What kind of POW were they? Rambo at one point says, "Our men." It's difficult for me tell if he means our country men, or military men. So, were they missionaries, humanitarian workers, or military?
I eat things that would make a billy goat puke.
POW itself is short for "Prisoner Of War", so the prisoners Rambo rescued were all former US military. Naturally, because you can only become a prisoner of war, if you were captured during a war. As for which branch... Who knows. The movie never did tell us if the POWs are fighter/helo pilots who were shot down, or special forces men captured during a mission. But they must've been valuable, if the Vietnamese insisted on holding on to them for as far as 1985.
shareThank you for the reply. I was under the impression that not all POWs were necessarily military personnel, that they are used for ransom, or leverage by their captors. Your response about their value to their Vietnamese captors makes sense.
Trautman explains it the best, after Murdoc's betrayal that results in Rambo's capture is revealed. Vietnam kept some of the prisoners as bargaining chips, so they could blackmail the US into paying war reparations. Money for the damages the war caused. When US refused, Vietnam kept the remaining prisoners to spite them.
Downed air force pilots were also considered valuable, they were believed to have knowledge about the fighter planes they operated. Popular rumor has it that many captured fighter pilots were "Moscow bound", or sent to Russia to be interrogated by the KGB about the equipment they operated in Vietnam. Captured officers and special forces men possibly had knowledge about the secret operations that the US was conducting in Vietnam at the time, so that's also a reason to keep some of the more valuable prisoners. Whatever the Vietnamese could extract from their "guests" could be useful.
I’m guessing after the US refused to pay the ransom the Vietnamese decided to keep them for slave labor. Figured they’d at least get something out of them.
shareThey were actual real POWs though. Vietnam lent them to the studio in order to give the movie more of a realism effect
sharewhat on earth made you think and even type that , please explain considering the movie was made in 1984, go ahead please explain why you responded in this way ?
shareReally? For the longest time I thought they just got cancer patients to play the POWs. Thank you for clearing up my misconception.
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