The Deer Hunter (1978)
2 questions
Directed by: Michael Cimino
Starring: Christopher Walken, John Cazale, John Savage, Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro
Factual error: When Michael Vronsky gets back from his tour he has a full grown beard. The only branch of the service that allows a beard is the Navy, and he was an Army Green Beret. The beard would only have been tolerated if Mike was either not in his Class A uniform or actively performing on a mission, neither of which are the case here. In addition, he's wearing a Black Beret, but his left shoulder patch is the 101st airborne, not Special Forces. Finally, he has six or seven hash marks on his right sleeve. Each hashtag is for 3 years of active duty service.
Suggested correction: Right sleeve hash marks are for 6 month tours of duty, left are for 3 years' service.
The hash marks on his right sleeve are overseas bars, each bar represents 6 months of service in a combat or hostile fire zone. The hash mark on his left sleeve represents 4 years of enlisted service. Obviously, nobody cared about the uniform in 1976.
Each hash mark on the left sleeve is 3 years' service.
It's 3 years per left bar. The 101st patch should be on the right upper arm (correct placement for former combat unit) where the blue SF patch is and the blue SF patch should have been where the 101st patch was on the left shoulder (correct placement for current unit). This would make sense if the 3 buddies enlisted and went to Vietnam together, likely in the same outfit - the 101st. Steve and Nicki are still in the 101st when they find Mike in the ville, but we can assume that at some point down the line Mike applied for transfer to SF. The film ends in 1975 with Mike showing a bar for 3 years service just before returning to Saigon to retrieve Nicki. So the action can't have taken place any earlier than 1971-72 even allowing for the fact he might have been home for 6-12 months before returning to get Nicki. I never noticed the beret being black in the later scenes but this seems to be an error - once the green beret had been earned I would have thought that trumps all other achievements including Ranger School.
The black beret was worn by US Army rangers who were assigned to a ranger unit, in the 1960's and 70's.
Trivia: During the helicopter stunt, the runners caught on the ropes of the suspension bridge and as the helicopter rose, it threatened to seriously injure both Robert De Niro and John Savage. The actors gestured and yelled furiously to the crew in the helicopter to warn them. Footage of this is included in the film.
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Chosen answer: The whole phrase is "di di mao", which basically mean go now, or hurry up.
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