.."WE WERE SOLDIERS".. MEL GIBSON's new ..'Braveheart in 'Nam.. is out in DVD/Video today...

..'WE WERE SOLDIERS ONCE and YOUNG'.. 7th Cavalry Website ^ | 8/20/2002 | ALOHA RONNIE

[ALOHA RONNIE]

NEVER FORGET

.."WE WERE SOLDIERS"..

...the new RANDALL WALLACE ..'Braveheart in 'Nam.. Motion Picture starring MEL GIBSON, SAM ELLIOTT, MADELEINE STOWE, GREG KINNEAR, CHRIS KLEIN, KERI RUSSELL, BARRY PEPPER about the 1st Major Battle of the Vietnam War in the -Valley of Death- that was the IA DRANG of November 1965...

...is out today on ..DVD/Video in Super-Surround Sound that highlights the unforgettably lush Soundtrack Musical Score of NICK GLENNIE-SMITH.

...A major new plus here is the new addition of -10- previously deleted scenes on both the DVD and Video with Commentary by "WE WERE SOLDIERS" Director/Screenwriter RANDALL WALLACE, who won an Academy Award for his 1st .."BRAVEHEART".. Motion Picture Screenplay starring ..MEL GIBSON..!

...In .."WE WERE SOLDIERS".. MEL GIBSON is then Lt. Col. HAL G. MOORE who led his 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry (Of CUSTER fame) Skytroopers to victory, while surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese Communist Regulars, in the 7th Cav's 2nd Battle of the Little Big Horn to open the Vietnam War.

...This outstanding Motion Picture is based on the Classic Non-Fiction Bestselling Book ..'WE WERE SOLDIERS ONCE and YOUNG'.. Co-Authored by now Lt. Gen. HAL G. MOORE (Ret.) and War Correspondant JOE GALLOWAY who was there.

...It was my distinct honor to carry Radio and drive for Lt. Col. HAL G. MOORE (MEL GIBSON) and his S/MAJ BASIL L. PLUMLEY (SAM ELLIOTT) right up to this Battle, where I witnessed all from the close-in Artillery Support Landing Zone Falcon that fired up a constant Wall of Fire around the surrounded Landing Zone of IA DRANG-1965 = THE Difference.

...After my carrying our Hero Dead and Wounded Young Soldiers fresh from Landing Zone X-Ray to helicopters going back to the rear at Pleiku Airstrip ...Lt. Col. HAL G. MOORE wrote out his -Letters of Condolances- to their Hero Families waiting for them their Loved Ones to come home or not. As the IA DRANG-1965 S-1 Personnel Clerk ..I typed them up for mailing home ..some directly to Mrs. JULIE MOORE's for her hand delivery to wives.

...All this I will NEVER FORGET.

Signed:..ALOHA RONNIE Guyer / Vet-Battle of IA DRANG-1965 / Landing Zone Falcon / www.lzxray.com

NEVER FORGET

[ALOHA RONNIE]

...And now MATT DRUDGE announces tonight on his Talk Radio Show that MEL GIBSON's .."SIGNS".. Motion Picture is now back in the No. 1 Slot in this its 4th Weekend of Theater Release.

...T'was a good time to call and be his 1st Caller of the night to share about .."WE WERE SOLDIERS".. also being out this weekend in DVD/Video...?

...Sure was. MEL GIBSON "Gets it."

[VaBthang4]

I didnt read too much of what you said but my problem isnt one of special affects but piss poor cinematography. It simply could've been shot better.

The flight of fancy for freedom is all well and good but if you are going to do the story justice then how you shoot it is important.

Like I said...to the unlearned it would appear that he only carried a single company into battle. The overall battlefield wasnt shown in a way that helps people to comprehend what was happening all over the place.

Good enough movie but nowhere near something to put next to Braveheart or Blackhawk Down.

IMHO

[VaBthang4]

You and I are in agreement.

A bit heavy on the vanity and subliminal-life-lesson side and short on unscripted reality.

Not worth the hype some are giving it and in my mind nowhere near Braveheart. Close to the saline clean Patriot(Wannabe "Last of the Mohicans").

The actual event has its own voice...let it speak for itself. You dont have to manufacture the lessons of freedom with code words and scenarios.

I'm all for movies about Values and Freedom but having it spoon fed to me in prefabricated one dimensional scoops is lame. Just show me what happened....I'll do the math myself.

