312 | Caroline Marsden (Vietnam: The War That Changed America)

My Summer Lair Chapter #312: Do You Know The Real Story Of Vietnam?

Look, I’m an ’80s kid — World War II never really resonated with me. Some meh and a little bit of eh.

Especially in pop culture Nazis are mostly cheap, disposable goons. They’re Indiana Jones relics.

Vietnam though…Vietnam saturated ’80s pop culture and shaped the stories stories we shared.

Apocalypse Now to Taxi Driver to Rambo to Tropic Thunder, Platoon, The Simpsons, Die Hard, A-Team. And of course, so much more. For a war we couldn’t openly discuss we told a lot of ‘Nam tales.

Mekong Delta, Da Nang, Saigon, Hamburger Hill, the Ho Chi Minh trail: yo I only know this fierce Vietnam geography from a legion of ’80s action movies.

I spent countless hours sweating in dense jungles, terrified the Viet Cong had set up tripwires.
Horrified I helplessly watched as American soldiers committed war crimes.
I cheered when Soldiers of Fortune brazenly rescued POWs.
I attempted to process what we now call PTSD when the soldiers returned home. Many from that grim war came home either wounded physically and/or mentally.

We lived with Vietnam like a lousy roommate.

But…what really happened?

So often, I’ve only viewed the Vietnam war through a fictional lens.

Ethan Hawke as the narrator of Vietnam: The War That Changed America, says in the first episode:
“You may have seen movies about Vietnam, but this is the real story.”

Yes. Tell me. I wanna know and hear this.

This fascinating six-part docuseries “commemorates the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War, offering a deeply human look at the lives of those who lived through one of the most divisive conflicts in American history.”

It smoothly adds much-needed historical context to the complex experiences and dense emotions many of us inherited from all the films, TV shows, songs and occasionally secondhand stories.

The six-part docuseries has a noticeable arc. It’s immersive with soldiers in Vietnam, bit it also confirms how polarizing the war became in America. With skillful nuance it covers the anti-war movement while posing an essential question. Since war requires at least two nations, what scars did this conflict leave on the Vietnamese? (Often we (understandably) only present the American wounds.)

To discuss all this, I welcomed the docuseries producer, Caroline Marsden to My Summer Lair. We talked about what makes Ethan Hawke the ideal narrator for this war documentary. (He’s excellent. Is that an odd comment to make about a narrator?)

And yes she and I talk about the impressive soundtrack — you’ve never heard a documentary scored with music this good. (The Doors, The Rolling Stones, The Animals, The Who and I suppose other bands whose names start with The.)

Caroline was a producer on World War II: From the Frontlines (you can check it out on Netflix. Though it’s another eat your vegetables engagement.)

Discovering that tidbit I was elated and so grateful for a rare opportunity. We view America through the spectacle of those 2 crucial wars. So, I’m curious…how was Vietnam different (or similar?) to World War II?

Finally, we unpacked the potent imagery. Vietnam was the first “TV war” and the docuseries presents some truly stunning footage. Caroline and I explore some of those powerful visuals — but honestly, you need to see it to believe it. It’s one of those arrangements.

More than 58,000 U.S. military personnel died in Vietnam. The docuseries traces the story from the first boots on the ground — March 8, 1965, when U.S. combat troops came ashore near Da Nang in South Vietnam.

Ultimately, Vietnam was a catastrophic American failure that unfolded over the course of five presidents: Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon.

Vietnam on Apple TV @ W • T • F

Host Sammy Younan

Recorded: Tuesday, February 18, 2025 at 10:00 am (EST)

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