“Vietnam: The War That Changed America,” a new six-episode docuseries available on Apple TV+, tells the story of the Vietnam War through the perspective of diverse lives it affected.
The series gives viewers a thorough historical overview of the war, with each episode highlighting major events in Vietnam and the social conflicts the war created in the United States. The project feels honest, timely and educational while capturing and entertaining viewers.
“Vietnam: The War That Changed America” was released on Jan. 31, but a free event at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History on Jan. 30 gave the audience an early look at episode two before it was available to stream.
The early screening featured a panel of individuals who worked on the show, including Executive Producer David Glover, Producer Caroline Marsden, Vietnam veteran 1st Lt. Bill Broyles, author and Digital Military Historian Erik Villard and Hilary Brown, an ABC News foreign correspondent who reported on the war.
Smithsonian Vietnam War historian Frank A. Blazich moderated the discussion.
“Our aim with this series was to try and take it sort of out of the history books and to try and make it a kind of experience,” Glover said during the panel discussion. “In these moments of extreme darkness and intensity, you also get some amazing shafts of light.”
The overarching narrative of the docuseries is beautifully crafted by assembling personal stories about love, friendship, adventure and what happens when the human psyche is pushed to the limit. It pairs these first-person accounts with real video footage from the war.
“Being the first television war, it was kind of the first war we really were seeing in that vivid technicolor,” Villard said during the panel.
Although the title of the series is “The War That Changed America,” the focus is the impact the war had on the United States, one of the series’ main strengths is how it ties together varied perspectives.
In each episode, Vietnam veterans are interviewed about their experience serving during the war. South Vietnamese civilians, Viet Cong fighters and North Vietnamese soldiers also give gripping testimonies.
“It was really important to us to get all sides of the story,” Marsden said during the panel discussion. “We’re incredibly grateful to everybody who shared their stories.”
The archival footage brings viewers to the location of the war, and the soundtrack brings them to the time period. Though it may feel a bit at odds with the somewhat distressing subject matter, the upbeat music is well thought out, and gives the show a distinct ‘60s and ‘70s vibe.
Aretha Franklin asks listeners to think, the Beatles speak of revolution and Elvis croons about burning love.
The series was released around the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, reaching both those who lived through it, and younger generations who may know little about it.
“Vietnam is not ancient history. It is alive right now,” Broyles said. “What people are seeing on their cell phones is not new.”
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was first recognized as a mental health condition in the years following the Vietnam War. According to a 2015 study, there is a high prevalence of PTSD in veterans who served in the Vietnam Theater.
“If this film helps, you know, even one veteran to feel a bit less alone it will have been a success,” Marsden said on the panel.
The docuseries is undoubtedly worth watching, especially for those who wish for a comprehensive and well-rounded understanding of the Vietnam War and how it affected the United States.
As narrator Ethan Hawke says in the first episode, “You may have seen movies about Vietnam, but this is the real story.”
This article was edited by Alia Messina, Marina Zaczkiewicz and Abigail Turner. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks.
