The topic of the VLP Project has shifted to the Vietnam War, specifically battles that have not yet been assigned. However, these works by O'Brien and Burns present aspects and themes that can be useful in the production of the VLP Project assigned.
Documenting the Vietnam War enables the author to enhance
the historical context and evidence to provide a powerful message to the
viewers. With the participation in the Veteran’s Legacy Project in the
University of Central Florida, some examples of works done were provided for
inspiration, information, and the aspects these works discuss. Tim O’Brien’s The
Things They Carried was a collection of short stories within the novel that
humanized the characters and made them more relatable or believable. Ken Burns’
documentary on the Vietnam War uses oral history with interviews, photographs
of the war, and a narration to provide information to the viewer. These works
provide some foundation in what aspects and themes that can be covered within
the VLP such as humanity, morality, and perspective of the war.
The sense of presenting historical content with the raw emotion
of the veterans exhibited by both O’Brien’s novel and the documentary connects
with the viewers. Seeing a Vietnam veteran speaking to the camera with his face
clearly distraught about remembering his fallen comrade can not be
accurately put into words. Ken Burns’ documentary provides the viewer with
ample interviews of veterans and those involved in South Korea. He utilizes stories
of people to help the narrative flow fluidly. For example, in the episode “Resolve”
Burns presents a man named Denton Crocker Jr. with a picture of him that desired
to serve his country at an early age. While Crocker was accepted into the prestigious
101st Airborne, he finds the role of running logistics to be “boring”
and disappointing.[1]
Burns utilizes Crocker to accentuate how some Americans viewed Vietnam as a war
to emulate World War II. This example provides for a smooth transition to the
main thesis of Burns’ documentary. In addition, the viewer identifies with
Crocker after knowing his name, a family member talking about worrying of his
return, and establishes a connection. Having the support of these human
examples, the thesis that Burns presents is strengthened and made more
believable.
O’Brien’s work tends to accentuate the soldier’s perspective
as a veteran himself. Characters within the short stories react more
emotionally such as O’Brien’s reaction to his first kill or Lieutenant Jimmy
Cross’ anguish over a soldier’s death. In the short story, “The Man I Killed”,
O’Brien fabricates this false narrative of what the person he killed had done
in their life, giving himself guilt over the act. Other characters present
different ways of coping with the immense trauma of serving in the Vietnam War.
Some instances of coping remain harmless such as Cross’ infatuation with a
woman in the United States or Henry Dobbin’s identification of his ex-girlfriend’s
pantyhose as a good luck charm.[2]
Other means of coping act as a danger to those around them as seen by Azar’s
acts of cruelty or Kiley’s cruel treatment of an animal after a traumatic
death. These instances provide the reader with a sense of how American soldiers
were coping and O’Brien presents several different ways as a means to not hold
it to one coping mechanism. In addition, the short stories, while not chronological,
aid in depicting development with the characters and a sense of understanding
how these characters act. Building this connection with the characters serves
to sympathize and understand how they react to certain incidents. This work humanizes
the characters or the interviewers to attract their readers or viewers to understand
the Vietnam War accurately.
These works aid in the process of selecting the threads or
aspects of the Vietnam War covered with the VLP which include the human aspects
of the war while sticking to a larger narrative. Brien’s work lacks narrative
information on the Vietnam War, yet provides for ample evidence on how soldiers
react and cope with their service. Burns’ remarks that writing stories
regarding these characters can “revive, at least briefly, that which is
absolute and unchanging.[3]
The Ken Burns’ documentary on the Vietnam War blends the oral history of
interviews with the larger narrative, allowing for that connection with the
human side while providing the narrative. The VLP project short video that I will work
on should connect with the viewer with inspiration of finding the balance
between the larger narrative and the subtle smaller human side of the conflict.
Works Cited:
O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. Boston:
Mariner Books, 2009.
Ward, Geoffrey, writer. The Vietnam War. Season 1,
episode 2, “Riding the Tiger (1961-1963).” Directed by Ken Burns and Lynn
Novick. Aired September 18, 2017. PBS, 2017. https://www.netflix.com/title/80997770
Ward, Geoffrey, writer. The Vietnam War. Season 1, episode
4, “Resolve (January 1966 – June 1967).” Directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick.
Aired September 20, 2017. PBS, 2017. https://www.netflix.com/title/80997770
[1] The
Vietnam War, season 1 episode 4, “Resolve (January 1966- June 1967),
directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. PBS, 2017. https://www.netflix.com/title/80997770
[3] O
Brien, The Things They Carried, 224.
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