every rah-rah WW2 movie ever made. I look on my cable, and what's on opposite
"The War"? The Longest Day. A Bridge too Far. Tora Tora Tora. Midway. Guns of Navarone. Seen all those a million
times too. (My favorite line in all of them is when Gene Hackman, playing a Polish paratroop general, jumps out of
a plane into what he knows to be a FUBAR on the ground and yells "God Bless General Montgomery". The sarcasm
is priceless.)

-------

Anybody agree with me? Or am I just too old to appreciate this series?

arendt

[Faygo Kid]

1. You're not old, just a bit harsh. I don't disagree, but humanizing war is important now.

I too want a documentary about Vietnam, but what is happening now is far worse than even that war and that time. Remember, LBJ said "We shall overcome," and backed it up. We have seen nothing ever in our lifetimes like George W. Bush, and he still has 15 months to go. Or more. I do agree with much of your premise, though, and I have the stories; Mom was the first recipient of the War Production Board award in Detroit, and Eleanor Roosevelt flew out to see her and they did media together.

I am no youngster, either, obviously.

[arendt]

3. OK, I asked for your thoughts. Could you expand on how this was "harsh"?

I certainly don't object to the documentary per se. I just object to when it is on, and how it is being leveraged
to pump up patriotic fervor.

Like Franklin Roosevelt said about politics: nothing is ever scheduled by accident.

arendt

[MikeNearMcChord]

2. To be fair Burns has said he did this for younger

generations, who seem not to know about WWII, as some surveys came out. It is kind of an antidote to the cartoonish version of WWII put out by The History Channel. I wouldn't be surprised if Burns does a documentary about
the McCarthy-HUAC and the Vietnam years, a few years from now.

[arendt]

4. Fair enough. Like I said, it is way down my priority list. Will watch it when I retire.

Any younger watchers want to give their reactions?

arendt

[MedleyMisty]

7. I don't watch TV anymore

But I'm 26, so I half-count, I guess.

I've been independently researching WWII since I was nine. If we got decent reception on the local PBS channel (is it on PBS?), I might watch it because hey, WWII stuff.

I think a Vietnam documentary would get a bigger percentage of people my age, though. In high school I took Interdisciplinary Honors, and we got to pick what we studied. We spent the majority of the semester on Vietnam, and we were all rather displeased with the teachers when they said we couldn't spend the whole semester on it and made us study something else the last few weeks.

They did take us on a trip to D.C., though. And a lot of us cried at the Wall.

[DinahMoeHum]

5. "No one would dare. . .Vietnam documentary"? YOU LOSE, PAL

A comprehensive documentary series about Vietnam was done back in the 1980's.

Vietnam - A Television History

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/

You can get it on DVD at any good music store or by mail order.

There's also the companion book to that documentary series by Stanley Karnow:
http://www.amazon.com/Vietnam-History-Stanley-Karnow/dp/0140265473/ref=sr_1_1/103-7925147-0948611?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190858429&sr=1-1

[arendt]

8. Polite mode ON: I didn't think it needed saying, but "no one TODAY would dare".

I am well aware of that series. But it was done when this was still a free country, when
we still had semi-free media instead of a propaganda machine.

Have you seen it on PBS recently? You know, between the umpteenth showing of the
Three Tenors and the endless begathons?

Thanks for sharing the URLs with the board.

arendt

[pansypoo53219]

6. most soldier are good

it's the leaders that suck.

and it just doesn't stop. humans have not evolved. we are still willing to die and kill for stupid leaders.

[Swede]

9. It's a pretty good documentary.

There's stuff I havn't seen or heard before in it.