Airstrike Scene (Broken Arrow) 

Excerpt from Joe Galloway’s book, “A Reporter’s Journal From Hell”: “The first had just released two cans of napalm. The second was about to do the same. Lt. Charlie Hastings, the Air Force forward observer, was screaming into his mike: Pull up! Pull up! The second plane pulled up. That left the two cans of napalm loblollying end over end towards us. Gregg Dillon buried his face in my shoulder. Later he would tell me he had heard if napalm was coming in you should protect your eyes. The two cans went right over our heads and impacted no more than 20 yards from us, the jellied gasoline spreading out and flaming up going away from us. That 20 yards saved our lives but through the blazing fire I could see two men, two Americans, dancing in that fire, I jumped to my feet. So did medic Tommy Burlile. Burlile was shot in the head by a sniper before he could reach the scene. I charged on in and someone was yelling, “Get this man’s feet!” I reached down and grabbed the ankles of a horribly burned soldier. They crumbled and the skin and flesh, now cooked, rubbed off. I could feel his bare ankle bones in the palms of my hands. We carried him to the aid station. Later I would learn that his name was Jimmy D. Nakayama of Rigby, Idaho. His wife, Trudie, had given birth to their first child, a daughter named Nikki, on November 7. Jimmy died in an Army hospital two days later, on November 17. For a lot of years I looked for Jimmy’s wife and daughter. Last month, after the movie We Were Soliers was released I received a letter from Jimmy’s widow. Last week a letter came from his daughter Nikki, now 36 years old and the mother of two young sons. No single day has passed since that long-ago November day that I have not thought about Jimmy Nakayama, the young woman who loved him, and the daughter who would never know a father’s love.” SPC Jimmy Nakayama was 21 years old from Rigby, Idaho

You know shit just got real when even the radioman gives a look of terror at the order his CO just gave him. Planes stacked up at every 1000 feet, from 7000 to 35,000. That's 28 pairs of aircraft conducting strikes all in one single go. Even if just one of each pair was packing napalm, the whole battlefield will become just one plot of hellfire on Earth.

Arguably one of the best scenes in this movie. The true horror of the first look into modern war.

On my last trip to Washington DC I saw the Vietnam memorial and upon walking up and down it, I don’t know why, but the name of Jimmy Nakayama jumped out to me. I won’t ever forget that.

The moment Moore paced around from 0:27 and stopped to assess the situation he and his men were in before calling in Hastings was arguably very raw.

i won’t imagine being in that battle during the vietnam war seeing friends and comrades dying by you and it will leave you frightened for rest of your life. RIP to the men who lost their lives during the Vietnam War 1955-1975

Imagine having to live through that carnage. Bless the vets

This is one of the few movie scenes in my opinion that truly shows the horrors of war

"We have planes stacked up at every 1,000 feet. 7 to 35,000" i dont think many people will appreciate this line because thats alot of fucking ordinance stacked up. Napoleon said god favors the side with the best artillery, now the saying should be god favors the side with the best air power.

I do hope Charlie found peace after what happened that day. The lives of so many people were essentially in his hands and he probably never thought he’d ever be in such an intense battle such as that.

BROKEN ARROW the way he delivers that line

Imagine Charlie’s PTSD if such a character would have survived that madness. A tortured soul that saved many at the cost of his own sanity. Chokes me up every time I walk by that black wall in DC.

The scene right after this was the only time I ever cried during a war movie 😢 Rest In Peace jimmy nakinamma trooper who had a baby born the day before and died in one of the most horrific ways

F-100 Super Sabre, A-6 Intruder, and A-1 Skyraider were very interesting choices for air support. They’re very obscure aircraft that definitely don’t get enough love in Vietnam era movies, especially when more mainstream planes like the F-4 Phantom and F-105 Thunderchief exist

God bless that radio operator, to have a bad fire incident and have to keep calling air in knowing damn well youre a lifeline

I love the way he gets up to assess the situation himself and makes the determination of what to do based on that, instead of listening to conflicting reports of the situation from his radio ops.

