{"id":9456,"date":"2015-02-20T15:25:24","date_gmt":"2015-02-20T23:25:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=9456"},"modified":"2015-02-27T11:40:44","modified_gmt":"2015-02-27T19:40:44","slug":"american-sniper-platoon-and-the-baloney-factor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=9456","title":{"rendered":"“American Sniper,” “Platoon” and the Baloney Factor"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"platoon-movie-poster\"<\/a>BY RAUL HERNANDEZ<\/strong><\/p>\n

Notebookventura@yahoo.com<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The hype shortly preceding its release was\u00a0that the movie “Platoon” was “the most realistic movie ever made about the Vietnam War’ – ever.<\/p>\n

Platoon got an Academy Award for Best Picture of 1986, and Platoon’s director Oliver Stone w<\/strong>as awarded the Academy\u2019s Best Director nod.\u00a0Stone wrote the script based on his experiences as an infantryman in Vietnam.<\/p>\n

Ignacio Medina<\/strong>, however, wasn\u2019t impressed with Stone\u2019s tale of betrayal and murder in the jungles of Vietnam, not at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople who have never been to Vietnam might think it is a good movie because of the action. A good 50 percent of the movie is nothing but baloney,\u201d said Mr. Medina.\u00a0 \u201cIt is not realistic \u2013 especially the combat situations they show in the film.\u201d<\/p>\n

That is what he told the El Paso Herald-Post 27 years ago when he agreed to review it for the newspaper, and the movie was just being released across the nation.<\/p>\n

Mr. Medina wasn’t a movie critic looking at Platoon through the sterilized filter of a Hollywood lens. \u00a0His \u00a0thick military resume noted credentials and experience: Served in World War II, Korea and three tours of Vietnam.\u00a0 Two of those tours with the 25th Infantry Division, which was the combat unit depicted in Platoon.<\/p>\n

In Vietnam, he was awarded the Silver Star for bravery on the battlefield.\u00a0 Before retiring, he attained the highest rank that a non-commissioned officer can get in the Army, command-sergeant-major.\u00a0 Before retiring he was stationed at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas.<\/p>\n

Now comes the movie, \u201cAmerican Sniper,\u201d a biographical war film about Navy Seal Chris Kyle<\/strong> who wrote the book, “American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History,” that the movie was based on.<\/p>\n

The film stars Bradley Cooper<\/strong> and was directed by Clint Eastwood<\/strong>. The movie has been nominated as the Best Picture for 2014.<\/p>\n

Basically, Kyle protected U.S. troops who were sweeping through villages along with performing other dangerous\u00a0 assignments in Iraq.<\/p>\n

Some say the movie was politicized. Others argue it is about an American hero.<\/p>\n

The critics gave American Sniper mixed review but most liked the movie, according to Rotten Tomatoes.<\/a><\/p>\n

Under the headlines:\u00a0 \u201cAmerican Sniper’ Is Almost Too Dumb to Criticize<\/strong>,\u201d Rolling Stone\u2019s\u00a0\u00a0 Matt Taibb wrote:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s usually silly to get upset about the self-righteous way Hollywood moviemakers routinely turn serious subjects into baby food,\u201d Rolling Stone magazine <\/a>wrote about American Sniper.<\/p>\n

Under the headlines, \u00a0“Marine\u2019s Response to Critics of \u2018American Sniper\u2019 Is 1,851 Words. It\u2019s Worth It to Read Each One,<\/strong>” \u00a0a marine criticized the reviewers.<\/a><\/p>\n

“…the film was about a man on the ground and the struggle to come home with a head full of grief and regret, not the Iraq war itself,” the Marine wrote.<\/p>\n

The media talking heads\u00a0who \u00a0recently analyzed all the fine points in the politics of giving children measles’ vaccinations, have now shifted into the \u201ctaste great\u201d and \u201cless filling\u201d mode in scrutinizing American Sniper.<\/p>\n

