Green Beret reacts to Platoon

[@vbboyd]

The Vietnam war era was a lot different than it is today. My late uncle was a Marine Corps Colonel who was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam and some of the war stories he would tell you would just blow your mind. So you really can't compare the Vietnam war era to what it is like in today's military. Oliver Stone the writer and director served in Vietnam and was a decorated combat soldier so I think he had a pretty good grasp of what it was like to personally experience the Vietnam war first hand and I think he tried to convey all of that to the viewing audience in this movie.

[@Adam-fl9uc]

which stories? That ones about throwing viet cong out of a flying helicopter?

[@BourneCreations]

I'm glad you wrote this. I was going to. I love this channel, but at times it hurts to see just how little institutional knowledge has not been passed down over the years. When I was in, we studied the past to learn from it, and yes it's a different time and we were fighting different enemies but to have no knowledge of Oliver Stone, Tunnel Rats and what was "normal" in Vietnam is rough. But it's good to see more recent members who find moral issues with the characters in the film. It shows that some good attitudes came out of the mistakes from Vietnam.

[@vbboyd]

@@Adam-fl9uc I don't feel like discussing those things in a public open forum like this.

[@patrickthomas8890]

@@Adam-fl9ucRead up on the Hanoi Hilton, Bouncing Betty mines, punji sticks, and how the Viet Cong used children (among a mountain of other horrific things Viet Cong and N Vietnamese regulars did) to get a clearer picture

[@jonathanramos8414]

Salvador was also pretty good. It was also the same year as platoon. Oliver stone directed too. James woods plays a war correspondent covering the salvadoran civil war 1979-1992.

[@oboogie2]

A word about Willem Dafoe's character, Sgt. Elias. In the scene where Taylor comes back from profile after being wounded, and King takes him down into the bunker where "the Head" hang out and Elias is in a hammock; Elias is not gay, he's just really stoned. The character of Elias was based on a real sergeant that Oliver Stone really respected and served under briefly in a LRRP unit. He was native American, but I don't recall what tribe (doesn't matter), and had two or three tours of combat tours in Vietnam under his belt by that time. He was killed in a friendly fire incident about a month after Stone went to another unit.

[@FNGACADEMY]

sounds like an amazing human

[@oboogie2]

@@FNGACADEMY well, he certainly seemed that way to Oliver Stone. Stone did a podcast with Joe Rogan some time back pushing his book Chasing the Light (worth reading) where he discusses the various Platoon characters that he based on real people he knew there during his two tours (or rather one extended tour), and you can tell the admiration he still holds for that guy and the sadness he still feels over hearing he was killed. He said he combined his experiences in three or four different units- and dramatized, obviously, for the movie- into the movie's platoon. I saw that movie in the theater when it came out shortly before I shipped out for Ft. Jackson for basic. What a mindset to go in with. lol! I really enjoy the channel Buck (and Able and the rest of the gang) and the thoughtfulness and just fun comic relief (and without all the "everyone who ever wore the uniform is a super ninja!" BS). Keep it up and pass my thanks to all for the entertainment!

[@NoLeftTurn54321]

@@oboogie2 I saw the movie when it was first released here in Australia and a couple of years later read the book written by Dale Dye based off the screenplay. In the book there's some more backstory to Elias' character which draws on his Native American heritage as well as a relationship he forms with a girl while on RnR in Hawaii - from the book's point of view definitely not gay but just a chill, professional, competent warrior.

[@kxkxkxkx]

A word about the Hollywood actors: they're all gay ☝️ Also Oliver Stone is a KGB agent 🚩

[@ODoyle.K]

i could be wrong, but i dont think the guys were speaking to dafoe being a gay character in this movie, they were discussing his role in boondock saints. he was just one of those weirdo dudes who you run into in the military in platoon.

[@iamtesting3824]

if my memory is correct Oliver Stone himself was in the war

[@jvsuperdudebro8112]

You are correct

[@rafaelalodio5116]

Stone probably put all of his traumas on this movie, probably exaggerated, but still.

[@ralphalvarez5465]

Stone patterned the character of Chris after himself. He was in the 25th Infantry Division (Tropic Thunder) in Vietnam and had quit college like Chris. Also in 1981, we had a sergeant that was a veteran of the 173rd Airborne Brigade (Vietnam). He had a Silver Star, Bronze Star, CIB and battle star on his jump wings (Operation Junction City). He was also a Tunnel Rat in Vietnam that had severe PTSD. God bless you Staff Sergeant James King, where ever you are! AATW!!

[@keithdudley9199]

I think he was in the army but shared the Battle field with the Marines somehow. I think they were doing sweep and clear like the army finds the enemy and marines kill em

[@KahinAhmed72]

⁠@@ralphalvarez5465Thanks for sharing the info. What does AATW stand for, by the way?

[@spins321]

Sometimes I forget how young you guys are. Having grown up in the 80's, the Vietnam war was still polarizing and the vets had craaaaazy stories.... I joined the Marines in 94, and there were still quite a number of guys that served in Vietnam, and they were straight up about what it was like. Atrocities still happened in Iraq and Afghanistan, of course, but Vietnam was next level.

[@NoelleMar]

I mean it was interesting even how much things had changed since World War II, which was of course different. But there were fewer concerns about how many civilians were killed, for sure…

[@pedalevaaaa4172]

​@@NoelleMar concerned by civilian deaths? You are aware that the Americans razed entire towns of civilians for nothing in France and Germany, killed tens of thousands of civilians for absolutely nothing. American soldiers raped thousands of French women, in Normandy they even had a saying, "hide the men when the Germans arrive, hide the women when the Americans come..."

[@MikeStarrPSN]

If I am not mistaken, in Vietnam, there were US units called Tunnel Rats, usually of small postures, whose primary job was to infiltrate and clear these tunnels. They were badass. Guys, I just remembered a movie, which I hope you may review someday; it is a Russian film called "9th Company", and it is about Russian soldiers during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. I think it is a good movie, and I am really curious about your opinion. Great video, as always; I enjoyed it a lot (while drinking beer with you). Cheers.

[@FNGACADEMY]

ill check it out, i would not want to be a tunnel rat lol

[@PlastoJoe]

@@FNGACADEMY The Viet Cong would absolutely booby trap the shit out of their tunnels.Years ago I used to work with a Vietnam vet, and he would tell stories of his friend who was a Tunnel Rat. They'd go down with only a 1911, a flashlight, and maybe a knife. His friend was super fucked up when he came back home. Drug addition, PTSD, the works.

[@dsumner1234]

@@FNGACADEMY He's correct. "Tunnel Rats" were guys units would send into tunnel systems to check them out. Usually they'd have a flashlight, pistol, and rope tied to them to pull them back out. If you've seen Forest Gump, you'll see him being sent into a tunnel to check it out after they toss in a couple of frag grenades.

