The very successful and highly acclaimed series which first aired on TV in 1962. It's main star, Vic Morrow, plays the part of Sgt. Chip Saunders. The other main character, Lt. Hanley, is played by Rick Jason. The Saunders character is somewhat unbelievable in his constant devotion to duty under ALL conditions. The Hanley character is cast a little more believable in that although he is more a "rules" type, like all officers are, he shows a more HUMAN side than Saunders. What really was the success of this series was the involvement of the human kind in various combat conditions and situations. Watching the tactics apllied by both the allies and the Germans is rather ridiculous. It seemed that the Americans were out manuvering the Germans for some reason and Saunders was always sticking out his squads "NECK" by taking unnecessary risks. As a combat veteran myself I would have questioned these leaders tactics as borderline suicide or just plain idiocy although one really sleeps with the other.
The show was really about humanity and drama which was aptly displayed. They must have been doing things right or people would not have tuned in every season from 1962 to 1967. My own observation is that when they changed over to color filming 2 things happened. The tactics became more unbelievable and the missions as well.
Strangely enough both the lead characters died untimely deaths.
The show was really about humanity and drama which was aptly displayed. They must have been doing things right or people would not have tuned in every season from 1962 to 1967. My own observation is that when they changed over to color filming 2 things happened. The tactics became more unbelievable and the missions as well.
Strangely enough both the lead characters died untimely deaths.