You will find this Vietnam veteran's experience fascinating and very different from what Oliver Stone remembered - th-cam.com/video/kVec1zg6Pmo/w-d-xo.html
He went to Yale for six months and dropped out so he could travel to Saigon and teach children English. He then went back to Yale and left again to write a book. He then joined the army in 1967 and asked to be placed into combat where he later was awarded a Purple Heart(with oak leaf cluster), Bronze Star and 6 other service medals. He catches heat because his movies push buttons that no one else has the guts to push. I respect that.
@@Vibeagain Actually, from the inteviews of Willem Dafoe I've seen in regards to Platoon, it seems that Oliver is just very much a direct, straightforward director who is particular about some things but then not so much about other things.
I’ve been listening to a lot of Oliver Stone interviews recently, he always comes across as very humble and honest. I greatly respect his Vietnam service and hearing him talk about Vietnam and his experience always makes me appreciate his films even more.
Vietnam was horrible. I was married to a Vietnam vet. He's gone now. RIP to all who served, especially those that didn't come back. Thank you for your service.
Without the Vietnam War, or police infiltration, my father would not have been as driven throughout college. Funny how this "life" BS works itself out.
Oliver Stone seems like the best of New York City. Privileged yet deeply curious mixed with a light seriousness that seems earthy. Like a rich kid but you only know after someone tells you. I love his films. A true genius filmmaker.
Sean Connolly US foreign policy sucks is I guess the understatement of the day ;-) Don’t get me wrong, you are right. I hope you will have found the time to listen or read The Untold Story of the US. To me it is history. It is difficult not to be critical of what was behind foreign policies. Let’s face it, US UK and France have exploited, as in slavery, the other nations of the world dating back to the arrival of the immigrants we all were. We the French Canadians were caught right in the middle of it all. My first political wake up calls came when JFK was assassinated. Than it was the US sponsored murder and coup d’état in Chili. Than Vietnam and all never ending wars to this day. So I must admit, I am an unconditional fan of Oliver Stone. And of John Pilger and Julian Assange. The world’s populations need to unite against the 1/10 of 1% and put technology to work in a social democracy that does not exist to this day for all nations. Providing water food education and the ensuing health. Medicare for all in my ideal world would not be required. We all know what is wrong to this day. Record of fat people, starving nations and Covid population control test 101. I tell you man, we need all the help we can get from people such as Oliver Stone. Regards.
A man can read, remember and repeat and people call him smart. A man who lives it can tell the story and spread his wisdom. What a great video, thank you for sharing
At some point audio probably deteriorated due to passage of time, but the truth and humanism comes through clearly. I just wish such videos were subtitled for the missing parts, and aired by major channels like History, Amazon Prime and Sony. This is our national treasure. Thank you for connecting with Mr. Stone and asking the right questions.
This interview was drawing out feelings from the 60s , it was bittersweet...I remember as a kid standing at a bus terminal in San Francisco with another family that had sent their son to war ..there was fear. My parents tried to comfort the other family. It felt like death had already come...the young man came home and is living with his family in Oregon ...
Oliver Stone is a very bright and perceptive man with keen observations. He is articulate in his ability to communicate deep thoughts and listens well. I like his perspective and personality.
I was expecting Oliver Stone to talk for 40 minutes about the gruesome meat grinder of Vietnam. But like a true Vietnam vet, he spends as little time as possible on the subject. We must never forget what these men went through or how the country treated them when they came home.
We must never forget how we got into Vietnam and the fake news by lbj and the Pentagon known as the Gulf of Tonkin resolution. I would take the anti war movement any day over the self proclaimed war hawks who sent them in the first place.
When I was too young to understand that, I always asked my dad stupid Blood and Guts type questions about Vietnam. How many people did you kill? That kind of thing.
@LosBerkos Lmao right. I always find it funny when people talk about thanking Vietnam Vets for their service, when a lot of them couldn’t stand being treated like heros or being massaged for what they did over there. And is a parade or anything similar gonna make the trauma any easier? Or make the missing limb return? Nope, not at all.
You and me both. I believe there are millions of us that crave the real discourse that you used to see on television. On OUR airwaves. The adult discourse we used to see before the corporation maximized every dollar, before evangelicals forced everyone to view things with their fatalistic lens, before the hate- filled n'e'r-do-wells pushed their agendas. We all need an atmosphere of civilized discourse instead of pedantic sound bytes.
actual fact: USS Maddox commander was Cpt John J Herrick, USS Turner Joy's commander was CDR Robert C Barnhart Jr., Commander Morrison was commander of the 3rd Fleet Carrier Division, (which the two above ships were part of) aboard his flag ship USS Bon Homme Richard, an Essex class aircraft carrier.
@@tonihka57 Freak weather effects and over-eager sonarman may be responsible for glitchy comments. Suggest complete review before we criticise too much. lol
@@scheibs556 It's very true. Having watched interviews that his father gave later on in his life( near the end of it), I get the very strong sense that Admiral Morrison loved his son Jim very much and that he knew that the military wasn't going to be in the cards for his son and that following in his footsteps as a military guy just wasn't for Jim . And I could also see from how he talked about The Doors and their music that Jim Morrison's father didn't understand him( or his music, for that matter, at all). I guess we'll never know what it might have been like if Jim Morrison HAD decided that the military was for him and if he decided that he HAD wanted to follow in his father's footsteps.
Stone has a rare gift I've only see in few. He can genuinely connect with the lowliest private as well as the most aloof of Generals. He's a net positive in a most unique way.
What is most interesting about this interview is that it was BEFORE the release of JFK, but after Platoon, and Born on the 4th of July.Oliver Stone is an awesome director, with a brilliant mind, and a moral and intellectually honest character. A truly rare combination, indeed.
I’m late to this post, but I so appreciate this up close and personal interview with this legend. He lived the history he’s talking about and brings so much of the personal experiences so many had in the 50s and 60s. It’s clear how his movies evolved from his awakening and observations. He’s a deep and feeling man with an uncanny ability to tell his story in a way that makes the listener get it on a deep and spiritual level. I grew up as a kid in the 60s and this sheds a different light on what I saw as a child, but as an adult now I so relate to his reflections and realizations. I love how he said the decades melted into each other - so true. Fabulous interview - a real gem!