[@fx7447]

My dad spent his first tour as a tunnel rat with the 919th corp of engineers. He was 5'7" 135lbs back then, so he was the perfect choice for that job.

[@jakester455]

Check out the interview with a tunnel rat on the podcast "Warriors: In Their Own Words." They originally tried blowing the tunnels with TNT but it wasn't effective, the tunnels were too complex with too many drops and turns. They mostly did go in alone because the tunnel rat's shoulders rubbed both sides of the tunnels. A second soldier would only be able to report back that the the first tunnel rat got killed. And they mostly went in WITHOUT a flashlight and some preferred to only use a knife because a .45 would deafen them in a tunnel. The tunnel rats were so serious about their business that they would only eat fish and rice during their whole deployment so the Vietcong and the NVA wouldn't smell them. And yes there were booby traps but the tunnel rats would find and disable them. Balls of steel.

[@MrKedab]

the scene with Willem Dafoe in the tunnel - he's a 'tunnel rat' - usually the smallest guy (and the one with balls of steel) would be sent down into the tunnel to check it out - there was no way to get anymore troops in there. they always went alone. i've been in the tunnels at Cu Chi - now made larger for tourists like me, and i'm only 5'7" and it was still claustrophobic AF

[@AhHereWeGo]

The tunnels of cu chi are always tight

[@FNGACADEMY]

@@AhHereWeGo LMAO!

[@MrKedab]

@@AhHereWeGo haha!

[@eduardoandres5989]

@@AhHereWeGo i visited the place in 2014 and met one of the matriarcs of the region called Munchma Cu Chi

[@nordan00]

@@AhHereWeGoThey ain’t always tight! Sometimes they’re like mayonnaise! Of course, I do got a little hollyhonker! So…

[@ViperChief117]

Everything about Platoon is damn near perfection. Easily one of the greatest War films ever made next to Black Hawk Down or Saving Private Ryan. Glad you guys reviewed this one. Lol

[@FNGACADEMY]

agreed 100 percent

[@ViperChief117]

@@FNGACADEMYDefinitely goes up there in my top ten war movies of all time anyway. Lol

[@merikano2985]

It was definitely a much needed war movie that a lot of Vietnam veterans watch and go: "Yup, that's how fucked up it was over there. Nice to see Hollywood finally get it right!" The village massacre was based off the My Lai massacre where a large US force killed half a thousand Vietnamese civilians including infants and gang-raped women. One LT that took part killed 22 singlehandedly and he was the ONLY one who served any jail time - sentenced to 20 years of house arrest. His sentence was then commuted once Nixon came into office, meaning he served 3 and a half years prison time total. And if that isn't messed up, there were three American soldiers who tried to protect the civilians (just like Elias). Those three dudes ended up being branded as traitors by several US politicians. It wasn't until decades later did today's US military thankfully exonerate them and recognized the three as heroes, not traitors. And here's why shit like My Lai was important on a strategic level, even though the American soldiers who got a way with what the rest of the world called a war crime the massacre did a lot of damage to the war effort turning the US population against the war and ended up hurting soldiers who survived Vietnam. Unlike WW2 vets, Vietnam vets were unfairly treated like monsters when they came back home. Calling them baby killers and throwing dog shit at them, when in reality the vast majority had nothing to do with anything like that. Remember the movie Rambo? And strategically when the Vietnamese did their Tet Offensive and tried to fight the US conventionally (and got their asses kicked because they were trying to fight the Americans on America's terms) it still was a strategic victory for North Vietnam. Because it showed to the anti-war American public just how far the NVA would go to achieve victory. Add in that the South Vietnamese government was corrupt as hell: one South Vietnamese general was working for the North Vietnamese held a position that oversaw nearly all US Special Forces operations - MACV SOG (you know the Special Forces unit that took 100% casualties?). Mix in how most of the US forces were draftees that didn't want to be there in the first place (or were lifers like O'Neil - the doctor from Scrubs - who would do six months on the front lines then get reassigned to a REMF unit away from the fighting leaving one less NCO to train the FNGs) and it was only a matter of time until the war effort collapsed. There was just no way we were winning that war. Still the majority of Hollywood Vietnam movies like to depict what happened there as something else - and there are several accounts of badass snipers and green berets and seals that kicked ass and took names and make for great movies. But don't kid yourselves. Look at Platoon not as an anti-war movie but a cautionary tale of what happens when the US picks fights it doesn't fully understand. As for Oliver Stone? Who do you think taught the actors that thousand yard stare we see when they found the tortured body of their friend? Charlie Sheen and Johnny Depp said that Oliver Stone gave them chills when he showed them how to look when recording that scene. That Oliver Stone had this look in his eyes that you knew under no uncertain terms he could kill you in an instant with no hesitation. Platoon, the story that needed to be told because of how Vietnam affected the lives of so many people and not to tell it is not only dishonorable but dangerous for future generations of soldiers if today's military was the same kind that led the fight in Vietnam.

[@juicev25]

@@merikano2985 Very well said.

[@ImperialMJG]

Nah, this is better then all of those.

[@tbdog99]

There's an interview with Oliver Stone somewhere on KZbin where he says every character in Platoon was based on someone he knew who really existed. There WAS a Sargent Barnes, and a Bunny, etc...not the same names, but the exact same people.

[@ralphalvarez5465]

In the movie, these guys are living through a green hell and will hold on to the devil himself (Barnes) to survive. Like Anthony Quinn Jr character said, "Only Barnes can kill Barnes" and he ran the platoon while the Lieutenant didn't care. Elias reported the civilian killing to Dale Dye's character and that's why Barnes shot Elias. A couple of days later is the big battle where the colonel is killed by the NVA suicide bomber into the TOC. Today's Army is a different beast than the US Army in Vietnam. Letter writing was the only communication, no emails or cell phones. You could say that you would go against the tide but research what happened to the Huey pilot and door gunner that tried to report the My Lai massacre. That was over 300 civilians that were brutalized and killed. Only Lt Calley was convicted and given a life sentence while was later reduced to house arrest. Captain Ernest Medina got off scot free and he was the C/O. Different rules of engagement and "body counts" and "search and destroy" were realities.

[@ollikuhta9127]

Yeah when the filming of Platoon was done (before it was shown to the public) Oliver Stone showed it in a private viewing to his former platoon mates. They had a platoon reunion. And the characters in the movie were people in the reunion (not everyone was present of course, but like dozen people) It's mentioned in one commentary in KZbin, there's even black&white footage of the reunion

[@shameless1047]

These guys have obviously never spoken to any Vietnam vets that were really in the shit. Spoken to a few that said, platoon is the most realistic to what they experienced over there

[@rosswatson3993]

I don't think they ever said it's not realistic. They just kind of sour on how bad it makes our military look. Not that those things didn't happen, it's just a real bummer of a movie. Not a bad movie by any stretch, just a completely different look at the war in Vietnam.

