Ken Burns PBS Vietnam Story

[Packard53]

How many of you watched the entire 18 hours or portions of this. If you have what are your thoughts. I do know that it has received many good reviews. Still debating about watching it.

John S.

[t walgamuth]

I have watched most if not all of it. Some parts twice. Some of my friends who are Vets have also and we liked it. I am not sure Like is the right word. Perhaps appreciated is better. It was a tough period we went through back then with the war and the civil rights movement. The country was very divided. Feels a lot like now. Now feels a lot like 1968 but without the political assassinations.

[JoeHall]

John S,
Since you mention VN so much here, please help us understand more about your experiences there: Specifically what military branch, unit, MOS, rank, location and time frame were you in country?

[53k]

How many of you watched the entire 18 hours or portions of this. If you have what are your thoughts. I do know that it has received many good reviews. Still debating about watching it.

John S.

I watched it all streaming from PBS using Roku. That way I could stop it, reverse it, whatever. I had been reluctant to watch the series, but many people were talking about it so I caved in and watched all ten episodes. We are going to be in Saigon, Danang and Hanoi in February so I decided maybe it would be good to be aware of current times. Wife and I watched the last episode last night. A lot of each episode infuriated her (can't really get in to that without getting political). While much of 10 was disturbing (how the Americans walked away from commitment to Vietnamese), the last part was actually kind of uplifting.

I was in country for all of 1968. I was all set to go to Hue at the end of January, but the Tet offensive kept me in Danang for several weeks. The man I was to relieve was killed in the first day of the attack on Hue. I am still amazed and bewildered by all the things that were going on just a few miles from me and I never knew about them. I did get to Tan My (eight miles down the Perfume River from Hue) while they were still clearing out the NVA which was still entrenched in the city. In addition to watching the bombers flying over us on their way to Hue, we had heavy cruisers just offshore from us shelling Hue. The first thing we heard was the projectile going over. Then we heard the blast from the gun. A few seconds later we heard the explosion in Hue.

I kept a one-year diary from the day I left for VN until I was getting on the plane at Danang to come home. I didn't let my wife see it until just a few days ago. While I was a non-combatant, I still had too many close calls (or lucky breaks) and I was worried about her knowing about them. Her reaction was actually quite good. It filled in blanks for her. I decided to re-read it myself for the first time in almost 50 years. Sure had forgotten a lot of things about the year.

People should watch the entire series. It will only be available streaming from PBS for a few more days. Viewers will find a lot of things to be proud of and many things not to be proud of. Be aware of horribly gruesome, disturbing scenes.

[t walgamuth]

I spoke with a Vet not too long after the war, about 1975. He was a strongly built man, played linebacker prior to his service. Being strong he was given an M60 machine gun (I think that's the right name) as it was pretty heavy to carry.

He described one battle in which they were being charged by the enemy...he fired the machine gun continuously for a good long while, saying he was crying and had snot running down his face all the while it was so intense.

He did not at all glorify his experience.

I imagine he suffered PTSD, but I'm not sure they had named it yet in '74.

Guys that served there have my undying respect, sympathy and gratitude.

- - - Updated - - -

I watched it all streaming from PBS using Roku. That way I could stop it, reverse it, whatever. I had been reluctant to watch the series, but many people were talking about it so I caved in and watched all ten episodes. We are going to be in Saigon, Danang and Hanoi in February so I decided maybe it would be good to be aware of current times. Wife and I watched the last episode last night. A lot of each episode infuriated her (can't really get in to that without getting political). While much of 10 was disturbing (how the Americans walked away from commitment to Vietnamese), the last part was actually kind of uplifting.

I was in country for all of 1968. I was all set to go to Hue at the end of January, but the Tet offensive kept me in Danang for several weeks. The man I was to relieve was killed in the first day of the attack on Hue. I am still amazed and bewildered by all the things that were going on just a few miles from me and I never knew about them. I did get to Tan My (eight miles down the Perfume River from Hue) while they were still clearing out the NVA which was still entrenched in the city. In addition to watching the bombers flying over us on their way to Hue, we had heavy cruisers just offshore from us shelling Hue. The first thing we heard was the projectile going over. Then we heard the blast from the gun. A few seconds later we heard the explosion in Hue.

