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 - chronological order
Directed by: Randall Wallace
Starring: Mel Gibson, Greg Kinnear, Sam Elliott, Madeleine Stowe, Chris Klein
Factual error: At the end of the movie, Maj. Crandall is depicted as flying a UH-1 gunship, and attacking the NVA positions. Maj. Bruce Crandall was the Company Commander of A Co., 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division at the time of the Ia Drang battle. A/229th was a "lift" company, flying UH-1D "slicks" (troop carriers). There were no gunships assigned to that company. The gunships (UH-1Bs) supporting the battle were from D Co., 229th AHB. It's highly unlikely that Maj. Crandall would have commandeered an aircraft from the gunship company to attack the NVA.
Lt. Colonel Hal Moore: To follow your instincts and to inspire your men, by your example, you have to be with 'em. Where the metal meets the meat.
Trivia: After Hal Moore calls for "Broken Arrow" the shots of the A6 Intruders taking off from the aircraft carrier are taken from Flight Of The Intruder.
Question: The early versions of the M16 had severe problems with jamming. There may have been several causes; instructions issued that the rifle was "self-cleaning", improper ammunition design, improper magazine design (therefore in a later stage 18 rounds instead of 20 were used in the mag). It is not necessarily a mistake, certainly not by the filmmaker, but there are several writers mentioning serious casualties amongst fighting troops specifically because of jamming M16 rifles. Why does this book/film not even include a hint of that problem which surely must have existed at that time and place?
Answer: The M16's used in this battle were second generation M16A1's easily distinguished by the forward bolt assist on the right hand side of the rifle. The original M16 had no bolt assist and the jamming was caused by a different propellant that made the weapon very dirty.
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Chosen answer: There is no definitive information on this topic, and although factually accurate, a technical problem with a weapon was probably not enough to build an entire sub-plot, and would not hold the interest of the moviegoer. There were enough casualties without having to take into consideration weapon malfunction.
Macalou