In the Shadow of the Blade

[gaijin6423]

I'm not sure if anyone's seen this show on the military channel or not, but it's great stuff. Granted, it's mainly Army-centric, but there's a Marine story or two thrown in for good measure. Essentially, some non-profit groups restored a UH-1 to Vietnam era glory and flew it around the country, visiting veterans and families of fallen servicemembers. It's interesting to see how the Huey has come to represent the Vietnam war and how powerful a symbol it's become for the people who flew, rode and died in it.

Good camera work, great stories, and definitely worth an hour or two of your time.

 

[DanMa1156]

I wish we got the military channel at school.

And that we had more than 1 TV per dorm. Ha...

Well Christmas break is coming up... will have to watch then.

 

[Screamtruth]

I'm not sure if anyone's seen this show on the military channel or not, but it's great stuff. Granted, it's mainly Army-centric, but there's a Marine story or two thrown in for good measure. Essentially, some non-profit groups restored a UH-1 to Vietnam era glory and flew it around the country, visiting veterans and families of fallen servicemembers. It's interesting to see how the Huey has come to represent the Vietnam war and how powerful a symbol it's become for the people who flew, rode and died in it.

Good camera work, great stories, and definitely worth an hour or two of your time.

Yup, just watched it too. It has to be one of the most powerful shows to come on about the Vietnam War that I have seen. What those over there did, man.....no words.

And to think the way they were treated when arriving home. F*cking press and all, what a sham. I loved the quote from Hal Moore when he said you can hate the war, but do not hate the American Warrior.

Well, if there are any Vietnam Vets on here,

Welcome home and thanks for being who you are.

 

[AllAmerican75]

That is a great show. It really gives a good tug to the ol' heartstrings though.

 

[CommodoreMid]

That's why, my friends, you get a single

 

[DanMa1156]

O no my good sir -- no TV's in dorms here... Actually, seniors/PGs are allowed to have 1 in their room less than 17 in' but it cannot be used to watch... TV. As a result... no one really has one.

There is 1 TV/ dorm. So we have 28 guys with 28 different interests. We can usually agree on football or ESPN. (but what are we going to do when College Football and NFL are over?!!! Ohh the horror). Doesn't matter much really, we can't watch TV during the day, and at night, even though no longer required for seniors and PG's this term, we still use the mandatory study time since it's quiet.

But I guess it's that way at Navy too right? 1 TV for the wardoom for each company? Is that how it works? Either way just another thing to tell myself I'm actually getting prepared for as if it was a big deal.

 

[Gatordev]

But I guess it's that way at Navy too right? 1 TV for the wardoom for each company? Is that how it works? Either way just another thing to tell myself I'm actually getting prepared for as if it was a big deal.

This is how it is in the fleet on a ship's wardroom, as well (talking small boys). Of course, there's the pecking order on who decides what to watch. The CO will, of course, have overall veto authority. Depending on the XO, he may be the next to quash what you're watching. Beyond those two, it's pretty much the aviators who say what's up. Possesion is nine/tenths of the law. Then there's always that one SWO who never seems to have a job, and can beat the pilots to the TV, but sheer numbers can rule the day.

 

[Gatordev]

Propaganda 1, Propaganda 2, Propaganda 3, and the fourth channel is one of the first three, usually crappier in quality and perhaps no sound. But if you want to watch a show that's a minimum of 6-12 months old and on at a time when you can't figure out (what IS JST anyway?), then it's great. Especially when the ship turns/rolls/swings on anchor and you lose sync every 5 seconds.

 

[phrogdriver]

There's also the ship's movie channel. I've only been on amphibs, but on the small decks, they will take requests, while the big decks are like a lame version of HBO. "Silence of the Lambs," at 0800, 1200, 1600, 2000, and 2400, with "Harlem Nights" at 1000, 1400, 1800, and 2200.

The AFRTS satellite stations are okay, except that they run bizarre PSAs instead of commercials. They can't run ads, so you might get a 3 min special on "The History of Maple Syrup in Vermont" in the middle of a 1998 "Everybody Loves Raymond." Also, with the time zones, sports events air at weird times in the middle of the night.

The aviators do dominate every wardroom I've seen, though. It's absolutely funny.

 

[HH-60H]

This is how it is in the fleet on a ship's wardroom, as well (talking small boys). Of course, there's the pecking order on who decides what to watch. The CO will, of course, have overall veto authority. Depending on the XO, he may be the next to quash what you're watching. Beyond those two, it's pretty much the aviators who say what's up. Possesion is nine/tenths of the law. Then there's always that one SWO who never seems to have a job, and can beat the pilots to the TV, but sheer numbers can rule the day.

Don't you guys have TV in your staterooms?

 

[Gatordev]

Usually. I always did, and if I didn't at first (which was both times), I made it happen. But that only works for deployments. It wasn't worth the hassle of bringing a TV and rigging a room for workups or underways. It was always fairly easy to make it happen on a FFG, but I was only underway on CGs for short periods, so not sure how much shoe red tape there was to get it in those rooms.