Other Hollywood Fibs:
I don't know how many ways it needs to be said, but Hollywood's passion for fibbing while claiming to tell a "true" story is and always will be one of the most contemptible facets of modern American culture. We just can't stand the truth.
I'm not talking about factual errors, or even the not unreasonable telescoping of events into a cinematic time-frame. I'm talking about exaggeration and distortion.
In "We Were Soldiers", Lt. Col. Moore's 1st Battalion/7th Cavalry command position was almost over-run when Company C failed ot hold off advancing PAVN. It was an exciting battle sequence, and allowed the movie to show Moore himself in action. In real life, Company C decimated the PAVN so badly that the attack never reached the command position.
In "We Were Soldiers", the breakaway 29-man platoon led by Lt. Herrick chases a PAVN "scout" off onto a ridge where they are cut off from the rest of "C Company". In real life, they were chasing nobody: they merely advanced too far. I suspect Director Randall Wallace thought it would be more exciting to show them chasing somebody.
In the movie, only one man appears to be left alive of the 29 in the breakaway platoon. In reality, 20 of the men were still alive. That's a rather big fib. Only 9 of the men were killed, though 13 were wounded, including the platoon leader.
In "We Were Soldiers", victory is dramatized by Lt. Col. Moore leading his troops up to the PAVN command bunker area, as Lt. Col Nguyen Huu An flees his command post in the tunnels. That did not happen. Nor did the dramatic confrontation between Moore and the PAVN machine gun position (with the exciting arrival of the helicopters at just the right instant). Didn't happen. Why is it in there? I don't know. To show that helicopters are good?
A French Bugle was found, a few days after the events of the movie, in the same general area. I don't care about that inaccuracy. It's close enough, and it doesn't materially affect your perception of the events at Ia Drang.
In 1965, the Huey "slicks" did not have machine guns mounted on their sides. An infantry man with an M16 defended each side of the chopper. Not as impressive cinematically, I guess.
A few days after Ia Drang, a far more horrendous battle took place as the relief battalion was about to be airlifted out, near a landing zone designated Albany. The 2nd Battalion/7th Calvary was spread out in a long column of 400 - 500 yards when attacked by surprise by a fresh regiment of PAVN. According to Jack Smith, most of the early casualties were due to friendly fire as panicked soldiers surrounded by PAVN snipers fired everywhere and anywhere. After a horrendous three-day battle, the survivors were air-lifted out. Casualties: 151 killed, 121 wounded.
Hal Moore, Jack Smith (son of Howard K. Smith, the ABC newsman), and other soldiers of the U.S. 7th Calvary travelled to Viet Nam in October 1993 to meet with their PAVN counterparts at the scene of the battle. There are pictures of them standing together and shaking hands.
There is something wonderful and even beautiful about such a moment. Men who once tried to kill each other in fierce battle now wisely shake hands and share memories. But there is something also deeply disturbing about it, and what is disturbing is not the shaking of hands and the smiles in the group photos. The disturbing part is that these friendly gatherings betray the utter purposelessness of Ia Drang, and every other battle of the Viet Nam War and almost every other war. In the truest sense of the word, the soldiers at Ia Drang were absurd.
