Parents' Guide to Vietnam: The War That Changed America

The poignant six-part docuseries offers in-depth and frequently emotional firsthand accounts of one of the longest wars in U.S. history. The compilations of personal stories from U.S. and Vietnamese veterans, Vietcong, and American and Vietnamese civilians shared throughout Vietnam: The War That Changed America are often hard to listen to, and the accompanying media footage is hard to watch. In addition to the expected conversations about ambushes, mortal wounds, and, in the case of former POWs like U.S. Navy Pilot Porter Halyburton, time spent in notorious prisons like the "Hanoi Hilton," some of the featured U.S. veterans are also quite introspective, demonstrating how they balance the guilt they feel about the things they did in Vietnam with the pride they feel for having served their country. Others talk about how they struggled with people's lack of support for the war and, in some cases, their own feeling of disillusionment.

Meanwhile, former Black soldiers like Melvin Pender, who was removed from his post in Vietnam to represent the United States in the 1968 Olympics, and Malik Edwards, a former Marine and Black Panther, share how they dealt with fighting for a country that oppresses them because of their race. The conversations with Vietnamese military and Vietcong also offer interesting viewpoints about their roles in the war, including the sense of patriotism that inspired their unyielding aggression against the United States, while Vietnamese civilians talk about the innocent lives destroyed. These honest, profound conversations help chronicle the events of the complicated war within a human context. Vietnam: The War That Changed America is an intense viewing experience, but it's also exceptional.