Vietnam just won't seem to go away but I had to watch. I knew most of the history they put in the episode. I spent most of my life putting it out of my mind but here it is again. Finally signed up for my VA disability benefits not quite a year ago (110% but they pay me for 80% ?)and now I have a disabled veteran license plate so I can use the toll road for free. Made my first trip to the VA clinic for blood work Friday past and next week Dr. checkout. Makes me feel really strange and not sure I want to continue. So many things about it just feel wrong or strange to me. When I see how bad off some have it I almost want to just get out of the whole thing it is so stressful. I will watch the rest of the series and then try my best to forget it all once again.

__________________
Hue 68 noli me tangere

Just watched episode 2 and will definitely continue.

An emotional roller coaster.

__________________
Doesn't hasta call me Johnson

I like it so far.

How about that Madame Nhu and her Smith & Wesson?

Attached Images

IMG_1889.jpg (70.3 KB, 59 views)

__________________
“What you got, ain’t new.”

Episode 2 was an eye-opener for me. I am learning a lot from this series already. It's giving perspective to what happened later and why.

__________________
Ukraine -- now more than ever

Got through the first two episodes and already have learned things I didn't know. Will be tuned in for the rest.

I am definitely in for all of it.

__________________
Music/Sports/Beer fan

I have decided to skip it. Maybe next decade I buy the dvds.

__________________
Mike
S&WCA #3065

I tried to watch it, but it just brought back the anger. No thanks.

Episode 1 was pretty good. Heavy on the politics of the day. Interesting how the political Coup was green lighted and how much JFK had to consider with the C.M.C. also taking place. Such a tumultuous time, not unlike today really.

One thing that angered me about Ep Nr 1--someone just HAD to toss in a jab at law enforcement calling them ""Stormtroopers."" I sneer at that. Other than that-I learned some-I knew most of what was in that ep. I might continue to watch.

I heard that comment and it really pissed me off. The scene that was commented on was a short film of the Chicago anti war rioters. Daley told them to go home and they interpreted his comment as you're free to riot and tear up business on the most expensive street in town. Police responded accordingly. I watched some rioters get an attitude adjustment from the safety of a restaurant on Michigan Ave.. The comment was made early on in EP 1, and I thought here we go. Strike one.

Episode 3

Dang it all, this thing got to me. It's brilliant. It took me back to those days and all the emotions. Hard to take it all in but the story line exemplified is one of the finest documentaries I've ever seen.

I'm pretty sure this may be the defining work of the Vietnam story that my grandchildren and future generations will learn from. That's really why I'm watching it. I want to be familiar enough with this work to intelligently discuss what I have to say about Vietnam

Either way, I don't care for Mr. Burns, but so far, this is a masterpiece.

__________________
Death? Smile back...

Man, I am glued to this. What the Marine vet said in last night's Episode 3 about how McNamara knew as early as 1965 that the war was "unwinnable," three years before that Marine went to Vietnam, and how that made the Marine angry now, was to me a fine way to illustrate the staggering tragedy of so many lost American and South Vietnamese lives from the war, not to mention the ones permanently affected by their service there.

It is amazing, to me, to see the view of the war that's being expressed by the NVA and Viet Cong soldiers who are being interviewed as well. Last night's depiction of the Ia Drang Valley battles at LZ X-Ray and LZ Albany was quite telling in how the NVA were first devastated by, and then so quickly learned from, their experiences with American air power and artillery support. Lt. Col. Hal Moore and reporter Joe Galloway, who appeared in the episode several times, remain some of my most admired personalities from that time.

Most of all, though, I find myself immensely proud of what our guys were doing there, responding when sent, even as I'm appalled by how much doubt there was among our own leaders about whether we could prevail. I agree with reporter Neil Sheehan's comment that the soldiers at LZ X-Ray were every bit as admirable as those of the Greatest Generation who fought in World War II.

__________________
Ukraine -- now more than ever

One thing I didn't know previously was when the first Marine combat troops landed, nobody in the South Vietnamese government even knew they were coming. No one bothered to tell them. Vietnam was definitely a Tar Baby.

