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Morgan Crocker Blog Post for 11/2

Watching platoon by Oliver Stone gave me a new perspective on what war is really like for soldiers. In reality it was cruel in Vietnam, what really shocked me was how untrained the soldiers were to the type of warfare in Vietnam. Guerilla warfare was used, which was a new style for the United States and was also pretty dangerous since the soldiers were so unfamiliar to the geography and climate in Vietnam.  Oliver Stone actually went to Vietnam to fight in the war, which made the movie more realistic. Unlike all the other war movies that are made just to entertain people.
What is really crazy to me is how a lot of the soldiers did not believe in this war, meaning they did not want to go and fight in Vietnam. But since they were drafted they had to go and risk their lives. Some men did volunteer to go to Vietnam, but either way these men came back to the United States changed because of all that they have seen and been through in Vietnam.

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4 Comments

  1. Sara Moushegian Sara Moushegian

    One scene that stood out to me regarding how the soldiers did not actually want to be in the war is when Chris Taylor was telling the other soldiers how he volunteered to join the war. First off, he didn’t volunteer because he supported the war effort, but he simply wanted to try to change the trend of just poor people being drafted for the war. Second off, the soldiers were in utter shock hearing that he volunteered to join the war. They knew what he just got himself into. This scene spoke volumes about the true failure of the U.S. government to understand when war is necessary or not.

  2. Michael Childress Michael Childress

    I thought that another thing that the movie did a great job of was showing the internal conflicts within the American side of the war that eventually led to its losing the war in my mind. For example, there were obviously ego issues, some racial tension still, and a sense of selfishness that proved to be detrimental to the mission.

  3. Maggie Otradovec Maggie Otradovec

    Platoon does a great job at showing the importance of morale and support during war. It’s sad to think of how futile life must have been for soldiers in Vietnam, and the film pays homage to it well.

  4. Elina Bhagwat Elina Bhagwat

    I also found it important that the soldiers were not actually proponents of the war but had to listen to their commanding officer in any orders that were given. This creates major internal struggle and conflict for many of the soldiers because they have to decide whether to speak out against their commanding officers which is against military protocol or hurt or kill innocent civilians.

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