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DavidKarner
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My Father's Vietnam (2015)
A personal account of a common experience during the Vietnam War
Sorensen's exploration of his father's experience in Vietnam opens the door to the tragedy of losing a loved one with so much vitality and hope for the future. Over 50,000 families live with such loss, and this story highlights how young men make personal connections, only to have them rent apart by war. I believe people continue to watch stories like this not to dwell on the tragedy, but because other generations still care about our collective history. My Father's Vietnam tells this story with respect and interest in who they were and who the survivors are today. Sorensen mixes interviews, personal photos and personal super 8mm film from their experiences to show one view of Vietnam in 1969-1970, which substantiates the story. I found that the simplest of requests, the single act of writing an article can alter one person's experience and in a real sense, save their lives. An important aspect to understanding those who served at that particular time is the sense of duty to the country - that when our leaders deem an action important, many young men feel that it's important to do their part. Many men, including those in this film, are and were moral men, in search of doing what was right on an individual level. That often gets lost when people speak about the Vietnam War today. Those we lose live on in our memories of them, and in the sharing of those memories, and that makes this film worth watching.