ipl-logo

Accuracy Of Platoon (1986) In Depicing The Vietnam War

934 Words4 Pages

Accuracy of "Platoon" (1986) in Depicting the Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a period of struggle that lasted forty brutal years from 1955 to 1975 in Vietnam. It was between North Vietnam, which was backed by communist allies like China and the Soviet Union, and South Vietnam, which was supported by the United States and its allies. The purpose of the war was to unify the country of Vietnam under a communist government and attempt to prevent the spread of communism worldwide. The war originated back in Vietnam's post-World War II partition. Fearing the rise of communism in Southeast Asia, the United States became directly involved as part of its containment strategy. The war saw intense battles and millions of lives lost, with both sides …show more content…

Many Americans opposed the war, and large figures like “leaders from politics, science, medicine, academia, entertainment, the press, and even business announced their opposition to the war”(Zimmerman 1). The film Platoon (1986), showed the story of Chris Taylor, a young American soldier who quit college and chose to volunteer for combat duty in Vietnam. The film shared his adventures in the war as he joined a company stationed in a detached forest location. Chris quickly faced the ugly realities of the war, watching both the mental and physical effects it had on the soldiers. In the movie, it showed two groups, each led by a different sergeant: Sergeant Barnes, who was a ruthless and harsh veteran, and Sergeant Elias, who was a caring and morally pure soldier. As Chris navigated the brutal environment, he got disgusted by the terrible acts committed and the loss of innocent people's lives. The film ended with a gruesome battle in which Chris had to face the challenges of war and make difficult decisions that would influence his future. The film Platoon (1986) accurately depicts the Vietnam War by depicting the brutal actions soldiers …show more content…

One of the reasons Americans began losing trust in the military and government was because the Vietnam War resulted in a huge number of deaths, both among American soldiers and Vietnamese citizens. The death toll and violent visuals displayed on television pushed the brutal reality of war into people's living rooms. The scale of the deaths caused doubts about the purpose of the war. The progress of the war was “not measured by cities won or territory taken but by body counts and kill ratios” (Locke and Wright 328). Towards the end of the Platoon, there was a major battle that cost the lives of thousands of men from both sides. The following morning it showed the mounds of the flesh of the men that didn't make it till morning. It was a graphic scene but genuinely showed how it would have felt to be there. People that died were only seen as a number and the mentality was the higher that number was the closer we would be to the end of the

Show More
Related
594 Words | 3 Pages

A Better War¬-Part Two In the second half of the book written by Lewis Sorley, “A Better War, The Unexamined Victories and Final Tragedy of America’s Last Years in Vietnam” the American soldiers and the American public were in an uproar. The look into the last days of Vietnam for the United States is eye opening. In this review we will look at the affects of war on the American soldiers and a certain offensive.

Read More
1365 Words | 6 Pages

In addition to their own conversations, the author explains how Erik himself cornered the drill sergeant about the war. He explained how he believed that the war should not endanger people without certain principles at stake (36). This shows that neither of the men wished to partake in this battle because of the harm it has done already, and the causes of the casualties were not large enough to provide an accurate reason for why so many had died. While in combat in Vietnam, O’Brien depicts many detailed scenes where young and innocent Vietnamese people were harmed by the Alpha Company and other U.S. troops. After an undetailed scene, O’Brien and his troop mates gathered around a young Vietnamese woman in an NVA uniform.

Read More
280 Words | 2 Pages

The United States was directly involved in the Vietnam War from 1964 through 1974. A major event in this war was the Tet Offensive, which profoundly affected American history by impacting our politics, economy, military, and society. The Tet Offensive affected politics by influencing the presidential elections of 1968. It affected the American economy, boosting personal prosperity with new jobs but greatly increasing the national debt, due mainly to the vast amounts of money spent on the war effort after the Tet Offensive. The military was affected by the offensive because of America’s increased involvement in South Vietnam, and the fact that many people in the military realized that this was a war we could not win.

Read More
841 Words | 4 Pages

Tim O’Brien writes us a wonderful fictional tale of a platoon of men in vietnam during the vietnam war, The Things They Carried shows the reader that when the men are over in this distant and strange land, not only do they carry physical objects, but emotional baggage and ideas that truly make, or break a man in war. Tim and his men show several signs of stress and turmoil while fighting the war, and while they survive they begin to understand what is really means to live, die, and what is right, and wrong. While over in vietnam the men are in a war, not a simple skirmish or fight, but a full on war against an enemy that they were not sure they are the enemy. The men would walk from location from location seeing what there is to do and trying

Read More
772 Words | 4 Pages

The grueling Vietnam War, disrupting the lives of soldiers and their families, un-packs its complexities through the journey of the soldiers. After the death of Curt Lemon, a fellow soldier, O’Brien exclaims, “War is hell, but that’s not the half of it, because war is also mystery and terror and adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love” (80). O’Brien’s metaphor conveys his perception of the Vietnam War while setting a strong precedent of what the war really was like. Furthermore, it is evident that the complexities of war are hard to navigate as soldiers, tearing away at their mental health, revealing soldier’s experiences at war that corrode their overall well-being. Furthermore, this toll on overall-well being can be self-inflicted when soldiers assign blame to themselves as guilt culminates into lifelong burdens.

