HOW OLIVER STONE’S TIME IN COMBAT INSPIRED HIS OSCAR-WORTHY WAR MOVIES
Oliver Stone is one of the most accomplished film and television directors in Hollywood. He’s known as the master of controversial subjects, like his 2016 film Ukraine on Fire, and pushing his actors to give Oscar-worthy performances. Even when he’s faced with failure, he returns with success. Oliver Stone has created over 32 movies and television shows over the past 50 years of his career, and you might be surprised, but he has so many more stories to tell. Suggested read:Famous Veterans: You’ll Never Believe These Celebrities Actually Served
Oliver Stone’s Film Career
Stone was born and raised in New York City; he grew up in Manhattan and attended the Trinity School in NYC. His parents later sent him away to a college preparatory school in Pennsylvania. Afterward, he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in film from New York University. Oliver Stone began his career in the film and television industry during the middle of the 1980s, when he began writing and directing Vietnam movies. For his entire career, Oliver Stone movies followed within the controversial American political and cultural issues category. Some of the films that he directed within that category are Nixon, JFK, and Natural Born Killers.
Was Oliver Stone in the Military?
In 1965, Stone was attending Yale University before he decided to drop out and begin teaching English in Vietnam. In April of 1967, Oliver Stone's military career began when he decided to join the United States Army, where he specifically requested to serve in combat in Vietnam. After attending basic training, Stone was assigned to the 2nd Platoon of Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 25th Infantry, and was stationed near the Cambodian border in Vietnam. Stone ended up getting wounded in combat twice, which then led him to be transferred to the 1st Cavalry and assigned to a Long Range Reconnaissance Platoon in April of 1968. Oliver Stone’s military service and injuries during the Vietnam War earned him the Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart Award with one Oak Leaf Cluster. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for conducting “extraordinary acts of courage under fire” during combat.
Is “Platoon” a True Story?
The Platoon movie that was directed by Stone changed the direction of his career in film entirely. After the movie was released, Stone was nominated for an Academy Award for best director and won. The movie is based on Stone’s personal experience of his time spent in Vietnam. When the movie was released, many Vietnam Veterans described the film as one of the most real Vietnam War movies ever made. Oliver Stone, Veteran and filmmaker, has done his best to represent America and the Veterans of Vietnam with accuracy and honesty. Many Oliver Stone movies are based around the Vietnam War. Oliver Stone’s military record helped him tremendously when making the films Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July, and Heaven and Earth. His experience in the United States Army allowed him to accurately represent Veterans and their time in the service while in Vietnam. In 2020, Oliver Stone released a memoir entitled Chasing the Light: Writing, Directing, and Surviving Platoon, Midnight Express, Scarface, Salvador, and the Movie Game. In the memoir, Stone talks about both his film and military career, where he tells the story of his time in Vietnam. Read next: Was Gary Sinise in the Military & What Does His Vets Foundation Do?