CNN just devoted a whole hour on a special about American Sniper, pouring out intellectual, philosophical and prophetic insights about the movie and Bradley Cooper’s character.<\/p>\n

What the movie did that was positive was brought attention to post traumatic stress disorder.<\/p>\n

Otherwise, it is a movie. It is first and foremost, entertainment. Much of it real.\u00a0Much of it, however, is Clint Eastwood, like any good director, selling tickets by cramming a complex issue into two hours and 14 minutes of fast-paced action.<\/p>\n

Medina Goes to the Movies<\/strong><\/p>\n

When the El Paso Herald-Post newspaper editors were looking for a Vietnam veteran, preferably one who had served with the\u00a0 25th Infantry Division, to review “Platoon,” I suggest Mr. Medina who bled Army green to be their camouflaged Roger Ebert, so to speak.<\/p>\n

The editors accepted my suggestion. Now, I had to convince Mr. Medina.<\/p>\n

But first, in\u00a0the interest of full disclosure, I told the editors that Mr. Medina was one of my best friends, Art Molina\u2019s, step-father.\u00a0 Mr. Medina was like my surrogate father too.\u00a0 My father Juan Hernandez had also served in three wars \u2013 World War II, Korea and two tours of Vietnam with the U.S. Army.\u00a0 So, my father, \u00a0like Mr. Medina , was often away from home.<\/p>\n

This meant that Art, Art\u2019s cousin and my other best friend, David Andrade, and I were always getting into predicaments, much of it stemmed from smuggling cheap booze across the border from Juarez to party on weekends or crossing the bridge to J-Town from time to time to go bar hopping along with hundreds of other under-aged youngsters from El Paso.<\/p>\n

I believed Mr. Medina would also do a good job reviewing Platoon because he was a good role model for Art, David and I: \u00a0 He drank beer, didn’t like people to lie to him and most of all, he didn’t mince words. \u00a0He also got the three of us out of several jams.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless,\u00a0the price for cleaning up some of our screw ups was a tongue lashing.<\/p>\n

Cleaning the language and adding a look of disgust, he’d say something like this to Art, David and I after he heard our lame excuses: \u00a0\u201cYou guys can\u2019t keep your stories straight. \u00a0And, you think I am an idiot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Medina, a wiry and fearless man, reminded me of the “Apocalypse Now”<\/strong>\u00a0character Lt. Colonel Bill Kilgore played by Robert Duval<\/strong> whose classic line in that movie was: \u00a0“I love the smell of napalm in the morning.”<\/p>\n

I once asked Mr. Medina why he kept volunteering to go to Vietnam? He said simply: “That’s my job.”<\/p>\n

Paused and calmly added, “And, the pay is good.”<\/p>\n

You Write the Review<\/strong><\/p>\n

The problem with the Platoon movie review, is Mr. Medina didn\u2019t go to the movies because he thought that most weren\u2019t worth 120 minutes of his time. \u00a0Still, he liked to watch old John Wayne movies.<\/p>\n

Agitated after I told him he had to write the Platoon movie review, he said:\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m not going to write all that stuff. You write it. You can interview me. That\u2019s what you get paid to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

The newspaper decided that I would write the story as a movie review, which would appear on the front page, but the review would be written under Ignacio Medina’s byline \u201cas told to Raul Hernandez\u201d \u2013 moi.<\/em><\/p>\n

So, basically, I served as Mr. Medina’s tape recorder, and just jotted down what he told me, asking a few questions along the way to smooth out the Platoon interview.<\/p>\n

Anyway, I went to the movies with Mr. Medina who didn\u2019t like popcorn, didn\u2019t want a soda and walked into the movie theater like he had just landed on the moon.<\/p>\n

I also recall that Vietnam veterans were told that counselors would be available by calling a certain number after they watched Platoon and if they needed to talk to someone.<\/p>\n

A real war movie had to have real counselors.<\/p>\n

Here is some of what Mr. Medina told me back then about Platoon:<\/strong><\/p>\n