Posted on 03/15/2002 5:33:44 PM PST by ALOHA RONNIE
NEVER FORGET
...I sat in the row just behind DAN ALTILIO and his wife at a Special San Diego Pre-Screening of RANDALL WALLACE-MEL GIBSON's new ..'BRAVEHEART'.. in 'Nam Motion Picture Masterpiece titled :
.."WE WERE SOLDIERS"..
...which is about the Heroism of my 7th Cavalry's Hero Soldiers taking care of each other to a Victory on the Battlefield in the -Valley of Death- known as the IA DRANG of November 1965...
...and of their Hero Loved Ones equally taking care of each other at Home while waiting for those young soldiers to come home to them ...or NOT. A splendid example for all of us to now follow in a new -Time of War- in a new Century with an Enemy that is now Within...?
...Dan's splendid Movie Review, the Best Review of .."WE WERE SOLDIERS".. I've ever seen, follows along with his most insightful of notes to me.
___________________________________________________
Ronnie,
I see a tremondous opportunity for healing due to this film. If my review convinces even one person to go see it I will be thankful. I'm happy to say you may freely distribute it as long as it says at the top:
Reprinted from the Grossmont College Summit, March 7, 2002
-WE WERE SOLDIERS-
Stars: Mel Gibson, Madeline Stowe, Greg Kinnear, Sam Elliott
Most films about the U.S. role in Vietnam suffer from the political and societal conflict that overshadowed the realities of the war. The cynicism of Hollywood screenwriters has never found a better target for its jaundiced world-view than the mythical "liquored-up pot-head psycho baby-killers that became synonymous with Vietnam. This film will change that for many people, and it is all for the good.
.."WE WERE SOLDIERS".. is the first major release since the war that has Vietnam Vets driving hours to attend preview screenings. At the screening that produced this review my wife and I observed many vets and even Vietnamese families in the audience. By the end of the movie there were several scenes of people hugging each other in the theater. So compelling is this motion picture, and so accurately does it portray what happened. It is based on the true story of the first battle between major elements of U.S. troops and the uniformed North Vietnamese Army (NVA), in the Ia Drang (pronounced "Eye-Drang") Valley.
Those whose knowledge of Vietnam is from movies like "Born on the Fourth of July" or "Full Metal Jacket" will require some background information to appreciate what the filmmakers have accomplished. Ia Drang is located in the central highlands in what was then South Vietnam. It is near the site where in 1954 an elite unit of French troops was massacred. Some of the same Vietnamese, known then as the Viet Minh, participated in both the 1954 and 1965 actions. A French regimental Bugle taken by the Viet Minh in 1954 was in turn recovered by platoon leader and war hero RICK RESCORLA after the 1965 battle. The Bugle incidents are recounted in the movie. RESCORLA's own life story is said to be the subject of an upcoming feature film. He died in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
On November 14, 1965, approximately 400 U.S. Army soldiers of the airborne 1st Battalion/7th Cavalry (formerly General Custer's unit) under the leadership of Lt. Col. Hal Moore (MEL GIBSON) were airlifted by helicopter to LZ Z-Ray (Landing Zone). It was the first test of new tactics and weapons, the helicopter assault and the M-16 rifle. Moore was determined to avoid the calamities that befell both the French and Custer, and had trained his men arduously in that effort. Gibson's portrayal effectively shows the colonel's committment to his men. "I will be the first to set foot on the battlefield, and the last to leave...I will leave no man behind."
They faced a well-entrenched force of unknown strength that turned out to number over 2,000 NVA regulars. The Americans were attacked ferociously by an enemy based in a nearby hidden underground tunnel complex. After less than three days the "1st of the 7th" had suffered hundreds of casualties, including 79 killed, but the North Vietnamese left over 1,800 dead at LZ X-Ray, an area about the size of a football field. It was the initial skirmish in a battle that raged for over a month and claimed many more hundred killed and wounded. The carnage was almost indescribable. Ia Drang became known as the Valley of Death. .."WE WERE SOLDIERS".. shows us why and how.
