Which one is closer to what really happened?  I have heard people say that the boot camp scenes in FMJ were pretty realistic but the movie went down hill after that.  I have heard that Platoon overall was realistic but for a couple parts.  Which do [u][b]YOU GUY'S[/b][/u] think was more realistic and why?  If you think neither came close to anything that happened in Vietnam please say so.
I wont post my thought's on what I think happened during that conflict because I was not there, nor have I fought in any conflict therefore my thought's on what happened there wouldn't hold water.  I will say that it seems to me that the US soldiers of the Vietnam war were the youngest and most under trained of any conflict the US had since the Civil War.[b](Please correct me if I'm wrong guy's)[/b]

I wasn't there, so all I can do is guess. Id say Platoon because Im fairly sure Oliver Stone is a veteran of Vietnam. Dont quote me on that though

Yep, he was.

Stone completed a 15 month tour with the 25th Infantry Division in Vietnam. He served in four different combat units, was injured two times in battle, and received the Bronze Star for Valor and the Purple Heart

[url]http://www.wm.edu/CAS/ASP/faculty/Lowry/Amst2000/projects%202000/Stone/public_html/stone_bio.html#bionotes[/url]

Yeah I heard he was a vet too, do any of you know if he was or not?

read the edit [;)]

Yes, Oliver Stone served in Vietnam. Too bad he's not still there. All of his films are anti-American and this is reflected in Platoon. If you watch the movie, you'll notice everyone in the movie is portrayed as a bad guy except the VC.

True, everyone but the VC were portrayed as bad.  Except in the one scene were the VC stuck one of the Americans to a tree.  Other than that part, I will agree with you.  What are your thoughts Sr.Ed??  Do any of you know if Ed served in the infantry while he was in Nam?

A buddy of mine who went through USMC Boot at about that time said that the training sequence in FMJ was right on [i]"...except for the blanket party and shooting the DI."[/i]

My dad was in the Marine Corps in the early 60s and he said the boot camp part of FMJ was pretty close to the real thing.

We Were Soldiers.

my vote goes to "PLATOON" remember this movie is a "drama" not a "documentary" so I expect to
see a little bs in the movie, it's hard to make
a Vietnam war movie and show everything that
went on in a 2 hour movie, thats why it seemed
like everything was bad about the US combat
soldier in VN. This movie was about the life of
a young soldiers tour of duty [Charlie Sheen]
I thought the soundtrack was excellent and the movie was very well made, high quality. FULL
METAL JACKET was very entertaining too, but it
seemed a little "cheesier" the only good part
was the realistic Paris Island boot camp scenes. PLATOON was a better made movie, it even won a Best Picture 1986 award. I know the
movie wasnt a 100% accurate but it was better
than FMJ.

PLatoon was Stone's personal experiences in Vietnam.  Wasn't too flattering to the military or the men, but it was his experience.

One also needs to remember there were really TWO Vietnams.

One where we sent out best guys and advisors and were really looking at how to win this damn thing. See "We Were Soldiers."

And the other, where Johnson took over. He escalated it but at the same time limited it. So you had more people who weren't allowed to win. You also had mostly draftees and not dedicated soldiers at this point.