platoon

at the chat room the other night, somehow ray and jesse got on a platoon riff. while it seemed a little overblown allegorical next to vietnam flicks like hamburger hill and 84 charlie mopic, in the fullness of time, oliver stone's nam pic is a hell of a lot more realistic than coppola's apocalypse now, and besides, an event as cataclysmic as that war deserves a li'l overblown allegory. my ex-father-in-law (r.i.p.), who served in the air force in thailand, didn't like it because of the language (!).

the vietnam draft ended a month before my 18th birthday, and i remember it was like somebody threw a switch: in an instant, an entahr generation of young 'meercuns lost their political consciousness and threw themselves wholeheartedly into partying (or making money). my generation has a lot to answer for, and guys who served like ray's dad and the guys i knew who went (most of whom aren't around anymore) paid our tab.