Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam (1987)

A documentary featuring letters written by U.S. soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines during the Vietnam War to their families and friends back home. Archive footage of the war and news ... See full summary »

Director:

Bill Couturié (as Bill Couturie)

Writers:

Richard Dewhurst (screenplay), Bill Couturié (screenplay) (as Bill Couturie)

Stars:

Tom Berenger, Ellen Burstyn, J. Kenneth Campbell

Won 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 5 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Berenger	...	(voice)
Ellen Burstyn	...	Mrs. Stocks (voice)
J. Kenneth Campbell	...	(voice)
Richard Chaves	...	(voice)
Josh Cruze	...	(voice)
Willem Dafoe	...	Elephant Grass (voice)
Robert De Niro	...	Great Sewer (voice)
Brian Dennehy	...	(voice)
Kevin Dillon	...	Jack (voice)
Matt Dillon	...	Mike (voice) (unconfirmed)
Robert Downey Jr.	...	(voice)
Michael J. Fox	...	Pfc. Raymond Griffiths (voice)
Mark Harmon	...	(voice)
John Heard	...	Johnny Boy (voice) (unconfirmed)
Fred Hirz	...	(voice)

Storyline

A documentary featuring letters written by U.S. soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines during the Vietnam War to their families and friends back home. Archive footage of the war and news coverage thereof, augment the first-person "narrative" by men and women who were in the war, some of whom did not survive it.

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Plot Keywords:

letter | vietnam war | vietnam | reenactment | voice over letter | 

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Genres:

Documentary | History | War

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

September 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dear America

Company Credits

Production Co:

Couturie Company, Dear America, GBA

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Was number nine on Roger Ebert's list of the Best Films of 1988.

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Quotes

Mrs. Stocks: [In a letter to her KIA son, left at the Vietnam Memorial] Dear Bill, I came to this black wall again, to see and touch your name. William R. Stocks. And as I do, I wonder if anyone ever stops to realize that next to your name, on this black wall, is your mother's heart. A heart broken fifteen years ago today, when you lost your life in Vietnam. And as I look at your name, I think of how many, many times I used to wonder how scared and homesick you must have been, in that strange country called ...

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Crix Pick Prez Flix (1993)

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Soundtracks

Fortunate Son
Written by John Fogerty
Performed by Creedence Clearwater Revival

User Reviews

Very Strong Emotional movie

Nothing can capture the hopes and fears of the brave soldiers who fought and died for freedom like their own words. Take that and add the documentary films and photos taken in Vietnam and you have a reality that no fictional movie can capture but that hundreds of thousands went through every day, doing what they do best in a place they'd rather not be. The actors reading the letters manages to capture the sincerity and the emotions of the people writing them.

Highly recommended.