Movies that show the reality of war

I wasn’t sure that I wanted to post the following, but here goes:

I don’t mean any disrespect. Please believe that. But, I never used to understand why it took some veterans so long to get past the events that they (we) were involved in during war. I had some bad experiences like so many others over in Vietnam. My unit was involved in a few battles and unfortunately, we lost two men during the whole 14 months we were there. I took a hit in my left shoulder that I thought I was going to lose my whole left arm from the shoulder down.

It must be PTSD that I hear so much about. I never heard that term during the Vietnam War. This disease allows a person to function with day to day duties, but it’s something that’s always there. Triggers can cause flashbacks and that begins the episodes of anxiety in the mind of the sufferer.

From what I have read, it also states that many women who are abused by their husbands or boyfriends may also suffer from PTSD. This brings me to my questions; 1. Is there any cure? 2. Does it ever go away?
Maybe some people are emotionally tougher & can get past it & some aren't. Maybe it has nothing to do with "inner strength."
 

I always liked this one when I was a kid.

Guadalcanal Diary.


Especially William Bendix's prayer when the Japanese planes were bombing the crap out of them.

https://warstoriesandveteranshistories.wordpress.com/2011/07/11/im-no-hero-im-just-a-guy/

I’m no hero, I’m just a guy. I come out here because somebody had to come. I don’t want no medals, I just wanna get this thing over with and go back home I’m just like everybody else, and I’m tellin’ you I don’t like it. Except maybe I guess there’s nothin’ I can do about it. I can’t tell them bums to head somewhere else. Like I said before, it’s up to somebody bigger than me, bigger than anybody. What I mean is I … I guess it’s up to God. But I’m not kiddin’ when I say I sure hope he knows how I feel. I’m not gonna say I’m sorry for everything I’ve done. Maybe I am and maybe I’m not. When you’re scared like this, the first thing you do is start tryin’ to square things. If I get out of this alive, I’ll probably go out and do the same things all over again, so what’s the use of kiddin’ myself? The only thing I know is I … I didn’t ask to get into this spot. If we get it – and it sure looks that way now – well then I only hope he figures we done the best we could and lets it go at that. Maybe this is a funny kind of prayin’ to you guys, but … it’s what I’m thinkin’ and prayin’.





 
Last edited:
Wow, that really hits home. I guess I could even say that truer words were never spoken.

Whoever wrote those lines was feeling the pain.
 

Three topics, different but related


Haven't seen any post by Brown Water Navy :Gi's or Swabies. Talked to one...He said it was 'a grinder meat' until they got the Monitor boat's
1. They were only unit to be disbanded In Country (per doc. on TV two years ago)
First heard the term 'grinder meat,' from civilian barbers that gave haircuts in induction camp (proper name for site where you spent a
couple weeks, getting clothing, testing.-can't remember?) He said the safety of the ship, then cruising the rivers was, 'PTSD just waiting to happen.'

2. Also The Horse Whisper-the real one not the movie. He gave sessions on how he broke horses in a corral with seats for audience.
On many occasions he had women break down sobbing... once taken to seclusion they were all victims of spouse abuse.
Someone on site had knowledge of PTSD, stated symptoms were the same.

3. Movie The Accountant:
Run of the mill movie, save one scene: Concern parents attempting to place autistic son in center where hopefully, he can be helped.
The head shrink stated: ' I don't know if we can help your son or not, we know so little...we have no test that will determine what is wrong,
we have nothing...know nothing,,,'

The stance of stating out loud what is obvious (to me anyway) got my silly ass thrown out of grad school.
I would not, could not mark an intelligent, thoughtful response wrong-according to the correct responses in the textbook, or those being taught.
I believed, still do, when exposed to chronic violence, fear laden situations (and so many other lifestyle occasions-poverty, chronic household anger, exposure to those that have what you do not possess, and having the differences pointed out to you with verbal jabs-drives your
mind to find a safe place. The paradox is that in seeking safety, you often respond with violence and/or total withdrawal.
You want to know why there is so much violence in ghetto's-go live there-live with uncertainty, apprehension, viewing an outside society
that HAS, while you do not.

PTSD was with us long before the Mongel Hordes swept through Asia...We 'found'' PTSD as a diagnosis and felt so very clever.

