PBS series "The Vietnam War" by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick

[Rob-F]

Would be nice if they let Canadians watch it

What about the link in the first post? Could you watch that way?

We are watching. This documentary makes clearer than ever before that we did not belong in the war--especially on the side we were on--and how we came to be on the wrong side.

 

[helen.HH]

I waited till the weekend so I could view it in long
Binges....
Looks Heartbreaking & Brilliantly done
I'm hooked !

 

[charjohncarter]

I won't be watching, I spent 3 years in the US Army 1969-72. I was sent to Panama' (and other parts of Central and South America) for the entire time but I did come back to the US many times on TDY. It always amazed me how I was treated better in Panama' (and as above) than in the US.

 

[kuuan]

in case there is anyone in Europe who wants to watch it in German or French, these are available here right now: https://www.arte.tv/de/videos/RC-015017/vietnam/ and https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/RC-015017/vietnam/

 

[Peter Jennings]

Most enlightening for me has been the recordings of Johnson’s conversations with various advisors and learning just how much the war was a product of politics. He wasn’t committed to it in the beginning, but winning the ‘64 election was important to him. He escalated the conflict just to get elected, and that is disgusting.

 

[easyrider]

Available in Canada

Available in Canada

Would be nice if they let Canadians watch it

It's on PBS that is available in Canada-- or at least in Toronto. Have been watching.

 

[ChrisPlatt]

I was in junior high school when Saigon fell but both of my brothers served during that time, one in Vietnam.
My sisters, both in high school at the time, were actively opposed to US involvement in the war.
Many friends had older siblings who served in Vietnam. A Gold Star Mother lived around the block.

No one who lived through that time in USA was untouched by the war. We are still coming to terms with it.

Chris

 

[kiemchacsu]

... My personal take on that is that it was politics that lost the war.

+This+
It was exactly my take on the war.
Poor the Vietnamese and [also American] that were put into a much larger political game after the WW2
Vietnam was just like a chess played by 2 different Political systems that shaped the world after 1945.

 

[daveleo]

+This+
It was exactly my take on the war.
Poor the Vietnamese and [also American] that were put into a much larger political game after the WW2
Vietnam was just like a chess played by 2 different Political systems that shaped the world after 1945.

You are correct.

 

[kuuan]

+This+
It was exactly my take on the war.
Poor the Vietnamese and [also American] that were put into a much larger political game after the WW2
Vietnam was just like a chess played by 2 different Political systems that shaped the world after 1945.

right!
and I wonder, has there ever been any war that was not but an inhuman game played by a few powerful people, is it ever the people themselves that wished to fight?

 

[daveleo]

I once read somewhere "People don't start wars. Governments start wars."

 

[Dogman]

I'm not watching. The whole memory is too painful. I was not in the military at the time although I was on the razor edge of the draft. I recall the nightly TV casualty count, the draft lottery, the protests, My Lai, Jane Fonda, the coffins returning, Saigon falling and the way the veterans were treated in the end. It was an agonizing time for many who were alive at the time. I'm sure it's a well done documentary.

 

[ChrisPlatt]

Maybe things would have turned out differently if the players involved had known all that is revealed in this documentary.
Indeed it is a painful chapter in history but fascinating nonetheless. I know I'll be watching every minute of it.

Chris

 

[CMur12]

I'm not watching. The whole memory is too painful. I was not in the military at the time although I was on the razor edge of the draft. I recall the nightly TV casualty count, the draft lottery, the protests, My Lai, Jane Fonda, the coffins returning, Saigon falling and the way the veterans were treated in the end. It was an agonizing time for many who were alive at the time. I'm sure it's a well done documentary.

I remember all of this, too, to much the same effect.

I don't want to watch this every night for the duration of the showing. I might get the DVD set when it is made available and see it in smaller bites. With these memories, I would like to have a better understanding of this war than I had at the time.

- Murray

 

[agfa100]

I spent 17 months in country, it's where I took up photography and learned to develop and print in b&w. I was one of the 80% support troops I was in comsec just outside of Saigon in a old french base that was a comcenter. We had it very easy in comparison to the guys that were in combat, but we were on 24/7 call when a circuit went down and I had to fly to bases in the delta to the dmz. The series brings back a lot of stuff I thought i forgot about but it's just way back in the memory banks. The smell of the vegetation was the thing I remember the most it was so rich, but then I had grown up in the middle east, Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, and Iran and to see so much green and wet was beyond me it was a overload. I remember when I got back in country and was waiting for a plane to go home to VA and some kid's came up and called me a "baby killer" in SF airport. We were the only ones with short hair and wearing Seiko watches as they were cheap in the PX.
wbill

 

[PKR]

I once read somewhere "People don't start wars. Governments start wars."

Not always Dave.. sometimes corporations start wars and the government fights them. It's almost always about money in one form or another. United Fruit?

Best, pkr

 

[Ko.Fe.]

My generation was acutely aware of the Vietnam War. ...

So is mine. We hate and still USA, but re-invaded Afghanistan, Georgia and Ukraine.

Here is nothing to be proud of any war your country initiated. And if pictures, literature showing it as the shame, it deserves. And only it.

 

[lynnb]

Thanks for the heads up. I followed the link but it's not available for streaming in Australia, although the ABC shop is selling the DVD so it seems likely it will broadcast at some date. If anyone finds a streaming link for Australia please post it in this thread.

The draft ended in Australia months before I would have been eligible. At that time the Vietnam moratorium movement was strong. Returning soldiers did not get a sympathetic welcome home.

Another show worth watching is The Fog of War Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S McNamara - interesting to hear his viewpoint.

 

[agfa100]

I had a back road outside of our site I used to walk down and take pic's of the farmers and their family's and then the following week I would go back and hand out prints. They all treated me like a god whenever they would see me after that I had to stop and have some tea and one old guy made his own moonshine and I had to have a drink with him. The "White Mice" Vietnamese police would come rushing down that road and pick me up and say " what you do out here crazy GI too many VC here but I was never bothered. I guess there is something to be said for being "young and dumb"
wbill

 

[airfrogusmc]

I joined the Marines in 1973 and wanted to go to Vietnam. Missed it. By the time I joined and got through boot camp we were pulling back. Enlisting is what you did in my blue collar middle class neighborhood. I have been watching. So far the first 5 episodes. I got over seas in December of 1975 and was first in HMM 164 in Okinawa and I put in for a transfer for HMM 165 in Subic Bay (Cubi Point) PI. Got the transfer. I was a CH 46 Crew Chief and most every one Sgt and above on the enlisted side was in Nam and Capt and above when taking officers. I have found that the series is very good and reminds me of a lot of things that I heard from all of those Sgts and S/Sgts and officers I served with that were there. HMM 165 was in Nam and was heavily involved in the evacuation late April 1975.