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I think there are two levels at which people fight. Obviously, in the field---and the closer one gets to whizzing bullets---the more it is all about yourself and your buddies. However, there are reasons people join up. The Marines are an all-volunteer force. Could be wrong, but I think that was true in WW II, also. So to even BE on Iwo Jima, you had to have given some thought to why you were fighting---and it couldn't be for "buddies" you hadn't even met yet.

2/3 of those who fought in Vietnam were volunteers. While some may have craved action, most fought for an idea---liberty.

I think there are two levels at which people fight.

I agree completely. That's the same point I was trying to make - that Holllywood gets caught up in just one level. For some of them, it's because they are propagandists (Oliver Stone,) while for many others, it is because of their artisitc, emotional, tunnel-vision. I have not seen this movie yet, but based on his other movies (Heartbreak Ridge), I would think Eastwood is much more likely to fall into the latter group.

BTW, I agree on Vietnam vets. I have four uncles and a cousin who served there, none of them drafted, and I served with a few Vietnam vets during my time in the Army.