I think that the failure of this film is that the thinking introduced at the beginning has not been well answered at the end. For a soldier to kill, he must be given a reasonable purpose. The show is all about exploring that theme.
First of all, when the battalion commander learned the background of the war, he realized that the war was of an aggressive nature, just like the American war against the Indians in the early days. The worry manifested during training: Are we doing the right thing. The scene in which the battalion commander and the platoon commander prayed even further led to a question: Did we save more lives at the expense of a small number of people? The battalion commander didn't know how to answer this question, because he didn't know, so he interrupted and said that the Viet Cong were heretics, and we were a righteous army that believed in God. God bless us to destroy them. I wonder if he really thinks so.
His thinking seems to have since shifted to this being an act of patriotism, that we fought and died for America. We can sacrifice at any time when the country needs it. It can be seen from the speeches before the war. It is possible that the education of the military is like this, unconditional obedience. When a wrong subconscious is repeated a thousand times in his mind he also becomes right.
In the war, the purpose has become to fight for the comrades around him and lead them to victory for the lives of the subordinates. More importantly, he fought for himself to walk down the battlefield alive and reunite with his wife and children.
Some people said before they died, please tell my wife that I love her, and others said before they died that I was honored to die for my country. I think this is ridiculous. Is it honorable to die like this when the bloated state apparatus has been provoking wars of aggression? It is really honorable to sacrifice for the political lives of these politicians, can you really rest your eyes?
After the war, the battalion commander and the reporter agreed that we should let the Americans know how these young men died for their country.
Yes, they should be remembered, not as patriots, but as poor victims of the battle between the two camps.
A true patriot is one who keeps the peace and dares to refuse to go to war. Dare to question and reject in front of the "truth".
I think the success of this film is that it portrays the life of an officer and his wife before the war and the worries of their wives when they know their husbands are going to war. Also liked the original detail of the taxi delivering the death telegram.
I also liked the portrayal of the Vietnamese, who were also a group of fighters, and this group of fighters against aggression is more worthy of being remembered.
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