Hollywood never gets it right
May 28, 2012 11:35 AM Subscribe
For Memorial day : IAMA Vietnam Veteran
This post was deleted for the following reason: Yeah, as neat as the idea is its kind of hard not to look at AMAs of questionable provenance with other than a jaundiced eye. -- cortex
I have zero interest in going back, best leave it be. Might bring back my PTSD like a mad mo'fo.
I will regard this as an interesting experiment in fiction unless proven otherwise.
posted by benzenedream at 11:50 AM on May 28, 2012
I will regard this as an interesting experiment in fiction unless proven otherwise.
posted by benzenedream at 11:50 AM on May 28, 2012
Nice link.
Over the years I've managed to piece together the story of my father's service overseas (including one memorable conversation where the 20 year old me complained about my life and he said that when he was 20 he was at Ft. Benning with a rifle in his hand).
I know that he got his notice to report to Whitehall Street with two subway tokens attached so he'd have no excuse not to show up. He was drafted and said that his bus load of soldiers was bussed to several places till he wound up at Benning where he did Basic and then was trained As a field radio operator. When he was shipped to Qui Nhon they had too many of them so he wound up guarding ammo dumps and managed not to get his CIB even though he slept with his M16 most nights. He finished his tour and did a year at Ft Bliss in Texas which he described as 'the shits.'
posted by jonmc at 11:53 AM on May 28, 2012
Over the years I've managed to piece together the story of my father's service overseas (including one memorable conversation where the 20 year old me complained about my life and he said that when he was 20 he was at Ft. Benning with a rifle in his hand).
I know that he got his notice to report to Whitehall Street with two subway tokens attached so he'd have no excuse not to show up. He was drafted and said that his bus load of soldiers was bussed to several places till he wound up at Benning where he did Basic and then was trained As a field radio operator. When he was shipped to Qui Nhon they had too many of them so he wound up guarding ammo dumps and managed not to get his CIB even though he slept with his M16 most nights. He finished his tour and did a year at Ft Bliss in Texas which he described as 'the shits.'
posted by jonmc at 11:53 AM on May 28, 2012
I will regard this as an interesting experiment in fiction unless proven otherwise.
Considering that requests for proof were ignored by the OP of the post several times and the moderators of IAmA never verified the post, I believe regarding this as a work of fiction is everyone's best bet.
posted by SkylitDrawl at 11:57 AM on May 28, 2012 [1 favorite]
Considering that requests for proof were ignored by the OP of the post several times and the moderators of IAmA never verified the post, I believe regarding this as a work of fiction is everyone's best bet.
posted by SkylitDrawl at 11:57 AM on May 28, 2012 [1 favorite]
I picked up Fire In the Lake again a few months ago and became really interested in Vietnam. The real challenge is trying to find Vietnamese recollections of the war at the local public library. There ain't much.
posted by KokuRyu at 11:59 AM on May 28, 2012
posted by KokuRyu at 11:59 AM on May 28, 2012
I should say everyone and anyone enamoured of war and war stories should read this obit of Paul Fussell, plus a 2004 profile in that same newspaper:
He concluded that only those who had experienced battle, "true testifiers" as he called them in a Guardian interview in 2004, were, in the end, fit to write military history.
posted by KokuRyu at 12:02 PM on May 28, 2012 [6 favorites]
He concluded that only those who had experienced battle, "true testifiers" as he called them in a Guardian interview in 2004, were, in the end, fit to write military history.
posted by KokuRyu at 12:02 PM on May 28, 2012 [6 favorites]
Looking at the commenting history of that account, I find it hard to believe that this person is anywhere close to even being in the same age group as Vietnam War veterans.
posted by vidur at 12:12 PM on May 28, 2012
posted by vidur at 12:12 PM on May 28, 2012
Thank you for the links, KokoRyu!
There wasn't really anything about the post that jumped out at me as "fake", but if it does turn out to be fake, then apologies for wasting your time. I'm sure the mods here will delete this if they feel the need.
posted by Afroblanco at 12:16 PM on May 28, 2012
There wasn't really anything about the post that jumped out at me as "fake", but if it does turn out to be fake, then apologies for wasting your time. I'm sure the mods here will delete this if they feel the need.
posted by Afroblanco at 12:16 PM on May 28, 2012
My links weren't meant as a comment on this post, btw, but after hearing an interview with Fussell last week, and then reading about him, I kind of wanted to share what I found.
posted by KokuRyu at 12:20 PM on May 28, 2012
posted by KokuRyu at 12:20 PM on May 28, 2012
A group of trolls is gaming reddit by making plausible sounding threads that garner a lot of interest. Previous examples have included corrupt cops, and the Men's Rights Poster's Sister, so I'd take this with a pinch of salt. They claimed that they were doing something today too.
posted by notseamus at 12:26 PM on May 28, 2012
posted by notseamus at 12:26 PM on May 28, 2012
I sadly flagged this post.
An anonymous AMA post on Reddit, even if it wasn't unverified and somewhat dubious, is not "best of the web".
Sorry!
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 12:31 PM on May 28, 2012 [1 favorite]
An anonymous AMA post on Reddit, even if it wasn't unverified and somewhat dubious, is not "best of the web".
Sorry!
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 12:31 PM on May 28, 2012 [1 favorite]
There's a reason all AMA pages have "Ask the OPs to provide proof, and upvote those who do!" both at the top of the page, and again in the sidebar. There is a long and sordid history of even the most amazing AMA's being completely fake.
So far, the poster has not provided any (he's been asked). For now, I suggest everyone take the whole thing with a very large grain of salt.
posted by Frayed Knot at 12:32 PM on May 28, 2012
So far, the poster has not provided any (he's been asked). For now, I suggest everyone take the whole thing with a very large grain of salt.
posted by Frayed Knot at 12:32 PM on May 28, 2012
Or, on non-preview, what everyone else just said.
posted by Frayed Knot at 12:34 PM on May 28, 2012
posted by Frayed Knot at 12:34 PM on May 28, 2012
« Older China: United States Report | A little thug in a hooded sweatshirt made the Web... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by Afroblanco at 11:47 AM on May 28, 2012