[@rosswatson3993]

Should mention these two guys, just like everyone else nowadays SIGNED UP THEMSELVES to join the military. They weren't DRAFTED like many in the Vietnam War. Different motivations for sure.

[@ExUSSailor]

Whatever you think about him, and, his films, you have to give Oliver Stone credit. He enlisted in 1967, volunteered to go to Vietnam, and, won a Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and, several other medals. He was no POG.

[@FNGACADEMY]

total G no doubt

[@mandingogrande9243]

Facts he went to Yale and dropped out of the same class Bush, Trump and Clinton were in and enlisted

[@KahinAhmed72]

@@mandingogrande9243 What?! That's crazy!

[@KahinAhmed72]

@@scottspencer6899 Person Other than Grunt (Anybody who’s not in the infantry). It’s usually told to someone who doesn’t work in a combat job. Which isn’t bad, militaries need more than infantry soldiers to function efficiently.

[@jakester455]

Sean... Dude... You showed an astonishing lack of knowledge about the Tunnel Rats. LOL

[@rgbenge7580]

I served with some Vietnam era veterans when I came into the Army in the early 80s. Most said this movie put all of the worst things that happened into one story. This stuff happened, but not nearly as much at one time and one place.

[@tylerblalack6684]

That's almost every movie lol. This one fit a 10 guys' 12 month deployments into 2 hours.

[@bradkasler5536]

The "Lets do the whole village" scene was based on a real event called the "My Lai" massacre.. Over 500 villagers were killed on a mission sometime in 1968. This is one of the reasons why returning soldiers were referred to as "baby killers".... I don't think this was a regular occurence at all, but look up the incident...It will give more context to the movie.

[@FNGACADEMY]

I read a book on it.. but dude clearly made himself out to be the hero... Ranger talking about ripping peoples heads off...

[@geraldodozapzap6610]

@@FNGACADEMY The character that represents oliver stone wasnt portrayed as a hero but as someon who did nothing, and yes rangers did war crimes and still do including beheadings

[@chumpzilla000]

The guy going in the tunnel by himself was known as a tunnel rat. Usually, the smallest guy because the tunnels were very small.

[@ebannaw]

I was in 3-2 SBCT. Deployed to Iraq with them, did my time honorably and was discharged - I wanted to move on with my life. We were also deploying to Afghanistan, but I ETS'd before deploying. My friends understood and wished me luck, and I as well to them. Then Robert Bales happened - he murdered 16 Afghans. War crimes still happen, but you're right, they're not the norm.

[@NoelleMar]

And they’re not the norm only because people have fought so hard for that to be the case. We see around the world and throughout history how enormous groups of people can have “no morals” and refuse to step in to stop atrocities, and even participate in them.

[@EziekKiel]

@@NoelleMar Yes, that's very true. We are much better today than in the past. Although those participating in the Russian war machine are certainly an exception. Russian forces committing one war crime after another. Murder, rape, execution, and even the freaking kidnapping of young children. Genocide. They have no morals or shame. Imagine the kind of person who would shoot a little girl point blank in the head as she's begging for her life. A Russian soldier admitted to doing exactly that during a podcast/interview. Sickening.

[@Alfeco-dm7uk]

Tour of Duty was a military drama television series based on events in the Vietnam War, broadcast on CBS. The series ran for three seasons, from September 24, 1987, to April 28, 1990, for a total of 58 one-hour episodes.

[@RevStickleback]

One big difference between Vietnam and later conflicts was that many of the soldiers were conscripts drafted in, not people who joined as a career. They really didn't want to risk being killed, or see their buddies killed, for a war that meant nothing to them. And there really was some horrible stuff, worse than this film, that happened out there. Over 500 villagers at My Lai massacred, for example.

[@alexbaum2204]

That's certainly one of the major differences. Another would be who we were fighting against. The Vietnamese had never done a thing to us nor ever posed a single threat. This was a proxy war against Russia, China, and communism. Back in the 60's, before globalization had really sunk its fangs in, the third world good and truly existed. Southeast Asia was an entire region of third world countries. To say they were undeveloped would be a massive understatement. There's a line in the movie right before they go into the village where he talks about how it had probably stood there untouched for hundreds of years. Well, it probably had never seen western people either. No use for money, total subsistence, next to no education or literacy. Absolute poverty, but not in a way that really mattered so much - they grew and raised what they needed. And then the French came and then the Americans. And they brought modern warfare. But in a place of an extreme environment that they were experienced in and we were not. We were fighting against people who had nothing, but could often put us in our place because it was their backyard. We really had no business being there. Over 50 thousand of our young men were lost for no reason. Over 2 million of their people were lost simply for trying to decide their own future. It sucked. The darkest conflict we've ever been involved in. I'd really like to think it is something we learned from. These two guys do not seem to understand that at all.

[@RevStickleback]

@@alexbaum2204 I do think there is tendency among many to assume Vietnam is/was almost entirely a rural country, because of the depiction of it in war films and reports. You get tourists there now complaining that they haven't seen much of 'real Vietnam ' because they haven't seen loads of straw hut villages. Even back then though, there were major cities. Full Metal Jacket is maybe the only one that shows urban warfare.

[@alexbaum2204]

@@RevStickleback there absolutely were cities. Saigon, Hue, Haiphong, Hanoi, Vinh. All thriving cities. But much of Vietnam was rural. In fact, the vast majority of it was. If you look at the forest cover of the entire region, more than 70% of it was covered in unbroken, VIRGIN forest. It was no joke. And the inland villages in Vietnam, particularly along the borders of Cambodia and Laos were about as far flung as one could imagine. Again, back then before globalization, these villages were all but completely cut off. Perhaps some would be sent to the big cities to work and, if very lucky, study. But most subsisted off the land. Not much changed in that part of the world in rural areas between World War 2 and then. In WW2, our GI’s were encountered by people in Melanesia who had never seen outsiders. The same can be said of those who walked into villages in the Vietnamese hinterland. That is not to say that these young men came into these villages and inflicted great amounts of harm. I believe that while this did indeed happen, and probably with much greater frequency than our other armed conflicts, it was not commonplace. We often gave medical aid, tried to make allies, and in some cases helped to train them in tactics against NVA and Vietcong, who were also quite brutal towards them in many instances. But it would have been an absolute absurdity for so many of our soldiers, many of whom would have had absolutely no idea where Vietnam even was before going, to have these encounters. One of the many absurdities of that war. Bending and blurring the lines of reality far beyond what any psychedelic might have done. To be choppered into these remote areas from a base or even a base in a city. To run patrol there and even engage in combat - in this surreal contrast to the world they knew at home and the more modern and cosmopolitan cities of Vietnam (or Thailand and the Philippines if coming back from R&R) m, only to be choppered back to something once again recognizable. Well, if that alone didn’t play cruel tricks on their minds, I don’t know what would. I’ve never been in combat. But I have indeed roughed it for months on end in the bush in that part of the world. Far eastern Indonesia is still largely undeveloped, and the encounters one has there are still quite surreal. To say you’re an outsider is missing the mark entirely. It is a beautiful yet harsh environment where we, as westerners, are completely out of elements. One depends on local knowledge to make it through. I spent time in Vietnam along what would then have been the Ho Chi Minh trail. It is still thick jungle. And all I could think is what it must have been like and felt like 60 years ago. The challenges would have been enormous, seemingly insurmountable. I’ve said it many times, and I’ll say it again: we asked far too much of those brave, young men back then. We should not have been there and they should not have had to go through what they did. But, as ever, my undying respect will always go to them for doing what they did. And I would say that of both sides. They have all my respect.

