Was a deeper understanding of their torment possible? Probably not.

The PTSD torment of Vietnam war buddies stayed purely personal. Vietnam was a terrible tragedy………………for America, right? Oh, the Vietnamese? Who cares? Do they matter? That is typical of perverse American Exceptionalism. Woe is me! I got shot at by people defending their territorial integrity.
Were the two surviving buddies capable of moving beyond their personal torment of survivor's guilt and see that the immoral and illegal invasion they were asked to make by their elders (fathers, uncles, politicians, etc)? was first and foremost a tragedy and trauma for the Vietnamese? Perhaps not. Their PTSD would have been increased ten fold. Such an epiphany would take a follow up movie.

The Ed Harris character certainly had a powerfully riveting moment when he was forced to remember why DiNero insisted on them going fishing. DiNero actually had the easier role. Harris has to imagine he saw an apparition of their fallen comrade Bobby to explain the rage of self loathing in attacking of the trophy case at the high school prom dance.

The sister's character seemed spot on. I found the writing to be exceptional but for a screenwriter to truly see the perversity of America's invasion of Vietnam would be asking too much. I haven't run across any film which deals with the subject that America was wrong to invade and there have been many. In each it was an American tragedy and nothing more. Redwood Curtain hinted at what our invasion did regarding Vietnamese children born of the invaders.


I'd like to think that both would someday express to Bobby's parents that their son's words of a loving and loyal woman's healing graces would engender a meaningful post Vietnam life.