Platoon

[iamwhatiseem]

Platoon was a game changing film.
The image of war portrayed by Hollywood before Platoon, and thus what a lot of people thought war was like, - was a glorious heroic endeavor... where men became super heroes. Where the enemy was mindless, blood thirsty mad men... and we were the knights in shining armor saving the day.
Platoon showed a much more accurate portrayal... a bunch of scared teenagers just trying to survive. Confusion, chaos, sleep deprivation interrupted by moments of adrenaline induced pandemonium and death. And soldiers, not fighting for God and country, but fighting to keep themselves and their buddies alive.

 

[Justin Richardson]

I liked Robin Williams in "Good Morning Vietnam".

 

[Flash]

I thought Full Metal Jacket was pretty good. And Apocalypse Now is still my favorite of all time!

FMJ is an antiwar piece of crap.

Sure R Lee Ermey is entertaining but the movie is full of Left Wing propaganda.

Having served in Vietnam there are very few movies that I have seen that accurately portrays what it was really like.

 

[harmonica]

Platoon was a game changing film.
The image of war portrayed by Hollywood before Platoon, and thus what a lot of people thought war was like, - was a glorious heroic endeavor... where men became super heroes. Where the enemy was mindless, blood thirsty mad men... and we were the knights in shining armor saving the day.
Platoon showed a much more accurate portrayal... a bunch of scared teenagers just trying to survive. Confusion, chaos, sleep deprivation interrupted by moments of adrenaline induced pandemonium and death. And soldiers, not fighting for God and country, but fighting to keep themselves and their buddies alive.

......I totally disagree--....there were many antiwar/'''non-heroic'''/insanity of/inglorious/ etc films before that
....one is The Victors = 1963
...Apocalypse Now shows the horrors/violence/insanity/etc

 

[harmonica]

I thought Full Metal Jacket was pretty good. And Apocalypse Now is still my favorite of all time!

FMJ is an antiwar piece of crap.

Sure R Lee Ermey is entertaining but the movie is full of Left Wing propaganda.

Having served in Vietnam there are very few movies that I have seen that accurately portrays what it was really like.

...would you not agree, no movie can accurately portray it--really...?

 

[harmonica]

I liked Robin Williams in "Good Morning Vietnam".

..he did a good job....very '''energetic''/enthusiastic/into it

 

[Indeependent]

I liked Robin Williams in "Good Morning Vietnam".

..he did a good job....very '''energetic''/enthusiastic/into it

Cocaine will do that.

 

[Justin Richardson]

Having served in Vietnam there are very few movies that I have seen that accurately portrays what it was really like.

Just a side note here, Thank you for your service. Are you a Marine? I asked, because I was born in Vietnam along the Mekong Delta. In a small village in 1971. I was brought here by the US Marines. This is why I have total respect for our Military. I always thank a Marines for their service - past and present. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't even be here. I know I cannot be a Marines, but I would never leave a soldier behind. Semper Fi

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Platoon was a game changing film.
The image of war portrayed by Hollywood before Platoon, and thus what a lot of people thought war was like, - was a glorious heroic endeavor... where men became super heroes. Where the enemy was mindless, blood thirsty mad men... and we were the knights in shining armor saving the day.
Platoon showed a much more accurate portrayal... a bunch of scared teenagers just trying to survive. Confusion, chaos, sleep deprivation interrupted by moments of adrenaline induced pandemonium and death. And soldiers, not fighting for God and country, but fighting to keep themselves and their buddies alive.

......I totally disagree--....there were many antiwar/'''non-heroic'''/insanity of/inglorious/ etc films before that
....one is The Victors = 1963
...Apocalypse Now shows the horrors/violence/insanity/etc

Everybody's experience is different.
I was born in 1965. Every war movie I saw prior to Platoon was the "John Wayne type". I loved them all as a kid.
Then came Platoon. I was blown away. In 1986 I was 21 years old. I had never seen anything like it. The pain, confusion and reality of it all.
It was a game changer.

But.... yes. It had it's problems. And most of which was Stone injecting his early "wokeness".
All but a couple of the white boys were red neck racist, psychos and child rapist. The black men were all soulful, caring victims of these crazed white people. The enemy was shown as more of the good guys than the American soldiers.
I get it.
But at the time.... all I saw was madness. Fear. Real dying. The closest a person could feel without having been there.

