Platoon is a 1986 American war film written and directed by Oliver Stone, starring Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Charlie Sheen, Keith David, Kevin Dillon, John C. McGinley, Forest Whitaker, and Johnny Depp. It is the first film of a trilogy of Vietnam War films directed by Stone, followed by Born on the Fourth of July (1989) and Heaven & Earth (1993). The film, based on Stone's experience from the war, follows a new U.S. Army volunteer (Sheen) serving in Vietnam while his Platoon Sergeant and his Squad Leader argue over the morality in the platoon and of the war itself.
Ronald Lawrence Kovic is an American anti-war activist, writer, and United States Marine Corps sergeant who was wounded and paralyzed in the Vietnam War. His 1976 memoir Born on the Fourth of July was made into the film of the same name which starred actor Tom Cruise as Kovic, and was co-written by Kovic and directed by Oliver Stone.
Colonel David Haskell Hackworth was a United States Army officer and journalist, who was decorated in both the Korean War and Vietnam War. Hackworth is known for his role in the formation and command of Tiger Force, a military unit from the 101st Airborne Division that used guerrilla warfare tactics against Viet Cong in South Vietnam.
The Battle of Khe Sanh was conducted in the Khe Sanh area of northwestern Quảng Trị Province, Republic of Vietnam, during the Vietnam War. The main US forces defending Khe Sanh Combat Base (KSCB) were two regiments of the United States Marine Corps supported by elements from the United States Army and the United States Air Force (USAF), as well as a small number of Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) troops. These were pitted against two to three divisional-size elements of the North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN).
Georgette Louise Meyer known as Dickey Chapelle was an American photojournalist known for her work as a war correspondent from World War II through to her death in the Vietnam War.
Eric M. Hammel was a military historian, with a focus on the military campaigns of the United States Marine Corps in the Pacific War, and other military action in World War II as well as military conflicts including the Vietnam War and the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Hammel wrote a series of books about World War II Flying Aces but his most influential book was The Root : The Marines in Beirut, August 1982-February 1984 on the subject of the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings.
The Short-Timers is a 1979 semi-autobiographical novel by U.S. Marine Corps veteran Gustav Hasford, about his experience in the Vietnam War. Hasford served as a combat correspondent with the 1st Marine Division during the Tet Offensive of 1968. As a military journalist, he wrote stories for Leatherneck Magazine, Pacific Stars and Stripes, and Sea Tiger. The novel was adapted into the film Full Metal Jacket (1987), co-scripted by Hasford, Michael Herr, and Stanley Kubrick.
Robert Frederick Sink was a senior United States Army officer who fought during World War II and the Korean War, though he was most famous for his command of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the 101st Airborne Division, throughout most of World War II, in France, the Netherlands, and Belgium.
The 1st Tank Battalion was an armor battalion of the United States Marine Corps which was based out of the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California. It last fell under the command of the 1st Marine Division and I Marine Expeditionary Force. The unit was decommissioned in May 2021 as part of the service Force Design 2030 initiative which saw it move away from larger armor formations.
The 1st Battalion, 7th Marines (1/7) is an infantry battalion of the 7th Marine Regiment of the United States Marine Corps. It is currently based at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms. Consisting of approximately 1,000 Marines, it is part of the 1st Marine Division.
The 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion conducts amphibious and ground reconnaissance in support of the 3rd Marine Division and Marine Forces Pacific (MarForPac), operating in the commander's areas of influence. The battalion is based out of Camp Schwab, a satellite base of Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler. It is geographically located on the Okinawa Prefecture in Japan.
1st Battalion, 4th Marines (1/4) is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California consisting of approximately 800 Marines and sailors. They fall under the command of the 1st Marine Regiment and the 1st Marine Division.
The 9th Marine Regiment was an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps. Formed during World War II, it served until 1994, when it was deactivated during the post Cold War drawdown. Battalions of the Ninth Marine Regiment, but not the regiment itself, were reactivated from 2007 to 2014 as part of the Marine Corps' growth during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The battalions have subsequently been deactivated again.
Joseph Lee Galloway was an American newspaper correspondent and columnist. During the Vietnam War, he often worked alongside the American troops he covered and was awarded a Bronze Star Medal in 1998 for having carried a badly wounded man to safety while he was under very heavy enemy fire in 1965. From 2013 until his death, he worked as a special consultant for the Vietnam War 50th anniversary Commemoration project run out of the Office of the Secretary of Defense and has also served as consultant to Ken Burns' production of a documentary history of the Vietnam War broadcast in the fall of 2017 by PBS. He was also the former Military Affairs consultant for the Knight-Ridder chain of newspapers and was a columnist with McClatchy Newspapers.
The 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines (3/9) is an infantry battalion of the United States Marine Corps. Formed during World War I it served until the early 1990s when it was redesignated as 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines (3/4) during a realignment and renumbering of the Marine Corps' infantry battalions, following the deactivation of the 9th Marine Regiment. The 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines was initially a subordinate unit of the 9th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, but was later operationally transferred to the 1st Marine Division as a subordinate unit of the 7th Marine Regiment where it remained until its redesignation as 3/4.
Vincent Robert Capodanno Jr., M.M. was a Catholic priest and Maryknoll Missioner killed in action while serving as a Navy chaplain with a Marine Corps infantry unit during the Vietnam War. He was a posthumous recipient of America's highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor, for heroic actions above and beyond the call of duty. The Catholic Church has declared him a Servant of God, the first of the four stages toward possible sainthood.
If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home is an autobiographical account of Tim O'Brien's tour of duty in the Vietnam War. It was published in 1973 in the United States by Delacorte and in Great Britain by Calder and Boyars Ltd. It has subsequently been reprinted by multiple publishers under both titles.
Ray L. Smith is a highly decorated retired United States Marine Corps major general. Smith was a combat veteran — receiving the Navy Cross for his heroic actions during the Vietnam War, as well as two Silver Stars, the Bronze Star, and three Purple Hearts. Smith retired from the Marine Corps in 1999 after almost 34 years of service. In 2003, after nearly four years of retirement, Smith went to Iraq with the 1st Marine Division; and penned an eyewitness account of the march from Kuwait to Baghdad — The March Up: Taking Baghdad with the 1st Marine Division.
Hill 55 is a hill 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) southwest of Da Nang, Quảng Nam Province, Vietnam. The hill is located 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) northeast of the confluence of the Yen, Ai Nghia, and La Tho Rivers and was a United States Marine Corps base during the Vietnam War.
Dave Elliott Severance was a United States Marine Corps colonel. During World War II, he served as the commanding officer of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines and led his company in the battle of Iwo Jima. During the battle, Severance ordered his 3rd Platoon to scale Mount Suribachi and raise the flag at the summit.
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