Posted by Ernie on 3/11/2007, 3:10 pm Blood Brothers deals with two issues in the Vietnam war that were both vital to the overall outcome of the war. We lost that war and there had to have been reasons why we did, don't you think? The conflict between the Goldmans was indicative of the overall conflict between the Gods of War and battle warriors. The brass did not know how to fight the enemy of Southeast Asia and certainly did not know how to train the fighting men to engage in jungle warfare. At Fort Polk, my training was very conventional and taking the land was the objective. To try to give the training the jungle elements for atmosphere; they went out and found some bamboo for affect! Okay! This does it! I know how to kill them suckas now! When Gen. Goldman left he had the decency to admit that he learned that it was not the same type of war that he wanted it to be. Young Lt. Goldman got the point across to him, but what good did it do? So for the dogs of war (the actual grunts) fighting the war was difficult and it was frustrating not to have the support of the brass. The Jimi Hendrix's poster meant something to the true warriors and was summarily dismissed by the brass. This made it very clear to them, that they had to 'wing it' very much on their own. Young Lt. Goldman was treating Sgt. Anderson as a confidant and friend. This was not all that common in actuality, but it shows the young officer coming to terms with his own inexperience and leaning on the experienced years of his sergeant for support. Anderson had been over in the jungle war long enough to have come to an understanding that it was not the same as WWII. The soldier who had to face the jungle warfare daily turned to drugs to deal with the harsh reality. I do not condone drugs, but I can see how easy it would be to use drugs as a means of escape. Sadly, drugs killed just as effectively as the NVA or Viet Cong. And the risk Ruiz took for the cherry is mind boggling! It did not happen that way very often. However, as in all wars, you looked out for your fellow man, and they looked out for you when it was necessary. Ernie...
When I suggested that we cover an episode a week and chat about it on the chatboard of this site, I also suggested we use Hum 90 for discussions and posts. Since we have decided to try Hum 90's chatroom, I feel that it is only fair to use this message board for discussions and comments. Not everyone is involved in the chats each week, so this is a great way for them to get involved in Tour Of Duty discussions.
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