Vietnam War // Current TV

Hippie Digest: Storm Thorgerson, RIP – Berkeley Hippies Attack… – Laos Hippies during Vietnam – ‘Searching for Sugar Man’ – Ours is yours

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A DAYDREAMER-Discovering hippies and teen rebellion when... more

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The Lyndon Johnson tapes: Richard Nixon's "treason"

"By the time of the election in November 1968, LBJ had evidence Nixon had... more

Cabal
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Tomgram: Jonathan Schell, Seeing the Reality of the Vietnam War, 50 Years Late

“Strafe the town and kill the people, Drop napalm in the square, Get out early... more

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McGovern: He Never Sold His Soul

In the summer of 1972, when I was 15, I persuaded my parents to let me ride my bike... more

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George McGovern (1922-2012), The Essential American

Peace out . . . http://latestbloomer.uskoa.com/?p=1252

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George Jackson Aftermath – Bolivian Overthrow – Soup Recall – August 22, 1971 « Past Daily

This day on Planet Earth in 1971.

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Nixon Cooking – Cambodia Done – Mae West Ageing – August 17, 1973 « Past Daily

Another haywire week on Planet Earth in 1973.

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9 months ago
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A Soldier’s Heart: Let There Be Light

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is the invisible wound that scars war veterans, and some individuals are so afflicted that they die physically or psychologically from this traumatic wound through suicide, homicide or incurable psychosis. In 2012, this disorder is recognized and understood in ways it never was before, making it more possible for traumatized men and women to get the help they need. However, war-related PTSD certainly isn’t new, and when the 20th century and its technological might ushered in massively brutal, worldwide conflicts that buried forever idea of a “gentleman’s war,” it also drastically increased the psychological pressures on combat troops. Motion pictures have been used to document the many aspects of war. Over the years, the United States government has commissioned a number of documentaries that look at soldiers returning from theaters of war, as they attempt to reintegrate into the society they left behind.

Perhaps the most famous documentary about returning soldiers is the 1946 film “Let There Be Light” by the acclaimed filmmaker John Huston, who considered the film to be one of his best movies. However, its fame derives mainly from being kept hidden for 35 years after it was made, by a War Department uncomfortable with the notion that there is any lasting downside to war for the returning veteran. The War Department was so uneasy about this documentary that it had the film remade as “Shades of Gray,” a propaganda docudrama based on “Let There Be Light,” which not only eliminated African-American soldiers from the cast, but also suggested that only soldiers who were disturbed before they went to war broke down upon their return.

Film history isn’t the only context in which to appreciate Huston’s hour-long documentary, his third and final film for the Army Signal Corps. “Let There Be Light” is also one of the earliest commercial depictions of psychotherapy, in this case the military’s use of it to treat what we now call Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The U.S. military now offers a wide array of pre- and post-battle therapies to help soldiers recover from traumatic experiences. In contrast, “Let There Be Light’s” gruff doctors, who inject sodium amytal and conduct religious group therapy sessions, look prehistoric by comparison.

Nevertheless, “Let There Be Light,” like its routinely under-appreciated 1946 fictional counterpart, “The Best Years of Our Lives,” remains essential viewing. Each of the films conveys a sense of compassion toward soldiers; the soldiers presented in these films don’t ask to be called heroes, they only want normalcy. Today’s returning soldiers surely feel the same, and yet their experiences on the battlefield are increasingly abnormal, even unknown, to most people they encounter upon returning.

Seven months after the War Department forcibly prevented “Let There Be Light” from premiering at New York City’s Museum of Modern Art, a disabled Army veteran named Harold Russell became the only man to win two Oscars for the same performance. Russell received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and an Honorary Award for Nonprofessional aActing for his role as a returned soldier in “The Best Years of Our Lives.” William Wyler’s 168-minute drama concerns the homecomings of three soldiers, and it was showered with awards throughout the winter and spring of 1947, including a Best Picture Oscar and multiple Golden Globes and New York Film Critics Circle citations.

“The Best Years of Our Lives” and “Let There Be Light” aren’t cynical or judgmental of American society, but are quietly brave and emotionally devastating. “Let There Be Light” attempts to shield us with its presentation of hospital interiors that are clean, orderly and positively overstaffed. Nonetheless, the men and their stories are unforgettable. You finish watching the film feeling emotionally drained and deeply grateful that they won’t have to fight again.

This piece includes a number of photographs and the full version of both films.

http://disembedded.wordpress.com/2012/08/12/a-soldiers-heart-let-there-be-light/Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is the invisible wound that scars war veterans,... more