In 2017, Ken Burns and Lynn Novick released their latest documentary series, The
Vietnam War, with a clear goal in mind: proposing a narrative that would “heal the
wounds” generated by the war in the United States. This paper dwells on the role
devoted to the “Viet’ vets” in this series. We argue that these veterans played a crucial
role in this reconciliatory undertaking since they served as main conveyors of a critical
vision of the war, close to what some scholars have called the “orthodox school”. In
this regard, the emphasis put on them is indicative of a much broader mutation:
the sacralisation of these “Viet’ vets” in official narratives and their progressive
rehabilitation in U.S. popular culture.
Desplanque, S. (2021). Tokens for Reconciliation? European Review of International Studies, 8(1), 3-21. https://doi.org/10.1163/21967415-bja10036 (Original work published 2021)