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Originally Posted by MOGC
Hamburger Hill was a decent movie to watch. Don't know how realistically it portrayed that battle.

My uncle fought in that battle, when the movie came he told don't bother watching it, then showed me a scrapbook full of photos from the battle.


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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.


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Phil, Ronnie, and David. My friends in Vietnam. 1968

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I still went and watched, some of the photos he showed me were pretty graphic.


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They all have some reality stuck in somewhere, but they were made by hollywood for profit so.....

The reason you don't know a lot of what the Green Berets and SEALS really did is mostly because of the nature
or their missions and lack of imbedded news reporters. Special Forces personnel keep things pretty
close to their chest. The SEALS were on classified missions often and stayed out of sight. A lot of the Green Berets were with an
A-Team in a camp populated by indigenous peoples a long way from other friendlies.
That war REALLY sucked for the grunt who was part of taking some insignificant parsel just because......
And you could take a mortar round in your bunk in a barracks in Saigon. It all sucked.

It is hard for those who were in the [bleep] (any war) to talk about it with those who never were.
You just don't understand.

Just my 2 cents.


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Originally Posted by simonkenton7
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


My uncle flew Huey's for the 101st in Vietnam. His uncompromising stance on weed is based on what he experienced there. I differ in my own opinion, but his is based on things he saw and had happen that I can't fully appreciate. Though I DAMN sure appreciate him and what he did. We have had some very enlightening conversations since I listened to the Jocko podcasts where he talked with the MACV/SOG guys. My uncle was one of the pilots who dropped off and picked those guys up. What appreciation I thought I had for him and what he went through was nothing compared to what I feel now having a better understanding.


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Originally Posted by sawbuck
We Were Soldiers Once and Young.


+1..............



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Originally Posted by BillyGoatGruff
Originally Posted by simonkenton7
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


My uncle flew Huey's for the 101st in Vietnam. His uncompromising stance on weed is based on what he experienced there. I differ in my own opinion, but his is based on things he saw and had happen that I can't fully appreciate. Though I DAMN sure appreciate him and what he did. We have had some very enlightening conversations since I listened to the Jocko podcasts where he talked with the MACV/SOG guys. My uncle was one of the pilots who dropped off and picked those guys up. What appreciation I thought I had for him and what he went through was nothing compared to what I feel now having a better understanding.
Dick Thompson and John Stryker Meyers tell some pretty harrowing stories and those King Bee pilots were fearless.


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Originally Posted by AkMtnHntr
Originally Posted by BillyGoatGruff
Originally Posted by simonkenton7
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


My uncle flew Huey's for the 101st in Vietnam. His uncompromising stance on weed is based on what he experienced there. I differ in my own opinion, but his is based on things he saw and had happen that I can't fully appreciate. Though I DAMN sure appreciate him and what he did. We have had some very enlightening conversations since I listened to the Jocko podcasts where he talked with the MACV/SOG guys. My uncle was one of the pilots who dropped off and picked those guys up. What appreciation I thought I had for him and what he went through was nothing compared to what I feel now having a better understanding.
Dick Thompson and John Stryker Meyers tell some pretty harrowing stories and those King Bee pilots were fearless.


Those were some very interesting conversations he had on there!

I am very close to my uncle, he's a big gun nut and my mentor into all things gun related. Hand loading, hunting, etc. I knew he flew huey's in Nam, and that he has a 1911 I shot a couple times that means a lot to him. But I never had a clue what he really did until after I listened to those podcasts and talked to him about them. The terms they used like "prairie fire" caused a lot of pregnant pauses on his end of the phone line. Spent a couple hours one night where I learned a whole lot more about my beloved uncle.


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Blind Fury.

It's not historical or accurate, but from what I remember a couple decades ago, the blind soldier, Rutger Hauer, was a soldier who survived the war, blinded from a blast and became a swordsman. He was trained in nam and returned to America to adjust and be mocked for his disability rather than his roll in the war. Very funny and entertaining, but not really a war movie at all. It borrowed the character of the Japanese Zatoichi series. Also excellent and available for free.



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Gardens of stone , is nam from stateside , good flic imo...cause I'm in it !


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Originally Posted by atvalaska
Gardens of stone , is nam from stateside , good flic imo...cause I'm in it !

I'll try to find that and check it out atvalaska.
Is it a documentary?