The price of close air support has always been blue-on-blue incidents, but the overall losses are much less.

Haven’t seen this in like 10 years, now I recognize all of the aircraft: A-6 Intruder, F-100 Super Saber, F-4 Phantom, and A-1H Skyraider.

Joe Galloway described this very vividly. 😢

Fact: my father-in-law is one of the F4 pilots who bombed the enemy IRL in this scene. He’s now 81. He’s a hero, but not very well these days.

The chills I got when I hear "My god, there's no hiding it now."

Fire has been a major weapon of war for Millenia, but man Napalm is something else.

I don’t know why but I love the backslap he gives to his radioman when he calls for broken arrow.

Me when I throw a 500kg eagle stratagem at my feet in helldivers 2

That is good leadership right there, instead of berating the radioman for accidentally getting their men killed and wounded with the napalm (which obviously traumatized him), the Lt. Colonel tries to calm him down stating he is doing his job as he is supposed to. No point kicking someone down when everyone is in s***'s creek, that just makes teamwork worse mentality wise.

The one call sign you fear more than the enemy's bugles, whistles, and booby traps.

I just finished the movie this morning and this movie was the best Vietnam War movie I ever saw!

The fact that the CO didn't even blamed him but cheered him on to keep going because they where still alive speaks volumes. Ive been in situations in training where my LT would get mad for not saying something perfect or in military lingo but everyone else in my plt would praise me for thinking fast and for helped them at the same time.

“They charged and attacked, they went to hell and back.” They did a hell of a lot more than just go to hell and back. They went through the deepest pits of it, and then had to go back through it. Thank you, Veterans. Both alive and fallen, for your service. None of you shall be truly forgotten.

I remember seeing this movie when I was young and stupid, and thought the napalm aftermath was typical Hollywood stuff. Years later I learned that this scene and many in the movie were straight adaptations of Galloway's book, and read the story of Jimmy Nakayama. I gained a new appreciation for this movie and this was a difficult scene to watch ever since, knowing that Jimmy was a real man who never did return to his wife daughter.

One of my old friends, his father was Marine infantry that was on Hamburger hill and said it was very very similar to this scene.

If anyone wants a proper literary account of calling in strikes like this; Firestrike 7/9 by Paul 'Bommer' Grahame is an excellent book about a British Army JTAC in the Afghan war who goes into real detail behind calling in danger close airstrikes in support of infantry in close quarters fighting like this

This was damn intense though I noticed they didn’t have cgi of the B-52s. Also some scenes were from “Flight of the Intruder”.

Napalm truly is a horrifying weapon

I was in an base level class about fire direction center. It was hard doing all the math and map reading even with all the technology to call the right targets. Even with that one costly mistake Hastings really did do a hell of a job to keep the unit alive with calling in the air strikes

Broken arrow and danger close are things you never want to hear over a radio.

I used to think about how cool this scene was when this movie came out. Now after having been in the Marine Corps infantryman in Iraq and older and wiser, all I can see is how traumatizing this engagement must have been.

1:04 i like this part because the last thing you want to hear is 2 words "Broken Arrow" the way they looked at the radio is like "Oh shit"

My Dad was in Vietnam back 1964 to 1965 Army. If he was send him in that battlefield. I Cant even imagine how he managed to survived in that situation. He was actually Laos, cambodia and on a Ship ocean looking the fire support on night.

Great scene in a great movie.

3:56 That "You keep em coming in. You're doing well, son!" always hits me in my feelings.. You just need to forget about it and focus or more people die.

"Me and Charlie eyeball to eyeball...now that's fucking combat, dude. The man in the Black Pajamas" - Walter Sobchak - The Big Lebowski

Yes it’s Air Superiority that kept them from being overrun and slaughtered. Same thing in the Battle of Mogadishu in ‘93. Without the MH-6’s and Black Hawk door gunners providing Air support the Rangers and Delta would been slaughtered. Air support also saved the day at the Battle of Roberts Ridge in Afghanistan!

