Man Code, What War Movie Should I See?

If you want to see what the war in Vietnam meant in 1965, without the filter of the weepy little Hollywood historians like Penn, Cruise, Sheen(s), Clooney et al; This is a terrific opportunity. The screenplay is the faithful adaptation of the book co-authored by Moore and Joe Galloway, who was a UPI correspondent on the ground at Ia Drang with 1/7 CAV. Imagine, a war film by warriors who spent time there with a rifle in their hand…

I especially appreciated the role of CSM Basil Plumley, played by Sam Elliott.

War Movies.
Psalm 42:6. Why art thou so full of heaviness, O my soul : and why art thou so disquieted within me?
War stories are usually cynical. Soldiers are cynical too. Film-making is about art, movie-making about revenue. Nehring offers up some reviews on little-known films that he really enjoyed. Unless you are Mel Gibson, you don’t underwrite your own big budget movies. What do you want when you pay to see a ‘War Movie’?

I was disgusted by ‘Born on the 4th of July’. Life’s a bitch and her pre-nup has a lot of fine print. The message in that film is the socialization of boys to become soldiers/Marines and the effects on the men they become. Ron Kovic has his demons like a lot of us. Psychology and Psychiatry may never catch up to the needs of combat veterans; why should Hollywood understand them any better? The combat soldier is not an alien from beyond the Still-A-Planet, Pluto, just someone with experiences that are outside your frame of reference if you wear soft Italian leather, smoke Gauloises in a Rodeo Drive coffeehouse and have your little set of followers to reassure you and pet your hair when you wake, sweating in the dark, afraid of other men.

To answer my own question, you probably expect some heroism, realistic battle sequences and even a little traditional idealism. You have had to tolerate political ideologies woven into the story that make the protagonist a troubled ‘Anti-Hero’. Soldiers are portrayed by liberal film-makers as sub-human psychotics or junkies who beg for sympathy in old tattered fatigues. O.K., so I'm both but see this film anyway.

I saw the rushes for ‘We were soldiers once’ and took a deep breath, prepared to loathe yet another old windbag who wanted to make a buck and had to gussie-up his accomplishments from a 40 year old war. I’ve never been happier to be wrong.

When you see this film, and you must see it, keep in mind that the LTC ‘Hal’ Moore portrayed by Mel Gibson is, if anything, an understatement of man himself. LTC Moore was the real deal. The soldiers you serve with are generally good at deciding if you are one of the good guys, or a BOHAS. Troops of the 1st of the 7th Cavalry in 1965 had Moore figured for a good guy.
This is excerpted from the prologue of ‘We Were Soldiers Once…and Young'.

The Ia Drang Campaign was to the Vietnam War what the terrible Spanish Civil War of the 1930's was to World War II---a dress rehearsal. The place where new tactics, techniques and weapons were tested, perfected and validated. In the Ia Drang, both sides claimed victory and both sides drew lessons, some of them dangerously deceptive, which echoed and resonated throughout the decade of bloody fighting and bitter sacrifice that was to come.
This is about what we did, what we saw, what we suffered in a 34-day campaign in the remote Ia Drang Valley of the Central Highlands of South Vietnam in November, 1965, when we were young and confident and patriotic and our countrymen knew little and cared less about our sacrifices.
Hal Moore retired from the Army as a 3 Star General in 1977 with over 32 years active service. Commissioned a 2nd Lt of Infantry in 1945, he served and commanded at all levels from Platoon through Division. Highlights of his career include:
∑ Service in the Korean War as a Company Commander and Regimental S3 (7th Div)
∑ Service in Vietnam as a Battalion and Brigade Commander (1st Cav)
∑ Commanding General of the 7th Inf Div in Korea
∑ Commander of Ft Ord, CA
∑ Service as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, Department of the Army

After his retirement from active duty in 1977, Hal became the Executive Vice President of the Crested Butte Ski Area in Crested Butte, CO. During the '80s and early '90s, he researched and wrote a book, 'We Were Soldiers Once...and Young' with his co-author, Joe Galloway then of US News and World Report. The book covers the first major battle of the Vietnam War, the Ia Drang Battle (LZ X-ray), in which both men participated. Hal was the Battalion Commander on the ground and Joe was a UPI correspondent. The book is recognized as a classic on the Vietnam War and spent over 17 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List.
Most Generals have a laundry list of awards and decorations a mile long. The awards most important to Moore are:
∑ Appointment to the Honorary Grade of Rifle Platoon Sergeant by the Sergeants-Major of the 3rd Brigade, 1st CAV in Vietnam
∑ 2 awards of the Combat Infantryman's Badge
∑ Distinguished Service Cross
∑ Master Parachutist Badge


"In thy faint slumbers I by thee have watch'd
And heard thee murmur tales of iron wars ... "
--Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part I