Ken Burns' "The War"

[operafan]

I haven't been watching this and I know it is ongoing. Is there any mention of gay soldiers - or does anyone know if there will be?

Also, Burns has been criticized because he originally left out stories of Hispanics and American Indians - which he later included. I just wondered if the gays got left out as well.

 

[pacz]

Haven't seen any of this documentary yet, but since you brought up Ken Burn's, I just wanted to say that he is absolutely amazing! He can make a documentary out of the life of a pin and make it fascinating!

 

[Txgoodoldboy]

I've been watching "The War", very interesting. So far, no mention of gays.

Several months ago, I rented a DVD called, Coming Out Under Fire, (1994).

In this engrossing documentary that examines the U.S. military's history of blatant discrimination against gays and lesbians, nine gay men and women relate riveting stories of how they maintained a homosexual identity, although closeted, in the armed forces during World War II. Footage includes the 1993 Senate hearings on gays in the military, which coined the slogan and recruitment rule, "Don't ask, don't tell." Arthur Dong directs.

It was very good.

 

[Centexfarmer]

Yeah, I've been keeping up with it.

It's quite good.

As to the "any mention of gay soldiers?"

Early on in the series there was a mention that if you answered the questions wrong, while being recruited, you'd be excluded from service.

The simple question was, "Do you like Girls." If you answered no, then you weren't allowed to enlist. However, when the draft became necessary the military quickly overlooked those affirmative answers.

One of the reasons why the contributions of Hispanics or Native Americans weren't included in this, is because Ken Burns narrowed the experience of The War down to four communities; Sacramento, California, Lurvern, Minnesota, Mobile, Alabama, and Waterbury, Connecticut.

PBS has been showing a lot of "supplemental" work that Burns put together to compensate, and a lot of what I've seen has been just as engrossing.

So far, nothing of substance about us.

 

[Jannus]

There was a brief mention (two nights ago?) that the US military tried to screen for gays during WWII by asking on some form "Do you like girls?" Evidently, it was supposed to flag you as potentially unfit for service if you gave the wrong answer.

No word on how many men were rejected from military service on the basis of their sexuality, or how many gays may actually have served during the war.

I've only caught little bits and pieces of the program, however, so I wouldn't know if there has been much discussion of the homosexual "problem" generally during the war.

Ooops, sorry. Centexfarmer beat me to it!

 

[GL]

Yeah, I've been keeping up with it.

It's quite good.

As to the "any mention of gay soldiers?"

Early on in the series there was a mention that if you answered the questions wrong, while being recruited, you'd be excluded from service.

The simple question was, "Do you like Girls." If you answered no, then you weren't allowed to enlist. However, when the draft became necessary the military quickly overlooked those affirmative answers.

One of the reasons why the contributions of Hispanics or Native Americans weren't included in this, is because Ken Burns narrowed the experience of The War down to four communities; Sacramento, California, Lurvern, Minnesota, Mobile, Alabama, and Waterbury, Connecticut.

PBS has been showing a lot of "supplemental" work that Burns put together to compensate, and a lot of what I've seen has been just as engrossing.

So far, nothing of substance about us.

to be completely honest i don't particularly care to see this documentary. not right now at least. irrelevant of the filmmakers reasons, it really bothers me that my uncles who served in wwii are considered "supplemental." as i see it it's just another snub of latinos and hispanics at a time when we're generally considered to be second class.

 

[SantaCBear]

Seen all 3 so far... It's Burns Doc let him do it the way he wants! He added about 20mins to the 1st one about Hispanics but the way it was tacked on at the end seemed awkward.

 

[SantaCBear]

to be completely honest i don't particularly care to see this documentary. not right now at least. irrelevant of the filmmakers reasons, it really bothers me that my uncles who served in wwii are considered "supplemental." as i see it it's just another snub of latinos and hispanics at a time when we're generally considered to be second class.

I understand...

 

[bike10]

Have watched also but not seen reference to gay fighting men am sure there ere many to fought and died for us in WW II.

 

[Centexfarmer]

to be completely honest i don't particularly care to see this documentary. not right now at least. irrelevant of the filmmakers reasons, it really bothers me that my uncles who served in wwii are considered "supplemental." as i see it it's just another snub of latinos and hispanics at a time when we're generally considered to be second class.

Well, while I completely respect your position on this and you know that I do, the additional/supplemental stuff that has been put together goes in to much more detail about the contributions of Mexican-Americans than the general "gloss over" given to so many "whites" and "blacks," and "woman" in the "war effort" provided in the original piece.

But I do agree, America's involvement in WWII was a concerted effort by everyone involved, and I personally feel that Ken Burns should have taken greater strides in being as inclusive as possible. Especially considering the Contributions of the many Mexican-Americans/Tejanos who gave their lives in that conflict.

 

[NineOfClubs]

I've been watching most of it.

I have to say it seems to be about another species of human. The public was so totally involved in the war, and the government told them next to nothing. Also, the air war over in Europe (the part I saw about 1943) seemed an exercise in "human sacrifice".

In today's world, with blogs, 24 hour cable programs, talk radio, etc. no such effort could be made. And, maybe that's a good thing, not really sure....