Battle of Khe Sanh in popular culture
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The Battle of Khe Sanh has been referenced in popular culture; it has been called an "iconic setting".[1]
The narrator of "Greasy Lake" compares the battle to an event, seemingly trivial but ultimately pivotal, in T.C. Boyle's 1985 short story.[2] Gustav Hasford references the Battle of Khe Sanh in his war novels The Short-Timers, which is the basis for the film, Full Metal Jacket and The Phantom Blooper.[3]
The battle is referred to in the song, Born in the USA, by Bruce Springsteen.[4] The hit song[5] Khe Sanh by Australian pub rock band Cold Chisel was written by pianist Don Walker about Viet Nam veterans of his personal experience.[6] The only Australian personnel to be directly involved in the siege were the crews of Canberra bombers operated by 2 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, who flew close air support missions in the area).[citation needed]
Walter Sobchak, played by John Goodman, gives a eulogy about his friend Donny moments before scattering his ashes, in the film The Big Lebowski.
- "He died…he died, as so many young men of his generation, before his time. In your wisdom, Lord, you took him, as you took so many bright, flowering young men at Khe Sanh, at Langdok, and Hill 364. These men gave their lives."
The Simpsons', Springfield Elementary School Principal Seymour Skinner says, as he submits to being married to Edna Krabappel (My Big Fat Geek Wedding), "As I once said at the battle of Khe Sanh...I surrender". A secondary plot line in that That Thing You Do, in which the nameless bassist leaves the band to join the Marines, is resolved in the ending credits epilogue: injured at Khe Sanh, he was awarded the Purple Heart.
Siege of Khe Sanh is one of the maps which appeared in the computer game Battlefield Vietnam,[7] and the battle is a setting in the game Call of Duty: Black Ops also.[8]
See also
Citations
- ^ Doctor Who Prescribes Novels to Patients Writes One of His Own; SFGate, March 30, 2011, San Francisco Chronicle "a tableau of some of the era's most iconic settings: the legendary battleground of Khe Sanh; a Midwestern campus riven by dissent; and Altamont speedway, scene of the notorious rock festival profiled in the film Gimme Shelter."
- ^ Greasy Lake & other stories; T. Coraghessan Boyle, page 2, Penguin Books, 1986
- ^ The short-timers; Gustav Hasford, Harper & Row, 1979
- ^ Born in the USA, by Bruce Springsteen: "I had a brother at Khe Sanh/ Fightin' off all the Viet Cong/ They're still there, he's long gone."
- ^ "APrap — Newsletter of the Australasian Performing Rights Association" (PDF). APRA. 2001. pp. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-08-31. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Kruger, Debbie (2005). Songwriters Speak. Balmain, New South Wales: Limelight Press. pp. 267–287. ISBN 09757080.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: length (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Siege at Khe Sanh: Mission; Battlefield Vietnam at Gamespot
- ^ Call of Duty: Black Ops Review; Electronic Gaming Monthly on 1Up.com