Ok, so reading a detailed journal of a Vietnam veteran(My uncle, who died in that war)wouldn't give me at least a little more info than the average joe? I say nah, I say that it would. I don't know what type of effect it will have on me personally, I could freeze up like the one guy in Saving Private Ryan...I could be an exemplary soldier, like my uncle was. I don't know. But I do know that war is indeed hell. The conditions my uncle described were terrible.You see,PJ, it's not the movies I get my information from. It's directly from the horse's mouth. So don't tell me I don't know at least a little more than some guy off the street who's never been.

Reading about someone else's war can't tell you what yours will be like. I've talked to most of the guys who served together in a platoon in Vietnam. Do you know how many of them relate identical experiences and feelings about said experiences? None. They're all different. That's because people are different. You are a unique person and you will handle an experience in a way that is unique.

that's what I said... As shown here

Originally Posted by C/1Lt Henderson

I don't know what type of effect it will have on me personally

but I do believe that it gives me just a tad more insight than any average joe who's never been to war but has seen every war movie ever made.

The true accounts that you are reading are great. I am a reenactor and read non-fiction books on war all the time. I don't rely on hollywood... but I definitely do not read a book like Beyond Valor (in this case it is a book filled with WWII vets detailed accounts of many different battles) and say I know more about what it is like being in a war than the average person. Reading these books teaches me that war is a terrible thing to be involved in instead of the glorified versions hollywood has... however, it does NOT teach me about what it is like to be in a firefight or put me any closer to a firefight.

I kind of understand where you are coming from C/1Lt. Henderson - but I'd choose your words more carefully, especially around people who have seen combat.

I tried...They think that my only ideas of combat are from Hollywood and other untrue sources...They aren't...I agree, the acccounts do not put me any closer to the war and won't tell me how they will affect me, they will however give me at least a little more insight as to the effects of war.My uncle's journal doesn't give me a first hand experience, but it does give me some more information. Which is basically what you are saying.

Originally Posted by C/1Lt Henderson

I tried...They think that my only ideas of combat are from Hollywood and other untrue sources...They aren't...I agree, the acccounts do not put me any closer to the war and won't tell me how they will affect me, they will however give me at least a little more insight as to the effects of war.My uncle's journal doesn't give me a first hand experience, but it does give me some more information. Which is basically what you are saying.

If your favorite part of "Band Of Brothers" was the Veterans who gave their accounts at the end and through the movie, you are on the right path. I could listen to those guys all day long without a break. I'm still waiting for my copy of Dick Winter's book, "Beyond Band Of Brothers," I haven't read much about the reviews because I want to judge for myself.

I was one of the troops who got in and out before VietNam fired up, from 1962-1965, and, after talking to a lot of the Vets, I'm not ashamed to say I'm glad I didn't have to go even though I would have. Even through three boring, long years, I count myself fortunate and them American heroes.

Of course it is. Call me a history buff, but I love listening to them. I love listening to veterans of any war recall their stories. It's infinintly interesting. To study the wars and then to hear a first-hand account is fascinating.I haven't heard much about his book...I'd like to get it....

It's confusing listening to you guys say what you are saying (which I agree with). Then you turn on the military channel or whatever and you hear people saying that when they were in firefights in Iraq, it was "like a videogame". I really have no clue what I'm talking about here, see i have a problem where i just start typing for no reason. Anyway, I dont know...

I wouldn't want to expeirience war, but I will do what I am told.

Ah the powerful romantic notion of glorious battle. Even I suffered from those when I was a youngster. The longing for testing yourself under vary arduous circumstance is longing.... but some some reason you never take into account the possibility of being horribly maimed or becoming a POW. Who said again that only the people who have never seen war glorify it?