The film is based on the best-selling .."WE WERE SOLDIERS ONCE ...and YOUNG".. by Lt. Gen Hal Moore (Ret.), and war coorespondent Joe Galloway (BARRY PEPPER). The story is one of Love, Honor, Courage and Sacrifice. Love is not normally something one associates with such a gruesome thing as battle, but it is palpable in this story. Love of the men for each other and of the wives for their husbands is portrayed here as never before. The scenes of Col. Moore's wife Julie (MADELINE STOWE) personally delivering the news of deaths to other soldiers' wives were heart-rending.
Some critics have chided this part of the film as sappy and melodramitic. Apparently they are ignorant of the fact that it actually happened the way it is portrayed in the film. We know this because in the row behind us in the theater in Mission Valley sat the man who typed out all of Col. Moore's letters to the wives and families of the fallen. During the fight he was five miles away at a rear artillery position. We have since spoken and corresponded with him and he personally confirmed the accuracy to us. Moore's reverence for soldiers' sacrifices was such that he even returned a diary belonging to one of the dead NVA men to his family in Vietnam, another touching scene in the film.
RANDALL WALLACE, who wrote the screenplays for .."BRAVEHEART".. and .."PEARL HARBOR".., wrote and directed this production. He gives us new insight into the North Vietnamese, treating them with honor and respect. He shows us the thought process of Lt. Col. Nguyen Huu An as he tries to understand what he is facing in the new American combat tactics. WALLACE later uses the character Col. An to put the long-term result of the massacre into prespective.
During this action, one of the most brutal in U.S. Army history, journalist-photographer Joe Galloway flew into LZ X-Ray on a re-supply chopper. During the battle he had to take up arms and fight or he himself would have been killed. Under intense fire, he personally rescued a wounded soldier, becoming the only civilian in the Vietnam conflict to be awarded the Bronze Star for valor.
When WALLACE aproached Moore and Galloway about making the film, they had turned down several other offers. WALLACE convinced them that he was determined to maintain the highest standard of faithfulness to the book and the men. The authors and other participants report that he has done so magnificiently. It is an incredible tale, which is literally gut-wrenching and yet leaves the viewer feeling proud that such men exist, and that they are on our side.
.."WE WERE SOLDIERS"..is probably the bloodiest movie that we have ever seen, and the recreation of the battle scenes, which were done with live explosions and minimal computer graphics, is horrifying. The sound of bullets and shrapnel flying close by was so realistic it had veterans flinching in their seats.
Ever since the ground breaking .."SAVING PRIVATE RYAN".. instituted a new standard in this genre, the ante has been upped by several subsequent films. The difference is that here (as in .."BLACKHAWK DOWN"..) the fact that War exists is accepted as a tragic fact. It is not glorified, as in movies from an earlier time. It is not preached against, as in most films about Vietnam.
This leaves the filmmaker and the viewer free to deal with the reality on a visceral rather than intellectual level. When the viewer gives into the emotions evoked by such a story, he or she can begin to feel empathy with the plight of the participants. All of a sudden the Vietnam veteran becomes a true hero as never before, in the same way actors like JOHN WAYNE personified the heroes of World War II.
One hopes that his may be the legacy of .."WE WERE SOLDERS"..
- Dan Altilio
PLEASE NOTE: You cannot believe the tremondous responses this one .."WE WERE SOLDIERS".. Movie Review is receiving from the actual participants of the Battle of IA DRANG-1965. They have been deeply touched like no other Movie ...or its Review ..all for the Good.
...GOD does indeed work His Miracles in very Loving Ways...?
NEVER FORGET
GARRY OWEN
...All us 7th Cavalry Battle of IA DANG-1965 Veterans who were there came out of our Ft. Benning Special Screening on Feb 13th with Lt. Gen. HAL G. MOORE -&- Company saying .."That's the Way it Was."