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I have enough VietNam "footage" running in my dreams. I do NOT watch movies about it. Ground grunts had it much worse than I did; I at least had hot meals and clean sheets at night. My job was scary enough; I'd not want to add leeches and land mines to it.

I will opine this: as graphic and outrageous as some war movies are, they cannot touch reality.

People often tell me they know what a FAC did because they watched "Bat 21". Know this: Although based on a truly hairy and real event, the movie is absofookinglutely nothing like the real FAC job was.


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Flight of the Intruder

Again, I was never in Vietnam. I do not purport to know what the Vietnam experience was like. I actually took a college class from the former Colonel in charge of the ROTC program who was Assistant to the President of the College at that time. His daughter was in my graduating class. He had been an Advisor there and I was one of the few who partook of his Nuoc Mam sauce on rice. I do know that these movies are fictional and just wanted the take of anybody who wishes to opine about the best movies whether the individual defines "best" as most realistic or the best movie itself.

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One more thing, I remember watching a couple as a kid
Does it take God's Name in vain or have lots of language? I'm interested in history rather than entertainment and gory scenes.

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the Billings Gazette did a series a few years back about the personal stories of those who served a tour in Vietnam. I always thought it was a great series that documented the personal experiences and perceptions.

Here is one that will have links to others, all are about an hour.



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I have several friends who are Vietnam vets, & most of them wouldn't watch the movies about it.

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Originally Posted by RockyRaab
I have enough VietNam "footage" running in my dreams. I do NOT watch movies about it. Ground grunts had it much worse than I did; I at least had hot meals and clean sheets at night. My job was scary enough; I'd not want to add leeches and land mines to it.

I will opine this: as graphic and outrageous as some war movies are, they cannot touch reality.

People often tell me they know what a FAC did because they watched "Bat 21". Know this: Although based on a truly hairy and real event, the movie is absofookinglutely nothing like the real FAC job was.
Thats why my uncle showed me the pics of that battle.


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I was already out of the Army when Vietnam blew up, was never in any combat, so make no claim to knowing "how it was" in Vietnam. I will say, however, that the movie Platoon, was written and directed by Oliver Stone, who joined the Army and served in Vietnam for 1½ tours with the 25th Inf., and the 1st Cav. He was a LRRP. Bronze Star V, and two purple hearts.

I saw a picture of him when he'd just come back from a mission and I know that the combat vets here would instantly recognize that "1,000 yard stare" in his eyes.

I've seen Stone interviewed about Platoon and he stated that some of what he wrote and filmed was a combination of several soldiers he knew, including the character "Sgt. Barnes." Events were put together from different Vietnam areas where he served to make a particular scene more "interesting."

War movies, no matter which war, are unable to ever capture "the real thing" totally. As mentioned, they are written and filmed as entertainment, not for documentaries.

FWIW.

L.W.


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Roger, I'm friends with Darryl Whitcomb who not only was a technical adviser to Bat 21 but was one of the lead FACS flying in that days-long rescue effort. One who survived it, obviously. Several FACs, fighter jocks, and numerous helo crews did not. Darryl just shakes his head at how the movie turned out - as do any other actual FACs.

I've said before that Vietnam was not one war; it was half a million wars as seen through the eyes of everyone who went there. There was opportunity for terror even by the 70% or so of people who went to Vietnam and never saw combat first-hand. Rocket and mortar attacks could kill you at any moment; a cute little girl could drop a grenade into your jeep on a routine trip into town; the smiling barber could slit your throat on a whim. Many could and did die of a bug bite.

It was a literally [bleep] war, but it was the only one we had at the time. It changed me forever. In my mission, I was the last molecule on the tip of the spear and flew every day 100 miles into enemy territory - alone - with a $10,000 in gold bounty on my head. I quit counting after half a million rounds fired at me. I often carried so much adrenaline that I'd puke the minute I got out of my plane. That was MY Vietnam, and it was easy in comparison to some others'.


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It was a long war fought by many troops over a large area.No movie of which I am aware represents anything but snapshots of individual events, mostly poorly portrayed. We Were Soldiers is the closest in representing a large unit engaged w/ the NVA.

From many conversations w/ fellow vets I learned that everyone had a different war and a huge variety of experiences depending on time place and unit.

The professionalism, valor and effectiveness of small units such as MACV/SOG and various LRRP and Recon units has been ignored by hollywood. The level of savagery common to the NVA and VC against their own people and our troops has been largely ignored also.


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