STILL WAITIN’
A short film produced by
The Vietnam War Commemoration CORRECTION Project
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Check out STILL WAITIN’ on You Tube.
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Correcting The Vietnam War Commemoration Project
The pentagon’s Vietnam War Commemoration Project was funded by Congress to the tune of $5 millions a year for the next 13 years. That’s $65 million of our tax dollars to fund national and local propaganda events designed to clean up the image of the Vietnam War, by among other things emphasizing the bravery of US soldiers. While we accept and honor the bravery and suffering of US soldiers even in a bad war like Vietnam, our concern is that Americans get a correct history of this very controversial war. Many Americans argue the war was unnecessary, that the fateful US decision made in 1945 to support France’s re-colonization of Vietnam was a disastrous decision that led to a bloody 30-year history with 58,000 dead Americans and several million dead Vietnamese, Laotians and Cambodians. Some thoughtful American citizens argue the war was an international crime. We feel these matters should not be swept under a rug by a superficial, self-serving Pentagon propaganda campaign in an era noted for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and a current National Security State policy featuring remotely piloted lethal drones and hunter-killer special-ops teams.
Unfortunately, the Vietnam War Commemoration CORRECTION Project doesn’t have $65 million. Comparatively, the short You Tube drama above had a budget of about $6.50.
We look at this short film as the preface to a greater dialogue to come. If you have any ideas or want to join the effort, contact The Vietnam War Commemoration CORRECTION Project at: namcor@midcoast.com
The Making of STILL WAITIN’:
The short film was made from a script by Vietnam veteran Michael Uhl, who is the character on the left. Michael has been a professional actor in life and has acted on stage as a character in the absurdist play Waiting For Godot by Samuel Beckett. There’s a bit of that flavor in the little film. Vietnam veteran John Grant, one of the founding members of ThisCantBeHappening!, plays the character on the right; he has never acted a lick and found the exercise to be great fun. It was filmed by Vietnam veteran Eric Herter in front of a small, ancient chicken coop that looks like an outhouse behind the barn on Steve Burke’s farm near Walpole, Maine.