PBS recently posted a teaser clip of the new Ken Burns documentary about World War II, The War, on YouTube. I've placed it at the end of this post.

Based on my past posts about this upcoming documentary (it airs for two weeks starting September 23), people have differing opinions about Burns' talent as a documentary filmmaker. As a layman, I thought his Civil War was well-made and very interesting, though certainly not the most exciting documentary I've ever seen.

One of the things that will set The War apart from The Civil War is that there are still veterans among us who can give us a firsthand account of what it was like. That's the gist of The War: a collection of interviews with men from four American towns who tell of their experiences in combat. It's also the only thing I personally care about: hearing these stories. To me, one vet talk about the war in frank detail is far more compelling than all of the newsreel footage Burns can wedge into his seven-part series.