Just got done watching The Vietnam War, the documentary by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. I found it worthwhile, but at the end of the final episode, after eighteen hours, you’re a bit emotionally spent and I found myself shaking my head and muttering to myself, What a waste. Literally, everyone got fucked. Thirty years, over 58,000 American dead, 150,000 wounded, $111 billion . . . For nothing. A nation divided, an ally betrayed, a people abandoned.

The thing that’s etched into my mind is how closely America at the war’s end (1975) looks like America today . . . Intolerance, overreaction, name-calling; the people on the extreme left and the extreme right shouting to be heard, neither side willing to listen or compromise; zero trust in government and a president who’s willing to lie to get elected; a citizenry struggling to reconcile the desire to be a patriot with the desire to be a warrior for social justice. Then and now, a nation divided.

♦

The Vietnam War documentary, to me, was far from the magical artistic success of The Civil War documentary, it lagged in places and in parts, after fifty-five minutes of an episode, had me feeling shame at my urge to change the channel. Still, it provides an entertaining framework for the basic story of what happened, and it absolutely shines in two areas: the interviews with the people who were there and the music.

We are introduced to American soldiers, their families, Vietnamese civilians, both Viet Cong and South Vietnamese soldiers and people in the American government. Their stories, told personally forty years later, bring the perspective that gives documentary filmmaking its penetrating power. But it’s not in the gory detail that this power comes from, rather, in the human frailty, the human fallibility, the uncertainty and pain in their voices. The war grabbed and shook so many people that were just trying to do what’s right, what they thought was expected . . . As seen in the film, it simply makes you want to put your arms around them and say, Welcome home soldier.

In addition to the original soundtrack, over 120 songs are played over the course of the 10 episodes. Essentially, it is the soundtrack of a generation, but to the committed rock & roller, it’s just the greatest music of all time. Each song is skillfully applied, suggested, sometimes subtly, by the subject matter and the imagery. The pace and timing and the blending of the music and the lyrics and the video are impeccable. You can buy the soundtrack, a subset of the 120 songs, and if you’re looking to fill some gaps in your classic rock library, that wouldn’t be a bad idea. Here are the songs:

Disc 1
A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall – Bob Dylan
Hello Vietnam – Johnnie Wright
It’s My Life – Animals
Eve of Destruction – Barry McGuire
Turn Turn Turn – Byrds
Masters of War – Staple Singers
Mustang Sally – Wilson Pickett
Smokestack Lightning – Howlin’ Wolf
Backlash Blues – Nina Simone
The Sounds of Silence – Simon & Garfunkel
One Too Many Mornings – Bob Dylan
Ain’t Too Proud to Beg – Temptations
Are You Experienced? – Jimi Hendrix Experience
I’m a Man – Spencer Davis Group
Green Onions – Booker T and the MG’s
Strange Brew – Cream
Waist Deep in the Big Muddy – Pete Seeger
A Whiter Shade of Pale – Procol Harum
The Lord Is In This Place – Fairport Convention
For What It’s Worth – Buffalo Springfield

Disc 2
Don’t Think Twice – Bob Dylan
Piece of My Heart – Big Brother
Magic Carpet Ride – Steppenwolf
The Letter – Box Tops
Bad Moon Rising – Creedence Clearwater Revival
Soul Sacrifice – Santana
Tell the Truth – Otis Redding
Okie From Muskogee – Merle Haggard
The Thrill Is Gone – B.B. King
Psychedelic Shack – Temptations
Ohio – Crosby Stills Nash & Young
Get Together – Youngbloods
Tail Dragger – Link Wray
America the Beautiful – Ray Charles
What’s Going On – Marvin Gaye
Bridge Over Troubled Water – Simon & Garfunkel
Let It Be – Beatles

The Vietnam War documentary can serve as a valuable point of reflection. If you lived it (and I really didn’t, I was twelve when the war ended), there had to have been pressure to picks sides – which side are you on? And after watching the documentary and seeing its remnants so vividly in today’s society, my only response is BOTH! We can be, we must be, on both sides. The choices are not mutually exclusive. I will not choose. I’m on the anti-war side, war is not the answer AND I’m on the side of patriots doing their duty as they see it. Can we not be for peace and the ethical protection of the peace at the same time? I’m for waving the American flag, honoring what it stands for AND I’m for uncompromising racial equality. Can we not honor our nation and admit that it is flawed at the same time? We can. We must.

♦

Suggested reading

Defiant: The POWs Who Endured Vietnam’s Most Infamous Prison, the Women Who Fought for Them, and the One Who Never Returned by Alvin Townley
Sad, scary, alarming, inspiring … A simply amazing story of the human endurance and commitment that is possible when men are driven by faith, country and family … These Americans defined what it means to be principled and they remind us that the concept of honor is acting according to the “code” even when no one can see you and despite the level of personal sacrifice it takes.

The Boys of ’67: Charlie Company’s War in Vietnam by Andrew Wiest
Excellent … The boys of ’67 were much like the “Band of Brothers” Ambrose wrote of, in that, they were citizen soldiers who came running at first ask, were trained together as a unit and deployed as a unit, and ultimately, died (mostly) as a unit … The similarities vanish however at key points, namely, the WWII Band of Brothers could see the enemy and experienced much-needed battle success and they were welcomed home as victors by a thankful nation … The author does a wonderful job of weaving the story, especially in the use of letters home … Very moving, very sad, what a waste of the best and the brightest.

Born on the Fourth of July by Ron Kovic
Gutsy dude, like all of our soldiers … And I actually like the way the book is written, jumping from first to second person and bumping back and forth along the timeline … It’s an interesting story, not a classic, just a real account written in the only way it could come out … The ultimate sacrifice, thanks Ron for your bravery and honesty.