They bit on it a bit...when they showed the vietnamese trails coming down the mountains at night using candles...and also when they had just received their orders to find and destroy the enemy. The diologue started to go the right direction in talking about the guts of the matter....but then they go into a serinade[sp?] while the troop boards their helicopters. Corny.

Also the paying of tribute to the Peoples Army was a liberal "we are the world" slap in the face. Again...just tell the story and I'll figure out how I think & feel about it.

[Joy Angela]

MEL GIBSON "Gets it."

SIGNS is a fantastic movie. *Don't read if you haven't seen the movie! :)

IN SIGNS, The Alien is more like a spirit of EVIL and it's amazing how the only thing that could stop evil was wood. The Cross was made of wood, and it was this simple material that is symbolic of the defeat of EVIL!

Also, water is the only thing that could hurt the Alien, and in this movie, the splashing of water was much like holy water ...

Mel Gibson does GET IT!

[JohnHuang2]

I rented 'We were soldiers' over the weekend. I give it five ***** stars. Superb movie -- everyone should see it.

[ALOHA RONNIE]

...In your "Not Reading" all that I said about LOVE being the Only Reality even in a -Valley of Death-, as depicted in .."WE WERE SOLDIERS".., you are missing the point of a truly outstanding Motion Picture.

.."WE WERE SOLDIERS".. is a HEALING both for a Country that has turned its back on once Free South Vietnam and for our Vietnam War Veterans who comprise anywhere from 40% to 60% of our homeless population at any given time.

...Thru just some of the lives of our Hero Fighters at the Battle of the IA DRANG Valley in November 1965 and their Loved Ones who waited for them to come home or not that we also get to know thru this Motion Picture, there is a Healing for all.

...The reverential silence of exiting audiences after seeing .."WE WERE SOLDIERS".. in the theaters mirrors precisely the silence of us actual Battle of IA DRANG-1965 Veterans exiting our Preview Showing at Ft. Benning GA in February 2002. For Cause.

...Scope was not the focus of .."WE WERE SOLDIERS"..! Inner Healing was ..and HEAL us it does superbly.

[ALOHA RONNIE]

...In order to help the American People finally "Get It" that the American Soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War were real Heroes...

...Director/Screenwriter RANDALL WALLACE shows us the brave side of the North Vietnamese Communist Soldiers they fought against as backdrop and it works in his sending us that Message.

...The un-Brave Side of the North Vietnamese Communist Soldiers at IA DRANG-1965 not depicted in the this RANDALL WALLACE Film is depicted in the Book .."WE WERE SOLDIERS ONCE and YOUNG".. by the man who commanded us there.

...This Book descibes how the enemy Peoples Army of Vietnam (PAVN) Communsit Troops were chained up in the trees to snipe down at American Soldiers, how some PAVN Communist Troops were so drugged up for their Human Wave Assaults against us that American Soldliers had to jump up from our lines and knock down still standing multible wounded Enemy Troops with M-16 butts to clear the way for us to get at more imcoming enemy troops ...'cause that's the only way they'd do down.

...PAVN Communist Troops laughed giddily as they went thru the IA DRANG Valley grass killing our American wounded while really enjoying themselves doing it.

...Also to their own detriment in Battle the dark side of PAVN Communist Troops had them STOPPING during a crucial Human Wave Assault against Landing Zone X-Ray to loot and kill wounded Amercan Soldiers just as they were to break thru our lines, saving us.

...There's lot's to share here, but THE Message of .."WE WERE SOLDIERS".. - The Movie was Paramount.

[ALOHA RONNIE]

***** The Movie =

***** The DVD/Video

[Jimmy Valentine's brother]

S/MAJ BASIL L. PLUMLEY(SAM ELLIOTT) has the classic line in the movie. Was that S/Maj Plumley's true opinion of Custer or is literary license being exercised?

[ALOHA RONNIE]

...S/MAJ's (That's what we lovingly called him amongst ourselves)
"CUSTER" remark in .."WE WERE SOLDIERS".. was a "Proper License" taken by RANDALL WALLACE in telling the Story of Lt. Col. HAL G. MOORE's Leadership in Battle.

...SAM ELLIOTT was the only .."WE WERE SOLDIERS".. Actor at last year's IA DRANG Alumni Dinner and at the 3rd Panel of the Vietnam Wall before dawn the next morning, along with RANDALL WALLACE and a newly Sept. 11th widowed Mrs. SUSAN RESCORLA.