 

[harmonica]

Platoon was a game changing film.
The image of war portrayed by Hollywood before Platoon, and thus what a lot of people thought war was like, - was a glorious heroic endeavor... where men became super heroes. Where the enemy was mindless, blood thirsty mad men... and we were the knights in shining armor saving the day.
Platoon showed a much more accurate portrayal... a bunch of scared teenagers just trying to survive. Confusion, chaos, sleep deprivation interrupted by moments of adrenaline induced pandemonium and death. And soldiers, not fighting for God and country, but fighting to keep themselves and their buddies alive.

......I totally disagree--....there were many antiwar/'''non-heroic'''/insanity of/inglorious/ etc films before that
....one is The Victors = 1963
...Apocalypse Now shows the horrors/violence/insanity/etc

Everybody's experience is different.
I was born in 1965. Every war movie I saw prior to Platoon was the "John Wayne type". I loved them all as a kid.
Then came Platoon. I was blown away. In 1986 I was 21 years old. I had never seen anything like it. The pain, confusion and reality of it all.
It was a game changer.

But.... yes. It had it's problems. And most of which was Stone injecting his early "wokeness".
All but a couple of the white boys were red neck racist, psychos and child rapist. The black men were all soulful, caring victims of these crazed white people. The enemy was shown as more of the good guys than the American soldiers.
I get it.
But at the time.... all I saw was madness. Fear. Real dying. The closest a person could feel without having been there.

..the enemy were the ''good''' guys

Vietnam War was unwinnable

A people fighting for control of their own country vs a bunch of enslaved 19 year olds who just want to get through it without getting maimed or worse. How is that not an unwinnable scenario? What in the world are you talking about? Communist North Vietnam, with massive Soviet aid, invaded...

www.usmessageboard.com

 

[Camp]

Vietnam was a long war and a veteran experience can be as different as night and day. Perhaps that is a reason veterans devised an easy way for transmitting their war experience to each other. Years of in-country service, location(s) of in-country service, and unit are good starting points.

 

[Flash]

Having served in Vietnam there are very few movies that I have seen that accurately portrays what it was really like.

Just a side note here, Thank you for your service. Are you a Marine? I asked, because I was born in Vietnam along the Mekong Delta. In a small village in 1971. I was brought here by the US Marines. This is why I have total respect for our Military. I always thank a Marines for their service - past and present. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't even be here. I know I cannot be a Marines, but I would never leave a soldier behind. Semper Fi

I served in the Army. I was there from November 1967 to April 1970s. Been all over the country. Spent the most time working out of Nha Trang. My first assignment was at Dak To after arriving in country. November 1967 was not a fun time to be near Dak To. I was in Saigon during the Tet Offensive. Been down to the Delta. Even for a Florida boy it was brutal.

Glad you are here. God bless. I met a lot of great Vietnamese people while there. They will always be in my heart. I still have a crossbow given to me by a Montagnard father because I helped his son.

 

[harmonica]

Having served in Vietnam there are very few movies that I have seen that accurately portrays what it was really like.

Just a side note here, Thank you for your service. Are you a Marine? I asked, because I was born in Vietnam along the Mekong Delta. In a small village in 1971. I was brought here by the US Marines. This is why I have total respect for our Military. I always thank a Marines for their service - past and present. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't even be here. I know I cannot be a Marines, but I would never leave a soldier behind. Semper Fi

I served in the Army. I was there from November 1967 to April 1970s. Been all over the country. Spent the most time working out of Nha Trang. My first assignment was at Dak To after arriving in country. November 1967 was not a fun time to be near Dak To. I was in Saigon during the Tet Offensive. Been down to the Delta. Even for a Florida boy it was brutal.

Glad you are here. God bless. I met a lot of great Vietnamese people while there. They will always be in my heart. I still have a crossbow given to me by a Montagnard father because I helped his son.

pics of that and others would be appreciated

 

[Flash]

Platoon was a game changing film.
The image of war portrayed by Hollywood before Platoon, and thus what a lot of people thought war was like, - was a glorious heroic endeavor... where men became super heroes. Where the enemy was mindless, blood thirsty mad men... and we were the knights in shining armor saving the day.
Platoon showed a much more accurate portrayal... a bunch of scared teenagers just trying to survive. Confusion, chaos, sleep deprivation interrupted by moments of adrenaline induced pandemonium and death. And soldiers, not fighting for God and country, but fighting to keep themselves and their buddies alive.

