the truth?I NEVER watch Ken Burns stuff. He’s is supposedly fair, but his bias is really glaring. But Lefties always subscribe to the meme ‘if you say it enough times, it becomes the truth’.
Bottom line....the American Left labeled the Vietnamese Commies the good guys and us the bad guys.It wasn’t our Armed Forces that lost it...it was Jane Fonda,Abbie Hoffman and many,*many* of their pals who did.
...anything that makes America look good?
the truth?BFL
No analysis of Viet Nam is complete that totally omits the fact that it was a war between Catholics and Communists.
Great article. It’s a shame most Americans who watch this tripe will never read the rebuttal. Hell, Oliver Stone is considered an historian by the general population. 50 years of indoctrination is hard to overcome—I hear the same “facts” presented by many who should know better.
Most Freepers would be truly astounded by what is taught as fact to their children and grandchildren. History is written by the victors—and sometimes by their subversive allies.
At first he was pasteing demoncrats as much as Republicans. He even played recordings of telephone conversations from JFK and LBJ, both admitting they were making strategic decisions in Vietnam based on how it would affect the vote. First-hand admissions from the both of them that they were willing to let American soldiers die to improve their chances of re-election.
So I thought he might actually be playing it down the middle. Then about Episode 3 he starts trying to rehabilitate the reputation of Uncle Ho. And that did me in.
I shared articles from this site following the weekly airing of episodes of the Burns documentary. Link here:
https://www.vvfh.org/index.php/news-and-events/burns-documentary-commentary
Vietnam should be studied if only to learn how not to fight a war.
I put the loss of this war on politicians and the Leftist media. Throw in Hanoi Jane for good measure. Her passport should have been revoked for even traveling to North Vietnam.
We won the Vietnam War in 1973. It was the Democrats in 1975 who frightened President Ford into abandoning our treaty obligations to South Vietnam. We sat on our hands instead of providing the agreed upon air support while North Vietnam followed the Democrats’ lead and invaded.
Dominoes did fall after South Vietnam was overrun, but they weren’t all in Southeast Asia. Within year, Communists seized control of Angola, Mozambique and São Tomé e Príncipe.
I loved the Vietnam series. It was a complete waste. McNamara and Kissinger should have been hanged.
The Civil War doc was sorta ok, a bit maudlin with the mournful fiddle every 5 minutes. I give him credit on the baseball one for highlighting the black leagues as much as he did - a bit overdue attention for them, IMHO.
The WWII one was where he lost me - kept showing Allied failures, vets crying over having to kill people, etc. A little of that would have been ok, but it seemed relentless.
Ted Kennedy was the man responsible for seeing that no further aid was sent to South Vietnam, after US withdrawal. He actually stated a Senate committee hearing that nothing bad would happen after the North re United the county!!!! I guess Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge weren’t on the radar.
The anti-war movement was really an anti-draft movement. Most potential draftees didn’t think Vietnam was worth dying over. Once the draft disappeared so did the anti-war movement. That’s why some on the left occasionally suggest reinstating the draft. It was a great recruiting tool for them.
Terrific article by Mark Moyar.