Couch Potato Time - For "The War" effort.

[Tom WA3KLR]

Tonight at 8 p.m. on PBS, Ken Burn's 7 part series "The War" starts.  This documentary is on World War II.

The parts are either 2 hours or 2 1/2 hours each.  Here, the Philadelphia station will immediately re-run the part until 12 or 1 a.m.

Airing on WHYY TV12:

-Sunday, Sept. 23, 8-10:30 pm
-Monday, Sept. 24, 8-10 pm
-Tuesday, Sept. 25, 8-10 pm
-Wednesday, Sept. 26, 8-10:30 pm
-Sunday, Sept. 30, 8-10:30 pm
-Monday, Oct. 1, 8-10 pm
-Tuesday, Oct. 2, 8-10:30 pm

73 and don't each too much junk food.

[W4EWH]

Tonight at 8 p.m. on PBS, Ken Burn's 7 part series "The War" starts.  This documentary is on World War II.

I'm going to wait until he gets to Vietnam. That is a story I want to see him do.

Bill W1AC

Operator, Nav/Marcorps MARS N0EFL Danang

[k4kyv]

He did one on the Civil War.  I missed that one.  Maybe they will do a re-run some day. 

It starts here at 7 pm, with an immediate re-run following the first showing.  I'll probably take in the later showing.  7pm is still daytime here because of that @%$# DST.

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

You can get the DVDs, Don.

[W1EUJ]

Don,

 The Civil War aired in 1990. It was aired again through the 90's. I think it'll be some time before it airs complete again.

Dave Goncalves
W1EUJ

[N3DRB The Derb]

I watched it. My first impression is that he scattered his story line too much between personal stories and stuff like news reel footage. I hope it gets better.

[Bill, KD0HG]

He did one on the Civil War.  I missed that one.  Maybe they will do a re-run some day. 

Burns' civil war series was incredible.

[Ed KB1HVS]

Everything Ken Burns has done I found to be very enjoyable. I especially liked Baseball and......

[N3DRB The Derb]

yes the civil war series is worth buying. Empire of the Air is good for hams. I didnt see Baseball or Jazz.

[W3SLK]

I recorded 'Empire of the Air' when it was first shown on PBS. Later that year my wife bought me the book for Christmas. The one thing I found amusing, (later on), was that when David Sarnoff was a little boy overseas, the Rabbi's there would (like the triodes his future business venture, RCA would make) make him "Sing for his supper!"

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

I agree. It didn't seem as tight as the civil war series. But, I know much more about WWII than I do the civil war, so I may have missed some of this in the previous series.

The personal interviews and insights are the most interesting.

I watched it. My first impression is that he scattered his story line too much between personal stories and stuff like news reel footage. I hope it gets better.

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

Everything Ken Burns has done I found to be very enjoyable. I especially liked Baseball and......

Yes, Empire of the Air is a classic, must-see/read for those truly interested in radio's rise.

If you watch through the end of the program credits, there's a little CW message referring to his baseball documentary. 

[Tom WA3KLR]

The Civil War series just played here again and had been running for a while, ending right before the start of "The War" series.

On the first part of "The War" last night there were a couple shots of restored radios playing, one sporting it's 6E5 magic eye tube.

[John K5PRO]

There was a very good series on Vietnam about 10 years ago or less. Wasn't it by Ken Burns?

[k4kyv]

On the first part of "The War" last night there were a couple shots of restored radios playing, one sporting it's 6E5 magic eye tube.

Wasn't there also a brief shot of FDR, with a Hallicrafters communications receiver in the background?

[WU2D]

Ken Burns is a local NH guy who has a gift that people believe in and support with big dollars..

Jazz was fantastic - I remember I was on the road glued to the set when I could have been out drinking free beer.
 
The Civil War was also excellent.

I thought last nights episode was good, bringing the hometown aspect in and the frankness and treatment of the attrocites was certainly an honest coverage I have not seen before. The message that I got in the first episode was that this was not a good war at all but it was a necessary war.

Mike WU2D

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

What the hell is a good war?

