Trish Tran



Trish TranKen. C. HansenHistory 170026 April 2012We Were SoldierHistory is the study of the human past. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Historians debate the nature of history and its usefulness. The war means death and misery, but why have the war? War is a crime that resulted in nothing desirable. We Were Soldiers is the best war movie Hollywood has released since September 11th, showing us how to fight a battle and how not to fight a war. With outstanding acting and a wide variety of emotions, it is a tribute and a salute to those who fought in Vietnam, and to any soldier who fights for America. We Were Soldiers tells the story of Lieutenant Colonel Harold G. Moore (Mel Gibson) and the battle at the Ia Drang valley, the first major conflict between North Vietnamese troops and American troops in the Vietnam War. On March 1, 2002, "We Were Soldiers," a movie about the Vietnam War was opened for the first time all over the United States. The movie was written and directed by Randall Wallace who also wrote "Brave heart." The movie "We Were Soldiers" is based on the memoir by Lt. Colonel Harold G. Moore in which he recounts the bloody battle at Ia Drang Valley in the Central Highlands of the former Republic of (South) Vietnam. The film has attracted a large audience, and made more than 20 million dollars at box offices in the first week.In the IaDrang Valley, paratroopers of the 7th cavalry of the 1st US Airborn division, led by Col Harold Moore (played by Mel Gibson), engaged in ferocious combat with North Vietnamese army regulars over three days and nights. Though initially outnumbered, the US troops defeated the Vietnamese thanks to massive air-born firepower. In the end, there were 300 US and nearly 2000 Vietnamese dead.A French Army unit is on patrol in Vietnam in 1954 during the First Indochina War. The captain of the patrol curses the land when they see nothing. Then, the unit is suddenly ambushed by Vietminh forces that kill the officers and, although the unit kills many enemies it is soon overrun. Nguyen Huu An (Don Duong), hypothesizing that if they take no prisoners the French will eventually stop sending troops and order the execution of all surviving French soldiers.Eleven years later, Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore (Mel Gibson), a dedicated U.S. soldier in the Regiment is deeply committed to training his troops, who are preparing to be sent to Vietnam. He is disquieted because the 7th Cavalry regiment was the unit commanded by General George Custer in the 19th Century when he and his men were slaughtered at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Moore is also dismayed because President Lyndon B. Johnson has decreed that the war would be fought "on the cheap," without declaring it a national emergency. As a result, Moore believes he will be deprived of his oldest, best-trained soldiers which is about 25% of his battalion .This happen just prior to shipping out for Vietnam. Before leaving for Vietnam, Moore delivers a touching speech to his unit:"Look around you. In the 7th Cavalry, we got a Captain from the Ukraine. Another from Puerto Rico. We got Japanese, Chinese, Blacks, Hispanics, Cherokee Indian, Jews and Gentiles -- all American. Now here in the States some men in this unit may experience discrimination because of race or creed, but for you and me now, all that is gone. We're moving into the valley of the shadow of death, where you will watch the back of the man next to you, as he will watch yours, and you won't care what color he is or by what name he calls God. Let us understand the situation; we're going into battle against a tough and determined enemy. I can't promise you that I will bring you all home alive, but this I swear, before you and before Almighty God: when we go into battle, I will be the first one to set foot on the field, and I will be the last to step off. And I will leave no one behind. Dead or alive, we will all come home together. So help me God."After arriving in Vietnam, he learns that an American base has been attacked, and in ordered to take his 400 men after the enemy and eliminate them, despite the fact that intelligence has no idea of the number of enemy troops. He leads a newly created air cavalry unit into the IaDrang Valley against over 4,000 -6,000 well equipped enemy soldiers.After landing in the “Valley of Death,” the soldiers capture a North Vietnamese Army lookout who informs them that the location they were sent to is actually the Base camp of an entire North Vietnamese Army division of over 4,000 men. At arrival, 2nd Lt. Henry Herrick spots a scout, and runs after him, ordering his reluctant soldiers to follow. The scout lures them into an ambush, resulting in the majority of the platoon members' deaths, including Herrick's. The platoon becomes surrounded with no chance of retreat. Sgt. Savage assumes command of the squad, and by calling in artillery and using the cover of darkness, holds off the Vietnamese from their small defensive position. With helicopters constantly dropping off the Calvary units, Moore manages to secure weak points before the Vietminh took advantage of it.An emotional toll is taken back home, where Moore's wife Julie (Madeleine Stowe) and another Lieutenant's wife, Barbara Geoghegan (Keri Russell), take over the job of delivering telegrams that inform families (mainly wives like themselves) living at Fort Benning, Georgia, the unit's base of operation, of soldiers' deaths.On the second day, despite being trapped near the landing zone, and desperately outnumbered, the main force manages to hold off the Vietnamese with artillery, mortars, and helicopter lifts of supply and freshmen. Eventually, enemy commander Nguyen Huu An orders a large scale attack to completely overrun the American position. At the point of breaking, Moore calls in the last resort "Broken Arrow”, killing some of their own soldiers, but eliminating most of the Vietnamese offensive force. The stranded platoons led by Savage are eventually rescued after the Vietnamese forces are repelled. The American troops regroup, secure the area, and charge up the mountain where the Vietnamese division headquarters