Vietnam remembered

[Andy]

I made a post under the Vietnam site titled ?Please Read?. Rather than repost it here, if you could check it out it would be appreciated.

Basically, I?d like to know about the meeting Oliver Stone had with veterans when he admitted the movie Platoon was mere fiction.

I'm interested in shooting down a lot of the negative stereotypes associated with ?Those drug using, racists, baby murders who served in Vietnam.?

Also if anyone has facts regarding the "Bobby McMarara Boys", the men who enlisted or were drafter and couldn't actually pass the tests to get in, that would be helpful.

Thanks.
Stay healthy,
Andy

[BLUEHAWK]

There was truth in "Platoon", regardless of Oliver Stone.

[Bill Farnie]

Platoon had some great cinematography and the night ambush scene had me yelling at the movie screen but I'm just curious Blue, what truths do you feel it conveyed?

And Andy, as was suggested on the Vietnam forum, I also think James would be an excellent choice.

Bill

[frisco-kid]

There was truth in "Platoon", regardless of Oliver Stone.

Is this based on first hand knowledge? I didn't know you served as a grunt in Nam. Which part do you deem as the "truth?" The killing of the old lady in the ville?

[MORTARDUDE]

MIke :

I didn't get to go my UFO trip due to fever and coughing like a dog...anyway..

You are sadly misinformed my friend. That was my "leg" unit for a month. ( 3/22 25th Infantry Division ). If you care to learn what really happened during Stone's tour, I will gladly mail you a copy of "Platoon : Bravo Company", by Robert Hemphill ( the commanding officer of B Co. 3/22 25th ID, from 1 Oct 1967 to 18 Feb 1968 ). The foreword is by Joseph L. Galloway, author of "We Were Soldiers Once..and Young".

If you have time go to a bookstore and look at "Stolen Valor : How the Vietnam Generation Was Robbed of its Heroes and its History", by B.G. Burkett and Glenna Whitley...see pages 44, 181, and 395-39, about Mr. Stone.

Stone is a liar. He is well paid for his efforts and is able to mold the public's perception about Vietnam veterans in such a way that it overrides any good we did and all the sacrifices we made.

His latest opus is a fawning interview for HBO with the mass-murderer Fidel Castro, which will air in a few days on HBO.

That is the truth.

Larry

[DMZ-LT]

When I go to bunker I watch the ambush part of Platoon . It's right on The rest of the movie is bullshit. Relived the same couple of years ago Turky hunting. Missed. , but had my heart racing. Thank someone they can't shoot back !

[frisco-kid]

I've only seen "PLATOON" once. That was at the theater when it first came out. I almost walked out on it's BULLSHIT, but was with some other people. I've never watched it again. Might have to rent it sometime to refresh myself with why I disliked it so much . At least then, I can turn it off when I want .

[Gimpy]

Frisco said! But, DOUBLE IT!

[Andy]

When a unit was being overrun the CO would call in ?Broken Arrow?. At the end of Platoon he does just that. He?s calling in an air strike on his own position. It means that any and all attack air craft all over Vietnam would stack up and send in wave after wave of attacks. It also meant that any ground unit it the area would do whatever they could to get to the action. In the 18 months I was in the 25th we never had a Broken Arrow. Larry?s unit and another leg battalion were supported by our 4/23rd Mech we did assist both units more than once, especially the 3/22 at the battle of Ap Chow, but nothing like that movie.

Never saw or heard of two American Sergeants being at war with each other in the field. It could have happened but things like fragging were usually left to the guys in the rear.

An armored personal carrier was shown at the end of the flick which was flying a Nazi flag. Just one of those little touches that indicated we were no better than the Nazi?s. Blue, more than 30 members of my family were lined up and shot in the head in Poland by the Nazi in 1939. If anyone had a Nazi flag on their vehicle there would have been a serious problem. We flew state flags, rebel flags, motorcycle flags, panties but no Nazi flags.

I know of one man in the 25th who did commit a rape in the field. He was reported by his fellow troops when they got back to base camp, arrested, went to LBJ and then to stateside prison.

The equipment, the jungle, the language was all true in that movie but after that it got really Hollywood with all the negative stereotypes that caused people to call us baby killers. I'd guess that's what I'll be fighting in the upcoming panel discussion.

Larry, thanks for the page numbers in Stolen Valor, haven?t read that book in years and would have been hard pressed to find just what I was looking for.

Stay healthy,
Andy

[MORTARDUDE]

As I stated in another post, Stone could have used My Lai and some other less well known incidents to portray American war crimes. Instead he forever left in the minds of the American public that the troops he served with did all the vile things he portrayed on the screen. He is lower than whale shit. Another book about the 25th Infantry Division that puts Stone's movies in perspective is :

"Red Thunder, Tropic Lightning: The World of a Combat Division in Vietnam", by Eric M. Bergerud

I will gladly lend this to anyone that is interested.

Larry