Platoon... Oliver Stone and his Vietnam

[McLenn2025]

Hello, everyone :)

I am going to be writing a university paper on the movie Platoon and I was interested in your thoughts about the movie as I am szre, that some of you might have an opinion on the movie. :)) One of the subjects I am going to cover is the degree of realism in regards to uniforms, gear, landscape and the way in which firefights took place. I am aware, that Oliver Stone is himself a veteran of this war, but scenes like the fight in the end seemed highly unlikely to me, but maybe I am just not so well informed... The gear aspect is interesting as Platoon received no government backing as it didn't portray US actions as without flaw, so Stone and his costume department had to assemble everything themselves as far as my knowledge goes.

 

Thank you all inadvance for your thoughts! ☺️

[Rakkasan187]

You may or may not have known that one of the actors in the movie "Platoon" was Marine Captain Dale Dye. Although his role in the movie was rather small (Captain Harris). Dye was instrumental as a military advisor in numerous movies to ensure accuracy in the actor's ability to portray Soldiers such as Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers and others. In each of these movies Dye played either a small role (SPR) or a more noticeable role as Colonel Sink in BoB...

 

He also played in other movies about Vietnam with Sean Penn and Michael J. Fox (Casualties of War)

 

For the movie Platoon, Dye had contacted Oliver Stone (a fellow VN Vet) and offered his services of putting some of the key actors through a mini boot camp in order to project the realism needed in the combat scenes and daily routines.  

 

Leigh 

[McLenn2025]

I heard about that! But thanks for the additional information:))

[skautdog]

OK. Please accept that my observations are based on seeing Platoon once, a long time ago.

 

I was an Infantry LT in Vietnam (a looooongggg time ago) earning my CIB etc., by making combat assaults and/or tracking the enemy to regain contact after the VC/NVA broke off contact with a line Infantry unit.   ( Combat Tracker VN link  https://www.combattrackerteam.org/ ).

 

I have watched Platoon but it was double quite a while back. My recollection is that the firefight scenes were correct in that the situations happened quickly, suddenly, and violently. THIS IS IMPORTANT: Most of the events  of Platoon (given my viewing was a long tome ago) might have been realistic/could have happened BUT NOT all with the frequency and/or to one platoon. Stuff happens but certainly not to a single unit with that frequency. I suggest one must accept the events in Platoon as a composite not as for one platoon even over a long course of time. 

 

Some of the weed smoking, platoon interactions etc., are not what I experienced. Not saying soldiers (and officers) didn't smoke weed, or everyone was happy all the time, just not my experience as the highlight it was presented to be in the movie. I also had a much different NCO/soldier experience than was (as I recall) presented in the movie. My NCOs, soldiers and I worked as a team and had mutual respect and took care of each other, but that doesn't make for good movie lore. 

 

As regards the landscape, my recollection is that it was accurately "jungley."  But, remember Vietnam has a very varied topography from beaches to jungle to mountains to flat open areas for rice growing. At least Platoon didn't (as I recall) have large pine trees prominent in the scenery like the movie The Green Berets did which was largely filmed at FT Benning, GA.!!!

 

I don't recall anything significantly/obviously inaccurate as regards, equipment, the manner in which individuals soldiers might have had worn their gear, etc.

 

Hope this gives you some insight, but again, I only saw the movie once and that was decades ago.

 

There is a great deal of accurate information, even on line, as regards, Vietnam era equipment, etc. Also, there are numerous, authentic books on Vietnam era US Military Equipment. IF you want some references let me know.  This site also has a great deal of good reference material.

 

Best of luck on your research and paper.

[McLenn2025]

 

31 minutes ago, skautdog said:

OK. Please accept that my observations are based on seeing Platoon once, a long time ago.

 

I was an Infantry LT in Vietnam (a looooongggg time ago) earning my CIB etc., by making combat assaults and/or tracking the enemy to regain contact after the VC/NVA broke off contact with a line Infantry unit.   ( Combat Tracker VN link  https://www.combattrackerteam.org/ ).

