Army Medicine in Vietnam (1970) User Reviews

If you think war is glamorous think again

[Michael-887 · 20 July 2004]

I was originally shown this film in 1981 when I joined the Army as a 16 year old. The reason was to shock raw recruits and harden them to the realities of war. A few months later the Falklands War occurred and several of the images coming back from the South Atlantic were not dissimilar.

I would imagine from the context of the film that this was a poor attempt at trying to convince soldiers going to Vietnam that quality medical aid was only a short helicopters ride away and even the most gruesome injuries could be fixed. Army Medicine in Vietnam also deals with hygiene in Vietnam and some of the more unpleasant conditions, trench foot and leprosy.

The film was shot in the middle of a war zone, Vietnam, which was the first 'televised' war and as such the quality of the film is poor. The content, however, is very graphic and gruesome, I remember when I first saw this our NCOs would not let us leave the theatre and afterwards most of the troop were white as sheets. The commentary on the other hand is very 'gung ho', the most horrific of injuries can be fixed in a short time and the soldier will be 'good as new and back in action in no time'.

I have just watched this film for the first time in 20 years and the memories of the film are just as I remembered them. It left a lasting impression which has stayed with me. So much so, that I have trawled the internet for a few months to find a copy.

Only watch this if you have a strong constitution and are not easily upset. This film still has me putting my hands over my eyes for some parts and staring at other bits in avid fascination.

If you can get past the dull voice over

[zen18531 · 9/10 · 2 December 2009]

Like earlier comment, I was shown this film during Basic Training in early 1984. A couple of recruits left the room, most of use were white as sheets, and I remember at least one person 'signing-off' immediately (ie leaving the Army).

The film was made to encourage volunteers to opt for a medical career in the US Army, and highlighted the wide array of scenarios they could expect to encounter, such as exotic disease, fungal and damp-environment infections, STD, leprosy, and traumatic injuries, such as penetrating and blunt trauma (injuries caused by bullets and blast), burns, and so forth. The footage used was of real life injuries, often filmed live. There are NO special effects. 'Notable' injuries include blast damage to a lower limb, from occurrence thru casevac to the operating table, where an amputation is performed and shown. Ever wondered what the cross-section of your lower limb looks like? Its here in detail.

Reconstructive facial surgery following massive blast trauma; removal of 7.62mm round from the brain via the eye socket; treatment of leprosy including amputation of digits.

Of course, the US DoD overlooked the obvious... >99% of the the potential recruits saw the absolute horrific injuries that arise on the battlefield, and realised "that could be me", and recruiting figures plummeted across the board.

Showing it to UK recruits was not standard practice, but simply done by some training staff who had a copy and felt it made for better training. I'm glad they did.

The saddest, is the "black man becomes white". I make no apologies for the non-PC description, as this is how it is known by those who have seen it. Following a napalm attack, a coloured US soldier is treated by the medical staff. The charred skin is literally pulled from his upper torso. The result? His upper body is white. I have heard, though this may be myth, the soldier committed suicide as a result of the social stigma he suffered.

As a constant audio track is an American over; dry, factual, dull, boring. Think of the "AFN" commentators in "Good Morning Vietnam", who are positively lively in comparison. Interspersed occasionally is medial audio describing the surgical procedure.

"Graphic" can only indicate the content of this film. It isn't simply graphical, it is real, unedited, unexpurgated combat footage. Even the opening beach landing sequence in "Saving Private Ryan" is tame in comparison.

As a footnote, years later I had a copy and would play it in the local computer shop when we wanted to close up. It could empty the shop in less than 30 seconds, it is that graphic.

A shocking film

[kaurismaki1 · 5/10 · 1 July 2003]

This is a film which was shown to doctors and other medical staff to get them to volunteer to go to Vietnam. It's the most bad taste commercial you will ever see, and you really have to see it to believe it.

Throughout the film there is a voice-over telling us about how great it is to work in an army hospital in Vietnam during the war. The voice-over is telling us how great the scenery in Vietnam is, and how good it is to work in the army hospitals which are air-conditioned and very modern. He's also explaining how many different kind of exotic wounds and burnings the doctor will meet when working in Vietnam, stuff a doctor never will meet when working in a normal practice in USA.

While the voice is telling us this, we also see some of the badly wounded soldiers getting treatment. In close ups we see all kind of wounded American soldiers getting treatment. Among other things we see a guy who nearly had his head shot off by a grenade miraculously getting fixed by the doctors "so in only a few days he'll be ready to go back in combat". We also see a soldier who's been hit in the head by a big bullet which the doctors somehow manage to pull out, and a afro-American soldier who has been badly burnt by a napalm bomb, getting treatment. And it's all real documentary footage, and very, very ugly to look at.

This is absolutely not for the faint at heart. I saw the film in a small film club, and though the audience thought they new what they were going to see, and were used to see all kinds of gore, more than half of the audience left the screening room.

If you see this film, it will haunt you forever and make you lose confidence in the judgment of medical authority.