[Clemenza]

My uncle told me that, of all the films he saw, Platoon was the closest to HIS experience on patrol in VN.

I'm STILL waiting for a WWII film that shows it as it REALLY was early in the Pacific Theatre: Incompetant (really poorly trained) junior officers getting themselves and their men killed by the hundreds, even on a destroyer such as the one my grandfather served on. I got news for you folks, WWII wasn't all about "greatness." It was about a bunch of young men, a flaccid middle officer corp, a GREEN junior officer corp, who miraculously managed to get their sh-t together and defeat the two most powerful armies/navies in the world at that time.

[gcruse]

Not to mention torpedos that didn’t work for the first two years of WWII.

[Philistone]

As an armchair General, what I can vouch is that the strength of the US soldier lies in what makes America strong: the ability to take command and control of the situation, even in the absence of commanders.

The average US Corporal has more leeway and authority than the average Colonel of any other armed forces in the world.

And this is not something that you can teach in Basic. It has to be inculcated from birth...

[7thson]

Basically, you’re right. When WW II started, I don’t think the United States was rated in the top ten militaries of the world. People need to remember that during the 30’s, our army trained with broomsticks, yelling bang, and cars drove around with signs of TANK on them, acting as tanks. Years ago, I use to marvel at how all these great military leaders where around at the time we needed them. Found out it was not by accident. George Marshall, during his time in the army, when he would meet someone who impressed him, would write that person’s name in a black book. When WW II hit the fan, he had a ready list of leaders. I have also read and heard that when war comes, the incompetant’s are eventually swept aside or killed.

[PJ-Comix]

I'm STILL waiting for a WWII film that shows it as it REALLY was early in the Pacific Theatre:

READ The Thin Red Line by James Jones. (Forget the movie versions, they were all crap.) Considered the most accurate WWII war novel ever. Most frightening was the way Jones, early in the novel, described the aerial dogfights above as mere statistics. You have to read it to understand what I mean.