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Watching history fade prompted Burns to make "The War"

Posted November 01, 2007 11:00 pm

Fitzgerald M. Doubet

Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns said Thursday he began working on his new film about World War II nearly seven years ago when he was struck with two startling pieces of information.

"One, a thousand veterans are dying each day. Two, a lot of our kids graduating from high school think we fought with the Germans against the Russians in the Second World War," Burns said.

Several hundred people were in attendance Thursday afternoon at Hansen Student Center at Illinois Wesleyan University as Burns spoke briefly about "The War," his new PBS series, and took questions from the audience. He also spoke Thursday night at Illinois State University in Normal.

After his 1990 documentary series "The Civil War," he had not planned to make another war film, but after seeing history fading away without young Americans knowing the truth, he decided "The War" needed to be made.

Burns said depictions of World War II, which author Studs Terkel called "The Good War," have been strewn with myths over the years.

"It is, of course, the worst war ever, responsible for the deaths of nearly 60 million," Burns said.

Burns and 11 others set out to find personal stories of those who lived through the war but found it difficult to find veterans who would share stories of war horrors. Burns said he spoke with more than 600 people to and found just over 40 who were able to talk about the war.

Illinois Wesleyan President Richard Wilson said he remembers his father, a veteran, keeping World War II keepsakes inside a trunk in his parents' bedroom. His father would rarely look at the items in the trunk, and Wilson asked him about why he kept them tucked away. Wilson said his father replied, "Too many bad memories."

That, Burns said, is common of most veterans who came home from the war.

"Just the small taste of what I've seen through footage and what I've heard from these veterans is so unspeakably bad that it ought to give human beings pause before we enter another war, but we always forget it," Burns said.

After watching "The War" and seeing Burns speak at IWU, Bloomington resident Jerry Stone said he was captivated by the way Burns tells his stories.

"He's just profound. The sensitivity and sensibilities of the man to know how to put the stories together the way he does, you feel that.

There is almost a mystical quality to him that envelops you," Stone said.

Loy Conley of Bloomington said he and his wife, Kathee, recently bought the seven-part, 14-hour series "The War" on DVD.

"It is a great series. Seeing him speak today, it was very nice to see him take the time to answer questions and really speak to people," Conley said.

Burns is working on another epic documentary series about the history of America's national parks and plans an update to his 1994 "Baseball" series. "Baseball" was the most watched PBS series in history, attracting 45 million viewers.

Burns said "The War" may set a new record for most viewed program on PBS.

Burns recently signed a contract to continue making films exclusively for PBS through 2022.

Reach Journal Star reporter Fitzgerald M. Doubet at (309) 686-3041 or state@pjstar.com.

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