I enjoyed ep Ne 3. I enjoyed hearing about Lt.Col Hal Moore and his famed "We Were Soldiers" fight-and from the words of Joe Gallowway (whom I knew was a Texan--but didn't know he was from Refugio (PRONOUNCED REFURRIO-NOT REFooooGIO!!!) which is a hop, skip and a minor jump from me.

My year is getting close after tonight's episode,still not sure how I feel about how the soldiers are being portrayed and if there is a motive behind the presentation. I have never felt like we lost a war and I am resentful that that seems to be the message. As has been said in an earlier post watching it has brought back the anger. Doubt that I will change my personal standpoint but I will watch and listen.

__________________
Hue 68 noli me tangere

Same here, know all about what really happened and don't need any left wing BS swaying how things were.....

__________________
Only difference Fool/Mule-ears

I think the soldiers are being portrayed very honestly in both their personal interviews and what others say about them. I include in this the NVA and Viet Cong combatants. There's a balanced presentation that, if anything, shows that our troops were brave, capable, and doing what they were tasked to do, even if the political strategy was seriously flawed.

It is still only about midway in the war -- 1967 -- and our troop numbers are over 500,000. There's the definite sense that we are up against a formidable enemy whose resolve is incredible, and they are fighting more for what they consider the unification of their country than communism. Even though we've reached the so-called "point of crossover," killing more of theirs than they can replace from the North, McNamara has a lot of doubt about our ability to win, though this is only revealed through private communications with Johnson that would not see the light of day until years afterward.

I was struck last night by what one of the NVA officers said about the American soldiers' humanity when one of their own was killed, the anguish they showed, and the attention to recovery of the body. He was impressed and compared this to how his own troops responded to losing a soldier.

__________________
Ukraine -- now more than ever

Tried watching it.
Couldn't do it.

__________________
-jwk-
US Army '72-'95

I'm watching the series. My year was 68 I was med-evacued out in Aug 68
101st Abn Div. I'm not sure how I'll feel when the series gets to my year.
Paul
CW-2 USA Ret.

__________________
Paul
Salome, AZ

I perfectly understand VN vets who'd rather skip the series because of the painful memories it might resurrect.

I remember my one brother who served in Patton's Third Army
during WWII. When the movie with George C. Scott came out,
I asked him if he was going to see it.

He replied that he didn't want to be reminded of anything that
had to do with Patton. This did not mean he hadn't watched
some other movies about WWII, including The Tanks Are Coming
with touched on experiences my brother had. He just didn't
want to be reminded of Patton or anything that might glorify him.

I just missed the Vietnam war by a couple of years. Since I just got home from the desert, my wife is recording the series.

I will say Afghanistan and Iraq are our next wars without end. I read this week that we will stay in Afghanistan another decade and the AFGHAN GOVT is really happy because pump so many billions into the country.

Some smart person used the phrase "Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it".

The worst part of the whole mess was that MacNamara knew early on that it was pointless but proceeded.
I have no pity on his soul.

Wasn't McNamara also responsible in "cheapening" the parts for
the M-16 so that it became a jam-o-matic?

I doubt McNamara had anything to do with the mechanical details of the M16. Unlikely he ever even held one in his hands. The major initial problems with the M16 resulted from use of an incorrect propellant and not having the chamber and bore chrome plated, along with failure to provide cleaning equipment. What cheapening of parts are you referring to?

Thanks for your service. Hang tough! My close friend was in Saigon as an MP in 1968 during Tet. Not sure if he is watching

I'm a sucker for history, especially if it occurred during my life or within the past couple of hundred years. So far, I have only watched episode 1, but have the DVR set to record as they are aired. I thought episode one was very interesting and enlightening. It was a dark period in our history, no doubt, especially for those who didn't return and their families. It was also an interesting period however in many regards. Unless something happens later to derail the series, I believe it's going to be very good.

__________________
So many S&W's, so few funds!!

Have you all been able to watch the whole series? Seems I can't unless I sign on to a preferred viewer account.
So far I've only been able to view the first 5 episodes!

Sometimes what works is you can find the content posted on Youtube. It goes up, gets taken down, pops back up, etc. A bit tricky, but works sometimes.

I’ve only watched the first two episodes so far.

I'm pretty sure that's all that have aired so far.

__________________
So many S&W's, so few funds!!

Episode 5 premiers here on my Houston PBS station this evening.

