MovieChat Forums > Platoon (1987) Discussion > Could you find any inaccuracies in PLATO...

Could you find any inaccuracies in PLATOON?

posted 8 years ago by jeffyoung1
8 replies | jump to latest

I'd be hard pressed to find any inaccuracies.
But for the record, I wasn't there and I doubt most people reading this were. We need a Vietnam Vet to tell us.

As for what I could find, very minor.

Their M16A1s.
1) The barrels show the birdcage flash suppressor. This is not totally accurate. At that time, the M16A1s had the original open, triangular flash suppressors. According to history, the original flash suppressor worked well and had the bonus of being easy to clean. The problem was, hiking through the jungle on patrol, the open flash suppressor had the tendency to snap on vines and other vegetation. The closed birdcage flash suppressor was introduced only very late in the war, almost at the end. Supposedly after the war, the U.S. Army had all its M16A1s refurbished to the new birdcage flash suppressor.

2) Bolt assist on the M16A1s. I need a Vietnam Vet to confirm this. The U.S. Army initially issued large numbers of M16s, which preceded the M16A1. The M16 did not have the bolt assist and had the original open, triangular flash suppressor. The M16A1 entered service in either late 1968 or 1969.

3) The XM770 version of the M16A1 carried by the staff sergeants.
I am sure about this one from the photographic evidence and historical accounts. The carbine versions show a 16-inch barrel. The historical M16 'shorties' had a short, 10.5 inch barrel and a 3.5 inch flash suppressor. This carbine version did not survive the Vietnam War. The 10.5 inch barrel was too short to offer consistent cycling of the bolt carrier. The U.S. Army rediscovered this during tests with the proposed XM4 during the early 1990s. Tests showed the M16 required a minimum of 12-inches barrel length for reliable cycling during shooting and even then, it was still not 100%. The Army felt comfortable with a sure thing 14-inch barrel for the accepted M4 carbine version of the M16A2.

4) The CAPTAIN. The movie portrays the company's captain as an experienced, competent man. The problem is, according to Vietnam War history, he looks far too old. In real history that man would be at least an experienced major and possibly a lieutenant colonel in Vietnam. Promotions were faster during the war because of casualties and the plain fact that men gain experience faster in combat. During the Vietnam War, U.S. Army captains in Vietnam were often 24 1/2 years old. Compare that to the peacetime Army, circa 1990, where just-promoted captains are 26 1/2 years old. Still, it was a minor detail

[–] sonofbeach-sheet 8 years ago

The Captain was more than likely prior enlisted for at least the first 10 years of his career. So assume he has about 16 years in.....well, shoot, he'd still be only in his 30's if he joined around 19. So I don't know. If it was peacetime, this would make sense.

[–] jeffyoung1 8 years ago

Yes, it is possible. The U.S. Army has had and will always have what you and I know as, "prior enlisted", typically, enlisted guys who applied for Officer Candidate School, or else left the Army, went to college and ROTC. Then there's the battlefield commission officers-direct from enlisted to commissioned officers in one day. But in during the Vietnam War, the vast majority of captains were very young men.

Yet, I hold out to your possibility that the captain may have been a prior enlisted which explained his older appearance and more, his calming experience.

[–] nickm2 8 years ago

Well according to the movie tie in, the Captain (Dale Dye, by the way) was a 'multi tour Spec Forces NCO promoted to officerhood'; not sure HOW realistic that was but during the 1970 operation by the 101st ABD in the A Shau Valley at firebase ripcord, one of the Airborne companies was commanded by a Spec Forces NCO promoted to officer=in fact, he was still recovering from a calf wound when he took the job. He would limp around the perimeter of the firebase stringing barbed wire & haranguing his troops to do a good job building defenses. His best selling point was 'if you want to survive the war, you must only think of the war'.

Why can't you wretched prey creatures understand that the Universe doesn't owe you anything!?

[–] RodneyAnonymous 8 years ago

The AR platform can be made to function reliably with a 10" (or even shorter) barrel. There are numerous AR pistols with (usually) 7" bbls that can attest to this, as well as short-barreled rifle versions. This is not to say that the 60's versions were reliable, only to say that they CAN be made to be reliable.

For the record, the XM177 (which is what I believe you meant when you wrote XM770) was originally produced in 1966 with a 10" bbl and 4.2" flash suppressor/"sound moderator." In 1967, the bbl was extended to 11.5", and other minor modifications were made.

The XM16A1/M16A1 was adopted by the Army in February of 1967, complete with the birdcage suppressors. Since the movie takes place in late 1968/early 1969, the M16A1 is appropriate.

