[Magdalen] Viet Nam Series.

[Cantor03 at aol.com]

I'm surprised that no one has commented on the ongoing USA
PBS Network series (Burns, et al) about the Viet Nam War.
This is a very much in depth group of mostly 2 hour sessions
on that difficult and unpopular conflict and extending through
two weeks.
 
I suppose that any American under, say, 45, would have relatively
less interest in the series, and even for those of us who lived  through
and remember the Viet Nam War, the subject is often approached 
with ambivalence.  
 
In any case, I am watching and following this documentary series
with considerable interest, as it is calling into question many of my
opinions and beliefs about the War.  For example, I always  thought
of the leader of North Viet Nam, Ho Chi Min, as a routine Communist
thug, but the series paints a much different picture.
 
The Viet Nam War had a profound affect on me because I was
drafted and then allowed to accept a commission as a Captain
in the US Army Medical Corps in February of 1966, and was then
allowed (nicely!) to finish my dermatology residency at  UM-Minneapolis
Medical School and entered active duty at Ft. Sam Houston, San
Antonio, TX in August, 1966.
 
I was assigned to a duty station at Frankfurt/M, Germany after a
two month entrance training, but discovered that to take this  position,
I had to give them 3+ years instead of the usual draftee two years.
It was considered a "plum" assignment.  It was.  Living in  Europe
for more than three years made a profound impact on me and the
family, and it was all "thanks" to the Viet Nam War.
 
 
David S.