I earlier reviewed “We Were Soldiers” and then reread We Were Soldiers Once… And Young by Harold Moore and Joseph
Galloway. The director and screenwriter
of the movie, Randall Wallace, claimed the movie was as accurate as you could
get. But given his track record of
“Braveheart” and “Pearl Harbor”, I was skeptical. Here are some things that happened in the
movie. Which are true and which are
Wallaceisms?
1. The French Group Mobile 100 was ambushed in
the Ia Drang Valley in 1954 and wiped out by a unit of Vietminh led by Nguyen
Huu An
2. During boot camp at Fort Bragg, a radio
operator picked up a fire fight in Vietnam.
3. Moore was a devout Catholic.
4. Moore and Geogehegan had a heart to heart in
a chapel after the birth of Geogehagen’s baby.
5. Moore told his daughter that war was when
some people in another country try to take the lives of other people and then
soldiers like daddy have to go over and stop them.
6. Moore’s unit was the 7th Cavalry –
Custer’s old unit.
7. Sgt. Plumley was a crusty veteran of WWII
with a gruff personality and leadership style.
8. The Lost Platoon got “lost” because Herrick
chased after an enemy scout as soon as they landed.
9. Herrick’s last words were: “If I have to die. I’m glad to give my life
for my country.”
10. They blew up trees to create a new landing
zone.
11. Metzker was killed when he gave up his place
on a medevac helicopter.
12. Galloway arrived on the night of the first
day.
13. Mrs. Moore and Mrs. Geogehagen delivered the
telegrams to the other wives.
14. Moore prayed over the dead bodies.
15. Geogehagen and a black soldier were killed
out in front of the American lines.
16. They peed on the mortar tubes to cool them
down.
17. Plumely told Galloway he could not take
pictures lying down and soon after he told the wounded “Prepare to defend
yourselves”.
18. A soldier jumped on a grenade to save some of
the woundeds lives.
19. When the position was about to be overrun,
Moore called for Broken Arrow.
20. Jimmy Nakayama was mortally wounded by
friendly napalm and never saw his new-born baby. Some of his flesh came off in Galloway’s
hands.
21. The Lost Platoon was finally rescued when
Nadal’s platoon fought its way to them.
22. Westmoreland ordered Moore to leave the
battlefield to brief him, but Moore refused.
23. Moore went into no man’s land at night to
recover Geogehagen’s body.
24. Moore led a bayonet charge that forced the
enemy to retreat and then helicopter gunships decimated the enemy before
Moore’s men walked into a trap.
25. Crandall took over medevacing the wounded
because the assigned unit refused to come in under fire.
1. The
French Group Mobile 100 was ambushed in the Ia Drang Valley in 1954 and wiped
out by a unit of Vietminh led by Nguyen Huu An.
HISTYWOOD
The French Mobile 100 was ambushed several times
during the war but never was wiped out.
It is unclear whether An participated in any of these attacks. An is a significant figure in Vietnamese history. He ably commanded units in the siege of Dien
Bien Phu and was in command in the Battle of Ia Drang. He rose to generalship and was highly
regarded by Giap. His forces were
instrumental in the capture of Saigon at the end of the war.
2. During boot camp at Fort Bragg, a radio
operator picked up a fire fight in Vietnam.
HISTYWOOD
They actually picked up a forward air controller directing an air
strike. This was apparently not omenous
enough for Wallace.
3. Moore was a devout Catholic. HISTORY
4. Moore and Geogehegan had a heart to heart in
a chapel after the birth of Geogehagen’s baby.
HOLLYWOOD
5. Moore told his daughter that war was when
some people in another country try to take the lives of other people and then
soldiers like daddy have to go over and stop them. HISTORY
6. Moore’s unit was the 7th Cavalry –
Custer’s old unit. HISTORY
7. Sgt. Plumley was a crusty veteran of WWII
with a gruff personality and leadership style.
HISTORY
“Old Iron Jaw” (which he is not called in the movie) served in WWII and
made four combat jumps with the 82nd Airborne and another in the
Korean War. As far as I could tell, his
personality is accurately depicted.
