I didn't go to the Nam. But seven of my high school buddies did. Joined the Marines and did a tour.
I was hanging around them when they got back. They were some wild and crazy guys there in 1970 and we partied a lot in their apartment. They had brought back a skull from Vietnam and had it painted up with day glo. Had it right in the middle of the apartment right on the coffee table in the living room. They wouldn't exactly say how they got the skull but they called it "skull" and sometimes, they would put a marijuana cigarette in the jaws of "Skull."

By the way my buddies were redneck boys from Chamblee High School in Atlanta. When they were seniors in 1967 there was, believe me, no marijuana to be had at high school. Two years later these guys were back from 'Nam and they were all smoking pot and lots of it.

So ten years later I saw Platoon, in that underground crash pad the guys were smoking a lot of pot and they had a skull on the table, front and center, that looked very realistic to me.


[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]
Phil, Ronnie, and David. My friends in Vietnam. 1968