The War

[RHR_Fan]

Anyone else watching the Ken Burns documentary on PBS? We've really been enjoying it.

~Nicole

[spinner26]

we're watching Drake and Josh.:thumbup: :cool:

[stroker]

Yah, I'm watching it.

Really puts Iraq into perspective, doesn't it?

[eiregosod]

watching WW2 from 1942 is like watching the second half of the world cup. ;)

look out Adolf!

[rosawendel]

I liked "Baseball" better. One story told in a linear timeline.

This is admittedly a more difficult topic: A war fought on multiple fronts, with the vehicle being the perspective of four different American towns. More difficult to string together.

Not to say I'm not watching it though.

[dando]

I never miss a Ken Burns series. :thumbup: :thumbup:

-Kevin

[G.]

Anyone else watching the Ken Burns documentary on PBS? We've really been enjoying it.

~Nicole
Yep. Yep.:thumbup:

[KLang]

I've got them spooling to the DVR. Not sure when I'll get around to watching it. I haven't seen any other Burns stuff since the Civil War which I enjoyed.

[Warlock!]

we're watching Drake and Josh.:thumbup: :cool:
I really wish I had no f***ing clue as to what you were talkin' aboot, but alas...

[dando]

I've got them spooling to the DVR. Not sure when I'll get around to watching it. I haven't seen any other Burns stuff since the Civil War which I enjoyed.

If you like Baseball, that's a must see. Lewis & Clark is also worth watching. Netflix is your friend, yo. :cool:

-Kevin

[Andrew Longman]

I've seen most of it. I was leading a school board meeting last night and got home late. :irked:

[G.]

A little too much emphasis on the Allies' mistakes, IMO. Don't gloss them, no cheerleading, but Ken spends a bit too much time 'splainin' where we ****ed up.

I am AMAZED at how young some of the Vets look. They cannot be younger than 80, but look much younger.

The racial stuff is still unbelievable. Able-bodied men willing to fight and die for our country, but no, they're just a bit too tan to allow them that glory.:shakehead I loved the comment from the Black man who listed his qualifications to the draft board - I can type, I can run an office, I can do shorthand if necessary. Oh yeah, I have a PhD from Harvard in History.

"If they don't want me because of my skin color, then they are not good enough to have me."

[oddlycalm]

What we always like best about the Ken Burns series is the slow panning of old photographs and illustrations. Very relaxing. With WWII being modern enough for moving picture footage you lose that whole slow panning ambiance and it's a bit too jarring. I gotta say that I'm disappointed about that....:gomer:

oc

[RHR_Fan]

No matter what you think you learn so much more than what you did in school. We never learned that there were German U-Boats off the East coast that sunk some of our ships. We didn't know how intense the fighting was in North Africa, Italy and the South Pacific. Not that my history teachers were bad but with WWII we mainly learned about the "bigger" events: D-Day, A-bomb drops, Pearl Harbour, Halocaust, etc.

~Nicole

PS--> I know I spelled Halocaust wrong.

[Andrew Longman]

No matter what you think you learn so much more than what you did in school. We never learned that there were German U-Boats off the East coast that sunk some of our ships. We didn't know how intense the fighting was in North Africa, Italy and the South Pacific. Not that my history teachers were bad but with WWII we mainly learned about the "bigger" events: D-Day, A-bomb drops, Pearl Harbour, Halocaust, etc.

~Nicole

PS--> I know I spelled Halocaust wrong.

In an interview with Burns in USNews he said he had to make the film because there are kids today who think WWII was about joining with the Germans to defeat the Russians. And because vets are dying at a rate of 1000 a day.

He also said he couldn't have made the film 10 years ago because the vets generally wouldn't talk about it until now. After the war the reception was the same whether you shined shoes or saw worst horrors, so they kept the stories to themselves. Given the vets I've known, some of whom I know for a fact stepped into some serious crap, I'd say that's true.

For whatever reason, maybe because they are nearing the end of their lives, or maybe it is the war in Iraq, many are beginning to talk.

[eiregosod]

There's hardly any WW1 veterans to wheel down the Mall anymore.

[dando]

In an interview with Burns in USNews he said he had to make the film because there are kids today who think WWII was about joining with the Germans to defeat the Russians. And because vets are dying at a rate of 1000 a day.

He also said he couldn't have made the film 10 years ago because the vets generally wouldn't talk about it until now. After the war the reception was the same whether you shined shoes or saw worst horrors, so they kept the stories to themselves. Given the vets I've known, some of whom I know for a fact stepped into some serious crap, I'd say that's true.

