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Hi Sam,

The only Viet Nam era movie I have seen was John Wayne's Green Beret. I have not seen any of the others. Stange huh? I have seen Civil War movies, WWI and WWII movies, but I can not bring myself to go to a Viet Nam war movie.

But, I have not been able to bring myself to go see the wall either.

"The only Viet Nam era movie I have seen was John Wayne's Green Beret. I have not seen any of the others. Stange huh? I have seen Civil War movies, WWI and WWII movies, but I can not bring myself to go to a Viet Nam war movie."

I used to be able to say that I'd never seen a Viet Nam era movie until I bought "We Were Soldiers." My husband and I watched it (I should say HE watched it. I couldn't believe how realistic it was, how agonizing, how heartbreaking. I'd come out to watch it, and my hands would involuntarily cover my eyes, and I'd have to leave the room for a few minutes. It is not for the faint of heart. Don't feel bad if you can't stand to see the things that touch those memories. Most of the rest of us can't, either. (((CIB-173RDABN))) Thanks for serving, and thanks for coming home! God bless you.

Back during highschool years and a few years after, I was dating a guy in my hometown whose dad had done 3 tours of duty in Vietnam, one as a door gunner, if I remember correctly. My boyfriend's parents were long divorced, but I met him a few times when he came up from Florida to visit. I remember one time we went water skiing in New River, and this being Camp Lejeune, right near the main gate, there were helicopters always flying around, and I remember he never said anything or made any references to anything military, we were all just having fun, but he would look at those helicopters, each and every one that flew by. It was like he was watching them out of the corner of his eye, or glancing at them when he thought no one was looking at him, but I still remember it.

This was right around the time that the movie Platoon came out, and my boyfriend told me he and his brother and his dad went to see the movie, but his dad fell asleep while the movie was playing. He also expressed absolutely no interest in going to see the Beirut Memorial.

From what I gather, he didn't totally fall apart after Vietnam like many did, but it probably cost him his marriage, and he was a big-time drinker (his Austrian/Native-American heritage is a deadly combination as far as alcohol is concerned) and I was told he had the nightmares. He's probably never gone to see the wall, either. I think he's one of those who just doesn't want to bring up the past--at least not for public consumption, anyway.

The one thing you're missing out on as far as Vietnam movies are concerned is that the later ones tend to employ actors who at least look as young as our Vietnam soldiers actually were at the time. I know WWII combatants tended to be a little older than the Vietnam combatants on average, but the WWII movies seem to me to be full of actors all in their 30's! Don't get me wrong, I still like WWII-era movies, but the actors don't look as young as the real ones actually were.