I watched this movie. I also saw the documentary about this same battle. When i saw how badly Jim Nakayama was burned...I was honestly shocked but also got emotional😭 I mean... Dying like that... it has to be extremely painful. I am glad that they have banned the use of Napalm 'coz its nasty weapon of war. As for Jim... You are an angel and gave your life for your country. The ultimate sacrifice. Thank you for your service. You will never be forgotten. 🌹R.I.P. Gone, but not forgotten 🌹

never forget what these men did. Mel and company have made this my favorite war movie of all time. truly tragic masterpiece

This is one of the best Vietnam War movies ever made.

say all you want about Mel every roll every movie he is in is great

7,000-35,000 feet with about 1,000ft separation, carrying anything from napalm, bombs or just bullets. 28 pairs of planes some loaded for bear. Ton of ordnance. Just thinking about how that place would be after that defensive attack makes me shiver

Did a tour and a half in Central America back in the bad ol' days of Reagan era gunboat diplomacy. You don't know fear until you're neck deep in shit and the RTO has to get God on the phone and ask for a miracle. Second comment: One of the truly unique things about WWS is the respect and empathy the film shows to the enemy. They're not portrayed barbarians or intrinsically evil. They're portrayed as men with a cause who are willing to sacrifice a great deal indeed to make that cause a reality.

This is how I feel during Base Defense mission

I love how even the journalist picked up a rifle and was fighting.

Any chance you can load the deleted scene where Lt. Col. Moore meets with Sec. McNamara and Gen. Westmoreland? It's very good, they just didn't have a spot for it in the final cut. I was reminded of the line in "Apocalypse Now", "Seems they didn't dig what he had to say..."

Planes in order of appearance (feel free to correct me): 01:18 = A-6 Intruder (I feel the launch scenes were taken from the 1991 movie "Flight of the Intruder") 01:24 = F-100 Super Sabre (Took me a while to realize that they did not launch from a carrier) 01:31 = A-1 Skyraider (My personal favorite) 02:28 = F-4 Phantom? (The nose and air-intakes look familiar) 03:02 = A-4 Skyhawk? (Tough one to figure out because this was a brief scene and appropriate attack plane of the era)

I know this is an older threat but I have to write. This is not so much about loyalty to (and serving) our country. However, this WAS about love and loyalty between brothers-in-arms. These brave young men were fighting for each other and trying to keep each other alive. Country and the American flag were secondary. That was true in Viet Nam, Korea, WW2, Iraq and Afghanistan. Men fought for ONE ANOTHER and sacrificed for ONE ANOTHER. John 15:13. From the Beaches of Normandy to the Chosin Reservoir to Khe Sanh to the Hindu Kush, it is the love and loyalty between men of war that ties them all together. I served almost 8 years active duty in the USAF starting in 1971 but I feel unworthy to stand in the presence of these men who have sacrificed more than I can imagine. Salute to LTG Gen Moore, CSM Blumley, Joe Galloway and all the Troopers & Huey Pilots at LZ X-Ray. (I was blessed to find an original hard copy of "We Were Soldier's" on the internet about 3 years ago. It is an invaluable piece of American History.)

This movie and black hawk down inspired me to join the infantry

Best fog of war segments in a movement

"Broken arrow" is code for "Hey air force, we're throwing a party and you're invited!"

Read how one of the soldiers described this battle. "They kept coming, they did not care how many of them died, they were stumbling, walking right into us, some even had their guns slung and were charging with their vare fists" even seeing how those Vietcong kept coming despite the air strikes and literally being set on fire is pretty scary. Must have been 10x worse to see in real life

I always heard broken arrow was a term used to indicate an accident with a nuclear weapon.

Skyraiders, Skyhawks, Phantoms, Intruders, Super Sabres, they had the whole damn shooting match flying in

In the Battle of Ia Drang Valley in 1965, during the Vietnam War, a tragic incident occurred when a miscommunication led to an airstrike by U.S. aircraft that accidentally hit American troops. A Forward Air Controller mistakenly directed the airstrike onto the position of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, leading to casualties among U.S. soldiers. This friendly fire incident resulted in a significant loss of life among the American forces involved in the battle.