[@RevStickleback]

@@alexbaum2204 One of the tragedies of it all is that Vietnam pretty much turned it's back on communism in a little over a decade after the war ended. Other than gaining independence from France, which would have come anyway, it was for nothing...not that remaining communist would have been a good thing.

[@alexbaum2204]

@@RevStickleback I mean, it is still a socialist country. I don’t think any country will ever truly be communist. It’s a lofty goal that ignores the innate tendencies of human beings. I’ll tell you one thing, though: it was one hell of a mountain to climb to get out of the situation they were in after the war. In the mid-80’s they were one of the poorest countries on the planet. Now? Well now they appear to be doing very well. That was through sheer grit and determination. They are very hardworking people who rose up against the odds to rebuild their nation. I have a lot of respect for them.

[@SpicyMilk_ttv]

Thank you all for everything yall do, have done and continue to do. Your commitment to assist new soldiers and the transparency you bring from your channel has impacts you can only imagine on peoples lives. Platoon has always been one of my favorites and a movie that stood out to me in my life because my grandfather was an SOG in Vietnam. Part of a sniper team from my understanding and the little I know about his term of service. From the few stories I got from him before he passed, this war was an unimaginable horror that most people nowadays cant even fathom.

[@cailinmaxim]

Grew up in a garrison city in Australia and a few of my friends parents were Vietnam veterans, many of the stories i was told when drinking with them were truely horrific as to what they went through and many didnt want to be there as they were drafted. I really hope that one day you get a chance to review "Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan". Based on real events and does a great job of telling the story without over doing it hollywood style.

[@chadchaddy69]

I’m not military and to old for selection but you guys keep these conversations going because they are very important and gives civilians more than you know! Great work

[@mattperry5789]

One thing to keep in mind is the director Oliver Stone, served in Vietnam

[@FNGACADEMY]

which is terrifying that he was likely portraying real world scenarios

[@johnydsmithson6834]

​​@@FNGACADEMYThere's a 'making of Platoon', it was filmed in sequence, so as characters died, their actors were abruptly flown home without saying goodbyes, per Oliver Stone. Oliver also stated every character was a real grunt he served with, including the atrocities and heroism portrayed. Cheers thanks for the reaction.

[@sketchygetchey8299]

Both Oliver Stone and Dale Dye, if memory serves correctly, had some clashes while working on this movie. But something that really stood out in the making was how lost in thought they were in making the village scene.

[@FNGACADEMY]

i can imagine they clashed... lines were crossed.. but it turned out so great

[@Jessie_James850]

Vietnam veterans and even ex soldiers from Stone's platoon were angry at him because he realy gone too far. He basicly put in the movie all the worst things that US soldiers ever did in 'Nam in one platoon. I think he knew what Hollywood producers want,and he delivere it for money and fame.

[@aarondrennan5650]

The 30th anniversary of that film was a little while ago, one of the actors did a documentary with interviews from the actors and their experiences during the filming and post production. Kieth David who plays “King” said he was eating dinner in a restaurant about a week after the movie released and a patron approached them and told him that he incapsulated the black soldier in Nam. When vets come up to you like that… you played the part good and he did. Dad was a Vietnam vet.

[@jeffp3415]

I had a co-worker that was a tunnel rat in Viet Nam. Probably about 5"4" and 150#. We went pheasant hunting once at a company meeting, after we flushed the first birds and starting shooting, he turned and walked back to the cabin without saying a word; we all knew enough not to ask.

[@totoroutes5389]

The scene when the u.s. soldier murdered the civilian and held the child at gunpoint is referencing a village massacre that happened in that war.

[@billswindle8311]

The scene where Barnes holds a little Vietnamese girl with a gun to her head and her reaction is as real a scene in the movie as it gets.

[@Benja13881]

This movie is about unprepared conscripts not inlisted soldiers with proper training, I think this is why they seem undisciplined

[@happynowfarms]

I chose the Army instead of the Marines in 86 after this movie came out. I was 17 and grew up in Southern California and Colorado in the 70's. The diverse backgrounds of the Grunts drew me in. Yes it was a horrible war that brought out the worst in some Soldiers. As an American who had relatives who fought in Vietnam and WW2 and grew up in their shadow, I joined the Infantry to make the world a better place and serve my Country. Was very idealistic when young, now very skeptical and practical about war using it very rarely.

[@PaddyInf]

The Claymore thing still gets me. On platoon commander's division there there was a student who had a magnificent ND with a claymore. The triggers we use only have to be hit once but he thought it was one of the 3 clack ones in the movie. He decided he would 'prime' by doing 2 presses after setting up so he would only have to press it once when needed. It was the best day.

[@EziekKiel]

Jesus dude he must have SHIT HIS PANTS lmao! Why did they get rid of the 3 action triggers? Seems like a good safety measure for things like this. "Priming" the claymore my goodness lmao. Such a smart lad!🤣

[@swim2dtop85]

The scene of William Dafoe going into the Tunnel was probably due to him being the selected "Tunnel Rat" for the platoon. Tunnel Rats were selected due to being the smallest in the platoon and cable of getting into hard places. This was a practice during the Vietnam War.

[@sethzuern37]

Pretty sure Stone and Captain Dale Dye (the military advisor) had flash backs on set

[@matthewmalleus7135]

Charlie/Chris 'froze up' because he is new and had never made contact and half asleep. Everyone is asleep. Everyone thinks they'd be all Rambo and be naturally blowing away enemies on first contact, but you never know what you'll do until you're in the moment. That's the only time that happens to him. The film is based on Oliver Stone's and Dale Dye's experiences, both did multiple tours as an infantryman in Nam.