Wow. I had no idea Stone had been in Vietnam as a combat grunt. Loved his earlier films - not so much the older ones. But a very smart and insightful man. Can’t wait to see what he comes with for these times we’re living through now. Awesome interview. Thank you very much David!
SuZ Qz I didn’t know that either. Thanks to this interview, I feel like I understand not only this truthful, communicative man, but the best of Americans; the best of the USA. I checked out his films, and there are a lot of them , important ones. I am a Canadian, and the US, whatever it does, affects us.
Yeah he was in 'Nam. Considering how that war went, and the Gulf of Tokin incident, I feel like a lot of paranoia agaisnt the US state makes a different kind of sense
In a way he said the character of Chris Taylor (Sheen) was who Stone was when he served in Vietnam at the time and he said he had a Sergeant like Sergeant Barnes
@@Caperhere whats quite overwelming is realiseing how easliy oliver could have been killed in the war. to never have lived to make the body of work hes done. platoon, wall street, scar face, jfk to name just afew. the contrabution that would have been lost had he not made it. also shines a light on how many other people were killed in the same war that could have gone on to contrabute so much positivity to the world had thay not been killed.
Thank you Sheila for your comment. If your resources allow, I would sure appreciate your using the THANKS button under any of my videos including the one you have commented on. It is something new that TH-cam is beta testing and would mean a great deal for my continuing efforts. David Hoffman filmmaker
My mom was born in 1946 too. I useta tell her I wish I could have grown up with her and she'd quickly tell me not to say that. But I really felt that way, kinda still do. This is amazing footage. Thanks for sharing.
Eye opening....as an army infantry soldier during another later era, I too have been trying to figure it all out...how and what the machine was all about, how it effected me and my indifference to society after that an experience that changes us on a completely different level. Still trying to..I'm 54. Thank you for such insight. Love to meet you one day! I feel close to your thinking. You are an amazing legend. Your first movie Platoon I saw as a 19 year old infantryman really made me wonder...some 20 years later from your time, how the infantry was laid out for me in a different perspective.... realization, respect and wondering....God Bless Stone. As I look at you now Stone and see your presentation of who you are. I wonder if your clothing style represents a piece of that Father and time you mentioned about always wearing a tie in the neighborhood....and you have come full circle back to that or held on to the safer time and Innocence, yet with your own tweak on that style? I love your style,but the way brother!
THANK YOU so much for posting the whole thing, Mr. Hoffmann! This was and still is one of the interviews i like the most because frankly Oliver Stone is a pleasure to listen to as he has a darn fine narration voice. And also because of the content. There is a lot to listen to. And especially when you watched "Platoon" and "Born on the 4th of July" this interview is a perfect addition to it. It is also why i still like and respect this man a lot as a director and artist because unlike the majority of people who live and work in Hollywood HE at least was actually out there, in the dirt and knows how the world and the people look like. And what i like the most about Your videos is at the end it always feels like it was time well spent watching them, since you actually take something from it at the end, as the one watching them. Something from everyone's story. What makes it so much more intense and captivating is the fact that all this input comes from actual people. That personal experience mixed with their own opinion, based on their time with the people they lived with, creates such a wonderful mesmerizing experience that i am SO glad for you are sharing with all of us. Again, thank you so much Mr. Hoffmann. For every single video you share with us.
Mr David H. I hope you have, or will, receive some kind of "Oscar" level award for all the wonderful filming you have done documenting this time you/we have lived through. Thanx very much for sharing your works in such a way that all of us regular folks can learn and enjoy a look into our past.
It is probable by this point that The Oscars are well beneath David Hoffman. But I agree with your sentiment that his work is very worthy of recognition!
Oliver is very open and down to earth, very honest about his experiences that most people would never reveal so openly with humility. Well read and intelligent without the arrogance. Rare. A very thought provoking, insightful interview. Thank you. 11:17
A very relevant interview at a time of heightened tensions in the middle east that could possibly have some extremly serious repercussions for all sides involved. We hope for peace because with war no one wins really. Excellent questions particularly on how the amazing music of the 60s such as the songs of the Doors may have influenced him. Great, great interview thanks so much for sharing it.
Newsflash. Shit has been going down in the middle East for thousands of years. Gotta love the modern news media and especially Twitter for making people think that some bombing of a superfluous General is gonna lead to WW3. Drama endless drama from the media. Whatever they can do to draw clicks. Don't buy their bullshit.
David you are my hero! Thanks so much for your time and dedication! We all love you and appreciate what you have gave us, peace n love from Nottingham England :)
I was a teen in the 60's and relate so much to Mr. Stone, eventhough I was in the counterculture movement. His movies are brilliant and I hope younger people watch them and realize they are visual diaries as it were, that an artist~ poet shared his view of the world in those times
Thank you. Very healing interview. Remember leaving high school with a dread of going to college and the thought of being confined to the say job for life. You can tell he's still affected by the war and times.
As an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran I can tell you from 8:30 to 9:30 is so accurate a description of war and how war makes you feel. I just love David's filmmaking. It's interesting I was in a film last year called "Alto Knights" and could not help thinking of David each time Barry Levinson came over to speak to us.
David Hoffman, this is perhaps your most profound & important work. The intrinsic value in this man's perspective and the honesty & daring line of questions that cull his candid responses are disturbing and, in Orwellian 2020, an endangered species
Excellent. Brilliant camera angle and lighting, no doubt a telephoto lens. Well thought out questions and the interviewer let Stone do the talking without constant interruption.
Great footage. He looks like he's ready to exclude at any second. It's like he's struggling to keep it together despite being very thoughtful and articulate.
It’s incredible how Stone describes the rigid nature of the 50’s and how he didn’t realize how restrictive it was until later. It’s a true pan-generational dilemma. Boundaries help a kid feel loved and safe but can also repress a child’s passions and shelter them from consequences and reaching their own potential.
If we had those rigid structures today, society would be much better today. The 50's were not perfect but people were sane, normal, family was the most important thing, people could achieve things in America with relative ease, kids were not a bunch of drug addicts like today. America reached its pinnacle in many ways back then. Numbers prove it regardless of what you think.