For whatever reason, maybe because they are nearing the end of their lives, or maybe it is the war in Iraq, many are beginning to talk.

My grandfather was in The Bulge. To this day he has yet to talk about The War once. IMO, as many near the end, they are sharing to keep the memories and lessons alive.

-Kevin

[RHR_Fan]

My grandpa was in the Navy and served in the South Pacific. He wouldn't bring it up on his own, but if we had questions he'd answer. He always said the hardest part were the burials at sea. I remember one time he was going through an encyclopedia and he came across this church. He said something like "I saw this church during the war" and he talked about it a little bit. That was pretty cool.

~Nicole

[Andrew Longman]

My grandfather was in The Bulge. To this day he has yet to talk about The War once. IMO, as many near the end, they are sharing to keep the memories and lessons alive.

-Kevin

My wife's uncle was badly wounded at the Bulge. His company was overrun and he was hit by a grenade. The German were shooting all the wounded and captured so he played dead among the bodies while they poked at him with bayonettes. And he stayed there in the cold for days until the Army retook the ground. He told his story one time in the hospital and never mentioned it again.

But it isn't just WWII. My cousin did demolition in Vietnam. He jumped into NVA/VC controlled jungle with explosives to clear LZs and fire bases. He told his mother he was a cook and until the day she died that's what she thought. But he also came home pretty f'd up. He drank himself to death over the next 10 years.

[cameraman]

My uncle was a Seabee with the 133th Naval Construction Battalion. They were the first NCBs deployed to Iwo Jima. They took a hell of a beating and had the highest casualty rate (I'm pretty sure) of any Seabee unit ever, anywhere. He doesn't talk about it very much beyond that it was very, very bad.

[coolhand]

I think a better name for this would be "The Homefront" it is interesting but I think Ken Burns is a little over rated.

The Civil War doc was good but he worked with his brother Ric on that one. Ric Burns wrote the script too.

Ric's documentaries since then have been better than Ken's compare

Ric Burns’s “The Way West”

http://www.shoppbs.org/product/index.jsp?productId=2212285&cp=2132577.1412588&parentPage=family

And Ken Burns’s “The West”

http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/program/

[G.]

My uncle was a Seabee with the 133th Naval Construction Battalion. They were the first NCBs deployed to Iwo Jima. They took a hell of a beating and had the highest casualty rate (I'm pretty sure) of any Seabee unit ever, anywhere. He doesn't talk about it very much beyond that it was very, very bad.My grandpa was a seebee, but he wouldn't talk much about it. Once, in fact, at least when I was around.

I think it was Saipan. They were trying to convince the women to stop throwing their children off the cliffs and then jumping.:( He said that some of them weren't even dying since they were landing on nice, soft bodies.

I didn't understand then, why he was getting pissed off and all red in the face describing it. He left the party then.

Next few times I saw him, I asked for more stories, but he wouldn't indulge me.

RIP, Ed. I hope you have peace.

[chop456]

My grandfather was in The Bulge. To this day he has yet to talk about The War once.

Same with my uncle on both counts. He died in 1991 and I never heard one story - only from my dad.

[sadams]

My dad was in New Guinea and he talked quite freely about his experiences. My uncle was in the Phillipines and he won't say much at all. Once he related about being in a dugout canoe with reeds covering him while a Jap plane flew overhead.

[EDwardo]

My dad is a WW2 vet. He has never spoken to me about any combat, preferring to tell stories about training and after the war when he was stationed in Frankfurt, where he met and married my mom.
He did tell me one chilling story. He and several of his buddies decided to enlist in the marines. The marine recruiting office was on the third floor. They all headed for the elevator but there wasn't room for my dad and one friend. Impatient with waiting for the elevator to return they both decided to enlist in the army, whose office was on the ground floor.
Every one of his friends (7 or 8 as I recall) that joined the marines ended up in the same unit. All of them died assaulting Iwo Jima.

My mother grew up in **** Germany. Until a few years ago, she never talked about her experiences. One day I asked her to tell me some stories. I learned about countless nights spent cowering in a bomb shelter. She told me of her 4 uncles who were all killed in combat. And quite a few others stories.

[Napoleon]

He also said he couldn't have made the film 10 years ago because the vets generally wouldn't talk about it until now.

I had 3 uncles who were on the European front all of whom saw action, one seriously wounded in an air attack, one who liberated a consitration camp and was on the squad who arrested Goering and none of them would talk about the war.