Vietnam

Originally published in the Ketchikan Daily News, November 2017; written by Lisa Pearson.

Fifty years ago, military commanders in North Vietnam were in the planning stage for a coordinated wave of attacks on cities and military bases in South Vietnam. This campaign, which became known as the Tet Offensive, saw some of the fiercest fighting in the former capital of Huế. In his latest book, “Huế 1968: a turning point of the American War in Vietnam”, author Mark Bowden (Black Hawk Down) examines this pivotal battle day by day.

Bowden does an excellent job of digging into military records, Presidential archives (such as phone conversations recorded in the Oval Office), and newspaper accounts of the time. But what makes this book particularly readable and insightful is his skill at interviewing people and combining their stories in a character-driven narrative. The voices in “Huế 1968” were involved in the battle in a number of different ways - Marines, journalists, civilians, Viet Cong fighters, intelligence experts - and each of their particular experiences gives the reader another facet of understanding.

This approach - telling a larger story through layers of personal accounts and memories - is a technique perfected by the documentary filmmaker Ken Burns. His latest project with director-producer Lynn Novak is an 18-hour series titled “The Vietnam War”. Their list of interviewees is extensive and covers a wide range of perspectives. Most of the accounts are from veterans: Americans, South Vietnamese, North Vietnamese, and Viet Cong. But the film also includes CIA analysts, journalists, South Vietnamese civilians, American war protestors, American POWs, Army nurses, and a Gold Star family.

The Vietnam War and its effect on American society and politics is an incredibly complicated topic. If you are under the age of 50, this documentary series does a great job of setting up the historical background of how America got into Vietnam, and detailing the actions of 4 successive Presidential administrations in both pursuing involvement in the region and controlling how the American people understood the progress of the war. It shows the chaos of riots, demonstrations, assassinations, and cultural upheaval that took place in America in the late 1960’s, and the division and anger in the country. If you are over the age of 50, this documentary will stir a lot of memories of a troubled period in American history.

One way to deal with past troubles is to talk about them. To that end, the Ketchikan Public Library received a grant from the American Library Association, PBS, and WETA-Washington, D.C. to conduct a community conversation about the Vietnam War. As part of the grant, we have received a public performance copy of the “The Vietnam War” film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novak and the companion book, “The Vietnam War: an intimate history”, written by Geoffrey C. Ward. We have scheduled our program to coincide with Veteran’s Day. This Saturday at 3 pm, we will screen a 45-minute segment of “The Weight of Memory; March 1973-onward”, the final episode in the documentary. At 4 pm, Dr. John Radzilowski of UAS-Ketchikan will lead a community discussion about the war and its historical perspective fifty years later.

We invite all members of the community to come and share their memories, experiences, and impressions of that time period. For anyone who is not comfortable with speaking in public, there will be comment cards and a posting board available for sharing. Our hope is that a cross-generational discussion will lead to a greater understanding of the effect the Vietnam era has had on our families, neighbors, community, and our nation.