Read More
1351 Words | 6 Pages

The first instance in which the audience starts to notice how brutal the Vietnam War truly was, is when a night patrol led by Mad Mark enter a village called Tri Binh 4 (pg. 83). At the village, the patrol squad shoots and kill Viet Cong soldiers, one of which happen to be missing an ear because Mad Mark removed and kept it (pg. 83). That same night, gunships are called in on the village for an hour, and the following morning the town is burnt to the ground (pg. 84).

Read More
1525 Words | 7 Pages

In McDonald’s song, the effect of the draft and its effects on society are highlighted by the lyrics, “Send ‘em off before it’s too late. Be the first one on your block To have your boy come home in a box,” [Doc B]. More than 50,000 Americans died in the Vietnam War, and after withdrawing from the battlefront, Americans felt it was for nothing. Robert F. Kennedy said, “we have sought to resolve by military might a conflict whose issue depends upon the will and conviction of the South Vietnamese people,” [Doc E]. To the war, Americans provided weapons, supplies, and troops.

Read More
1589 Words | 7 Pages

The three movies – Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, and The Green Berets – are all movies based on the same historical event – the Vietnam war and US’s involvement in it. Yet, they all presented us with different and narrative point of view and authority figures in order to paint their individual values. The movies’ most obvious differences lie within the choice of their narrative point of view. The Green Beret, the earliest one, was directed by John Wayne and he also starred in the leading role. Wayne’s authority and influence in the 1960s was similar to the influence of Tom Hanks in the 21st Century.

Read More
986 Words | 4 Pages

The Effects People Don’t See Perspective is something that many people view differently in this world, some people may never know what it's like being put through hard circumstances and different experiences. But sometimes people never get to share or tell their perspective. This is relevant to soldiers because people never see the bravery or courage it took them in war and out of war. However, Vietnam was a civil war where it came to the needs of American assistance also why it's called the “American war” Tim’ O'Brien the author of The Things They Carried is in this war physically and emotionally, the battles he and his platoon had to go through experienced many different emotions. Tim O’Brien illustrates how soldiers go through

Read More
1556 Words | 7 Pages

The tactics used in Vietnam had never been seen by the U.S. military prior to this conflict. Combat patrols, although it had been used before, were much different in Vietnam, as shown in Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried.” In this story, the company of soldiers move with a “kind of inertia,” with “no sense of strategy or mission,” searching “villages without knowing what to look for, not caring” (O’Brien 1306). The Vietnam War, at least to the troops, did not have much of a significance. Unlike in World War II, when the goal was to prevent fascist dictators from taking control Europe, Africa, and Asia; troops in the Vietnam War had no idea what they were doing there; they were just pulled into the conflict without much drive to succeed or sense of duty to defeat the enemy.

Read More
1179 Words | 5 Pages

Many soldiers that served in the Vietnam war suffered dramatically pertaining to mental and physical health. O’Brien and many other soldiers also had the same views on the Vietnam War, such as that it was pointless for the United States. Most soldiers were frustrated with the fact that they were fighting for their country with no purpose or benefit for the American people. In the book O’Brian said, “I can’t stop crying. I can’t stop thinking of what a waste it all was” (O’Brian 7).

Read More
1101 Words | 5 Pages

The Vietnam war took a major death toll in Vietnam, United States, South Korea, Thailand, New Zealand, and Australia. Just in the U.S., “more than 58,000 American soldiers were killed while more than 150,000 others wounded”. On both sides, there were almost 2 million civilians dead and 1.1 simply on the Vietnamese side. The My Lai Massacre, where soldiers brutally killed Vietnamese children and mothers, presents an example where the war mentally changed the soldiers in the war in a very horrendous way. On the other hand, the United States took brutal losses in the Tet Offensive, where the Vietcong slaughtered over 100 towns and twelve United States air bases.

Read More
730 Words | 3 Pages

Jimmy an others in his platoon suffer from grief an terror an face baggage from the traumatic event within the war as they long for there family an normal life. These emotional weight are intangible on these soldiers as they can not do anything to stop it but at the same time a burden affecting each soldier mental and emotional well being. Ptsd stole the soldiers peace of mind an happinines which left them with scars that last an life time after seeing platoon member die an tragic

Read More
1590 Words | 7 Pages

Introduction         Across America, the landscape of job opportunities has changed drastically since the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994. This trade agreement between the countries of Canada, the United States of America, and Mexico set out to eliminate tariffs on goods originating in one of the other countries. To those in power, the opportunities appeared endless, with minimal repercussions to affect the overwhelming growth that such an arrangement could bring to North America. In the process of shifting to this policy, as the old adage goes: “the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer.” While the country of Mexico benefited largely from the many industries that packed up from the United States

Read More
765 Words | 4 Pages

The Vietnam War was a war the United States should have never been involved in. The “Domino Theory” was a direct cause of the war. The war resulted in much death; innocent civilians and young Americans were killed. The Vietnam war also resulted in rioting, distrust for the United States government, and the loss of many lives. 58,000 Americans were killed and 300,000 were wounded.

Read More

More about Accuracy Of Platoon (1986) In Depicing The Vietnam War

Related Topics

Open Document