MovieChat Forums > Hamburger Hill (1987) Discussion > Where's their lieutenant?

Where's their lieutenant?

posted 16 years ago by jeffyoung1
5 replies | jump to latest

It's odd that you didn't see more of their platoon leader, the lieutenant, walking amidst his men. He seemed to be an okay, conscientious, junior officer. But in the U.S. Army, platoon leaders were expected to around their men all the time, especially in the combat zone. Throughout much of the movie the men of this 101st Airborne Division unit seemed to be left to their own devices.
It was a very emotionally jarring moment, after the mortar explosion, and the lieutenant is seen speaking in a flat tone into his PRC-77 radio handset, of which the handset cord had been severed. One of the sergeants comes up to him and we see that the lieutenant is missing one of his arms but is in too deep of a shock to comprehend it.

[–] nickm2 16 years ago

"One of the sergeants comes up to him and we see that the lieutenant is missing one of his arms but is in too deep of a shock to comprehend it."

Yes...and it gives you an idea how 'scrambled' the Lieutenant was: there's the odd moment when he winces with pain when given the shot of morphine but then sees his stump & he just says...'oh...'; that part was strangely affecting.

NM

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] ztpt 16 years ago

yeah,the LT. was messed up..average life expectency of a 2.LT. in Nam' were 2 and a half week at one point..Its really the NCO's that holds a company together..

[–] libertarian45 13 years ago

From Ztpt:

"yeah,the LT. was messed up..average life expectency of a 2.LT. in Nam' were 2 and a half week at one point..Its really the NCO's that holds a company together.."

This is an unfair statement and perpetuates the stereotype of LTs as presented in Platoon and others. Potraying the LT as incompetent etc is a lazy device, a cliche and a cop out.

While NCOs are considered to be the backbone of any infantry unit, the leaders (like it or not) are officers. Some good, some not so good. There is a lot of evidence that refutes the cliche of LTs in Vietnam. Many of these guys were very intelligent, highly motivated leaders who kept their soldiers working together as a team. A huge amount of NCOs during Vietnam were very young and inexperienced themselves. I've read of many instances where Squad Leaders were 21 year old "shake and bake" sergeants with only a few months in country contrasted with many junior officers who were Westpoint graduates (or Annapolis for the USMC) with a year or 2 in rank and approx 23 or 24 years old. Yes, there were many exceptions like Calley who was an OCS-produced 2LT, but, it is unfair to paint all Lts with that brush.

The short life expectancy was due not to LTs being "messed up". It was due to the fact that it was a very dangerous job. The Platoon Leader is on the ground in all actions, leading from the front, yelling orders, looking through binoculars, talking on the radio...he was a huge target and one of the first that the enemy would aim for.

As for the LT in HH, he was not "all messed up". He was inexperienced and nervous, but, conciencious and capable.

[–] dhmason6155 12 years ago

I liked that Sgt Worcester helped and supported his 2LT. He was battle tested and experienced and did his best to pass that along to the LT, who was pretty green at first. They did the same thing in "A Rumor of War" and "U-571" for that matter.

This was the exact opposite of Platoon, where Sgt Barnes basically tries to run the platoon himself, and dominates and marginalizes LT Wolfe. That attitude resulted in the LT never gaining the experience and confidence he badly needed, and he ended up caving in when things got desperate.

You may walk on the beach, you may swim in the ocean... under SWAT team surveillance, of course.