You can actually access and watch 'em through the pbs.org website. I think the second half of the series -- the second five of the 10 -- airs next week, so perhaps that's why they're not available as yet. But I believe all the ones that have aired so far, with Episode 5 set for tonight, can be viewed online through the website.

__________________
Ukraine -- now more than ever

I think we, or at least most Americans across the political spectrum, DID learn one important lesson from Vietnam and its aftermath: no matter how you judge a war politically and historically, you have to separate that from the soldiers whom the country sends to fight it.

That didn't happen with Vietnam. In the anti-war protests there was little differentiation. That's what I heard from the many Vietnam vets I've worked with and talked to in other contexts. Critcism of the war seamlessly morphed into attacks on the people who fought it. I got the impression that this was the root of a lot of the bitterness of veterans.

Now the wars since 9/11 have turned out to be almost as much of a clusterfudge as Vietnam under the previous two presidents, and there is little reason to hope the present one will do any better. But the general attitude toward the soldiers and veterans has been very different.

As a random example, a former student came visiting me at school after returning for home leave after a year in Iraq, back around 2008. I asked how it was to be back home, and he said something like "It's okay, I just wish people would stop thanking me for my service, that's starting to get really annoying." In a small town where everybody knew him, that likely happened a lot. I just chuckled and thought to myself that returning Vietnam vets would have loved to have that kind of problem.

Episode 6 premiers Sunday. Remainder of schedule attached.

Attached Images

PBS - VW Schedule.JPG (120.0 KB, 21 views)

I been watching from the beginning and so far pretty good.

I missed that war by a couple of years but the series has been interesting to me so far. Better, though, is I have coffee from time to time with a number of Viet Nam vets who served there at various times and in various roles. One was, among other things, a company commander, then a battalion commander who finally retired as a Maj. Gen., another was a company commander who won enough medals to clank when he walks and yet another was a grunt rifleman. I had coffee this morning with Lt. Bud Alley. He was a battalion comms officer who survived the fight at LZ Albany in Nov. 1965. Each of these guys has a different perspective and each is fascinating to listen to. They are, for the most part, withholding judgment for the time being. All of them bear the scars of that war and all of them have my utmost respect. Ken Burns' film is interesting, but nothing he can say or do will ever change that.

__________________
Everybody could shoot

If the second five haven't aired yet we'll then I guess that's why I can't see them yet!
Well Duh!
Thanks guys for letting me know that, I missed looking for the air dates!

It's going down the path I figured. We're the bad guys. Big, bumbling Americans. No better than the Japanese or French. Can't do anything right, so we took it out on the civilian population. They're the good guys. Heroic freedom fighters, strategic geniuses always one step ahead of us. The anti-war movement is portrayed as the real patriots, while those of us who served were idiotic puppets of the Pentagon. Bottom line? We're getting spit on,,, again.

I was and am still a "My country, right or wrong my Country" sort of guy.
I choke up when I hear God Bless America or the National Anthem.
I make no apologies for my service in RVN.

__________________
Paul
Salome, AZ

This is a documentary showing the war from both sides. I don't see it as seeming to support the Communist idea. If you're going to talk about the Communist viewpoint, you should interview Communists who were there. As far as the music goes, it'd sound really stupid to play American rock and roll as background music while interviewing members of the NVA and/or Viet Cong.

You must be watching a different film that the one I'm watching. Is seeing rows of dead Americans laid out after a battle not carnage enough for you? Or planes full of flag draped coffins? Stacks of body bags not carnage enough? What more do you want to make it real for you, close ups of body parts or American soldiers with half their face blown away?

PBS just sent me their weekly email update. Here is a link to their site where the first five episodes are available for streaming.

The Vietnam War | Broadcast Version: Season 1: The Vietnam War | Broadcast Version Episodes

| PBS

If you have the PBS app on a smart device you can watch the episodes on that device, or do as I do, stream to a Chromecast attached to my TV and stereo.

... was a mysterious, evil figure until I read a biography about him and found out he'd been on the world stage for a long time.

And somebody, if they haven't already, should write a book about Giap titled, "How Tenacity Wins Wars".

__________________
"He was kinda funny lookin'"

I don't see it that way at all, Donn, but I respect your right to have your opinion about it.

