I knew about how "turbulent" the 60's were, but not until watching the "1968" Docuseries on HBO, did I realize how many of those wild events that defined the decade occurred in that year. It is a 4-part series by CNN that has an episode titled after each season starting Jan. 1 ("Winter") of that year. In general it is not the type of documentary that I would typically like as it was light on details of the events and discussed a lot of political events, but it worked to give you a sense of the tension throughout the year. Below is a list of a few of the more notable events shown:

Battle of Khe Sahn (Vietnam)
Vietnam War /draft protest
Tet Offensive
Major General Nguyen Ngoc Loan (S. Vietnam) executes prisoner on TV
Civil rights protest in Memphis
LBJ announces he will not run for re-election
MLK assassinated
Protests and riots following MLK assassination
Famous RFK speech announcing assassination
RFK assassination
Student organization SDS occupies buildings at Columbia
Resurrection City at D.C.
Presidential race: Nixon, Humphrey, Kennedy (until death), McCarthy, Wallace, and a little of Reagan
DNC in Chicago, riot, "the whole world is watching"
Mexico City Olympics / Tlatelolco massacre / athletes Tommy Smith and John Carlos raise fist on podium
The docuseries tries to end on a high note with the Elvis comeback and Apollo 8 orbiting the moon.

Each of those events probably deserve their own thread, but my point here is how crazy that year was. I think the only year to come close to that number of historic events since then was 2020, but even that doesn't seem to be close '68. However, what year would you compare to 1968 and what events would you include from that year?

Instead of picking a year, i would propose the time period of March 2020 through Feb. 2021. This would be year 1 of when COVID started to affect my life and sporting events began to be cancelled (haha! i typically live in a sports bubble). This period would include the following events i would consider having the possibility of something that might still be talked about 50 years later:

the COVID pandemic and its consequences (shut downs, "work from home", subsequent economic collapse / recession, half a million US COVID deaths). These could each be noteworthy on their own.
George Floyd's death / BLM protest / riots / reactions (again many may be noteworthy on their own)
US presidential election and highly contested results (no matter your opinion of what to be true here or not, i think most would agree that the level of accusations were of a historic nature)
Jan. 6 Capitol riot
Impeachment of Pres. Trump (2nd one)
Myanmar Coup
Texas winter storm and power failures

And if I was trying to end this period on high note I would include the widespread rollout of the COVID vaccine with the hope of getting back to "normal".

That is a lot of historic events in 12 months, but i still think '68 would take the cake. Particularly horrific events from '68 that do not happen in '20/'21 are the assassinations of political (US) figures. I think those can be soul crushing to one's feelings on the stability of the era and push that year into another category.

I was a freshman in college. I think those of us who lived through that excrement filled year were better prepared to deal with the last two.

Those Pontiac noses were the worst!

Those looked like the nose got cut off by a Comanche.

my birthyear

Ciboag96 said:

---

Yeah but it also produced this. So very worth it....

---

The show did have some pop culture references (movies and music at least) that I didn't include in my OP, mostly because I feel too out of touch with current pop culture to provide any comparisons, haha! I don't remember them mentioning any cars, but is there any 2020 vehicle that you think might become iconic like the GTO?

I gotta admit, every time I see one of these, it makes me turn my head. Mostly because it is a flashy car, but also because it reminds me of some hot wheels cars from the 80's and 90's!

?fit=around%7C875:492

Bucketrunner said:

---

I was a freshman in college. I think those of us who lived through that excrement filled year were better prepared to deal with the last two.

---

I was hoping someone who experienced '68 would comment on how they thought the two time periods compared. Even though I am sure being in very different stages of life made your experience much different.

Being a freshman in college and to experience that year, you must have thought being an adult sucks!

What stands out most to you about that year?

pmart said:

---

Ciboag96 said:

---

Yeah but it also produced this. So very worth it....

---

The show did have some pop culture references (movies and music at least) that I didn't include in my OP, mostly because I feel too out of touch with current pop culture to provide any comparisons, haha! I don't remember them mentioning any cars, but is there any 2020 vehicle that you think might become iconic like the GTO?

I gotta admit, every time I see one of these, it makes me turn my head. Mostly because it is a flashy car, but also because it reminds me of some hot wheels cars from the 80's and 90's!

?fit=around%7C875:492

---

Meh. Looks like half a dozen different plastic toys rolling around out there today.

pmart said:

---

I knew about how "turbulent" the 60's were, but not until watching the "1968" Docuseries on HBO, did I realize how many of those wild events that defined the decade occurred in that year. It is a 4-part series by CNN that has an episode titled after each season starting Jan. 1 ("Winter") of that year. In general it is not the type of documentary that I would typically like as it was light on details of the events and discussed a lot of political events, but it worked to give you a sense of the tension throughout the year. Below is a list of a few of the more notable events shown:

Battle of Khe Sahn (Vietnam)
Vietnam War /draft protest
Tet Offensive
Major General Nguyen Ngoc Loan (S. Vietnam) executes prisoner on TV
Civil rights protest in Memphis
LBJ announces he will not run for re-election
MLK assassinated
Protests and riots following MLK assassination
Famous RFK speech announcing assassination
RFK assassination
Student organization SDS occupies buildings at Columbia
Resurrection City at D.C.
Presidential race: Nixon, Humphrey, Kennedy (until death), McCarthy, Wallace, and a little of Reagan
DNC in Chicago, riot, "the whole world is watching"
Mexico City Olympics / Tlatelolco massacre / athletes Tommy Smith and John Carlos raise fist on podium
The docuseries tries to end on a high note with the Elvis comeback and Apollo 8 orbiting the moon.

