Why did the other boat set Willard's boat on fire? SPOILER
It looked like the guys were on the same side
shareThey did it for fun. Friendly competition. It wasn't lethal but it made Willard's crew hop.
It wasn't lethal
That is true, I can't think of a single instance when fire burning out of control near drums of petrol was lethal. share
Well, the fire on the roof most likely wouldn't spread to any place lower on the boat, but nevertheless, setting the boat on fire was a stupid thing to do. But yes, they did it for fun, and I don't think they really cared if the people on the boat were friendly or not. They probably didn't care about the war at all, they were just trying to bide their time while they had to be there. I think that is an important part of the anti-war message of the film.
shareThey knew it was a US PBR -- even if they didn't recognize its profile, the Chief hailing them over loudspeaker gave it away.
The incident is important for where it occurs in the movie:
Look at Willard's face, the exasperation. He's just come from the Bunny show, where he told us the war was being run by 4-star clowns. He saw how American soldiers behave like idiotic animals, while the enemy prepares and waits in the bush. He realized his side is going to lose the war.
Then, the total insanity of Americans burning other American boats.
Chef ineptly wastes the extinguisher, failing to fight this small fire as it takes over the canopy. Chief doesn't even slow down, he keeps the boat throttled up.
Everything is wrong, amateurish, indulgent, undisciplined. This is the point when Willard accepts the utter, absolute futility of his mission. What he's doing will make no difference, and may even hurt the effort.
Shortly after, Chief finally takes some control of the boat, ordering the boys to stop smoking dope and be on the ready. Willard is pleased with this... for a moment. That's when they encounter the sampan, and Chief uses his newfound authority to stop for a search against Willard's orders.
After everyone on board is dead, remember, Willard says he feels he knows a thing or two about Kurtz that isn't in the dossier.
He has seen how useless the US war effort is, he knows where Kurtz's split from the show has come from. He doesn't know what he'll do when they meet -- for all he knows, he'll join Kurtz, since the g-damn army sure isn't getting anything done.
Yes. This is pretty much what I meant, but you put it down to words with this post way better than I did.
shareThey didn't deliberately set the boat on fire. They tossed a smoke grenade onto it and the heat from it set the canvass roof on fire. Just sailors being silly and goofing around to lighten the mood. Unfortunately, in a war, hijinks can have dangerous results. Apparently, while serving on swift boats, John Kerry received his third purple heart (his ticket home) when he was messing around with an M 79 grenade launcher. He fired a round into a river bank too close to the boat and was hit in the arm by a piece of frag.
sharewhen he was messing around with an M 79 grenade launcher.
I'd like to see some proof that he was 'messing around' as you put it. The official version is that he was conducting a reconnaissance by fire. He didn't deserve the medal because it was not in the face of the enemy or as a result of enemy action. But if he had been messing around he would have not deserved it even more so.
His Commander denied that medal and it was resubmitted when a new commander was assigned.
Senator Kerry swiftboated himself when he went on TV talking about all the war crimes he witnessed and was complicit to and when he threw his 'symbolic' medals over the White House fence.
Senator Kerry will go down as one of the losers who couldn't even beat President Bush (43), just like Secretary Clinton will go down as a loser who couldn't even beat President-elect Trump. (Or the other least experienced candidate she ran against, President Obama. [Can't really blame her on that one though.])
I've lived upon the edge of chance for 20 years or more...
Del Rio's Song share