RUMOR OF WAR, A {PART 2 OF 2} (TV)
Summary
Part two of this two-part made-for-television movie. Adapted from former Marine Philip Caputo's firsthand account, this docudrama concerns the author's combat experiences during the Vietnam War. This part begins in the fall of 1965, after Sullivan and Coleman have been killed in action. McCloy foresees that they will need to adapt to jungle warfare if they are to survive and conquer the enemy. While on an offensive mission, one of Caputo's men, Manhole, is killed while trying to determine the exact location of the enemy. In response to this loss, the platoon disintegrates into a rampaging mob and destroys a village and its inhabitants where a cache of ammunition is being concealed. Soon, Caputo is transferred to duty at regimental headquarters where, among other tasks, he has the unenviable duty of updating the wounded and casualty reports under the command of Colonel Atherton. He must also deal with following the orders of the brutal and ghoulish Major Ball. While General Rupert reports that the North Vietnamese are on the defensive and minimizes U.S. casualties, Caputo learns that his good buddy Walter Cohen has been killed in action.
Caputo is transferred in order to take command of his Cohen's old platoon. On a "find and destroy" mission a large number of men under his command are blown up by a land mine. Soon after Caputo has a nightmare about leading his dead buddies into combat, an informer leads them to the whereabouts of two Viet Cong booby trap experts. Caputo organizes an ambush for them with Pascarella and Mackey, but when that fails, he ignores instructions and orders them to comb the village for the suspects. Full of rage and misguided enthusiasm, Pascarella and Mackey carry out their mission, but complications ensue, leading to the death of an innocent villager, and they are all court-martialed for murder. Commercials deleted.
Cataloging of this program was made possible by John Sacret Young, 1998.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: September 25, 1980 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:34:00
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:54703
- GENRE: Docudrama; Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Docudrama; Drama; Vietnam War - Drama
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV, 1980
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Charles Fries … Executive Producer
- Dick Berg … Executive Producer
- David Manson … Producer
- Allan Marcil … Associate Producer
- Richard T. Heffron … Director
- John Sacret Young … Writer
- Philip Caputo … Based on the book by
- Charles Gross … Composer
- Brad Davis … Cast, Philip Caputo
- Keith Carradine … Cast, Lieutenant Murph McCloy
- Michael O'Keefe … Cast, Lieutenant Walter Chambelain Cohen
- Richard Bradford … Cast, General Rupert
- John Friedrich … Cast, Pascarella
- Perry Lang … Cast, Woodward
- Dan Shor … Cast, Manhole
- Steve Forrest … Cast, Colonel Atherton
- Stacy Keach … Cast, Major Ball
- Bobby Ellerbee … Cast, Mackey
- Phillip Allen … Cast, Colonel Perry
- Michael Cavanaugh … Cast, Captain Lake
- Larry Fishburne (see also: Laurence Fishburne) … Cast, Lightbulb
- Redmond Gleeson … Cast, Furth
- Ed Grover … Cast, Coker
- Gavan O'Herlihy … Cast, Stanton
- Christopher Allport … Cast, Van Cott
- Jeff Daniels … Cast, the Chaplain
- Jon Herzfeld … Cast, the Drill Instructor
- Steven Keep … Cast, the Angry Major
- Helene Lembeck … Cast, Lisa Modesta
- Sandy McPeak … Cast, Joe Caputo
- Chris Mulkey … Cast, Radio man
- Enrique Novi … Cast, Ramirez
- Sean Thomas Roche … Cast, Hodgkins
- Steven Rothblatt … Cast, Zirpoli
- Al Ruscio … Cast, Uncle Al
- Koko Tani … Cast, Simone
- Thu Thuy … Cast, Le Dung's Wife
- Marion Yue … Cast, Hoa
- David Chow … Cast, the Mayor of Danang
- Eunice Christopher … Cast, Mrs. Caputo
- Oliver Chung … Cast, Le Dung
- Alex Daniels … Cast, Stasek
- John Diehl … Cast, D.T.
- John Ferrand … Cast, Whitaker
- Ken Foree … Cast, the M.P.
- Karen Kondazian … Cast, Mrs. Modesta
- Lynn Kazue Kuratomi … Cast, Yip Yap
- Joe Lowry … Cast, Winslow
- David Manson … Cast, the Second Reporter
- Dani Minnick … Cast, Miss Cunningham
- Scott Mulhern … Cast, the Priest
- Qui Van Ngo … Cast, the ARVN Interrogator
- Rodney Saulsberry … Cast, Sergeant Wehr
- Scott Sebastian … Cast, the First Reporter
- Stevart Wolinski … Cast, the Doctor
- Lane Smith … Cast, Sgt. Willliam Holgren
- Nicholas Woodeson … Cast, Cpl. Kazmarak