The writing life (7)
Last night, while covering the preview of Ken Burns’s new World War II film in Concord, I was reminded of both a disadvantage and an advantage of being a reporter at this stage in my career.
The disadvantage is this: I’m set in my opinions and must guard against letting these opinions guide my approach to a story. Readers might find it hard to believe, but this is not a problem in covering, say, presidential politics. I am curious about a wide spectrum of candidates – nearly all of them, in fact – and have no trouble separating my views from my task as a reporter and commenter on the political scene.
But on a subject like World War II, I know just what I think, and it’s pretty much what Ken Burns thinks. I feel desperation about the World War II generation dying off with so many of its war stories and home-front tales untold. And I worry, as Burns does, that rising generations know too little about that seminal event of the 20th century.
So my approach to writing about the Burns project is certainly sympathetic.
The advantage? Well, two advantages.
First, I am the son of a World War II soldier, I know a lot about the war, and I co-authored a book on one aspect of it. Even though Vernon Vermouth, one of the veterans I interviewed at the Burns preview, stumped me when he said he had served in CBI, I know about Bataan, I’ve been to Normandy and Bastogne (“Nuts!”), I’ve read plenty about Hitler’s killing machine. (CBI, incidentally, is China-Burma-India, where Vermouth guarded airstrips behind a 50-caliber machine gun.)
And second, I have been watching Burns’s work for a quarter century. I know where this film fits in. I know his techniques and his approach to history. I know the impact of his films, especially the Civil War series. And I know he is a superb P.T. Barnum for his projects, as seasoned at marketing as he is at film-making.
These advantages make it easier to write knowledgeably about both Burns and his subject. Before the film debuts in September, I’m going to watch all 14½ hours and review it for the Monitor. It’s a challenge I’m looking forward to.
Stories from the Past
I enjoy listening to older Americans talk about the times in which they grew up, what was impacting their lives, and how they lead their lives.
As a daughter of a WWII vet, and the wife of a Vietnam vet, I also worry about so many stories that will be lost when these veterans die. But I'm also concerned about the lives of those who fought in a different way, here on the home front. These stories also need to be preserved.
I have been heartened by a project which was taking place at what is now the National WWII Museum (formerly the D-Day Museum) in New Orleans. They had started to collect the verbal history of many veterans, so that their memories of the war would not be forgotten. Since Hurricane Katrina, the name of the museum changed to the National WWII Museum, and I'm not sure what has happened to this project.
Our younger generations know nothing of the sacrifices made by the soldiers of WWII and their families back home. This is an important piece of history, worth preserving. I'm glad that Ken Burns has finally told this story.