8. The Lost Platoon got “lost” because Herrick
chased after an enemy scout as soon as they landed. HISTYWOOD Fighting was already taking place when
Herrick was sent into a support position and proceeded to chase several
enemy. Herrick was not killed as quickly
as the movie indicates. Sgt. Savage did
take over leadership.
9. Herrick’s last words were: “If I have to die. I’m glad to give my life
for my country.” HISTORY Most of the “cheesy”
soldier lines were accurate.
10. They blew up trees to create a new landing
zone. HISTORY
11. Metzker was killed when he gave up his place
on a medevac helicopter. HOLLYWOOD Metzker was
killed as he was about to board Crandall’s ship.
12. Galloway arrived on the night of the first
day. HISTORY However, Moore had already met Galloway and
had given him permission to come.
13. Mrs. Moore and Mrs. Geogehagen delivered the
telegrams to the other wives. HISTORY At least
according to Wallace.
14. Moore prayed over the dead bodies. HISTORY It’s unclear whether An did any praying.
15. Geogehagen and a black soldier were killed
out in front of the American lines. HISTYWOOD Geogehagen
was not making a two man attack. He was
killed instantly when he got out of his fox hole to rescue a dead black
soldier.
16. They peed on the mortar tubes to cool them
down. HISTYWOOD These types of things happened in warfare,
but this incident was not mentioned in the book.
17. Plumley told Galloway he could not take
pictures lying down and soon after he told the wounded “Prepare to defend
yourselves”. HISTORY
18. A soldier jumped on a grenade to save some of
the wounded’s lives. HISTORY Sgt. Charlie
McManus won the Medal of Honor for this act.
19. When the position was about to be overrun,
Moore called for Broken Arrow. HISTORY
20. Jimmy Nakayama was mortally wounded by
friendly napalm and never saw his new-born baby. Some of his flesh came off in Galloway’s
hands. HISTORY
21. The Lost Platoon was finally rescued when
Nadal’s platoon fought its way to them. HOLLYWOOD The unit was
actually reached by a reinforcing unit and there were no shots exchanged in
getting to Savage and his men.
22. Westmoreland ordered Moore to leave the
battlefield to brief him, but Moore refused.
HISTORY
23. Moore went into no man’s land at night to
recover Geogehagen’s body. HISTYWOOD Moore did
find the body, but it was in daytime.
24. Moore led a bayonet charge that forced the
enemy to retreat and then helicopter gunships decimated the enemy before
Moore’s men walked into a trap. BULL CRAP Moore did
have the men fix bayonets before pushing the perimeter out after the battle was
over and he did lead the movement, but there was no contact. The whole movie charge and the intervention
of Crandall is a painfully obvious attempt at a happy ending. Keep in mind that a true ending would have
included the ambushing of 2/7 as it marched to LZ Albany for egress after the
fighting was seemingly over. People who
insist we never lost a battle in Vietnam conveniently overlook this disaster
(which is covered in the book). I do not
insist that this downer of an ending should have finished the movie, but don’t
substitute fantasy that is the total opposite.
25. Crandall took over medevacing the wounded
because the assigned unit refused to come in under fire. HISTORY Crandall started out bringing in troops, but
switched to medevacing because of the circumstances. He made a total of 14 trips and was awarded
the DFC which was upgraded to the Congressional Medal Of Honor by Pres. G.W.
Bush in 2007. It is highly unlikely he
pulled a pistol on another pilot like in the movie and he could not have led
the counterattack because his chopper was unarmed.
RATING = .72CONCLUSION: ''We Were Soldiers" is above average in accuracy and surprisingly factual for a Randall Wallace and Mel Gibson. This does not completely make up for their historical malpractice in "Braveheart", but at least shows they have some sense of shame. However, it is most likely that what accuracy manages to sneak in is due to Moore and Galloway watching over their shoulders. Unfortunately, nothing could stop Mel and Randall from tacking on the egregious happy ending that has John Wayne written all over it. Hadn't we gotten past this type of jingoistic, crowd-sating trope by the 21st Century?
