American History II is completing their unit on U.S. involvement in Vietnam. We have recently watched "We Were Soldiers" about the U.S. battle in the Ia Drang Valley in 1965.
EXTRA CREDIT: Discuss what you consider to be the most informative aspect of the film. Or, if you thought the film was a good one, specifically, why do you think that?
This film was good because it showed the way in which commanding officers should be in a war. Mel Gibson taught his officers how to look after their men and how to care about each and every man because they were the only people you could depend on in the war. Gibson showed his dedication to his men by being the first one on the battlefield and the last one off. He showed his emotions at the end of the movie proving that he truly cared about the men he had lost and how he would never be able to forgive himself for their deaths. This is why i think this was a great movie.
ReplyDeleteAshton Dierman
We Were Soldiers was a great film! It really made me think about Vietnam and all the men that fought in it. The Battle of Ia Drang was devastating I thought. Although in the end, the United States and the South Vietnamese were victorious, many men died. When the men caught on fire and were burning alive, I felt sick to my stomach. I can't even imagine seeing a fellow person die and not being able to do anything about it. All of the death in the movie gave me a really good sense of what the war was like. When Lieutenant General Hal Moore returned home, I was shocked that he had survived. I thought it was really special that he was able to make it back home to his family. The film was great but very sad. It helped me understand what Vietnam was like for the soldiers. I am glad we got to watch it.
ReplyDeleteJordyn Stenslie
There are many aspects of this film that are very informative. Not only does it tell the facts of the war, but it puts all the feeling behind it. It really captures the horror and hardships our american men went through. It is a very touching story at so many moments the whole way through. Not only does it show the men's fear and bravery and pain physically and mentally, but it also shows the greif and worry the wives had to deal with at home and their children. Even his little girl asked if they were going to try to take his life away. He told her the truth. They would try, but he assured her that he wouldn't let them. On top of all that, this film goes to the enemy's side and shows how they were as devastated as we were. Their wives and families at home were going through the same thing. It put in some true stories which were too informative, but nevertheless, they were real. It put the seriousness of this war into perspective for you when it graphically showed Jimmy getting burnt alive by our own napalm bomb. His skin slid right off of his legs and his screams were unbearable. The look on the face of the man on the radio when he realized he called the coordinates too close was heartbreaking. You knew he would struggle the rest of his life trying to live with the fact that he did that to his own men. The way he could just carry on after seeing that was amazing. I don't think I could be that strong, but he did what he had to do. Every soldier did, in every situation. Some died going back to save others, they all stuck together no matter what. When one squad was cut off, the next morning there were guys running into live fire just trying to break through to them. When somebody was hurt worse than a guy that was going to leave on a chopper for medical care, he got off and let the other guy on and was shot in the process. They sacraficed everything for eachother. I've never been more proud of anyone and these soldiers are strangers to me. I know not every story in that movie was true but they were all very likely to happen. So many soldiers were so young.. I can't even imagine going through what they went through right out of highschool. I am so happy for the ones who survived, and all my respect is given to the dead, wounded, and mentally scarred. I don't think there is anything we can do to memorialize these soldiers enough. I don't know how that journalist even bagan to describe this story, but he did a heck of a job.
ReplyDeleteI think the most informative part of the movie was when the US Government mistakenly sent a helicopter unit into the Ia Drang Valley under the impression they were facing 200 men rather than 2000. Tori Gondeiro
ReplyDeleteI think that the film, We Were Soldiers, is very imformative about war. It shows how effective the U.S. weapons and strategies were in helping us winning the war. It shows the impact on the soldier, and especially the family when the soldier goes to war. The soldiers wife knowing that his may be the last time she may ever see her husband, and vice versa. It shows the families reactions when they receive a telegram stating that their loved on has died in battle. It shows the reaction of the men who must watch their friends suffer and die. Knowing the same thing could happen to them at any minute but cannot dwell on the fact too much for they are on the battle field and under attack at that very moment. I think every aspect of the film was good in helping people to understand what the war would have been like.
ReplyDelete-Ginny Glover
We recently watched "We Were Soldiers" in class to further our understanding of the war in Vietnam. I thought the most informative aspect of the film was the insight it gave into the struggles that the families of the soldiers went through. It is something that often is not discussed. The movie though constantly flashed back to the wives and children of soldiers and how difficult it was for them during the war as well.
ReplyDeleteCOURTNEY HARMON: The film was excellent. I think the most informative aspect of the movie was the insight on how the families were effected as well as the men fighting in Vietnam. I really enjoyed the film because it is a more visual way of learning, which is easier for me.
ReplyDeleteI thought the film We Were Soldiers was very good and very informative. I learned a lot about the war that I had not previously known. It showed me how the families of the soldiers were effected and just how close all the men were, they were a family. I also learned a lot about how the battles were fought and how brave the young men were that were there.
ReplyDelete-Kaycee Cooper
The film was very good. One thing that I think that the movie shows well is how important the helicopters were during that battle. With out the helicopters constantly flying in people and supplies they would have been massacred. When the people in charge wanted them to pull out and get out of there it was good that Hall Moore denied that order because what he said in the movie was right. if they saw them leaving they would have sent all the people they had down to that valley and massacred everyone like what he wanted to do. The pilots are what kept them alive in the battle and were. Another thing that made a big difference in the battle was the artillery. They could call it in and get support and use the artillery as a shield to help protect them from the enemy form getting to close. The movie showed these couple of things and it was important because it showed how vital it was to have those two weapons.
ReplyDeleteAlan Wilson
we just recently watch we are soldiers in class to understand the war more then we could by just reading it out of a book or what we had in our minds of what war really was like. i personally liked the film because it didn't only show how the men were affected by being there and witnessing all the horrible things each and every soldier had to see and be around all the time, it showed what the families went through and what they did to be apart of something so special. Just how close all the men were and how they treated one another and how much believe they had in each other. The movie showed Mel Gibson emotions which helped to show how much he cared for his men and his mens families. i liked the movie a lot, and got a good idea how war really was.
ReplyDeletei enjoyed this film because it showed the grueling aspects of the vietnam war and what are soldiers had to go through just to help people. this is a war that i think we shouldnt have been involved in.
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