"The War" (by Ken Burns) Part 5 of 7; Airing on PBS @ 7PM Central 9-30-07

pbs.org ^ | undated | PBS staff

[VOA]

“You object to your niece hearing the f word but it is OK for her
to see picture after picture of dead mutilated American soldiers.
You have some real misguided priorities.”

Fair comment. Given my post wasn’t all-inclusive.
I was not clear with my line of
“I guess that settles it...I’ll be watching the replay at 9PM after
my young charge is picked up by my brother and SIL.”

I had NO intention of exposing my young charge to “The War”.
Initially because of the graphic photos (that are necessary part of
any honest documentary).
And then I realized she better not be within earshot either.
My niece will learn plenty of “creative language” in coming years at school,
but that will all happen “in good time”.

(I have no problem with F-Bombs and graphic photos in a
war documentary...
I was initially a bit shocked that PBS would drop them in prime-time)

[Belasarius]

“Paul Fussell is a well known antiwar leftist. He is no more the voice of WWII infantrymen than Elton John would be. Just because he served doesn't mean that his distorted view of what happened has to be accepted.”

So what if he is, “a well known antiwar leftist?” In this documentary I don’t recall anybody asking him what he thought of Iraq. If I remember correctly he described his arrival on the line and viewing the dead bodies of Germans killed the previous day by the unit that he had replaced. He graphically described the wounds on two boys apparently around 14 years old and his realization that he was in a serious business. Like a lot of others he was profoundly affected by his wartime experiences.

I got no sense of his views on this war, or any war. I don’t know the political party of the majority of the men included in the film. I don’t think they tried to achieve parity in featuring 50/50 Republicans and Democrats.

“I suspect that he was a pretty poor platoon leader.”

Well, from what I can tell he wasn’t Audie Murphy. He lasted 4 months. If he was a complete idiot he would have either gotten relieved or killed. According to his bio:

“Fussell served as a second lieutenant in France for four months. Leading his rifle platoon in an attack on an Alsace town in March 1945, he was on the roof of a bunker when it was hit by a shell. With pieces of metal in his back and leg - Fussell receives a 40% army pension - he was patched up and sent to hospital. Earlier that day he had been rebuked for hesitating, and still believes he would have taken cover had he not been trying to prove his bravery. When his companions were killed, he felt he was responsible, and The Great War is dedicated “To the memory of Technical Sergeant Edward Keith Hudson”.”

[centurion316]

Glad you enjoyed it

[joyce11111]

I am bothered by the way they have handled the Generals ect. It seems according to Burns and Tom Hanks that the Generals handled their men badly...some times they had no maps of the area they wanted the troops to invade.

I will continue to watch, but, will take it with a big grain of salt.

Seems like the War Dept was completely in adequate.

Actually I seem to resent the whole *story* of the greatest generation.