Vietnam war

The anti-Vietnam War documentary Winter Soldier is having its first major theatrical release -- 34 years after it was made. It focuses on a three-day gathering in 1971 when Vietnam veterans, including former Marine pilot Rusty Sachs, told of the atrocities they had participated in or witnessed during the war.

Journalist and novelist Philip Caputo's new novel, Acts of Faith, is set in Sudan during that country's civil war. It depicts the consequences — intended and otherwise — the conflict has on aid workers and missionaries involved in relief work.

His new book, Moyers on America (The New Press) is a first-ever collection of his essays and speeches. Moyers is the host of Now with Bill Moyers on PBS. He was one of the organizers of the Peace Corps, spokesperson for President Lyndon Johnson, a senior correspondent for CBS News, and producer of many public TV series. Moyers has won 30 Emmy Awards.

His new documentary, The Fog of War, is a profile of the man many considered to be the architect of the Vietnam conflict, Robert McNamara. Taken from a series of interviews Morris conducted with McNamara, it yields new insights into the mind of the former Secretary of Defense. Morris' other films include The Thin Blue Line, Vernon, Florida, Gates of Heaven, and Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control. He's also done a number of commercials. His clients include Apple, Nike, Miller High Life and PBS.

His book Reaching for Glory: The Secret Lyndon Johnson Tapes, 1964-1965 (Simon & Schuster) is now out in paperback. It is Beschloss’s second volume on the LBJ tapes. Beschloss will talk about the tapes, and we will hear excerpts, including some recordings of conversations about Vietnam, Civil Rights, and with Jackie Kennedy. Beschloss has written 5 previous books on American presidents. He is also a regular contributor to The News Hour with Jim Lehrer.

Photographer Doug Niven. Hes curated a new show (with companion coffee table book published by National Geographic Press) called Another Vietnam: Pictures of the War from the Other Side. Its an exhibition of photos from the Vietnam War, as seen through the lens of North Vietnamese photographers. It runs until March 17th 2002 at the International Center of Photography in Manhattan (www.icp.org). Its the first time these photos have been publicly shown. They were locked away in government archives or secretly stored by the photographers.

Kim Phuc is the subject of the Vietnam War most famous photo: a 9-year-old girl running naked and screaming down a street. She has just been hit by napalm. Kim Phuc now lives in Canada with her husband and children. The 1999 book The Girl in the Picture, by Denise Chong, tells Phuc story. Wel find out what happened to Phuc after the photo was taken.

Presidential historian Michael Beschloss' second volume on the LBJ tapes is called Reaching for Glory: The Secret Lyndon Johnson Tapes, 1964-1965. Beschloss talks about the tapes and we hear excerpts — including recordings of conversations about Vietnam and the Civil Rights movement. We also hear Johnson speaking with Jackie Kennedy. Beschloss has written five previous books on American presidents and is a regular contributor to The News Hour with Jim Lehrer.

Film director Joel Schumacher. His films include “St. Elmo’s Fire,” “The Client,” “A Time to Kill,” and “Batman Forever.” Schumacher’s new film is “Tigerland” about a group of army recruits in training who are about to be shipped off to Vietnam. The film was made on a low budget in 28 days, on sixteen millimeter film and mostly with hand-held cameras. In making the film Schumacher was inspired by the Dogma 95 movement by Danish film director Lars von Trier. The movement rejects Hollywood artifice, abandoning the use of elaborate lighting, special effects and music.

From 1968-1975 “Operation Babylift” took place in Vietnam. Thousands of orphans were evacuated to safety and homes in the U.S. and other countries. The last babylift took place twenty-five years ago in the waning days of the war. A discussion about the effort with: Sister Mary Nelle Gage who took part in the airlifts from 1973 to February 1975. Now she organizes gatherings of those adoptees in the U.S. We also hear from two former orphans: Zachery Hill who is now 26. He was adopted by a family in Atlanta, and Fredo Sieck who is also 26.