The Vietnam war BBC4
Discussion
I finished watching episode 8 last night and I have to say this is the best historical documentary series I have seen in years.
After watching so many episodes I suddenly realised the narrators voice was strangely familiar from some point in my dim and distant past. Texted a knowledgeable friend of mine in RI, USA who said, 'It's Peter!'. 'Eh?'. 'My old college buddy that I used to play in a bluegrass band with!'.
Look up Peter Coyote on Wiki
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Coyote
After watching so many episodes I suddenly realised the narrators voice was strangely familiar from some point in my dim and distant past. Texted a knowledgeable friend of mine in RI, USA who said, 'It's Peter!'. 'Eh?'. 'My old college buddy that I used to play in a bluegrass band with!'.
Look up Peter Coyote on Wiki
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Coyote
Edited by Marlin45 on Wednesday 18th October 14:32
Marlin45 said:
I finished watching episode 8 last night and I have to say this is the best historical documentary series I have seen in years.
After watching so many episodes I suddenly realised the narrators voice was strangely familiar from some point in my dim and distant past. Texted a knowledgeable friend of mine in RI, USA who said, 'It's Peter!'. 'Eh?'. 'My old college buddy that I used to play in a bluegrass band with!'.
Look up Peter Coyote on Wiki
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Coyote
Cool story. After watching so many episodes I suddenly realised the narrators voice was strangely familiar from some point in my dim and distant past. Texted a knowledgeable friend of mine in RI, USA who said, 'It's Peter!'. 'Eh?'. 'My old college buddy that I used to play in a bluegrass band with!'.
Look up Peter Coyote on Wiki
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Coyote
Edited by Marlin45 on Wednesday 18th October 14:32
Yes its excellent. Imagine some of the Presidential tapes we may get to hear in the future that cover the Gulf war and the current incumbent.
Nixon really was a
. Traitor to his own nation.Watched Episode 8 yesterday - very moving and sad.
I hope many younger Americans (i.e. those not alive during the Vietnam War era) are watching this series. Every so often the country seems to go through a phase of trying to tear itself apart. It seems at the moment that it could go down that route again.
I hope many younger Americans (i.e. those not alive during the Vietnam War era) are watching this series. Every so often the country seems to go through a phase of trying to tear itself apart. It seems at the moment that it could go down that route again.
Yes - nothing unusual in political leaders choosing what to target. Even more so in the US as the President is the Chief of Staff. Target zones were given designations that indicated that they had been chosen by the Chiefs of Staff (including the President) i.e. designations such as JSC.10.15.
Eric Mc said:
Watched Episode 8 yesterday - very moving and sad.
I hope many younger Americans (i.e. those not alive during the Vietnam War era) are watching this series. Every so often the country seems to go through a phase of trying to tear itself apart. It seems at the moment that it could go down that route again.
I hope someone forces Trump to watch the series too, but i doubt his attention span is long enough to get to the first ad break tbh!I hope many younger Americans (i.e. those not alive during the Vietnam War era) are watching this series. Every so often the country seems to go through a phase of trying to tear itself apart. It seems at the moment that it could go down that route again.
Eric Mc said:
Yes - nothing unusual in political leaders choosing what to target. Even more so in the US as the President is the Chief of Staff. Target zones were given designations that indicated that they had been chosen by the Chiefs of Staff (including the President) i.e. designations such as JSC.10.15.
I thought the US President was the Commander-in-Chief, and the Chiefs of Staff sit below that?Europa1 said:
Eric Mc said:
Yes - nothing unusual in political leaders choosing what to target. Even more so in the US as the President is the Chief of Staff. Target zones were given designations that indicated that they had been chosen by the Chiefs of Staff (including the President) i.e. designations such as JSC.10.15.
I thought the US President was the Commander-in-Chief, and the Chiefs of Staff sit below that?gadgetmac said:
Who mentioned Ho Chi Minh? Or his regime?
