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MASH 1969 - Visions of War, Dreams of Peace

From Center for Emerging Media | Part of the Shared Weight series | 00:58:56
Producers: Marc Steiner, Steve Elliot

 Credit:
Profiles of poet George Evans, a veteran medic, and Lynda Van Devanter, whose experiences as Vietnam nurse inspired China Beach. Warning: Graphic Depictions of Medical Operations.

Profiles of Vietnam Veteran medic and poet George Evans, who beat a court martial, and veteran nurse Lynda Van Devanter, whose controversial writings inspired the television series "China Beach."

Includes interviews with George from his trip with Marc Steiner and two other Veterans, who travelled to Vietnam on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of the fall of Saigon. He talks of his passive resistance to orders as a protest to the war, and his court martial trial, which he won. Also included is a recording of Lynda Van Devanter, whose book Home Before Morning:The Story of an Army Nurse in Vietnam, first published in 1983, was the inspiration for the television series "China Beach."

Lynda passed away in 2002, and this is the only known recording of her describing her experiences and reading passages from her work. Lynda's writings were first created to deal with her post traumatic stress syndrome, and once published, created controversy among the nurses who served, who either cheered her candidness, or loathed her for painting a negative picture of the nurses and doctors who served. She was also an advocate and founding executive director of the Women's Project of the Vietnam Veterans of America from 1979 to 1984, testifying before Congress and other government agencies on behalf of the 7,465 women Vietnam veterans.

To quote author Wayne Karlin, who knew Lynda: "Many of us loved her. Many others hated her. But they didn?t matter. She was a truth-teller and those who hated her were threatened by the truth she had to tell."

WARNING: Please be advised the the following program has graphic depictions of the wounded and their medical treatment, and language that some may find objectionable.
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Profiles of Vietnam Veteran medic and poet George Evans, who beat a court martial, and veteran nurse Lynda Van Devanter, whose controversial writings inspired the television series "China Beach." Includes interviews with George from his trip with Marc Steiner and two other Veterans, who travelled to Vietnam on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of the fall of Saigon. He talks of his passive resistance to orders as a protest to the war, and his court martial trial, which he won. Also included is a recording of Lynda Van Devanter, whose book Home Before Morning:The Story of an Army Nurse in Vietnam, first published in 1983...
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Davidswatling_square

Review of MASH 1969 - Visions of War, Dreams of Peace

The power of this program lies in the raw honesty of the two speakers. As they each talk about their experiences of the Vietnam War and how it turned them into anti-war activists, layers are peeled away revealing more and more of their inner spirit. George Evans is an engaging storyteller who looks back on the past in a wryful way. It's clear Lynda VanDevanter is speaking in a public forum and sometimes reading from her memoir. But the emotion which overtakes her as she reads is heart-wrenching.

The stories are interspersed with bits of evocative music that sets the tone and time. (I could've done with losing a couple of the breaks, but this is a minor point hardly worth mentioning.) This is the second program I've listened to in this series and along with reviews I've read of other pieces can highly recommend it.

Transcript

Shared Weight: 30 Years after the Fall of Saigon:

MASH 1969: Visions of War, Dreams of Peace
Produced by the Center for Emerging Media

Billboard

I?M MARC STEINER, AND WELCOME TO SHARED WEIGHT, A DOCUMENTARY SERIES ABOUT THE VIETNAM WAR 30 YEARS AFTER IT ENDED. THIS HOUR, WE HEAR THE STORIES OF POET GEORGE EVANS, WHO SERVED AS AN AIR FORCE MEDIC AND WHO WAS THE FIRST SOLDIER TO DEFEAT HIS COURT MARSHAL, IN A TALE THAT COULD COME STRAIGHT OUT OF THE MOVIE AND TV SERIES, MASH. AND THEN WE HEAR THE STORY OF LYNDA VAN DEVANTER, WHO WAS A SURGICAL NURSE IN 1969 AND 70, WHOSE MEMOIR AND LIFE STORY INSPIRED THE TV HIT SERIES, CHINA BEACH. WE HEAR HER GRIPPING STORY IN THE ONLY KNOWN RECORDING OF HER BEFORE SHE DIED TRAGICALLY IN 2002. WE?LL BE BACK WITH SHARED WEIGHT RIGHT AFTER THIS NPR NEWS BREAK.

Segment 1

MARC: I?M MARC STEINER, AND WELCOME TO SHARED WEIGHT, TO 1969 AND...
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Timing and Cues

00:00 ? 00:59 BILLBOARD
01:00 ? 06:00 NEWS HOLE
06:00 ? 20:59 SEGMENT A
21:00 ? 21:59 CUTAWAY
22:00 ? 41:29 SEGMENT B
41:30 ? 42:29 CUTAWAY
42:30 ? 58:59 SEGMENT C [INCLUDES CREDITS]

Content Advisory

Warning: There are graphic desciptions of operations to wounded soldiers, as well as strong language.

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