[@nativepangea]

Best understated scene Sgt. Elias carrying the Pig for one of his men. Also the interpreter in the village is Johnny Depp in his first role, he seems so sympathetic and innocent very well played.

[@verdonix1976]

I’m sure this has been said already, but one big difference was in Vietnam everyone was drafted, but today everyone’s a volunteer.

[@KahinAhmed72]

Not true, *not everyone* was drafted.

[@verdonix1976]

@@KahinAhmed72 you’re missing the “forest for the trees” to point out semantics. The point is that much of the reason GIs portrayed from that era are portrayed in the way they are is because they didn’t want to be there. YES, there were some volunteers, but all in all the military was drafted in that time. Therefore the “tone” of the military was that of a group of folks who didn’t want to be where they were and they acted accordingly. They were pissed at the Govt. and they were not blinded to the sentiment stateside… therefore you had some really exaggerated instances of crappy humans. Whereas, today, you have a 100% volunteer force that chose to be where they are and save for a few outliers who forgot when they enlisted for school that they might have to fight a war…. Everyone remembers that either they or their parents signed up to punch back after 9/11. Changes the demeanor and overall morale when you chose yo do something over being forced to.

[@scottthomas4779]

All time great movie, but Stone definitely crammed every stereotype and horror story that was ever told into it. The scene with the starlight goggles and the enemy soldier appearing slowly from behind the tree is terrifying. One of my favorites for sure.

[@anthonyramirez9003]

Another bit of trivia I read, is that scene where Charlie Sheen and Kevin Dillon are confronting the "One Legger". Well, he truly was disable and was blind because he was too poor to have the surgery to restore his eyesight. When Both, Sheen and Dillon found out. They paid to have his eyes operated on and he was able to see again.

[@FNGACADEMY]

damn i hope that is true... incredible

[@06dking]

They had very complex tunneling systems. Including bunks, medical unit, command centers, ammo depots, etc

[@sirguys2469]

Dude, when I saw you questioning the efficacy of them sending one man into the tunnels, I couldn't believe that as a special operator you had no knowledge of the work of the tunnel rats in Vietnam. There's a book called "The Tunnels of Cu Chi" which is about just one of the many tunnel systems the Vietnamese had. They had false tunnels, several exits/entrances and even ways to grow vegetables underground. Tunnel rats were chosen because of their stature. They were usually small, like the Vietnamese. Also, not only was platoon based upon Oliver Stone's Vietnam infantry experiences, but one of the advisors, Capt. Dale Dye, USMC (retired) was an infantry officer in Vietnam, and played the officer who ordered the drop of ordinance when their positions were being overrun. Vietnam was a jungle war, with many who were drafted and thrust into combat with the minimal training necessary (at one point boot camp was shortened). It ain't the desert war with a volunteer army.

[@neonblack211]

yeah, wern;t weren't they all vounteers also?

[@sirguy8613]

@neonblack211 from what I understand, yes.

[@RevStickleback]

One of the consequences of this was was to trigger the rise of the murderous Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, next door. The film "The Killing Fields" covers that in another movie that also won awards, and is definitely worth checking out, even if it isn't so much a war movie, as a movie showing the impact of war. The actor in the lead role lived through it, and said the depiction of the Khmer Rouge regime was too tame, which will seem quite the claim if you watch it.

[@5552-d8b]

Yes i agree with you. in the Vietnam war every side had a roll in creating the Khmer Rouge. The north Vietnamese worked with the communist in Cambodia with the Ho chi min trail. This gave them power and influence to the Khmer Rouge The US made things bad in Cambodia when they dropped bombs into Cambodia to destroy the Ho chi min trail and the chao only made the Khmer Rouge rise to power. After the Vietnam war the US was even helping the Khmer Rouge against Vietnam and even trained them just to destabilize Vietnam. They also worked with China to help the Khmer rouge stay in power against Vietnam China made things worse by invading Vietnam for Vietnam destroying the Khmer rouge and gave aid to Cambodia. China was bascially best friends with pol pot the mass murder dictator So I agree with you this war in Vietnam only made things worse by creating the Khmer rouge.

[@DP-2019]

The towel that Charlie Sheen was using was used to block the mosquitos. On the scene with the artillery barrage on their position, it wasn’t WP, part of the HE fragments struck his radio/battery, causing the battery to leak onto the radio operators back. Saw this movie at the base theatre in ‘87 while stationed on Camp Schwab, Okinawa. The terrain on the movie looked exactly like the Northern Training Area (NTA), the dense jungle and triple canopy made the heat oppressive with zero air-flow.

[@jevans.writer]

My late father in law was a combat veteran that served in Vietnam in the infantry. He never talked about the war, but once told me that Platoon was the closest movie that he'd ever seen to what it was actually like over there. He passed away earlier this year. All the Agent Orange shit they sprayed over there gave him liver problems.

[@nativepangea]

Saw this in '87 in GTMO outdoor concrete bleachers next to The Stoplight. There were a few helo fly overs during the flick, awesome times! I was one of the few Coasties surrounded by Marines, to which you would have thought a comedy was being played with all the laughter from those guys.

[@FNGACADEMY]

i can imagine! what a cool experience!

[@intricateinc8566]

Are we not calling it Beers and Breakdowns? Absolute classic iconic film. Always enjoy watching these reviews.

[@sjeb1967]

Didn't notice it till u said 👍🤣

[@FNGACADEMY]

of course we are!

[@intricateinc8566]

@@FNGACADEMY I heard you say it, just expected it in the title. This movie was hella dark watching it as a kid. Enjoyed the breakdown gentlemen.

[@10Cnote]

Dale Dye was a Marine Corps Captain in Vietnam and trained all the actors so that’s why they looked that way, they were like Vietnam vets. Some of Oliver Stone’s buddies from Vietnam met the actors after and said they had that same look in their eyes as their friends did

[@edgardabre2670]

A generals son, smart and signed up as a private in Vietnam to "See what was really going on" - he saw, he lived it

[@ryan976david]

Guess some people need to get off the couch and learn a thing or two about the tunnel rats in Vietnam, who went into tunnel systems ALONE.