......I totally disagree--....there were many antiwar/'''non-heroic'''/insanity of/inglorious/ etc films before that
....one is The Victors = 1963
...Apocalypse Now shows the horrors/violence/insanity/etc

Everybody's experience is different.
I was born in 1965. Every war movie I saw prior to Platoon was the "John Wayne type". I loved them all as a kid.
Then came Platoon. I was blown away. In 1986 I was 21 years old. I had never seen anything like it. The pain, confusion and reality of it all.
It was a game changer.

But.... yes. It had it's problems. And most of which was Stone injecting his early "wokeness".
All but a couple of the white boys were red neck racist, psychos and child rapist. The black men were all soulful, caring victims of these crazed white people. The enemy was shown as more of the good guys than the American soldiers.
I get it.
But at the time.... all I saw was madness. Fear. Real dying. The closest a person could feel without having been there.

To me Platoon was just like Full Metal Jacket, a Left Wing hit piece. I know Stone actually served in Vietnam but he did his fellow veterans a disservice by making the movie he did . He knows it was dishonest but he made the movie Left Wing Hollywood wanted him to make.

Having been over there for two and half years I mostly saw professionalism from the troops. Sure there were some dickheads but most want to just do their job to the best of their ability.

Troops were mostly compassionate toward the Vietnamese and just wanted to serve their time and then get back to life.

The troops were not druggies, maniacs or shitheads like many of the movies depicted.

 

[harmonica]

Platoon was a game changing film.
The image of war portrayed by Hollywood before Platoon, and thus what a lot of people thought war was like, - was a glorious heroic endeavor... where men became super heroes. Where the enemy was mindless, blood thirsty mad men... and we were the knights in shining armor saving the day.
Platoon showed a much more accurate portrayal... a bunch of scared teenagers just trying to survive. Confusion, chaos, sleep deprivation interrupted by moments of adrenaline induced pandemonium and death. And soldiers, not fighting for God and country, but fighting to keep themselves and their buddies alive.

......I totally disagree--....there were many antiwar/'''non-heroic'''/insanity of/inglorious/ etc films before that
....one is The Victors = 1963
...Apocalypse Now shows the horrors/violence/insanity/etc

Everybody's experience is different.
I was born in 1965. Every war movie I saw prior to Platoon was the "John Wayne type". I loved them all as a kid.
Then came Platoon. I was blown away. In 1986 I was 21 years old. I had never seen anything like it. The pain, confusion and reality of it all.
It was a game changer.

But.... yes. It had it's problems. And most of which was Stone injecting his early "wokeness".
All but a couple of the white boys were red neck racist, psychos and child rapist. The black men were all soulful, caring victims of these crazed white people. The enemy was shown as more of the good guys than the American soldiers.
I get it.
But at the time.... all I saw was madness. Fear. Real dying. The closest a person could feel without having been there.

To me Platoon was just like Full Metal Jacket, a Left Wing hit piece. I know Stone actually served in Vietnam but he did his fellow veterans a disservice by making the movie he did . He knows it was dishonest but he made the movie Left Wing Hollywood wanted him to make.

Having been over there for two and half years I mostly saw professionalism from the troops. Sure there were some dickheads but most want to just do their job to the best of their ability.

Troops were mostly compassionate toward the Vietnamese and just wanted to serve their time and then get back to life.

The troops were not druggies, maniacs or shitheads like many of the movies depicted.

......the squeaky wheel gets the oil, as they say.....''normal'' troop actions/etc is not movie material

 

[Flash]

pics of that and others would be appreciated

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Platoon was a game changing film.
The image of war portrayed by Hollywood before Platoon, and thus what a lot of people thought war was like, - was a glorious heroic endeavor... where men became super heroes. Where the enemy was mindless, blood thirsty mad men... and we were the knights in shining armor saving the day.
Platoon showed a much more accurate portrayal... a bunch of scared teenagers just trying to survive. Confusion, chaos, sleep deprivation interrupted by moments of adrenaline induced pandemonium and death. And soldiers, not fighting for God and country, but fighting to keep themselves and their buddies alive.