My interview with hundreds of people who lived through that time then the research indicates that the word normal was largely a fake. While many people experienced it or say that they did, many more say that their families appeared normal but inside, or at least as messed up as families are today only people didn't talk about it. David Hoffman - filmmaker
@@DavidHoffmanFilmmaker I disagree...There are so many things going on with families today that in my day( 80s) was almost unheard of. No...I think our society and family structure is in a very bad way but I believe it will get better...it has to.
stan brown You said it yourself: “They were unheard of.” They were still happening. We just weren’t allowing each other to express themselves. There was a real repression to twentieth-century suburban life. That’s not to condemn it. Just an observation having grown during a time where I was raised in that way while the baby boomer generation were reacting against it. I’ve lived the transition and I don’t believe our troubles begin and end with the cultural shifts of the last couple decades. That feels like a cop out, to me.
Thank you, Oliver. He put so much of the time so well in his words, and yes!, the sixties are not dead. We are reflecting it back, and we are still affecting other generations and society. I am hoping that more boomers speak up about their lives and experiences. Unfortunately, so many of have died and will die soon. Speak up while you still can older folks. Many of you are carrying some wisdom; share it please.
@@Mark-yb1sp Amen brother, it never goes away, we just deal with it. Some of the people in Washington and Hollywood have no Idea what it is like to be a grunt. Be safe and lock and load America.
What an inspiring and interesting 45 minutes that was! Massive amount of respect for this man...I hope one day a person with morals, experience and an outlook like Oliver Stone gets to be president of America. The world will be a better place for it.
These types of interviews are great. I miss this in modern media. I have also been listening to old Dick Cavett interviews on TH-cam also. I remember reading old Playboy interviews as well. They were great. Some podcasts are decent, Joe Rogan comes to mind, bring out such interesting and thoughtful discussions.
What!!!??? You read Playboy for the Interviews? I didn’t even know they had interviews. I only looked at the pictures. And the articles. And the interviews. Too bad such a great magazine is basically no more.
Whoa man, iv been around here for some time, watching things on and off, but an Oliver Stone interview? Really got him talking, thank you for sharing this.
Fabulous interview, an expose on the meaning behind the identity of the 1960s, a tumultuous transitional paradigm of thought with reason over fear of judgment from all sides of society. Stone gives understanding to the decade.
Finally this saved to watch later video popped back up in my feed. Stone is my favourite director & screenwriter, & listening to him talk about his experiences & share opinions did not disappoint. 💯 thanks for a great interview.
It’s very interesting to watch this. My Dad served in Vietnam, and would probably share some, but not all of these opinions. Knowing that Mr Stone served certainly gives him a great deal of credibility in my opinion. What would be even more interesting would be to do another video now with him and look back to this one and see what has changed, or stayed the same.
D Mul haha man if only I can take a swim in that big bowl of soggy ramen ya got perched on your shoulders, & see all the kooky ideas & doughy thoughts ya got floating around up there...
I remember in 1966, 15, being with my father at the MSP air terminal, we waiting to board a flight to California to help out my aunt, my father's sister when a teenager in military khakis, pimpled and tanned, overseas ribbons, corporal's stripes, asking my father if he was done with the newspaper. My father said "sure", handing it off as he asked, " So how's it going over there? I was in Korea, they're talking it up so seems you'll have it wrapped up soon?" " Ah sir, thanks for the paper but all I can say is just don't believe everything in it." And that older kid walked away, in his travel wrinkled khakis, probably class of '64, same age as brothers of my friends. And my Dad, he wished the kid well, but I could tell my Dad was rattled, so much of his Korean War experience not related to me until decades after I returned from Vietnam. I hope that kid had a good life. These days I walk over the abandoned railroad spurs my father surveyed and did the civil engineer work on as he built for the better future of the nation.
@jeff lee What good did it do us? Vietnam now exports to us, our own industry now long abandoned. The work of generations just scrapped. I was in the class of 69, so the corporal was maybe 19 from the high school class of 1964, and I was in eighth grade then and would also be in Vietnam when I was 18, returning to a different nation than the one I left, never fitting in. This encounter then but a prelude to my life.
At top of his game here. The late 80's and the 90's was dominated by Oliver Stone movies; good movies, movies that stood for something. He is probably the most under-rated, under-publicized 'American Master' in terms of his place among the greats. Why? Because his movies asked questions that no one wanted to answer or turned their heads away from, OR just couldn't answer due to the repercussions of the subversive themes that his films bravely chartered. God bless Oliver Stone for his fortitude and resillient mind !! I'll even credit him for spawning the "Truth Movement" as we know it today. His son has taken heed to this as a case in point. His son is doing JUSTICE to this creed as his career / work in investigative journalism is interestingly vast and as challenging as his father's film career, going deep into areas and topics that are not usually chartered by the mainstream media.
Great interview. Thx. I really like Oliver Stone. He is so perceptive and interesting. Wish there were more like him. He really hit on things that are so apparent today
I was born 1970. I rely didn't grow up feeling like I understood this war because of lack of information. But I do remember seeing the aftermath of the solders upon return. I remember seeing alot of these men on heroin. I never understood how that could happen. Now, watching your videos they answer so many of my childish questions of the time. Thank you for these time capsules.
grEAT interview! Wasn't very familiar with Oliver Stone...Just happened upon this video randomly. Interesting, intelligent, and seemingly, very authentic. Loved the statement "we need enemys" ...."and if we don't have one, we invent one". So true.
I strongly reccommend the Untold History of The United States documentary by Oliver Stone. This man, has a very conscious, objective and non-biased point of view of the overall state of matters on American History! the video has some sound issues, though. Small interruptions of sound.
At about 25: The fear, the fear. I did not get over the fear until my 50's, thirty plus years after. I have never felt a part of my generation, of my high school or college class, of this nation, since I have been back.