[@FNGACADEMY]

i can google from the couch

[@Salamitommy-d5m]

What was your reaction to the scene where alias is running to the helicopter and gets shot in the back? Makes the tropic thunder scene so much funnier after seeing the scene from here

[@FNGACADEMY]

bro i couldnt unsee tropic thunder 🤣

[@Salamitommy-d5m]

Hahahahaha yes the face and flopping around😂😂😂😂

[@johnpaulogaralza9798]

It's was filmed in the Philippines

[@evie-roseclayton158]

Those in recent years have volunteered, so many were conscripted and didn’t want to go, the grunts was out in the field for a large part of the tour, 50/60 patrol were not unheard off, people who go to war are not monsters, but a war in a jungle when you don’t really see the enemy, booby traps everywhere, enemy has tunnels and pop up behind you when you think it’s been cleared, fear, watching your friends dying, and combat fatigue causes monsters. I respect all veterans of all wars, nobody should expect people to see and do the things they experienced. If we changed the rules and politicians who create these wars go to war in the first wave, then those that profit from war next, that’s how you obtain world peace

[@Iraia_Roberts]

The actors in platoon were portraying alot of guys who were drafted. Vietnam meant nothing to them. Oliver Stone served in Vietnam, so you can't get a better director than a guy who experienced Vietnam for real. No matter what modern soldiers think of the movie, this was real.

[@marcmeinzer8859]

Some people believe that the only army general who could have run the Vietnamese conflict better than Westmoreland was General Gavin who retired in 1958, was JFK’s ambassador to France, and who knew the leading French generals left over from their Indochina fiasco. He rejected the concept of search and destroy in favor of an enclave strategy which would have opted for baiting the North Vietnamese into mounting suicidal mass offensives against heavily fortified coastal enclaves. He also believed that Ho Chi Minh could have been successfully negotiated with. His book was titled CRISIS NOW by James M. Gavin. He was the CO of the Second World War 101st Airborne Division, as portrayed by Ryan O’Neal in the film A BRIDGE TOO FAR about the Operation Market Garden fiasco in the Netherlands, which was the largest airborne assault in history.

[@echohunter4199]

I’m a retired Army Infantryman, I served 6 years in the 2/502nd INF, 101st ABN from 1986-93 and spent a lot of time in the woods. In spring of 86 we went to Puerto Rico and spent a week walking on Vieques island when the Navy still used it. The jungle on Vieques island is no damn joke, everything that grows out of the ground has thorns or spikes that want to stab your ass. We had to hack out our path with a machete so we had to constantly rotate men on the front since it would wear you out after 15 minutes. Standing night watch guard gets boring as hell and sometimes your mind plays with you and you think you’re seeing things or some forest critter is the enemy or vice a versa. The bugs are nasty as hell and at night the mosquitoes want to drain your ass so you’re always concerned what’s left open where a mosquito can get you, if you leave one square inch open without repellent, that spot will get a few bites while you sleep. Then during the day you have the sweat bees and flies that want to bug you all the time. The bugs aren’t always a big problem, just a few weeks out of the year and you learn how to tune most of them out. We don’t like whiners since anyone can complain, it’s the humor that makes it easier and shows you that if you try, you’ll learn to deal with things and overcome them. I have a star on my CIB and each time it was a bitch, we didn’t have nice little trailers to sleep in, we had abandoned buildings and no electricity so we had to make everything little by little. I’ve worked around some great Infantrymen in my 26 years, I’m glad to have known them. A Grunt is not the same kind of Soldier as a Cook or Finance Clerk, our focus is completely different compared to the priorities of other Soldiers, they worry about their political ranking in their work environment while we care less about that crap. And what really annoys us is when you get intimidated when you see a CIB on my chest, it’s just an award I have to wear on my uniform, you have your little CAB which is real cute but I’ll still respect a 12B more than you. That said, they need to make a similar award like the CIB for 12B, those men are wild.

[@johnfalk4200]

During the Vietnam War, "tunnel rat" became an unofficial specialty for volunteer combat engineers and infantrymen from the Australian Army and the U.S. Army who cleared and destroyed enemy tunnel complexes. Their motto was the tongue-in-cheek Latin phrase Non Gratum Anus Rodentum ("not worth a rat's ass"). Besides enemy combatants, the tunnels themselves presented many potential dangers to tunnel rats. Sometimes they were poorly constructed and they would simply collapse. Tunnels were often booby trapped with hand grenades, anti-personnel mines, and punji sticks. The VC would even use venomous snakes (placed as living booby traps). Rats, spiders, scorpions, and ants also posed threats to tunnel rats. Bats also roosted in the tunnels, although they were generally more of a nuisance than a threat. Tunnel construction occasionally included anti-intruder features such as U-bends that could be flooded quickly to trap and drown the tunnel rat. Sometimes poison gases were used. Tunnel rats were generally men of smaller stature (165 cm (5 ft 5 in) and under), who were able to maneuver more comfortably in the narrow tunnels.Tom Mangold and John Penycate, authors of one of the definitive accounts of tunnel warfare during the Vietnam War, reported that the U.S. tunnel rats were almost exclusively soldiers of European or Hispanic descent, many of whom were Puerto Rican or Mexican American.

[@MrJrv1993]

You guys should do a video on The Deer Hunter. Another fantastic Vietnam movie that shows the horrors and transformations the characters go through from beginning to end.

[@pontiacGXPfan]

I almost forgot Tom Berenger(Sniper) was in this film alongside Johnny Drama and Forest Whitaker and McGinley(Point Break) and Keith David(Clockers)

[@PBScourge]

Love the show guys and all the content. The movie gets the tunnel rat thing correct. Typically, one guy per unit was either a formal or informal specialist in exploring through Vietnamese tunnels. They were called Tunnel Rats. The tunnels were often booby trapped, but learning to defeat them was part of the specialty. Tunnel Rats would typically go in by themselves. Also, these tunnel complexes were pretty big. You couldn’t just fill in one entrance and hope to trap the people inside. Things have changed !

[@Sebuin]

LMAO, that "Steve Irwin's ghost line, I know is going to hit my head whenever I see a "don't fuck around with the animal" moment.

[@ollikuhta9127]

"Fragging" (killing an upopular own side officer) really happened, it became more common towards the end of war. According to wikipedia "Documented and suspected fragging incidents using explosives totaled 904 from 1969 to 1972, while hundreds of fragging incidents using firearms took place, but were hard to quantify as they were indistinguishable from combat deaths and poorly documented." They threw a M26 grenade at a sleeping officer usually (thus the name), because it was hard to prove who threw it. Also I think Vietnam War was a bit different, because lot of the men were drafted. So they were not there because they enlisted, unlike Oliver Stone who actually volunteered. Many were forced there. That's why also drug abuse, low morale and fragging took place. USA gave up drafting after Vietnam War, probably because it went so poorly In fact, Russian soldiers have been fragging or otherwise attacking their officers in Ukraine. In one incident, they drove over officer's legs with a tank, because they didn't like his orders. Lot of them don't want to be sent to the meat grinder, to die for Putin's pointless dream

[@isabelralph5391]

Yes, it certainly did. One of my mom's many friends in Vietnam almost got killed by his own sergeant. He found him on top of a hill picking off villagers in a field. When he questioned what he was doing, his sergeant turned around and aimed his rifle (?) at him and threatened to kill him. There were a lot of angry and messed up people in that war.

