Posted by Ernie on 3/12/2007, 8:36 am, in reply to "Re: Blood Brothers Episode!" --Previous Message--
Thanks Lorna. Good point about the game being played from the chopper above. I find myself wanting someone to shoot the big bird and make him go away! Interesting, but Anderson was one of the reasons why young Goldman did not do as he was ordered, but Myron got the brunt of the butt chewing. Lt. was proving to be a good officer in my estimation. But man did he look young! Ernie...
: Thanks Ernie
: You have encapsulated the theme of this
: episode so accurately with your post.
: I particularly liked the contrast drawn
: between Goldman's cold anger and mistrust of
: his father and the warm friendship and sense
: of dependence he was learning to form with
: Anderson.
: Also It was horrifying to me , watching the
: scene where Dalby and Goldman sen. were in
: the chopper, watching the exercise below and
: Dalby was attempting to move the troops
: around like pawns in a chess match, with
: scant regard for their survival!
: This was a very cleverly written episode
: with the drugs theme being used to prove to
: the General that he could not measure his
: son's ability/performance in the field by
: the same yardstick as he would have used
: during his active service, as 'Nam was
: indeed a very different war.
:
:
: --Previous Message--
: 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.
:
: 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...
:
:
:
Message Thread:
« Back to thread