Ken Burns: Today's Divisiveness Has Roots In Vietnam

>> Stephen: WELCOME BACK, EVERYBODY.
MY NEXT GUEST TONIGHT IS AN EMMY AND PEABODY AWARD WINNING
DIRECTOR WHOSE LATEST DOCUMENTARY IS CAN TH "THE VIETN
WAR."
PLEASE WELCOME KEN BURNS.
GOOD TO SEE YOU.
COME ON UP.
♪ ♪ ♪ ( APPLAUSE )
>> Stephen: THERE YOU GO, KEN.
GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN.
>> NICE TO SEE YOU.
>> Stephen: NOW, I HAVE SEEN THE FIRST TWO EPISODES OF THIS
SO FAR.
I'M ABOUT THREE HOURS IN.
AND IT IS ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL DOCUMENTS I'VE EVER
SEEN.
OF COURSE, I GREW UP IN THE SHADOW OF THE VIETNAM WAR,
BECAUSE I REMEMBER THE END OF IT.
BUT THE COMPLEXITY OF THAT WAR, BEFORE THE UNITED STATES WAS
EVEN INVOLVED, BEFORE 1959, WHAT WE WERE STEPPING INTO AS A
COUNTRY, I WAS COMPLETELY UNAWARE, HOWEVER COMPLICATED I
THOUGHT IT WAS, I WAS NOT PREPARED AT ALL FOR WHAT A
TANGLE IT WAS.
WERE YOU-- WHAT SURPRISED BUWHAT YOU LEARNED ABOUT THIS STORY?
>> EVERYTHING.
EVERY DAY, EVERY DAY WORKING ON THIS FOR 10 YEARS SURPRISED US.
I THOUGHT I KNEW SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
I LIVED THROUGH IT.
I LIVED ON A COLLEGE CAMPUS AGAINST THE WAR.
I HAD A HIGH DRAFT NUMBER.
IT WAS AN AMAZING PERIOD AND I WENT IN THINKING, AH, FINALLY, A
SUBJECT I KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT.
AND LYNN NOVICK AND I STARTED WORKING ON THIS AND WE REALIZED
HOW LITTLE WE KNEW.
THE FIRST EPISODE IS CALLED "DEJA VU" BECAUSE OF THE
HUNDREDS OF THINGS THAT HAPPENED TO THE FRENCH THAT WE COULD HAVE
TAKEN AS WARNING SIGNALS-- BRIDGE OUT THREE MILES, BRIDGE
OUT THREE MILES, WAIT, AND A CARTOON IN THE MIDDLE AND,
"WAIT, HOW DID WE GET HERE?" AND THAT WAS VIETNAM AT THE
BEGINNING YOU.
>> Stephen: SAID A MOMENT AGO YOU HAD A HIGH DRAFT NUMBER.
>> YES.
>> Stephen: FOR YOUNG PEOPLE OUT HERE WHO DON'T KNOW WHO MAY
NOT EVEN BE REGISTERED FOR SELECTIVE SERVICE EVEN THOUGH IT
STILL CONTINUES TO THIS DAY, CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHAT THAT MEANT TO
HAVE A HIGH DRAFT NUMBER?
>>ALLY ON IN THE VIETNAM WAR THERE WERE DEFERMENTS YOU COULD
GET FOR BEING A STUDENT, FOR BEING MARRIED.
PEOPLE DIDN'T THINK THAT WAS FAIR.
IT FELL UNFAIRLY ON TO EXPWHRAKS MINORITIES AND POOR PEOPLE AND
IT WAS ADJUSTED AND WE HAD A LOTTERY SYSTEM BASED ON YOUR
BIRTHDAY.
THEY PICKED YOUR BIRTHDAY DAY OUT, AND IT WAS NUMBER ONE.
AND THE HIRING NUMBER YOU HAD, THE LESCHANCE YOU HAD OF BEING
DRAFTED AND PUT INTO THE SERVICE.
>> Stephen: THE YOUNG MEN KNEW WHEN THEIR NUMBER WAS
COMING UP BECAUSE IT WOULD PROCEED THROUGH THE CALENDAR.
>> AND YOU HAD A SENSE OF HOW MANY THEY WERE GOING TO PICK
THAT YEAR.
WHAT HAPPENED, IS THE ANTIWAR MOVEMENT, WHICH HAD BEEN A MORAL
MOVEMENT, OPPOSED TO THE WAR FOR ETHICAL REASONS, BECAME A
SELF-MOTIVATED MOVEMENT-- I DON'T WANT TO BE DRAFTED AND I
DON'T WANT MY FRIENDS DRAFTED.
>> Stephen: THERE WERE BROTHERS ON THE STREET WHO I
GREW UP ON, AND THEY WERE COLLEGE ROOMMAT ROOMMATES AND TH
NUMBERS WERE COMING UP AND ONE WAS READY TO GO TO WAR AND ONE
WAS READY TO GO TO CANADA.
THEY LOVED EACH OTHER, BUT THERE WAS A DIFFERENCE OF OPINION.
>> THIS DIVIDE US.
THIS IS A PERIOD WHERE THERE WERE MASS DEMONSTRATIONS AGAINST
THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.
THERE WAS A WHITE HOUSE IN DISARRAY, OBSESSED WITH LEAKS.
THERE WAS A PRESIDENT ACCUSING THE MEDIA OF LYING, OF MAKING UP
STORIES ABOUT HIM.
THERE WAS HUGE DOCUMENT DROPS OF STOLEN CLASSIFIED MATERIALS.
THERE WAS ACCUSATIONS THAT A POLITICAL CAMPAIGN REACHED OUT
