I liked Platoon too. It is quite realistic as per friends' VN experiences.

...were Platoon and Full Metal Jacket.

Platoon was my daily existence in Vietnam from August 1969 until that October, when my radio man stepped on a trip wire when we were walking point near Cu Chi, and we were both blown up and sent home after a month in Japan at Yokahama.

Full Metal Jacket was my boot camp, but I could also identify with those men, except we didn't stay far from our base camp for more than a couple days. "Shooting targets" is all we were. I was too occupied to realize what was going on before I was drafted, and I NEVER thought I would be returning home alive after I arrived. I saw too many better men than me die and attrocities that tore up my myth of "American greatness".

I was one of "the lucky ones".

Thank you Ken Burns and Novic for putting this together for the whole world to see and understand. Today, I am ashamed of my country. Heart broken that I nearly died for what it has become, and so many did.

I need a drink now.

THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH!!!!

I'm only a survivor. I went because my country called. I didn't enlist for a higher cause, but I went because I was drafted, and I didn't know better at the time.

Every time I reflect on those short months that I was there, I need a drink again. The memories are not all bad ones. There was the young lad who sold us sandwiches when we went on patrol that sticks in my mind. We called them "Ho Chi Minh's revenge", but they were delicious, and he honestly cared for my safety. One time my platoon was passing a joint around when we were on road patrol, taking a break, (I think his name was Louie,) he came up to me and tried to convince me NOT to smoke the weed, that I needed to be able to concentrate and be ready if we got hit.

The south Vietnamese ARVN's who we came up to who honestly wanted to interact with us as comrades; we didn't give them the respect they deserved. Many were cowards, but many were honest, brave young men wanting to fight for their country.

It was a nightmare that we were all living on a daily basis. The poor peasants were caught in the middle, with us seeking revenge when we would be attacked or hit booby traps outside their little hamlets, and the NVA and Viet Cong would come in and wreak revenge on them for aiding us and not trying to kill us in the night.

Booby traps were everywhere. One day when walking road patrol, we came to a tall pole with and NVA flag flying on top. It was booby trapped, so that if any American GI, or anyone else tried to get the souvenir, they would be blown to bits when they got close. Every turn was a potential last step. Every rice patty we walked around might have wires or pits with some sort of booby trap.

I only saw a few dead VC or NVA, but it was always frightful. I recall at least two major fire fights where I thought I was gone. Several of my buddies did die in those battles. Men crying, calling for their mother or loved ones as they suffered their last agonizing moments of life. It still makes me tear up too.

As I said, Platoon reminded me so much of my time there. The things I saw, both with us as invaders, and them as the natives, are so real.

There's another good movie that went under the radar called "Heaven and Earth", with Tommy Lee Jones, Joan Chen and Hiep Thi Le. It gave the Vietnamese "inside view" of our occupation, and what it must have been like for those who escaped and came to America, and left their family and life behind. A touching and very real story of the torture and torment we caused in that far corner of the world. (I don't think Tommy Lee Jones has been in a bad movie yet.)

Thank you for your thoughtful response. I am certainly no hero....only one who survived that terrible time. So many didn't.

a breath since I began reading it. My mouth is literally hanging open as I write this reply. I never heard of that movie and will try to get it on You Tube. The only thing I can say is WOW, and THANK YOU so much for what you have endured and continue to live with. WOW AGAIN !!!

...but you might be able to buy a copy off eBay. That's what I had to do. I watch it often.

Oh, I see. YOu can watch it on YouTube for $2.99. That's pretty cool. Didn't know that existed. Watch it when you get a chance. You won't regret the time spent. Eye opening.

before I got ill is being used up on my medical expenses). Can you post Netfix on DU? I don't know about tech stuff and copyrights.

But, this is what comes to mind every time I see a discussion like this . . . .

If you are able,
save them a place
inside of you
and save one backward glance
when you are leaving
for the places they can
no longer go.
Be not ashamed to say
you loved them,
though you may
or may not have always.
Take what they have left
and what they have taught you
with their dying
and keep it with your own.
And in that time
when men decide and feel safe
to call the war insane,
take one moment to embrace
those gentle heroes
you left behind.

Major Michael Davis O'Donnell
1 January 1970
Dak To, Vietnam

mirrors the experience of some of my closest friends...scares the crap out of me every time I see it...

As I have no idea where it will lead, or if a virus is present.

It follows a bunch of draftees from their induction through boot camp and Viet Nam. Based on a true story from the diary of one of the men.

but one really important aspect of the war, and what actually
put a stop to it, was soldiers and sailors and airmen/women
who resisted from within the military.

It scared the crap out of the powers that be, and they have
worked hard to erase any memory of it.

See "Sir, no sir" (it's on YouTube)