Ken Burns' new documentary: The Vietnam War

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Thomas D, Aug 20, 2017.

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  1. Apesbrain

    Apesbrain Forum Resident

    Location:
    East Coast, USA
    The draft escalated in '65. I suspect we'll hear more about it in the next episode in connection with unrest at home.

    More information: The Military Draft During the Vietnam War

    As an 11-year-old kid at the time of this episode my only connection to the war was an uncle who volunteered after ROTC and served in an artillery battalion. It never crossed my mind that he might not come back. If you told me then that, for the luck of the draw, I'd be there myself after my 18th birthday I'd never have believed it.
     
    Last edited: Sep 20, 2017
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  2. The Panda

    The Panda Forum Mutant

    Location:
    Marple, PA, USA
    not here. I've seen threads on many 50's/60's/70's topics vaporized.
     
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  3. Thomas D

    Thomas D Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Bradenton, FL
    Hard Rain's Gonna Fall was a major thing in ep. 1, but other than that it seems the music has been mostly subdued and way in the background. "It's My Life" played in ep. 3 at around the 1 hour point, way in the background, and heavily edited, in relation to the teen who demanded his parents let him enlist on the one hand, and the protester, on the other. The songs add a nice touch of background color, but that's about it so far it seems, which is fine with me.
     
    Last edited: Sep 20, 2017
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  4. The Panda

    The Panda Forum Mutant

    Location:
    Marple, PA, USA
    Choosing Turn Turn Turn as the closer last night was a nice touch. When It started, I said "oh s__t!!!"
    To paraphrase something attributed to David Byrne, it was absolutely the most inappropriate song and the most appropriate song as well.
     
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  5. tomunbound

    tomunbound Active Member

    Location:
    Denton ave.
    Being 15 in 1969 was a good perspective on the war. I thought I was following it pretty well. But now it's revealed that LBJ and many others were flat-out lying about what was going on. Even though they personally saw no hope of 'winning', they kept sending more troops. Just missed the draft myself, but older friends that went had stories to tell...mainly stoners v.s. juicers tales....nobody really wanted to talk about the 'real' war... Good thing the hippies and anti-war protesters ended the 'conflict' , the govt and military sure couldn't.
    The documentary seems rather balanced, maybe a little on the 'pro' side, but the show is just warming up. The Draft and what's going on in the homefront (VVAW etc) is coming up soon. I can't wait to see how they keep from being overly political/biased on that. It's hard enough not being political here !!!
     
  6. Atmospheric

    Atmospheric Forum Resident

    Location:
    Eugene
    I'm a couple years younger than you. My HS Civics teacher was assigned to the misinformation effort when he was drafted. He told us all about it, circa 1973-4ish.
     
  7. Chazro

    Chazro Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Palm Bch, Fl.
    I was born in '53. If the war hadn't ended when it did, I would've been drafted, I was THIS close. I remember how early on my father, who was a WWII vet said to me, in no uncertain terms, "If yr called, yr going!". But by the time it ended he was deeply troubled, and saddened, by the protests but more so by the fact that he understood this war was nothing like his war. By this time he was saying that if I was called there was no way I was going!

    Watching this excellent documentary is really dredging up some old memories and feelings.
     
  8. feinstei9415

    feinstei9415 Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Bend, IN
    I'm amazed by the fact that history and the American people have forgiven the legacy of such figures as Westmoreland and McNamara.
     
  9. audiomixer

    audiomixer As Bald As The Beatles

    I was born in '52 & my draft number was 235. What a relief! My Dad, also a WWII vet who lost a brother during the war, said that no way I was going either!
     
  10. audiomixer

    audiomixer As Bald As The Beatles

    Most Americans don't know anything about this war, let alone such figures as Westmoreland and McNamara!
     
  11. tomunbound

    tomunbound Active Member

    Location:
    Denton ave.
    Oh yeah, EVERYBODY checked their number, eligible or not....
     
