AT the end of platoon when charlie sheens charecter is being air lifted out their is a M113 (I think it's been around 3-5 yrs since I saw it last) with a swastika flag drapped across the back. Was this based on a real event or photo, or just oliver stones commentary on events.

Or maybe oliver stone is a armour modeller and got sick of his german tanks ending in 1945

Jeff

I`ve never seen reference of a swastika. There were however Confederate Flags seen from time to time.

http://www.southernmessenger.org/images/Confederate-Flag-VietNam.jpg

I to have seen that apc. It was also shown after Sheen shot Barnes, then walked away and sat down. The apc came rolling in with a guy in front walking Elmo the dog around, and on that apc was a German flag complete with swastika waving in the wind.

I don't know if it was really used, but it looked pretty cool. Very rebellious.

~Chip

I would never confuse anything Oliver Stone makes with the 'truth'.

I'm sure it's based more on commentary and opinion.

Of course JFK was a documentary and correct in every detail! #:-) #:-)

Steve

I'm with Sniper. Take anything by Ollie Stone with a 50 pound bag of salt. And that's all I'm gonna say...

Clarification


I talked to a friend of mine who read the book the movie was based on. He said in the book Chris (charlie sheen) talked to the armoured personnal guys and they were all wearing leather vests and wehrmarcht helmets and went around as the "armoured hells angels" or something like that. I guess they were just bikers and wanted to look badass. He told me that aspect of the book was pretty weak so it was probably best it was cut from the movie.

Ollie Stone makes entertaining movies, that magic bullet scene from JFK was great, but yeah I don't exactly take too seriously everything he says. In his Vietnam movies he usually makes some references to stuff that applies to him ("you get back home and a bronze star and purple heart don't mean dick", that might have been born 4th july.. but stone won both those medals), and things he saw, and I was just curious if he actually saw these biker APC guys.

Also remeber the scene when the vietcong suicide bomber ran into the officers HQ, wasn't Ollie the officer in charge?

Now someone looking to rent the movie to look for the flag will have something else to check on too.

Maybe they were trying emulate the Hitlerjugend Panzer Division. They wore leather U-Boat jackets while driving their tanks in Normandy. I have several friends who spent too much time in country in Vietnam (as a matter of fact I’m heading to the American Legion post directly to see some of them) and I know a lot of weird sh@t went on. I just don’t agree with Stone’s view of things. Personal preference, I guess. You are right, bikers on an M113 ACAV would make a cool model.

I don't either, his stories involving the emotionally isolated Vietnam vet I think are and exception to the rule of the majority.

An uncle of mine was from Quebec, and he lied about his citizenship to join the U.S Army to avenge the honour of France in Vietnam (in the 60's French honour in Canada was a big deal, FLQ was kidknapping British trade ministers etc). He said when he got off the plane after his tour a little girl gave him a flag, a flowers and a kiss on the check. That seems to be the opposite of the usual fighting through protestors scene you usually see in movies. Every few years 'Big Frog' goes down to someplace in Louisiana to visit an old friend burns some incense . I had an American immigrant as a science teacher and he was a Vietnam vet, and when the topic of Vietnam came up he always said his hometown treated him right.

As a rule I always thought America treated it's veterans right, so why should vietnam be any different.

Oliver Stone was in the 25 inf division (TROPIC LIGHTINING)in Vietnam.he in his commentary stated that ACAV guys were a bit screwed up and that they were big on nazi stuff e.g flags and sh@t:-H

Would some post a pic of the Nazi Flag on th apc.

That Confederate Flag looks mighty perty on that thing I figure there were a few Nazi flags in Nam, probably some officer got when he served as a private in W.W.II and thought he'd bring it along to show off. I think Oliver Stone was just going along with what Hollywood was thinking at the time in that the U.S. guys who served in Nam were no better than Nazis (crazed baby killin’ wild men out for blood). That's just my opinion though. :-) I think it would look better with a Confederate Flag. I've been thinking on placing one on my new tank actually. You'd see more of those than Nazi flags.