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Review: Tour of Duty

By John Lindquist

When I first heard of a TV show about the 'Nam, I was skeptical. Some of us in the Milwaukee Chapter of VVAW previewed the pilot show with 5 other vets at the Zablocki VA Medical Center in Wood, Wisconsin. We completed a survey on our feelings on the show and it made the local paper.

After seeing the first show we all agreed that the producers needed a military advisor: no World War II grenades, no Hollywood mortars that never kill, and some real jungles. The first show was too much shot 'em-up and not enough depth to each character. Somehow, the weekly episodes had to deal with the war and also the problems of the GIs on both sides and people.

Since October I have seen almost every episode; we have a small get-together at the house—and the show has amazed us.

Here are some examples; I never thought they would even talk about the Vietnamese side of the war, but at least three weeks of the show have done so; an NVA doctors explained the war to a wounded Black GI/POW; an about war in the tunnels showed how the Vietnamese were victorious; and an episode focused on the one million women who fought in the NVA and NLF.

One show center on racism and the division in the ranks of the GIs. There was the USO, R7R, ambush, over-run, one hard-hitting week after another. Not all the shows have been good. There was one goofy one on the USO show shot down in a helicopter, fighting its way out with the platoon, but most of the episodes are good.

Weekly, I'm glued to the show. I cry, I get scared, I yell out warnings and I am amazed at some of the lines that come out in this show... Watch it—let me know if you think I'm off the wall.

—John Lindquist
VVAW Milwaukee