Vietnam is fast becoming the lost war. Today’s generation is focused solely on the Iraq war and the effort in Afghanistan. There is nothing wrong with that, people should be involved and engaged with those topics affecting them at the time.
Unfortunately, what today’s youth do know about Vietnam is what Hollyweird chooses to perpetrate upon them. Vietnam soldiers were baby-raping, murderous, drug-taking thugs who did nothing more than embarrass the United States.
Movies showing Vietnam soldiers show (mostly) them as crazy men; men haunted by what they saw and did there. Most often the veteran is an alcoholic, down-trodden loser. Even movies like First Blood, Rambo II and Rambo III, where the hero was an obvious good guy, had the hero as a loner, out-of-touch-with-the-real-world sort of man. It depicts him as a killing machine honed by the military for a single purpose.
Given that, it is a refreshing change to see a director make a film that gets to the core of the Vietnam soldier. That core is a scared kid (average age in Vietnam was 19) doing his best to survive under impossible hostilities. Kids who tried their damnedest to keep the guy next to him alive, so that they might return the favor. Each man was most concerned with trying to stay alive long enough to complete his tour and get back to the States.
On Friday May 1st, 2009, I had the pleasure of speaking to conservative film director, Jack Marino about his 1990 project entitled Forgotten Heroes. The film dictates the stuggle of a group of men sent on a tough mission behind enemy lines. Gone are the rape scenes, drug-induced hallucinations, whacked-out crazies bent on total destruction. Gone, even, are the requisite dropping of F-bombs. Not a single one (however unbelievable that may be) is found in the film.
You can hear the interview here and I encourage you to do so. I also encourage you to get a copy of the movie, available through the website. Fully 25% of the proceeds are being returned to a worthwhile military charity, the American Veterans Disabled For Life Memorial Fund.
Help out a bastion of truth trying to swim in a sea of illusion. Show the world that there ARE those who remember; those who will not forget the Forgotten Heroes.
The revolution is at hand. Will you be a leader or a follower?
Vets On The Watch 