I kept a one-year diary from the day I left for VN until I was getting on the plane at Danang to come home. I didn't let my wife see it until just a few days ago. While I was a non-combatant, I still had too many close calls (or lucky breaks) and I was worried about her knowing about them. Her reaction was actually quite good. It filled in blanks for her. I decided to re-read it myself for the first time in almost 50 years. Sure had forgotten a lot of things about the year.

People should watch the entire series. It will only be available streaming from PBS for a few more days. They will find a lot of things to be proud of and many things not to be proud of. Be aware of horribly gruesome, disturbing scenes.

One of my lunch buddies was on a cruiser that shelled the coast and the occasional errant junk.

[Buzzard]

I recorded it on my PVR then watched it one episode at a time. Firstly let me state I am Canadian and now I realize just how little information we actually received about this horrible conflict. I guess we were in our own little world (literally) as the late 60's and early 70's were great innocent times up here. I feel for everyone of you veterans who served and lost friends. This was one event in which I believe Canada did not serve alongside America as in most previous conflicts. The closest I came was sympathizing with a dodger and hiring him in 1969. I remember he stated he was in the airborne and was fully prepared to endure it for the two years I believe, until he received his notice to ship to Vietnam. He was a good guy. I wonder how many of you came here out of avoidance and never left.
My hat off to all of you Veterans as it all seems to have been so senseless.
Bill

[48skyliner]

I have been asking the same question since the late 1960s, and so far have never heard an answer: What possible threat could there be to the security of the United States from ANYTHING that happened in Vietnam, Laos or Cambodia in the 1960s or 70s?

Few people paid much attention to Eisenhower's warning to us all when he was leaving the presidency, but in the ensuing years the wisdom of his words has become very clear.

[jnormanh]

I have been asking the same question since the late 1960s, and so far have never heard an answer: What possible threat could there be to the security of the United States from ANYTHING that happened in Vietnam, Laos or Cambodia in the 1960s or 70s?

It was a politician's war. They used the then fear of Communism along with the "domino theory" to justify our involvement, and then the military, primarily William Westmoreland, kept saying: "Just another hundred thousand troops, just another six months."

It turned out to be, of course, a tarbaby.

Now there is a black wall with the names of 58,000 KIA.

If you haven't seen it, spend the time to do so. And pay special attention to John Musgrave, USMC, an honest-to-God hero. He explains it better than anyone I've ever heard.

[j.byrd]

My wife and I watched it all. I was not able to be even drafted, much less join, so no 1st hand experience of actually being there. I was completely astonished at how things came about, were extended, and the sad events for the guys that were there. I lost friends there, gained some new ones that had been there, but none spoke too much about it. I do know that I changed my opinion about our involvement while it was going on, and wondered about all the "whys". Sad times, pitiful for families and the folks in combat on both sides. I did really find the discussions from "the enemy" to be quite different than I imagined. Mr. Burns and Ms. Novick certainly did a lot of work to bring this all out. Wish we as a nation could learn something from this....

[rbruner]

Way back in 7th grade our English assignment was to write a paper titled "Why Vietnam ?". If you didn't do the requirement you failed the entire class. I think we were being groomed for something but never did figure it out.

[wittsend]

In 1969 I was in the 7th grade and remember protesters marching at the selective services office near my Jr. High. It was a strong reminder that I too was subject to being shot at in the not too distant future. As it was the U.S. fully pulled out of Vietnam and the draft had ended in 1975 when I graduated from high school. It was a great sense of relief and causes me to be considerate of those who weren't so fortunate.

My half brother was an enlistee who desired to be a paratrooper like his late father. But pneumonia in boot camp changed that. He became Military Police initially as a dog handler and was sent to Guam, then Vietnam. When he return from his tour of duty my recently divorced mom was not please to hear that he re-upped for a second tour, this time on river boat patrol. Thankfully he returned safely and the experience put him on a course for law enforcement as a federal agent. He wrote a book on the experience titled: Combat Police: U.S. Army Military Police in Vietnam. My understanding is that it was the first time Military Police were participants in active combat as opposed to more secondary activities.

