What not to learn from Vietnam

The 18-hour documentary 'The Vietnam War' intimately exposes its audience to the trauma of war

As the dust settles on the 18-hour documentary “The Vietnam War,” it seems unlikely that the longstanding debates engendered by the conflict will abate much in the film’s aftermath. As is so often the case, most reviews, some written even before the first episode of Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s epic aired, reveal more about the reviewer than the film itself. When it comes to the war in Vietnam, there are plenty of hobbyhorses to mount.

It will take time for American viewers to process this documentary (on which, full disclosure, I served as a historical adviser). Old wounds are reopened.