jschindo-1 Reviews

A Face of War (1968)

I not only saw this documentary but I served with Mike Co. during the filming of it.

[10/10 · 28 September 2001]

This is an exceptionatly well made film about the Vietnam war during 1966, during a time when we as Marines thought we were doing something that was helping the people of Vietnam. We set up on hill ten which was between two villes, Phuli3 and no name village. Phuli3 was very friendly and after the area was secure, which was no easy task, we were allowed to walk there in pairs and get haircuts, buy soft drinks, Vietnamese beer and other creature comforts and play with the kids. The film showed how a few hundred meters would change things drasticly. On other side of the hill was no name village. Going out on a patrol on that side of hill 10 was a different world. The ville its self was loaded with booby traps and more often than not we would have one or two Marines wounded or killed as the Viet Cong would change the locations of the booby traps almost nightly. In the film it showed us relocating the people and leveling it and using a flame throwing tank burning the entire area to the ground. The film makers were a very brave lot as they were right with us during most of the intense fire fights and ambushes. Everyone in Mike Co. had the utmost respect for these unarmed brave men, armed only with their camera and sound equipment. Anyone who would like to see how a Marine rifle company operates would not be dissapointed watching A FACE OF WAR. For the most part it centered around one squad which spent their nights in Phuli3 protecting the people from the VC. There is quite a bit of other action involving the entire company. People who want to see what it was all about before the war became unpopular will see that the Vietnam vets were not a bunch of lowlife drug addicted "baby killers" as we were portrayed by the protesters in the latter years, and why,'til this day, the combat vets of the Army and the Marines suffer from PTSD and other problems coping with every day life.