...The Bible states that the Meek shall inherit the Earth, Meek meaning being "Open and Teachable."
...Some people never are open to Truth even if it is presented to them in Panavision Wide Screen and Dolby Surround Sound with the sound of AK-47 Rounds just zinging right by their own ears.
...Guess they'll just have to wait till it all comes around their corner and up their Street...????
But, sometimes, we have to lift our head from that hole in the ground, and look EVIL square in the EYE!
Congratulations on your attendence at the movies premiere! What a grand event!
...Thank you for your Good Brave Heart.
...Be sure to see Wednesday night's ..'Dateline NBC'.. Story on Battle of IA DRANG-1965, World Trade Center 1993-2001 LifeSaver Hero ..RICK RESCORLA.. that started filming at our IA DRANG Alumni Dinner and our Pre-Dawn Veterans Day 7th Cavalry Ceremony at the 3rd Panel of the Vietnam Wall in his Honor.
...NBC-TV will air it @ 8pm Pacific/Eastern Time.
...The following night I will host a one hour Call-In Radio FR ..'WE WERE SOLDIERS'.. online Radio Show @ 7pm Pacific Time Thursday night. Hope you can give us a call...?
I never met any South Koreans, but was around quite a few of those crazy Aussies in the Delta. They were a HOOT! So much so I just HAD to take my out-of-country in Sydney.
You know, as much as I hated that place (Nam), never since I was there would I give up that experience and honor. The BEST feeling I get is just being in a small part of a GREAT Brotherhood.
Take care Bro',
Nam Vet
...You know what, Nam Vet, you just reminded me of the ending scene in the Movie .."THE RIGHT STUFF".. where our first 7 American Astronauts all looked at each other as one ...rooted in a mutual experience others had not yet experienced here. I think perhaps this is the way GOD weaves His Will thru us ...forever changing us for the Better...?
...Hope you can listen in Thursday night at 7pm Pacific Time on RadioFR as I discuss .."WE WERE SOLDIERS".. after watching Wednesday night's RICK RESCORLA Story on ..'Dateline NBC'.. at 8pm Pacific/Eastern Time...?
GOD SPEED.
...check out the great Threads on the Discussion Forum on...
.. www.WeWereSoldiersFILM.com ..
...OK...?
Nam Vet
The film was excellent. This is American valor powering pioneering new technique to hard-won victory over an entrenched numerically superior force familiar with the terrain and adept at guerilla technique. The resounding impression is massively inspiring.
I found a technical note or two, that the beginning fight occurred later than depicted; that the final raid did not actually occur. The source said that in other respects the authenticity was thorough.
One viewer noted Joe Galloway had no such distaste for the M-16 as depicted; rather, he was known to carry his own personal M-16. In a recent Proceedings of the U.S. Naval Institute interview with Galloway, he is pictured in a contemporary photo holding a Swedish K submachinegun at Danang in August 1965. (February 2002, pp. 50-52.)
As I noted elsewhere, this battle occurred the same month (November, 1965) that the Joint Chiefs were allowed fifteen minutes in a small room of the White House to urge LBJ to bomb Hanoi and mine Haiphong. ("The Day It Became The Longest War", Proceedings of the U.S. Naval Institute, May 1996) LBJ cursed and humiliated them, pursuing the target sanitation depicted in Rolling Thunder.
WE WERE SOLDIERS is a valiant battle narrated by the commanding officer and a 42-year journalist who risked his life there, filmed with an actor who wore it on his sleeve in "Braveheart" and "The Patriot".
This is the first film of the caliber our Vietnam veterans deserve.
...There you will find an online Commo Link. If it works for my very simple WebTV unit, which it does, it should work for your Computer just fine. The Thread will talk you thru it.
Nam Vet
...Co-Author JOE GALLOWAY...
will be on C-Span TV tonight, Saturday Night, @ 10:26pm PT / 1:26am ET speaking at Annapolis about the Book, the Movie based on the Book and his own early experiences in the Vietnam War.
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