The War: Redux

I have had the opportunity to watch all six DVDs and about 12 hours of The War by Ken Burns.

I came away incredibly impressed by this work's importance. I think it is essential viewing for anyone who wants to understand how America got to its current position in the world. Also essential to understand the lives of the greatest generation who went before us.

But...it was hard, very hard to watch. So much death, so much suffering. Unnecessary? Hard to make that argument in the face of the goals of the empires we were facing.

Many times after an episode I was so emotionally exhausted I simply had to put the series away for a week or two.

I found it most telling that out of all the interviews with these men who had seen battle after horrendous battle; men who had casually talked of death and destruction in a multitude of ways, most of these old soldiers became most emotional when describing what they saw/experienced when they liberated the Nazi death camps. I think in some way, seeing what was actually going on there made in some way, the suffering they had endured "worth it". They had stopped this machine of death.

The Bomb? This film makes a strong argument for its use. Walk through the battle for Okinawa and try to justify not using it to end the was ASAP.

The amazing fact is also, that for all its intensity, this movie presents a distinctly American view of the war. I fact, America probably suffered less than any of the other combatatants, and even our losses are unimaginable. What would the Russian, German, Japanese or British movie like this look like?

Highly recommended.