 

I have watched Platoon but it was double quite a while back. My recollection is that the firefight scenes were correct in that the situations happened quickly, suddenly, and violently. THIS IS IMPORTANT: Most of the events  of Platoon (given my viewing was a long tome ago) might have been realistic/could have happened BUT NOT all with the frequency and/or to one platoon. Stuff happens but certainly not to a single unit with that frequency. I suggest one must accept the events in Platoon as a composite not as for one platoon even over a long course of time. 

 

Some of the weed smoking, platoon interactions etc., are not what I experienced. Not saying soldiers (and officers) didn't smoke weed, or everyone was happy all the time, just not my experience as the highlight it was presented to be in the movie. I also had a much different NCO/soldier experience than was (as I recall) presented in the movie. My NCOs, soldiers and I worked as a team and had mutual respect and took care of each other, but that doesn't make for good movie lore. 

 

As regards the landscape, my recollection is that it was accurately "jungley."  But, remember Vietnam has a very varied topography from beaches to jungle to mountains to flat open areas for rice growing. At least Platoon didn't (as I recall) have large pine trees prominent in the scenery like the movie The Green Berets did which was largely filmed at FT Benning, GA.!!!

 

I don't recall anything significantly/obviously inaccurate as regards, equipment, the manner in which individuals soldiers might have had worn their gear, etc.

 

Hope this gives you some insight, but again, I only saw the movie once and that was decades ago.

 

There is a great deal of accurate information, even on line, as regards, Vietnam era equipment, etc. Also, there are numerous, authentic books on Vietnam era US Military Equipment. IF you want some references let me know.  This site also has a great deal of good reference material.

 

Best of luck on your research and paper.

Good day,

 

Thank you so very much for your detailed thoughts on the movie, I really appreciate it!

And thank you for your service!

I would very much like some references. :) I thought the movie was accurate, when it comes to equipment, too, but I am not sure how to prove it, as all the info I have is from this forum, which really is a treasure trove for information regarding anything military history, and from looking at pictures/live footage. I did read some official documents about what was to be issued, but I have heard numerous times, that there is one role concerning the gear worn in Vietnam: There is no rule and as soon as one thinks, one can say something definitvely, there is a picture to prove the opposite.

If you have some more references, I would love for you to send them to me! :)

If it isn't too much to ask, would you be willing to be quoted in my paper? I know, that this might be too much to ask, but I would very much like to include first-hand accounts in my paper. However, I have total understanding if you do not wish to be quoted!

 

Kind regards and thank you again for taking the time out of your day to comment on this thread and I am looking forward to some more sources/links :)

Jules

[skautdog]

I'm on the way to a meeting right now, but will get back to you with some references.

 

One thing to remember is, in combat, and more so in some units than others, while each unit has an SOP, the SOP on some topics is more a guide than a requirement. EG, SOP may indicate first aid pouch to be worn on top left of suspenders. Generally,no one is going to go linear if a soldier wears his pouch on the right suspender or on both.

 

Sometimes there is no SOP. 

 

Also, soldiers have been known to "field modify" equipment.

[McLenn2025]

11 minutes ago, skautdog said:

I'm on the way to a meeting right now, but will get back to you with some references.

 

One thing to remember is, in combat, and more so in some units than others, while each unit has an SOP, the SOP on some topics is more a guide than a requirement. EG, SOP may indicate first aid pouch to be worn on top left of suspenders. Generally,no one is going to go linear if a soldier wears his pouch on the right suspender or on both.

 

Sometimes there is no SOP. 

 

Also, soldiers have been known to "field modify" equipment.

Thank you very much and I am looking forward to more references! :)

And thank you for telling me about the SOP. I will definitely look into that and include it!

 

Kind regards and wishing you a nice day,

Jules