We Were Soldiers, Not Baby Killers

Opinion Journal ^ | 03/04/2002 | BRENDAN MINITER

[hattend]

Hadn't thought of that. Could be why the theater I went to was about 25% empty on Friday night.

Read somewhere (Yahoo?) that the film was #1 this weekend. If it is good word of mouth will be filling the theatres. I just hope it's still playing in a couple of months so I can see it (I don't live within 250 miles of a theatre but vacation time is coming up)

[wjcsux]

LBJ, the other shithead president of the 20th century.

[ohioWfan]

But I do have to admit, during the newer movies with more graphic violence, I watch parts of them through the fingers on my hand!

LOL! I waited to see Saving Private Ryan until we could rent it and see it on the small screen. Then I watched the first half hour through the fringe of an afghan! I'm not too brave, but both my sons really wanted me to see it, and I wanted to see it myself, as I do We Were Soldiers.........I may wait and watch it through my tear-stained afghan.

Green Berets.......good movie!!

[oldvike]

Thank you for sharing that.

[HockeyPop]

Indeed, thank you.

[jokar]

I this photo from your website ?

[redhead]

Petition signed, sir. Thanks for the honor.

[Righty1]

Did the NEA come out against this film like they did the Patriot? It occurs to me that we ought to make a trade with OZ, 3 wimpy Baldweanies for Mel.

It appears that Dashole (the wee little guy), Byrd (the king of pork and bedsheets), and Hollings (the senile one) are trying to kick start the 5th column i.e. the 4th estate!

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

"The graditude of those grunts meant more to me, than any Medal or Parade. I didn't know the grunts we protected personally"

I was a Gunners Mate on a Destroyer.
In Feb '69 I had to be evacuated to another ship after I was injured working on a hang fire of a WP shell in the 5" gun mount.
We had no MD on board, just a corpsman.
When I was is sickbay there were Marines in their also.
When they found out I was a Gunners Mate from a destroyer they couldn't thank me enough for the gunfire support we provided.
Marine air spotters would give us the targets and we'd lay in the barrages.
To this day I still remember those Marines and to this day I still consider them the ones who should be thanked.

[in the Arena]

Oh no. The comments by Renatus made me wonder if in fact the patch was still visible...I was searching for a recent picture of the mountain and came across this shot...more recent pictures are taken from a ground view and do not show the detail as this one...but I doubt the patch still exists...it appears to have been made out of canvas or some other material...I've read about this patch in several books but this is the first time I've seen the picture...I was two years old in 1965 so I cannot comment from a personal perspective...

[ALOHA RONNIE]

...The Enemy is now Within and always has been. Just ask HILLARY RODHAM, BILL CLINTON, JOE LIEBERMAN, Sen KERRY (Mass), Sen DODD, etc...

[Euro-American Scum]

I don't think she said "atheist", I think she said "Methodist". Can anyone confirm?

Confirmed. As I recall she said Methodist, because she said she could pray any way she wanted.

Unless my ears are failing.

[Euro-American Scum]

Oliver Stone (who directed the film) fought in Vietnam, and the "soldier" was a Green Beret named Ronald Kovic who was paralyzed after having his spine shot out during a firefight in Vietnam.

I thought Kovic was in the Marine Corps.

[spald]

Mel Gibson's new movie has FILM CLIPS from Ifilm.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the heads up!

[leadpenny]

Thanks for sharing those stories and feelings at #83. Running into those grunts while you were waiting for your "Freedom Bird" reminded me of when I came home from my first tour just prior to TET 68.

As I remember, it was about three days of out-processing while at Cam Rahn Bay. I did go water skiing in the bay behind one of the special services boats. Can you imagine the pull someone had to have to get a job like that? Mostly I ran into guys I had come over with a year earlier and that had been scattered all over the country.

I had just been promoted from WO1 to CW2 and pretty much thought I was sh!t-hot. One memory I will always treasure is when I ran into my former Tac-NCO, (SSG Burke, now an SFC) from a year and a half earlier at Ft. Wolters, TX. He had busted my chops many times when I was a WOC. He saw me during those three days at Cam Rahn and in front of everybody gave me a salute followed by a big fatherly hug. I remember being embarrassed. Sergeant Burke, if you're out there, I'd love to hug you back.

Thorn11Cav, Welcome home.

[Cinnamon Girl]

Hey Aloha Ronnie! I just heard you on Michael Medved's show! You're great!

[js1138]

Somewhere I have a picture of myself water skiing in Cam Rahn Bay in 1968. I was in the Replacement Company during Tet. You're the first FReeper I've heard of who remembers the Skiing.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Ping for the truth about our courageous Vietnam troops.

Have to mention the best book on the subject: "Stolen Valor," by B.G. Burkett...almost everything the media's said about the Vietnam Vet was untrue. You and others are finally setting the record straight. Hugs and humble thanks, Ronnie.