SwiftVets.com

[Dabba55]

Airing tomorrow on HBO: Last Letters Home, billed as a tribute to troops who were killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The producer, Bill Couturie, says this is not a "political statement" but if this is a tribute to the sacrifice of our troops, how come the total focus in on those killed in Iraq? Why not those who laid down their lives in Afghanistan?

This documentary has an anti-war agenda. How do we know? Because we will hear NOTHING about the mission, about our troops' belief in that mission, about their desire to be a part of a noble cause and something bigger than themselves. These families, still suffering from the shock of their loss and thinking that HBO seeks to honor the memory of their loved ones are being used to undermine that cause for which these young heroes sacrificed all. Bill Couturie says, "This is not political." Oh, yeah? Well Bill has a history. Let's look at a review of his last documentary:

"September 16, 1988
Review/Film; Words Bearing Witness: 'Letters Home From Vietnam'
By Vincent Canby


Bill Couturie's ''Dear America: Letters Home From Vietnam'' recalls the Vietnam War in the words of the men and women who fought it, in letters written in haste, without self-consciousness and, mostly, without pretense. These are read on the soundtrack by more than two dozen professional actors, some of whose voices are all too familiar, juxtaposed with Vietnam War film, much of which is new to me and all of which remains sad and harrowing.

The documentary feature, originally shown on Home Box Office, opens today at the Eastside Cinema.

When the letters are read straight, with little attempt to dramatize their contents, the effect is devastating. When the actors or actresses attempt to ''act,'' the immediacy of the emotions becomes lost in performance. The film's low point comes near the end when Ellen Burstyn is allowed to emote her way through a letter written by a mother to her dead son. This isn't even a letter home.

Otherwise the film's letters successfully express the sort of intense feelings never intended to be spoken aloud. Sometimes the thoughts are ghostly, as when the once-official line is heard. One young man writes that he'd rather fight in Vietnam than in Kansas City, adding, ''I think it's better to fight and die for freedom in 'Nam than live under oppression and fear.''

Another man says, ''One of the staggering facts is that most men here believe we will not win the war, and yet they stick their necks out every day and carry on as if they were fighting for the continental security of the United States.''

Still another says simply, ''I want to hold my head between my hands and run screaming away from here.'' One soldier is specific: ''I was carrying that thing'' - his leg - ''all the way back. I was afraid the whole damn thing would come off.''

Mr. Couturie, the director, and his associates have done a first-rate job. For the most part, they don't impose their own order on the war. They follow it chronologically, from the early 1960's until its end in 1973, supplementing the letters with period music, clips from state-side news programs and official statistics relating to the numbers of American troops involved and the casualties.

''Dear America: Letters Home From Vietnam,'' which has been rated PG-13 (''Special Parental Guidance Suggested for Those Younger Than 13''), includes vulgar language, nudity and bloodily graphic shots of wounded men. DISPATCHES FROM A WAR ZONE - DEAR AMERICA: LETTERS HOME FROM VIETNAM, directed by Bill Couturie; screenplay by Richard Dewhurst and Mr. Couturie; cinematographer and original photography by Michael Chin; edited by Stephen Stept; music by Todd Boekelheide; produced by Mr. Couturie and Thomas Bird; released by Corsair Pictures. At Eastside Cinema, Third Avenue at 55th Street. Running time: 86 minutes. This film is rated PG-13. Readers include Robert De Niro, Michael J. Fox, Kathleen Turner, Ellen Burstyn, Howard Rollins Jr. and Robin Williams."
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Does it sound like Mr. Couturie was honoring our Vietnam vets? Or does it sound like he was doing an anti-war piece.

Don't let him, the New York Times and HBO get away with this.

Semper Fi: Our troops are killing terrorists in Falluja. Today is the anniversary of the Marine Corps. Do not let these left-wing sob sisters dishonor our patriots, living and dead.

[Dabba55]

Here is what Couturie said in a 1988 interview on NPR about his Vietnam Letters documentary:

"It was consciously constructed to be an emotional roller coaster."

"It made you want to run out and slit your wrists."

"I wanted them [the audience] to feel the pain."

"[The documentary] sums up my feelings about the war....It was a tragedy in which young boys died for no reason."

ARE WE CLEAR, FOLKS, WHERE THIS GUY IS COMING FROM?????

This documentary has been cut and pasted to milk emotions, to focus on the losses and the heartbreak common to all wars, good and bad. Couturie edits this to focus on the negative. He exploits freshly grieving families to do so.

Please let HBO and the New York Times know that these heroes should be remembered for their contribution to our country. Their deaths should NOT eclipse their lives.

[Dabba55]

Here is a link to description of Couturie's Vietnam Letters documentary, entitled, "Dear America: Vietnam Letters Home"

http://www.ammi.org/site/education/content/guides/Dear%20America%20SM.pdf

There's even a quote from John Kerry's 1971 testamony about "war crimes"...Couturie is anti-war folks...

[Dabba55]

NOT convinced that Couturie, the producer, is an anti-war lib? Here's another sample of his previous work:


Earth and the American Dream
1993 - USA - Social Issues
Documentary
Directed by Bill Couturie. (NR, 78 minutes).


This exhaustive treatment of the roots of environmental destruction in the modern world has come in for scathing criticism from those spearheading the "environmental backlash" movement, which is composed largely of rabidly pro-corporate thinkers and those who take "pure" capitalism as their religion. The filmmakers demonstrate that, beginning with Columbus' activities on the island of Hispaniola, the drive to exploit the natural world has increased explosively all over the world. In the case of the United States, doctrines like "Manifest Destiny" are shown to have played their role in justifying these developments. In this passionate indictment of current trends, the filmmakers have spared no offender, and the overriding tone is bleak indeed. As a propaganda piece, they might have done better to moderate their tone and speak of some of the benefits of modernity along with the depredations caused by it. It is also clear that almost none of the villains the documentary names thought of themselves as such, or are willing to do so now. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

[Kimmymac]

Yeah, it's all the same deal. See: The Vietnamization of Iraq.
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The last refuge of scoundrels is not patriotism; it is finicky liberal humanitarianism.--Martin Paretz