Ken Burns Film on the War.

[hurleyjd]

I watched part one last night on the PBS channel. Very interesting. The U. S. was very ill prepared for the WAR. The boys started out with WWI equipment and not much off it. If it had not been for the mistakes that Japan and Germany made we would surely be speaking Japanese of German. The arrogaronce of the Mayor of New York and the costal cities would not black out the lights. They were afraid that the cities would lose money from the tourist trade. The German U-Boats would set outside the cities and torpedo the ships. I think there were over 200 sank in one year. The shipping channels all along the Alantic and the Gulf were dangerous. The U-Boats were off shore from Galveston. The soldiers and sailors went through hell and then came back and won this war.

 

[D.R. Cattle]

I watched part one last night on the PBS channel. Very interesting. The U. S. was very ill prepared for the WAR. The boys started out with WWI equipment and not much off it. If it had not been for the mistakes that Japan and Germany made we would surely be speaking Japanese of German. The arrogaronce of the Mayor of New York and the costal cities would not black out the lights. They were afraid that the cities would lose money from the tourist trade. The German U-Boats would set outside the cities and torpedo the ships. I think there were over 200 sank in one year. The shipping channels all along the Alantic and the Gulf were dangerous. The U-Boats were off shore from Galveston. The soldiers and sailors went through be nice and then came back and won this war.

I watched the entire series. I wouldn't totally agree with you on the mistakes part. Nonetheless, we owe a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid to the men and women of that generation. Aside from that we have several wrecks off our coast that I frequent. The SS Halsey and the SS Amazon are a few, both sunk on the same night by a silouhette of the town of Jupiter, FL. The Coast Guard finally caught up with him and laid some depth charges on his hull. It's a bit eerie staring at a rusting hulk that you know was sunk by a German U-Boat right here in the good ole USA. Home to many tasty fishes now.

 

[Wewild]

I watched as well for all that I could. I think they are the greatest generation. They had it all. There may have been some greater prior but just haven't had the publicity.

It seems after that we lost the home front. Maybe it was after Korea.

 

[Ryder]

I watched part one last night on the PBS channel. Very interesting. The U. S. was very ill prepared for the WAR. The boys started out with WWI equipment and not much off it. If it had not been for the mistakes that Japan and Germany made we would surely be speaking Japanese of German. The arrogaronce of the Mayor of New York and the costal cities would not black out the lights. They were afraid that the cities would lose money from the tourist trade. The German U-Boats would set outside the cities and torpedo the ships. I think there were over 200 sank in one year. The shipping channels all along the Alantic and the Gulf were dangerous. The U-Boats were off shore from Galveston. The soldiers and sailors went through be nice and then came back and won this war.

I watched the entire series. I wouldn't totally agree with you on the mistakes part. Nonetheless, we owe a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid to the men and women of that generation. Aside from that we have several wrecks off our coast that I frequent. The SS Halsey and the SS Amazon are a few, both sunk on the same night by a silouhette of the town of Jupiter, FL. The Coast Guard finally caught up with him and laid some depth charges on his hull. It's a bit eerie staring at a rusting hulk that you know was sunk by a German U-Boat right here in the good ole USA. Home to many tasty fishes now.

I was very young in St. Petersburg, Florida. But can still remember "blackouts".

 

[Running Arrow Bill]

Excellent Series! Lots of realism of what REALLY happened in WWII. The old "Movietone" News of the 1940-1950's was obviously a "nice" view of the war to keep everyone's morale up.

The slaughters in Europe and the South Pacific were terrible. It's unfortunate the USA didn't have the A-Bomb to use before Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Nazi genocides (Jews, Russians, Poles, Mentally defective & deficient, etc.) were unreal...

The tragedies of WWII make Korea, Vietnam, and the Gulf War series of Conflicts look like a birthday party in comparison.

The courage, bravery, perseverance of our troops in WWII will never be forgotten...

Now we have global terrorism...so many "cells"...so difficult to find and stop the enemy...

God Bless America! And...ALWAYS never forget 9-1-1 !!

 

[Oldtimer]

I've been watching it too-- GREAT show...The one thing I keep remembering when watching history shows, is that history often repeats itself-- like your contention about politicians putting corporate economics ahead of public safety...

Too bad after all these years of warfare- the bureaucrats/politicians never seem to learn from history- which is shown in our "open border"-- "open illegal invader" policy-- again putting a few corporate industries and elititists pocketbooks ahead of US security and public safety...

 

[hurleyjd]

Excellent Series! Lots of realism of what REALLY happened in WWII. The old "Movietone" News of the 1940-1950's was obviously a "nice" view of the war to keep everyone's morale up.