[@flashpointbravo]

Please read up on Captain Riley L Pitts. He served in Company C, 2d Battalion, 27th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division. In December of 1968 he did some heroic ass shit, saved the lives of a ton of his men and was ultimately awarded the Medal of Honor. He was the first black officer to receive the Medal of Honor. My uncle served under him while they were in Vietnam but he came home about a month before the battle that took Captain Pitts’ life.

[@ChuckG92]

Come on guys, you're telling me you've never heard of the tunnel rats? Ballsy dudes.

[@Gracc112]

The depiction of the "tunnel rats" is spot-on. They would send one guy in there with a .45 or a .38, and no hearing protection. I don't remember why they cleared tunnels like that but it is true.

[@Cwomack07]

19:02 gentleman y’all need to research “Tunnel Rats” common tactic used by US forces to clear these , they would usually send the smallest dudes similar in size to the average Vietnamese male

[@Grey8270]

Correct

[@electron4784]

The Village scene reminded me of the My Lai massacre March 16, 1968. Although My Lai was a larger scale I think. There was alot of controversy was around My Lai and who was to blame. Just wondered if you had heard of this.

[@FNGACADEMY]

i have trying to find the book now, was a from a Ranger if i recall correctly

[@karmicneurot9829]

Jocko Willink does a piece abouut it on his podcast. The part of this particular video caught my attention when they said something about one individual would have spoken up...go give the Jocko piece a listen, and see how close this movie was.

[@electron4784]

@@karmicneurot9829 Thanks I will.

[@electron4784]

@@FNGACADEMY Didn't know about a book on My(Me) Lai massacre. Thanks

[@davidmacias741]

My uncle Mike did Korea and two terms in Vietnam. He never really talked about it. The one time he opened up was about how some were killing kids. He wouldn't do it. Twenty two years and he had enough. He had some pretty impressive metals.

[@m.z.8710]

Dafoe did his death scene in a single take. None of his blood packs burst, but it was so good, they kept it anyway. This is far and away my fav war movie, excepting language. The bunker season ("I am reality") has so many quotable lines. Tom Berenger slayed his role.

[@MikeDodds]

I served in D co 2/502 Infantry from 86 to 89. I remember going out on FTXs and being so sleep deprived that we would start hallucinating!!! There was a sandbag on the ground next to our hummer and I would have bet a paycheck that one of my privates dropped their pro mask!!! On that same exercise, I was pulling security sitting in the torrent on the TOW. There was a full moon so the shadows were everywhere. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw someone reaching for my weapon, I whipped around and slammed my arm down on a shadow and scared the shit out of everyone in the vehicle!!! Good stuff. 😂

[@tombakabones274]

18:40 that was the life of a tunnel rat in Vietnam smallest guy in the unit you get a 45 and a flashlight down the hole you go you're in pitch black darkness by yourself barely any room to breathe no room to turn around with punji pits venomous snakes guys hiding in corners ready to pounce on you and stab you or shoot you I do not envy that job one bit much respect to those guys because that takes a big ass pair of steel balls f*** the brass

[@christopherherbst8966]

FINALLY!!! I've been waiting for this one !

[@wellthen.......9384]

My grandfather was a tunnel rat Vietnam

[@FNGACADEMY]

your grandfather was a total stud than

[@xStrych9x]

as my dad pointed out to me in his own personal stories of the time, these were mostly draftees and back then they were drafting everyone and anyone. he served with draftees that he knows without a doubt did not have all their mental faculties. he told me that every unit seemed to have their 'bunny' and soldiers like my dad just gave them a wide berth and just hoped they didn't get placed on ambush or guard duty with them as they seemed to have a knack of getting others around them wounded or killed but somehow always walk away unscathed themselves.

[@ohxsea80]

After the Vietnam war the government cracked down super hard on journalism/general war correspondence (tightly controlling what information/visuals could be disseminated) because of the effect it had on public support and morale. But also many of those fighting were conscripts (and didn't have the same training that we invest in now)

[@jonathanramos8414]

Ironically oliver stone also directed salvador a movie about a war correspondent covering the salvadoran civil war 1979-1992. Its a highly forgotten cold war era conflict. But it was one of reagan's biggest foreign policy issues along with Iran contra

[@topherthered]

Stone says he based Sheen's character basically on himself. If I remember correctly he was a regular, then in LRRP, then 1st Cav. Wounded twice, bronze star. He said some of it was changed for the film, but most of what was in it, he experienced. Don't know if that's true, just what he's said.

[@kxkxkxkx]

He was never a lrrp just a clout chaser 😂 also a Communist

[@topherthered]

@@kxkxkxkx just looked it up. DOD confirmed his story. As for him being a communist... I don't agree with most of his views, but he's more of a left wing progressive libertarian. You seem upset. You okay?

[@topherthered]

@@kxkxkxkx oh, nevermind. You're just a troll. Should have looked you up before I bothered to reply.

[@martinbruce6651]

The scene with the towel over his head was if you watch it he was trying to not get bit by ants and the vc walked up on him.

[@jhilal2385]

A good one to watch is "We Were Soldiers" (2002) about the 1965 Battle of Ia Drang. It is based on the book "We Were Soldiers Once . . . And Young" by General Hal Moore (Lt Col. and battalion CO during the battle) and reporter Joe Galloway. Hal Moore, Joe Galloway, and Battalion Sgt Major Plumbley all were on hand as technical advisors during the filming. In a "its a small world" side note, in the original "Lethal Weapon", Danny Glover's character tells Mel Gibson's character that the banker that they just questioned is an army buddy who saved his life in Ia Drang in 1965, and 15 years later Mel Gibson is in a movie about Ia Drang.

[@robertsmith4681]

Happy you guys got around to reviewing one of the better known movies about the Vietnam war. Have you considered going thru some of the iconic ww2 movies such as "A bridge too far" ?

[@FNGACADEMY]

for sure we will! Gonna get up to speed on my history first though lol

[@RicktheCrofter]

Many many years ago I read the preface to a book called, if I remember it correctly, ‘Company Commander.’ The author, a former army captain, claimed to have been the commander of Oliver Stone’s company. He wrote that nothing that happened in the movie ever happened in any of his platoons.

