Damn, you are being easy on him...

I believe that it is.

TR

Amish in Oakland would be better.

Well sir, he has only seen the movie once :rolleyes: , as he watches it more and more and more the questions will become harder.:D

So are you going to send him a copy of "Mr. Roberts" now too?

Better yet, are you going to hook a brother up with a copy of "The Green Berets"? We don't get AMC that I'm aware of, and I keep looking.

I figured I'd save the "Mr. Roberts" for someone else. Besides...he still has to watch "The Green Berets" a few dozen more times.;)

You don't have Fred Meyers down in your AO? If not.....I might be able to swing something for ya.....sheezzzz:D

BTW, S --

That disc you bought me was DEFECTIVE! The second side would not play. Fortunately, I had the Netflix copy I could watch. Problem solved. :D

WHAT !!!!:eek:

Send it back...I'll swap it out.

I said problem solved. No further questions on this topic, please. :D :cool: :lifter

Very Well....But you still need to answer the 5 questions that I've already posted.

Tick-Tock....Tick-Tock....Tick-Tock....:munchin

The movie
 

K, old thread... been trying to catch up for a month or so now. Read through this one and Y'all are dragging stuff out of my ancient mind. Yeah in the flick Mr Wayne didn't hook up. There was, besides that, a few other things in the movie........ one was this; the Team was returning from thier last mission, in the movie (believe it was a snatch OP) Peter'san bought it..... anyway as the movie went, they were returning just about sunset....... and ...... well..... that was the EAST coast of VN..... South China Sea......... ;) Great flick...... but ohhhhhhh hollywood .... and nope ... I'm not cappin' that place,city,town.....

A long time ago I read the book "Shooting Star" which was about John Wayne. Part of the book dealt with the making of the movie "The Green Berets".

I will try and summarize what I remember about my reading. Any error is due to the mind and not the heart.

John Wayne was a conservative. He didn't fit in well in Hollywood back in the 1960's. He visited Vietnam and decided to make a movie based on what was going on over there and to more importantly, support the troops. In the interim either before or after he made "The Green Berets", he made a documentary with several SF Vietnam Veterans in it describing their side of what was occuring overseas along with John Wayne's colorful vocabulary placed in for good measure. If anyone has a copy of it, please PM me. I saw it one time years ago and was not able to tape it.

Back to my summation of the book. John Wayne was DX with lung cancer before he made the movie and drew the sympathy of even his most hardened critics in the liberal groups. He could have came into the fold and all would have been forgiven, but that wasn't John Wayne. He decided to say screw them and their sympathy by making the movie. Some things were more important than himself. He never looked back.

He was only working on one lung due to cancer when he made the movie. He chewed tobacco and worked like a man possessed according to fellow actors.

John Wayne said that in the 1940's the government and hollywood went out of their way to promote the war effort by helping movie producers with actual soldiers playing parts and technical assistance. Not this time around. This was an unpopular war they said to which he replied, "which war isn't?" This lack of support may help viewers understand the technical quality of the film. Critic's will see things their way, those that understand what John Wayne was trying to do and support his efforts will see it in another light.

The Colonel at the Airborne School was an actual Army Officer. My Uncle worked for him long ago.

John Wayne IMHO represented America very well. I sadly think that no one can replace him.

John Wayne and Martha Rae (sp?) were the only two people fully authorized to wear the Green Beret that did not complete the course. They are as much a Special Forces Soldier as anyone that received the order to "Don Berets" in our book.

Thanks John and Martha for sticking by us when it wasn't Politically Correct to do so. I'll see you on the other side.

Sorry for the rant, stepping off the soap box.

Doc

I like your soap box, Doc. Well said.

Not only was the Colonel a real Colonel, those were real Airborne Candidates who ran by and got to get the thrill of their life responding to John Wayne with "All the Way". My first Team Sergeant was one of those in that shuffle.

That scene always struck me as amusing, since you go from the Gabriel demonstration to the little confrontation with Specialist Peterson in the 5th Group area (and not in the 7th Group area), all of which would clearly place it at FT Bragg to the Airborne candidates, clearly at FT Benning.

I understand someone pointed this out to John Wayne. He didn't care. It gave him an opportunity to put real soldiers on screen and he wanted to do that.

Okay R.L.

It's been almost TWO years and you still haven't answered these questions.

and......

How many times have you seen the movie??? :munchin

As an interesting bit of trivia Aldo Ray (DaRe), who played Sgt Muldoon, was a UDT vet that served in WWII and saw action in Okinawa.