......I totally disagree--....there were many antiwar/'''non-heroic'''/insanity of/inglorious/ etc films before that
....one is The Victors = 1963
...Apocalypse Now shows the horrors/violence/insanity/etc

Everybody's experience is different.
I was born in 1965. Every war movie I saw prior to Platoon was the "John Wayne type". I loved them all as a kid.
Then came Platoon. I was blown away. In 1986 I was 21 years old. I had never seen anything like it. The pain, confusion and reality of it all.
It was a game changer.

But.... yes. It had it's problems. And most of which was Stone injecting his early "wokeness".
All but a couple of the white boys were red neck racist, psychos and child rapist. The black men were all soulful, caring victims of these crazed white people. The enemy was shown as more of the good guys than the American soldiers.
I get it.
But at the time.... all I saw was madness. Fear. Real dying. The closest a person could feel without having been there.

To me Platoon was just like Full Metal Jacket, a Left Wing hit piece. I know Stone actually served in Vietnam but he did his fellow veterans a disservice by making the movie he did . He knows it was dishonest but he made the movie Left Wing Hollywood wanted him to make.

Having been over there for two and half years I mostly saw professionalism from the troops. Sure there were some dickheads but most want to just do their job to the best of their ability.

Troops were mostly compassionate toward the Vietnamese and just wanted to serve their time and then get back to life.

The troops were not druggies, maniacs or shitheads like many of the movies depicted.

Again, I am speaking from the perspective of a then 21 year old kid whose only "experience" of war was watching movies like Midway.
I loved war movies as a kid. To me it looked like fighting in a war was the big chance to be a REAL man. What kid didn't want to prove himself as a tough guy? War movies were like "man porn" to kids of that era like myself.
Then I went to see Platoon expecting to see the same thing. I was not prepared for the reality of seeing soldiers as human beings. I left the theater with an appreciation for soldiers who fought like I never had before. I looked at old war vets like my Grandfathers who fought in WW II, and my Uncles who fought in Vietnam as lucky guys who got to be there. After seeing that, I no longer thought they were lucky. I was a bit more in awe that they went through hell like that.

To me that is what Platoon was. I was too young to see the politics, the race baiting and anti-military theme. I only saw the anguish and pain the characters went through.

 

[harmonica]

Platoon was a game changing film.
The image of war portrayed by Hollywood before Platoon, and thus what a lot of people thought war was like, - was a glorious heroic endeavor... where men became super heroes. Where the enemy was mindless, blood thirsty mad men... and we were the knights in shining armor saving the day.
Platoon showed a much more accurate portrayal... a bunch of scared teenagers just trying to survive. Confusion, chaos, sleep deprivation interrupted by moments of adrenaline induced pandemonium and death. And soldiers, not fighting for God and country, but fighting to keep themselves and their buddies alive.

......I totally disagree--....there were many antiwar/'''non-heroic'''/insanity of/inglorious/ etc films before that
....one is The Victors = 1963
...Apocalypse Now shows the horrors/violence/insanity/etc

Everybody's experience is different.
I was born in 1965. Every war movie I saw prior to Platoon was the "John Wayne type". I loved them all as a kid.
Then came Platoon. I was blown away. In 1986 I was 21 years old. I had never seen anything like it. The pain, confusion and reality of it all.
It was a game changer.

But.... yes. It had it's problems. And most of which was Stone injecting his early "wokeness".
All but a couple of the white boys were red neck racist, psychos and child rapist. The black men were all soulful, caring victims of these crazed white people. The enemy was shown as more of the good guys than the American soldiers.
I get it.
But at the time.... all I saw was madness. Fear. Real dying. The closest a person could feel without having been there.

To me Platoon was just like Full Metal Jacket, a Left Wing hit piece. I know Stone actually served in Vietnam but he did his fellow veterans a disservice by making the movie he did . He knows it was dishonest but he made the movie Left Wing Hollywood wanted him to make.

Having been over there for two and half years I mostly saw professionalism from the troops. Sure there were some dickheads but most want to just do their job to the best of their ability.

Troops were mostly compassionate toward the Vietnamese and just wanted to serve their time and then get back to life.

The troops were not druggies, maniacs or shitheads like many of the movies depicted.