The slaughters in Europe and the South Pacific were terrible. It's unfortunate the USA didn't have the A-Bomb to use before Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Nazi genocides (Jews, Russians, Poles, Mentally defective & deficient, etc.) were unreal...

The tragedies of WWII make Korea, Vietnam, and the Gulf War series of Conflicts look like a birthday party in comparison.

The courage, bravery, perseverance of our troops in WWII will never be forgotten...

Now we have global terrorism...so many "cells"...so difficult to find and stop the enemy...

God Bless America! And...ALWAYS never forget 9-1-1 !!

In reference to the A- Bomb. If Curtis Lemay had not run out of the fire bombs during the bombing of Japan the A-Bomb would not have been used. The fire bombing more killed people and destroyed more real estate than the A-Bomb. This Information also came from PBS sometimes in the last year.

 

[Oldtimer]

Excellent Series! Lots of realism of what REALLY happened in WWII. The old "Movietone" News of the 1940-1950's was obviously a "nice" view of the war to keep everyone's morale up.

The slaughters in Europe and the South Pacific were terrible. It's unfortunate the USA didn't have the A-Bomb to use before Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Nazi genocides (Jews, Russians, Poles, Mentally defective & deficient, etc.) were unreal...

The tragedies of WWII make Korea, Vietnam, and the Gulf War series of Conflicts look like a birthday party in comparison.

The courage, bravery, perseverance of our troops in WWII will never be forgotten...

Now we have global terrorism...so many "cells"...so difficult to find and stop the enemy...

God Bless America! And...ALWAYS never forget 9-1-1 !!

In reference to the A- Bomb. If Curtis Lemay had not run out of the fire bombs during the bombing of Japan the A-Bomb would not have been used. The fire bombing more killed people and destroyed more real estate than the A-Bomb. This Information also came from PBS sometimes in the last year.

Yep- and my Dad, my uncles, and every other soldier I've talked to that was scheduled to take part in the invasion of Japan never questioned for a second that Trumans decision to use the A-bomb was the right one.....The all know that if the invasion took place- there was a very good chance they would not come home alive.....

Military advisors were predicting a minimum of 250,000 and a maximum of 1 million allied casualties in the invasion if it had taken place as planned...

 

[Lammie]

I watched part one last night on the PBS channel. Very interesting. The U. S. was very ill prepared for the WAR. The boys started out with WWI equipment and not much off it. If it had not been for the mistakes that Japan and Germany made we would surely be speaking Japanese of German. The arrogaronce of the Mayor of New York and the costal cities would not black out the lights. They were afraid that the cities would lose money from the tourist trade. The German U-Boats would set outside the cities and torpedo the ships. I think there were over 200 sank in one year. The shipping channels all along the Alantic and the Gulf were dangerous. The U-Boats were off shore from Galveston. The soldiers and sailors went through be nice and then came back and won this war.

I watched the whole thing and it was very informative to me about filling in the missing pieces of the war. My dad was not in a combat position, as he built gliders in Holland, Belgium and France. Then he compound fractured his arm and spent the rest of the war in Trinidad doing administrative work. He was about to ship out with Patton to the Battle of the Bulge when he fell off a crate backwards.

I have always been lacking in knowledge of the Pacific threatre of war. The battles in Saipan, Iwo and others were extremely fierce with many more casualties than the invasion of Normandy. You don't hear a lot about it. I know that my dad did see a lot of carnage during his part in the war, even though he was not infantry. He very seldom talks about it. He has a lot of funny stories, though, and shares them frequently.

It also was good for me to see the reactions and stories from those left behind. I thought it was extremely well done, as are all Ken Burns' documentaries. I would like to see it again, marathon style. It really captured the war weariness of the nation, the coming together and the desperation of the soldiers.

 

[Frankie]

We watched it, too, and enjoyed it very much. I still think his Civil War was the best and guess I measure everthing against that.

This will probably be available on DVD soon. Then you can get it from Blockbuster or Netflix and watch it all at once. We did that with the Civil War series.

I found it interesting that several of the veterans talked about having bad dreams and flashbacks for years, just as soldiers from Vietnam and Iraq do now. I gues it's not a new problem.

 

[Lammie]

We watched it, too, and enjoyed it very much. I still think his Civil War was the best and guess I measure everthing against that.

This will probably be available on DVD soon. Then you can get it from Blockbuster or Netflix and watch it all at once. We did that with the Civil War series.

I found it interesting that several of the veterans talked about having bad dreams and flashbacks for years, just as soldiers from Vietnam and Iraq do now. I gues it's not a new problem.

My first husband's uncle was at the Battle of the Buldge and for years afterward wherever he was, if he heard an airplane he would duck and cover. It was just a reflex.