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The Ken Burns/Lynn Novick Vietnam Documentary

Lost any respect I had for Kennedy when they quoted him saying “I can’t lose a territory like Vietnam and still get re-elected” even though he admitted there was no way to win there.
 
If you have missed any episodes, you can stream them at pbs.org. I watched each of the first five on my iPhone.

This documentary has been very well done. We were talking about it at an American Legion meeting the other night, and several of the members of my Post who served there had nothing but praise for it. I have found it interesting to compare to the prior Burns documentary on WWII. Even though one was considered the "good" war and the other a mistake, the valor displayed by our troops was the same (and so, too, was the cruelty--even in a "good" war, the experience of fighting it extracts a terrible price).

My uncle retired from the Air Force as a Lieutenant Colonel. He served as a Lieutenant in Vietnam, flying spotter planes as an artillery observer. He came home in his mid 20s with gray hair.

All in all, this documentary provides a good overview of our history in Vietnam. Even though I'm not really learning anything I hadn't known before (having taken a class on Vietnam during my undergrad days at Davidson), I would still recommend it to just about anyone. It is that good.
 
DeacLaw05 said:
If you have missed any episodes, you can stream them at pbs.org. I watched each of the first five on my iPhone.

This documentary has been very well done. We were talking about it at an American Legion meeting the other night, and several of the members of my Post who served there had nothing but praise for it. I have found it interesting to compare to the prior Burns documentary on WWII. Even though one was considered the "good" war and the other a mistake, the valor displayed by our troops was the same (and so, too, was the cruelty--even in a "good" war, the experience of fighting it extracts a terrible price).

My uncle retired from the Air Force as a Lieutenant Colonel. He served as a Lieutenant in Vietnam, flying spotter planes as an artillery observer. He came home in his mid 20s with gray hair.

All in all, this documentary provides a good overview of our history in Vietnam. Even though I'm not really learning anything I hadn't known before (having taken a class on Vietnam during my undergrad days at Davidson), I would still recommend it to just about anyone. It is that good.
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Really good post. My daughter (9) was born in Saigon so we have a keen interest in learning more about the war and its impact on Modern Vietnam.

A few things that struck me as interesting was just how much of the fighting was close to and even south of Saigon. I also found it interesting that the notion of American soldiers commonly torching villages was largely untrue, though the civilian casualties from the war were tragic. I also knew S Vietnamese govt was shaky at best but boy, it was downright sleazy, dysfunctional, etc. Wowza.
 
Vietnam was a cluster fuck of epic proportions from start to finish and that information was there to anyone who wanted to see it. Just a tragedy for all who were associated with it.
 
It’s such a great doc. It’s horrifying to watch this all unfold in slow motion. And at least twice an episode (we’ve watched the first three), someone says something so spot-on about the future it’s scary - and their advice is inevitably ignored.
 
Did I hear it correctly that LBJ was literally hand picking the air targets???
 
DEACisGO said:
Lost any respect I had for Kennedy when they quoted him saying “I can’t lose a territory like Vietnam and still get re-elected” even though he admitted there was no way to win there.
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That struck me as well.
 
DEACisGO said:
Lost any respect I had for Kennedy when they quoted him saying “I can’t lose a territory like Vietnam and still get re-elected” even though he admitted there was no way to win there.
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Understandable. But every political leader is world history has made these kind of calculations about their own grip on power, right?
 
Slightly off topic - the best teacher I ever had assigned Howard Zinn for reading. If you have read some his work, big sections about Vietnam that were eye opening for a teenager. But, we also had Vietnam vets come to class and give their perspective, with pictures, stories, etc. I still remember that well. Powerful shit.
 
Started and gave up, may restart if I get bored. Seems like I've already seen all this, but I'm a student of military history, I can see how this is enlightening for dwarfs or also for people from that era reliving it.
 
DEACisGO said:
Lost any respect I had for Kennedy when they quoted him saying “I can’t lose a territory like Vietnam and still get re-elected” even though he admitted there was no way to win there.
Click to expand...

Read up on the effect of the fall of China on domestic US politics.
 
WakeForestRanger said:
Read up on the effect of the fall of China on domestic US politics.
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The show goes into specific detail on that point. No doubt communist creep was the issue, don’t want to lose another China, etc.

I can’t respect a leader that sends people to die for an admitted lost cause because it’ll get them votes. He wasn’t willing to sacrifice reelection for doing what’s best for the country’s long term benefit. If it’s for a long term strategy to win and you can justify the sacrifice now for a big return later then that is different. But when you know the war won’t help you stop the communists and there are more viable countries to stem the tide (trying to see through the lense of politics at that time), then you’re truly just continuing the meat grinder for your own pride and grasp on power. It’s human nature, yes, but there have been leaders throughout history that made the call that was best for the people not themselves- hence my ideals.
 
Tonight’s episode was solid- LBJ would have been a terror if Twitter was around back then.

It’s hard to fathom the assassinations of key public figures in short succession. I wonder if our current society would be strong enough to handle it.
 
The US really backed some vile men in Asia (and in South America and the Middle East as well) that doomed any chance of success in stopping the rise of Communism. Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang were detestable, and Ngo Dinh Diem and the KVN were even worse. How on earth were you going to reach any kind of permanent peace with people like them in charge?
 
Both JFK and LBJ stated that they wouldn't be reelected if they withdrew from Vietnam. Nixon probably did as well. So sad.
 
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