Again, I am speaking from the perspective of a then 21 year old kid whose only "experience" of war was watching movies like Midway.
I loved war movies as a kid. To me it looked like fighting in a war was the big chance to be a REAL man. What kid didn't want to prove himself as a tough guy? War movies were like "man porn" to kids of that era like myself.
Then I went to see Platoon expecting to see the same thing. I was not prepared for the reality of seeing soldiers as human beings. I left the theater with an appreciation for soldiers who fought like I never had before. I looked at old war vets like my Grandfathers who fought in WW II, and my Uncles who fought in Vietnam as lucky guys who got to be there. After seeing that, I no longer thought they were lucky. I was a bit more in awe that they went through hell like that.

To me that is what Platoon was. I was too young to see the politics, the race baiting and anti-military theme. I only saw the anguish and pain the characters went through.

..I'm reading Born on the Fourth of July--again...and that's what Kovic thought of war from watching John Wayne/etc......I joined the USMC not to be a hero/not to be John Wayne/patriotic/etc like Kovic said he did......I joined because I like weapons/etc..I liked to exercise and keep in shape, and I wanted something different.....the way Kovic puts it, he never thought about war being what it is:killing/horror/wounded/maiming/etc
.....he did not one but two tours--the 2nd he had to put in for many times before he was accepted----so!! = interesting how his first tour was.....he was in Recon I think .....he saw the war differently after his second tour.....he was still super pro-war before his second tour.....
well, this should have it's own thread

...my dad was at the Chosin...3 uncles also in Korea....2 more in WW2

 

[Flash]

Platoon was a game changing film.
The image of war portrayed by Hollywood before Platoon, and thus what a lot of people thought war was like, - was a glorious heroic endeavor... where men became super heroes. Where the enemy was mindless, blood thirsty mad men... and we were the knights in shining armor saving the day.
Platoon showed a much more accurate portrayal... a bunch of scared teenagers just trying to survive. Confusion, chaos, sleep deprivation interrupted by moments of adrenaline induced pandemonium and death. And soldiers, not fighting for God and country, but fighting to keep themselves and their buddies alive.

......I totally disagree--....there were many antiwar/'''non-heroic'''/insanity of/inglorious/ etc films before that
....one is The Victors = 1963
...Apocalypse Now shows the horrors/violence/insanity/etc

Everybody's experience is different.
I was born in 1965. Every war movie I saw prior to Platoon was the "John Wayne type". I loved them all as a kid.
Then came Platoon. I was blown away. In 1986 I was 21 years old. I had never seen anything like it. The pain, confusion and reality of it all.
It was a game changer.

But.... yes. It had it's problems. And most of which was Stone injecting his early "wokeness".
All but a couple of the white boys were red neck racist, psychos and child rapist. The black men were all soulful, caring victims of these crazed white people. The enemy was shown as more of the good guys than the American soldiers.
I get it.
But at the time.... all I saw was madness. Fear. Real dying. The closest a person could feel without having been there.

To me Platoon was just like Full Metal Jacket, a Left Wing hit piece. I know Stone actually served in Vietnam but he did his fellow veterans a disservice by making the movie he did . He knows it was dishonest but he made the movie Left Wing Hollywood wanted him to make.

Having been over there for two and half years I mostly saw professionalism from the troops. Sure there were some dickheads but most want to just do their job to the best of their ability.

Troops were mostly compassionate toward the Vietnamese and just wanted to serve their time and then get back to life.

The troops were not druggies, maniacs or shitheads like many of the movies depicted.

Again, I am speaking from the perspective of a then 21 year old kid whose only "experience" of war was watching movies like Midway.
I loved war movies as a kid. To me it looked like fighting in a war was the big chance to be a REAL man. What kid didn't want to prove himself as a tough guy? War movies were like "man porn" to kids of that era like myself.
Then I went to see Platoon expecting to see the same thing. I was not prepared for the reality of seeing soldiers as human beings. I left the theater with an appreciation for soldiers who fought like I never had before. I looked at old war vets like my Grandfathers who fought in WW II, and my Uncles who fought in Vietnam as lucky guys who got to be there. After seeing that, I no longer thought they were lucky. I was a bit more in awe that they went through hell like that.

To me that is what Platoon was. I was too young to see the politics, the race baiting and anti-military theme. I only saw the anguish and pain the characters went through.

What you should know is that the movie was an exaggeration and had a despicable Liberal Hollywood Left agenda to it. It was designed make things look bad.

The war was brutal and Vietnam was mostly a shithole for Americans. However, not all the troops were in combat. A lot of the troops were in some kind of support and maybe only occasionally experienced a mortar or perimeter attack.

