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Show March 13, 1987 DIXIE SUN Page 11 Professor gives account of Viet Nam Ron Rushton SUN Staff Writer A couple of issues ago I wrote a story about a movie called Platoon. In that story I told of the realistic portrait of Viet Nam as was created in Platoon. The writer and director (Oliver Stone) of this movie was actually in the war. Most of the film reflects his experiences in Viet Nam. A few days later, I was in an English class listening to the teacher, Ed Reber, talk about the people he saw in Viet Nam. A couple days after that, , I went to his office for a question I had and eventually we started talking about the war. As the conversation continued, I asked him if he had seen Platoon. He hadnt so I explained some of it to him. To both of our surprise. Professor Reber was in the same Infantry Division as was Oliver Stone. What I was telling him about the movie was very similar to some of his memories. After that, I set up an interview and this is some of what was said. SUN: You have told me before that you had won a Bronze Star. How did you accomplish that? REBER: They give different Bronze Stars for different things. They give some for just doing your job well. They call these Army Commendation Medals. When I was running a resupply office I earned one. I earned another one in the field. SUN: Was that one earned for heroism? REBER: Well yes, but it was actually earned by carrying a wounded man back out of the combat zone. In some ways it isnt heroic because we were moving away from the fire. I was glad to be moving in that in that direction! Thinking back, alot of the medals where given to increase morale. They where trying to make the soldier feel appreciated for what they where doing. Most acts of heroism are acts done out of necessity. I suppose there where as many heros who said that it wasnt right and that they wouldnt be drafted. Any time you stand up for what you believe, that is heroism. SUN: What was your impression of Platoon? REBER: The terrain, the inner platoon squables, the actual combat that occured in Viet Nam that I was in, was extremely accurate. It brought back' more memories than I wanted. As a way to experience Viet Nam, Platoon is probably the closest thing that you could see. SUN: Do you believe that the men that are eligible for war today are disillusioned by the Rambo maniacs? KFBER: People from the day they where born, just as it is with love, are given mytholigized versions of war. Guns give people the feelings of power and strength. It starts with kids shooting dad and dad falling down dead. Stallone movies are just a step beyond that. We give movie stars super human strength with the powers to right all wrongs, but it isnt that way at all. There isnt joy in killing a man. Whether its bayonetting a man or dropping bombs from 25,000 feet up. It changes a man for the worst to do something like that. SUN: Is that represented in Platoon? REBER: Platoon tries to do that, but unless you where actually there you could never fully understand. There is still some romantisism in the movie. Some characters seem to be indestruc-tablBullets have a way of hitting whatever is in their way. But I do believe that showing there are no winners in a war, has been adequatly in Platoon. I think that it is an important point that needed to be shown. I dont know if our involvement in Viet Nam was right or wrong, but while I was there, we made some terrible mistakes. We treated some of the friendly civilians as less than human, and that is terribly wrong. If youre going to do a movie about Viet Nam, and here too, you should say that war is no tribute to human nature. That we have war is an embarassment a horror, and an overwhelming insanity. We should never attempt to solve problems by '.a: and by killing human beings. That we do is the most shameful thing about the human race. Its the kind of insanity that we dont allow at the personal level but somehow do at the society level. Everyone loses in a war. When you College Park 495 So 900 E. $360.00 Per Quarter $125.00 Deposit Free Cable t.v. Laundry Rooms Leasing office: Jerry Jensen Real Estate 590 E. St. George Blvd 628-167- 7 e. d parts of Viet Nam, and com the lecent hit movn Dixie College English professor Ed Reber was one of many Americans who serve', in the Viet Nam war. In his interview with SUN Staff Writer Ron Rushton. Reber discus-e- kill, you become a little less human. As much as 1 know, I never shot anyone. Not that I avoided it or that Im proud of it, but was lucky enough isnt glamarous. Its pares s it with Platoon a horrible feeling to hate and to kill. I hope none of you ever have to. Id like to thank Professor Reber for his time and patience I hope that I have done him justice in this article. not to. I hope that Platoon helps to convince the young people that war Dixie archives a place to check out if you need info Denna Humphreys SUN Staff Writer Does Dixie College have a secret room? Is there a room where hardly anyone goes? Surrounded by mystery, fiction, poems and stories, there is a little known room in the college library known as the archives. The archives contain a life time of history about Dixie College and the St. George area. There is a score of information about people and events that have gone on in Southern Utah since the beginning of the area. There are many interesting facts that you can learn about in the archives. One thing that you can do is to find out what kind of stories the college newspaper had in 1922. Another thing that you may want to do is a report on sports at Dixie. In an article written by the editor of the college news in 1951 , it stated that the college radio station was only on one morning of the week, and that it was changed from Wednesday morning to Saturday at 8:15 a.m. The article said that in case you are not in the habit of listening, it is a good one (habit) to form. We should support our program and in this way, and learn more about our college. There were even polls taken on campus, and you can find out what the students back then answered when asked, What would you do if you had a million dollars? The way the students in 1951 answered that ques tion is basically the same way that a student would answer it today. Some of the news events that hapat Dixie were pened in the written in a special summer edition. The library on campus was set for of 1966; completion in the library was started on April 29th and was set for completion in early November. The cost of the library was $310,000 and it would be a building. That library is the one that the college has now. You can learn a little about the art of broom making, or, you can learn about the growth of the area. You can learn about the 20 ghost towns that are in the area. The names of them are: Atkinville, Price City, Bloomington, Tonaquint, Pine Valley, Hebron, Holt, Hamblin, Pinto, Fort Harmony, Silver Reef, Harrisburg, Mountain Dell, Dalton, Dunkins Retreat, Adventure, Grafton, Shuneburg, and Zion. You can find information about these places that is quite interesting and if you search a little, you can find a map of how to get to these as well as other mind expanding places. A trip to the archives can help you with a history research paper and save you a lot of time looking for facts, because there is plenty of information in the archives to use in your paper. Go and visit the archives, it is really not a secret room at all; it is there to be used by any student that wishes to increase their knowledge. mid-sixti- mid-autu- Nor-tho- ' |