BLOOMINGTON - Filmmaker Ken Burns said two disturbing news items relating to World War II inspired him to research the subject that led to his latest PBS documentary series, "The War." | Video

"After doing the 'Civil War' I vowed never to do another war film," he said Thursday to a group crowding the main floor of Illinois Wesleyan University's Hansen Student Center.

But learning that World War II veterans were starting to die at a rate of 1,000 per day made Burns realize their oral histories quickly were slipping away, he said.

That, combined with reports that an alarming number of high school students mistakenly thought the United States fought with Germany against the Russians in the war, changed Burns' mind.

"It was seven years ago when I was shocked by those statistics," he said.

The seven-part series is airing now on Wednesdays on most public television affiliates.

Burns appeared in the Twin Cities as the Adlai E. Stevenson Memorial Lecture Series speaker. The series, created in 1965 at the time of Stevenson's death, honors the Bloomington-raised statesman. The series is cosponsored by Illinois Wesleyan and Illinois State universities.

His afternoon question-and-answer session at the IWU site was followed by an evening lecture and book signing at ISU's Bone Student Center. The later event also was part of ISU's sesquicentennial speaker series.

During his IWU stop, Burns answered questions for more than an hour.

Among dozens of questioners, one person asked how Burns researched veterans' stories and the four U.S. communities spotlighted in the film.

Burns said he set out to understand the war from the bottom up. Instead of talking to generals or famous people of the time, he sought to tell how the war affected life in U.S. communities. The research evolved from spending time in the communities of Waterbury, Conn., Mobile, Ala., Sacramento, Calif., and Luverne, Minn.

He also wanted to capture some of the reality of oral history before too much time elapsed and sentiment and nostalgia erased the national memory of a horrific time, draping it instead in a myth of "a good war."

Burns' recounted the response of one teen after viewing an early screening of "The War."

"He said '60 million people died? I thought it was 6 million'," said Burns.

Both Central Illinois Public Television affiliates - WTVP in Peoria and WILL-TV in Champaign - will show the next episode of "The War," at 8 p.m. Wednesday. For more information visit online at www.pbs.org/thewar

Burns said he's now working on a six-part film documenting the history of the national parks, describing the idea of setting apart land to be owned and used by everyone "a truly American idea."

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Ken Burns

Occupation: Documentary filmmaker

Birthplace: Brooklyn, N.Y.

Home: Walpole, N.H.

Most-known work: His epic documentary "Civil War" attracted 40 million viewers with its broadcast in 1990 and won 40 major awards

Some of his other films: "Baseball," "Jazz," "Brooklyn Bridge," "Mark Twain," "Frank Lloyd Wright," "Lewis and Clark," "Thomas Jefferson," "The West," "Huey Long."