military movie portrayal

[Jeff L]

Are there any movies (or parts) that come close to what you experienced in the military?

-Jeff L

[Griff Murphey]

Don't know if this is what you are looking for but I had a kind of flashback to all those "briefing" segments in the Navy movies when we were getting briefed on the Vietnam evacuation in the briefing room on the USS DULUTH LPD-8, April '75. It suddenly gets really real when YOUR name is up on that chalkboard (in my case I was leading a detachment consisting of ten corpsmen and my dental tech) with where you will go and what you will do. Definitely a moment of sphinctation.

Only young Lieutenants think that way? 4th Regiment Commander and future USMC Commandant Col. Al Gray was later briefing us on board USS DURHAM LKA-114 and said we might well sail up the Saigon River to bring the Americans out of Saigon by ship. He said it might very well be be like that movie, THE SAND PEBBLES, and we would be sandbagging the heavy weapons such as 81mm mortars. etc., on deck, to augment the ships' firepower. He said "You'll be changing your dope on 'em and looking for targets as we go..." And me having left my choke-collar dress whites and sword on Okinawa! I was grateful (praise the Lord) this did not come to pass.

[Michaelp]

No.
They'e only movies.
A significant aspect is you can get up and walk out, if you want and they only last a couple hours.

[Guamsst]

Only a few random snippets here or there. Oddly, Tom Hanks gave me that feeling in the movie with John candy where they are in the peace corps. When he steps off the plane in Thailand, looks up at the sky and says "My goodness, we must be MILES from the sun!" Hop off a plane in Saudi just one time and you will know the feeling.

[Ron James]

For peacetime service try Soldier in the Rain, with Jackie Gleason and Steve McQueen, I've met both those types a thousand times.

[Art]

Movies are condensed versions modified for content of whatever subject they deal with. Some are better than others but the only true "realism" is being there.

Some do a better job than others and I do sometimes see a scene or two in movies dealing with things I've done that I look at and say to myself "they did a nice job on that part."

[SwampRatt]

First half of Full Metal Jacket. Hit my boot camp experience dead on. Helps R. Lee was a jarhead.

[TomSudz]

There's a scene in "Hamburger Hill" toward the beginning where soldiers are watching arty impact (they're up high looking down at a river- I can't recall if they called for it or if it was from Charles). The look and sound are right and remind me of incoming- but that "feel" isn't there.

[Garden Valley]

The first time I saw PLATOON (yes, I know all of its shortcomings) and they called for illumination when the NVA were about to attack, there was a screeching sound that I immediately recognized but had forgotten completely since Vietnam. The screeching sound was the illum canister swinging back and forth on the parachute as it floated down. The sound was very common with illum fired by artillery as the canisters were larger and heavier than mortar fired illum. Hearing that sound again brought back a genuine memory, but most of the time military movies never do that for me. Thinking back, it is odd that Oliver Stone would have included such a minute detail in that scene, and yet it is my one enduring memory of that movie.

OK ......, the burning ****ters brought back a real memory, too!

[Guamsst]

Oh wait, another non military movie that triggered memories. In Pulp fiction when Sam Jackson is screaming at the guy in the apartment and he is screaming "WHAT? WHAT AINT NO COUNTRY I EVER HEARD OF!! SAY WHAT ONE MORE GO$#@%MN TIME!!!!" Was a perfect copy of my TI in basic, SSgt Wandschneider.