Oops: explanation, I was on military site, but with movies listed it sort'a fits
 
Last edited:
My husband, who was in Vietnam, could not watch any Vietnam war movies. Whether they were true to life or not, they all set him off. He had very severe PTSD, which was sometimes well controlled, sometimes not; but if he got into any of those Vietnam movies, it was like BOOM! he was right back there.
I can well understand that reaction. We recently saw an Australian movie "Danger Close - The Battle of Long Tan" that told the story a desperate battle in a rubber plantation near Nui Dat.

It told the story without embellishment but it brought home to me how traumatising it must be to have this experience in real life.
 
“Apocalypse Now” I also like watching Full Metal Jacket, Heartbreak Ridge And Platoon.

I wish that I would have met Chris Kyle.


He seemed to have some 'issues' when he returned to civilian life. That whole Jesse Ventura bit / and the never proven hold up in the gas station ??

Still the most effective sniper ever....but maybe it all got "to" him ?
 
I was an Air Force REMF medic in Vietnam. My tour was split between the big bases at Cam Rahn Bay and Danang. So I didn't see any combat unless you count cowering on the floor while Charlie lobbed in a handful of rockets every now and then to harass us as combat. The funny thing is that in Vietnam about 90% of us were rear echelon support troops like myself, while only about 10% were in combat. Yet these days, when I encounter Vietnam vets it seems to be the other way around. About 90% of them claim to have been in combat and only about 10% say they were support troops. What's up with that?

My favorite Vietnam War movie is Full Metal Jacket.
Was it realistic? You would have to ask a Marine that.

My husband was stationed in Danang, one week had to leave to Chu Lai, he was on watch as he recorded taped to me I sometimes could hear in the background bombs or rockets...he was a cook there. 19 years old. A bf after years long ago passed, he had a huge picture of him and his military Rangers someone drew. Of five men together. In Vietnam. Special Rangers, three times signed up for did see combat. He told me he carried my picture I sent him always in his pocket Everytime he went until they took it from him along with his clothes and threw him in a home in the ground..... yikes, that was why he was the way he was. Mr. James Connolly.
Special Forces. I know you can't talk about it to him...just as good.
 
“Apocalypse Now” I also like watching Full Metal Jacket, Heartbreak Ridge And Platoon.

I wish that I would have met Chris Kyle.

Though I avoid war movies in general, I did see some of "Apocalypse Now". I can't speak for other Vietnam vets, but to me, the feel of the movie captured how it felt to me, the surreal aspect of it. It is true that there is stuff that brings it back, and I prefer to avoid that. I started going to the VA for medical just a couple of years ago and got some service-connected ratings. The first couple of times going there, seemed to bring a lot back for a while. Talking to other Vietnam vets, innocently enough just waiting for a blood draw or the pharmacy tends to reawaken some of it. I guess I am really not much for revisiting the past. But I am sure glad the VA is there for us.

Tony
 
I've become a fan of Russian Movies, with sub-titles of course.
The Russian spent 20-50K per movie, that is war movies and drama's with ww II as a background.
There quite good, you may miss all the car chases, wrecks, sex and violence we have become used to in American.

Now, the Russians are spending more on productions trying to win viewers in Easter and Western Europe.

Might not be your cup of tea, but there free.
I'm a kindred spirit to the Russian people, especially those living in Siberia; their govt-mercy, how have they tolerated there mess.
 
"issues"
You do the boots on the ground bit. if so-no problem, if not armchair folk
have no knowledge to state 'issues,'


I have no educated/taught knowledge of 'issues' either. And no I have never been boots on the ground but.......After read a book & seeing a movie about him/his life , I came to the conclusion that he indeed developed / or previously had 'issues' . That is my opinion , and i have every right to, an opinion.
 
Go pull up: Russian documentaries o n WW II, these guys were brutal.

WW II was the Russian's Day in the Sun, and deserved. It was their greatest triumph;
they continue to celebrate it annually.

Russia is not a place you would want to live, but when you fight a war and are not overly concerned with casualties, you going to be tough to beat.

Their claim to wining the war singlehanded is not far from the truth.
That the allies air forces destroyed most of the German's infrastructure is given little
credibility.
Nor could they have pushed the Axis out of Africa; they ignore the Balkan
Countries and Italy-which was a drain on the Nazis, but overall, their push to Germany
proper, would have brought their troops in the Balkan countries and Africa home.
 


Back
Top