Way OT: PBS Vietnam Series

[Seramount]

excellent docu...

painful to see the seemingly endless series of horrible decisions made by US politicians and military leaders.

many of these mistakes are still being repeated.

[Climb01742]

Another book that gives a soldier's eye view of Vietnam is 'The Things They Carried' by Tim O'Brien. It's also, simply, one of the great American books ever written.

[54ny77]

highly recommended reading is "my father, my son" by elmo zumwalt.

helluva book.

Originally Posted by soulspinner

Watched with my wife last night. Had a high school classmate that I visited before he died of agent orange exposure. What we did to our own was bad enough.

[OtayBW]

As much as I'm enjoying it, I wish I had seen it from the beginning to bring the full historical context into place. Still, every episode stands well on its own.

[jlyon]

Yes you need so see episode 1 that did a great job laying the ground work and introducing the conflicts right after WWII.

I learned a lot from every episode but especially that one.

[RoadWhale]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

A Rumor of War by Philip Caputo is still one of the best memoirs I've ever read, regardless of topic.

My Father served in Vietnam 67-68. Years after his return, when he began to scream less during his feeble sleep at night, he read Rumor of War. After finishing the book he handed it to me and said "read it if you want to know about the things I never tell you and our family about my time over there. I did and I finally understood what the crying and screams were about.

[AngryScientist]

UPDATE: i have a "smart TV" and there is a PBS app that is free and i am able to stream this from episode 1.

Will be watching first episode tonight.

thanks for the tip and the help for this tech challenged forumite

[Geeheeb]

http://www.pbs.org/video/deja-vu-1858-1961-ucsq9s/

[marciero]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

A Rumor of War by Philip Caputo is still one of the best memoirs I've ever read, regardless of topic.

Originally Posted by Climb01742

Another book that gives a soldier's eye view of Vietnam is 'The Things They Carried' by Tim O'Brien. It's also, simply, one of the great American books ever written.

Both appear as interviewees.

[Jgrooms]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Bright_Shining_Lie

Never have so many been wasted by so many. The best and brightest?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[palincss]

Originally Posted by marciero

Both appear as interviewees.

And Tim O'Brien was one of the advisory group, too.

[berserk87]

I am a huge military history buff. This has been an informative series and I've learned a few things.

I didn't realize that Nixon reached out to the South Vietnamese government, as a presidential candidate, to have them withdraw from the pending Paris peace talks that had been facilitated by the Johnson administration. The documentary says that he did so by promising them a better deal at the talks via his administration after he was elected. To double down on the looniness, the Johnson administration had learned of this via covert surveillance and could do nothing about it, lest they tip their hand that they got the info in an unethical manner.

The soundtrack to the series is OK but at times I feel like I am watching "Forrest Gump" again. Last night's episode had a Beatles tune playing during the first moments, and seemed like the music was competing for supremacy with the narrative. I wish that the music video aspect were a bit more subdued. The subject matter does not need to be augmented by music as much as it is, in my opinion.

I just read a great book called "Hue 1968" by Mark Bowden. It was a fascinating read. Bowden's thesis is that after Tet, and Hue, particularly, the American people ceased to trust their government in the same way.

[bobswire]

I have to watch that series. Like most of you,even though I was there at the build up I couldn't see the forest through the trees. When I arrived Aug. 1964 we had approx. 12,000 troops when I left Jan. 1966 we had over 250,000 troops. I was part of the first contingent of Air Force (Air Police) volunteers originally stationed at Altus A.F. Base (Strategic Air Command). While there I signed up to remain in Vietnam for an added year which would coincide with the end of my enlistment of 4 years.
Bein Hoa Air Base- Aug. 1964-Jan.1966

[jlyon]

Originally Posted by berserk87

I am a huge military history buff. This has been an informative series and I've learned a few things.

I didn't realize that Nixon reached out to the South Vietnamese government, as a presidential candidate, to have them withdraw from the pending Paris peace talks that had been facilitated by the Johnson administration. The documentary says that he did so by promising them a better deal at the talks via his administration after he was elected. To double down on the looniness, the Johnson administration had learned of this via covert surveillance and could do nothing about it, lest they tip their hand that they got the info in an unethical manner.

The soundtrack to the series is OK but at times I feel like I am watching "Forrest Gump" again. Last night's episode had a Beatles tune playing during the first moments, and seemed like the music was competing for supremacy with the narrative. I wish that the music video aspect were a bit more subdued. The subject matter does not need to be augmented by music as much as it is, in my opinion.

I just read a great book called "Hue 1968" by Mark Bowden. It was a fascinating read. Bowden's thesis is that after Tet, and Hue, particularly, the American people ceased to trust their government in the same way.

I was thinking just the opposite but I am not a military history fan at all.
Most of Ken Burn's other works included great music from the periods and I was just thinking that this film feels very heavy and maybe more music could make it more palatable.

It seems to me he went out of his way to restrain using music other than at the beginning and ends of each episode.

[54ny77]

Trent Reznor is doing the music, per one of the credits I saw after an episode a few days ago.

He's not exactly Pat Boone.

Originally Posted by jlyon

I was thinking just the opposite but I am not a military history fan at all.
Most of Ken Burn's other works included great music from the periods and I was just thinking that this film feels very heavy and maybe more music could make it more palatable.

It seems to me he went out of his way to restrain using music other than at the beginning and ends of each episode.