Each of those events probably deserve their own thread, but my point here is how crazy that year was. I think the only year to come close to that number of historic events since then was 2020, but even that doesn't seem to be close '68. However, what year would you compare to 1968 and what events would you include from that year?

---

The year finished off with a bang in December with the birth of one Rex Racer.

pmart said:

---

Major General Nguyen Ngoc Loan (S. Vietnam) executes prisoner war criminal on TV

---

FIFY.

I have to disagree, I was younger than you but 1968 is one of those years (like 2020) that will stick out in memory for me as an event packed and pivotal year.

And no one has mentioned the '68 World Series with Gibson and McLain on the mound going to seven games.

Mickey Lolich was the star of that series, though.

I like this one better!

Fair enough. If I had to pick one year that was "The Year" it would be 1967. As I said, I left Fort Riley in early January and arrived in Vietnam three weeks later, along with the FA battalion with which I had trained at Riley. I lost several close friends during that year, two of whom had, in my opinion, had died in my place.

Trench55 said:

---

Fair enough. If I had to pick one year that was "The Year" it would be 1967. As I said, I left Fort Riley in early January and arrived in Vietnam three weeks later, along with the FA battalion with which I had trained at Riley. I lost several close friends during that year, two of whom had, in my opinion, had died in my place.

---

You obviously had a rough year in '67. That year must have been a tough year in general as the documentary started off by showing a newspaper article looking forward to the end of what had been described as a bloody year and looked forward to a more "peaceful " year in '68.

Langenator said:

---

pmart said:

---

Major General Nguyen Ngoc Loan (S. Vietnam) executes prisoner war criminal on TV

---

FIFY.

---

I certainly wasn't trying to make a statement here, but you did make me realize that I did not phrase that very well. I should have stated it in the context of the photograph rather than the tv footage as it seems as that is what became iconic and a symbol against the war.

pmart said:

---

Langenator said:

---

pmart said:

---

Major General Nguyen Ngoc Loan (S. Vietnam) executes prisoner war criminal on TV

---

FIFY.

---

I certainly wasn't trying to make a statement here, but you did make me realize that I did not phrase that very well. I should have stated it in the context of the photograph rather than the tv footage as it seems as that is what became iconic and a symbol against the war.

---

That photograph is an excellent example of how, while a picture might be worth 1000 words, it often doesn't tell the whole story. 1,000 words would have explained how the person being shot was an NVA officer in civilian clothes conducting a military mission in a war zone, which is a violation of the laws of war, and the punishment is summary execution.

It didn't help that the U.S. media was against the war, and thus ran with the simple and wrong interpretation of the photo. (It also helped the media's interpretation that nobody in America had any familiarity with exactly how brutal, ugly, and nasty real civil wars are. Still don't. The American Civil War was a huge aberration, as civil wars go.)

Langenator said:

---

pmart said:

---

Langenator said:

---

pmart said:

---

Major General Nguyen Ngoc Loan (S. Vietnam) executes prisoner war criminal on TV

---

FIFY.

---

I certainly wasn't trying to make a statement here, but you did make me realize that I did not phrase that very well. I should have stated it in the context of the photograph rather than the tv footage as it seems as that is what became iconic and a symbol against the war.

---

That photograph is an excellent example of how, while a picture might be worth 1000 words, it often doesn't tell the whole story. 1,000 words would have explained how the person being shot was an NVA officer in civilian clothes conducting a military mission in a war zone, which is a violation of the laws of war, and the punishment is summary execution.

It didn't help that the U.S. media was against the war, and thus ran with the simple and wrong interpretation of the photo. (It also helped the media's interpretation that nobody in America had any familiarity with exactly how brutal, ugly, and nasty real civil wars are. Still don't. The American Civil War was a huge aberration, as civil wars go.)

