The Vietanam War - a TV Documentary Series

Tonight our PBS will broadcast the last episode of a series of 10 shows, part of the two week long showing of a film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick entitled "The Vietnam War." Both Janice and I have been glued to our TV for the last two weeks, watching this prime time series. We were familiar with most of the facts about what happened in the first ten years of my life in the USA. But these same facts shocked us more this time and we learned much more about how naive and ignorant we were about the events when they occurred. We were so busy with school and our newly formed life together, and with looking for jobs, that I only wrote once about that time on this blog (see http://anordinarychinese.blogspot.com/2011/11/demonstrations.html). We both feel now that we did not pay enough attention to our government and to what they were doing. I was so grateful about what had happened in my life up to that point, and I was feeling so thankful for the opportunities opened in front of me, that it was impossible for me to watch and comprehend what was happening. You can see the conflicting emotions now in my thoughts! I recall a quote by one of the people interviewed during the film to the effect that his was the last generation to believe that the government told them the truth. That belief was certainly shattered when we learned of the actions of five presidents of our country during the war years. Burns and Novick have done all of us an enormous favor in researching and creating this film. We must resolve to pay close attention to what is going on in Washington and demand accountability from our leaders.