After 34 years

Rating: 9/10 (9 December 2012)

After 34 years, I finally had the nerve to watch this film, and even then, I only watched the last hour and a half. I am of the generation who lived through the beginning, the struggle and the aftermath of the war. I was an Air Force dependent at the onset of the "Conflict". My father was a flight line chief in Germany, and was instrumental in keeping the F 105's in top condition to bomb Viet Nam in the early 60's. My girlfriend's father was shot down and became a prisoner of war only to be released years later a broken man. I saw the evacuation of Saigon on television. I dated Viet Nam vets who one even to this day, have nightmares and flashbacks of the carnage they experienced. One who is 61 years old, was spat on when he returned from the war by a anti-war college student, and called a baby killer. I didn't watch this movie when it came out, because I heard it was an authentic portrayal of the war, and it was. It was gripping, well acted and disturbing. Just like I knew it would be. The acting was top notched. The scarred bodies and psyches of the soldiers was authentic. The effect was disturbing. I fight back the tears as I write this. I score it a 9 only because I did not watch the whole film. I think about how only recently the President finally welcomed these boys home, 37 years after the fall of Saigon. This movie is a true depiction of war. Not pretty. Not heroic. Scarring. Hurtful. A shame. And yet we still wage it. Welcome home boys.