Deliberate mistake: During the last assault against the hill, a duo of helicopters is mowing down the Vietnamese soldiers with miniguns. In one shot, you can see one chopper coming up behind a tree, all guns blazing. However, the tree, which is in the way of the helicopters right side minigun, remains totally untouched, although, looking at the carnage the guns do to the Vietnamese soldiers, it should have been reduced to toothpicks. (01:51:00)
We Were Soldiers (2002)
1 deliberate mistake
Directed by: Randall Wallace
Starring: Mel Gibson, Greg Kinnear, Sam Elliott, Madeleine Stowe, Chris Klein
Factual error: Throughout the battle, the artillery rounds impact far too soon after they have been called in. While the artillery supporting 1/7 CAV at Ia Drang did have some pre-planned targets, it is impossible for any gun crew to receive a fire mission, adjust the gun, and fire the round as quickly as depicted (i.e., in a matter of seconds).
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: Several times you hear them say artillery at previously established coordinates...the guns were already dialled in to where they needed to be and all they had to do was shoot them.
Sergeant Ernie Savage: Beautiful morning, Sergeant.
Sergeant Major Basil Plumley: What are you a fucking weatherman now?
More trivia for We Were Soldiers
Question: Would a sergeant-major participate in a mission?
Answer: This one did, everything ascribed to him in the film was true.
CSM Plumley's records show that he served in 320th Glider Field Artillery Battalion as a scout. The 320th participated in two glider assaults in the European Theater. Also, Plumley never served in Korea during the Korean War, so he couldn't have participated in one of the two combat jumps of that conflict. His record book indicates he was at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky (1951 to early 1953) when he received orders to Germany. Finally, he never claimed to have made any combat jumps in his career.
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