Erik Villard and Michael Morris with Lynn Novick, coproducer "The Vietnam War"
By
Michael Morris
Coauthor of "Escape from Saigon - a Novel"
For those of us who spent a critical part of our youth in Vietnam during the war, and lived to remember it, that decade-long conflict will forever echo in our consciousness. But it’s not just the participants who were affected by it. For our entire generation, and even for those who were born after the war, Vietnam continues to ripple through our politics and day-to-day lives in subtle yet undeniably important ways.
I recently attended the New York debut screening of “The Vietnam War,” the upcoming ten-part, 18-hour documentaryby celebrated filmmakers Ken Burns and Lynn Novick.
Among the participants in the audience with me was Dr. Erik Villard, the official US Army historian at the Center of Military History. We sat through a one-hour segment excerpted from the documentary, which will air on PBS television stations this September, then had an opportunity to discuss the film with its creators.
At one point I noted that most of my generation—the generation that lived through the wartime period—had spent much of the past forty-something years trying to forget, or ignore, the historic details of the era. The Vietnam War was so difficult for all involved, whether we fought in the war or against it, that we have treated it like a bitter, painful memory better left undisturbed and unexamined. And, as a result, the generations that followed us have not had a real opportunity to learn about, and learn from, what we experienced firsthand.
So I asked Ken, “Who do you expect will want to watch this documentary now?”
Ken’s answer: “Everyone.” He went on to explain that there's more to the story surrounding the war than people today remember, and more than they ever knew. It's history, so it shouldn’t be overlooked or forgotten, either way.
I hope he’s right. Those of us who lived through those times will find much to remember in the film, both good and bad. Those who came after us will learn what it was like to watch it on the TV news every night, anxiously awaiting word of loved ones in the military, or to vicariously live through it by listening to the soldiers and civilians who struggled and fought on both sides of the conflict. From what I could see from the screening, the documentary—which took almost as long as the war itself to complete—does a good job of presenting the war in every aspect, with historic footage never before seen and interviews of participants on all sides of the issue.
After the screening, out on the street, I gave Lynn a copy of “Escape from Saigon” and bid her and Ken goodbye with very mixed emotions. On one hand I’m looking forward to seeing the entire documentary, mainly because as a soldier there in 1967-68 I was so personally, deeply involved in the war. But I’m also a bit anxious as to how I will react when I re-immerse myself in something that, to this day, continues to linger in my thoughts and haunt my dreams.
~ MM ~
For more on the Ken Burns and Lynn Novick epic, visit TimesTalk videotaped conversation with the filmmakers and editor James Bennet of The New York Times:
The series brings the war and the chaotic epoch it encompassed viscerally to life. Written by Geoffrey C. Ward it includes rarely seen, digitally re-mastered archival footage from sources around the globe, photographs taken by some of the most celebrated photojournalists of the 20th Century, historic television broadcasts, evocative home movies, revelatory audio recordings from inside the Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon administrations and more than 100 iconic musical recordings by many of the greatest artists of the era.
The film will be accompanied by an unprecedented outreach and public engagement program, providing opportunities for communities to participate in a national conversation about what happened during the Vietnam War, what went wrong and what lessons are to be learned.
In addition, there will be a robust interactive website and an educational initiative designed to engage teachers and students in multiple platforms.
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