Talked to a Vietnam vet about this movie
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nickm2 — 10 years ago(June 06, 2015 04:15 PM)
True; the story varies on what part of the country they served in; what year they were there & even what unit they were in. For Ex: The experiences of a Marine in the Hill Fights in 1966 would be substantially different from an unwilling draftee in 1970 serving with the AmeriCal Division as they would from a district level MAT Advisor or a CAP Marine.
Why can't you wretched prey creatures understand that the Universe doesn't owe you anything!? -
sonofbeach-sheet — 10 years ago(June 08, 2015 05:03 PM)
Oliver Stone has always had a reputation as angry, biased, and subversive. Maybe this is the truth, maybe it isn't. The jungle environment and combat to me are nothing short of believable. But to portray the drinking and non drug using soldiers as without morals, hateful, stupid, uneducated, and violent and the druggies as decent and compassionate. Wrong
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riversideriverside — 10 years ago(September 30, 2015 02:59 PM)
Your friend is correct. I've been arguing with another poster on a thread for the piece of crap movie "1969." He said Platoon is one of the bestit isn't. I said We Were Soldiers is one of the best. The thread is named "Complete Crap."
http://www.imdb.com/board/10094594/board/nest/62945066?ref_=tt_bd_1 -
piddy60 — 10 years ago(November 13, 2015 05:49 PM)
As a Vietnam Vet this movie came closest to what I experienced. As was said in another post, all this didn't happen to me but it all happened in the time frame 1967-1968 when I was there. People ask me what was it like and I say watch "Platoon".
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haynese_98 — 10 years ago(December 01, 2015 12:03 AM)
This is a weird fact but in a poll of Vietnam Veterans the vast majority have nothing but positive thoughts about their experience while they were there. Of course, most vets weren't infantry slogging in the jungle. There were medics, pilots, sailors, mechanics, communications centers, REMF's in Saigon etc.
Shall we play a game? -
riversideriverside — 10 years ago(December 02, 2015 06:58 AM)
True, haynese. The best estimates of how many Vietnam veterans experienced close combat is about 5%. That is: 5 out of every 100. Our presence there was a big logistical monster.
A good book, Armed With Abundance, explains it. Including the fact that REMFs in Vietnam played a large part in negatively stereotyping true close combat vets. Many REMFs, when polled later, revealed the easy life they had in Nam.
Though some close combat vets, like myself, are proud of having fought there; and didn't adopt the beleaguered-victim routine.
Armed With Abundance: I recommend it. -
nickm2 — 10 years ago(December 02, 2015 08:15 PM)
Well it might be a bit more: Redlegs/Arty/cannon cockers, Chopper Jockies, Motor Pool Truckers, Treadheads, district level mobile advisors all got to 'enjoy the tropics' to an extentprobably not as much as the average 11B rifleman
Why can't you wretched prey creatures understand that the Universe doesn't owe you anything!? -
haynese_98 — 10 years ago(December 02, 2015 08:34 PM)
I once read an account by a soldier in the jungle who said the Remf's wouldn't always ship them their mail from home, sometimes going so far as to eat the home bakes cookies that moms had shipped to them. This has always angered me to no end.
Shall we play a game? -
riversideriverside — 10 years ago(December 10, 2015 06:59 AM)
Yes, that did happen.
The "brotherhood" was largely myth. The schism between close-combatants and others is wide. The schism tends not to lend itself to discussion. Close-combatants are way outnumbered and the others resent the rejection of equivalence. -
ozart2002-919-392694 — 10 years ago(January 06, 2016 06:53 PM)
Thanks for your service brother..you have just voiced what I have felt was a vast injustice to those of us who saw action weekly (I flew a UH-1C gunship in '66/'67 Central highlands), and we were in on everything that went on for a 100 mile radius (my one regret is that theree never seem to be any gunships in these movies - and the air assault in Apocalypse Now was comic book beep
There is a HUGE difference between a Viet Nam "veteran" and a "combat veteran". Not taking away anything from anyone ripped from home for 12 months in that cesspool, but there really needs to be a delineation when passing out the accolades. Theater ribbons and unit ribbons simply don't stack up to the Air Medals, Bronze stars, and purple Hearts that some of us can wear proudly.
Whatever our government's motivations, we can sleep at night knowing we did what we could to serve America, and I have never regretted a single moment my time there. Being so close to death so often makes one appreciate life that much more.
Be well, and live long. -
thinkmcfly16 — 10 years ago(February 15, 2016 10:22 AM)
This post makes sense, but perhaps not to non-combat veterans. There is a huge difference between a campaign ribbon and a combat action ribbon, or equivalent. Lots of armchair warriors with desk-driving ribbons who try to represent as combat experienced. Our military tends to take a whole host of support billets with it to support the warfighter a who truly are at the tip of the spear.
This is also why so many that served in a given campaign have such different impressions of what happened there and what did not happen there. -
ozart2002-919-392694 — 10 years ago(February 15, 2016 01:33 PM)
Well said, and thanks. Unfortunately, it isn't just the non-combat vets that need to take a step back.the public in general is completely clueless as well.
It should be painfully obvious that the view thru the cockpit windshield of my Huey would be considerably different from the view out of a hangar in Nha Trang. -
thinkmcfly16 — 10 years ago(February 15, 2016 06:32 PM)
One generalization that holds pretty true in my experience is that those who actually participated in close quarters combat are the least likely to talk about it, and that as one's service gets farther away from actual combat, the more that they have to say about thier service.
My wife's one great uncle was on Guadalcanal and never ever spoke one word about having served. Her other great uncle was a tanker in Patton's third army in Europe and also would not talk about it. A friend I have known and worked with for almost 25 years was a combat wounded SeaBee in Vietnam, and I knew him for over ten years before I knew it. He will not talk about it, although he did once refer to his position being overrun by the enemy, which resulted in many casualties. No details were shared.
A good friend was an F 8 fighter jock off of carriers at Yankee Station, and his squadron lost over half. He survived an ejection, and his brother, also a F8 fighter jock, ejected twice. They would only talk about the jet pilot parts of thier wartime experience.
Can't imagine the brass cojones it would take to fly a Huey into that. -
ozart2002-919-392694 — 10 years ago(February 15, 2016 07:05 PM)
Not really cojones, but a sense of duty, to the country and our brothers in arms. The one thing we had with relatives (both yours and mine)who fought 2 decades earlier (and directly opposite to how war is conducted today) was the need to actually
see
the enemy to kill them - no magical equipment to insulate us from that specific act of violence.
Like many you have mentioned, I am not prone to discussions about my service unless specifically asked to. We are not interested in any long-lasting glory (we know what we did, and why) - a simple 'Thank You' from the general populace would have been sufficient (and nice, too).
Thanks for the forum, and for being as understanding as you are of the 'combat' soldiers' true nature.humble, but proud.