Useless Movie Trivia
We Were Soldiers
Memorable Quotes
Lt. Colonel Hal Moore: [Narrating] Dear Barbra, I have no words to express to you my sadness at the loss of Jack. The world is a lesser place without him. But I know he is with God and the angels and I know even Heaven is improved by his presence there. I know you too are sure of this and yet this knowledge can't diminish his loss and your grief. With abiding respect and affection, Hal Moore.
Joe Galloway: [Narrating] These are the true events of November, 1965, the Ia Drang Valley of Vietnam, a place our country does not remember, in a war it does not understand. This story's a testament to the young Americans who died in the valley of death, and a tribute to the young men of the People's Army of Vietnam who died by our hand in that place. To tell this story, I must start at the beginning. But where does it begin? Maybe in June of 1954 when French Group Mobile 100 moved into the same central highlands of Vietnam where we would go 11 years later.
Joe Galloway: [Narrating] In Saigon, Hal Moore's superiors congratulated him for killing over 1,800 enemy soldiers. Then ordered him to lead the Seventh Cavalry back into the valley of death. He led them and fought beside them for 235 more days. Some had families waiting. For others, their only family would be the men they bled beside. There were no bands, no flags, no Honor Guards to welcome them home. They went to war because their country ordered them to. But in the end, they fought not for their country or their flag, the fought for each other.
Joe Galloway: [Narrating] We who have seen war, will never stop seeing it. In the silence of the night, we will always hear the screams. So this is our story, for we were soldiers once, and young.
Sergeant Major Basil Plumley: If any of you sons of bitches calls me grandpa, I'll kill you.
Lt. Colonel Hal Moore: It's getting pretty sporty down here, sir!
Lt. Colonel Hal Moore: You know what Air Cavalry really means? You fly into hostile territory, outnumbered, 10,000 miles from home. Sometimes the battleground is no bigger than a football field, and if the choppers stop coming, we all get slaughtered. Now, I figure chopper pilots won't fly into Hell for strangers, so, I'm Hal Moore.
Trivia
The entire film was digitally color corrected at full 2K resolution.
Keni Thomas, who acted as both a military/technical advisor for and an extra in this film, fought in Mogadishu with the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment in 1993, the battle depicted in the film Black Hawk Down (2001).
875,000 feet of film was shot - roughly 150 hours. It took the editing team 6 days - day and night - to watch it all.
The A-6 Intruder footage was originally shot for Flight of the Intruder (1991). This was necessary because the A-6 had been retired several years before this film was made, and so none were available to use in the movie.
Although many of the names are never really seen or said throughout the movie, very careful attention was paid to ensure every member of the company was represented properly in the film. For every person that was a member of the company in real life, there was an actor on screen, most of which resembled the actual soldiers themselves.
Was originally scheduled for a 2001 release but was pushed back so Chris Klein could work on American Pie 2 (2001).
The closing music, "Mansions of The Lord", has become the unofficial Army funeral hymn. It was used as the recessional at President Ronald Reagan's funeral.
Body count: 305
The photographer, Joseph Galloway, married the daughter of Captain Thomas C, Metsker, who gave up his seat on a chopper to a soldier who was more wounded. He was then subsequently shot.
One of the real-life officers who survived the battle was LT Rick Rescorla, who is the main figure on the cover of Gen. Moore's book on which the movie was based. A biography of Mr. Rescorla very interesting life was published in the mid 2000s called 'Heart of Lion'. He died in the 9/11 attacks while employed as head of security of Morgan Stanley, while making sure all the company's employees had gotten out pf the WTC (they had).
Goofs
In the opening scene, French troops are shown with their beret insignia on the left side of their forehead. In reality, and contrary to most countries in the world, French soldiers have their insignia on the right side of their forehead.
While Galloway is telling the tale of his two great-grandfathers, one of the body bags in the foreground is quite visibly breathing.
The U-Haul trailer being pulled by the station wagon in the beginning of the movie is a 1980's or newer U-Haul paint scheme.
In the second night of the battle there appears a full Moon, but in reality on 11/15/1965 the Moon was in the 3rd quarter.
In the scene where the soldiers are celebrating being sent to war, the Sam Moore and Dave Prater Jr. song "Hold On, I'm Coming" is playing at the party. This song was actually not released until five months after the battle of La Trang, in March 1966.
The bayonet charge, accompanied by the gunship, that supposedly won the battle in the movie, never took place. Col. Moore's unit simply withdrew as reinforcements arrived and took over.
In The Credits
A list of the names of the actual men who died during the battle as well as
the city and state where they are from is featured before the ending
credits.
Box Office Info For The USA
Budget: $75,000,000
Opening Weekend: $20,212,543
Gross: $78,120,196
Filming Dates: March 5, 2001 - July 13, 2001
Filming Locations
Castle Green - 99 S. Raymond Avenue, Pasadena, California, USA
Columbus, Georgia, USA
Fort Benning, Georgia, USA
Fort Hunter Liggett, California, USA
Morro Bay, California, USA
Pasadena, California, USA