---

You make a good point about photos and that this one doesn't tell the whole story. The story in the link below goes a little more into detail how this photo changed the lives of the three involved forever (the photographer being the third person). Here is a quote by the photographer given at the eulogy of the general, " The general killed the Viet Cong; I killed the general with my camera. Still photographs are the most powerful weapon in the world. People believe them, but photographs do lie, even without manipulation. They are only half-truths. What the photograph didn't say was, "What would you do if you were the general at that time and place on that hot day, and you caught the so-called bad guy after he blew away one, two or three American soldiers?"
https://medium.com/history-through-the-lens/the-saigon-execution-da8f16c2366

thought this was interesting about Long too:

Quote:

---

In 1975, Loan fled South Vietnam during the Fall of Saigon, eventually emigrating to the United States. Pressure from the U.S. Congress resulted in an investigation by the Library of Congress. In 1978, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) contended that Loan had committed a war crime. They attempted to deport him, but President Jimmy Carter personally intervened to stop the proceedings, stating that "such historical revisionism was folly". Loan died on 14 July 1998 in Burke, Virginia, at the age of 67.

---

Jimmy Carter was correct for once and we would do well to heed what he said about that incident and apply it today.

Yes he was.

To show how faulty my memory was, my son and I were discussing the best World Series in history the other day. He picked one in his lifetime that went 7 games and had five close games and one or two extra inning games.

I said oh that can't compete with '68. So he looks at the games and most of them were blowouts one way or the other but it did go to 7 games. For some reason I thought the individual games were close too but they were not. I guess the drama of that series was dominating pitching.

So, in the 60s, 6 World Series went to game 7. Pretty amazing. For me, it was the golden age of baseball. And agreed, 1968 was the year of the pitcher.

My favorite series, and one I feel saved MLB, was the '75 series between the Red Sox and the Reds. 5 of the 7 games were one run games.

And one of those 7 game series in the 60s ended with the potential tying run on third base (Matty Alou, with Willie Mays on second). Future Hall of Famer Willie McCovey made the final out.*

That series featured 7 future Hall of Famers (8 if you count one of the umps): Berra, Mantle, and Ford for the Yankees, and Mays, McCovery, Marichal, and Cepeda for the Giants.



*Of note: I believe there have been a total of 3 World Series that went 7 games, and game 7 ended with the potential tying run on third. Of those, the Giants have been involved in two, 1962 and 2014.

Except in 62 the Giants were behind and didn't get it done but in 14 they were ahead and held on. The 2014 series was the one my son was picking as the greatest with the Bumgardner drama and then I mentioned '68. He was probably right when it comes down to it, at least tactically with five close games.

In 1987, I went to an Old Timers' game at the 'Stick the re-enacted game 7 of the 1962 Series. In the replay of the penultimate at bat, McCovey parked one in the upper deck in right field - just 5 feet or so foul, and maybe 20 feet from where my dad and I were seated.

(And that Wikipedia article needs to be updated - the Giants actually had 5 future HoFers on that team - Gaylord Perry was a rookie that year. When he took the mound in the old timers' game, the equipment manager came out with a bucket.)

Hey Nav said:

---

So, in the 60s, 6 World Series went to game 7. Pretty amazing. For me, it was the golden age of baseball. And agreed, 1968 was the year of the pitcher.

My favorite series, and one I feel saved MLB, was the '75 series between the Red Sox and the Reds. 5 of the 7 games were one run games.

---

I grew up a Sox fan (the 86 series is one of my earliest baseball memories) and heard a lot of stories about that series.

I was born in 1956. I've always considered 1968 to be the most effed up year in my lifetime. So far anyway.....

pmart said:

---

I knew about how "turbulent" the 60's were, but not until watching the "1968" Docuseries on HBO, did I realize how many of those wild events that defined the decade occurred in that year. It is a 4-part series by CNN that has an episode titled after each season starting Jan. 1 ("Winter") of that year. In general it is not the type of documentary that I would typically like as it was light on details of the events and discussed a lot of political events, but it worked to give you a sense of the tension throughout the year. Below is a list of a few of the more notable events shown:

Battle of Khe Sahn (Vietnam)
Vietnam War /draft protest
Tet Offensive
Major General Nguyen Ngoc Loan (S. Vietnam) executes prisoner on TV
Civil rights protest in Memphis
LBJ announces he will not run for re-election
MLK assassinated
Protests and riots following MLK assassination
Famous RFK speech announcing assassination
RFK assassination
Student organization SDS occupies buildings at Columbia
Resurrection City at D.C.
Presidential race: Nixon, Humphrey, Kennedy (until death), McCarthy, Wallace, and a little of Reagan
DNC in Chicago, riot, "the whole world is watching"
Mexico City Olympics / Tlatelolco massacre / athletes Tommy Smith and John Carlos raise fist on podium
The docuseries tries to end on a high note with the Elvis comeback and Apollo 8 orbiting the moon.

Each of those events probably deserve their own thread, but my point here is how crazy that year was. I think the only year to come close to that number of historic events since then was 2020, but even that doesn't seem to be close '68. However, what year would you compare to 1968 and what events would you include from that year?

---

This list is missing the number 1 event that occurred in 1968.

I was born.

You all are welcome.

If any more people say what year they were born, I am going to get accused of starting a phishing scam!

pmart said:

---

If any more people say what year they were born, I am going to get accused of starting a phishing scam!

---

Phishing? Pshaw.....

I was born in Rhodesia....Moved to Zimbabwe a few years later.