DURING THE TIME OF WAR TO A FOREIGN POWER TO INFLUENCE THAT
ELECTION.
( LAUGHTER ) AND THIS WAS ALL TRUE WHEN WE
BEGAN WORK 10 YEARS AGO, AND WE FINISHED BEFORE THE IOWA
CAUCUSES.
MARK TWAIN SAID, "HISTORY DOESN'T REPEAT ITSELF BUT IT
RHYMES."
WE FINISHED OUR WORK, WE LIFTED UP AND WE WENT, "WHOA.
THIS REALLY RHYMES."
>> Stephen: HOW DO YOU TELL THE STORY OF THE EXPERIENCE, THE
DEVELOPMENT, THE PROSECUTION OF A WAR WHEN, BY ITS NATURE-- AS
ANOTHER DOCUMENTARY SAID, THE FOG OF WAR-- IT'S HARD TO KNOW.
IT'S ALMOST UNKNOWABLE BECAUSE IT'S SO COMPLEX AND SO MANY OF
THE FIGURES END UP DYING IN THAT WAR.
>> THAT'S EXACTLY RIGHT.
WE TELL THE STORY OF THIS WAR FROM ALL THE DIFFERENT
PERSPECTIVES.
WHEN AMERICANS TALK ABOUT VIETNAM, THEY NORMALLY JUST TALK
ABOUT THEMSELVES.
BUT WE INTERVIEWED-- LYNN NOVICK, MY CODIRECTOR--
INTERVIEWED NORTH VIETNAMESE SOLDIERS AND CIVILIANS, VIET
CONG GUERILLAS, IN ADDITION TO MORE THAN 50 AMERICANS WE HAVE
FROM EVERY WALK OF LIFE, FROM PEOPLE WHO WERE OPPOSED TO THE
WAR, TO UNBELIEVABLY BRAVE MARINES, AND ARMY GUYS CHARGING
UP HILLS, TO GOLD STAR BHORGZ DIDN'T HAVE TO TELL THEIR
INCREDIBLE STORIES.
SO THAT WE COULD UNDERSTAND THAT IN WAR, MORE THAN ONE TRUTH
COULD HAPPEN AT THE SAME TIME, THAT WE COULD CREATE A SPAIRKS
UNLIKE TODAY WE ARE SO DIVIDED, EVERYTHING IS SO TOXIC, THAT WE
WANTED TO REMIND PEOPLE THAT EVEN AT A TERRIBLE TIME, WE
COULD ACTUALLY DESCRIBE THIS STORY BY TELLING IT FROM LOTS OF
DIFFERENT POINTS OF VIEW AND REPRESENTING THAT.
AND WE WENT OUT AND FOUND UNDERWRITERS FROM ACROSS THE
POLITICAL SPECTRUM WHO JOINED A NONPROFIT CALLED THE BETTER
ANGEL SOCIETY-- THIS IS PBS, THRIVING PBS.
AND ACROSS THE POLITICAL SPECTRUM, FROM LEFT TO RIGHT.
WE GOT AN ENLIGHTENED CORPORATE UNDERWRITER, BANK OF AMERICA WHO
SAID, "LOOK, BRING IT ON.
ALL THE CONTROVERSY, BRING IT ON.
WE'RE BETTER CONNECTED IF WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THESE THINGS."
THEY HELPED SPONSOR SOME MUSIC THAT WE DID WITH JON AND LEON
AND GARY CLARK JR., WHERE THEY DID A COVER OF "OHIO" BY CROSBY,
STILLS AND NASH.
WE HAVE BEATLES.
WE HAVE ROLLING STONES, AND WE HAVE TRENT REZNOR AND NINE INCH
NAILS.
>> Stephen: IT'S AN INCREDIBLE SOUNDTRACK AVAILABLE RIGHT NOW.
KEN, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HELPING TELL THIS STORY THAT
AMERICANS TOOK TOO LONG TO TELL EACH OTHER AND THAT I THINK OUR
POLITICS AND OUR SENSE OF SELF IS GOING TO BE LIVING WITH FOR
THE REST OF OUR LIVES.
>> IT'S REALLY TRUE.
AND RIGHT NOW WE HAVE THAT SORT OF END OF A COMMENT.
WE SAY, "THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE."
AND REALLY IS JUST THE END OF IT.
BUT IF YOU COULD THINK ABOUT IT, IF WE COULD TURN TO OUR
VETERANS, FROM VIETNAM, PARTICULARLY, "WELCOME HOME.
WHAT CAN WE DO FOR YOU?" AND HAVE A KIND OF CIVIL
DISCOURSE, WE CAN, PERHAPS, HELP PUT SOME OF THE GHOSTES OF
VIETNAM AWAY, AND WE COULD ALSO HELP CURE THE TOXICITY OF THIS
MOMENT.
( APPLAUSE ) ( CHEERS ).
>> Stephen: "THE VIETNAM WAR" IS AIRING NOW ON PBS.
KEN BURNS, EVERYBODY.
Trump's NFL Comments Have Everything To Do With Race Chance The Rapper Debuts A New Song NFL Films Tackles Donald Trump Puerto Rico, North Korea And The World's Most Powerful Toddler Hillary Rodham Clinton Experienced Putin's Sexism Firsthand Hey Kim Jong-Un: Making Fun Of Trump Is America's Thing The Ken Burns Vietnam "Documentary." Or Should I Just Watch Game of Thrones Again? Barack Obama Best Moments Sterling K. Brown Got Cut Off Mid-Speech At The Emmys And He-- Burns, Civil War intro

Ken Burns: Today's Divisiveness Has Roots In Vietnam

Latest Posts