The Vietnam War.....a film by Ken Burns

[ProudMNDemocrat]

10 Episode Documentary event narrated by Peter Coyote, is NOT to be missed.

I came of age during the 1960's. Guys I grew up with and went to school with, were drafted and sent to fight a war . This beautiful and brutal oral and visual history of the Vietnam War tells both sides and how it still affects the millions here and there today.

This moved me so much, I desire to go back to D.C. and once again place my hand over the names of fallen neighborhood boys and classmates of mine, to let them know they have not been forgotten.

[braddy]

1. For what it's worth Vietnam was fought overwhelmingly by volunteers, the WWII Army was 93% draftees.

[gladium et scutum]

11. That was because the Armed Services had stopped taking enlistments.

In Dec. 1942 President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9279. This EO stopped all voluntary enlistments in all of the Armed Services.
From that point on the Draft would be used to fill the ranks of the Army and Navy. That way the services could balance enlistments with training capacity and the specific needs for man power at any given time. My understanding is thought, that the Navy and Marine Corps were allowed to continue some limited volunteer enlistments after the EO became effective. After the EO was issued the Army relied 100% on the draft, for its manpower requirements.

[braddy]

12. That order was passed because they needed the draft to fill ground combat positions, during the war

the Navy and Army Air Corp were drowned in enlistments while the ground forces were starving, the Korean war had a much higher percentage of draftees than Vietnam.

The draft ran continuously from 1940 to 1973, except for the year 1947.

[flotsam]

13. We were not overwhelmed...

Draftees vs. Volunteers: 25% (648,500) of total forces in country were draftees. (66% of U.S. armed forces members were drafted during WWII.) Draftees accounted for 30.4% (17,725) of combat deaths in Vietnam.
FACT VS FICTION.....THE VIETNAM VETERAN - VvOF.ORG
www.vvof.org/factsvnv.htm

Beside this I should add that an unknown but significant % of guys who got draft notices became "volunteers" to avoid the worst of ground combat Vietnam by joining the navy or air force or reserve components...or by signing up with the army for non-combat slots.

[braddy]

14. Apples and oranges, The Vietnam war Army was 25% draftee, during WWII the Army was 93% draftee.

In your source, they use the 25% Army figure but then for WWII they use the 66% figure which was for the total military, not just the Army. The Marines drafted a lot in WWII and Korea but not so much for Vietnam, and the Navy and Air Force didn't draft at all for Vietnam.

In WWII about 70% of our combat losses were draftees and in Vietnam about 30% were.

[Voltaire2]

2. I couldn't watch it.

Ken decided to run with the “well intentioned misadventure” narrative. It wasn’t. It was an evil enterprise right from the start, a crime against humanity that wasted the lives of 50000 of our kids and more than 1,000,000 Vietnamese.

[The Blue Flower]

3. I was 19 and my husband-to-be was there in '69

Despite our letters back and forth during his entire tour as a USMC platoon leader, I didn't really, fully understand all of the emotional problems in our marriage and that of so many others in our social circles on Marine Corps bases until I watched this series. The horror of what our government knew vs what the policies were is maddening. I hope it serves as a strong warning.

[happynewyear]

4. An old boyfriend of mine was in Vietnam

He was pretty messed up in the head and yes, he was drafted as were many other young men I knew at that time.

It sucked.

Big time.

He liked to ride motorcycles real fast, and I mean fast. He died one evening in a motorcycle accident after all he went through.

Thanks for the reminder.

[pangaia]

5. I also. "I came of age during the 1960's."

Born in 1943.
I Went to JFK's funeral; was in Memphis when Dr King was killed;
My sister was in LA working for RFK when....

I remember in the mid 1980's I was in DC at a convention. My flight home was on a Sunday afternoon. In the morning I went for a walk.
Suddenly, I saw hundreds of Vets. And then... I was in front of the Memorial. It was absolutely silent. It was November 11.

I will never forget it.

[flamin lib]

6. I could not watch it.

Got through two episodes. It just hurt too much. I knew then that it was all a lie but I didn't know how many would be killed and damaged by the lies just to save face.

I did not serve in country. I did meet the young man who took my place. I can't remember his name and don't know his fate. It haunts me to this day.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

7. My Brother-in-law did 2 tours....

In Vietnam with the Marines. He was one of 3 in his unit that did not get killed during the 1968 Tet Offensive. To this day, he has not been to the Wall and I understand why. He has been suffering for 8 years now from Parkinson's from his exposure to Agent Orange. He was in Chu Lai and points west in I Corps.

[sarge43]

8. I should watch it, but I can't.

It'll bring back too many memories and emotions I'd rather not deal with again.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

9. It was painful for me too for the many I knew.......

Who served and came back changed forever.

After watching this, I have a deeper respect for the Veterans of my generation.

[Snackshack]

10. I remember seeing the war.

on TV and seeing vets who would come to the foster housing I was put in but was too young to understand what I was seeing TV or why those vets were missing arms/legs. During my time I have tried to educate myself on that period of our history. This ten part series is very good and I agree with the op. I highly recommend it.

As I have read more and watched more about Vietnam I don’t know that I could do what those soldiers did. The enormous cost they paid to take a hill on a map or clear out an area only to leave it after the fight as happened with Khe Sanh is simply unimaginable in it total wastefulness. I do know that I have a lot of respect for those who went there and that the treatment they received upon coming home was horrible.

The people who sent them there will never have to answer for what they did but they should have to. Unfortunately most are dead but the presidents the secretaries and the generals in the admins of JFK thru to Nixon should not have been able to walk away as they. This entire episode in our history is a sad, sad chapter.

[LeftInTX]

15. I saw this series on PBS and will watch it again

I think the first two episodes are the most enlightening...

The war/battle stuff I can do without, but events leading up to the war are very interesting.