[WU2D]

The Good War is a telling of the oral history of World War II written by Studs Terkel. The book, written in 1984, received a Pulitzer Prize. It is a firsthand account of people involved before, during and after the war, challenging the prevailing notion that World War II was a time of unblemished national solidarity, goodwill, and unified purpose in contrast to the Vietnam War era.

From Wikipedia

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

That idea is a myth. No such war ever existed or ever will. Wars are nasty and people die. There nothing good about that. Even our Revolutionary War had tons of nasty incidents and a lot of barbarity. And it was not universally supported (by some accounts, it wasn't even supported by a majority). However, one needs to look at the bigger picture. What good resulted from the war? In the case of WWII, lots! So in that sense, it was a good war.

But a war not fought can be just as bad, since people die and nasty things happen in those cases too.

[K3ZS]

There was a Hallicrafters Sky Buddy (S-19?) being listened to by some troops.

[WU2D]

I thought that was a Sky Buddy too. Shorter Chassis.

Mike WU2D

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

Dodo that I am, I missed the first night. This after discussing it with the wife over the phone Sunday. She mentioned she wanted to watch it, I assumed it was further in the future. Guess I don't watch enough TV?

I agree that this series (so far) seems less focused, or maybe more emotional and less focused on the historical facts behind it all?

One shot featured 3 GIs sitting on an embankment, the center guy leaning back holding a SCR-511 'Horsey-Talkie/Pogo Stick' transmitter across his chest while wearing the chest unit and headphones. Saw some other shots of gear too, just can't remember what.

That idea is a myth. No such war ever existed or ever will. Wars are nasty and people die. There nothing good about that.

That's it, precisely. The media, in its rush to be simplistic yet all-knowing, likes to talk about the 'anti-war' and 'pro-war' side of things. Of all the military folks I've spoken with through the years - veterans or active duty -  I've never met one who was pro-war. They detest it, yet understand fully the cost of not standing up against evil is far higher to those who love freedom. In fact, those who serve are far more anti-war than the protesters in the street, in my experiences. So much so that they are willing to do what is necessary to protect others from it and preserve freedom, to the point of giving their lives.

You'd think the world would've figured it out by now. I wonder if they'll show Ken's series in Europe or the Middle East?

[W8EJO]

There are indeed "Good Wars" when one considers the unimaginably horrific alternative to our victories over various & sundry evil bastards.

WW II is one such example.

To be a US soldier, marine or sailor is the highest & most noble of all callings, bar none. To stare death in the face for God, county & freedom takes the greatest courage a man can offer.

God Bless the men who fight for our great country.

[K1MVP]

 Of all the military folks I've spoken with through the years - veterans or active duty -  I've never met one who was pro-war. They detest it, yet understand fully the cost of not standing up against evil is far higher to those who love freedom. In fact, those who serve are far more anti-war than the protesters in the street, in my experiences. So much so that they are willing to do what is necessary to protect others from it and preserve freedom, to the point of giving their lives.

Those who serve do not have the "luxury" (or time) to protest in the streets,--they have a job to do
and they do it.
Most of those who protest in the streets never served even 1 day in the service, but they like to
think they are doing the nation a big "service" waving thier signs and shouting in the streets.
                                                         73, K1MVP

P.S,--crazy part is, folks in (the military) are fighting for "freedom of speech"  for even those who
        "yell and shout" in the streets and yet THEY get demonized by those very same"anti war" protestors. 

[k4kyv]

Most of us are indeed fortunate to have happened not to be born at the right time to have had to fight in that hellish war.  I simply can't imagine the situation of every able-bodied male, from adolescents through middle-aged men, having to face the distinct likelihood that sooner or later, in the near future, they would die in excruciating agony in some god-forsaken hell hole.

I can't begin to comprehend how it might have felt to spend weeks or months in a muddy swamp or in freezing cold, with bullets, explosives, blood, body parts and the stench of rotting corpses all around you, watching people you know personally getting blown to bits every single day.

So far, the film has pieced together the sequence of events in the course of the war better for me than I have understood in the past.

But to have been a infantryman on the ground in continental Europe during WW1 would have been just as bad or worse. If I recall history correctly, during a battle in the vicinity of Verdun, as many as 30,000 soldiers died over one 24-hour period.