is located. The Vietnamese have set up strong defense emplacements near the hidden entrance of the underground passage to the command post spoken of by the scout. Hal and his men charge right at them, into a seemingly impending massacre, but before the Vietnamese can fire, Major Bruce "Snakes hit" Crandall (Greg Kinnear) flies in with his helicopter and strafes the Vietnamese, destroying the most of the enemy defense.Meanwhile, Nguyen Huu An the Vietnamese Commander is alerted that the Americans have broken through the lines, and the base camp has no troops between command post and the Americans and the reserve forces were also dead. He orders the headquarters evacuated. Later, Nguyen Huu An with some remaining soldiers collect the dead remains of his men. Moore, having completed his objective, returns to the Landing Zone. to be picked up, and, after all of his men, dead or alive, is removed from the battlefield, steps on to a helicopter and flies out of the valley. Strong visual emphasis is placed on Moore's being the last American to set foot off the field of battle. At the end of the movie it is revealed that the Landing Zone immediately reverted to North Vietnamese hands after the American troops were airlifted out. Hal Moore continued part two of the battle in a different landing zone not in the movie. He returned home safely after 235 more days of fighting.This war film is based on true events that occurred at the beginning of the Vietnam War.? It’s main objective is to pay tribute to the heroism and bravery of the soldiers that fought in the battle.? The first part of the film shows the troops being trained in America and includes a lot of family scenes with the soldiers’ wives and children. Unfortunately these scenes are heavy handed and too much effort is made in giving the message that these men are not only soldiers but also god-fearing husbands and fathers.? There are some corny scenes and some bad dialogue.The second part of the movie moves to Vietnam and the battle scenes are done exceptionally well.? The heroism and bravery of the soldiers is shown although the patriotic gung-ho element is a little strong.? The horror and waste of war is also portrayed in these scenes.? Perhaps the most moving scenes in the film are when the “death notices” start to arrive to the wives of the soldiers who have been killed in action.Gibson is an intelligent, thinking, brave and determined leader. He won't ask a man to do what he won't do himself: "I will be the first to step on the field and I will be the last to step off," he assures his troops. He reads books and studies the nature of his enemy carefully. He trains his men meticulously, preparing them for the ominous battle to come. "Men will die," he tells his troops, knowing that he and his men are at a disadvantage against an enemy on their own turf.Mel Gibson is the tough and compassionate Moore, but even with his convincing portrayal, it's hard to believe he's playing a real person and not just another of his archetypal heroic roles. he has an ear for sappy dialogue, a talent that is evidenced here with lines like, "I'm glad I could die for my country" and "Tell my wife I love her". Whenever reality meets Hollywood, there are inevitably some concessions. It would be nice to think that Hal Moore had the type of blissful marriage and idyllic family life portrayed here, but authenticity is questioned when Madeline Stowe, who plays Moore's wife, exhibits the radical lip augmentation army housewives only dreamed of in 1965. The presence of Moore's wife and children in the film is an important part of the story. Very few movies like this one that shows the profound relation between the young men at the battle thousands of miles far away and their relatives in military housing at Fort Benning, Ga. In fact, the soldiers' dependents are a part of any war, who share with other civilians the larger part of war sorrow but a little of war glory. The taxi with Western Union envelopes containing the lifeless official letter "regret to inform..." and Mrs. Moore, who volunteers to deliver the mail, strongly reminds the Vietnamese veterans of the South Vietnamese military wives of all ages, old and young, cried and fainted the same way when the dreadful messages arrived.Meanwhile, Nguyen Huu An the Vietnamese Commander is alerted that the Americans have broken through the lines, and the base camp has no troops between command post and the Americans and the reserve forces were also dead. He orders the headquarters evacuated. Later, Nguyen Huu An with some remaining soldiers collect the dead remains of his men.In this particular scene, I believe that Enabling Others to Act is a practice that is exemplified. Both the commanding officers are off away from their troops. They see that there are men who step up and assume leadership roles, maybe not as productive as the other, and they don’t step in when they make decisions or when they tell the men to do something. Moore and Plumley show that they are sharing power, which is probably limited, and discretion with the men of the cavalry, thus strengthening others. This clip exemplifies how leaders will share their power and let others make decisions.A sense of family is well-portrayed among the soldiers, and especially among the wives at home. Madeleine Stowe plays Julie Moore, the wife of Lt. Col. Moore. She heads up the group of wives, giving moral support and preparing them as best she can for the possible death of their husbands. She and Russell show us the chilling events of how they dealt with relaying the notices of the deaths of their friends' husbands.The film does an exceptional job of transitioning from place-to-place, whether from one area of the battlefield to another, to the women and children back home, you always have a good sense of where things are happening and when they're taking place. While the battle is the main focus, the film also develops two parallel storylines: one involving the soldiers' wives and another about the enemy. Another flaw in the movie is at the beginning. The scene of a French Legionnaire unit ambushed and butchered by the Viet Minh troops might have helped the Americans compare the French army