Ken Burns' new documentary: The Vietnam War

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

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  1. Lightworker

    Lightworker Forum Resident

    Location:
    Deep Texas
    I became Selective Service eligible in 1972. My draft lottery number came up 187 that year.
    My neighbor (an SDS student radical) came up number 6. He was screwed.
     
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  2. misterdecibel

    misterdecibel Bulbous Also Tapered

    Yes, they showed the scene where Ali said "The real enemy of my people is right here."
     
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  3. I wasn't aware of the David Frost Show debate between Agnew and the campus leaders - I'd love to see more of this. I found a nearly nine minute clip on youtube but obviously it's not the whole thing:

     
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  4. Okay, thanks - I've been recording them, so I'll have to take a second pass through them when I get the chance...
     
  5. Lightworker

    Lightworker Forum Resident

    Location:
    Deep Texas
    Ho was a patriot early on. Too bad that the communists "left his cake out in the rain" (as Jimmy Webb would say).
     
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  6. PonceDeLeroy

    PonceDeLeroy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Maryland
    Vets going home, powerful images! Marvin Gaye at the end? Yes, I think so!
     
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  7. PonceDeLeroy

    PonceDeLeroy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Maryland
    I had a high number. Applied for conscientious objector. Willing to be a medic. Was refused. Was bumped up to single digit. Guess the draft board was vindictive. Nothing came of it. Never served. So sad for those who did, honorably and gallantly.
     
    Last edited: Sep 28, 2017
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  8. j.barleycorn

    j.barleycorn Forum Resident

    Location:
    MN, USA
    Hanoi Jane......I was surprised they showed that footage of her sitting and smiling in an anti -aircraft gun in Hanoi.

    And then followed later by the homecoming of the POWs to Ray Charles singing America the Beautiful. That was truly overwhelming. I thought I had run out of tears last night. Turns out I had more left.
     
    Last edited: Sep 28, 2017
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  9. S. P. Honeybunch

    S. P. Honeybunch Presidente de Kokomo, Endless Mikelovemoney

    Howard Hunt and CIA Director William Colby have both asserted that LBJ ordered the CIA to spy on the Goldwater campaign.
     
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  10. jeroemba

    jeroemba Forum Resident

    Location:
    France
    I suggest to read De Gaulle's War Memoirs: it gives you the other side of the story, like Burns documentary gives the Viet-Minhs point of view.
     
  11. Trashman

    Trashman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    It's not sensationalism, it's reality. In fact, one could argue that what you saw on the TV screen was pretty sanitized compared to what the soldiers and civilians in Vietnam saw. The reality is that many of the bodies were just pieces... severed heads, arms, legs, internal organs, etc.

    If it's uncomfortable to watch, then you know you're still a human being.
     
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  12. krock2009

    krock2009 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philadelphia, PA
    You would think PBS would give Ken Burns free reign, he's certainly earned it. Plus the show isn't for kids(as educational as it has been).
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 28, 2017
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  13. Do you have a link where Colby admits this illegal act? My search came up with nothing.
     
  14. NickCarraway

    NickCarraway Forum Resident

    Location:
    Gastonia, NC
    McPeak, who flew 269 bombing missions against the North Vietnamese, wanted the script pertaining to My Lai to read - accurately - "the murder of civilians". (McPeak: “Let’s open the kimono—let’s tell it all, see it the way it is.”) Burns - who of course flew no warplanes - changed it to "the killing of civilians".
     
  15. The Panda

    The Panda Forum Mutant

    Location:
    Marple, PA, USA
    The old man hated Ray Charles. Absolutely zero talent. And he should be charged with some sort of crime for what he did to America The Beautiful. The only reason people put him on TV was............
    I didn't own any Ray records, luckily. I had to hide the Country Joe 45, but as I later figured out, he didn't know the song or pay attention to lyrics of kids' records, they were all meaningless.:angel:
    Those memories prevented me from getting misty at the end.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 28, 2017
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  16. The Panda

    The Panda Forum Mutant

    Location:
    Marple, PA, USA
    Excellent stuff. I never heard of that either. It was great to have him sit there and be subjected to something the administration was sure did not exist: a smart young, black female.
     
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  17. rjp

    rjp Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    i have been to the 'parking lot" at kent state a few times since that day..........it is a poor testament to those killed that day. you can, literally, park your car right next to where someone was killed.
     
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  18. Jose Jones

    Jose Jones Outstanding Forum Member

    Location:
    Detroit, Michigan
    I was surprised that John McCain was not mentioned in last night's episode (1970-73) when it covered the release of POW's.....did I miss it?
     
  19. Jose Jones

    Jose Jones Outstanding Forum Member

    Location:
    Detroit, Michigan
    I don't recall that being mentioned, nor was Carl Wilson's fight to be a conscientious objector.
     
  20. Jose Jones

    Jose Jones Outstanding Forum Member

    Location:
    Detroit, Michigan
    I was surprised they allowed the famous photo (and footage) of the naked Vietnamese girl after napalm burned her clothes off.
     
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  21. townsend

    townsend Senior Member

    Location:
    Ridgway, CO
    I agree. But an even more egregious omission is not mentioning Daniel Ellsberg, all the more since he was a military analyst working for the RAND corporation, and specifically studied the Vietnam war: Daniel Ellsberg - Wikipedia
     
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  22. The Panda

    The Panda Forum Mutant

    Location:
    Marple, PA, USA
    I was expecting a segment on Tunnel rats. Yes, the one story was harrowing and cringe inducing. But I believe those guys deserved special mention as a group. The hell they entered into regularly is just unimaginable to me. Beyond heroes, to me.
     
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  23. tkl7

    tkl7 Agent Provocateur

    Location:
    Lewis Center, OH
    were you not watching last night?
     
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  24. townsend

    townsend Senior Member

    Location:
    Ridgway, CO
    Correct, I didn't watch last night. I had read reviews that seemed to imply he was not mentioned, at least with regard to his prominent role in the anti-war movement. Please qualify my understanding, and if I stand corrected, I appreciate it.
     
  25. Taxman

    Taxman Senior Member

    Location:
    Fayetteville, NY
    I finally made it to visit the Kent State campus last Fall. I was also shocked that the site of the shootings was not set off from the parking lot, unless they wanted to maintain the historic view of where/ how the students were standing, relative to the troops, when the shooting happened. Kudos to the campus for the signage which tells the story in a sequential way. There is also a visitors center there which unfortunately was closed. It made me feel sick to see it for real, along side the photographs which are part of the signage.
     
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