"The Vietnam War" on PBS
 

I have watched most of the 5 episodes of "The Vietnam War" on PBS. A very well done series. I was just a child when most of these events occurred, but as the series is now up to 1967, I am starting to remember some of the events. There are 5 more episodes yet to air on PBS, and I am looking forward to watching them.

When South Vietnam was defeated in 1975, my hometown in Iowa took in many Vietnamese refugees. Iowa was the first state to offer resettlement assistance to Vietnamese refugees in 1975. By this time I was in high school, and my high school had a number of Vietnamese students enrolled.

Most of the Vietnamese who came to eastern Iowa in 1975 only stayed for a few years because of the harsh winters. I believe a lot of them eventually moved to Texas and California.

I have them taped but have not watched any of the episodes just yet. Good to see that you review it well. Ken Burns usually does very good work. And I expected that these would be up to his usually top standards.

Since I am in Nam Vet I rarely watch anything on TV read an article or a book on Vietnam. I also have no desire to revisit Vietnam as a vacation.

But my life has changed greatly since my only three grandchildren are Vietnamese. Life can be funny that way

I've watched 4 of the episodes. So glad I joined the Navy and not been drafted.

The first episode was aired here last Sunday. I turned it on and my husband, a Viet Nam draftee and vet, was not thrilled to watch but he did. It delved into the history behind the conflict that we never knew and at the end he was happy to have seen it.

I am taping the series and last night watched the first two episodes which filled me in on Viet Nam's history - about which I knew little. When I visited there I noted many rubber tree plantations which IMHO was what the French were doing there. Michelin!

Many Vietnamese settled in the city of Westminster, Orange County. These days some of the finest MDs in The OC are Vietnamese.

eremite06, My husband joined the Navy in 65 and was sent to Vietnam to serve on the Swift Boats, brown water navy 67-69. Not what he had planned. A lot of people assume that the Navy was only offshore.

I will be there in ten days at a condo on China Beach, near Danang. The people are amazingly friendly and the international hotels are being built on dozens of
sites. People are very friendly and welcoming.

Still a Communist country(whatever that means today) but with ambitious capitalistic tendencies. As an aside , if you check much of the clothing that you think is Chinese, you just might find that it was made in Vietnam. Apparently cutting into the Chinese dominance of finished textiles to a significant degree.

Watched and wept at the wasted lives of a few of my HS friends.

For me, the most moving parts so far have been listening to the veterans speaking of their experiences and the interviews of the mother and sister whose son and brother was killed in Vietnam.

I'm a Vietnam vet and I've enjoyed the first two episodes for their reaching back into the history of the would-be conquerors who tried to exploit that beautiful place. I'm a little bit sceptical of the (mostly) friendly treatment Burns has given to Uncle Ho Chi Min so far, but hopefully I'll see some balance there in the next few episodes.

great series

My husband is with you. He never even wants to go to Hawaii (where he took R&R). He sees nothing personally good for him to rehash that time of his life, in books, movies, or conversations with others. Yet many people do.

I'm sure you love your Vietnamese grandchildren. My husband's #2 gal was from Vietnam. We still keep in contact with her and her husband. But she was very young when that was going on.

I agree on the Michelin reference...overlooked in Burns' account, but not in the history presented by others.

I was desperate to get off my newly commissioned DLG with all the spit & polish. The Navy was looking for Quartermasters to man PBR's in Vietnam. I volunteered but later rescinded after I heard their crews were sitting ducks. I guess I was much safer on the destroyer with two US senators' sons, Hollings and Pell.

Gee, maybe your husband served with the super"HERO" John Kerry.