conditions with that of the American ground forces in Vietnam. It serves that purpose partly. But it also misleads people who have little idea about the Vietnam War into associating the behavior of the American GIs with the French Legionaries. We Were Soldiers' battle action is as intense and unsparing ,yet the movie is richer because the characters are more fully realized. The gore is no less prevalent and the assault on the senses is no less brutal. Although We Were Soldiers does not glorify the carnage that was Vietnam, it displays, in a lucid manner, small acts of heroism. These are things that never make it into the history books, which are concerned only about winners and losers and the number of casualties. After the film projector has caused many different reactions. On the U.S. side, this film is considered a success and earned revenue (20.2 million) and the positive response from American audiences, the film is considered to have a look right about the war, humanitarian spirit, courage and tolerance, and this is thought to be the latest film in the U.S. built on the subject of hostilities in Vietnam. However, some comments from the U.S. also disagree about the film. According to the press in Vietnam, Joseph L. Galloway, co-author of the book of the same name was "surprised and angry after watching the movie" ... According to Galloway, the book that he co-wrote the film, though the same story but with different content, Galloway claims the book reflects the truth, but when things change on the film. General Moore and Galloway was angry when watching movies, and soon after his outspoken criticism of the filmmaker. According to him, Hollywood movies have more than 80% of the truth to gain higher profits, while normally only be allowed under 20%.According to Galloway, the battle lasted four days (14-17/11/1965)-Ia Drang Valley, a total of 234 U.S. soldiers killed, about 250 people were injured and bloody battle, causing casualties very high for U.S. troops in the Vietnam War. According to the memory of Galloway, with six soldiers of the Liberation Army were arrested, but later escaped. According to documents obtained Galloway, if calculated on the full-Me Play campaign's Liberation Army (19/10 to 11/26/1965), the number of U.S. troops is much higher casualties.Opinion in Vietnam, Chu Lai writers have commented on this film, he said that this film is fake documents, fake humanities. Admittedly, with huge funding, talented directors, actors, film creates an atmosphere of war movies that Vietnam is far from being created. But disappointing because behind him is seem monumental dishonesty. He writer also said: "I say this movie because it's fake documentary opens with a memoir, was built as a war diary, detailing each day, every hour, with real places, there's real things ... but have not followed the history of choreography, it distorts the appearance of history, that stuff is here that the battle of Ia Drang. Also false humanism is reflected in the excerpts of the body parts feeling American soldiers, their families their children, the separation brought color to enhance the role of saving the American soldiers in Vietnam. The film offers ideas but lack the humanity that people should call it fake humanities. We conclude he was a soldier, it lacks the honesty have changed completely the face of two wars between nations and cultural qualities the two peoples. Motifs of the film are the American movie hero image building. This film is not out the idea. However, as someone who has been involved in the battle armor for U.S. troops is both, I can say that the U.S. infantry troops are weakest in the presence of infantry forces in southern battlefields. Regarding the role of Don Duong, director of construction I saw too brief, and took no land so superficial. "Some other ideas that in this film, the soldier described Vietnam, but very brave cold, cruel, as opposed to humanity is portrayed clearly in American soldiers. Right at the beginning of a new movie, the audience had any comments with images of soldiers who bayoneted in the back using a French soldier in the war in 1954. Whether in battle, stabbing chest or back shot is not much of a difference, but as portrayed in the film, backstabbing is always a beautiful image of the soldier. Then, when the soldier asked subordinates: “Dear Captain, we have not captured prisoners?”The commander Nguyen Huu An (Don Duong actor play) was coldly replied:" Kill them clean so they do not come here anymore. "Immediately the shots rang out between the eyes of fear of French soldiers and Nguyen Huu An image at gunpoint in the name of every soldier is sitting at his feet and then went through the film. U.S. Lt. Col. H. Moore stated the reason that the French defeat in Indochina, such as intelligence, subjectivity, where the origin of the fight ... and finally concluded that the massacre.The filmmakers have been saying in their media appearances that this is an anti-war movie due to the graphic nature of the battle scenes. Be prepared: the battles scenes are graphic, but I did not come away thinking they were pro- or anti-war. The sheer quantity of gore can never trump the morality of why we fight a war. These scenes only dramatize the risks of fighting a war, and who and what is at stake. The political elements shown in the film only demonstrate, in my view, that if we do choose to fight a war, we must do so acknowledging the risks and then proceed with the moral certainty that our cause is right, with only one goal: to win. Not merely a compound word. "War" rang in the hearts of fear, anxiety, hatred, and division. It seems that the word "war" is an invisible weight to crush the happiness of man in every place it goes through. Not a word that may exaggerate the losses and sacrifices of the cruelty of war. Can such a war as small drops that when it burned down the whole everything, but nostalgia, loss, illness, destruction. Vietnam War more people understand and love peace. I’m very proud to be the son of the country of Vietnam, a country of heroes who stood up bravely fought for their independence.Works citedMovies on ................
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