Letter: False history lives on at PBS

Ken Burns loves using government money to rewrite our nation’s history, and his latest presentation on the Vietnam War is no exception.

In this instance, the bad guys are United States politicians, voters and those individuals stupid enough to fight in that war. As one who volunteered to fight in Vietnam, I find this grating.

Multiple times in the episode, This is What We Do, those who fled to Canada call their decision “heroic.” They make no mention of the individuals who fought, and perhaps died, in their place. Of course, the majority of those who fled would return following President Carter’s blanket pardon.

Every year, Vietnam celebrates its great victory over the fall of Saigon on April 30, but it was a Pyrrhic victory at best.

Hundreds of thousands of North Vietnamese army, Viet Cong and civilians died during the war, and for what? They fought for a dyed-in-the-wool communist state, but only authoritarian party members are communists today.

Presently, it is one of the fastest-growing capitalist nations in Asia. Perhaps if they had waited, reunification could have taken place without firing a shot — like East and West Germany.

This story was originally published October 3, 2017 at 4:42 PM with the headline "Letter: False history lives on at PBS."