Playlist The Vietnam War
The Vietnam War
Commemorating the Vietnam War Around Chicago
Daniel HautzingerMore than three million Vietnamese soldiers and civilians and more than 58,000 American soldiers died in the Vietnam War. Nearly 3,000 American soldiers were from Illinois. What memorials, in various forms, exist near Chicago to honor them?
From the Archive: A Vietnam Veteran Turned Protester
Daniel HautzingerHear excerpts from a 1977 Studs Terkel interview with Ron Kovic, the author of the best-selling memoir Born on the Fourth of July, which became an Oliver Stone film. "I know that the people of this country want to face up to the truth of that war," Kovic says.
A Timely Reunion Across Four Decades and the Globe
Daniel HautzingerPhil Seymour promised a young Vietnamese boy a watch while he was serving as a Marine near the boy's village. He regretted his failure to follow through for forty years, until he reunited with Cam, forming a bond with him and his family, especially his daughter.
From the Archive: Siskel and Ebert on Vietnam Movies
Daniel HautzingerIn 1980, Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel looked back on the films that tackled the Vietnam War, reviewing Apocalypse Now, The Deer Hunter, Hair, and, the one pro-war film, John Wayne's The Green Berets, among others. Hear their takes on Hollywood's contributions.
From the Archive: General William Westmoreland
Daniel HautzingerAs Ken Burns's The Vietnam War approaches, watch excerpts from two 1976 WTTW interviews with General William Westmoreland, commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam from 1964 to 1968. The war "came about as the result of a series of very serious political blunders," he says.
When the Democratic Party Was Torn Apart
Daniel HautzingerThe Democratic National Convention of August, 1968, held in Chicago, was a defining moment of the Vietnam era and a watershed in American politics. What actually happened during that devastating event that pitted police against protesters and ripped apart the Democratic Party?
The Extraordinary Life of Ken Burns' Scriptwriter
Daniel HautzingerGeoffrey C. Ward has written scripts for Ken Burns for the past thirty years, and his incredible life uniquely fits him for the job. He survived polio, hunted tigers in India as a teenager, and has an ancestor who bankrupted Ulysses S. Grant.
Understanding Vietnam: A Conversation with the Director of 'The Vietnam War'
Daniel HautzingerLynn Novick, co-director with Ken Burns of the ten-part, eighteen hour documentary series The Vietnam War, which premieres in September, discusses the potential lessons of the war and one of the most affecting moments of her filming career.
From the Archive: Veterans and Steppenwolf Discuss the Vietnam War
Daniel HautzingerIn 1984, WTTW hosted a discussion of the Vietnam War with a group of veterans and four Steppenwolf Theatre actors playing soldiers onstage, including Gary Sinise. Revisit it here.