Vietnam: la guerre qui a changé l'Amérique

As Episode 1 of "Vietnam: The War That Changed America" (2025 release; 6 episodes ranging from 38 to 47 min) opens, narrator Ethan Hawke that 2025 narks the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam war, and the Vietnam war was the first to so openly provide press (both written and filmed) access. We then go to "March 9, 1965" when there are 75,000 US combat troops, many just kids straight out of high school in Vietnam, fighting against the Viet Con from the north. At this point we are 10 minutes into Episode 1.

Couple of comments: this documentary mini-series provides a concise overview of what happened in the Vietnam war, at that time the longest war ever in US history playing out over 4 US presidents. I cam to this country from Belgium in the early 80s when I was in my early 20s, and my knowledge of the Vietnam war was rather limited to what I saw on TV or in the movies. In other words: a lot of holes which I feel this mini-series does an excellent job in filling. The documentary makers interview a lot of people who lived through it, both from the US and from the Vietnamese (north and south). It is now clear that the US could not and would not win this war, even with 500,000 soldiers in Vietnam at one point. I also must mention the infamous scene towards the very end when helicopters were pushed into the ocean from the air carrier. I had never understood what was happening. Well, this documentary explains all of the context of what was going on at that time. And I now finally understand it.

"Vietnam: The War That Changed America" started streaming on Apple TV in the last week of so. I watched a;; 6 episodes over 2 evenings. This mini-series is currently rated 100% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, which feels a little too generous to me. All that aside, if you have an interest in the Vietnam war or in this country's history, I'd readily suggest you check it out and draw your own conclusion.