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Mr. Whitehead:
Many years ago, when I was a graduate student in clinical psychology at Columbia University, I had the privilege of taking a course in medical ethics given by Robert Veatch. We met at Union Theological Seminary, and one evening he screened Dalton Trumbo's Johnny Got His Gun. The movie had a palpable effect on the entire class, which I suspect persisted long afterward. I am dismayed to see this movie missing from your list, as it conveys The Horror! The Horror! far more viscerally than any you cite (many of which really were made only to perpetuate Hollywood's war-as-entertainment ethos), and does so without resorting to the pyrotechnics and tissue-splattering effects that characterize much of your selection.
In closing, I salute you for including Chris Hedges' words in your essay. If only he were more widely appreciated ...
Well stated indeed.
Mr. Whitehead
I am big fan of yours. You left out one of the greatest war movies. The little-known "Go Tell The Spartans".
It starred Burt Lancaster and was about the early days in Vietnam and the utter hopelessness of that war, even in 1963. Charles Porter, MSgt, Retired, USAF
http://www.warbirdforum.com/spartans.htm
I think you should see and include the moviie We Were Soldiers about the horror of war---the movie is remarkable and based on the memoir of Lt. Col. Hal Moore in Viet Nam---it is not based on fiction or trying to create a mythical experience. And one should never leave All Quiet on the Western Front from a list of all time war movies. I have seen 90% of the movies you named.
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