Podbit · Empire: World History
Was Vietnam the moment America's imperial project became visible to itself? Ken Burns says no. The project began with the subjugation of 300 Native American nations across the continental United States. Vietnam just made it impossible to ignore.
Where this was said
At 25:20 · chapter starts 25:10
Anita's question is precise: was Vietnam when America's imperial project became visible to itself? [1] — Ken Burns "A Marine and a North Vietnamese soldier describe the experience of war in almost exactly the same words. The opening of Burns's Vietnam ser…" 26:11 Burns agrees it was important, but corrects the premise. America's imperial project began not in Southeast Asia but with the subjugation of 300 Native American nations across the continental United States. Vietnam made that project undeniable. His own approach to the 10-episode, 18-hour documentary was to treat the universality of war seriously: pairing Marines with North Vietnamese soldiers describing the same moments in almost identical language. The series opens not with an American voice but with North Vietnamese soldier Bao Dinh's statement — 'the only people who want to know who won and who lost are the people who don't fight' — a line Burns cites as perhaps the truest thing ever said about war.
Burns argues America's imperial project began with the subjugation of 300 Native American nations across the continental United States, not with later overseas adventures.
Ken Burns's Vietnam War documentary series ran for 10 episodes totalling 18 hours, opening with a North Vietnamese soldier's perspective.
A Marine and a North Vietnamese soldier describe the experience of war in almost exactly the same words. The opening of Burns's Vietnam series comes from Bao Dinh, a North Vietnamese soldier: 'The only people who want to know who won and who lost are the people who don't fight.'
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