The fate of soldiers, sailors, airmen, et al., in stock footage photos

Jimbuna · 03-31-12, 06:47 AM

When I look at photos and movie footage of those who are killed I tend to think of their relatives and what they must be going through as they view the same material and recognise the victims.

Torvald Von Mansee · 04-02-12, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimbuna

When I look at photos and movie footage of those who are killed I tend to think of their relatives and what they must be going through as they view the same material and recognise the victims.

I can tell you if I were such a relative, I'd avoid such material at all costs. If I were in a theater showing a newsreel of something like that, I'd scrunch my eyes shut until the serials or cartoons started.

vienna · 04-02-12, 06:59 PM

Quote:

When I look at photos and movie footage of those who are killed I tend to think of their relatives and what they must be going through as they view the same material and recognise the victims.

During the Vietnam War, there were some reports of family members seeing there sons, etc. wounded or killed in action...

...

Stealhead · 04-02-12, 07:20 PM

I am pretty sure that that happened during the Tet Offensive in '68 they had camera crews all over the place because much of that was in populated areas like Saigon while most battles/incidents where out in the rural areas where it still would have taken a few days to get the footage back.

There is a lot of film from some battles between mostly Army MPs(they took higher loses than experienced infantry unit would have suffered being used to arresting drunks not to combat) and VC around Saigon someone filmed troops placing dead into the back of an APC that probably got filmed and was on TV just a few hours later.There was also alot of Marine activities filmed in Hue that probably got broadcast soon after.I cant say for sure but I do not think that the ones filming this stuff really thought about what they where doing in the full extent to be honest they also might not have known that certain footage was or was not going to be cut so I blame those whose where in charge of editing.I also suspect that some of these film crews might have been used to filming in the rear at official meetings and where not like the crews that went out normally and would had a little bit more respect.Another aspect to be blamed on the military at the time was that there was almost no attention paid to where these reporters went or what they wound up publishing they pretty much just had to get permission from a unit to tag along there was little attention paid to it unlike today.WWII was also very strict about showing dead troops it was very rarely seen by the public until the Battle of Tarawa Roosevelt himself was so shocked by the carnage he felt that people needed to know what their troops where experiencing and that footage was not made public until very late 1943.

I think its a fine line to be walked show too little and people think nothing of a war and do not relate with the troops show too much and it will fuel those with antiwar feelings even though sometimes it is out of context for example morale for US troops actually was quite high during Tet because the enemy was fighting in a manner that allowed troops to see that we were hurting them badly.People should see something though because if they see nothing then they see what is shown on TV and in games like COD which makes war seem fun I was actually reading an article in the VFW magazine about the impressions that most people take about warfare are from films and video games because many people do not know anyone personally that must fight or has fought if more people really knew what war is like they'd only support the idea as a last resort.

03-31-12, 06:47 AM	#1
Jimbuna Chief of the Boat Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: 250 metres below the surface Posts: 190,779 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 13	When I look at photos and movie footage of those who are killed I tend to think of their relatives and what they must be going through as they view the same material and recognise the victims. __________________ Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something. Oh my God, not again!!

04-02-12, 07:20 PM	#4
Stealhead Navy Seal Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Kentucky Posts: 5,421 Downloads: 85 Uploads: 0	I am pretty sure that that happened during the Tet Offensive in '68 they had camera crews all over the place because much of that was in populated areas like Saigon while most battles/incidents where out in the rural areas where it still would have taken a few days to get the footage back. There is a lot of film from some battles between mostly Army MPs(they took higher loses than experienced infantry unit would have suffered being used to arresting drunks not to combat) and VC around Saigon someone filmed troops placing dead into the back of an APC that probably got filmed and was on TV just a few hours later.There was also alot of Marine activities filmed in Hue that probably got broadcast soon after.I cant say for sure but I do not think that the ones filming this stuff really thought about what they where doing in the full extent to be honest they also might not have known that certain footage was or was not going to be cut so I blame those whose where in charge of editing.I also suspect that some of these film crews might have been used to filming in the rear at official meetings and where not like the crews that went out normally and would had a little bit more respect.Another aspect to be blamed on the military at the time was that there was almost no attention paid to where these reporters went or what they wound up publishing they pretty much just had to get permission from a unit to tag along there was little attention paid to it unlike today.WWII was also very strict about showing dead troops it was very rarely seen by the public until the Battle of Tarawa Roosevelt himself was so shocked by the carnage he felt that people needed to know what their troops where experiencing and that footage was not made public until very late 1943. I think its a fine line to be walked show too little and people think nothing of a war and do not relate with the troops show too much and it will fuel those with antiwar feelings even though sometimes it is out of context for example morale for US troops actually was quite high during Tet because the enemy was fighting in a manner that allowed troops to see that we were hurting them badly.People should see something though because if they see nothing then they see what is shown on TV and in games like COD which makes war seem fun I was actually reading an article in the VFW magazine about the impressions that most people take about warfare are from films and video games because many people do not know anyone personally that must fight or has fought if more people really knew what war is like they'd only support the idea as a last resort. Last edited by Stealhead; 04-02-12 at 07:39 PM.