re: Question for combat veterans that actually watch war movies

Gotcha

hamburger hill

Most of us would probably not want to see a realistic portrayal. It's not something you ever want to relive. A lot of it gets shut out of your mind because some things should never be committed to long term memory. But the worst of all of it can never be portrayed on the screen

The smell. Just the slightest memory makes me want to go wretch.

My FIL spoke one time about Nam. He was on a listening post and set up claymores (his group did). Early in the morning they went off. The waited and first light checked it out. Couple of old guys and two kids were all over the place. The man wept. The only thing he ever said. My side of the family that served never said one word but my grandmother said Papaw came back a completely different person especially after Nam. WWII was bad but he was on the tail end. Korea was a lot rougher than people realize (at least according to the letters my grandmother saved) but Nam emptied that man. Just never was the same.

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Most of us would probably not want to see a realistic portrayal. It's not something you ever want to relive. A lot of it gets shut out of your mind because some things should never be committed to long term memory. But the worst of all of it can never be portrayed on the screen The smell. Just the slightest memory makes me want to go wretch.

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And how damn loud it is. When you’ve got 240s, .50 cals, Mk19s, and TOWs going off all around you an M4 sounds like a pop gun. After the first time I always made sure to have some ear plugs with me...only later did we learn about electronic ear pro.

From my personal experience the Forrest Gump ambush scene was pretty damn spot on...all quiet and then like a light switch all hell breaks loose. Saving Private Ryan beach landing scene captures the randomness of combat as well.

The opening scene in Saving Private Ryan when the door to the landing craft opens and the Nazi machine gun instantly annihilates everyone in the boat was always jarring to me.

Forgot about Patton. Old film but great. Dude who played Patton was more realistic than Patton himself.

Ultimate “break glass in case of war” type general.

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Just never was the same.

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It does that to you. I had intended to go into the Corps after college as an officer. My Uncle Dubby was my only family in Baton Rouge while I was in college, and he had ben a Marine in WWII. When I told him I wanted to be a Marine, he told me, "Charlie, if I ever hear you joined the Marines, I'll kill you before they get a chance to do it." It affected him a lot. But, years later, after I had gone Army (yes, I knew without a doubt he wasn't kidding about the Corps), we talked about the elephant we had both seen and I finally understood why he, nor I talk about it much.

The one thing he did say to me one evening at his home in Greenwell Springs was that he thought I had it harder on me because the war he fought actually meant something about the survival of our nation, whereas the shite I'd been sent to do was undeclared, unnecessary, and unconstitutional. That evening's talk was an awakening for me.

As for the comment regarding the smell, I don't even hunt anymore. I used to love deer hunting and cleaning the property of hogs, but I just can't stand the smell of blood anymore. It smells a lot like rust on iron, but there's something else that's almost intangible about the odor. I just can't do it anymore. After talking to some of my superiors years later, as well as some of my subordinates who were NCO's, I find that they have the same feelings.

Our young men are still, to this day, being sent into combat with the idea that they are defending freedom, but the truth is that no one has threatened our freedom or our nation's borders since 1945. My beliefs in maintaining a super-strong military have changed significantly in my years since leaving.

And back to the original question: There are several movies that come close to portraying actual combat. The way to know which ones are most accurate in that portrayal are the ones that you will see veterans leaving when the first combat scene appears on the screen.

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This varies largely for various reasons. But if you want real Afghanistan combat experiences watch Restrepo and Hornet’s Nest

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Hornets Nest was pretty accurate. I wasn’t infantry, I was 21B, the scenery of the Kunar Province with all the valleys, draws, and spurs was spot on.

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Exactly. (And M4's are pretty fricking loud in their own right.) Hollywood soundtracks have the weapons going "ta-ta-ta-ta-ta," or "Chh-Chh-Chh..."
The reality is that even the small arms fire is fricking deafening. There is absolutely no fricking way that a movie could portray the noise and hell that results from a short 155mm HE round impacting 200 meters in front of your position.

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Hell, just the concussion from a grenade can hit you in the stomach.