...SAM ELLIOTT really does accurately portray -A Lion in Winter- S/MAJ BASIL PLUMLEY in .."WE WERE SOLDIERS"..! Both have Hearts of Gold.

...I was blessed to give my fond .."ALOHA" to "S/MAJ" once again after 36 years at our IA DRANG-1965 Veterans' Preview Showing of .."WE WERE SOLDIERS"..
at Ft. Benning GA in Mid-February and then at its Los Angeles Premiere in Westwood just before March 1st.

My, what wondrous times ..these...?

[VaBthang4]

"...To see Lt. Col. HAL G. MOORE's -Smile of Victory- after his Victory at Landing Zone X-Ray... ...go to the ..'RONNIE GUYER PHOTO COLLECTION'.. ...accessed thru the..'IA DRANG - Interest'.. Section, lower right -HOME PAGE- of... .. www.lzxray.com .. (U.S. 7th Cavalry Website) GARRY OWEN, Sir (U.S. 7th Cavalry Salute 2-U)"

Maybe you can just give us a direct link to the Ronnie Guyer Photo Collection.

???

[VaBthang4]

"...In your "Not Reading" all that I said about LOVE being the Only Reality even in a -Valley of Death-, as depicted in .."WE WERE SOLDIERS".., you are missing the point of a truly outstanding Motion Picture."

All due respect but that is my problem.

I dont need some half-assed movie director telling me the point. I got "the point" shoved in my face from the opening credits through the dialogue leading into the movie.

I am not a monkey.

I dont need him or you or even the good Col. himself telling me what the point is or isnt.

All I want is the story...no hype...no varnish....just the story....let me see what happened...[Blackhawk Down]...I'll figure out the point for myself.

Otherwise, I'm gonna check out from the indictrination. They may well be telling the truth but I'll feed myself thank you very much, just tell me the story.

This movie did not do that.

I'm glad the story was told but in making the movie the storyline was hyped/Hollywoodized and it poorly communicated the scope or impact of the battle.

To me it was quickly apparent that the individuals acting, filming and editing the movie "were not Soldiers".

[Jimmy Valentine's brother]

Thanks for the reply. The S/Major had the right weapon for close in fighting. I share his opinion of the M-16 which is coming under renewed criticism.

Here's hoping VaBthang4 never has to experience the S/Major's nice day. Maybe there wan't enough red dirt in the film for him. I could smell fear and the cordite. I cursed 2/Lt. HENRY HERRICK all over again for charging off into the bush. The look on the Sergeant’s face was classic.

[ALOHA RONNIE]

NEVER FORGET

...And now this morning MEL GIBSON's No. 1 Weekend with .."SIGNS".. in Theaters & .."WE WERE SOLDIERS".. now out in DVD/Video has legs...

...as both are discussed on Former Congressman BOB DORNAN's and The JUDICIAL WATCH Report National Talk Radio Shows.

...Former Vietnam Veteran and Co-Host of The JUDICIAL WATCH REPORT Radio Show RUSS VERNEY very warmly applauded the DVD he acquired over the weekend. From the very Start .."WE WERE SOLDIERS".. has been a real Healing for this man.

ALL IN GOD's PLAN...?

NEVER FORGET

[VaBthang4]

"Here's hoping VaBthang4 never has to experience the S/Major's nice day."

Oi...what a putz.

You have no idea what I have experienced so save the noncombat condescension.

[goldilucky]

bump this post!

[goldilucky]

good evening to you. The cinematography is partly what makes a movie good. The acting is another. I think Mel Gibson did a fantastic job.

[VaBthang4]

I agree. Gibson was great....

When he strolled out to look at his lines....paused....and then gave the command "Broken Arrow"....

...that was bone-chilling.

[ALOHA RONNIE]

...For more on what it was really like for us in the -Valley of Death- that was the IA DRANG of 1965 ...check out the new...

.."WE WERE SOLDIERS".. Forum in...

.."THE ALAMO".. Fansite..

.. www.TheAlamoFILM.com ..

http://thealamofilm.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=8

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

that was indeed me this morning on C-SPAN's ..'Washington Journal'.. during its 1st hour thanking the Turkish Ambassador for his country's support of Stability in the area around it and therefore the world...

Wow, that's great, Ronnie....Ambassador of Aloha. (^: