HAMBURGER HILL 155
3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne at Hamburger Hill, as the film’s technical advisor and
also submitted the script to the Pentagon for vetting. Army officials suggested a
series of changes for the sake of historical accuracy— and to put the U.S. mili-
tary in a better light (e.g., less emphasis on soldiers patronizing prostitutes and a
more upbeat ending). The filmmakers agreed and won the Department of Defense’s
(DOD) full support: a three- week training camp at Subic Bay Naval Base for the
actors (11 then- unknowns), the use of Chinook C-47 he li cop ters for six days, sim-
ulated airstrikes by F-4 Phantom jets, and 30 days’ availability of a UH-1 Huey
he li cop ter (Suid, 2001, pp. 530–531). The 11- week shoot took place on the island
of Luzon in the Philippines (October– December 1986)— but not before extensive
site preparation. A 1,800- foot hill had to be dressed with 1,000 planted trees, five
off- camera stairways were installed for access, and a large pool holding sanitized
mud was constructed to ensure the actors’ health (Devine, 1999, p. 267).
Plot Summary
Footage of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., plays during the
opening credit sequence. An opening prologue states: “On 10 May 1969 Troops of
the 101st Airborne Division engaged the enemy at the base of Hill 937 in the A
Shau Valley. Ten days and eleven bloody assaults later, the troops who fought there
called it... HAMBURGER HILL.” The film proper begins with a platoon of sol-
diers in combat in Vietnam in 1969, and the sequence ends with a badly wounded
soldier dying on a he li cop ter. A platoon from B Com pany, 3rd Battalion, 187th Infan-
try receives five FNGs (“F—ing New Guys”) as replacements: Joseph Beletsky
(Tim Quill), who worries that he won’t remember every thing he has been taught;
Vincent “Alphabet” Languilli (Anthony Barrile), a sex- obsessed recruit annoyed
when people mispronounce his last name; David Washburn (Don Cheadle), an
unassuming African American soldier; Martin Bienstock (Tommy Swerdlow), an
out going volunteer; and Paul Galvan (Michael A. Nickles), the quiet est but most
capable of the new soldiers. The recruits spend their first days “in country” filling
sand bags and receiving hygiene lessons before being placed in a squad commanded
by Sgt. Adam Frantz (Dylan McDermott), a seasoned combat veteran who provides
a crash course in combat skills. The platoon also has a new commander, Lt. Terry
Eden (Tegan West), sarcastically described by Platoon Sergeant Dennis Worcester
(Steven Weber) as “Palmolive f—ing soap.” The platoon’s machine- gun team con-
sists of the brawny Pvt. Michael Duffy (Harry O’Reilly) and his small, bespecta-
cled companion, Pvt. Frank “Gaigs” Gaigin (Daniel O’Shea). There are also three
African American veterans in the unit: Ray Motown (Michael Boatman), Abraham
“Doc” Johnson (Courtney B. Vance), and Sgt. Elliott McDaniel (Don James), a “short-
timer” with less than a month left on his tour of duty. The FNGs first experience
combat during an enemy mortar barrage. Frantz orders return fire that ends the
attack, but several civilians are killed and one of the FNG’s, Paul Galvan, is
decapitated by shrapnel. Soon thereafter the troops are flown to A Shau Valley. After
their arrival, the men are almost immediately fired upon and McDaniel is killed, a
casualty that “Doc” Johnson bitterly blames on Frantz. The battalion is ordered
to lead an assault on Hill 937 (aka “Hamburger Hill”), a position defended by a