Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam (1987)

Dear America: Letters Home From Vietnam is exactly what the title suggests. Even though the documentary sounds like it could get very tiresome very fast, Couturie has enough skill and passion for the subject to keep the audience interested in what these soldiers are writing back home to loved ones.I don't think a film like this can happen today because the media controls what we, the viewer, see and hear. Back then it was all broad casted for everyone to see. This is why the film works as well as it does, it doesn't try to hide anything, it shows us who these young soldiers are and what they feel about the war.For so long we politicians and citizens argue over the war and if they support it or not, this is the first time we hear it from the soldiers themselves. The sound track is powerful enough to set you back into the time era. We are listening to what these soldiers listened to; these songs were their way of getting out of the war and being back home with their family.Dear America shows us skillful editing and careful attention to detail, not only are all the song choices good, but they serve the scene well. With the skillful editing and song choice the viewer is thrown into this war themselves and they connect with each soldier there.The one complain I have would be having Hollywood actors read the letters. It took me out of the experience because I would recognize some of the voices, then I would realize that it's not this soldier reading it to his family, it's Robert De Niro or William Dafoe.This film is touching and real. You can see the passion are care that was put into making this film and you will leave with respect for the young people who lost their lives in the time of war.

I have seen a lot of movies and such about Vietnam, This was by far the best. It was like being there again. I saw myself in the seen when Nixon name the 82nd ABN. Div. was going home. I missed going home with them by 17 days. Great Documenary. Walter Hickox B Trp. 1/17th Cav. 82nd ABN. Div. I was the only boy of 7 boys in my family to go to Nam. I have always recommended them seeing Dear America if they wanted to know how it really was. I am always moved when I watch this movie. It was so real. I met the writer at the Wall, many years ago. He knew how much his movie meant to this Vet. and I thank him again and again for bringing the real Nam home. Thanks, Walter

I have this on video having stumbled on it late one night on British TV.Every time I watch it I get tears welling up listening to the emotion in every word written by the letter writers.The actors reading them do so in such an 'under acted' way, it gets across the true feeling of the writer.Not only can this film bring out such emotion, but I have learned more about the history of the Vietnam war from this, than from any other documentary.I would recommend this film to anyone who has watched all those 'Namm' films thinking that this is all it was. This film will change your mind.

This film presents the Vietnam War from the American perspective and primarily from the perspective of ordinary American soldiers. It is chronological and describes essential events to put the soldiers' stories into context. While it might help viewers to know basic facts about the war beforehand, the film stands alone. I think this would be an excellent film to show students when discussing, for example, the Cold War.This film is a remarkable documentary because it presents various sides to a complex story in such a short running time. I think the film succeeds because it simply reports the truth. I am not American and appeals to American patriotism or God's blessing of America tend to roll my eyes, not make them tearful. But this film makes the lives of these guys plain to a universal audience.Once the film started, I was so captivated that I ignored the narration and never even thought about who was speaking. I was only grateful the filmmakers chose people practiced in reading text clearly. Ignore the famous names connected to this film. That's not the story at all. The images and music, however, are part of the story. But not front and centre. That place is reserved for the ordinary words of ordinary Americans.