Goofs for
We Were Soldiers (2002) More at IMDbPro »

• Anachronisms: When Moore is kissing his children goodnight, the kid in the top bunk has a modern-day baseball batting helmet with ear-flaps hanging from the bed post
  
  
• Factual errors: In the opening scene, French troops are shown with their beret insignia on the left side of their forehead. In reality, and contrary to most countries in the world, French soldiers have their insignia on the right side of their forehead.
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: While Galloway is telling the tale of his two great-grandfathers, one of the body bags in the foreground is quite visibly breathing.
  
  

• Continuity: After a very dusty slide into base during the baseball game, Crandall jumps up to introduce himself to Moore, at which point, his t-shirt is perfectly clean and neatly tucked into his pants.
  
  
• Factual errors: At the beginning of the film, the officers of French Groupement Mobile 100 are wearing white képis. White képis were, and are, only worn by caporals (corporals) and below. Legionnaires above Caporal, including officers, wear dark blue képis.
  
  
• Audio/visual unsynchronized: When helicopters are landing or taking off, the sound effects are that of turbine engine RPM being increased or decreased as during engine start-up and shutdown on the ground. RPM is relatively constant during takeoff and landing. (This seems to be a common mistake in many films using helicopter sound effects.)
  
  
• Anachronisms: Joe Galloway's Nikon camera shown throughout the movie is a model "F Photomic FTN", first sold in Sept. 1968, but it was November 14, 1965 at 10:48 a.m., when Lt. Col. Hal Moore and his young troopers touched down at Landing Zone X-Ray in the Ia Drang.
  
  
• Anachronisms: At the soldiers' farewell party, they're singing along to Sam & Dave's hit, "Hold On, I'm Coming". This song wasn't released until 1966, after the battle depicted in the movie had already taken place.
  
  
• Factual errors: In the film credits the following appears "With special thanks to: ...And the 3RD Ranger Training Battalion..." No such unit exists or ever has. There is a 3RD Battalion, 75TH Ranger Regiment and 4TH through 6TH Ranger Training Battalions.
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: When an A1 Skyraider drops napalm on the attacking NVA troops flames erupt about 30 feet behind where the napalm is dropped.
  
  
• Anachronisms: When the soldiers are preparing to board the buses at Ft Benning, in front of the airborne towers you can see a strobe MP light over Lt Col Moore's right shoulder.
  
  
• Anachronisms: As the soldiers of 7th Cavalry ride into LZ X-Ray, they are holding their rifles with the muzzles pointed down. At the time of the battle, airmobile training was to hold the weapons muzzle up - in case of an accidental discharge, it was thought preferable to risk a round hitting the main rotor than to ensure that it went through the fuel tank (located directly under the troops).
  
  
• Anachronisms: The U-Haul trailer being pulled by the station wagon in the beginning of the movie is a 1980's or newer U-Haul paint scheme.
  
  
• Anachronisms: In the final scene when Lt. Col Moore steps aboard the Huey, he is seen wearing bright orange memory-foam type ear plugs for hearing protection. These types of ear plugs were not developed until 1967, two years after the Battle of Ia Drang.
  
  
• Anachronisms: When Lieutenant Colonel Moore is seen calling and talking to his platoon that is at risk of being overrun in the creek bed, the handset of the AN/PRC-25 radio is a newer-styled angular handset (H-33B/PT) not used until later in the Vietnam conflict. The handset of the AN/PRC-25 ("Prick-Twenty-five") radio appropriate to 1965 would have been a rounded version (H-138/U).
  
  
• Continuity: The number of helicopters in the initial approach to LZ X-Ray changes a number of times. There are six helicopters on the field ready to go, then in the next two scenes there are only four choppers. in the CGI scene while they are approaching there are suddenly upwards of twenty helicopters before returning to the six at the LZ.
  
  
• Factual errors: The conversation between SGM Plumley and Joe Galloway regarding his status as a non-combatant did not take place as shown in the film. The conversation actually took place more than a week earlier, and it was between Joe Galloway and an Army Special Forces Officer, Major (later Colonel) Charles Beckwith. Joe Galloway arrived with in the Ia Drang with an M-16.
  
  
• Factual errors: In the opening scene that depicts the destruction of Groupement Mobile No.100, the officers are shown wearing képis, implying that they are members of the Foreign Legion. However, there were no Legion units present. GM 100 consisted of the 1st and 2nd Korea Battalions, Battalion de Marche of the 43rd Colonial Infantry and the 2nd Group of the 10th Colonial Artillery.
  
  
• Factual errors: In the scene when the American soldier in the cut-off platoon gets hit with a Phosphorous Grenade you can see that his M16 has a chrome plated bolt. The chrome plated bolt was not introduced until roughly 1967, close to 2 years after the battle of the Ia Drang.
  
  
• Factual errors: In the beginning, the French Group Mobile 100 is ambushed and killed to the last man. In reality, the group was ambushed several times and in all of them, they were able to escape, though only after suffering severe casualties.
  
  
• Incorrectly regarded as goofs: In the scene where Joe Galloway helps defend the aid post, as he aims his M-16 it can clearly be seen that there is no round chambered, since the bolt can be seen in the forward position. However, the M-16 fires from the closed-bolt position, so when a round is chambered, the bolt will be forward.
  
  
• Factual errors: In the second night of the battle there appears a full Moon, but in reality on 11/15/1965 the Moon was in the 3rd quarter.
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: In the seen where Col Moore is signing his will, the will and fonts is clearly made from an ink jet printer. It should have been from a typewriter.
  
  
• Factual errors: As pointed out during the beginning of the movie. The battalion was issued "a new weapon". This would imply that they were issued the original variant of the M-16 rifle. During the battle scenes you can see several rifles that have a Forward Assist. This was not on the original variant of the M-16, it was introduced on the next model. The M-16 A-1. The Forward Assist is used to help seat a round into the chamber and is still used on the M-16/M-4 rifle.
  
  
• Factual errors: Not only are the "Kepis Blanc" inappropriate for Foreign Legion officers, but the red berets worn by the other "legionnaires" are also incorrect. When the legion adopted the beret, ordinary legionnaires and corporals were assigned green berets, while red was used for sergeants and commissioned officers.
  
  

• Factual errors: SPOILER: The bayonet charge, accompanied by the gunship, that supposedly won the battle in the movie, never took place. Col. Moore's unit simply withdrew as reinforcements arrived and took over.
  
  

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