I was struggling to make any connections between the two scenarios. America got involved in the Vietnam War because it felt it had to step in to take the place of France in order to halt the spread of Communism in the Far East. It was part of their overarching Domino Theory - one that was supported in principle by most Western democracies at the time.North Vietnam was not looked on as a rogue state at the time - just a Communist one.
North Korea is a very different kettle of fish. They can barely support themselves and have no real capability or actual desire to do anything other than survive.
Eric Mc said:
gadgetmac said:
Who mentioned Ho Chi Minh? Or his regime?
I was struggling to make any connections between the two scenarios. America got involved in the Vietnam War because it felt it had to step in to take the place of France in order to halt the spread of Communism in the Far East. It was part of their overarching Domino Theory - one that was supported in principle by most Western democracies at the time.North Vietnam was not looked on as a rogue state at the time - just a Communist one.
North Korea is a very different kettle of fish. They can barely support themselves and have no real capability or actual desire to do anything other than survive.
gadgetmac said:
I was referencing the USA's propensity to get involved in the affairs of small (even, dare I say it, 'backward') states in South East Asia which ultimately leads nowhere - bar the mass death of the indigenous poor population and the destruction of their homes - and the dung heap we are saddled with today with North Korea. All in the name of American righteousness.
Still think the two countries' scenarios are very different. they just happen to be in roughly the same hemisphere.I remember reading somewhere that the actual amount of fighting (hence stress, PTSD etc) done by the soldiers in Vietnam was much, much higher than in other wars because of the helicopters.
For example in WW2 soldiers would spend a lot of time getting to the front and marching - whereas in Vietnam every single day they'd be helicoptered in to some crazy firefight, no respite.
For example in WW2 soldiers would spend a lot of time getting to the front and marching - whereas in Vietnam every single day they'd be helicoptered in to some crazy firefight, no respite.
gadgetmac said:
I was referencing the USA's propensity to get involved in the affairs of small (even, dare I say it, 'backward') states in South East Asia which ultimately leads nowhere - bar the mass death of the indigenous poor population and the destruction of their homes - and the dung heap we are saddled with today with North Korea. All in the name of American righteousness.
There have been two "small" Asian wars in which the US got seriously involved in the 20th century (-the Korean War and the Vietnam War). The Korean War was actually a United Nations war led by the US. The US tried to get Vietnam into the same category and some nations did assist (Australia and New Zealand significantly). They were both in the context of the fear of the spread of global Communism - which, at the time, was an avowed aim of both the Soviet Union and China. So, the fears were genuine if misguided.What the US failed to appreciate was that the North Vietnamese were less interested in spreading communism but rather they were fighting for the independence and reunification of their country.
Im not sure if theyll cover it and i remember reading or seeing something about it but the US actually won the war in preventing Communism spreading any further even though they 'lost'.
Also alot of South Vietnamese loved Ho Chi Minh even though they werent Communist themselves.
If anyone is planning on going to Nam now to see the battlefields - dont bother, apart from a few places theyve kept for tourism reasons, they are happy to let Nature reclaim it all. Youll go and be disappointed (due to a change in FB photo posting rules i cant share with you my disappointment).
Oh and if you like reading about short stories, sign up to a website called Cherries, ex vets write in a short story and an ex vet publishes their story. Not all are front line stuff, recently you had the donut dollies featured, others have been about the US women in Nam etc.
Also alot of South Vietnamese loved Ho Chi Minh even though they werent Communist themselves.
If anyone is planning on going to Nam now to see the battlefields - dont bother, apart from a few places theyve kept for tourism reasons, they are happy to let Nature reclaim it all. Youll go and be disappointed (due to a change in FB photo posting rules i cant share with you my disappointment).
Oh and if you like reading about short stories, sign up to a website called Cherries, ex vets write in a short story and an ex vet publishes their story. Not all are front line stuff, recently you had the donut dollies featured, others have been about the US women in Nam etc.
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