Endings are hard, postscripts arguably even harder. For ten nights spread over two weeks, I was held rapt by Ken Burns’ and Lynn Novick’s seminal, ground-breaking documentary The Vietnam War...

2017

Sep

‘THE VIETNAM WAR’ “EPISODE 10 - THE WEIGHT OF MEMORY (MARCH 1973- ONWARD)” By Alex Strachan

In the right hands and with the fullness of time, the sadness of loss can become an extraordinarily humane examination of the fragility and beauty of life...

2017

Sep

‘THE VIETNAM WAR’ “EPISODE 9 - A DISRESPECTFUL LOYALTY (MAY 1970 - MARCH 1973)” By Alex Strachan

These are final days. The Vietnam War is winding down to its inevitable conclusion, and night 9 of Ken Burns’ epic, eye-opening documentary series opens with no voiceover...

2017

Sep

‘THE VIETNAM WAR’ “EPISODE 8 - THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD (APRIL 1969 - MAY 1970)” By Alex Strachan

“My older sister and I one time were watching the movie So Proudly We Hail! on TV,” ex-Army nurse Joan Furey recalls in the opening moments of “The History of the World,” tonight’s latest chapter in The Vietnam War...

2017

Sep

‘THE VIETNAM WAR,’ “EPISODE 7 - THE VENEER OF CIVILIZATION (JUNE 1968 - JULY 1969)” By Alex Strachan

It’s the summer of ’68 when The Vietnam War picks up the thread in “The Veneer of Civilization.” The home front is restive. Americans of draft age face difficult decisions and hard moral choices in increasing numbers...

2017

Sep

THE VIETNAM WAR “EPISODE 6 - THINGS FALL APART (JANUARY - JULY 1968)” By Alex Strachan

The helicopter. The Bell UH-1 Iroquois, to be exact, or “Huey.” Designed to meet the US Army’s 1952 requirement for medical evacuation...

2017

Sep

‘THE VIETNAM WAR’ “EPISODE 5 - THIS IS WHAT WE DO (JULY 1967-DECEMBER 1967)” By Alex Strachan

The previous chapter, "Resolve," began, in January 1966, 2,400 American soldiers had died in Vietnam...When “This Is What We Do” opens, just 18 months later, that number has ballooned to 14,624 — 75,000 American casualties in all — and the carnage is just beginning...

2017

Sep

‘THE VIETNAM WAR’ “EPISODE 4 - RESOLVE (JANUARY 1966-JUNE 1967)” By Alex Strachan

So far, Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s The Vietnam War has shied away from tired tropes as it slowly and often exquisitely lays down the historical underpinnings of America’s most divisive war...

2017

Sep

‘THE VIETNAM WAR,’ “EPISODE 3 - THE RIVER STYX (JANUARY 1964-DECEMBER 1965)” By Alex Strachan

There are 16,000 American advisors in Vietnam when The Vietnam War returns tonight with Episode Three...Those advisors’ fate — and the fate of the embattled country of Vietnam — will rest with a new U.S. president...

2017

Sep

‘THE VIETNAM WAR,’ EPISODE 2: “RIDING THE TIGER (1961-1963)” By Alex Strachan

It seems self-explanatory, let alone unnecessary, but there it is: The second night of Ken Burns’ The Vietnam War opens with a viewer advisory. Discretion is advised...

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