World War II impact lingers

Ken Burns is probably America's most famous documentary filmmaker (Michael Moore and Al Gore don't count). He has created seminal works on topics as diverse as the Civil War, baseball, The Corps of Discovery (Lewis & Clark and Sakakawea) and jazz.

So, when I heard he had created a seven-part series on World War II simply entitled, "The War," I knew it was something the history freak in me could not resist. The documentary aired on PBS, as all of Burns' works do, and I faithfully recorded all seven episodes.

After several months taking up space on my DVR, I decided I should dive in. It was 14 hours well spent. Although "The War" is not Burns' best work, it is impressive. A look at the History Channel's lineup during any given week made me wonder what material there was left for Burns to cover. World War II has already been documented probably more extensively than any event in American history.

Well, Burns came through. Not necessarily with new historical revelations or even with the very intimate stories of the series' primary sources, although those first-person accounts certainly left an impression. Most impressive, though, was the historical video footage he cobbled together into an amazing visual tableau of the times. Some images that stand out in my mind:

• Japanese kamikaze planes slamming into American ships
• The brutal combat footage from Saipan, Iwo Jima, Guadalcanal, the Philippines, etc.
• The industrial boom in Mobile, Alabama, and the racial tension that followed
• The relocation camps where Japanese-Americans were sent during the war
• The prison camps where the Japanese held American citizens in the Philippines
• European combat footage clearly taken from the German side of the line
• The horror of German-run concentration camps and what those images did to the GIs who found them

The imagery is amazing and made me think Time magazine got it wrong when they did not name the American GI their "Person of the Century" back in 2000.

The series also reminded me again of that war's lasting impact on the world in so many ways, including technology. The Germans and Americans, especially, pushed the human race forward in technological advancements during those years for the horrific purpose of fighting a war - a "necessary war," as the title of the first episode in Burns' film reminds us - but a war, nonetheless. As the film's finale makes clear, for the residents of this planet, there was a time before The War and a time after it.

If you have any interest in history and have 14 hours to spare, I highly recommend you rent or buy "The War," a film by Ken Burns. His next project is an exploration of the country's national parks. I can't wait!