September 16, 2017  Greetings!  The Vietnam War as portrayed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick began airing on PBS stations and on-line (along with the next four episodes) this past Sunday. Anti-war activists and academic experts who have previewed the whole series reach different conclusions about its treatment of the war and of the peace movement. Decide for yourself---but don't keep it a secret! Everyone agrees the series is very well done and emotionally engaging. Many are calling it the definitive TV history of the war that will shape opinions of generations too young to remember.  It will open long overdue conversations about what happened and why.  Viewers can be challenged to consider current human costs in all four countries, as well as lessons for today's and tomorrow's military conflicts. If you return our action form and indicate interest in the series, we will send you special updates analyzing every episode.  They will also be posted on our web page. If you "like" our Facebook page, you can post comments after each episode and see how others are responding. The Organizers Guide provides ideas for getting more seriously involved.      Resources Professor Maurice Isserman's critical review of how the anti-war movement is treated has been posted by Dissent.   Professor Jerry Lempke criticizes the film makers as "masters of false balancing" in a review for Public Books. Tom Fox who served with International Voluntary Service in Vietnam and became editor of the National Catholic Reporter has written a review for NCR, "'The Vietnam War' Weaves a Narrative of Human Calamity".   He mostly praises the series, but notes the absence of the experience of civilians who worked with NGOs in South Vietnam.  Ken Burns and Lynn Novick write in The Atlantic "How the Vietnam War Broke the American Presidency." The New York Times published its review of the series. and a superb article on "The Forgotten Victims of Agent Orange" by Viet Thanh Nguyen and Dick Hughes. Links to additional published reviews and  articles about the series are here. The Full Disclosure project of Veterans For Peace raises questions about each episode. VPCC's questions posted last month address the whole series. Volunteers of America has created a detailed guide for viewing the series and addressing moral injury. Paths to PBS PBS has a story gathering link for people to submit their own stories about the war, both supporters and opponents. Some stations have created a site for their own state, for example "Minnesota Remembers: The Story Wall"  Andy Berman, an activist in Minneapolis who served in the Peace Corps and then joined the army to organize from within, posted here  VPCC committee member Susan Hammond compiled information about public stations' plans and PBS also issued a summary.  Check there and look at your station's web site to learn the latest about its plans and how you can become involved.  Fifty libraries nationwide are planning programs with the assistance of PBS.  Others will use the series independently. Reports from Preview Screenings Most of the outreach events around the country featuring Burns and Novick have been carefully managed public relations events with often moving in-person comments by people who had been interviewed in the documentary. The most prestigious were at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and Lincoln Center in New York earlier this week.  The Washington audience heard from Senators Kerry and McCain who spoke proudly of their work for normal relations and reconciliation. Ken introduced both veterans and opponents of the war.  (Both events were marred by high level representatives of the corporate sponsor, the Bank of America, who insisted on asking only veterans in the audience to stand, but not "protestors".  Maybe not too surprising.....BOA was targeted during anti-war demonstrations. A branch was burned in San Diego and a protester was killed there by police.) The tone was very different at a local roll out by a Massachusetts public station. Professor Michael Klare, director of the Five College Program in Peace and World Security Studies, spoke passionately as an invited panelist.  His scathing comments about the opening clip's characterization of good intentions for US intervention were quoted in the Greenfield Recorder under the headline, "Wounds of war still raw as Vietnam documentary preview airs in Northampton." ********************** VPCC NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT (EVEN MORE!) We have a rare opportunity and responsibility presented by the PBS Vietnam series and the 50th anniversary of the Pentagon march to impact public discussions about the legacies and lessons of the Vietnam War and about the peace movement.  To engage effectively, we need your financial support for inescapable costs, including our staff person in Washington and hiring a short term publicist.  We need to attract a high level of media attention to missing elements in the PBS series and to the Pentagon march commemoration. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation today through our not-for-profit fiscal sponsor, the Fund for Reconciliation and Development, or mail it to FRD at 64 Jean Court, Riverhead, NY 11901.  DONATE ********************* October 20-21  commemorate and connect  50th Anniversary of the  March on the Pentagon and of draft resistance The surge of interest in the Vietnam War created by the PBS series makes the 50th anniversary of the March on the Pentagon an ideal moment to remind the country and media of the vital role of the movement that helped make peace.  Plan to come to Washington and invite family and friends to join you.    The vigil at the Pentagon Friday evening will feature songs by Peter Yarrow, speakers about war legacies in Indochina and in the US, and a tribute to the draft resistance movement by men whose cards were among the 1,000 turned in to the Justice Department on October 20, 1967.   After a day of discussion, we will walk to the Vietnam memorial to mourn the needless deaths of 58,000 Americans and more than three million people in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Check our web page and expect to receive an update of the program in about a week.  We have added to the action form an opportunity to request or to provide housing.  If you already completed the form, just send a "seeking" or "offering" note to terryprovance@gmail.com so he can help you connect.   Donate  ******************************* Links to the March on the Pentagon Robert Altman's images and a moving description of his experience when he was 22.   Links to more photos and video are available here. ******************************** Next Trip to Vietnam (Option of Laos and Cambodia) New dates:  March 2018, guided by John McAuliff under the sponsorship of the Vietnam-USA Society; includes witnessing in My Lai the 50th anniversary of the massacre. Updated information here    ******************************** Donate Be sure to let us know if you want to receive updates on the PBS Vietnam  series and/or the Pentagon march events by completing our action form here.  Interim Committee (in formation) Sally Benson David Cortright Ann Gallivan Susan Hammond Frank Joyce Steven Ladd John McAuliff Terry Provance Brewster Rhoads Nancy Jane Woodside

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