Ken Burns Returns to War: His 14 1/2-hour documentary debuts on PBS next week.

The film makes clear that World War II was a "necessary war" in which the U.S. was unquestionably on the right side, but one that nonetheless came at a steep price. And that price, as in every bloody military conflict, was paid in two ways. Families at home suffered from the loss of their loved ones. And those on the front lines witnessed--even meted out--brutality they never would have imagined before the war. For example, one U.S. Marine--to the horror of his comrades--robbed a wounded Japanese soldier, using a knife to pry loose his gold teeth.