Last week Oliver Stone's movie Platoon was on TV. I watched it for a short time before going to something else. Back when it first came out I saw it three times, and then decided I would never watch again.
Action sequences aside, it is a pretty poor picture. Everyone is a sterotype. As I remember it every US soldier smokes dope, abuses civilians, or acts in some way unsavory. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't there, and unfortunate acts occur in every war, especially where the enemy refuses to wear a uniform and hides among the civilian populace.
This movie, to me, just takes what happened sporadically and makes it look like the norm. And possibly the different governments of South Vietnam were not totally free but what happened there, and in Cambodia, after our exit shows that they were better than the Communists.
The war films of Hollywood in the 40s and 50s are hokey and overly caucasion, but they tend to show American soldiers overcoming differences and working together. They instill a spirit of unity rather than emphasizing our differences. The lessons are that everyone pulls together and joins the team in the end.
Blogster saito served in Vietnam, and I think whiskeytango did as well. Let me say that I am very, very appreciative you two men. Maybe you wanted to go, maybe you didn't, but you were there helping to protect the people of South Vietnam a little longer, and protecting me a little longer. Maybe it is too late to say thank you, but THANK YOU!!
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Cheers
Dan