Not entirely accurate
-
Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Jarhead
meissner_mike — 9 years ago(November 16, 2016 11:28 AM)
I'm a gulf war vet, USMC. We breeched minefields. Snipers really weren't necessary unless we got bogged down in some sort of urban warfare scenario. It's funny how hey all had dessert uniforms and dessert boots. Lol, many of us were still wearing woodland pattern uniforms and jungle boots or leather boots. I drove the AAV with line charges to blast through the minefields with tank cover. There certainly weren't troops on foot walking next to us as we got shelled and fired on. Occasionally we were halted by mechanical failures or tanks that hit a mine and were disabled and crewman wounded. We weren't bored to tears until after. Leading up to the minefields we were constantly practicing this technique we were to use. Food and clothing g were scarce and some guys boots were falling apart on their feet. I had my parents mail me socks because mine were worn to shreds. Plus it was cold and rainy. Most of us didn't have appropriate cold weather gear. The grab- ass stuff is pretty accurate but only to a point. The movie got a little silly with it. We didn't act that sophomoric but there were animosities in the platoon. Anist ciliqish behavior. And yes it's true why the one guy said, the army gets satellites and we get this crap. I'm proud of how we pulled that together under a very demanding schedule. It sucked, we lived in holes in the ground for most of the six months I was there. No showers no tents except a brief stay at tent city at camp 15 when we arrived. Then a couple days at an army forward operating base. Got to see how he other half lived. Yea the highway of death was gruesome, bodies carbonized, almost these grizzly statues. Without going into gory details, it was a war for some of us, complete with shooting and screeming and bad memories. Unfortunately this movie is really a characiter (sp?) for some of us because we had no tv reporters interview us, no imbedded reporters and certainly no smartphones, laptops, and facebook. Good old fashioned snail mail. Though I really don't wanna speak about my experience there because for most it was "joke" with acceptable losses and "painless". It really wasn't for those of us that really fought. Oh and yeah by the time a sniper could have sighted in during the ground assault we were already half way to his max effective range and the target was killed by machine gun fire or a cobra strike.
Sorry, I typed this on an I phone so forgive typos or misspellings, or don't, i do t care. Lol -
tyson6633 — 9 years ago(November 17, 2016 09:43 AM)
Just wanted to say 'Thank You' for serving our country. I was only around 9-10 years old back in '91, but I remember seeing the war on television. Bits and pieces, anyway.
A friend of mine's older brother served also in the Gulf. I remember when it was over, he was invited into class to give us kids, most of us anyway, our first real glimpse of an actual USMC soldier.
We were in awe of the guy. I still remember that day. He was a good man who seemed happy to talk to us. I can't quite remember his full name except that his last name was Peterson.
I wonder and hope that he's doing ok.
"I learned that in prison, you like? You white trash piece-a sh!t." -
meissner_mike — 9 years ago(November 17, 2016 10:47 AM)
Wow, thank you Tyson6633! Rarely do I post anything on these and it's even more rare for someone to thank "me" specifically. Oh and It's not USMC soldier. Marines, not soldiers. Lol! Just playing. And again, thank you! Made my day.
-
tyson6633 — 9 years ago(November 22, 2016 12:50 PM)
Sorry for the late reply. IMDb never sent me a reply email that they normally do. Weirdanyways:
Nothank you. I'm glad that I was able to make your day. Our troops deserve nothing but our respect and admiration.
"I learned that in prison, you like? You white trash piece-a sh!t."