Ken Burns Documentaries

[Babybearjs]

For any of you interested..... Ken Burns has released his latest documentary- Viet-Nam. for anyone who served during that time, you may want to watch.... for those who didn't- a history lesson.... I was too young to remember any of this.... check you PBS station for local times....

[19and41]

It appears to be pretty straight and accurate so far (seen 4 episodes).   

[TelePlay]

Can't watch it. Lived it and this theatrical production is way too biased in so many ways.

Dramatic portrayals of producer selected anecdotal events does not constitute the truth, the real story or the whole story.

That 18 hours of propaganda is a waste of everything other than being a very good example of how the media used and uses partial facts to control the thinking of the masses.

Only good thing in all those hours is that Burn made a few bucks for himself and his production crew.

[Babybearjs]

for those who served, its hard.... to be their is totally different then just watching it.... PTSD and other problem plague veterans of all wars and seeing it again can cause problems.... for me and others, its a history lesson.... so much I never knew. even recent wars have been shown on PBS and even for me its hard to see it all....

[19and41]

I grew up with it.  The draft ended in 1973.  I enlisted in March of 1974.  Most of the "older" soldiers I met were returning from there, completing their draft commitment.  Good people.

[Babybearjs]

and how much we have learned from that time.... modern warfare seems to more behind the scenes now. I hope we don't ever repeat history..... but right now with Korea.... its scary.... I'm wondering..... should we have dealt with this lake we did with Japan? if we had shown Korea back in the 50's what japan learned.... could things be different today? China and Russia are the other 2 problems I see right now..... and a friend told me years ago China couldn't be trusted.....

[Fabius]

Can't watch it.

Can't watch it either. US Army 1968 - 1974

[jsowers]

I loved the series he did on Theodore, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, but I can't watch the Vietnam one either. I think he needs to stick to Presidents and historical figures.

[Babybearjs]

he does excellent work, I love the history he touches on.... as for war.... if it was the 1970's and he just did WWII those vets would say the same thing about his work.....  as for me... I'm a history buff.... I love to learn things about  our "wonderful" world....

[RotarDad]

John (Teleplay) - If you're willing to share, I'm interested in your perspective on the Ken Burns documentary shortcomings.  I haven't watched any if the Vietnam episodes, but I thought his work was generally respected.  Thank you!

[TelePlay]

If you're willing to share, I'm interested in your perspective on the Ken Burns documentary shortcomings.

Let's just say Burns touched this country's 3rd rail.

I wonder if he intentionally wanted to rip the scab off of a sore that deeply affected this country 45-50 years ago, a violent era that was the progenitor of today's discontent, without causing further damage or if he thought enough time had passed that he could get away with creating his own version of events without critique to sway future generations.

There is a lot of good in letting sleeping dogs lie.

[Babybearjs]

This is true.....After seeing Chapter 5 (1968) alot of people probibly got mad.... as for me, its watching a history I never knew.... Extremely sad.... so many died that year all around.... and so much upheaval world wide..... the middle east is nothing compared to this.....