I hope you are ok. It is such a hard thing to make any kind of peace with. It is hard for me to believe after that, they were still willing to send our kids off to fight anywhere. That these casualties are so worth that. There are so many other ways to cripple a country without sending human beings to their deaths. Thank you for your service. You all were so terribly treated when you came home and that was very wrong. I was born in the summer of '69. My Dad was at Fort Ord waiting to go, as he had turned 18 towards the end of that war and his # was not called and he has a terrible guilt. Where as I feel very lucky he didn't go and I could grow up with a Dad.
My ex-husband, Vietnam combat vet, is still hyper-vigilant. Always prepared to defend himself and has habits related to war which he is unconscious of. He has been home for 55yrs.😔
@@jomama5186Wow! I too, 18 fall of 1969 at Ft Ord. December found me in Vietnam. Take care. Be glad he was not there and appreciate and respect his feelings as to how it played out for him.
Weird. Been subscribed to this channel for a while. Just went looking for videos of Oliver Stone talking about Vietnam and it brought me straight here. This channel is absolutely brilliant.
Mr. David Hoffman ! - i wish that one day i could tell you something about what it’s like to be a young Hispanic kid in an all white small mormon town...on film...I’m now old & busted up, and i have served in the military, and i am well educated yet the kids i went to school with,for the most part have not changed they have gotten older fatter,and some bald 😂 yet some have never been out of the state, they will never experience the vast richness of other cultures, and that is very very sad indeed...
So basically you want to brag on film about you are better than everyone you grew up around. Well if lecturing those you feel are beneath you is what you desire might I suggest moving to Hollywood and persuing a career as an elitist liberal actor.
Thanks for this, Mr. Hoffman. I had some communication with Oliver Stone years ago, and now hope to get back in touch with him as I have a screenplay for him. Oliver Stone has made some of our most important modern movies. Great interview!
You will find this Vietnam veteran's experience fascinating and very different from what Oliver Stone remembered -
th-cam.com/video/kVec1zg6Pmo/w-d-xo.html
Great! I watched that one.
He went to Yale for six months and dropped out so he could travel to Saigon and teach children English. He then went back to Yale and left again to write a book. He then joined the army in 1967 and asked to be placed into combat where he later was awarded a Purple Heart(with oak leaf cluster), Bronze Star and 6 other service medals. He catches heat because his movies push buttons that no one else has the guts to push. I respect that.
Sean Penn called him a pig after working with him on UTURN. If you piss off Sean Penn you know you are on the right side.
Well put
@SLIDESPOT
The unseen here is that Stone probably wouldn't suffer Penns foolishness
@@Vibeagain Actually, from the inteviews of Willem Dafoe I've seen in regards to Platoon, it seems that Oliver is just very much a direct, straightforward director who is particular about some things but then not so much about other things.
@@BLUEDELUCASean penn is a notorious woman beater lol
Being in the iraq war in my 30s and watching this at almost 50 it amazes me how we have repeated Vietnam again in almost every way. Pointlessly sad.
I am Desert War Army veteran. Phone me and will explain why I volunteered.
@@Cowicide A lot of people joined to pay for college
Back in 2003 I dunno if it's quite right to say I found myself wondering how come this was happening again.
@@Cowicide He joined the military, liked it so made it a career and the war happened so they shipped him out. You're so arrogant.
Nailed it chum... afganistan sure... but weopons of mass detruction war.... damn. Repeat of tonkin in vietnam.... dont trust the govt.
I’ve been listening to a lot of Oliver Stone interviews recently, he always comes across as very humble and honest. I greatly respect his Vietnam service and hearing him talk about Vietnam and his experience always makes me appreciate his films even more.
Question Authority. Its still relevant today. More than ever.
It will be always relevant as long as human race exists. No matter what autority.
more relevant than ever
Vietnam was horrible. I was married to a Vietnam vet. He's gone now. RIP to all who served, especially those that didn't come back. Thank you for your service.
Was it hard for him when he came back? Did he have ptsd
I was married to 2 Combat vets. They never fully recovered and were changed forever. I am still angry at LBJ and his administration! Evil people!
Support the Vietnam Vets, welcome home gentlemen!🇺🇸
Without the Vietnam War, or police infiltration, my father would not have been as driven throughout college.
Funny how this "life" BS works itself out.
@@sheilalarkin1291 At the same time?
Oliver Stone seems like the best of New York City. Privileged yet deeply curious mixed with a light seriousness that seems earthy. Like a rich kid but you only know after someone tells you. I love his films. A true genius filmmaker.
Born on the 4th of July, hardest movie I ever saw. Stayed depressed for days after. My brother went to Nam and it just ripped my heart out.
truthseeker how is your brother? Has he seen platoon?
@@Sophie_kent Doubt his brother would want to watch that man.
Very sorry to hear. Sorry for what your family went thru.
Absolutely.
Everytime I watch your videos I feel younger and older at the same time.
Cold Hazzard That is a great statement; so true.
Cold Hazzard Well stated!
Possibly the best comment I’ve ever read on TH-cam!😊
it's really a strange feeling
THAT is a quintessential evaluation of David Hoffman's work, "Cold Hazard." Good one.
This is a tremendous interview. I see Oliver Stone differently now, and will (re-)watch his movies differently also. Thank you.
check out his interview on Joe rogan also very good
Sean Connolly US foreign policy sucks is I guess the understatement of the day ;-) Don’t get me wrong, you are right. I hope you will have found the time to listen or read The Untold Story of the US. To me it is history. It is difficult not to be critical of what was behind foreign policies.
Let’s face it, US UK and France have exploited, as in slavery, the other nations of the world dating back to the arrival of the immigrants we all were.
We the French Canadians were caught right in the middle of it all.
My first political wake up calls came when JFK was assassinated. Than it was the US sponsored murder and coup d’état in Chili. Than Vietnam and all never ending wars to this day.
So I must admit, I am an unconditional fan of Oliver Stone. And of John Pilger and Julian Assange.
The world’s populations need to unite against the 1/10 of 1% and put technology to work in a social democracy that does not exist to this day for all nations. Providing water food education and the ensuing health. Medicare for all in my ideal world would not be required. We all know what is wrong to this day. Record of fat people, starving nations and Covid population control test 101.
I tell you man, we need all the help we can get from people such as Oliver Stone. Regards.
Great comment, my thought in my mind but you explained it perfectly 👌
@@rooster4429 I came from that!!!
@@seanconnolly6002 Putin has not sold out Russia.
A man can read, remember and repeat and people call him smart. A man who lives it can tell the story and spread his wisdom. What a great video, thank you for sharing
yes a man who lives it is deep and real
At some point audio probably deteriorated due to passage of time, but the truth and humanism comes through clearly. I just wish such videos were subtitled for the missing parts, and aired by major channels like History, Amazon Prime and Sony. This is our national treasure. Thank you for connecting with Mr. Stone and asking the right questions.
I’m watching it now and yes, the blips are frequent and still no sub to fill the gaps.
Thanks!
Thank you so much Raza.
David Hoffman filmmaker
I hate Hollywood in general, but OS is a very special person. Great interview. ... again after 6-7 years
This interview was drawing out feelings from the 60s , it was bittersweet...I remember as a kid standing at a bus terminal in San Francisco with another family that had sent their son to war ..there was fear. My parents tried to comfort the other family. It felt like death had already come...the young man came home and is living with his family in Oregon ...
Oliver Stone is a very bright and perceptive man with keen observations. He is articulate in his ability to communicate deep thoughts and listens well. I like his perspective and personality.
I was expecting Oliver Stone to talk for 40 minutes about the gruesome meat grinder of Vietnam. But like a true Vietnam vet, he spends as little time as possible on the subject.
We must never forget what these men went through or how the country treated them when they came home.
We must never forget how we got into Vietnam and the fake news by lbj and the Pentagon known as the Gulf of Tonkin resolution. I would take the anti war movement any day over the self proclaimed war hawks who sent them in the first place.
When I was too young to understand that, I always asked my dad stupid Blood and Guts type questions about Vietnam. How many people did you kill? That kind of thing.
Did he say he needed a parade?
@LosBerkos Lmao right. I always find it funny when people talk about thanking Vietnam Vets for their service, when a lot of them couldn’t stand being treated like heros or being massaged for what they did over there.
And is a parade or anything similar gonna make the trauma any easier? Or make the missing limb return? Nope, not at all.
its must be hard for vets because because they know you will never understand unless you were there
This is wonderful. Oliver Stone is so open, insightful, informed, intelligent. I miss and long for public discourse about society.
Thank you.
You and me both. I believe there are millions of us that crave the real discourse that you used to see on television. On OUR airwaves. The adult discourse we used to see before the corporation maximized every dollar, before evangelicals forced everyone to view things with their fatalistic lens, before the hate- filled n'e'r-do-wells pushed their agendas.
We all need an atmosphere of civilized discourse instead of pedantic sound bytes.
Great video, I only wish it didn’t skip at times. Oliver stone always has intelligent things to say.
Fun Fact;
Jim Morrison's father was the Admiral Morrison on the ship in the Gulf of Tonkin incident that kicked off the Vietnam War.
Had to look that up and its true.
actual fact: USS Maddox commander was Cpt John J Herrick, USS Turner Joy's commander was CDR Robert C Barnhart Jr., Commander Morrison was commander of the 3rd Fleet Carrier Division, (which the two above ships were part of) aboard his flag ship USS Bon Homme Richard, an Essex class aircraft carrier.
@@tonihka57 Freak weather effects and over-eager sonarman may be responsible for glitchy comments. Suggest complete review before we criticise too much. lol
@@scheibs556 It's very true. Having watched interviews that his father gave later on in his life( near the end of it), I get the very strong sense that Admiral Morrison loved his son Jim very much and that he knew that the military wasn't going to be in the cards for his son and that following in his footsteps as a military guy just wasn't for Jim . And I could also see from how he talked about The Doors and their music that Jim Morrison's father didn't understand him( or his music, for that matter, at all). I guess we'll never know what it might have been like if Jim Morrison HAD decided that the military was for him and if he decided that he HAD wanted to follow in his father's footsteps.
THE Gulf of Tonkin Incident HAS BEEN PROVEN A LIE A-N-D COVER - UP !
Similar to the NewYork City BushchenneyrumZfeld>WAR
Stone has a rare gift I've only see in few. He can genuinely connect with the lowliest private as well as the most aloof of Generals. He's a net positive in a most unique way.
What is most interesting about this interview is that it was BEFORE the release of JFK, but after Platoon, and Born on the 4th of July.Oliver Stone is an awesome director, with a brilliant mind, and a moral and intellectually honest character. A truly rare combination, indeed.
Platoon is my favorite movie
It's one thing to read about history, the medium of film really hits differently. Thank you for capturing these moments, they are truly priceless.
I’m late to this post, but I so appreciate this up close and personal interview with this legend. He lived the history he’s talking about and brings so much of the personal experiences so many had in the 50s and 60s. It’s clear how his movies evolved from his awakening and observations. He’s a deep and feeling man with an uncanny ability to tell his story in a way that makes the listener get it on a deep and spiritual level. I grew up as a kid in the 60s and this sheds a different light on what I saw as a child, but as an adult now I so relate to his reflections and realizations. I love how he said the decades melted into each other - so true. Fabulous interview - a real gem!
your comment is just as thoughtful
Wow. I had no idea Stone had been in Vietnam as a combat grunt. Loved his earlier films - not so much the older ones. But a very smart and insightful man. Can’t wait to see what he comes with for these times we’re living through now. Awesome interview.
Thank you very much David!
SuZ Qz I didn’t know that either. Thanks to this interview, I feel like I understand not only this truthful, communicative man, but the best of Americans; the best of the USA. I checked out his films, and there are a lot of them , important ones.
I am a Canadian, and the US, whatever it does, affects us.
Yeah he was in 'Nam. Considering how that war went, and the Gulf of Tokin incident, I feel like a lot of paranoia agaisnt the US state makes a different kind of sense
In a way he said the character of Chris Taylor (Sheen) was who Stone was when he served in Vietnam at the time and he said he had a Sergeant like Sergeant Barnes
@@Caperhere whats quite overwelming is realiseing how easliy oliver could have been killed in the war. to never have lived to make the body of work hes done. platoon, wall street, scar face, jfk to name just afew. the contrabution that would have been lost had he not made it. also shines a light on how many other people were killed in the same war that could have gone on to contrabute so much positivity to the world had thay not been killed.
His movie Platoon was written from the grunts perspective. Great movie I'm glad someone captured that point of view.
David, please continue to do interviews such as this. Helps those of us heal that lived during those years and were exposed to the war.
Thank you Sheila for your comment. If your resources allow, I would sure appreciate your using the THANKS button under any of my videos including the one you have commented on. It is something new that TH-cam is beta testing and would mean a great deal for my continuing efforts.
David Hoffman filmmaker
My mom was born in 1946 too. I useta tell her I wish I could have grown up with her and she'd quickly tell me not to say that. But I really felt that way, kinda still do.
This is amazing footage. Thanks for sharing.
Eye opening....as an army infantry soldier during another later era, I too have been trying to figure it all out...how and what the machine was all about, how it effected me and my indifference to society after that an experience that changes us on a completely different level. Still trying to..I'm 54. Thank you for such insight. Love to meet you one day! I feel close to your thinking. You are an amazing legend. Your first movie Platoon I saw as a 19 year old infantryman really made me wonder...some 20 years later from your time, how the infantry was laid out for me in a different perspective.... realization, respect and wondering....God Bless Stone.
As I look at you now Stone and see your presentation of who you are. I wonder if your clothing style represents a piece of that Father and time you mentioned about always wearing a tie in the neighborhood....and you have come full circle back to that or held on to the safer time and Innocence, yet with your own tweak on that style? I love your style,but the way brother!
THANK YOU so much for posting the whole thing, Mr. Hoffmann! This was and still is one of the interviews i like the most because frankly Oliver Stone is a pleasure to listen to as he has a darn fine narration voice. And also because of the content. There is a lot to listen to. And especially when you watched "Platoon" and "Born on the 4th of July" this interview is a perfect addition to it. It is also why i still like and respect this man a lot as a director and artist because unlike the majority of people who live and work in Hollywood HE at least was actually out there, in the dirt and knows how the world and the people look like. And what i like the most about Your videos is at the end it always feels like it was time well spent watching them, since you actually take something from it at the end, as the one watching them. Something from everyone's story.
What makes it so much more intense and captivating is the fact that all this input comes from actual people. That personal experience mixed with their own opinion, based on their time with the people they lived with, creates such a wonderful mesmerizing experience that i am SO glad for you are sharing with all of us. Again, thank you so much Mr. Hoffmann. For every single video you share with us.
Mr David H. I hope you have, or will, receive some kind of "Oscar" level award for all the wonderful filming you have done documenting this time you/we have lived through.
Thanx very much for sharing your works in such a way that all of us regular folks can learn and enjoy a look into our past.
It is probable by this point that The Oscars are well beneath David Hoffman. But I agree with your sentiment that his work is very worthy of recognition!
Oliver is very open and down to earth, very honest about his experiences that most people would never reveal so openly with humility. Well read and intelligent without the arrogance. Rare. A very thought provoking, insightful interview. Thank you. 11:17
Definitely the most interesting director of his generation.
Bravo, Mr. Stone, for your service at home and abroad…
A very relevant interview at a time of heightened tensions in the middle east that could possibly have some extremly serious repercussions for all sides involved. We hope for peace because with war no one wins really.
Excellent questions particularly on how the amazing music of the 60s such as the songs of the Doors may have influenced him. Great, great interview thanks so much for sharing it.
Only the bankers win in war.
Newsflash. Shit has been going down in the middle East for thousands of years. Gotta love the modern news media and especially Twitter for making people think that some bombing of a superfluous General is gonna lead to WW3. Drama endless drama from the media. Whatever they can do to draw clicks. Don't buy their bullshit.
@@bodbn Ryan was completely right, if only we knew what was coming after that Iran bs lol
Oliver Stone is the man… I am very grateful he got the opportunity to make the films he has
David you are my hero! Thanks so much for your time and dedication! We all love you and appreciate what you have gave us, peace n love from Nottingham England :)
Wow!!! What a gripping interview with such a legend!!! Thank you!!! You too are a legend sir!
I was a teen in the 60's and relate so much to Mr. Stone, eventhough I was in the counterculture movement.
His movies are brilliant and I hope younger people watch them and realize they are visual diaries as it were, that an artist~ poet shared his view of the world in those times
Stone , a remarkable realist, who lays it bare.
Thanks
Thank you. Very healing interview. Remember leaving high school with a dread of going to college and the thought of being confined to the say job for life. You can tell he's still affected by the war and times.
As an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran I can tell you from 8:30 to 9:30 is so accurate a description of war and how war makes you feel. I just love David's filmmaking. It's interesting I was in a film last year called "Alto Knights" and could not help thinking of David each time Barry Levinson came over to speak to us.
Thank you.
David Hoffman Filmmaker
David Hoffman, this is perhaps your most profound & important work. The intrinsic value in this man's perspective and the honesty & daring line of questions that cull his candid responses are disturbing and, in Orwellian 2020, an endangered species
HE IS THE GREATEST ,olivier Stone...i ,respect HIM. ,SOOO MUCH...❤
Hoffman's videos are a mirror to the past and a window to the future.
I Like You A lot Oliver, I'm Glad I came by to listen....
You are a Very Wise Man.
Cheers Oliver.
Excellent. Brilliant camera angle and lighting, no doubt a telephoto lens. Well thought out questions and the interviewer let Stone do the talking without constant interruption.
Omg love Oliver Stone!! Ha, been showing my children his films and they have been blown away!! Been talking about them for a week.
Great footage. He looks like he's ready to exclude at any second. It's like he's struggling to keep it together despite being very thoughtful and articulate.
This was an amazing interview. So personal, yet not abhorrent.
Quite an enlightened interesting man, knows life and what men can do to each other. Hard wisdom.
Great interview.
Katina H “Hard wisdom”. Excellent . I am so stealing that, if it’s ok with you.🖐🏼
It’s incredible how Stone describes the rigid nature of the 50’s and how he didn’t realize how restrictive it was until later.
It’s a true pan-generational dilemma. Boundaries help a kid feel loved and safe but can also repress a child’s passions and shelter them from consequences and reaching their own potential.