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  12. The Panda

    The Panda Forum Mutant

    Location:
    Marple, PA, USA
    I was born in '57 and I never had to register. My old man used to tell me in no uncertain terms I was going if I was drafted.
    And of course, I said I'd be Canada bound
    Years later, my mother said that he never meant it. I told her, "doesn't matter what he thought. I only knew what he said."
     
  13. PonceDeLeroy

    PonceDeLeroy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Maryland
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  14. robertawillisjr

    robertawillisjr Music Lover

    Location:
    Hampton, VA
    The draft was ongoing from WWII.
     
  15. Thomas D

    Thomas D Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Bradenton, FL
    I'm noticing some great songs on here that aren't on the CD soundtrack. For example, Sunshine Superman, in ep. 4.
     
  16. Raunchnroll

    Raunchnroll Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    Enjoying it for the most part so far. I agree the editing is somewhat distracting. I tend to like more linear or chronological oriented presentations. Coming from a military family background, growing up as it all went down, and knowing so many people who served there, I was set for the idea that the miniscule hours of coverage this series gives is not going to satisfy everyone nor give appropriate amount of time to the multitude of perspectives & viewpoints. As a historian friend once told me, the purpose of museums and documentaries is really to give the average person a taster so that someone interested further in the subject can dig deeper if they choose. And come to their own relationship with the history. They're not meant to be the 'be-all, end-all' about a subject.
     
  17. As an Iraqi war army vet I was amused to notice the same differences between the army and Marines existed during Vietnam. Marines are great shock troops and useless at occupying and winning hearts and minds. The army tries to Win hearts and minds with the left hand while torching the village with the right. Nothing is learned....
     
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  18. EddieMann

    EddieMann I used to be a king...

    Location:
    Geneva, IL. USA.
    Through three episodes I am very impressed, and moved (sometimes to near tears). Unbelievably evil that Madame Nhu. I looked up her bio on Wikipedia and although I can't put my finger on it she reminds me of somebody.
     
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  19. profholt82

    profholt82 Resident Blowhard

    Location:
    West Michigan
    I actually think that song has become cliché in popular media which addresses the Vietnam War. I mean, it's obviously appropriate, but just very overused. 'The Wonder Years' and 'Forrest Gump' immediately come to mind, but I know there are other examples.
     
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  20. beccabear67

    beccabear67 Musical omnivore.

    Location:
    Victoria, Canada
    Reminded me of Imelda Marcos of the Philippines.
     
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  21. tman53

    tman53 Vinyl is an Addiction

    Location:
    FLA
    I remember the draft quite well. The year after I graduated high school Nixon had begun to start to wind things down. My first year of eligibility they only called the first 200, my lottery number was 212.
     
  22. The Panda

    The Panda Forum Mutant

    Location:
    Marple, PA, USA
    I defer, I can't agree or disagree with that asssessment
     
  23. Raunchnroll

    Raunchnroll Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    Lots of interesting trivia that may or may not get covered in the series. The youngest US soldier there, enlisting at 14 and getting killed at 15, was Dan Bullock from Brooklyn. Of the nearly 3 millions vets that served in SE Asia through 1975, approximately 3/4 of a million are still alive today. Its been that long ago now. When I was in the Air Force 5 years after it ended quite a few of the NCO's that trained me had been there, the last one getting there in 1974 when he was 18 and leaving of course during the evacuation in '75. I have a magazine, I think Newsweek or Time or something like that, showing one of the last US helicopters leaving the embassy on the cover. Front and center reaching up to the copter is a Vietnamese guy I used to work with. Middle aged, once a civil engineer for the South Vietnam government, he was literally one of the last dudes out as the North Vietnamese busted through the embassy gates with tanks. Super humble nice guy - we used to tease him because he never missed a day of work and was never ever late for work, not once, and we usually were.
     
  24. misterdecibel

    misterdecibel Bulbous Also Tapered

    My brother's birthday came up in the top-20 in the first draft lottery in 1969. My WWII vet dad marched him down to the enlistment office the next day and he joined the Navy, and spent the Vietnam years in Norfolk, VA.
     
  25. misterdecibel

    misterdecibel Bulbous Also Tapered

    I wonder how much time they'll spend on the Nixon-Chennault thing in 1968?
     
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