__________________
Ukraine -- now more than ever

I have seen some references that some information presented about the bombing of North Vietnam was based on greatly exaggerated NV propaganda regarding the killing of women and children which was reported as being factual during the time period, but is actually what would be called "fake news" today.

I believe the last episode covered 1966-1967. I would have been 10 or 11, my cousin John had joined the Army. His mother and I went to Fort Polk for his Boot Camp graduation. He went on to Ranger School, then made it to the Special Forces.

John was my favorite cousin and he was then assigned to Central Highlands of Vietnam to work with Montagnards. During the summer I took it upon myself to write a letter weekly to him. Once school started I probably only wrote once or twice a month. It was kid writing about family, friends, nothing political. I had no idea what was happening to him, I just wanted him to get letters.

Tet and Hue are coming up when the series resumes. During that time I got word my cousin had been hurt, but would be alright. A week or two later I got home from school one afternoon and my mother was looking through the Life magazine that had just arrived. I do not remember what I was doing, but I remember her exclaiming... "That's John!".

Sure enough, as best I could tell there he was in a first class black and white war photo... unconscious, bandaged, with a medic holding his IV bag. His mom bought every copy of that issue of Life that she could find. He survived and ended up doing two tours.

I kept writing my kid stuff. I do not remember him writing back, but out of the blue one day the postman delivered a little wooden crate with my name on it and it was from Vietnam. I thought 'Guns', better yet it was a handmade Montagnard crossbow. I immediately assembled it, took it out to the backyard and shot bamboo bolts at an oak tree there.

John gave up hunting after the war. In the 1990s he felt like hunting again and we started hunting together and had many good times. He passed away about two years ago from the complications of chronic alcoholism. I believe he received one Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, and three Purple Hearts.

This documentary is helping me come to grips with this period of time. What I've seen is non-judgemental and well done.

Overall, there is a distinct left/anti-war slant. As noted previously, the VC and NVA are portrayed as freedom fighters, liberating the South from foreign invaders (US) and corrupt political hacks.

Great detail was provided on the "Tiger" platoon's atrocities. The repeated atrocities committed by VC, however, in "un-pacifying" villages--perpetrated perhaps *thousands* of times in the South--were glossed over with "the chiefs (of villages) were removed, and ten or twelve young people, kidnapped to support the effort."

The chiefs of villages were 'removed', by publicly killing them in front of the entire village, for intimidation against cooperating with the ARVN/US troops. Priests, monks and teachers--any public figure of stature in the villages--met the same fate.

This brutality merely foreshadowed the wholesale murders and mass round-ups and incarcerations that followed the fall of South Vietnam.

I suspect My Lai (March, 68) will receive exhaustive, painstaking coverage.

I know several of the Veterans who have or will be in the series. I joined the Army in ‘70 but never went to Vietnam, but have worked with veterans my whole career. So far it has been informative about the early history and the secrecy of the US Presidents’ decision making and their concerns about politics. I’ll wait to see if it treats the real ramp-up of US troops and the unrest at home in a balanced way. I’m recording it and am only through episode 3. So far I am mostly struck by how uninformed the general US citizenry was about it. I’m fairly sure most who were wildly in favor of escalation and those who were protesting the war had no concept of the reality of what was going on.

__________________
Loving retirement!

I was with the Hawk Recon which was the LRRP detachment of the 2/327 / 101st AB. The Tiger force was the LRRP detachment for the 1st battalion. All I can say is that we never had a combat correspondent on some patrols and they did. the hamlets that were engaged were VC sanctuaries. A lot of what was depicted
was taken out of context and some things were a lot worse, all the effects of the "cloud of war".
My wife suggested that I watch something else after watching it again. I took her advice.

__________________
"GUNS UP"

I might think about watching... the moment someone lets me know when this "balanced" presentation gets to the chapter on VC "workers" at the food shacks putting ground glass and green bamboo slivers in the burgers served to the grunts.

Not rumor or myth. Fact! Only one of many that they won't "chronicle".

Geneva and Hague meant absolutely zip to the VC. Any sympathy or honor granted toward these "freedom fighters" is totally misplaced... at best.

I'm waiting...

Rest at ease. Regardless of any opinions shown in this series I NEVER think less of the service people involved.

__________________
"He was kinda funny lookin'"