Film Review: “Some Called Them Baby Killers…We Call Them Heroes”

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Film Review: “Some Called Them Baby Killers…We Call Them Heroes”

October 4th, 2011

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

Some Called Them Baby Killers…We Call Them Heroes

Synopsis: Contrary to the hero’s welcome received by other veterans, the majority of men returning from Vietnam were barely given a handshake of appreciation…much less parades and accolades. Their training did not prepare them to gracefully blend back into civilian life afterward, especially if some cruelly perceive you to be a ‘baby killer.’

This documentary takes a closer look at their service and family life. As each man recounts his story and contemplates the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, we get a glimpse into the lives of these unheralded heroes.

A Documentary to Honor Our Vietnam Veterans

By Karen St. John

Although many of us have always separated the military men and women who serve from any war itself, there are those who have only recently learned to do so. Our nation’s historic dichotomy of our involvement in the Vietnam War is understandable.

The slow retrieval of our national conscience in honoring our Vietnam veterans is encouraging. But there still remains the national burden of shame in knowing that many of our citizens personally and inexcusably mistreated our men and women in uniform when they returned from the hell to which they had been ordered to go.

So I tried my best to ignore Some Called Them Baby Killers…We Call Them Heroes for a while. The nine simple yet haunting words stirred up intense memories of past emotions, deep prejudices and defenses. I set it on the table and walked around it. I piled things around it. I took my finger and pushed it a bit out of the way to work around it. Finally, I picked the darn thing up and turned it over. It was the photo of the Stetson that got to me.

I had seen Stetsons before on the heads of my Vietnam veteran friends. The sight of that hat, its gold braid and crossed sabers, its history and the pride it instills in my friends, beckoned me. I checked out the title again. The word “HEROES”, bannered in red and white against a blue sky, reached into the deepest part of my being.

Like jumping into a flowing river, I took a huge breath and dove into R ² Productions’s Some Called Them Baby Killers…We Call Them Heroes, not because it was on my To Do List, but because it was about heroes I knew. It was about my friends.

To say R ² Productions knows a little something about producing a film that honors our veterans, is kinda like saying Hawkins knows a little something about science. So I will not elaborate on the brilliant artistry of the film itself: the crystal clear photography; the modest and dignifed set; the soft and poignant background music that truly stays in the background; the expert camera skill and direction in knowing when to be in close to the face, or back further to catch the gesturing hands; the inspired decision to allow the interviews with the veterans to remain unscripted, real and honest, with anyone from R ² Productions remaining in the background, 99% of the time.

In Some Called Them Baby Killers…We Call Them Heroes, it is not the awesome talent of the filmmakers that grabs your attention, but the catch in the throat, the haunted looks, and the tears that freely flowed on the faces of the veterans. This combination of true heroes and spectacular filmmakers, create a riveting, must-see documentary.

Some Called Them Baby Killers…We Call Them Heroes begins with the Vietnam veterans introducing themselves, and sharing their first impressions of Vietnam. Although only a handful, the veterans themselves are as incredibly diverse as they are humble, gracious, and articulate. They provide a rich, broad scope to the war that was Vietnam. But it is not their differences that move you. Rather, it is their sameness. They are identical in their suffering, shock, and raw pain.

As with all combat veterans, the memories of the battlefield start with the senses, especially the smells and the intense heat. They move along to their buddies or the youngsters, seventeen and eighteen, smiling and playful one minute, stone-faced or blown into pieces the next. The interview scenes are shot so masterfully, you forget you are watching a film.

The scenes flow from veteran to veteran with ease and grace from beginning to end, allowing the viewer to truly immerse her/himself in the dialogues and absorb the stories. You think you are in the living room, on the couch, listening to the gut-wrenching stories of this astounding group of human beings. You knew, though, there would be horror stories, including the hostile and cruel reception some veterans received upon returning to the United States. It was amazing to hear such depth of wisdom, tolerance and acceptance from those who have every right to be angry and resentful, and who had to cocoon their emotions.

The veterans and their families talk openly about the harsh adjustment back to civilian life. One veteran remarked, “You learn there’s a monster…in everybody…so you just push everybody away because you don’t want that monster to come out.” Of the inevitable night terrors, one summarized the cost of doing his duty: “…you’re gonna pay…essentially, for the rest of your life.” Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is acknowledged as their reality now.

One would expect R ² Productions’s film to end here with the accounts of PTSD and night terrors. After all, it is a documentary and the horrors of war are well illustrated in the emotional and gentle voices of the veterans themselves. If they had stopped, they would have had a very, very good film.

But they didn’t. They went one step further. They made their film great.

After the horrors, the social and political fallout, the adjustments or maladjustments, Some Called Them Baby Killers…We Call Them Heroes shifted into the healing that can happen, in spite of the hell known as the Vietnam War. It took decades for a son of one of the veterans to finally understand his father’s trauma and feel compassion. In spite of the burden of PTSD, there is help becoming available and as one veteran said, “You don’t have to do this alone any more.” The veterans found talking, talking, talking helped take “ the elephant off (their) back(s).”

And then there is the Wall.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall remains one of the most moving encounters in a survivor’s life. Few Vietnam veterans actually want to face the names on the Wall, but most feel they have to and most have found some peace after they do. In spite of, or perhaps also because of, the strong emotional reactions, the veterans advise civilians and military alike: “Go to the Wall. It will help with healing.”

By bearing witness to the essence, the seed of greatness, in those who do their duty and sacrifice for our country and those left behind, R ² Productions got to the heart of the matter. Some Called Them Baby Killers…We Call Them Heroes shows us that real healing is possible for them and for us. For surely if these traumatized, abandoned souls can find their way back and still search for the goodness in others, then surely we as a country who did so wrong to its veterans, can do the same.

Simply put and with nine words of my own, Some Called Them Baby Killers…We Call Them Heroes… is an exquisite and extraordinary film by all standards.

To the veterans who shared their stories, thank you for your service. I am so very glad you made it back.

To R ² Productions: keep up the good work you do for our veterans. They ask nothing, yet deserve so much. You served them well. Thank you.