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NEWS >POLITICS > RICHARD BLUMENTHAL RECALLS THE HORROR OF VIETNAM WAR MOVIES
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL RECALLS THE HORROR OF VIETNAM WAR MOVIES
May 19 2010
Hartford, CT – From the perspective of sheer numbers and impact on the economy and structure of the United States the war in Vietnam was a blip. With 58,000 dead (about 1/7 of the total number in World War II) the United States suffered very little 
in that conflict which was of course fought far from her borders in country with very little influence on the United States and her security. Regardless of that reality, the war took a massive toll on the United States and became a huge, gaping wound that still pains many today.
That war undoubtedly had a major impact on the psyche of the American people and, arguably, became the first real incident of dissent against the unified government of the country. For a hundred years the disparate people of the nation had lived unity, awkward at times, but still unified that had suddenly come undone with that war in a distant land. Again, arguably the country has never fully recovered from those days with politics divided very clearly down the line, and distrust of the government fully
embedded in the American psyche. The soldiers that fought in that war suffer no such 
controversy, being seen as American heroes, which is why Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal apparently lied about his participation in the conflict, which he apparently garnered from repeat viewings of movies based in the war.
“We have learned something important since the days that I served in Vietnam. I served during the Vietnam era. I remember the taunts, the insults, sometimes even physical abuse. When we returned, we saw nothing like this. Let us do better by this generation of men and women,” Blumenthal has said of his Vietnam experience, to which he later added; “Although I did not serve in Vietnam, I have seen firsthand the effects of military action, and no one wants it to be the first resort, nor do we want to mortgage the country’s future with a deficit that is ballooning out of control.”
An aide for Blumenthal later added that he had had spent many years watching war movies and reading books, causing him to believe he was actually there.
“It was ‘Platoon’ in particular but other movies like ‘Apocalypse Now’ and ‘Full Metal
Jacket were also a part of his experience. We want to be totally clear on this point; Mr Blumenthal understands that movies are not actual warfare but they give such a strong impression of the experience that he, like many others, are able to fully empathize with the horrors of the conflict and what our soldiers had to endure,” said the representative. “He hasn’t just watched these movies once or twice, he’s watched them dozens of times and that gives him a very tactile impression of what the experience of fighting was, perhaps more so. No single soldier had to endure as many battles and bloodshed as Mr. Blumenthal has had to experience.”
Blumenthal had his enlistment in the war deferred numerous times between 1965 and 1970 while he attended Harvard, after which he went to work in the Nixon government.
“There was no war before and no war since that has been as well documented and catalogued as the Vietnam conflict. True, there are dozens and dozens of World War II movies but most of those are simply entertainment and don’t capture the true horror of the conflict. They celebrate the heroes and gloss over the scoundrels,” said Scrape TV International Conflict analyst Mario Martinez. “Many of those movies are really, really good and have been rewarded with box office success and awards so it’s understandable that, particularly if a person watches them over and over again, they would become confused with their experience watching and what they actually did, I know that same thing almost happened to me and it was Hell.”
Blumenthal also stated that he really loved Robin Williams’ broadcasts during the war and would like to meet him someday.
Edward Bastil, Political Correspondent
NEWS >POLITICS > RICHARD BLUMENTHAL HORROR THE TRAUMA OF VIETNAM WAR MOVIES
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