If we had those rigid structures today, society would be much better today. The 50's were not perfect but people were sane, normal, family was the most important thing, people could achieve things in America with relative ease, kids were not a bunch of drug addicts like today. America reached its pinnacle in many ways back then. Numbers prove it regardless of what you think.
Ana Maria Goytortua
To which rigid structures are you referring?
My interview with hundreds of people who lived through that time then the research indicates that the word normal was largely a fake. While many people experienced it or say that they did, many more say that their families appeared normal but inside, or at least as messed up as families are today only people didn't talk about it.
David Hoffman - filmmaker
@@DavidHoffmanFilmmaker I disagree...There are so many things going on with families today that in my day( 80s) was almost unheard of. No...I think our society and family structure is in a very bad way but I believe it will get better...it has to.
stan brown
You said it yourself:
“They were unheard of.”
They were still happening. We just weren’t allowing each other to express themselves. There was a real repression to twentieth-century suburban life. That’s not to condemn it. Just an observation having grown during a time where I was raised in that way while the baby boomer generation were reacting against it. I’ve lived the transition and I don’t believe our troubles begin and end with the cultural shifts of the last couple decades. That feels like a cop out, to me.
Mr. David Hoffman, you never cease to amaze me with your incredible interviews. Your videos are my favourite time capsules.
Thank you William.
David Hoffman-filmmaker
Thank you, Oliver. He put so much of the time so well in his words, and yes!, the sixties are not dead. We are reflecting it back, and we are still affecting other generations and society. I am hoping that more boomers speak up about their lives and experiences. Unfortunately, so many of have died and will die soon. Speak up while you still can older folks. Many of you are carrying some wisdom; share it please.
These compete interviews are so helpful in learning how to ask good questions
No one ever returns from ground combat the same. You just do what you can.
The soldier may leave the war, the war never leaves the soldier.
william sorgie I was in Iraq 25 yrs ago and I can remember every day as if it was yesterday.
@@Mark-yb1sp Amen brother, it never goes away, we just deal with it. Some of the people in Washington and Hollywood have no Idea what it is like to be a grunt. Be safe and lock and load America.
william sorgie Thank you, Will. 👍🏻
God, I love this man. Wish there were more human beings like Oliver Stone.
David you’ve done such a great work documenting history.
What a national treasure!
You need people like this for president
What an inspiring and interesting 45 minutes that was! Massive amount of respect for this man...I hope one day a person with morals, experience and an outlook like Oliver Stone gets to be president of America. The world will be a better place for it.
These types of interviews are great. I miss this in modern media. I have also been listening to old Dick Cavett interviews on TH-cam also. I remember reading old Playboy interviews as well. They were great. Some podcasts are decent, Joe Rogan comes to mind, bring out such interesting and thoughtful discussions.
What!!!??? You read Playboy for the Interviews? I didn’t even know they had interviews. I only looked at the pictures. And the articles. And the interviews. Too bad such a great magazine is basically no more.
@@bullwinklejmoos I read the interviews too! 😃
@@johnbaugh2437 👍
@@bullwinklejmoos my great grandparents were Cossacks. Just to let you know😝
@@johnbaugh2437 Oh Wow!!! Did you have stories passed down regarding their experiences? Would have been really I retesting to hear.
Big fan of Oliver Stone became even bigger,thanks
Whoa man, iv been around here for some time, watching things on and off, but an Oliver Stone interview?
Really got him talking, thank you for sharing this.
WOW this is a treasure!
Fabulous interview, an expose on the meaning behind the identity of the 1960s, a tumultuous transitional paradigm of thought with reason over fear of judgment from all sides of society. Stone gives understanding to the decade.
Finally this saved to watch later video popped back up in my feed. Stone is my favourite director & screenwriter, & listening to him talk about his experiences & share opinions did not disappoint. 💯 thanks for a great interview.
You're asking ALL the questions we (viewers) would have wanted to ask. Wow. This is an impactful interview.
that should be the goal of every great interviewer. To ask the questions the audience would want to have asked.
David Hoffman-filmmaker
The most interesting person you could ever meet and talk to !
Excellent interview! I could listen to him for hours. Thankyou!
It’s very interesting to watch this. My Dad served in Vietnam, and would probably share some, but not all of these opinions. Knowing that Mr Stone served certainly gives him a great deal of credibility in my opinion. What would be even more interesting would be to do another video now with him and look back to this one and see what has changed, or stayed the same.
Your dad severed in Vietnam? You look like you served in Vietnam, you old looking fucker.
He must be so depressed by how much worse everything has gotten since this interview. We are full tilt Idiocracy now.
You are correct and its all the fault of liberals.
@@dmul841 meh just Capitalism doin it's thang
@@dmul841 hahaha
D Mul haha man if only I can take a swim in that big bowl of soggy ramen ya got perched on your shoulders, & see all the kooky ideas & doughy thoughts ya got floating around up there...
Nivea I assume you are an ineffectual millennial soy boy? I feel bad for your generation.
I remember in 1966, 15, being with my father at the MSP air terminal, we waiting to board a flight to California to help out my aunt, my father's sister when a teenager in military khakis, pimpled and tanned, overseas ribbons, corporal's stripes, asking my father if he was done with the newspaper.
My father said "sure", handing it off as he asked, " So how's it going over there? I was in Korea, they're talking it up so seems you'll have it wrapped up soon?"
" Ah sir, thanks for the paper but all I can say is just don't believe everything in it."
And that older kid walked away, in his travel wrinkled khakis, probably class of '64, same age as brothers of my friends.
And my Dad, he wished the kid well, but I could tell my Dad was rattled, so much of his Korean War experience not related to me until decades after I returned from Vietnam.
I hope that kid had a good life.
These days I walk over the abandoned railroad spurs my father surveyed and did the civil engineer work on as he built for the better future of the nation.
This is a simple story, but a great one. Thanks for sharing.
@jeff lee What good did it do us? Vietnam now exports to us, our own industry now long abandoned. The work of generations just scrapped.
