<I>The Anderson Platoon</I>
date: label: Date
content: 1967
name: label: Directed by
content: Pierre Schoendoerffer, French, 1928 - 2012
label: Subject of
content: Lt. Joseph B. Anderson, American, born 1943
label: Written by
content: Pierre Schoendoerffer, French, 1928 - 2012
label: Produced by
content: Pierre Schoendoerffer, French, 1928 - 2012
label: Narrated by
content: Pierre Schoendoerffer, French, 1928 - 2012
label: Owned by
content: D.C. Public Library, American, founded 1896
notes: label: Caption
content: This film was a part of the Washington D.C. Public Library's circulating 16mm film collection housed at the Martin Luther King Jr. Central Library. The collection is particularly noted for the wide variety of African American and African diaspora content.
label: Description
content: A documentary film with the title The Anderson Platoon. It consists of two (2) reels of 16mm black-and-white acetate film with optical sound.
label: Description
content: The film, created and narrated by Pierre Schoendoerffer who returned to Vietnam and spent six weeks filming the documentary, follows an integrated platoon led by Lt. Joseph B. Anderson. In the opening scenes, the narrator describes being a French veteran who fought in the First Indochina War and returning to the country to follow American soldiers for the documentary. Some scenes provide glimpses into the soldiers' daily activities on the battlefield, such as praying before combat, taking communion, playing dice and gambling.
label: Description
content: Later in the film, Schoendoerffer describes the role of the integrated Anderson Platoon and the B Company of which it is a part. He names some of the men in the platoon as they walk past the camera, tells where they hail from, and describes their role in the platoon. He also identifies which ones were eventually wounded. In one scene, men from the platoon are seen rescuing a little girl that had been wounded for ten days. In another, Schoendoerffer describes an incident in which a patrol from the platoon was ambushed and one of the soldiers was killed and several others wounded, before showing a scene in which members of the platoon question the villagers in a nearby village and detained two individuals as suspects.
place: label: Place used
content: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
label: Place depicted
content: Viet Nam, Asia
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Catholicism
label: Topic
content: Documentary films
label: Topic
content: Film
label: Topic
content: Military
label: Topic
content: Prayer
label: Topic
content: Vietnam War, 1961-1975
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Collection title
content: DC Public Library Film Collection
label: Classification
content: Time-based Media - Moving Images
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Transferred from the DC Public Library
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2017.55.108.1ab
objectType: label: Type
content: documentaries
label: Type
content: sound films
label: Type
content: black-and-white films (visual works)
label: Type
content: feature films
label: Type
content: 16mm (photographic film size)
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Restrictions likely apply. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: acetate film
label: Dimensions
content: Duration (Reel 1): 35 Minutes
label: Dimensions
content: Length (Film): 1275 Feet
label: Dimensions
content: Duration (Reel 2): 25 Minutes
label: Dimensions
content: Length (Film): 900 Feet