Whether Vietnam was a proper line in the sand to Communism or a political war is for a debate beyond the scope of a Stovehuggers forum. Any lose of live is a sad event. I do find it interesting that in most every year a similar number of Americans died from alcohol related traffic fatalities than died in all the time the U.S. was in Vietnam. Just something to ponder.

[Packard53]

[QUOTE=JoeHall;1077633]John S,
Since you mention VN so much here, please help us understand more about your experiences there: Specifically what military branch, unit, MOS, rank, location and time frame were you in country?[/QUOTE

Joe Hall: I enlisted in the naval Reserves in January 1968 while still in high school. Went to boot camp in the summer of 1968 called to active duty in May of 1969. Went through training in before going to Vietnam in August of 1969. MOS was a Boatswain's Mate. Spent 9 months in a place called Chu Lia south from Danage Vietnam along the coast. While stationed at Chu Lai I unloaded supplies from ships and boats coming down from Danage . The group I worked with unloaded. ranging from bombs to food and including Agent Orange which I was exposed but not as bad as many other Vets were. While stationed in Chu Lai we worked 12 hours a day seven days a week for me that lasted for nine months until I went to Danage for my last three months before coming home in August 1970. I was very lucky compare to many who served in the Marines and Army people that were in combat. Some of the persons I knew that went over with me had hellish times serving on boats in the Meg Cong Delta region and in the North of Vietnam near the DM

The thing that I still think of all the time was three fellows I worked with for several months were killed in helicopter crash while flying to Danage to go on R&R.

John S.

[rockne10]

Hochiminh sent a telegram to Truman in 1946 requesting U.S. intervention with the French who were occupying Indochina, in hopes of regaining their sovereignty as a democratic republic.
Unfortunately we had just shared victory in WWII with our French allies, and so chose to ignore the French imperialism that would have greatly offended our own sensibilities had it been on our own soil. And so Ho understandably turned to Red China for assistance. The rest, as they say, is our shame.
Our young men and women who served did so out of duty or patriotism to a rationale with no rationality, and any mistreatment they received upon their return was misplaced and naïve; those who did not see that at the time can certainly see it in retrospect.
If we had only taken freedom and liberty more seriously than we took politics.

https://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/todays-doc/?dod-date=228

[48skyliner]

"The country was very divided. Feels a lot like now. Now feels a lot like 1968 but without the political assassinations."

Perhaps you should spend some time on Google and read about Monica Petersen, Klaus Oberwein, Seth Rich, Shawn Lucas and Beranton Whisenant.

When I graduated with my engineering degree in December 1960, I had a busy weekend - I graduated, was commissioned as an Air Force lieutenant (ROTC) and got married. I immediately went to Tucson and worked in the group overseeing the Titan missile construction. In the fall of 1963 my wife and I decided to travel to Guam to visit my father. Normally space-available travel by military air would have been easy, so we went to Travis AFB near Sacramento. The terminal was wall to wall with Army soldiers waiting to fly out, and no one would tell us why. After a couple of days, the sergeant behind the desk told us to fly commercial to Honolulu and we might get space from there to Guam, which we did. When we got to Guam we found out what was going on - Ngo Dihn Diem, the CIA-backed president of South Vietnam had been assassinated. A couple of weeks later, while we were still on Guam, JFK was assassinated and LBJ was our president. The events of November, 1963 had a more profound effect on the history of this country than anything since WWII.


If you like old movies, I recommend "The Quiet American" and "Air America" for a good summary of the situation, more entertaining and less depressing than the Ken burns series.

[Avantidon]

There are many different opinions here on Burns' Vietnam. I am one who has not nor will watch it. I was in country from 07/27/66 until 07/67 with the 2nd Bde 4th ID, the first unit to be permanently stationed in II Corps. I was in the "field from 08/66 until late 01/67. I experienced the political aspect of the war as well as the down and dirty side to include multiple fire fights and attacks. I lost close friends and even had to go rescue one. It took me over 45byears to admit I had a problem as a direct result of my actions. Yes, I have suffered with PTSD for a very longtime but because of my wife, I finally got help. Based on all of that I will not watch anything having to do with Vietnam because of what it triggers. Please don't ask me about experiences as I don't talk about them for the same reason. More power to those of you who have watched I'm glad you could but I can't.