VV-1-23-edition

The Beer Run
By: Chuck Dean / Vet 2 Vet
Peter Farrelly’s movie, “The
Greatest Beer Run Ever”
starring Zac Efron as John
Donohue, known to his friends as “Chickie” is a fun
movie. The year is 1967, and the Vietnam War is in
overdrive.
Chickie is a Merchant Marine, which gives him
liberty when on land to booze into the night, snooze
into the day, and cheer the progress of the troops on
television. While hanging out with his buddies in a
bar they decide that their friends fighting in ‘Nam
need to know they care about them.
And the bright idea was born to take them all a
beer. So Chickie, being a merchant seaman, says he
can do it, and sets out to take them all a beer. I love
it…naivete at its best, but a true story.
That’s a very short movie review, and the production
itself can seem like a feel-good comical soiree. However, there’s a lot of
water under the bridge that the audience never had a genuine chance
to swim in.
The only reports civilians got at home was what came into their
living room through the TV - and we veterans know that such nebulous
reporting was flawed. That’s a long story in itself, and we’ve lived with
it now for half a century, so I’m not going to continue to beat an old
horse.
While Hollywood says it’s a true story, embellishment
always runs rampant in Tinsel Town. And the truth of
this story (along with some quirky military technical
shortcomings) changes complexion a few times,
which most veterans getting a little irked.
I’m hoping that not many get bent out of shape
because the adventure has some real merit that
demonstrates our service in Vietnam. For instance,
the portrayal of the TET Offensive, and how it
materialized in Saigon, was a golden part of the
account.
It has never been told like that before, and it had
some real honesty rendering that scary time for
many service people. It took a comical story…a true
story…and served as an educational platform for all
of us who were not in Saigon at them time.
Chuck Dean served as an Army paratrooper in Vietnam and
through that experience was led to address the many transitional
issues veterans struggle with. He is the author of several important
books for veterans. All can be found on Amazon at: http://www.
amazon.com/author/chuckdeanbooks
34
January 2023