My good friend was a Navy pilot F4 Captain -he can barely walk with bad knees from all the G-force he took. He tells me stories of him dropping explosives into tunnels and fire rolling out from the opposite end making fly overs and lighting everything up. Outstanding human being very polite and so well educated.

This was one of my favorite movies as a kid / teen. It's clearly well done. But it's interesting to me now that all the sympathy goes to the US men for a friendly fire incident rather than to all the Vietnamese soldiers who suffered the same fate - on purpose - for trying to defend their country.

That’s why I respect all of the women & men who protect our BEAUTIFUL Country 🙏🙏🙏❤️❤️❤️

Probably the most horrying scene in the movie. No wonder most vets have severe PTSD.

My Dad was in the 7th. Inf. in WW2. He was in the Battles on Attu, Kwagalien and Leyte!

This is just a normal shift at a quick-service restaurant. RIP to those who served and fell to the waves of angry guests.

The guilt in his eyes at 3:56 knowing the airstrike was his call and the death of his comrades was down to him!

“You forget about that one 💀”

That's a damn good leader though "now you forget about that one, you're keeping us alive, you're doing good son" It sucks what he's going to deal with after the fact, but in the moment, all that matters is staying in that fight, and he did a damn good job of changing his focus.

This was brutal 🇺🇸🪖💥🛫🔥⚔️🔫🩸🇻🇳

I can't believe they made a Helldivers 2 movie of what it's like fighting the automatons

Utterly fantastic movie

2:41 to 2:43 ... those NLF guerrillas being burned by Napalm ... 😢 reminds me of the incendiary grenade scene in Windtalkers when the Japanese soldier rolls in agony and screaming whilst burning :(

Guy on the phone has real work pressure 🤷, start drinking after that.

My work buddy and I say this line when everything goes to shit at work

My only complaint with this scene, aside from the CIA spook not having been portrayed as more malevolent.. That shoulder slap on the radio operator Perhaps the Bluray release had a visible puff of dust?

The aircraft that the us military used during the Vietnam war and called for broken arrow were the Huey helicopters, A-1 Skyraiders, F-4 Phantom IIs, A-6 intruders, F-100 super sabres, and the A-4 Skyhawks? Woah, it's more like a combination of the us army, navy, air force, and the marine corps aircraft combined in just one attack!!!

I never realized how much Vietnam looked like southern California.

Cool to see scenes longer than 5 seconds even if they're just looking around or talking

I like how everyone is telling Mel Gibson we're getting overrun, but he still has to walk out and smell the getting overrun part.

Gibson walking around the battlefield like a fu**ing BOSS!

Voting in for some Marine scenes

It was terrifying enough to see this in a movie for a few minutes but it is more terrifying to know that this lasted for hours.😬

There is no way in hell he would of been able to call those planes off

How could you lose. You're so cool in movies.

I thought Broken Arrow was the code phrase for a lost nuclear weapon.

Brave Men, just saying from Glasgow 👍😎🇬🇧👊

average usage of the 380mm barrage in Helldivers

“You forget about that, you’re doing good son.” Forget.

My dad was a south vietnamese soldier, he told me he still have nightmares from the atrocity of the war. He was shot in 68 and 75.

This scene need A 10's BRrrrrrrrt

The A1 SkyRaider was one hell of a plane

I played this to celebrate the birthday of Mel Gibson.

Pat Tillman did a broken opium RIP shining light on evils cookie jar not allowed apparently 😞

LTC/ later General Moore is a true leader, call down a strike on your own position.... Nothing but respect

Hell divers 2 in a nutshell

One of the best war movies ever made

did the pilot got punished?

They have planes stacked-up every 1,000 feet between 7,000 and 38,000 feet. At least 28 aircraft, probably 28 flights of aircraft. That's a hell of a lot of ordinance.