In the 2.5 years I was there I never saw or heard of anything close to the brutality shown in the movie scenes with the village.

The movie tried to mimic John Kerry saying:

" They told the stories at times they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, tape wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the country side of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravage of war, and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country."

However that was a lie for the most part.

There were conflicts between soldiers like all human beings but nothing like the conflict depicted in the movie between the two sergeants. Most troops looked after one another.

Don't look to Hollywood to teach you history. They will fail you most of the time.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Platoon was a game changing film.
The image of war portrayed by Hollywood before Platoon, and thus what a lot of people thought war was like, - was a glorious heroic endeavor... where men became super heroes. Where the enemy was mindless, blood thirsty mad men... and we were the knights in shining armor saving the day.
Platoon showed a much more accurate portrayal... a bunch of scared teenagers just trying to survive. Confusion, chaos, sleep deprivation interrupted by moments of adrenaline induced pandemonium and death. And soldiers, not fighting for God and country, but fighting to keep themselves and their buddies alive.

......I totally disagree--....there were many antiwar/'''non-heroic'''/insanity of/inglorious/ etc films before that
....one is The Victors = 1963
...Apocalypse Now shows the horrors/violence/insanity/etc

Everybody's experience is different.
I was born in 1965. Every war movie I saw prior to Platoon was the "John Wayne type". I loved them all as a kid.
Then came Platoon. I was blown away. In 1986 I was 21 years old. I had never seen anything like it. The pain, confusion and reality of it all.
It was a game changer.

But.... yes. It had it's problems. And most of which was Stone injecting his early "wokeness".
All but a couple of the white boys were red neck racist, psychos and child rapist. The black men were all soulful, caring victims of these crazed white people. The enemy was shown as more of the good guys than the American soldiers.
I get it.
But at the time.... all I saw was madness. Fear. Real dying. The closest a person could feel without having been there.

To me Platoon was just like Full Metal Jacket, a Left Wing hit piece. I know Stone actually served in Vietnam but he did his fellow veterans a disservice by making the movie he did . He knows it was dishonest but he made the movie Left Wing Hollywood wanted him to make.

Having been over there for two and half years I mostly saw professionalism from the troops. Sure there were some dickheads but most want to just do their job to the best of their ability.

Troops were mostly compassionate toward the Vietnamese and just wanted to serve their time and then get back to life.

The troops were not druggies, maniacs or shitheads like many of the movies depicted.

Again, I am speaking from the perspective of a then 21 year old kid whose only "experience" of war was watching movies like Midway.
I loved war movies as a kid. To me it looked like fighting in a war was the big chance to be a REAL man. What kid didn't want to prove himself as a tough guy? War movies were like "man porn" to kids of that era like myself.
Then I went to see Platoon expecting to see the same thing. I was not prepared for the reality of seeing soldiers as human beings. I left the theater with an appreciation for soldiers who fought like I never had before. I looked at old war vets like my Grandfathers who fought in WW II, and my Uncles who fought in Vietnam as lucky guys who got to be there. After seeing that, I no longer thought they were lucky. I was a bit more in awe that they went through hell like that.

To me that is what Platoon was. I was too young to see the politics, the race baiting and anti-military theme. I only saw the anguish and pain the characters went through.

..I'm reading Born on the Fourth of July--again...and that's what Kovic thought of war from watching John Wayne/etc......I joined the USMC not to be a hero/not to be John Wayne/patriotic/etc like Kovic said he did......I joined because I like weapons/etc..I liked to exercise and keep in shape, and I wanted something different.....the way Kovic puts it, he never thought about war being what it is:killing/horror/wounded/maiming/etc
.....he did not one but two tours--the 2nd he had to put in for many times before he was accepted----so!! = interesting how his first tour was.....he was in Recon I think .....he saw the war differently after his second tour.....he was still super pro-war before his second tour.....
well, this should have it's own thread

...my dad was at the Chosin...3 uncles also in Korea....2 more in WW2

Born on the 4th of July was a film that showed Tom Cruise could rival the acting chops of Tim Hanks.
But instead, decided feeding his ego and narcissism was what he wanted, so he instead chose to star in a long-long series of brain dead - regurgitated cracker jack hero who gets the girl.
Cruise could have been legendary. But in another 20 years... 95% of the population will have never heard of him. Tim Hanks will be remembered for another couple generations.