On Sunday PBS began airing the new Ken Burns documentary entitled "The War". It is a fourteen hour epic that looks at World War II through the experiences of townspeople in four different U.S. cities. Christy and I have been fascinated at the experiences of these soldiers and citizens and it has been humbling to see the love, community, and humanity stacked alongside the violence, death, and inhumanity. I'm not a student of the war, so I've learned a lot through this birds eye view presentation. The Bataan Death March, The Battle of Guadalcanal, and the sacrifices at home by Rosie the Riveter to produce the equipment necessary to win the war.
Go to PBS.org to see read more about the documentary. Go to NPR.org to hear Ken Burns talk about the making of the film.
6 comments:
My grandma used to tell me about how she helped her mother make mattresses for the war effort.
Its wild that I just read this while watching Band of Brothers for the hundredth time! This sounds really cool. Thanks for being on the ball.
Jen,
It is amazing how much the women at home sacrificed in time & effort.
The film said that in 1941 there were over 3 million cars manufactured in the U.S., and in the years following until the war ended there were only 130 or so made. Everything went towards producing planes, ships, and equipment.
Nick,
"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers." Viva Winters!
Thanks for the info. I am a bit obsessed with WWII. I think it was reading "Children of the Promise" that did it to me. I guess I never knew all the dynamics of the war until I read that. The death march is one that send chills up my spine. I recently spoke with a man that was in the navy at that time. He actually was on the ship that picked up the POW's. It was hard to believe some of the things he said. He obviously didn't like talking about the whole experience. Anyway, the documentary sounds very interesting. Thank you!
Les-
I have always been fascinated by the war and the countless struggles people made to enable us to win. I think WWII is so personal for many because many of our grandparents fought in it. However; my perspective on the war, in particular the war in the Pacific, changed after I was married. Actually, I was last in Japan visiting my in-laws on the anniversary of the bomb being dropped. On this trip we stopped by to visit my wife’s grandma. During the war my wife’s grandma lived in an outskirt town of Hiroshima. She told us a pretty detailed account of what happened, and about how her husband led a troop of boys to clean up the aftermath of the bomb. After hearing her story we had an opportunity to visit my wife’s family crypt. It really hit home when I saw how many of her family members died in the war… one died in the Philippines, a place where my grandpa fought. Hearing the personal story of the bomb and seeing how the war affected her family defiantly had more impact on me than reading this event in a history book. Now when I see the war in the Pacific I see it as: people I love killing people I love.
Anyway, I did not mean to write this much, I merely wanted to say thanks for giving me the link to your site; I really enjoy reading what you write.
Randall Porter
Ken Burns? I'm in.
You always have good/interesting suggestions. Thanks!
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