Thursday, September 28, 2017

PBS "The Vietnam War" (Not political)

For my generation, the Vietnam War was the defining issue of the day. As it turns out, everyone was right and everyone was wrong.

In my mind, there were TWO sets of heroes during the Vietnam War: the kids that fought the war and the kids that protested the war.

Ken Burns series created very strong emotions for the people that fought the war, the people that protested the war and for everyone that watched the program. It was hard to watch and hard not to shed tears at different parts of the program.

Was anything resolved?

No!!!! But having lived as long as I have, I recognize that discussing issues with people that disagree with you does not change minds. What does change minds is the discussions that we have in our own head.

The longer we live, the more we no longer see a black and white world but really every shade of gray.

No minds are ever changed during a debate...If we leave our minds open and live long enough, many of us understand that there really is another side to the story that we were unable to see when we were younger.

The Ken Burns series will be repeated many times and would be wise to see it. It is also being streamed so you can watch it any time you want.

Keep an open mind.