Vietnam War Historian Breaks Down 7 More Vietnam War Scenes In Movies | How Real Is It? | Insider

Numerous Vietnam War vets have volenteered to me that Forrest Gump's segment is the most accurate to their actual experience.

I have a friend who earned the Silver Star on Hamburger Hill. He said the movie is pretty accurate except the hill "wasn't that high". However, there was only one movie he had to walk out of because of its realism and that was Forest Gump. The complete surprise, the chaos, the shouted commands, the desperation and even the way the men moved was so real he had to walk out.

I'm glad he mentioned the "war plan" particularly with Hamburger Hill. Many questioned what was the point? In WWII, you gained ground and island hopped whereas in Vietnam, you played wack a mole and tried to stack bodies higher than your losses without understanding their perspective of you

This guy was my professor!!! Me and my classmates loved his class !

Watching any movie about infantry getting ambushed makes my palms sweat. I've lived through many actual combat ambushes and IEDs but I stand alive today because of the fact that I experienced it all in either trucks or tanks. And it is absolutely magic how much of a game-changer having a mount is during combat.

In 2004 we had a rooftop ambush by Sadr's militia in southern Baghdad and in every conceivable way they had the initiative with rockets and rifles and we were all in soft skin HMMMVs we inherited from 82nd airborne. The end result? We got one guy who was shot in the leg.

For straight up humanitarian reasons I hope we never ever have to go back to dismounted infantry warfare. Mechanized warfare doesn't make as exciting of films but it sure is nice having casualties reduced by about 90% lol.

8:25 - I got to meet Sammy Davis in Indianapolis when I worked at the airport there. He was waiting for his luggage and I being in the Civil Air Patrol at the time, knew what all of his awards and decorations meant that he wore on his dress uniform. I saw his Medal of Honor and made it a point to go over to him, shake his hand, thank him profusely for his service, and then ask if there was something I could do for him. He smiled warmly, thanked me, and said that he was just waiting for his bags to come out on the carousel. I didn't dare ask him what he got the MoH for as typically recipients had to go through something horrific to get it. Instead, I looked him up when I got home and my jaw dropped when I read his story. It was a real pleasure to meet and talk to him.

1. While serving with the 155th AHC in Ban Me Thuot I noticed that out on the main street the Montagnards had built small puptent shaped frames of bamboo or wood, with several longer pieces down the sides and top. Barbed wire was wrapped all around the structure; sides, floor, and ends. A prisoner would be forced inside. There was not enough room for the prisoner to stretch out, sit, kneel, or lie down without being stabbed by rusty barbs. These structures were along the main street in the blazing sun. No place to go to the bathroom. and any passers-by could torment prisoners at will. You don't believe the VC or NVA did the same in retaliation? 2. I used to play guitar with a Vietnamese gentleman who spent over a year in a reeducation camp. He managed to walk away from a work group and make it across the border to Cambodia, then across that country to Thailand and then ultimately to the United States. Taken at his word, things were not much better in those camps. Not enough food or water, drinking their own urine. 3. My uncle served in the Marines as an advisor and could speak fair Vietnamese. He knew General Nguyễn Ngọc Loan. General Nguyễn Ngọc Loan wound up living in Virginia and owned a restaurant in the DC area. My uncle told me that several VC massacred the general's best friend's wife and children in Saigon. The plaid shirted Viet Cong that General Nguyễn Ngọc Loan executed in that famous photo was one of those VC. He had been captured moments after the massacre and the general shot him shortly after that. I do not doubt my uncle's word. I know nothing of General Nguyễn Ngọc Loan's character, but I do know that things aren't always as simple as they appear.

My father fought during the war when he was around 19 I believe! He fought for the south and loved watching Vietnam war movies 🙂

A little thing - as a fellow tour guide I love the fact that every time this guy uses an acronym, he immediately gives the full name, eg “an RPG, or Rocket Propelled Grenade”. 4:31 truly the mark of someone who knows how to use jargon, but also make it accessible to an audience

The only time we used “blue line” was in reference to a water way—creek or river—which appeared as blue lines on our maps and were often our only reference points in lowland free-fire zones. Any other assembly position and the like would have had a letter designation, like “X-Ray.” This was in 67 and 68, when I was with the 11th Cav.

Awesome! So glad you did Forrest Gump! Seems to track with what my Dad said about authenticity (he served as an infantry sgt on the Batangan Peninsula in 1969). You didn’t rate the non-combat parts, but he said the Lt Dan stuff with the showers, socks, rain, etc, was also reminiscent of his time there. A lot like Forrest Gump too, he said in his entire time in Vietnam, he never physically saw the enemy — like face to face. It was always ambushes, booby traps, nightime rocket attacks, etc.

The railway bridge in Casualties Of War is in Thailand. It was built by Allied POWs during WW2. I have walked across it a few times on tours that follow the railway to educate people about what happened there. My dad was a POW, Australian Army, and he worked on the line in Burma.

The Iron Triangle (1989) is one of the most interesting movies about the Vietnam War I've seen because the story is partially told from the point of view of the Vietcong.

I think Bill did a much better job in this video than his first one.
Good job.

He should cover the opening battle scene from Tropic Thunder.😂

Bill could have talked about Project 100,000 units when it came to Forrest Gump. His drill sergeant kept praising him ironically for his intelligence and he narrated how good of a fit he was.

I really do love this series and the experts and how they educate around the clips. Thanks for this content.

This guy is acting like the NVA didn't torture prisoners lmao.
Look up that guy who morse code blinked "torture" during an interview. The south did it too but you shouldn't act like the NVA didn't partake.

Still need to do Danger Close and The Odd Angry Shot.

Nice you included Hamburger Hill! 😎👍 Great job