"We Were Soldiers" is a stirring tribute to the untested G Is whose training and initiative prepared them for the first major battle of the Viet Nam War under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore (Mel Gibson).

Moore is first and foremost a soldier. At home he studies the mistakes that were made in combat and the choices that led to victories on and off the battlefield - decisions that sometimes changed the course of history. Some of these battles may be mere footnotes to the layman but to Moore, they are an indispensable source of knowledge. Moore finds a striking similarity to The Battle of Little Big Horn and the massacre of a French Unit in the Ia Trang Valley in the latter days of the French Indo-China War. In both instances, a small unit of cavalry and infantrymen are massacred when they underestimate the resilience and numbers of an enemy force. Sheer firepower and a new style of air support may not be enough to guarantee a successful mission in his impending tour of duty in Viet Nam in November of 1965. Moore must know when to outflank the enemy, when to attack his opponents, and when to retreat. He will leave no page unturned and no resource untapped that could stack the odds in his favor. His unit joins forces with a squadron of choppers and hueys under the command of Major Bruce "Snakeshit" Crandall (Greg Kinnear). But first they must see who’s left standing after a period of intense A.I.T. (Advanced Individual Training) under the tutelage of Sgt. Major Basil Plumley (a very convincing Sam Elliott). The remainder becomes the Army’s first Air Cav (short for Cavalry) unit, but not before some proselytizing about being honor bound and spoon feeding the duties of military wives on the home front in the weakest moments of director Randall Wallace’s rendition of Col. Hal Moore’s memoir.

Mel Gibson registers all the right notes as Hal Moore, loving father and faithful husband but as Col. Moore father figure he has to deliver a few clunky lines about hearth and heart to some of his men. Mel’s delivery helps smooth out the rough edges of the script, especially when he communes with Chris Klein as Lieut. Jack Geoghegan, a religious man whose wife ( a very good Keri Russell) is pregnant with their first child. Madeleine Stowe is the stalwart Mrs. Moore, a bastion of fortitude who will comfort the grieving widows back home. "When We Were Soldiers" is most effective in depicting the indifference of the top brass toward the war widows.

One must not forget that in the early stages of President Johnson’s military buildup in Viet Nam , the military had not yet established a formal procedure to break the news about the death of a loved one in a compassionate way. In one of the movie’s most prescient moments this is made painfully clear with the delivery of the government’s first telegram announcing the death of a soldier to his wife by an unsuspecting taxi driver. It wasn’t until later in the war that an officer with some training, hopefully in psychology, was given the thankless task of trying to comfort the family of the deceased. (He seldom could as number of war dead increased with the escalation of the war.)

Once "When We Soldiers" lands its feet squarely in the Ia Trang Valley, Col. Moore puts his history lessons into practice and the audience is feted to an unapologetic first class action film with all the heroics and horror of war. Blood is spilled and lives are lost. The movie becomes a soldier’s tale, plain and simple. The NVA is seen as a worthy foe with a leader as studied as Col Moore. Randall Wallace even puts a human face on the enemy through a photo of a loved one back home in North Viet Nam. In war, no one is immune to loss.

"We Were Soldiers" has a strong supporting cast of unknowns who give the movie an authentic feel. I would be hard pressed not to mention a superb Barry Pepper. He plays combat photographer Joseph Galloway as a weary soul who loses his objectivity when faced with his own life and death choices. But it is Mel Gibson who holds the movie together with a performance that touches every emotion with Col. Moore’s affection for his kids, his love for his wife, and his paternal feelings for his men. With the same sentiment that characterized the Rangers in this year’s "Black Hawk Down," his Col. Moore will leave no man behind, dead or alive, and in true heroic tradition, he will be the last to leave.

Copyright 2002

These two films come closest to my own experiences as a grunt in Viet Nam. They never fail to touch an emotional chord. The first is for the fear of the unknown and the second is for the feeling of camaraderie.

"Go Tell the Spartans" (1978) - There were some early films like "A Yank in Viet Nam" from 1964 but they were low budget affairs. "GTTS" is the first Hollywood production to address the Viet Nam War but it was overlooked when it was released. Burt Lancaster is the cynical commander of an advisory group in the boondocks of Viet Nam before the big buildup. The enemy is never seen but there presence is always eerily felt though the statistical data that proves they will always gather around an outpost set up by the Americans. Wise cracks and unconventional humor carry the movie to its pre-ordained conclusion. With Craig Wasson and Marc Singer. The title refers to a message about the valor of the Greek Spartans who fought against the Persians at the Battle of Thermopylae left at a gravesite in the jungle where French Soldiers were slaughtered by the North Vietnamese.

"The Boys in Company C" (1978) - A cast of relative unknowns at the time go through rigorous training and get to put it to use in Viet Nam. An accurate depiction of youth and the effects of war on their outlook. Stan Shaw trains ‘em at home and James Whitmore Jr. leads them into combat. With Craig Wasson, Michael Lembesk and Andrew Stevens.

"Coming Home" (1978) - Dir. Hal Ashby: The first film about the aftermath of the Viet Nam War and the plight of the war vet to be embraced by the public. Jane Fonda falls in love with Viet Vet paraplegic John Voight. The only problem is, she’s married to career soldier Bruce Dern who has some issues of his own to deal with. Fonda and Voight both won Oscars as well as Waldo Salt for his moving screenplay.

"Born on the Fourth of July" (1989) - Tom Cruise gives a searing performance as Ron Kovic, the real life paraplegic who became politicized by his experiences in war and his treatment by an unfeeling bureaucracy while in the care of the Veteran’s Hospitals. Oliver Stone won the Oscar for his direction. Great Movie!

"Since You Went Away" (1944) - Epic WWII tearjerker with an all star cast headed by Claudette Colbert about the sacrifices made by the women left at home who must foster family values and uphold the ideals of America. With Jennifer Jones, Shirley Temple, Agnes Moorehead, Hattie MsDaniel, Joseph Cotton, Lionel Barrymore, Monty Woolley, and Robert Walker. Guy Madison, who went on to become a B movie action star and Wild Bill Hickock on TV in the early fifties makes his first screen appearance while still in the Navy.