Comments on: Who’s watching ‘The War’?

By: Tdave

Tdave — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 09:17:54 +0000

^Maybe I should have kept that (being creeped out stuff) a secret.^

By: Tdave

Tdave — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 09:55:23 +0000

And also, I wish I had an update on the story of that acquaintance.

By: Tdave

Tdave — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 09:36:57 +0000

I’ve been channel surfing and stopping to watch segments of the show.

I have been experiencing an odd feeling, or a sort of emotion that is hard to describe. The closest word I can think of is “creepy” but in an unexplainable way. I think it has something to do with an (nervous) acquaintance who was being sent to Iraq and a couple of soldiers I have met who have returned from Iraq. They have a hyper, nervous (kind-of creepy) personality, as if they are in shock. (like they just climbed out of a car wreck.) I don’t know what they were like before. When one of them saw a guy in a wheelchair he ran over and quickly sputtered out “Were you in Iraq, did you get hurt in Iraq, I got shot in Iraq.”. It’s apparent that he needs to talk things out, about whatever happened in Iraq, but the wheelchair guy wasn’t disabled in Iraq.

By: robbie

robbie — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 17:39:30 +0000

i have caught some of this (have DVR’d all of it) and what I have seen has been pretty amazing. WWII definitely is the most covered war in terms of documentaries but this seems pretty good. i have to say, i used to think this generation has been over “heroized” so to speak because they did what they did because they had not not cause they wanted to. id like to think any generation would have been just the same when faced with the same predicament. still, this has given me a new perspective and i do admire them for what they did. i still think people over romantasize that time period. i dont wont anyone to overlook the racism, sexism and homophobia that was rampant then. but i digress.

also, i couldnt believe that i actually hear f**k twice on PBS!

By: jason

jason — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 04:04:51 +0000

As a member of today’s enlisted military, I definitely have to agree with the blog author, especially regarding the expendability of people. I teach leadership to people who are about to become supervisors. One of the things I always try to emphasize is that nothing is about them individually; they can be easily replaced. It’s like speaking a foreign language because these people are young, both in age and time in the military. Another challenge I face is how to not de-motivate them by telling them this. It is my belief that the best among them will accept the truth of the idea while maintaining their maturity. It’s amazing our culture has changed so dramatically so quickly.

By: nycitymouse

nycitymouse — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 00:19:29 +0000

I had read the reviews that said the series was ok but not great and I had not planned to watch it. I was housesitting for my parents and trying to figure out where all the tv channels were on their cable system and I stumbled across PBS. It was on and I was hooked. What a great series and what gripping stories. My grandfather, who passed away a year ago, was in the Navy during the war. He told me stories but I regret not asking him for further details.

By: TeacherPatti

TeacherPatti — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 22:47:44 +0000

My husband and I have watched every episode. I wish that I could teach a course just on this series!

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 20:33:36 +0000

I have watched through Sunday’s episode. It is good. I love the way he mixes (amazing) war footage with recollections of the soldiers and families and others who lived through it. In a way, I find these stories oddly romantic.
There were two episodes, though, where he seemed to tack on some extra footage after what looked like to be the end. One was about a Hispanic veteran and the other about a Native American veteran. Fascinating stories, but they just seemed to be put in there as afterthoughts.

By: Robert D.

Robert D. — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 18:22:05 +0000

I’m sure Mr. Burns has done an excellent job on “The War”, but I think I’ll be skipping it for a while. The problem is that there are whole channels almost dedicated to World War II (i.e., The History Channel). There’s a reason my mother would call it “The Hitler Channel” when she sees my father watching something on it.

By: john schaffer

john schaffer — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 17:54:50 +0000

I’m about 1/2 through the 4th episode. I have to start after I get the kids to bed, but this will be one of those shows that my kids will watch when they’ve reached the appropriate age.

I’ve actually choked back a few tears during some of this, but it wasn’t because of the horrifying truth of the War. Rather, it was an overwhelming sense of how wonderful my life is today as a result of the hard work our Grandfathers were obligated to do. It’s a very humbling series.

Watching this series also shines a spotlight on the difference in our generations.

That’s for another discussion.

‘Nuff said…