The Captain was likely prior service. That said, he was definitely atypical as far as his age goes.

Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.

[–] mr_x350 8 years ago

they were in the Philippines the entire movie. the real war took place in viet nam

[–] Ultrashiver 8 years ago

The scene where Bunny bites a piece off of the aluminum beer can and gives it to Wolfe. There were no aluminum beer cans at that time.

[–] RodneyAnonymous 8 years ago

This is false.

Aluminum cans have been used for beer since 1958. They were extremely common by the time of the film, 1968/1969.

http://www.rustycans.com/HISTORY/timeline.html
http://www.aluminum.org/product-markets/aluminum-cans

Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.

[–] MaximRecoil 8 years ago

Their M16A1s.
1) The barrels show the birdcage flash suppressor. This is not totally accurate. At that time, the M16A1s had the original open, triangular flash suppressors. According to history, the original flash suppressor worked well and had the bonus of being easy to clean. The problem was, hiking through the jungle on patrol, the open flash suppressor had the tendency to snap on vines and other vegetation. The closed birdcage flash suppressor was introduced only very late in the war, almost at the end. Supposedly after the war, the U.S. Army had all its M16A1s refurbished to the new birdcage flash suppressor.

The standard model 603 (M16A1) never had the 3-prong flash hider; it always had the "birdcage" style. The last rifle to have the 3-prong flash hider was the experimental model 603 (XM16E1). You can tell the difference between an XM16E1 and an M16A1 by looking at the right side of the lower receiver. The former has a "partial fence" ...

https://bpullignwolnet.dotster.com/retroblackrifle/sitebuilder/images/XM16E1-Right-409x291-336x236.jpg

... and the latter has a "full fence":

http://bpullignwolnet.dotster.com/retroblackrifle/sitebuilder/images/603-Civi-Right-600x450.jpg

The M16A1 entered service in early 1967. In this movie Charlie Sheen's character and most others carried M16A1s with the correct birdcage flash hiders, which was correct for the time, given that the movie starts in September of 1967.

2) Bolt assist on the M16A1s. I need a Vietnam Vet to confirm this. The U.S. Army initially issued large numbers of M16s, which preceded the M16A1. The M16 did not have the bolt assist and had the original open, triangular flash suppressor. The M16A1 entered service in either late 1968 or 1969.

The first two versions of the M16 issued were the model 601 and model 602. They had the 3-prong flash hider (two different versions of it), no forward-assist, and no "fence". They weren't marked "M16" anywhere, but rather, they were marked "AR-15". The ones made specifically for the Air Force, i.e., the model 604, were the first and only ones to be marked simply "M16". These were introduced at the same time as the XM16E1 and mirrored the changes introduced with the XM16E1 and then with the M16A1, except, they never had a forward-assist. So an early 604 has a partial fence and a 3-prong flash hider like the XM16E1, and a later 604 has a full fence and a birdcage flash hider, like an M16A1.

The XM16E1, which was introduced in 1964, was the first to have the forward-assist.

3) The XM770 version of the M16A1 carried by the staff sergeants.
I am sure about this one from the photographic evidence and historical accounts. The carbine versions show a 16-inch barrel. The historical M16 'shorties' had a short, 10.5 inch barrel and a 3.5 inch flash suppressor. This carbine version did not survive the Vietnam War. The 10.5 inch barrel was too short to offer consistent cycling of the bolt carrier. The U.S. Army rediscovered this during tests with the proposed XM4 during the early 1990s. Tests showed the M16 required a minimum of 12-inches barrel length for reliable cycling during shooting and even then, it was still not 100%. The Army felt comfortable with a sure thing 14-inch barrel for the accepted M4 carbine version of the M16A2.

There's no such thing as an XM770; I assume you mean XM177, which was the model 610. In any event, the carbines in this movie were wrong. They had 14.5" barrels and ordinary M16A1 "birdcage" flash hiders. There is a closeup shot of Barnes changing his magazine while he's hunting Elias, and it says on the magazine well that it was made in the Philippines under license from Colt, which means it was a model 653P. These were never issued by the military, though they are very similar to the later M4; they are basically an A1 version of the M4 carbine (early M4s were A2-based; current ones are A4-based).

I'll go ahead and add an inaccuracy that I noticed (and probably plenty of other people did too): Merle Haggard's "Okie from Muskogee" song was released on September 29, 1969, about 2 years after the setting of this movie.

I don't dance, tell jokes or wear my pants too tight, but I do know about a thousand songs.