Nine years later, his son, Richard Fitzgibbon III, a Marine lance corporal, was killed on Sept. 7, 1965, in combat near Quang Tin. He was a 1962 graduate of Weymouth High School.

Of the 58,220 U.S. military service members who died in Vietnam, more than 1,300 were from Massachusetts. These are the stories of the men who were among the first and last to die on Vietnam soil.

Projects like “Turning Point: The Vietnam War” aren’t rebukes of Burns’ effort, however. They’re reminders that those of us who were raised on his documentary series — people like me ...

The images changed how the world saw Vietnam, but especially how Americans saw their country, soldiers and the war itself, which ended 50 years ago this month.