[@kxkxkxkx]

Oliver Stone is completely full of sh!t at all times ☝️

[@PopePlatinumBeats]

the whole movie was Barnes and Elias fighting for the Soul of Charlie Sheens character

[@hershh4227]

i love how the movie is based on Oliver stones time in country during the Vietnam conflict most tunnel rats preferred to go in alone easier to move around

[@oboogie2]

On the subject of tunnels and tunnel-rats; yes, the tunnels were very often booby-trapped: with arrows or spears on trips and springs, trapdoors and punji sticks or tethered cobras, grenades, tear gas whatever was useful. Tunnel-rats were all volunteers and got special privileges for it. They were sent in alone because (A) the spaces were so confined that another person couldn't really help and would just hamper quick escape or be a liability, and (B) why risk losing two men as opposed to one when you're not going to gain much of anything more by sending two? However, command wanted to know where tunnels went, what was in them, and and caches found accounted for and destroyed. Some of the complexes, I have heard, particularly around Cu Chi and the Parrot's Beak, were just massive, complete with whole hospitals, large mess kitchens, classrooms, etc. The VC/NVA were a crazily resourceful foe.

[@georgerankin6362]

To add to this comment, there's a book, 'The Tunnels of Cu Chi' by Tom Mangold, which describes the ingenious complexity and enormity of the tunnel system dug by the VC/NVA. The VC/NVA soldiers acquired two howitzers which were dismantled and buried only to be unearthed, reassembled, fired a few times, and then disassembled and reburied before American troops arrived to attack the firing position. Their boobytrap game was strong and horrifying, as well.

[@oboogie2]

@@georgerankin6362 yeah, tunnel rat is not a job I regret not ever having. Given the choice, I think I'd rather volunteer to pump shit out of airplanes and scrape birdshit off the wings up at Thule as an E-2 for an entire enlistment. And I hate the cold!

[@samporche]

Keeping with the ‘Nam topic…would it be too troublesome to ask you to review Siege at Firebase Gloria?

[@secretsofthepast2993]

Hello from Ontario Canada I am 44 I remember when this movie came out the best movies I have seen about the Vietnam War respectfully was this movie , Hamburger Hill , Casualties of War , We were Soldiers , Full Metal Jacket and if you want too see a movie that not only show the war in Vietnam but also what they went through back at home with there families and friends then you should watch Born on the fourth of July with Tom Cruise that movie is based on a true story its about Ron Kovic and the other movie is called the War at home staring Emilio Estevez . After Operation homecoming when the Vietnam war ended there is still roughly 1 , 350 American Service men still unaccounted for from the war in Vietnam listed as POW ' s and or MIA ' s and sought the return of roughly 1 , 200 Americans Killed in Action however those bodies were not recovered . Also my Country of Canada played a major role in Vietnam while young men were coming over here too escape the draft somewhere between 30 , 000 and 40 , 000 Canadian boys went too the US too enlist in the forces at least 134 Canadians were Killed in Vietnam by the North Vietnamese Army ( NVA ) and Vietcong ( VC ) My Country of Canada was in Vietnam in the 50s as part of the ICC the International Control Commission . Yes I am a Student of Military history the history of Warfare and a war historian .

[@JosephDawson1986]

The towel was to keep the mosquitoes at bay not to hide. He was an FNG on this patrol

[@chaselee3965]

When William Dafoe goes into the tunnel it reminded me of my first deployment to Iraq in '08. My PLT SGT. cut the wires to an I.E.D. that we had come across on patrol with a gerber. He had me come with him and pull his security. It scared the shit out of me being a cherry but I would do it all over again

[@DamienBlade]

Weird fact about Willem Dafoe. Apparently, there were several scenes in a movie called Antichrist where he is full nude, but he is so well-endowed that they had to bring in a stand-in for some scenes because it just looked unrealistic.

[@billydoyle6919]

I was on an EX once where one of our guys wandered off got separated and was lost. We had to initiate lost procedures which involved firing a round every 30mins on the hour. I had the 0200-0400 watch. It was so fukcing hard to stay awake I set an alarm on my wrist watch because I was paranoid I'd fall asleep. Sure enough, no matter what I willed or tried, after 4 days of no food, evading a hunter force, air assets with K9s, moving at night and laying up in the day, tabbing 100s of clicks in mountainous, winter conditions, I was finally warm and comfy in my bivvy bag so neurochemistry took over and I nodded off and needed the alarm. Almost dozed through that, I tried every tactic there is. Singing in my head, doing math, I made a tiny tower out of sticks, counted pebbles, I even practiced knots on some para-cord. I was so pissed off at myself but then everyone else said they'd done the same thing. One guy told me :'Did you know paracord has over 900 individual threads'... Missing guy was scooped up by the standby SAR helo at first light, he was 20Kms away heading in the opposite direction to us, never heard one of our shots.

[@philliplamew3945]

During the Vietnam War, we had the tunnel rats, who's only mission was to exploit and destroy these tunnels

[@roundrock63]

Imagine being drafted, going through basic and landing and in 24 hours, you’re needing to kill people like it’s just a normal thing to do.

[@NEWARK767]

I've had several Vietnam veterans Tell me, That tunnel rats can only go alone cause of they're small stature. They also told me that those tunnels We're Claustrophobia to the 9th Power.

[@1lthrnk]

Hiding under a blanket, that’s kinda like “Cops” dude hiding under a plastic baby pool

[@yamaharider58]

Lotta guys already addressed it but very surprised you hadnt heard of the Tunnel Rats. Figured that would be something GBs had studied on. Also gotta remember tactics and procedures in the 2000s and 2010s was a lot different than how we were adjusting on the fly to how the enemy fought in the jungle in the 60s

[@huckleberry2534]

Do some research on Vietnam Tunnel Rats... very interesting stuff😂😂

[@macguffinvirtualproduction6183]

Able’s getting cinematic with his angles! Top notch dude!!!

[@BLUEDELUCA]

Elias was small enough and familiar enough with those tunnels that he was the best person to send down.

[@88scotteeee]

I believe they had some claymores set by trip wire as a last resort defense just incase this happened? Or atleast to a flare?

[@chadhankins6835]

Kevin Dillon was so good in Entourage bc that basically was his real life before that role, his brother Matt Dillon WAS a much more acclaimed actor than he was, at least up to then, so he was basically playing himself in that role, I assumed that it may have played a part in why he was cast, or retroactively informed how they wrote the character after he got the role.

[@edm781]

P.S. Tunnel Rats was a very real & necessary thing. 37 years ago I read an in depth interview with a legit Tunnel Rat. There were complex tunnel systems all over the country. They had to try to root them out. It was discovered much after the event that there were even tunnels underneath a Bob Hope USO show well with in "safe" green zone areas.

[@heycowild8814]

Loyal as ever. See u next week.

[@rmjmoviereviews6876]

Having worked in a hospital with Vietnam veterans ive heard first hand about his, im not sure the rank, above guy telling him to crawl into a hole and how he blatantly told the guy im not going in there.

[@Salamitommy-d5m]

Imagine the tunnel at the other end is some Vietnamese dude just dutch ovening it non stop😂

[@K_Pyle]

me being short as shit knowing i wouldve enlisted back then I know I wouldve been voluntold to go down in those tunnels