I was in the class of 69, so the corporal was maybe 19 from the high school class of 1964, and I was in eighth grade then and would also be in Vietnam when I was 18, returning to a different nation than the one I left, never fitting in.
This encounter then but a prelude to my life.
@@lynnwood7205 Thank you for your sevice to this nation! You are loved and appreciated! God Bless!
At top of his game here. The late 80's and the 90's was dominated by Oliver Stone movies; good movies, movies that stood for something. He is probably the most under-rated, under-publicized 'American Master' in terms of his place among the greats. Why? Because his movies asked questions that no one wanted to answer or turned their heads away from, OR just couldn't answer due to the repercussions of the subversive themes that his films bravely chartered. God bless Oliver Stone for his fortitude and resillient mind !!
I'll even credit him for spawning the "Truth Movement" as we know it today. His son has taken heed to this as a case in point. His son is doing JUSTICE to this creed as his career / work in investigative journalism is interestingly vast and as challenging as his father's film career, going deep into areas and topics that are not usually chartered by the mainstream media.
What a thinker. I could listen to him talk all day.
I've never heard stone talk before.. I've got something to learn from this guy
True Artist,,,,have probebly Suffered ,,,Oliver Stone is One of Them,,,,Mahalo David for posting This,,,
My uncle was Oliver's sergeant in Vietnam.
Josh Ludwick wow. Did he share any stories of Oliver Stone ?
Barnes?
Alex Caterina looool good one
@@alexcaterina2g3 i hope this gets more likes
@@alexcaterina2g3 I'd like to track down Sgt Barnes.....
I cant imagine! sending my sons to Vietnam. I can't imagine what those poor parents went through how horrific.
Great interview. Thx. I really like Oliver Stone. He is so perceptive and interesting. Wish there were more like him. He really hit on things that are so apparent today
Absolutely fantastic presentation, need to watch this again
Among the most significant interviews from the era. Honest, poignant, important, even crucial, in understanding the U.S.
Don't forget....Stone spoke with his camera. Watch those films again.
I was born 1970. I rely didn't grow up feeling like I understood this war because of lack of information. But I do remember seeing the aftermath of the solders upon return. I remember seeing alot of these men on heroin. I never understood how that could happen. Now, watching your videos they answer so many of my childish questions of the time. Thank you for these time capsules.
This is so timely. Thanks David.
Impressive interview!!!
Indeed Mr. Stone shed some light, in that time of darkness.
Dude is intense! and seems to be very consistent with the man he is today in 2020, per the recent interview on Joe Rogan
That was such a good interview
grEAT interview! Wasn't very familiar with Oliver Stone...Just happened upon this video randomly.
Interesting, intelligent, and seemingly, very authentic. Loved the statement "we need enemys" ...."and if we don't have one, we invent one". So true.
This is an incredibly important and timely interview.
I wish someone would remake The Grapes Of Wrath.
Thank you, David.
Thoughtful, authentic great power to verbally articulate a wealth of experience coherently and engagingly. Always someone to listen to.
Somethings up with your audio. Very difficult to follow
I have always been fascinated by Oliver. 💞
I strongly reccommend the Untold History of The United States documentary by Oliver Stone. This man, has a very conscious, objective and non-biased point of view of the overall state of matters on American History! the video has some sound issues, though. Small interruptions of sound.
Literally a GOD SENT!! ONE-of the smartest men alive!!
At about 25: The fear, the fear. I did not get over the fear until my 50's, thirty plus years after.
I have never felt a part of my generation, of my high school or college class, of this nation, since I have been back.
I hope you are ok. It is such a hard thing to make any kind of peace with. It is hard for me to believe after that, they were still willing to send our kids off to fight anywhere. That these casualties are so worth that. There are so many other ways to cripple a country without sending human beings to their deaths. Thank you for your service. You all were so terribly treated when you came home and that was very wrong. I was born in the summer of '69. My Dad was at Fort Ord waiting to go, as he had turned 18 towards the end of that war and his # was not called and he has a terrible guilt. Where as I feel very lucky he didn't go and I could grow up with a Dad.
My ex-husband, Vietnam combat vet, is still hyper-vigilant. Always prepared to defend himself and has habits related to war which he is unconscious of. He has been home for 55yrs.😔
@@jomama5186Wow! I too, 18 fall of 1969 at Ft Ord. December found me in Vietnam.
Take care. Be glad he was not there and appreciate and respect his feelings as to how it played out for him.
Have you checked out Dr. Ed Tick's work?
@@perrizepeda9638 No. But will. Thank You.
Stone is really such a loving man❤️❤️
Oliver Stone is an interesting man. I really like his movie "Wall Street" from the 1987 - have been watching it on repeat lol
I love listening to Oliver Stone. I feel like I learn smth every time. Wise man.
Amazing man!!!!Great Interview David :)
Weird. Been subscribed to this channel for a while. Just went looking for videos of Oliver Stone talking about Vietnam and it brought me straight here. This channel is absolutely brilliant.
Thank you so much.
David Hoffman - filmmaker
@@DavidHoffmanFilmmaker You're very welcome. Thank you for the fantastic videos.
Mr. David Hoffman ! - i wish that one day i could tell you something about what it’s like to be a young Hispanic kid in an all white small mormon town...on film...I’m now old & busted up, and i have served in the military, and i am well educated yet the kids i went to school with,for the most part have not changed they have gotten older fatter,and some bald 😂 yet some have never been out of the state, they will never experience the vast richness of other cultures, and that is very very sad indeed...
So basically you want to brag on film about you are better than everyone you grew up around. Well if lecturing those you feel are beneath you is what you desire might I suggest moving to Hollywood and persuing a career as an elitist liberal actor.
1manuscriptman - so sorry for the late response but, I’ve been really busy with work..thanks for your experiences ! ! ! !
Those are the friends I kill for
Are POC ever NOT fixated on RACE? LOL, gees...
@@rick777888 how about you?
Thanks for this, Mr. Hoffman. I had some communication with Oliver Stone years ago, and now hope to get back in touch with him as I have a screenplay for him. Oliver Stone has made some of our most important modern movies. Great interview!
Platoon is a movie that had me thinking in my head for 3 days after I saw it. It captured the war from a grunts perspective.