Ken Burns' new documentary: The Vietnam War

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

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  1. beercanchicken

    beercanchicken Legendary Stickman

    Location:
    Chicago
    F-bombs on PBS...we're living on the edge!
     
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  2. Ed Hughes

    Ed Hughes Senior Member

    Location:
    phila.pa.
    Just finished watching this series the other night.
    I thought it was terrific. Though it brought back many memories. I lived through this like others here have stated being born in 1954. I remember registering for the draft in '72 and being scared ****less. Though I didn't know at the time my parents had a somewhat loosely based plan to get me to Canada, I'm not sure I would have gone.
    Luckily I never got drafted and I think the draft ended the next year anyway.
    I hope we as a country never get sucked into a mess like that again.
     
    longdist01 likes this.
  3. We have, just on a different (thankfully smaller) scale. I know this well having served in Iraq 2004-2005.
     
  4. Ed Hughes

    Ed Hughes Senior Member

    Location:
    phila.pa.
    Yes, I should have been clearer I did mean on a larger scale.
    And thanks for your service.
     
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  5. Brother Maynard

    Brother Maynard Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, TX
    I have PBS via Apple TV. I reached the final episode last night. The final episode is not available to me unless I purchase some sort of $60 PBS membership. Unbelievable.
     
  6. robertawillisjr

    robertawillisjr Music Lover

    Location:
    Hampton, VA
    Join, it will be beneficial to you and your local station. :)
     
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  7. I didn't need to purchase that service to watch all the episodes on PBS anywhere. I was prompted to sign-up about 3 episodes into the run, but I waited a few days and found that all series the episodes became available for free.
     
  8. Opeth

    Opeth Forum Resident

    Location:
    NH
    I was watching this on demand through xfinity on PBS.... came home last night from work to start at ep3 and it's not available for free anymore. Pretty bummed I don't wanna watch this on a cell phone lol.
     
  9. Bummer. I haven't watched PBS for a few days, maybe I can't re-watch them for free now.
     
    Opeth likes this.
  10. PNeski@aol.com

    [email protected] Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    You don't get PBS channel on over the air or cable..?
     
  11. Brother Maynard

    Brother Maynard Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, TX
    We got rid of cable.
     
  12. Rubber65

    Rubber65 Forum Resident

    I always thought that JFK planned a phased withdrawal of all military advisers. And by the end of 1965 all US personal would be out, but he wanted to do it without raising too many questions from South Vietnam’s president Ngo Dinh Diem. On Oct 5, a meeting took place with JFK and other members of the White House and the following minutes were taken: "The President also said that our decision to remove 1,000 U.S. advisers by December of this year (1963) should not be raised formally with Diem. Instead the action should be carried out routinely as part of our general posture of withdrawing people when they are no longer needed". But LBJ approved National Security Action Memorandum 273 one day after JFK was buried, which essentially overturned JFK's decision to implement a phased withdrawal. The situation was was very very sensitive. Had he ordered that all US military personal withdraw from Vietnam by the end of October of 1963, that would have destabilized all of Vietnam in one shot, then he would have felt the negative backlash in his own country. There were a lot of chess pieces on the board that he needed to consider and move around strategically before giving the go ahead. Withdrawing every U.S. military personal in one shot before his re-election was a gamble for everyone involved. First, he would have been seen as a heartless politician who cut and ran leaving South Vietnam to fend for itself. Had he done that, it would have weakened his chances of getting re-elected. He had a strategic vision that was laid out in his commencement speech at the American University on June 10, 63. But he couldn't do that before his re-election. Vietnam was a thorn in his side that he needed to slowly take out. He had to take his time with a phased withdrawal, he had pressure coming from all sides, politically in his own country, likely destabilize Vietnam and possibly the whole of South East Asia, sticky situation going on in Berlin, flack from key NATO countries (UK, Canada) and the United Nations. He had to be cautious and sufficiently prepare to slowly take out the advisers in South Vietnam. By the time of his own reelection in November 64, the majority of the advisers would have already been pulled out. I personally found that some of the information presented in the in the documentary was somewhat misleading and lacked proper explanation. His approach was sound and calculated. He didn't rush into making a firm decision and order "get them all out now". I would not have wanted to be in his shoes in 1963.
     
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  13. The Panda

    The Panda Forum Mutant

    Location:
    Marple, PA, USA
    He also had domestic issues at home that were not insignificant. Adding a foreign issue that would appear heartless (as you said), would be another hurdle.
    It would have been another tight election in 1964, probably.
     
  14. Rubber65

    Rubber65 Forum Resident

    I totally agree. He was definitely in a tight spot. I can’t even imagine to burden he was shouldering.
     
  15. I still have free access to all the episodes on the PBS app.
     
  16. numer9

    numer9 Beatles Apologist

    Location:
    Philly Burbs
    I think we went through two lotteries...I think.
     
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  17. Carl Swanson

    Carl Swanson Senior Member

    DVRed this, finally started watching Monday night. It's affecting me more than I thought it might.
     
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  18. misterdecibel

    misterdecibel Bulbous Also Tapered

    Yup, '69 and '71. As I recall, it was determined that the numbers hadn't been sufficiently shuffled, and December birthdays got screwed with a much higher call rate than a random distribution would indicate. My brother was one of those December boys in the '69 lottery.
     
  19. Gordon Crisp

    Gordon Crisp Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    I also have Xfinity and it appears to be back on On Demand, at least until the 15th!
     
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  20. EddieMann

    EddieMann I used to be a king...

    Location:
    Geneva, IL. USA.
    My loving and tolerant wife was so impressed by the little she watched on regular TV that she donated to PBS and got the Blue ray and the book.
     
  21. Brother Maynard

    Brother Maynard Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, TX
    It became available to watch after all. I must've been trying to view it before it had actually aired at it's regularly scheduled time on PBS.
     
  22. dead of night

    dead of night Senior Member

    Location:
    Northern Va, usa
    I have PTSD just from watching this series.
     
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  23. PonceDeLeroy

    PonceDeLeroy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Maryland
    It's repeating on PBS in my area. Just saw Episode 3 again, Crossing the River Styx. The one that ended with Turn Turn Turn.
     
  24. soundQman

    soundQman Senior Member

    Location:
    Arlington, VA, USA
    Same here, last night, that was the only episode I had missed before.
     
  25. White_Noise

    White_Noise Forum Resident

    Location:
    Templeton, MA
    I finally bought the blu-ray set. Haven't watched it yet but hoping there might be interesting bonus content. I understand his decision to interview the common people on the ground. It would have been nice though to hear from one of the policy makers in the war before they all die. McNamara's reflections and regret were insightful and powerful when Errol Morris interviewed him in The Fog of War.

    Oh yeah, uncensored too. How scandalous! The absurdity of censoring cursing really hit me after CNN repeatedly broadcasted footage of the Vegas massacre but had to censor the language of people being shot at in the street. Thankfully I'm sure this prevented any unnecessary trauma for kids watching.
     
    Last edited: Oct 11, 2017
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